Weekly Winners 2021 - 02

The Kaldheim spoilers are full speed upon us! There has been no shortage of products or spoilers over the past months, but some good old Magic distraction is very welcome!

Like every week, just in time for (digital) FNM, I'll now tell you about the cards that will be the talk of the (digital) town tonight!

 

See something interesting in the world of card prices? Be sure to pitch me a tweet: @MTGPeter

 

#1 Rhys the Exiled $23.21 (+523.92%)

 

We haven't seen many spikes this high lately! But with a +500% increase Rhys the Exiled made it onto the top of our charts this week. It's a card that hasn't seen a lot of play up until recently. And even today, the amount of actual play this card sees is very limited. A price spike like this is surprising and quite unexpected.

But we are in the midst of spoiler season, remember? Well Kaldheim has something interesting in store for all Elf-lovers! A new Elf-commander for Lathril, Blade of the Elves.

It's easy to understand why Rhys the Exiled is a great fit for this Elf deck. With it you gain life for each elf you control. And attacking with your commander gives you extra elves. And if someone tries to kill your Rhys the Exiled, you simply tap a mana (you'll have plenty) to regenerate it and gain some more life the next turn. Also notes that it reads: "whenever Rhys the Exiled attacks". You don't need to deal damage. Your opponent can block it, but its ability still triggers. If it would die in combat, simply regenerate it.

The explanation for this spike might seem easy enough. But there is a catch! The new commander was leaked on December 8th and spoiled on December 18th. So we've known about this card for over a month now! Normally this happens much sooner. Especially when the synergy between the cards seems so obvious. Probably a content creator has found out about it and people jumped on the hype train. I haven't been able to find that content though.

It seems like decent tech and Rhys the Exiled will probably hold quite some of the value it gained.

 

Rhys the Exiled
Morningtide	CardKingdom $4.99	TCGPlayer $23.21

 

#2 Pox $7.13 (+79.15%)

 

If you started playing Magic in the mid-90s, you'll remember Pox either fondly (because you played it) or it still haunts your nightmares. My memories are fond, since I am a huge fan of greedy, mono black decks with a ton of removal. As you probably know, those decks don't hold up quite as well in a multiplayer game. In a 1-on-1 game, you can focus all your attention on that one opponent, who will be the sole target of your evil shenanigans. But in multiplayer, there are simply too many targets and mono black often lacks the type of mid-late game creatures you need to end up as the winner. Especially in those days.

Well, Pox could be quite devastating in multiplayer, especially when you manage to take an early lead with a good aggressive creature on your side of the board. Your deck will (obviously) be able to take advantage of the cards discarded or sacrificed.

It's good to see Pox on the top of our charts! Good old tech is relevant again. Why? Well easy, a Kaldheim spoiler: Tergrid, God of Fright // Tergrid's Lantern. With Tegrid in play (please note that it can be your commander), dropping a Pox means that you steal whatever your opponents sacrifice or discard. Nice! And of course; they will give you the worst they have to offer. But even then: you'll know that the powerful cards are still in their hand. And you just might play some targeted discard spells, amirite?

For all people who don't remember Pox, because you didn't play back then; well: life is all about making memories. To all mono black players: have fun. To all that hate mono black: godspeed.

 

Tergrid, God of Fright // Tergrid's Lantern	CardKingdom $7.99	TCGPlayer $6.99
Pox	CardKingdom $3.49	TCGPlayer $7.13

 

#3 Ashnod's Altar $69 (+144%)

 

We usually don't cover older cards spiking. But this week I'll make an exception. For those of you that don't follow our interests page on a daily basis (boo! ;-) ) many cards that are not on the reserved have been gaining value over the past months. If you check out our weekly interests, you can see Erhnam Djinn and Jeweled Bird high up on our list. These are cards that see no play in any formats, outside fanmade formats or kitchentable magic. And for Jeweled Bird that is not even true. Who plays for ante anymore? And then: who would ante Jeweled Bird at $72.50 instead of whats actually in there?

It is not logical from the point of view of a player. For collectors and investors, it is a different case. Jeweled Bird is not on the reserved list, but it is banned or illegal in all formats. It will not be reprinted. Ever. Except maybe in a secret lair or something (also extremely improbable), and those will have different art and won't knock any of the value off the original printing.

Ashnod's Altar seems to rise in price in a similar vein, but it is different in a few ways. Simply: it does see play and it is getting reprints. It even has a Chronicles reprint, a set infamous for deflating a lot of value back in the day.

And that is the reason I'm mentioning Ashnod's Altar. Apparently, the investment in older cards is now also driving up the price of cards that see play and reprints. Its not a Jeweled Bird type of situation. And that is noteworthy because it suggests that old cards are increasingly getting their own price dynamic, completely outside the usual organic supply & demand dynamic. We've seen this for years now with cards from Alpha, Beta and Unlimited, and in that sense, it is not without precedent. But this value creep seems to increasingly involve sets that are not (historically) seen as part of that "ABU"-list.

With that in mind, it is also increasingly hard to explain why cards trend up or down. It seems to me that the only reason these cards are gaining value is because they are old. Ashnod's Altar is a prime example of this. It is not easy to speculate if this dynamic will continue, and where it will end. And what sets will be considered old in a year, two years, five years? Will cards from Fallen Empires end up being extremely expensive and sought after? Will Mirage become an "old" set and attract investors?

 

Ashnod's Altar
Antiquities	CardKingdom $32.99	TCGPlayer $69.00

 

Cheap Pickups

Please note: for our 'record low' we consider the price of the card over the past 7 years. Many cards have been even cheaper (a) decade(s) ago. Also note: some cards are still going down, and might be even cheaper pickups next week.

 

Vendilion Clique $9.90 - Record low, under $10 for the first time!

 

Riku of Two Reflections $6.55 - Record low, bottomed out

 

Batterskull $8.13 - Record low, trending down

 

Riku of Two Reflections	CardKingdom $6.49	TCGPlayer $6.55
Vendilion Clique	CardKingdom $12.99	TCGPlayer $9.90