Insiders, I’m ecstatic to continue our segment: QS Cast Infographics!

Part of our recent growth and additions to the site is the recruitment of some amazing people – in this instance Guillaume (@poppu_mtg) our new data analyst and Diego Fumagalli (Visualizing Magic) our resident graphic artist.

They came together and produced some amazing Infographics that have tracked the QS Cast and provided the numbers, and data, to track both Tarkan and myself since we’ve been duo-hosts. In this update they tracked Episodes 37-74 and provided graphics spanning from Overall to 30, 60, and 90 days.

You can be sure that we will provide monthly updates to reflect recent data. I have the great pleasure of showing these off and providing a statement from Guillaume to give us some context behind these numbers and providing some additional clarity. Let’s see how the QS Cast has fared for this update!

This month was quite the ride for the QS Cast's picks: Chaz doubled up last month's gains for the 30 day period, from $262 to $550, mostly thanks to Judge Promo copies of Wheel of Fortune (+$46.82, +21%) and a Reserved List target in Knowledge Vault (+$14.27, +249%). Still, his biggest winner over that interval of time remains Saheeli Rai, with a tough to top +388% at the time people were copying Cats left and right. Tarkan was only present for a handful of casts, and was limited to 5 additional picks since last month's checkpoint, netting him just $10 more via foil copies of Cover of Darkness (+$3.06, +29%).

Looking at the picks through the 3 month investment lens, both our casters tripled up into the $100 range ($106 for Chaz, $95 for Tarkan), doing so using their trademark style of picking cards. Chaz's largest gains are driven by EDH cards, specifically aimed at Atraxa builds: Dusk Urchins (+$4.64, +587%) but predominantly Harbinger of Night (+$7.50, +1531%), which has the added feature of belonging on the Reserved List.

Speaking of, being the RL aficionado that he is, Tarkan fully benefited from the recent buyout frenzy - if you excuse my use of the B word - via Preacher (+$6.20, +55%) and Imprison (+$8.64, +188%). The cast's numbers could be even better if not handicapped by their attempts at Modern picks, with Damnation (-$12.45, -24%) and Noble Hierarch (-$4.08, -6%) really weighing the totals down - thanks a lot, Modern Masters 2017!

And then, there is the long term evaluation- It did not get better for Chaz: from -$60 last month to a staggering -$105 this month. So, yes, Fiery Confluence quadrupled up (+$8.26, +326%), and yes, Saffi Eriksdotter (+$6.43, +180%) and Grasp of Fate (+$5.4, +210%) tripled up; but at the same time, Damnation plummeted (-$22.29, -43%), and Nissa, Vital Force remains a clunker (-$15.1, -76%) despite seeing play in some Legacy and Vintage lists. Meanwhile, Tarkan netted a decent 20% gain overall for that period, from $150 to $184, again thanks to Imprison (+$8.53, +156%) but also Wheel of Fortune (+$5.28, +14%).

In the most Tarkan-ian fashion ever, the only cards losing value over 180 days are mostly Standard cards, as Mindwrack Demon (-$2.40, -63%), Panharmonicon (-$1.12, -31%) and Aetherstorm Roc (-$0.18, -38%) are hit with the biggest relative losses.

In conclusion, both Chaz and Tarkan are following the trends we noticed last time, each of them fitting a different "financier" profile: Chaz is very succesful with quick flips for large profits, while Tarkan is more selective but will hardly lose value overall on the long term. With another major reprint set coming up early next year, I am already curious to see if and how our casters compensate.

In conclusion, both Chaz and Tarkan are following the trends we noticed last time, each of them fitting a different "financier" profile: Chaz is very successful with quick flips for large profits, while Tarkan is more selective but will hardly lose value overall on the long term. With another major reprint set coming up early next year, I am already curious to see if and how our casters will change their way.