Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Hopefully you’re planning (or already have) to stuff yourself with some turkey, or for the international readers, I hope you’re having a nice Thursday. Here in the USA, the Friday after Thanksgiving is the infamous day where people are known to camp out all night, or trample each other, simply to get dibs on a cheap flatscreen TV. For the financial minded Magic player, there’s some opportunities for us too. But before I dig into those, lets look at some of the post-Worlds madness.

Olivia Voldaren- Jeez, hopefully you caught on the buzz quickly when the email blast went out, because she moved like hotcakes. I don’t see her sitting atop such a high pedestal for long, so I’d be moving them out to anyone who values them at the new inflated price.

Etched Champion also saw a boost. I’ve been watching this guy religiously for some time. He was on my tracker for a long while as well. I think he’s the real deal, but his current value of $3 doesn’t leave too much room to grow more. So few decks want that card that he’ll never really soar to enormous heights, but itis something to continue to watch. If he creeps up anymore, I’ll be dumping mine as quickly as I can.

Stoneforge Mystic- Unrelated to worlds, Price has dropped so low on this that I’m starting to get curious. As long as its not banned in Legacy it will be a staple. If it comes much lower I’m moving in.
For Holiday specials, here’s a collection of what I’ve found. If you know of other good deals, share them in the comments or in the forums.

Your LGS - Your LGS, maybe having specials. Maybe you weren’t planning on FNM so you could be with family. Find out if they are having promotions, and you can sneak over early in the day. I know my LGS is having huge discounts on singles (25% off!), and even a promotion where you get a bonus if you buy a giftcard. If you’re going to be out of town for the holidays, look into the stores in that area, and see what’s happening. If you run a local store, you should consider these promotions in future years. I know our local LGS owner dumps a lot of back stock at this huge sales day.

Your Online Retailers - Even the major online retailers are slashing prices, and jumping in could be a good move. Most don’t, but some do, and it’s worth a quick browse:. Some of the one’s I’ve heard about so far include.
Troll and Toad – They are advertising some “doorbusting deals” but no prices posted. Among the list of Magic stuff they detail to be on special, includes Booster Boxes from most of the Standard Legal sets. If you’re in the market for those, I’d scope out exactly how amazing these prices are first thing Friday.
Channel Fireball – They are billing it as a promotion based on their success at Worlds, but 6% off all singles.
Amazon- They have got some price slashing on random older sealed products, especially precon decks and boosters through a variety of their vendors.

Major Market Chains - Stores like Toys R Us and WalMart have been known to carry certain Magic products, and they are the most likely to have killer deals going. Arthur Halavais (@ahalavais on twitter) directed me to the following ad for Toys R Us. While the promo on packs isn’t great, it is quite good for pre-con decks. I don’t know what availability will be like at all locations, but If you’re shopping for young ones anyway, you may want to peek at their selection and specials. Same goes for Wal-mart. While I wouldn’t personally be willing to battle my way through a Wal-Mart on Black Friday, if you’re doing some of your shopping there anyway, there’s likely some deals to be found on whatever Magic products they currently have in stock. Wal-Mart will be having their big sale on toys and games on Thursday Night, you can also check your local store’s inventory on Walmart.com.

EVEN MTGO?!?! - MTGO is having Sealed PTQs Friday, Saturday and Sunday this weekend. That’s 3x 500+ participants opening 6 boosters each (plus a top 8 draft for each). There is no doubt the market will be immediately flooded throughout the Friday event as people are trying to recoup some tickets to play again the following day. If you are working on Innistrad set redemption, it might be a good time to throw up some classifieds that you’re buying, and see what types of nibbles you get.

Craigslist? I do like to periodically scan Craigslist for deals, and I’ll be honest, I don’t normally find much, but the time investment is minimal. This time of year, however, people need the money for the holidays, and might be parting with their dusty old box. If you’re a craigslist surfer, don’t stay idle over the holidays, you can get the best deals when people are in a pinch for some holiday shopping money.

Have a great holiday!
Chad Havas