Dies to Removal

I didn't list Karn as a speculation target because he'd already blown up by the time I made my post. Wurmcoil Engine is still pretty valid, considering it's the Next Level answer to most Midrange decks.

Wow, those foils practically doubled in value from right before the New Year. They were $35 right after the New Year IIRC after being stable at $30 for since rotation.

Karn Liberated is the kind of card you could probably hold onto forever for value assuming it doesn't get reprinted in a core set (re: Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker).

it's an auto-4-of in RG Tron and probably also UW Tron, but I have never played with or against UW Tron. Also, EDH.

If you don't have Batterskull, I would get your copies sooner than later. The card has gone up to $10 from $6 as of... basically the last time I looked at its price. Batterskull is in a lot of Modern decks and isn't up for reprint in Modern Masters. Also it's a Mythic, making it an entirely reasonable speculation target.

Similar Modern spec targets are Phantasmal Image, Birthing Pod, Splinter Twin, Melira, Deceiver Exarch (because Pestermite is a valid reprint in MM), Thrun (which has gone up from $2-4 to $9), Loam Lion, Expedition Map, Wurmcoil Engine, Phyrexian Metamorph, and my darkhorse pick Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas (who has gained 2 dollars over the few months I haven't looked at his price).

The Brain Trust at MTGS has also thrown out Hero of Bladehold as a speculation target, but seeing as the card has seen fringe at best Modern play, while Tezzeret at least boasts occasional t8s in multiple formats, I'm going
to place that suggestion directly in the garbage where it belongs. If you have Hero of Bladehold, hold onto them because they're generally good cards and "who knows," but there are many more valid and reliable places to trust your money to.

The big issue with Modern Masters is we don't have any scope of what "limited printing" means, since everyone who claims prices will drop gets shot at with "But it's a limited printing," but the express purpose of this set is to make Modern more affordable and accessible to new players to make it a viable eternal format for tournament play.

Making Goyf Mythic will probably help prop up the value of old goyf, but having a guaranteed foil in every pack coupled with a normal printing is going to piss all over the new printing's value.

It also hurts that we don't really have any spoilers at this point aside from Storm, Faeries, Goyf, and what is most likely City of Brass.

Spellskite just shot up to $12. Does anyone have any details on why this is?

They have very low numbers of Tundra and Volcanic Island available, but reasonable amounts of Tropical Island and USeas (online; IDK what their on-site stock looks like or if they have a vault of event-floor stock versus online).

I said this about a half year ago, but Legacy, I feel, has hit a critical mass in players; it may not entirely be card availability, but the number of people who want to buy into the format may have peaked out. SCG Legacy events don't seem as well-populated as they used to be. IIRC, their numbers usually wind up around a good to average PTQ (100-200 people, usually toward the lower half of that range) as of late. I'm not saying Legacy is dead, but I am saying that maximizing your dollar for Legacy cards may not be the worst idea, especially with all of the tournament support Wizards is giving to Modern going forward.

It's not something I'd be too concerned with; it's just another in a line of fleeting and explosive value cards that will very likely die down pretty much as quickly as they blow up (latest online PTQ had it place outside of top 16).

I can't imagine that deck is going to stay good in a format with an Infect deck that requires far fewer cards to go all-in and claim victory. If you're not dumping your copies, it is probably a mistake.

That said, I need to head home and scour my bulk boxes for them.

lol what is making that card so good?
I have one for Zur.edh.dec

There's a Modern deck of 1cc Hexproof creatures (Slippery Boggle and a 1/1 elf from M12), Kor Spiritdancer, some 1cc Totem Armor auras, Rancor, and it. It's done well in a number of DEs and some PTQs and was hyped by PVDDR on Twitter.

I spent the holiday picking up Splinter Twin and Birthing Pod. Each card is doing very well on MODO and neither card is due for reprint in Modern Masters. Splinter Twin was on sale for $2 on SCG for their holiday sale, while Birthing Pod is on TCGPlayer for around $2.50. I would aim for these prices if you intend to stock up or do not already have these cards.

I would add Wurmcoil Engine to the list of cards you should probably buy. It's value hasn't deflated much BUT it and Batterskull are major Answer cards in Modern, and Batterskull has huge popularity in Legacy.

As I noted in chat, if you don't get Scars lands now, you'll likely regret it in not very much time. Modern as an FNM format, Scars block not being included in Modern Masters, and the omnipresence of Scars lands in Modern make them prime candidates for value hikes.

I would also keep my eye on Raging Ravine, Creeping Tar Pit, and Celestial Colonnade. They're not nearly as omnipresent as Scars lands, but their values are not very large investments and it's hard not to break even on having extra copies.

I have my suspicions that the blue-based Scars lands may see the largest gains if Modern takes off, followed by or parallel to Blackcleave Cliffs. I would also not discount Razorverge Thicket because of the GW
Maverick analog, Junk, and Melira-Pod decks that all made relatively decent showings at the last modern GP (and keep popping up on MODO). Copperline Gorge seems like the land least likely to jump, but Gruul is in Gatecrash, so maybe we'll see some power-level pushing.

For reference:
Seachrome Coast: Standard high around $20, currently $3.50-$4
Darkslick Shores: Standard high around $20, currently $2.00-$3
Blackcleave Cliffs: Standard high around $11, currently $4.00-$5
Copperline Gorge: Standard high around $7-8(?), currently $2-$2.50
Razorverge Thicket: Standard high around $12-15(?), currently $1.5-$2

gobbless

None of these posts are AvB, lol. This would fall under Eternal Huge Gainers, but there's no introductory OP. Fail whale.

my thoughts are we have a vague "eternal/standard/casual fluctuators" threads like I started back on MSC and also have AvB global thread.

I have a sinking suspicion that it'll be either a while or massive upsurge in Modern before Scars lands make a comeback, but don't let either of those things stop you since just look at Filter Lands from Lorwyn block, since they're currently seeing more play than Shocks in your average deck.

I don't know what your portfolio of cards looks like or what you're looking for (short versus long term gains?), but I just updated the RTR thread to reflect current value trends for Standard cards (protip: You've missed the boat on Innistrad Block).

Don't buy anything printed between 8th Edition and Zendikar.

Scars lands, Man-duals, aforementioned RTR sleepers, and smaller things like Splinter Twin, Birthing Pod, Melira, Scars Swords, and Batterskull are safe investments.

Note that this is probably not the direction I'm looking to take this thread in (mostly I want to use this as a groupon or similar coupon/deal storing
hub for MTG), but no harm in answering your question.

Time Vault just get unbanned in Legacy and it's about to go in all the cool kids' decks?
Did they just ban Valakut all over again in Modern?
Did they print something that puts your Gilder Bairn combo at the absolute cutting edge of multiple formats top tiers?
Do you just expect that certain older cards are criminally undervalued in formats where your cards are good forever?
Post about it here!

This thread is for discussing directions and market speculations for card values with cards in eternal formats, including Legacy, Modern, and Vintage. Some good examples were my classic speculation on Vendilion Clique's price jump, movement on Time Spiral after it was unbanned, and the plummeting value of Jace, the Mind Sculptor after it was confined to Legacy play (which has since reversed itself, but these are just older examples).

If you think you have some hot tips about card prices and
where they're going, post them here!