Howdy everyone and welcome to a B-E-A-utiful spring day! This week I am going to review some high-profile cards and where I see them going and what you should do. And off we go! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

A quick note about my "Instant Collection" series I am planning on doing. I am going to postpone it for 2 weeks. I have to run the Prereleases, FNMs, Release, and All Night Gaming the next 2 weeks and that just shortens my week to do actual work, so something had to be cut and it was doing the research for that. I will still have an article next week, and after that I will pick up the slack and get that series rockin' and rollin'.

Splinter Twin

History:

The first card is the recent rags-to-riches story, yes, Splinter Twin. I personally found 10 of these things in my bulk rares and was very happy about it. He combos with the new functional reprint of Pestermite: Deceiver Exarch (What IS an 'Exarch'? It isn't even a real word!). This has led traders everywhere to find as many as possible before the masses catch wind of the change.  Deckbuilders everywhere are trying to jam this combo into many different shells, looking for that deck that will take down Caw-Blade.  Ebay has them in the $8-$9 range, as do vendors at the moment.

Future:

I think the peak is here. $9 each for a rare that isn't Stoneforge Mystic is already pushing it. Unless this finds traction in Legacy, I think it will end up at $2-$3 for a bit, and then if there is no Extended like format in the future, it should drop down even more.

Sword of Feast and Famine

History:

This card has helped push the Caw-Blade decks to new heights. The insane card and tempo advantage granted by this equipment is allowing it to become part of one of the most dominate type 2 decks in history. It started off in the $12 range for presales and is currently sitting at $20 for both vendors and eBay.

Future:

I see this card going up in the future. Granted it has some competition in the form of Sword of War and Peace and Batterskull, but the tempo with this card is to not be taken lightly. With Stoneforge leaving Type 2 in the fall, I can see this card becoming a potential 3-4 of in decks, and the mythic rarity will only help push the price higher. This card could reach as high as $40 if the metagame does not shift. It also blocks Phyrexian Obliterator nicely, so that is something to keep in mind for the future.

Stoneforge Mystic

History:

This card has always been in the "Sleeper" category, slowly gaining speed the more equipment that were printed. It started off tutoring up Basilisk Collars and quickly ramped up to getting Swords. It wasn't until the beginning of the year that Stoneforge saw the spike in play and spike in price. He had been sitting at the $3-$5 range since its printing, but has since jumped to the $20-$30 range for both eBay and Vendors.

Future:

This card will continue to be hot until it rotates out this fall. Its play in Legacy will keep it somewhat high, probably in the $8-$10 range, and for a rare these days, that is high. I have serious doubts about Extended being around next year, but if it were to exist, I can see this card reaching $20 again in season. There will be even more equipment in Innistrad and this guy will continue to find better and better ways to suit up 1/1 Flying birds and make them truly a force to reckon with.

Gideon Jura

History:

Gideon was the powerhouse card to come out of Rise of Eldrazi. This card has seen more ups and downs than a rollercoaster. Started off near $40, has sunk as low as the teens, and is now back up into the 20s and 30s range. He was considered a staple in the Caw-Blade taking over standard, but some recent developments, particularly the deck that finished 4th in SCG:Boston by Edgar Flores decided to replace them with Jace Beleren and never looked back. He is currently hanging out at $22ish on eBay and $30 for Vendors.

Future :

I can only see Gideon being played for the next year and still dropping in price. There are some strong hints that he is replacing Ajani Goldmane in M12 as the white planeswalker, thus giving him the Baneslayer Angel treatment: Strong price printed once, weak price printed twice. I could see it doing something similiar where it yo-yos between $8 and $15 after the reprint. It isn't an angel like Baneslayer, but it is a Planeswalker which is just as exciting to some people.

Jace, the Mindsculptor

History:

Man, talk about a controversial card. Starting at the $35 range in presales, he quickly jumped the charts on its way up to $100 retail. He has seen play in every blue deck in standard and has become the boogeyman that everyone is afraid of. Now, I am in the camp that says Valakut is the problem, keeping Vengevine decks down, the ones that naturally prey upon Jace, but there is plenty of room for argument there. With 32 copies in the recent T8 of GP Dallas, people have started to call for the banhammer to hit Jace hard. However, with only a few months left for him to be around (and there may not being enough new data with New Phyrexia interacting with Jace) the DCI might not have a case to make an informed decision one way or the other. He is currently $70 on eBay and $80 for Vendors.

Future:

Well, this is probably the easist card to figure out where it is going. 0% chance of reprint and lots of play in older formats. I can see Jace being a lot like Tarmogoyf. A stern drop and then slow rebound once they realize that it is format defining in Legacy and Vintage to a degree. I would expect him to settle in the $50 range when everything is said and done. This barring any kind of reprint in a dual deck or promo give away, but I have a feeling Wizards wouldn't want that kind of reaction on the secondary market.

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