July was pretty poor in specs. Most of the job was done in June with the release of Modern Masters 2015 and I had very few spare Tix to invest in other positions.

Nonetheless, the account is still moving up, and with the recent release of Magic Origins, August should be much more interesting. ORI is what I'll be discussing a little bit today.

Before getting into more details, the next unlocked article from the Nine Months of Portfolio Management series is Part 8 – Mismanaging Return to Ravnica Block Positions.

Buying the right card at the right time is not enough, and selling it at the right is equally important. Being too greedy, distracted or not aware of the limitations of your specs can make you lose time and money. Selling early with a moderate gain is often better than selling later with an uncertain larger gain.

More information about the 1 Year, 100 Tix project can be found here:

• @100T1Y
• #100T1Ychallenge
• 1 Year, 100 Tix–How Far Can you Go? (to start from the beginning of this project)

July Numbers

As you can see, July is better than June. 384.4 Tix is the July valuation of my bankroll, a +7.2% increase compare to the previous month.

My Modern Masters 2015 positions pushed the value of the account over 400 Tix half way through the month, but Magic Origins release events caused all prices to decline right before the end of July.

Summary of the Specs

This month was relatively quiet in terms of specs. I had filled up on MM2 positions in June and was mostly ready to wait and see during July. I sold a few positions profitably, such as Obstinate Baloth, Inquisition of Kozilek (bought earlier this month) and Spell Snare.

I also sold Mindbreak Trap. This card was mostly flat since I bough it in May. The trap didn't really increase after its non-reprint in MM2 and, with no obvious short-term increase in sight, I sold it with a minor -1.45 Tix loss to invest in Simian Spirit Guide, a more dynamic position with better chances of profit in the short term.

The one card that picked up this month and maintained the cap--Monastery Siege. I don't how high Siege can go, but considering I grabbed it at bulk price, the blue siege might as well be the best spec of this project in December.

Magic Origins, With Moderation

Magic Origins is here, and with it one of the best opportunities of the year for speculators. Sadly for speculators, ORI is the last core set.

As we discussed in our special Magic Origins MTGO Market Report with Matt Lewis, core sets usually have a lot of underrated valuable cards (due to its position right before the Standard Rotation), are drafted for only about two months, and prices of singles markedly rebound once the fall set kicks in.

Mythics will probably hit a bottom around mid-August and rares will probably hit theirs in September. After that, anything that looks playable, even remotely, have a chance to yield very nice profit if acquired during the bottom periods and incorporated into a decent deck. Unlike any other regular sets, core set supplies are usually low, which is precisely what helps prices take off very easily after the release of the fall set.

The only little problem for this project is that core set mythics and rares may take their time to significantly rise in price. It may happen in November with the new Standard, but it may also happen later this Winter or even during Spring.

Since this project ends in December, I will have to be more selective in my choices and sell my potential ORI specs as soon as they turn a profit.

My favorite targets in ORI? The five painlands.

Their prices will be extremely low due to their presence in M15, but they will certainly be played independently of what Battle of Zendikar brings in and metagame changes. If you intend to speculate on ORI cards, these are a must. They are the only cards I would bet my house on.

To get there, there's one more thing I need to do in August--sell some of my positions and free some Tix before diving in Magic Origins.

Don't forget you can check out in real time my ORI specs @100T1Y and #100T1Ychallenge.

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Thank you for reading and following

Sylvain Lehoux