It’s never wise to invest in cards on MTGO right out of the gate. They always go down. At minimum you have to wait a few weeks before investing, and generally you need to wait a few months.

Karn is definitely good, but yikes it’s hard to say at a $34 preorder price. That puts it well above the highest ceiling of both Carnage Tyrant and Rekindling Phoenix. Mox Amber isn’t much cheaper at $27.

I know you’re referring to MtGO pricing, so in MtGO terms, do these cards tend to dip a bit after release before spiking?

Hey Johnny,

I haven’t kept up with paper pricing so I don’t know the virtues of having already made the investment vs waiting to make that investment. But I do think that both of those cards will see more play over time than right out of the gate, so I think you made smart moves. Karn will see play across all formats (especially Vintage, Modern, and Standard), and Mox Amber should be effective in Modern and possibly in Standard.

I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you!

Hey Peter,

I’m confident that Red Aggro decks will be tier one, at least right out of the gates. I agree that Lyra is an excellent tool that can combat Red decks, in part because she dodges important pieces of removal. Is she better than Regal Caracal? I’m not sure. If Red Aggro falls out of tier one, it will be in part due to Lyra and Regal Caracal being effective answers to the strategy.

As you probably saw on my portfolio, I invested over $100 into Hazoret a month ago when I saw her at $9. My suspicion is that aggro will be good out of the gate, and I’ll sell her 2-4 weeks after Dominaria hits. My recommendation would be to sell whatever Mono Red specs you have during that same window.

Do you think Lyra Dawnbringer is strong enough to unseat Mono Red? Obviously red can SB easily for a 5cc creature. But on face value, Lyra doesn’t die to glorybringer or Chandra outright which I think is a pretty big deal. Just wanted to get your thoughts on it.