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Hello, everyone and welcome to the Tuesday edition of the Daily Stock Watch! Today, I'll be featuring a card that has seen its fair share of ups and downs, both financially and exposure-wise, but I think will be a force again soon. It's one of the beloved creatures of blue mages, and will always be loathed in Duel Commander by a lot of players.
Our card for the day is Geist of Saint Traft.
GST has been a multi-format staple ever since it was printed. It is evasive, protected by the control-oriented base color of blue and white, and bashes you in the head with a 4/4 angel whenever he attacks. It is a blue mage's light sabre, capable of controlling the force, and winning games quickly if left unanswered.
It has forced countless Commander players to adapt to its presence, making sure that they pack an answer to a turn three GST in their decks, and instilling fear to Modern players, by being a vital cog of Jeskai shells. It formed a lethal aggro deck from the unlikeliest colors back in 2012 when it teamed up with Snapcaster Mage, Delver of Secrets, and Restoration Angel to dominate Standard with Azorious Aggro. Now, it's slowly crawling its way back up to prominence by showing its fangs once more in Modern.
Jeskai Midrange
Players have started to realize that you don't actually need four copies of GST in your deck to win games -- you just need a clear board to drop it there, so you could ride it all the way to victory. This deck clearly shows that with more removal and permission spells, and the aide of Snapcaster Mage and Spell Queller, now might be the best time to believe in GST again to succeed in Modern.
With the help of my Utility Tracker, I was able to find out that 5.4% of winning decks over the last two months have used an average of 2.8 copies of GST in their decks. Snap has posted the most impressive number, with 19.9% of winning decks using at least 3.5 copies of it, thanks to its exposure in Grixis Death's Shadow and Jeskai decks. The rise is significant for GST, considering that only 2.2% of winning decks have used it prior to the last two months, especially in a very healthy Modern environment that is considered as arguably the most diverse format in Magic right now.
GSTs Friends
These cards, with the exception of Angelic Destiny and Spell Queller, have already been printed more than once in recent years. I think that GST is primed for its first reprint in any of the following Masters sets next year that's not named Masters 25, but I expect him to see tons of action in the next two to four months, regardless if something gets unbanned in February.
Right now, Star City Games is out of stock of all copies of GST, but you should see a number of it via TCGPlayer in the $12-$15 range for Innistrad normal copies. If foils aren't your thing but you need a playset for deck building purposes, the Duel Decks: Blessed vs Cursed version is cheaper at around $8.97 up to 10.99 via TCGPlayer and Card Kingdom. I don't like the idea of buying foil copies from Innistrad, since there already are different foil versions (Duel Deck and WMCQ) that could hurt its value in the long run, but the original art is what I personally like the most.
I really think that GST will be back in the $15-$20 range in the next month or so, and I'd say this is a good pick up. It should be winning more tournaments soon, and I think the pros would consider it for Pro Tour Rivals of Ixalan. Get on the hype train before it begins. It should be fun and profitable.
And that’s it for the Tuesday edition of the Daily Stock Watch! See you again tomorrow, as we take a look at a new card. As always, feel free to share your opinion in the comments section below. And if you want to keep up with all the market movement, be sure to check in with the QS Discord Channel for real time market information, and stay ahead of the hottest specs!
Excellent analysis Jamie. I really appreciate it and was able to stock up on a few copies on the cheap thanks to this.
Thank you for the kind words, Adam! Just call me Rob going forward!