Before this week, I have focused primarily on Standard and Modern cards when talking about investments. The primary reason for this is the rapid shift in the metagame that allows you to make a quick return when your called shot skyrockets. This does not, however, mean investing in Legacy is a bad idea—quite the contrary, in fact. Legacy is among the safest places to invest if you know what you are doing. Anyone can look at the price of dual lands over the past few years and realize there is long-term money in them. This process, although among the safest investments that can be made, is not always the most profitable. This week, I want to cover what it takes to look past the obvious price hikes and instead look at where the market is headed down the road and what cards people may have just left in the dust.

Before I get into the riskier calls, I want to talk about what current Legacy staples you should be looking to pick up in the near future. Wasteland is one of those cards that instantly comes to mind when I think of underpriced staples. There was a point a month or so back that this card was actually selling for more on eBay than it was on most major retail sites. When we see an anomaly like this, it typically means the card is criminally underpriced and is likely to spike soon. Currently, Wasteland is going for around $40, up from its recent low of $35. Although people are slightly more hesitant to trade Legacy staples like this when the prices are so low, you can always find people who are willing to part with them if you can provide them other, equal-value staples. Cards like Maze of Ith and Rishadan Port are great examples of Legacy cards that have been fairly stable for the past year and have far less of a chance of a sudden price spikes due solely to their current lack of play. Even if you have to give full value in a trade for Wastelands right now, I would do so—the card can only keep this price for so long. People are far less likely to sell copies to retail sites when they are lucky to get $20 out of it, meaning the buy price will have to go up soon, which, in turn, will bring the sell price up as well.

The next card I want to cover that already has a hefty price tag is Lion's Eye Diamond. We regularly see this card played in a number of Top 8 decks from LED Dredge to Ad Nauseam, and although it is already between $30 and $40, I feel it has even more room to grow. With the introduction of Faithless Looting, I can see a revitalization of LED Dredge in the coming months, which would only drive this already-sought-after mana source even higher. The biggest problem this deck faced before was consistency, which it gave up for the ability to go off turn one. Now with Faithless Looting, we have eight ways to begin the cycle, and unlike Deep Analysis, Faithless Looting can be cast from hand if we don’t have access to an immediate Lion's Eye Diamond. I don’t expect a huge spike, but considering how little play the card is seeing now, it would not surprise me if the card jumped $20 the first time a Dredge deck Top 8’d. This, of course, is hampered by Grafdigger's Cage from the new set, so I wouldn’t hold onto the Diamonds for long when they do spike—I assume the Cage will quickly keep it in check.

Scavenging Ooze is another card everyone already knows about but that is certain to rise over time, barring a set reprint. Although the ship has sailed long ago to pick these up cheap, I am always willing to trade for them at nearly full retail because of how easy they move. These things will not stay in a binder, which tells me that their price can only go up as Maverick and other decks of that ilk continue to do well. This guy is a catch-all in Legacy, doing everything from shrinking Knights and ’Goyfs to shutting down reanimator. Decks running Green Sun's Zenith have begun playing him over ’Goyf in many builds—sometimes even in multiples—and considering he comes as a sole copy in a Commander precon, we will likely see a large spike when those precons begin to wane in quantity.

Those are just a few of the many cards I have been keeping my eye on in the existing Legacy metagame, but what about some less obvious picks? There are a good number of cards in the Legacy card pool that are certainly playable and are currently seeing no love. These calls are riskier given that they have no precedence and would probably take a deck Top 8’ing to increase in value. This is also a boon for you as a trader because they have little to no current value, making them easy to pick up for cheap.

I have had my eye on Skyshroud War Beast since the introduction of Green Sun's Zenith about a year ago. Although this guy may be trumped by ’Goyf or Ooze in most scenarios, he still has the potential to be larger than either of them given the right situation. With Green Zeniths running rampant, I see no reason this card could not see play to break the ’Goyf standoffs in a lot of mirror matches. I don’t necessarily see the card in the maindeck due to how poor it is in a number of matchups such as Merfolk and Goblins, but I can certainly see a singleton in the ’board of Maverick-style decks. This card is currently considered bulk, and although it would only be run as a singleton in most decks, I can still see the card spiking to $10 if it begins to see play. I don’t see that value holding, but as long as you know when to dump the copies you have picked up, you are golden! The other advantage to Warbeast over ’Goyf and Ooze is that he has trample. Although that may not seem like much, it can be extremely relevant when playing against cards like Mother of Runes that can chump-block all day long. This also makes him a better handler for Equipment like Sword of Feast and Famine or Sword of Fire and Ice—he is likely to hit the player in most cases even if he does have a blocker. All of these factors lead me to believe this guy could see some serious play if he finds the right home next to cards like Green Sun's Zenith and Stoneforge Mystic in the next few months.

Another card I have been looking at for a while now is Recurring Nightmare. So few modern-day players remember how good this card is, which is sad because even given the power curve, this still seems above par. I am less comfortable picking these up given that they already have a solid value in the $6 to $8 range, but at the same time, that value has held for a while and is unlikely to drop any time soon. I can see this in a pseudo-reanimator build, taking advantage of enters-the-battlefield and dies abilities to control the board. I would not go after this full-force, but keeping mental notes on cards like this is always a good idea when looking to fill out a trade.

Although cards like these may seem like long shots, it would certainly not be the first time hidden tech has dramatically spiked the price of a card in the recent past. My buddy Kelly Reid had been on this little-known card called Tower of the Magistrate for a while last year, in many cases picking them up at bulk. As we all know now, the card has risen to between $8 and $10, meaning anyone in his shoes would have made a healthy profit. Scenarios like this are what drive competitive traders to keep an eye out for the next big thing before it hits, and they are, in the end, what create the biggest paydays. I have a multitude of other called shots between Legacy and Vintage, but I would not have enough time in the day to discuss them all. Instead, I want to see what you guys think—what are your sleepers? Is there a card you have been on for a while that just hasn’t hit yet, or have you been the one to make that insane call in the past, watching the money flow in as you bank on the return? Let me know in the comments what cards you think have the potential to skyrocket and what you think about my opinions in this article. Also, give me some ideas for an article topic for next week. I have something brewing for the next series, but I won’t be able to get that rolling for a few weeks—I need to organize time for some interviews and reviews. I look forward to what you guys have to say, and as always, keep the trade hand strong!

Ryan Bushard

@CryppleCommand