Hello, everyone and welcome to a new edition of the Daily Stock Watch! I'm quite sure that the most recent banned and restricted announcement was a clear indication that Modern is in a healthy state, though I'm not sure if this most recent discovery could shift the balance in the format's power. It could easily be a hype call or there must be some busted way to make the multiple combos work in the deck featuring our budding Modern superstar.

The jump to $11.66 was astounding to say at the very least, and all but certainly because of the free content that Ben Friedman posted via StarCityGames a few days back. Just to have an idea of how the deck looks like, here's the list that Bryan Gottlieb initially came up with:

It's just like playing with Counters Company except for the fact that you could actually win the game by turn three if all the pieces of the puzzle fit. Another card from Guilds of Ravnica is the reason for this suddenly exploitable combo in the form of Doom Whisperer and its very strong ability. By burying all the cards you need in the graveyard with the help of surveil, you grant the ooze enormous power to be every creature that it wants to be without having the actual cards in play. This allows you to combo off with the classic Vizier of Remedies + Devoted Druid + Walking Ballista with the help of Morselhoarder, which prior to this writing looked every bit unplayable because of its high casting cost.

How good can Necrotic Ooze actually be? It's hard to gauge at the moment, considering you have a plethora of other graveyard-dependent decks out there (Bridgevine, Hollow One, and the resurgent Dredge) that would easily attract more hosers from top tier decks (Grafdigger's Cage, Leyline of the Void, Rest in Peace). However, the easiest way to beat this deck is in the form of a one mana artifact called Pithing Needle which suffice to say, could buy you some time from dying to an early Necrotic Ooze. You could still lose via beatdown but I'm quite sure that's a regular problem that every other Modern deck would be willing to deal with.

There would be a couple of Modern tournaments over the weekend and we shouldn't be surprised if we see this bunch in action and trying to steal games from unsuspecting opponents. I do think though that there's a better list out there that some pros might have formulated, otherwise the price spike for the Necrotic Ooze can't be solely blamed on the free article that not even everyone have read so far. The card has always been very good on its own and it's no secret to Duel Commander players how nasty it could get if left unscathed by the turn it comes down. There will be tons of answer for it in the slower Modern format but there's no mistaking that this card is a real threat to the balance of power if a list could be perfected. I don't mind losing a few dollars on a wedge that could pay off big time if it really gets over the board as the new premiere combo piece of Modern.

At the moment, StarCityGames and Card Kingdom if out of stock of Necrotic Ooze while there are still multiple vendors via TCGPlayer that's selling it for as low as $6.40. I would be suggest that you clean up those that are still below $8 and let's see where this could get us. The card will still have casual appeal if this hype doesn't pan out that well so just look at the upside of having it break the Modern scene and reach $20 range if it's for real. It would also be worth taking a gamble on the foil copies. We could be in for a big payday or a minor setback on this one.

And that’s it for today’s edition of the Daily Stock Watch! See you again next time, as we check out a new card that should be on the go, or good enough for speculating. 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!