One of the unique perspectives I have the ability of offering is from being a dedicated merchant. Whenever new cards arrive, I get to dive back into the Wonderland world of "What will Sell?" Every true seller's nightmare is expecting one thing to happen and getting a completely different result. Often times, though, it doesn't matter. A card will be a seller, even for the most absurd reasons possibile, and - it just won't make sense.

Typically, players and people will just go with what they know. The online market place though offers even the most loyal customer the chance to try something new. If they do decide to go out on a limb, often times there is enough feedback on even your most ill established sellers to give you the needed motivation to "push the button." Price points will not determine if you get the most sells or not, often times though it comes down to exposure. How often are you there when they need a card? Five cards? Twenty? If they have to pay a little more in order to have a one stop shopping experience, then it becomes second nature for that to happen. Card selection is more important than all else.

This week, with the release of Journey Into Nyx spoilers, I wanted to dive into a the few cards that have been spoiled and dish out some of the meat. From a resell perspective - what cards would stick the most? There's not much to work with yet, but let's take a look.

Real Estate

The two newest Temples that we've received - Temple of Epiphany and Temple of Malady do not really hold very much sway in Standard. They'll compete with Shock Lands and aggressive decks in order to figure out that Mid Range and Control are still the only decks that want to play an "Always Come Into Play Tapped" land. The interesting part for me, beyond just completing the cycle - is it's application in older formats. Barring Legacy - I find that these two color combinations may benefit the most in Modern. Modern's card selection ability and the effect of manipulating your deck are few and far between, courtesy of the banned list. There are four high tier decks could potentially use these as 1-2 or even 3-4 copies, and not only fit the decks' play style but also the desire for card filtering.

What has been considered the budget deck du jour, has kind of taken the turn. UR Twin has now reach a solid representation that many of it's components are hitting highs that many have been hoping for. With these Temples, the pure combo plan of UR Twin finds another avenue of hitting the critical mess of spells in order to win. As well, often times Jund is played as a setup deck. Lacking the ability to filter it's draws in any shape or form could find a place for 1-2 copies of the B/G Temple. Both decks find that the early turns are simply for cheap, efficient removal or setting up for your combo turns later on. Storm plays much the same as Twin does. Looking for the early turns to filter out draws that will help get to the critical mass later on.

While not being able to hold up the price on there own. Standard will be what truly makes these cards tick, in the end. Look for this niche though to have an impact somewhere during the forthcoming Modern season as Mana + Card Selection is never a bad thing. Modern is full of decks that don't do many things in the early turns, and can afford to have more C.I.T.P tapped lands.

Ajani, Mentor of Heroes

It's been rumored and hoped for a while that we get a new Ajani. This time showing up in the great color combination of Green & White. Typically, I love to look at a card's cross platform applications. While Ajani does not seem to be a Modern or Legacy staple - I do believe that he will be a fantastic Commander and Standard seller for a long time to come. Most players love cards without drawbacks. The inherit choices of having to make complicated decision trees doesn't necessarily appeal to them. Should I tick Liliana of the Veil up? Or should I make them sacrifice a creature? Ajani, Mentor of Heroes throws that out of the window.

Very few planeswalkers have had two separate plus abilities and both of Ajani's are useful if you have or do not have creatures in play. While his ultimate ability does not end the game immediately - it will significantly put it out of reach for both formats. Look for him to be a staple for years to come, and a great edition to the pantheon of planeswalkers. If by chance he hits his price floor during his print run - I absolute envision a 200%-300% percent long term hold increase. Watch his price carefully over the coming months.

Keranos, God of Storms

Keranos, God of Storms is breaking the mold. Many of the Gods that have been released have been very focused on the board state at hand. Many are focused on the creature count and that sheer volume of Devotion that you control. In my mind, Wizards wanted to very much get the Gods right. They didn't want them to be too powerful & they didn't want them to take over the games too easily. So far, we've only really seen one God become a multi-format All-Star: Thassa. Keranos, I think will again be able to fit a niche roll in multiple formats, thus, keeping it's appeal high.

The Modern UWR shell often has an issue with late game being able to close things outs. Currently this slot is filled with Ajani Vengeant most times. While multifuncitional against a very hard matchup, Tron, and considerably the trump in most control mirrors - I see Keranos, God of Storms doing more of what UWR really wants: card draw & renewable damage. This could also translate into some of the U/W/x builds that have been dominating Standard of late. An additional win condition that does not necesarily care if it ever becomes a creature or not. Once this hits the board - it's there and will continue to provide it's function the entire time.

In Conclusion....

The casual appeal of most of the Gods have already meant most of them are hard to keep in stock with high quantities, but the flagship of this block really has yet to disappoint. Now that the market has been saturated, the price floors are starting to more clearly come into view.  The lands, too, have proven time and time again that Magic begins and ends with the manabase. All other things are only possible from there. Some point in the near future, basic lands will become relevant again - ala Zendikar Block. There's been way too many Blocks with perfect mana. The setup is there, let's see if October brings us the Onslaught Fetchlands again.

The Mythics & Rares of today, are the fodder for a healthy trade binder of the future. The rise of Commander, the continued application of Modern, and Legacy forever being a thing have truly banished the notion that post rotation is the death of any card. In truth, you never know what will drive a card to be an amazing seller. ANY card is a good card to sell. It all just depends on how you want to be setup. Are you looking for short, mid, or long term profit? Buy low, sell high is always the name of the game. As always, just put in the work....

-Till Next Time