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Daily Stock Watch: Whir of Invention

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Hello, readers and welcome to the Tuesday special edition of the Daily Stock Watch! I'll continue what I've started this week by making a pick of what I think could be good cards to buy (or sell) before Pro Tour Rivals of Ixalan on the weekend. Today, I'd like to make another "budget" call on another Standard card that's making an impact in Modern.


Lantern Control returned to Modern prominence late last year in the aftermath of Sam Black's unprecedented run to the finals of SCG Invitational Roanoke using the deck. It was the same old strategy for the control deck, but it found itself a very useful tool in Whir of Invention. Using the same list, other players have tried it on separate online tournaments and also found some success with the addition of Whir of Invention.

For further reference of how the list looks like, take a look at this:

Whir of Invention is an instant-speed tutor in this deck which could basically fetch any artifact that you need, given that you have three blue mana and a plethora of artifacts in play. It grants the Lantern Control player access to powerful cards such as Ensnaring Bridge, Witchbane Orb, and the ever-reliable Lantern of Insight. This also gives its pilot the ability to dictate the pace of the game, may it be against aggressive, combo, or control decks.

Instant Speed Tutors in Modern

Instant speed cards that nets you another card is a rarity in Modern, and you could see that the cards above are all part of a tier one or two deck in the format. It's not hard to see Lantern Control propelling itself to tier one territory with a win over the weekend, and this would definitely mean that Whir of Invention would be one of the sought after cards by those who would like to try the deck, or just initiate a buyout. The Utility Checker states that over the past two months, 1.6% of winning decks in Modern have utilized a full playset of Whir of Invention, which is actually a decent amount of exposure for a card that's rather limited to only one deck. It should be fair to say that this number will definitely increase if Sam Black or some other pro decides to use the deck again and have another virtuoso performance at the event.

At the moment, Whir of Invention is pretty easy to find for a little over a dollar from Star City Games, Card Kingdom, Channel Fireball, or TCGPlayer. I once again recommend that you check your LGS for bulk copies which could net you better discounts, or just simply try trading for a few sets of it at below a dollar. The foil copies are being sold at $5-$8 from the said stores, so this could be another great spec target now that would pay off going forward. There won't be any shortage of decks that would require you to use artifacts and a blue base in any format. I don't think it would do us any harm to grab a few sets for safekeeping.

And that’s it for the Tuesday special edition of the Daily Stock Watch! See you again tomorrow, as I continue this week’s Pro Tour special edition. As always, feel free to share your opinion in the comments section below. And if you want to keep up with all the market movement, be sure to check in with the QS Discord Channel for real time market information, and stay ahead of the hottest specs!

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