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Hello, everyone and welcome to a new week of the Daily Stock Watch! I've been talking to a lot of players lately on what their impression about card prices are nowadays and it seems that everyone is on the same page: a lot of Modern cards are actually too expensive. I think that this is actually true, considering that there are a plethora of decks that you can bring to a tournament and win using it -- a strong indicator that the format is healthy despite of the people's initial reaction towards the return of Bloodbraid Elf and Jace, the Mind Sculptor to the format. And with this in mind, a lot of new deck ideas have floated around including one that utilizes our featured card for today.
I've played a match with a friend who was running this funky mill deck, and he went on to embarass my Jund deck in a few friendly matches. I am no Jund expert, but I think that the deck just couldn't sit with its fetch lands and win on its own. I had to cast a first turn Thoughtseize off a Bloodstained Mire that I cracked, and he went on to hit me with three Archive Traps off the bat. It might have been an unlucky day for me (or a very good one for him) but it actually ended the game in that instant. There was no way that I was winning with 10+ cards left in my library and a second copy of Mind Funeral (the first one I already stripped) on the way. It made me ponder for a bit if there's a lot of tier one decks that won't actually get flustered by an unsuspecting Archive Trap, and only the Humans and some Eldrazi variants are the ones that came to mind. Given the correct dose of healthy matchups, this deck just might do it for an actual event.
UB Miller Time
Archive Trap hasn't been reprinted yet, and it just reached its all-time high today of $10.99. It is worth noting that this card is only viable for competitive use in this deck, so there's limited room for growth on this one unless this deck gets really popular. However, it's also good to consider the fact that mill decks belong to the upper echelon of decks that casual players really love. This is one of the primary reasons why Glimpse the Unthinkable was an expensive card back in the day, and is still moving around well in the market despite of its Iconic Masters reprint.
Miller Time Components
I think it's safe to say that this deck won't be able to win a whole tourney by itself, but it could definitely steal its way to a top eight finish. Archive Trap gives this deck an added weapon that could help it in finishing off good decks that are fetchlands-reliant, but it should have a hard time dealing with other lower tier decks that doesn't really care much about its library a.k.a Boros Burn. Either way, Archive Trap is one of those cards that's good to trade for or pick up whenever you get the chance. For as long as it dodges a reprint, the card is only going to get financially higher in the coming months.
At the moment, Archive Trap is unavailable via StarCityGames (which lists it at $11.99) but could still be purchased from other stores such as Card Kingdom, ChannelFireball and TCGPlayer for anywhere between $9.89 up to $11.99. The foils are deceivingly cheap ($15-$20 range) and we could base it on the fact that cards like this one are only good for casual audiences who wouldn't really be buying into foils. If this deck (or any other deck that decides to pack its arsenal with an Archive Trap) gets some victories under its belt, we could be looking at a possible great pick up. Nonetheless, I would say that $8 would be my buying price for this card. Otherwise, I'd stay away and just invest in something else.
And that’s it for today's edition of the Daily Stock Watch! See you again next time, as we continue to speculate on cards that might be on the rise, or try to get rid of the ones that are at risk of losing value. 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!
