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Insider: Market Watch

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Alright, so it's pretty evident that right now is a good time to be selling off cards that do well. You've got new innovations from GP's, SCG opens, and other events; a recently released set that's making its mark felt still, and an upcoming rotation. This is the best time to sell your cards off for good prices before they rotate, or the hype dies down.

I had an excellent question from my article last week that I wanted to address here, from QS member Jimmy

With Energy Field being legacy's latest darling (at least financially), how long would you sit on extra copies of them Stephen? Kronenberger's (sp?) deck and 1st place finish strike me as more of an aberration than an evolution for MUC, with other writers claiming Back to Basics and Misdirection did the true heavy lifting. Think it's safer to hold them indefinitely than to auction them off now while his victory's still fresh in everyone's mind?

This is a valid question, and after this weekends activities I would say hold them for the time being. Most shops aren't buying them for a price I would consider selling them for, and as an old Urzas Saga card, it's price will continue to rise slowly, and another event where it has decent performance can push it to a point I would sell.

But what of the other two cards mentioned in the above question? Back to Basics is seeing prices between $6 and $9 from a variety of stores, and I would say trade for these if possible, as the market has generally adapted already. Misdirection isn't anything new, and already above $9 across the known board. If you're looking for the long term investment strategy, it's worth buying them at their current price, as long as you realize now that it will most likely be a year or more for these cards to begin seeing profit, and it will tie up your resources for that time as well.

In France there was the Bazaar of Moxen, you can see 18 lists here on SCG. Again, there are a few Sylvan Libraries scattered around, and I would still say pick up copies from Legends if you can get them for under $10. The 4th and 5th edition ones are worth considerably less (about $5), so you may be able to use that to score legends ones for a better rate.

Green Sun's Zenith has shown up again in legacy as well. I have a feeling this will continue to be the case, so these are a good pick up for the long term. I would be looking to get them dirt cheap around rotation time. We're still a year out from that, but its something worth keeping in mind.

Speaking of things to keep in mind, we have Hive Mind. The hype has generally died down, but the card is still powerful. It looks as though it will be a cycle spike card; that is, every so often the deck will be in a good spot to do well, then will do well, and then demand will spike again for a few days. Pick these up in a few weeks when everyone has forgotten about them. If, however, Hive Mind does well in the Invitational this weekend, all bets are off for them being a cycle spike card, at least for a while.

One of my favorite cards that no one really talks about is Elspeth, Knight-Errant. She continues to show up in Legacy zoo decks alone or in pairs, and while shes not a super high value card, I think part of this is due to her recent printing and reprinting in Elspeth vs Tezzeret. It should be noted that outside of mythics currently used in legacy, we don't really know how mythics will really react to the Legacy supply/demand game a few years down the road. If you're looking to invest long, I would pick up mythics that see use, and have a powerful enough effect to make an impact on Legacy. Elspeth fits the bill nicely, and I would get a few of the duel decks version to keep tucked away in my trade binder if you see yourself still investing in a few years time.

The average price for either copy is between $11 and $13, trade for them at $9 and below if possible. Using the reasoning of two printings, extended season being over, and Gideon taking the white Planes Walker slot in the next core set should be enough to get the prices low in trade.

This weeks prediction tracker updates

Added to hot list:

Dark Confidant ($15/$20) legacy powerhouse, and will continue to rise. Should the modern format take hold, expect his demand to push hard.

Goremand ($1/$3) Another modern format call, easy to see how this could push a bit past the $3 target I have it at, but we'll see what happens. It's also never a bad thing to have extra Remands around.

Tectonic Edge ($2/$4) This and Ghost Quarter will be the Wasteland of Modern, and while either could do well, I see Tec Edge being the go-to man.

Watch List:

Manriki-Gusari Equipment that is cheap and destroys other equipment seems good. I'm just putting that out there. There are quite a few round the net, and they are all cheap.

Pyrostatic Pillar Hasn't been talked about much lately, and seems like its in a good spot to do some damage. Demand spikes could give you a decent profit on a few of these, but for now its only an item to watch.

Ditch list:

Inquisition of Kozilek It's rotating soon, and Thoughtseize is better than it in pretty much every way. Vendors still want them, now is the time to sell.

Worldwake Manlands - Drop them for the time being if you can get a good price, but be ready to change that at a moments notice. All of them could find use in Modern, and with more use comes higher prices.

Last moment update!

Sol Ring is in every every upcoming commander deck. Don't overpay for them!

That's it for this week,

Stephen Moss

@MTGstephenmoss on twitter

MTGstephenmoss@gmail.com

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