This week, you will read many set reviews and I suggest that you give each one some scrutiny. I’m reviewing mainly with an eye toward Eternal magic, which is my strength. Typically, there isn’t much in a new set for Eternal formats, so I’ll amuse you and me both with commentary on other cards.

There’s a lot to be hopeful about in Return to Ravnica. I have not seen preorder prices for boxes go up this soon since Future Sight and the Zendikar treasures. Those boxes are going to be packed with money. What’s also cool is that this set is going to get people brewing with their favorite color schemes and trying out old favorites. These favorites aren’t going to be winners, but it’ll get things moving.

Chances are, you’re going to make a lot of money from RTR because you’re going to be actively reading and trading all through the next month or so. However, you have got to avoid losing money along the way, too! You don’t want to be stuck with Magic cards that you could have sold a few weeks ago for double the value.

We’ve got a lot to go over this week! First, I want to talk to you about quirks of the collector market in Legacy and Vintage. I’ll also touch on a pop-up card and some out-there picks in anticipation of Return to Ravnica.

I had a blast at GenCon this past weekend, mainly because I get to spend a lot of time with the larger-than-life personalities of QS. We played a lot of Danger Room and we were casually trading the whole time. This week, I’m going to share what I picked up on the language of how we trade cards from watching dozens of trades happen. This is fundamental stuff but in a way, it’s not a task for freshmen. Like in poker, either your personality sets you to playing the cards or playing the people, and this is for the readers who want to work with people to make trading easier and less tedious.

What if you could play hundreds of the best cards in Magic and not worry about mana? Isn’t it cool to think about drawing off the top of a giant deck and playing what comes up?

The Danger Room is a new way to play Magic. It uses a shared box of cards, meaning that you can play it with everyone, and it is very simple to learn.

It’s another week of examples today, selected to help hone some of your predictive senses on speculation. I’m going to share some cards today and I’ll be honest – sometimes, I still don’t know why these things act the way they do. Join me as we tease out the reasons why cards go up or fail to go up. You’ll get a sense of my thinking process and the questions that I’m asking myself along the way.

Speculation depends on your ability to make and act on quick decisions, often within minutes or hours. Doug shares case studies that help develop basic predictive instincts.

The Best Four Days in Gaming are fast approaching – learn the best times and methods of trading at GenCon as well as general convention tips in this week’s article.

Grand Prix Columbus was a great time – I was there – and it pulled in almost 1,050 players, which is impressive for a format that people seem to hate on the internet. Most of my opponents had not played the format before, but just about everyone expressed that they thought it was a fun format that they’d like to keep playing.

Comicon is in full swing and the Magic announcements just happened. This week, I’ll be looking at the unconfirmed rumors about reprints, first-time prints and what we can anticipate from Return To Ravnica.

All you need to know about how Commander influences foil prices is to look at Expedition Map. The low common goes for over $10 to the right player because when you become a Commander, you want foils all around you. All of those spells should be holographic! While we knew Map would be a good staple in Commander, I don’t think people called that it would be this much for a common, this early. Today, I’m going to share my forecasts for the next hot Commander cards – ones I think will double or triple in price in a year or two. Let’s start!

It’s hard to believe that Scars of Mirrodin is nearly two years old. It’s nearing the end of its rotation through Standard and while many of the prices in the set are still under the influence of Standard pricing, there are still a lot of hidden gems in the set. In this article, I’m going to focus on the lesser-known cards and the casual stars. You know about what Copperline Gorge and Darkslick Shores go for, but I’m sure you’ll come away from this with a more comprehensive knowledge of the set. If you’re looking for throw-ins or running your own bulk box, you’ll get a lot out of this.