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Insider: Post-MM2015 Modern Investing

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Hello readers, and welcome back!

We are now in the “post-mortem” period of GP Vegas and all the lovely drama that has come out of the massive Grand Prix weekend. While I personally didn’t get caught up in any of that, I’m sure many of you found it entertaining...

That being said, let’s get to the point of this article. In the wake of the triple GP weekend, and another re-order of MM2015 product that I outlined in previous articles, there has been much price movement across the board. Reprinted singles are in flux, and some non-reprinted singles are already jumping considerable amounts.

Instead of worrying about price floors and “what to do next" with the reprinted stuff, you should save yourself the headache and look at the non-reprinted stuff! Isn’t that easier? I think so.

I have explained before how some non-reprinted cards may take longer to start trending upward in value than others. We have already seen quite the price spike in Blood Moon. The window of that investment is all but closed, but there are certainly more opportunities worth investing in.

Today I'll highlight some of these cards, which you may remember from previous articles, and put them under the microscope. I hope that most, if not all, of them are on people’s radar at this point. If they’re not, they should be!

Cards I’m Targetting


Let’s start with one I mentioned earlier: Living End. Since I last talked about this card, Living End and "Twinning End" decklists have seen increased popularity in MODO dailies. At this point it’s common that some version of a Living End deck puts up a 3-1 or 4-0 finish. Some recent finishes highlighted here:

http://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/17653
http://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/17625
http://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/17657

Another telling sign is the current spread on the marquee card:

Living End Historical Spread
Living End Historical Spread

As one can see the spread is historically low, which means a low-risk investment. With only a 15% spread on buylists, we're talking really minimal losses should it not pan out.

Speaking of buylists, Trader Tools charts indicate that there has been an increase in buylist pricing since May 12 2015, up from $2.75 to the $4.65 we’re seeing right now. Almost a 50% increase in little under a month's time. This should be setting off red flags.

Just so there’s full disclosure, I am currently holding four playsets of this card. I understand this card has been a roller-coaster if one looks back through its price history, and there were already some great opportunities in the past for profit on this card. Perhaps we’re being presented with another one.

One last thing I want to mention is that the cost of this deck has dropped drastically, due to a key reprint in Fulminator Mage (and in some builds Splinter Twin). Some builds are as low as $230, with most no more than the lower $400s.

This makes Living End a great introductory deck, and even with an increase in price of the eponymous card, the deck would stay relatively cheap. That bodes well for demand for the card.

The next card is Glimmervoid.


Here we have another card with things lining up well. The recently reprinted Mox Opal may bring a new interest into the popular Affinity archetype, since the cost is even lower than before. With a semi-attractive spread of 27%, vendors have been increasing buylist prices since the release of Modern Masters 2015. I have picked up a couple extra sets, finding them fairly easily in the 8-10$ range and even stashing a few at buylist prices.

Glimmervoid may be the card that soaks up the most value should the deck continue to do well. Also note that this card is usually a three-of in the archetype. I do think it will gain a healthy amount going into the coming Modern season, since most of the deck outside of Opal is fairly inexpensive.

On the verge about these

Out of these, Eternal Witness seems like a strong candidate to keep rising, with many decks in Modern adopting it, even outside of “CoCompany” lists. Mike Lanigan posted a great article here about the metagame shifting, and if Jund lists start to adopt this card more, I think we could see the card rising despite its multiple printings.

Much like Blood Moon has recently, Eternal Witness keeps rising in the ranks as one of the top 50 creatures played in Modern. I know most people would be hesitant on Eternal Witness, but the exact same could be said for Kitchen Finks. This doesn’t have as many reprints and just dodged one in MM2015, and it's also one of the top creatures played. So that’s also something to consider given the opportunity cost.

If Jund continues to be the deck of choice over Junk than our ol’ pal Huntmaster of the Fells // Ravager of the Fells could be a card that benefits. With copies being fairly stagnant since its time in Standard, it could rebound nicely. It might not command the premium price it once did in its glory days, but enough to turn a profit at the 5-6$ investment.

I know some members on the QS forum have already secured some copies “just in case” and rather to be an early bird on these. As I see them continue to show up in decklists, I may pull the trigger as well. Just to highlight some recent lists:

http://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/293497#paper
http://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/293498#paper

As a side note, foils of these are extremely hard to find.

I know I must sound like a broken record right now, but I can’t help but stash proven Modern-playable cards when the spread is attractive enough for investment. Some of these I have highlighted in the past, and I wanted to re-iterate again just as a way for people to understand that the buylist prices are telling signs. The increase over a short period of time should be clear indication that vendors want to hold these.

I have put these on a few of my “master lists” so everyone can evaluate them for themselves. They should be in previous articles and very easy to find.

That’s the update on what I’m investing in, and I like having that transparency with my readership. I'd love to discuss some of the cards I'm on the verge about. I've seen a few of them discussed on the forums, and for people who have not seen those posts feel free to cruise the Single Card Discussion threads.

Hope you all enjoyed it, until next time!

-Chaz

4 thoughts on “Insider: Post-MM2015 Modern Investing

    1. Anytime Mike! Yeah, it’s imperative in the finance game to keep up with the latest meta shifts. Tracking MODO Dailies, and scouring events could really keep a financier ahead of the curve.

      Your article was a great one to read and draw some great conclusions on some potential new investments.

    1. Thanks for the comment Oscar! I’m feeling good on both of them, don’t think either are getting reprinted in Origins. With such low spreads there’s not much risk really.

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