Are you a Quiet Speculation member?
If not, now is a perfect time to join up! Our powerful tools, breaking-news analysis, and exclusive Discord channel will make sure you stay up to date and ahead of the curve.
Hello, everyone and welcome to a new edition of the Daily Stock Watch! I was just waiting for cards from the new Modern "pet deck" Dredge to break out financially, and do so it actually did in such a short notice. The deck is annoying if you're playing against it, and it's just borderline absurd because of its consistency especially if you're up against it on game one. Today, one of the key components of the deck just reached its new all-time high across all versions printed, and it's definitely one that we should keep an eye on.
There are three printings of this card to date: Ravnica, Duel Decks: Izzet vs. Golgari, and Modern Masters. All of these versions reached its respective peak prices as of today and that's because of the deck's success both online and in paper tournament. Its most recent haul was when it steered two of its pilots to the top eight of SCG's Modern Open Dallas, with one reaching the semis and the other losing to the eventual winner Death's Shadow. Let's take a look at the list of the finalist Ian Thorne.
Dredge
I've played this deck a couple of times already in tournaments and I could say that this is definitely for real. Creeping Chill is the main reason why this deck has gone overboard, and its ability to have strong answers to graveyard hate cards off the board is what makes it better than BR Dredgevine. The steady attack of Bloodghast, Narcomoeba, and what I think is the strongest creature in the deck in Prized Amalgam is what makes it scary good and almost impossible to stop in game one unless you're running this wonderful card called Terminus. Even so, it only delays the inevitable as you are still almost guaranteed to see these creatures as the Dredge player could just fetch a land and repeat the cycle of burying cards from the top of their deck until you run out of life. To make sure that the deck isn't too reliant on creatures, Conflagrate is there to save the day along with Life from the Loam, as it clears the board of opposing blockers, or just hit the enemy straight to the dome with the required damage to end the game. The card is almost irreplaceable in the list and that's why we're now seeing a simultaneous spike in its prices across all formats.
How to Combat Dredge
I'm not saying that these cards would increase in prices as some of them are already format staples but we should probably see a little surge in their prices as the popularity of Dredge continues to rise. The deck is just crazy good and you'd need to have some serious hate to combat it post board. It's also crucial that you know when to time your hate spells well, as the deck could just build around again in the blink of an eye with the help of cards like Life from the Loam. I would say that this current price spike is somehow justified, and it's interesting to see how far the card could go financially. I'm a firm believer of Modern's versatility and ability to adapt to any meta changes, so I'd say that Life from the Loam is here to stay for good. I'd be grabbing my copies now if I were you.
At the moment, you could get copies of Life from the Loam from StarCityGames (few played copies of Ravnica left at $21.39), TCGPlayer (multiple vendors has it at as low as $16 for foreign copies and up to $39.36 for near mint ones), and Card Kingdom (last two Ravnica copies at $26.99). Foil copies are north of $75 even before this price spike, so I'm not sure if you would be interested in getting those for spec purposes (I wouldn't be!) I suggest that you grab your copies now if you intend to play Dredge for the upcoming season, but only buy at $20 and less if you wanna speculate. This could easily be reprinted in any upcoming sets.
And that’s it for today’s edition of the Daily Stock Watch! See you again next time, as we check out a new card that should be on the go, or good enough for speculating. 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!
