Hey everyone, my name is Eric and I’m a new addition to the fine writers here at Quiet Speculation! To give you a little bit of back story on myself, I run a small YouTube channel, UndyingMTG. I touch on many things Magic related, and finance is one of those categories. I view things from a different angle than what most would call traditional MTG finance. I have been speculating cards for about eight years (off and on) now and sell by both buylisting and the secondary market. I primarily look at long-term growth (minimum six months), and at cards that are typically considered 'budget' but have the potential to go up in the future.

The formats I tend to look at most are Commander, Modern, and Pioneer. I do look at Standard-legal cards, but it’s usually in reference to an eternal format it can be used in. The other reason is when it comes closer to rotation, I will look at cards to consider buying/trading into post-rotation. If you are curious if I either practice what I preach or wanting to know my profits from speculating, I currently have profited (after card cost, shipping, materials, fees, etc.) 42.74% from sales (as of 3/25/20).

My binder is currently at 35% higher (according to TCG low) than what I have purchased my cards for. That will obviously change as time goes on, but I felt I should share where I’m currently sitting. I don’t feel like I’m a know-it-all by any stretch, but my methods (for myself) have been working for me. I hope to provide a different approach you can take when it comes to your future ventures in speculating.

Quick Overview

Now that we got that out of the way, we are going to be discussing a card that you should consider buying/trading for in Pioneer format, Myth Realized. At first glance, I’m sure most are thinking “I don’t really get it,” but I am here to tell you that there is upside with this enchantment. Personally, I feel this could be a viable win-condition in control decks.

To start with, it’s only a one CMC card, making it a fairly low-risk play. Secondly, it is an enchantment (non-creature spell), so any additional copies played give the first one a counter. An Azorius shell is where I feel this would make the most sense to play, as it would be the strongest suitor for a non-creature build. It is potentially harder to remove given the fact it is an enchantment as it sits.

That being said, the longer it sits, the greater chance it has to become larger with more counters. Being in a control build, we aren’t really looking for a speedy win. This would allow us to keep control of our opponents’ side of the board, keep bolstering counters on it, and come in hot late-game with a potential bomb.

Lastly, the most important thing to consider is the low activation cost of its abilities: the first only costs one white to turn it into a creature, and the second provides a repeatable late-game mana-sink that allows us to close out the game.

Using Myth Realized 

Now, let’s talk about how we can use this thing. It's going to be used most optimally in a deck utilizing a ton of non-creature spells. UW Control in Pioneer feels like the best home for this card. Here is a deck that recently got a 5-0 in an MTGO league and Myth Realized could easily be plugged unto it! Leveraging a powerful boardwipe like Supreme Verdict will not remove Myth Realized as long as it's an enchantment, enabling us to blow the board up and swing for the fences!

Downsides

This almost goes without saying, but the biggest drawback is the fact that creature removal can be used on it once you change it. You would have to make sure you can defend against a potential removal play before activating. Bounce spells are another thing that can hinder the upside to this. If it goes back to hand, it will lose all counters. That being said, in a deck like the one above, we can make our opponent make the choice of using a removal spell on this or not. Would it be more worth it to remove Myth Realized with six counters, or remove a planeswalker? Game State matters, but the enchantment mode of Myth Realized provides a bit of resiliency in our gameplan and an added layer of complexity for our opponents.

However, a hard fact is that a vanilla creature isn't very appealing on clogged board states. Chump blockers all but nullify its effectiveness, making it necessary to pair it with a board wipe like Supreme Verdict. Myth Realized's greatest appeal is gradually growing a late-game threat over the course of each turn. Aggressive decks may outpace our growing threat with cheap hitters of their own before we can take over the game.

We need to maximize value by casting non-creature spells left and right to bolster this thing up, and our success rate is much higher if our opponent isn't sporting a grip of spot removal for our key threat.

Wrapping Things Up

Looking into "bulk" cards like this that have low (three or less) CMC and hold upside should be in consideration as potential specs. Pioneer is still trying to find itself and there will be cards in the coming months/years that will break into the format unexpectedly. This card, in particular, is a very intriguing choice in this regard.

Currently, due to COVID-19 having an effect on the market, now would be a great time to not only get higher-end cards but cards in this class, too. Assuming that Stay at Home orders and Social Distancing policies are soon, the market might start rebounding by mid/late summer. I'm being optimistic in thinking this will be under control by mid-May, early June.

If you are a person who has a lot of bulk to trade in, consider this as an option to acquire on your trading venture. Even if it doesn't go places in Pioneer, it may see adoption in Commander in enchantment-based strategies. I hope you all enjoyed this take on Myth Realized and put this in your memory bank for you next buy/trade venture. If you liked this, feel free to check out my YouTube channel here, as I have other finance and other topics you may find interesting!