Locations
Vegas has come and gone in a blur of partying and gambling for most. I spent most of the weekend relaxing in the Brainstorm Brewery house catching up with friends, spending sleepless nights chilling next to the pool taking in the atmosphere. For those of you who were not fortunate enough to make this legendary event, I cannot begin to describe the feeling of walking into a room with over four thousand people ready to battle. As much as I would love to drone on about how amazing the event was or how much fun I had in the house, I am sure you did not come here for that, so instead, I want to cover some of the major financial changes that occurred this past weekend.
Foil Unhinged lands saw a spike this weekend, as one of the major vendors began the weekend by buying the rest of the room out at retail. The price has not settled yet as far as I know, but I can see the Islands topping a hundred and the rest following in line from there. Auction sites have not caught up to the trend yet, but I can see a buyout in the next week online as stores begin to restock. Most people do not have access to a ton of these in their local areas, but given the imminent spike, it may not be a bad idea to grab some of the regular copies as well if you can find them in trade binders. At worst, they will continue to go up over time and are unlikely to drop in the future even with additional full-art lands being a very real possibility after Zendikar.
On the lower end of the financial scale, we have a few Modern cards that have been ready to spike for a number of months now and finally broke that barrier. The first card I noticed a buy-list spike on was Birthing Pod. This New Phyrexian rare has been poised to jump, and given the movement on Magic Online lately, it was no surprise when vendors started offering four each over the weekend. It may still be early to sell them, as we are a ways away from Modern season, but if you are looking to double up on what was a $2 card a few months ago, now is a fine time.
By now, most people reading this article will have seen that Tarmogoyf and Dark Confidant are now more than they were before the reprint, which has proven that Modern Masters did not tank the market as some expected. On this note, I would encourage you to get in on any of the other reprinted cards that see regular play. Buy lists were very aggressive this weekend as the secondary market attempted to absorb all of the product opened in anticipation for the coming months. Although I would stray away from the more casual cards, I would be grabbing up every competitive card I can find. I expect most prices to return to where they were before the reprint and some to spike even higher as we approach the Modern season.
On the topic of Modern, I want to take a second to take note of a trend I noticed while we were shop-crawling to Vegas. Though the buying was weak and the road trip in general was a bust, I did notice that a sizable number of stores along the way were embracing Modern in some capacity. It seemed that every other store we visited had a Modern event planned for that week, and even those that had nothing currently on the books did talk of coming plans. Modern seems to have been a success even on the local level, meaning any staples you can pick up for cheap—such as fast lands from Scars of Mirrodin—are almost no-brainers. I expect a large portion of the formats staples to continue a steady upward trend, so now is the time to get in—player and trader alike.
Affinity cards seemed to move well, which I assume is due to the recent success of the Tezzeret decks. Even with the recent rise, I expect another spike in the coming months if the deck proves to be the real deal and sticks around. I think the cash price is a little steep to be diving in now, but I would be targeting them aggressively in trade if you have the chance.
If you’re interested in hearing more about the Vegas house or price trends over the weekend, check out this week’s edition of Brainstorm Brewery. Check in next week as I put all the ducks in a row and really take the chance to evaluate the market after this weekend’s major shifts. As always, if you have any questions, leave them in the comments below. Thanks for reading, and keep your fingers crossed for a run back of Vegas next year—I know I’ll be there!
Ryan Bushard
