As more and more cards are added to the Quiet Spec watchlist, I'll be reviewing the list to note any changes in price. So far, the only pricewise movement I've seen has been Dauntless Escort climbing to $6.00 on StarCityGames. I'm sticking with my prediction of $7-8 on him.

StarCity also re-upped its stock of Zealous Persecutions the other day after selling out, and they're well on their way again. Although still at a dollar, they've sold a 25% of their ZPs in stock already. I'll be a little surprised if they don't up the price when (not if)they sell out again.

With many thanks to Bill Stark, I'm happy to report that I'll be posting a short mini-series this week about my testing for Regionals. Head on over to The Starkington Post right now and check it out!

If you're not reading the Top8Magic.com blog, featuring Magic luminaries Brian David-Marshall and Michael J. Flores, you ought to be.

I often find new inspirations from their posts and podcasts, and I heartily recommend the site to my readers. Through their blog I learned about CardShark.com. You may have seen their ads on Magic Workstation and done what most people do with web ads - dismissed them. That was a mistake, because it turns out that CardShark tracks the volume of individual card sales on Ebay and formats it into a pretty little spreadsheet that's easy to digest. (An aside: I'm usually not a big fan of advertising in any media but I must say that I've found some excellent sites by way of the random ad click.)

I took some time this evening to look at the trends over the last 7 days and made a few notes:

*Hypergenesis is the 3rd most sought-after rare!

*Dauntless Escort is #2, and is selling for a firm 20 bucks per set on Ebay. There is usually a disparity between StarCityGames prices and Ebay prices due to the fact that some people prefer to avoid Ebay, but the Ebay price is actually higher in a few cases. I've revised my opinion to reflect this, below.

*The most sought-after rare, according to CardShark, is Finest Hour. I'm not sure what to make of this. They aren't selling for much, but a lot of them are moving. I'm not going to submit a Focus on it just yet, but I'll keep an eye out for any deck that might possibly be using it. If you've got any idea why these are moving almost 25% faster than the Dauntless Escorts, post a comment. My guess is that its a big splashy effect, an inexpensive card to buy, and appeals to loads of casual players.

*The top 3 Uncommons are no surprise: Bloodbraid Elf, Zealous Persecution and Anathemancer. The #4 might surprise you - Mind Funeral! The 3 mana Mill spell is was actually the #1 Uncommon over the weekend. I doubt the card will ever surpass the dollar mark, but I'd be curious to see if the card gets some Constructed play.

That's what I've got for now. As always, I'll keep my ear to the ground and help you spot the bargains before the rest of the pack. If there's a feature you'd like to see me add, some research you'd like to see me do, or would just like to chime in and let me know you're reading, the best way to get in touch is to post a comment with the link below each post. You can also follow me on Twitter - there's a link at the top of the page on the right-hand side.

Till next time!

Dauntless Escort

StarCityGames.com: $20/set
Ebay: $20/set

This card is showing strength on Ebay, which is usually a good indicator of a card's overall demand. Its inclusion in the Eternal Siege Theme Deck will temper its price and likely prevent it from passing the 10 dollar mark. Eternal Siege Theme Decks are already selling above MSRP by 3 dollars in most locations, but this is not supported by a strong Ebay presence above MSRP.

Target: $7-8 Post-Regionals

Zealous Persecution

Ebay: $2/set
StarCityGames.com: $4/set
MOTL: $1.50/set

Real simple: This is the card that makes Black White Tokens as good as it is right now. Star City Games just sold out at $1.00. I think they'll re-up their supply and relist it at 2 bucks. Ebay usually lags behind SCG, but considering that its a must-play 4-of in the deck, there's no way they don't start selling it for more than a measly buck. It's not going to pass $2.50 or so, but might as well get them while the getting's good.

Target: $2.00 per card, June 1st

Dauntless Escort

Yes Virginia, ALL of them! They're ALL indestructable. This guy is like Forge-Tender for Wrath effects. He's really good, and the only reason he's not going bonkers in the price department is that he's in the Eternal Siege Intro Pack.

Why is this interesting? Well, none of the 3 game stores in this reasonably large college town can keep ANY of those Intro Packs in stock. SCG is selling them for 3 bucks more than the rest.

I doubt he's on the same power level as Jitte, but are we going to have another Rat's Nest? (For those confused by this reference, Rat's Nest was the Betrayers of Kamigawa theme deck that contained a copy of Umezawa's Jitte.)

Leave a comment with your thoughts on the matter. The Escort is only selling for $5, and the Knight of New Alara for $3, but the theme deck itself is flying off shelves everywhere...

A few notes:

Lord of Extinction
has gone from $11 on StarCityGames.com up to $15. Early reports are that the card is far stronger than anyone realized, and its lack of evasion or Terminate protection is really just not important and is, in fact, the only thing keeping it fair. It might be too late to buy-low on these, so if you can trade for them, snap 'em up. They're mythic, not rare, so they're going to be harder to find. Records show that SCG started them at 6 bucks, so they've more than doubled already. If they hit $20, I'll be surprised, but I won't be shocked if they stabilize between 10 and 15.

Hypergenesis
In the wake of everyone realizing the amazing things it can do with Cascade, it has gone from $0.50 on StarCityGames to $3.00. They sold out at $.050. Not big money but how many cards recently have increased sixfold in value overnight? I got my set when they were dirt cheap. You can probably still get them cheap at most places.

Maelstrom Pulse
Has been climbing steadily since release. I think 20 is where it stabilizes unless a major target for it gets printed or reprinted.

Sen Triplets
Have dropped from 10 to 8. The card's all hype, and probably won't see constructed play. I'll wait to get my single copy for EDH.

Thought Hemorrhage
Is down a buck? Why? Early testing is showing it to be "that good" against control. If your local crowd starts getting antsy to trade them, see if you can snap up a cheap set. I can't see them ever being worse than 6-8 bucks but they have the potential to hit double digits without breaking a sweat.

Chameleon Colossus

Ebay: $20-25/set
StarCityGames: $32/set
MOTL: ~$25/set

Remember when this was a $15+ rare? What on earth happened? Single copies are selling for below 5 bucks on Ebay, and StarCityGames, who is usually very keen on their pricing, has it below 10. I'm not going to say it's a surefire hit, but if B/G Elves or Jund Ramp show well at Regionals, there's no way this doesn't hit 10-12 again. If those decks really put up good finishes (and I see -no- reason they can't), Colossus could hit the $15 mark again.

Target: $12 by June 1st.

Runed Halo

Ebay: ~$6/set
StarCityGames: $24/set
MOTL: $10/set

This card is -the- answer to Anathemancer. Pithing Needle is already a 40 or 50 dollar set and doesn't stop but 50% of the new Price of Progress. Runed Halo is going to become a must-play with the rise of R/B decks catalyzed by Anathemancer. It also stops Banefire, Demigod (which is poised for a resurgance), and anything else that might ail you.

Target: $35/set (Just over 8 a piece) by Mid-June. Potentially as soon as Regionals results come in. Should be a staple until a better answer to Anathemancer shows up (M10 or Zendikar).