This week was not all that interesting finance wise. Sadly, not many movers that really matter. But have no fear, I still have three winners for you! So, once again, I present you the cards that will be the talk of the town tonight.
Yes, Temple of Epiphany is already on its way down. But it is still this week's winner. Over the past 7 days, the card increased in price dramatically due to the popularity of UR decks in Standard. A whopping seven different archetypes run the card, and that does not include the rogue decks that use it. That is a lot of play for a card.
At its peak the card was $9.43, almost reaching its all time high from back in the day. But now, the card is still up in comparison to last week, but much less so. This is probably due to the fact that Temple of Epiphany is a card many people own. A rare land that produces two types of mana can be used in any deck that runs multicolored cards. And since it sees a lot of play, players tend to hang on to their copies, just because it is a cool and valuable card. Remember that not every magic player is a fanatic trader, speculator or competitive. But when word gets out a card is up that high, it becomes interesting to sell or trade it away.
And, on top of that, people that are fanatic collectors might sit on their full playsets of all temples and realize that the price increase on this card is temporary since it will rotate out of standard. If you want to make a quick few bucks, last week was the time to do it if you owned excess copies of the card. This new stock flooding the market will bring the price down.
Also note that when you analyze the graph, there is a sudden spike-like increase last sunday. This might indicate that Temple of Epiphany was a speculator target as well. But, the price increase and decrease on this card does not have the typical anatomy of a buyout.
Yes, Polluted Delta is back this week. Not as the #1, but in a good second place. The price on this card has reached a plateau on tuesday and is now stable around $23. Please check out last week's article for more on all other fetches.
Boseiju, Who Shelters All is back in Legacy! It didn't see a lot of play, up until Omnitell with Dig Through Time got popular. Some people ran it in their Sneak and Show sideboards, but not as much as with Omnitell. On top of that, Boseiju, Who Shelters All is a card with a unique combination of abilities. Sure, there is Overmaster, but Boseiju, Who Shelters All is a land, making it less conditional. When you draw it and don't really need the ability, you still have a mana producing land. Furthermore, Overmaster is just one shot, and it can be countered itself. You can't stop Boseiju, Who Shelters All, even a card like Stifle, since it can't counter a mana ability. But of course, wasteland does hit Boseiju, Who Shelters All.
Decks like Omnitell, Reanimator and Sneak & Show use Boseiju, Who Shelters All to protect themselves against other decks that have a lot of counterspells. Another choice for this trick is Defense Grid.
Since Boseiju, Who Shelters All is a unique card I predict that it will retain much of its value over time. But since it already got a reprint in FTV: Realms, Wizards just might choose to reprint it again. But since its name is so connected to the Kamigawa block, it is not likely it will see a reprint in any other set, unless Wizards returns to Kamigawa.
Cheap Pickups
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