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Earlier this week I posted a short piece about cards to look for from this weekends Open event in Louisville, you can find that here if you haven't read it yet. I'm going to do a quick update like that every weekend that there is something worth updating about, and if its a pressing matter I'll do my best to have it up Sunday night.
I do want to take just a moment and thank the readers who leave comments here; it makes it much easier to write articles tailored to what you are looking for when I know....well, what you're looking for.
This was a tweet from awesome online card dealer, @TheSundry
@QuietSpec This is exactly the sort of thing I was looking for when I signed up for Insider. Keep it up!
Thanks Don, we'll do our best!
My article from last week also got a great comment from QS member RyeAbc,
Write ups like this make the membership fee worth it. Straightforward summary, prices and sites listed etc... Great stuff.
He also goes on to mention updates done after Opens, hence the Monday write-up. We do listen to your comments, so please leave them if you have an idea or suggestion!
Onto this weeks news;
Energy Field is gone, from everywhere. It was gone as of earlier today. I scoured every site I could find, hoping to find a random copy that someone, somewhere had missed. No such luck. If you have them, hold them. If you don't have them, go to local shops and even Craigslist and see if there are any collections you can go through or buy if they are worth it.
Sorin Markov is a confirmed reprint for M12, as is Gideon Jura. I would expect the already low price on Sorin to fall even more. While Sorin has recently been found on some buy lists as high as $7, I would expect this to drop to $2-$3, so if you have extras and can find a dealer willing to pay more, take them up on the offer. Gideon is currently above $20 on most sites, and can be sold for $15+ as well. I expect him to fall down to $5-$6 after M12 comes out, and his price is already dropping, so sell while you're able!
Shops currently buying the above two cards:
*Note that some dealers have a limited demand, and some may no longer need the cards, a benefit of reading early.
SCG: Sorin Markov @ $5.00, Gideon Jura @ $15.00
CFB: No current Buylist
White Lion Games: Sorin Markov @ $7.33, Gideon Jura @ $21.33
3rd Coast Cards: Sorin Markov @ $7.07, Gideon Jura @ $20.87
Dragonslayer Online Sorin Markov @ $7.25, Gideon Jura @ $21.00
Ebay prices are overall lower than the above mentioned sites, and I wouldn't recommend using Ebay for those cards at this time, though you are certainly welcome to.
There are some great prices there, but what do you do if you have a card you stocked up on while it was cheap, say Death's Shadow, and it's price never went up? How do you get rid of them before they rotate and you're stuck with 30 useless rares?
First off, the important thing is to never put yourself into a situation where the rares are useless. At worst, you bulk them off for $0.15 each, and either cut even or take a very small loss since you shouldn't be paying much more than $0.25 for them anyways. Next, you start using extras as throw-ins to even out trades. I've often been able to throw in a card at 3-4 times its actual price in order to "shore up" most trades that are on the fence. This works more often than you would think, and even in situations you wouldn't think it would. Friend and QS member @MTGVeteran saw me sell an M11 Rootbound Crag for a dollar to the SCG dealer in San Jose to even up my sale to a flat number.
Alright, so you've traded away what you could, you've sold at what profit you were able to, and you've still got 12 copies left. Now your options are to bulk them out, or sit on them and hope they eventually make a mark in legacy. I would do both, sitting on 8 copies isn't going to hurt you, even if they do drop down to $0.01 as long as you sold/traded the others at profit, and you can bulk the remaining. Death's shadow is an interesting card for its cost, and there is always potential to abuse a card that gets better the lower health you are. I wouldn't say sit/sell on every card you bulk up on, since some cards just have no legacy appeal to them either through a prohibitive cost, or something that does the same effect, but better, already existing from a previous set.
A card that I talked about recently, and will mention again now is Praetor's Counsel, and I bring it up again because of the newly announced Modern format being played at the Community Cup. If this format takes hold, and I see no reason why it shouldn't, Praetor's Counsel is that formats Yawgmoth's Will, and with Ravnica duals, Zendikar Fetch lands, and many sets of mana ramping, extra turn taking, and degenerate combo pieces laying around, its in an excellent position to be broken, and have its price pushed up hard in a very short period of time.
Its currently listed on SCG @ $1.49, CFB @ $0.79, MOTL/BLP @ $0.85, and Ebaying for around $3.00 for 4.
That's about it for this week, thanks for reading, and don't forget to drop me a comment about ways we can better suit your needs!
Stephen Moss
@MTGStephenmoss on twitter
MTGStephenmoss@gmail.com
You could run Heartbeat Harvest with Praetor's Counsel if you really wanted, but I'm not sure it would be worth the slot since you don't have a tutor for it, unlike Maga/Invoke.
The insider perks are really starting to pick up now.. we need that predictions tracker up and running asap!
Great article. Thanks! and keep 'em coming.
We're getting really close to having the tracker. I've revamped a new version of the spread sheet we're using for input and display earlier today based on some feedback from the contributors. I even adding in some additional functionality just a little while ago. Corbin Hosler is driving the content on the project and coordinating with the other writers, and I know he wants to launch it asap.
Good article, and you put a lot of work in every week finding the best places to buy/sell cards. It's easy to process, and enjoyable to read.
You all know my feeling on Praetor's Counsel…
I wonder if I should snap up another 30 or 40 of 'em….
With Energy Field being legacy's latest darling (at least financially), how long would you sit on extra copies of them Stephen? Kronenberger's (sp?) deck and 1st place finish strike me as more of an aberration than an evolution for MUC, with other writers claiming Back to Basics and Misdirection did the true heavy lifting. Think it's safer to hold them indefinitely than to auction them off now while his victory's still fresh in everyone's mind?
Going to cover this in next weeks article, since it fits with what I'm writing about.