Two years ago Corbin Hosler wrote that profits on cards are mere illusions until you’ve cashed out. Today he revisits his article to see how the theory applies to today’s world of MTG finance.

Papa Jace has exploded in price recently, and Paul has some ideas about what might be the cause, ideas that could have wider ramifications for speculators in the near future.

On September 20, Christmas again came early for speculators everywhere. Wizards of the Coast decided to unban and unrestrict some cards and we are going to talk today about why some of them are winners and others are losers. At 12am they announced the changes and at 12:03, I had an email going out to Insiders about the changes with my suggestions. I’ll fill you in on how I made such quick decisions and why they have been pretty accurate.

Corbin Hosler shares some of the most unexpected, but profitable, gems you’ll find in everyday collections!

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.

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.

I love doing my financial recaps of older sets where I mine the expensive cards, but going back further is a little harder in two ways. First, there are just so few good cards in older sets. Second, the good ones don’t often turn over, so it’s hard to establish prices. Luckily, Mirage Block was the first “modern” block and it brought in some great spells that wizards still sling today. Let’s take a walk through time as we re-acquaint ourselves with the block. Below is a list of some of the choice picks from the block; I left out the cards worth under two dollars, leaving only the prime cards on the list. There are some cards in here that I guarantee will surprise you.

Corbin Hosler explains why Supply and Demand theory is being ignored and Dark Ascension is underpriced because of it@

Speculation and market investment in Magic is in its Golden Era right now. We have access to information at a speed that we never had before in Magic. If you’re spying for new tech, you don’t have to wait for a tournament report on the Dojo or read about it a month later in Inquest – you can hustle over to GGSlive and watch Kibler cast Huntmaster of the Fells in real-time. This article is about Magic speculation and price bubbles in what I am calling the “early modern” era.

Rise of the Eldrazi is the Timmy dream set. It’s what you’d get if you built a set with the premise of “no rush till turn 7” and packed mana accelerants in everything. The set is based around the Eldrazi, giant and evil old legends that awaken on Zendikar. There’s a little bit of plot to this set, but mostly people remember weird drafts and a couple really big monsters.

Worldwake is most iconic for Jace, The Mindsculptor, so let’s get that out of the way at the beginning. WWK has so much more going for it (okay, beyond just Stoneforge Mystic). Worldwake has several good-value rares and mythic rares, and thanks to how it was drafted, those cards will be worth more because so few were opened. Here’s what happened…

Welcome back to our exploration of Zendikar. If you were busy last week while we were plumbing the ruins of ancient tombs, take a look at Part One and you’ll catch up. Otherwise, come on in and let’s check out the second half of this set!