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A Pile of Broken Dreams and Busted Specs

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If you read my EDH column on Gathering Magic, you'll know I have a tendency toward Blue Green in EDH. It's my personal favorite color combination and I feel like it gives me the mix of card draw and ramp that can make games truly unfair very quickly. Maelstrom Wanderer and Riku of Two Reflections are great generals and Prime Speaker Zegana and Deadeye Navigator are creatures I want to play in every single one of my decks.

You know what else I like to play? It's a card I have about 100 copies of and 20 more in foil.

Crap. Son of a crap.

This is an image from the new M15 clash pack.

Clash packs are a product I wasn't sure people would buy, but I'm no longer unsure. I'm sure I'm boned.

How could this get worse?

OK, now I'm 100% sure I'm boned. These will get bought up for sure.

So let's look at the clash pack from the perspective of someone who isn't me with my Prophets or Chris Lansdell with his pile of Fated Intervention.

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These are pretty good, actually. Very good. In addition to my specs on Temple and Prophet getting their pants pulled down, the clash packs contain a Courser of Kruphix, a Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, and M15 rares Aetherspouts and Genesis Hydra, smothering potential specs in the cradle.

Will these sell well? I think they might. I'm certainly going to be forced to buy some to upgrade a few of my Prophets of Kruphix, and since there is likely nearly enough value in there to make up the difference, once I sell, I should pay very little for the cards I want. Courser is due for a big plunge, something I'm sure they wanted. If you have Coursers, buylist them today. Nykthos will take a hit, but since that was a long-term spec most likely, a hit is a good thing. You don't have to buy in now, because they'll take a bigger hit at rotation.

The full decklists and accompanying article are on the Mothership.

Here's hoping the clash packs every other set don't bust too many specs and the Khans of Tarkir event deck is another one worth buying like they haven't been lately.

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Jason Alt

Jason Alt is a value trader and writer. He is Quiet Speculation's self-appointed web content archivist and co-captain of the interdepartmental dodgeball team. He enjoys craft microbrews and doing things ironically. You may have seen him at magic events; he wears black t-shirts and has a beard and a backpack so he's pretty easy to spot. You can hear him as co-host on the Brainstorm Brewery podcast or catch his articles on Gatheringmagic.com. He is also the Community Manager at BrainstormBrewery.com and writes the odd article there, too. Follow him on Twitter @JasonEAlt unless you don't like having your mind blown.

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5 thoughts on “A Pile of Broken Dreams and Busted Specs

  1. Well this certainly ia unexpected. I honestly dont think courser takes that big of a plunge, maybe for a little while. Normally I would totally agree but with how putrid theros block was and how little BoG was opened I think it will creep back fairly quickly. Outside of Brimaz, courser is the chase card of Theros block. The demand will always be there.

  2. “What are the chances of them doing a mass-foiling of Temple of Mystery? What could possibly tank the price?” I asked myself last winter when going balls-deep on them.

  3. I sold my coursers already. standard rares at +10€? So lucky I don’t have any left.

    It’s clear that speculating is too random. I learned it the hard way already and only focus on efficient trading.

  4. Spooky how this coincided with the ‘bearish outlook on speculating’ article posted over on Brainstorm Brewery. One big, important point made in that article is that, with so much new product being produced, the chances for reprints are relatively high… and the article didn’t even include this new Clash Pack item in the list of available merchandise.
    I’m no speculator (just a glorified kitchen table player) but I’ve watched various hobbies/fields go through boom-bust cycles over the years, and MtG’s bubble *may* be reaching critical. The game only appeals to so many people, and they only have so much time and money to pour into it.

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