Jim Casale | Quiet Speculation

Finance 101: Hype, Spike & Creep – Three Causes of Price Changes

Jim Casale — Wed, 31 May 2017 17:41:21 +0000

The price of cards is a mysterious concept to a lot of people. To many, trying to predict them is about as accurate as soothsaying. I'm not entirely sure that it isn't, but there are definitely some patterns and trends you can use to increase the accuracy of your predictions. Many players ask, "Why is […]

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Financial Set Review – Modern Masters 2017, Part 2

Jim Casale — Wed, 17 May 2017 16:34:30 +0000

I'm back this week with more of my popular financial set review, now tackling the Modern Masters 2017 rares. I won't cover each rare in the set, but I will review the most important ones in depth. I also want to talk about a few choice uncommons, so grab your calendars and wallets. You'll need them to plan out the […]

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Financial Set Review: Modern Masters 2017

Jim Casale — Wed, 10 May 2017 21:04:50 +0000

Hey guys, I'm here this week to give you my set review of the critically acclaimed Modern Masters 2017! It might seem a little weird reviewing a set so far after release, but I have found many people asking the same questions over and over about the cards contained within. I wanted to take the time […]

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Financial Deck Tech: Eldrazi Tron

Jim Casale — Wed, 03 May 2017 16:34:19 +0000

Back-to-back deck techs!? You betcha! I've been putting some more thinking into what Iconic Masters means for Magic, and how Wizards of the Coast could have approached it. I think there could be some pretty important reprints in that set that will help Eldrazi Tron the most, and I want to talk with you about them! Overview Eldrazi […]

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Financial Deck Tech: Merfolk

Jim Casale — Wed, 26 Apr 2017 22:15:24 +0000

I'm back again with another one of my world-famous financial deck techs! This week we're going to talk about Merfolk, one of the most competitive tribal decks in Modern. The deck is particularly topical right now, financially speaking, due to a recent announcement by Wizards. This is something you'll want to be mindful of if […]

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Modern on a Budget: Playing Gifts Storm

Jim Casale — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 18:42:25 +0000

Most of my articles are related to the financial aspects of Magic, and this one won't stray too far, at least in spirit. Building Storm is an inexpensive way for a player to get into Modern without giving up much on the competitive front. I honestly believe this deck is a great option right now. I […]

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Finance 101: What Is Risk?

Jim Casale — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 17:31:43 +0000

In my past articles, when talking about buying a given card, the concept of "risk" has frequently come up. I've seen some confusion in the comments about my use of this term, which has lead to misinterpretation of the information I'm trying to convey. Some people were under the impression that I was predicting, or […]

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Modern Masters 2017 Set Review & Deck Planning

Jim Casale — Wed, 08 Mar 2017 20:30:48 +0000

I had pretty high hopes for Modern Masters 2017, but I'm not sure anyone had really expected what we got. This set is filled to the brim with value. There are some decks that definitely benefit a lot more from these reprints and some that got completely ignored. Unfortunately I think that is unavoidable in any set […]

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Financial Deck Tech: Gifts Storm

Jim Casale — Wed, 01 Mar 2017 17:22:54 +0000

This week is spoiler week for Modern Masters 2017. I'm pretty confident that my deck for today won't see many of its pieces reprinted, but the few that could be would bring it to a rock-bottom price! Ideally this also means this article won't be outdated once you read it, but you never know. This past weekend […]

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The Final Countdown to Modern Masters 2017

Jim Casale — Wed, 22 Feb 2017 17:00:41 +0000

With the release of the packaging for Modern Masters 2017 this past Monday, we've got out first Modern Masters spoilers to talk about. While they may not seem terribly exciting or informative, they greatly influence the remaining cards that could be in the set. Let's go through the conclusions we can draw from the revealed cards, and what future spoilers […]

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Finance 101: Shipping Your Cards

Jim Casale — Thu, 16 Feb 2017 17:36:31 +0000

Today I'm bringing back a series I started earlier on some general financial knowledge geared towards the Modern community. As the title implies, I'm going to discuss the best and most cost-effective methods I've found for shipping cards. Modern cards by and large change hands quickly, are in high demand, and have pretty good profit margins. Whether […]

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Financial Deck Tech: Cheeri0s

Jim Casale — Wed, 08 Feb 2017 17:00:08 +0000

Magic cards don't take much to catch fire, huh? If you've been following along online, a bunch of people have been working on a new version of a combo deck called "Cheeri0s." If not, let's take a look at why this is one of the hottest new decks in Modern and what the most optimal […]

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Financial Deck Tech: Burn

Jim Casale — Wed, 25 Jan 2017 18:36:17 +0000

Now that we're living in a post-ban world, I'm ready to do another financial deck tech for players new and old looking to change up their Modern deck. This time I'm going to try not to touch decks that are likely to be affected by the newest bans because there is likely too much churn […]

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Modern Masters 2017 Mythic Predictions

Jim Casale — Thu, 05 Jan 2017 18:00:33 +0000

Recently I've been putting a lot of thought into what could be coming down the pipeline in Modern Masters 2017. A lot of players are drooling over the new Masterpieces in Aether Revolt—and I don't blame them—but now is the time to think critically about the reprints we might see this spring. We're still three months away from […]

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The New Arrival: Frontier for the Modern Soul

Jim Casale — Sat, 31 Dec 2016 17:59:27 +0000

Even if Modern is the sole format you follow or play, by now you've almost certainly heard of Frontier. This format is the newest craze in the Magic community, leading to all sorts of excitement, debate, and taking of sides. I'll start out by saying that I don't really have any stake in Frontier, although […]

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Financial Deck Tech: Dredge

Jim Casale — Sat, 17 Dec 2016 18:06:25 +0000

I've come up with a new idea on how to present some information about decks when the amount of actionable information for the finance side of Modern Magic is low. Once in a while I'm planning to write, what I'm going to call, a "Financial Deck Tech." In these articles I'll discuss the costs of buying […]

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Function or Finance? The Cause of Modern Diversity

Jim Casale — Sat, 03 Dec 2016 21:01:34 +0000

I've had a theory for a while about the supposed health of Modern. Diversity is a big talking point for people who want to play Modern or Legacy over Standard, and I'm not sure it's quite as diverse as people want to think. It's diverse in the sense that a lot of people play a […]

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Burning in Depth: Sequencing and Mulligans

Jim Casale — Sat, 19 Nov 2016 15:00:02 +0000

Last week I posted a picture of an opening hand from Burn that I think is unkeepable. Most people responded in the comments that it seems like a no-brainer with 17 theoretical damage in it. I think this showcases how Modern really rewards people for the most in-depth understanding of their deck. Burn is a […]

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Modern Finance: Planning for the Year’s End Sale

Jim Casale — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 00:20:33 +0000

As we roll down another great year of Magic, we will find card prices starting to bottom out. Modern PPTQ season has been over for a while and the demand for new Modern cards quickly falls with it. After Grand Prix Dallas last weekend, there won't be another Modern Grand Prix until February. After the […]

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Post-Kaladesh Burn: Building for the Dredge Metagame

Jim Casale — Fri, 04 Nov 2016 16:00:02 +0000

I'm qualified to play in the next RPTQ for Pro Tour Aether Revolt in Dublin, and I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out how to win it all. I know this is going to sound like a cop-out, but I'm really not interested in buying the Dredge or Infect deck, even if one of […]

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