Waifus, Stickers, and a Faerie - Safe Bets

Hello and welcome to another installment of Safe Bets, where we discuss cards that are safe investments - they should go up slowly over time with limited risk of going down in price. This month, we'll be discussing waifu cards, stickers, and a Faerie that has become a dominant force in commander. 

Waifus

Magic has had a number of art styles in the past 30 years. In the early years, most artwork seemed to be based in high fantasy, with a goal of being dark and at times creepy. Fast forward to today, and we now get anime cards at least once a year. Oftentimes, the artwork prominently features anime women. Oddly enough, these are typically the ones driving most of the demand. A few years ago, a Youtuber by the name of Megacaptialg made a video titled Waifu Tax, describing a similar trend happening in a different card game. In the video, he talked about how often cards or decks that featured cute anime girls would be more expensive, solely for their art. For better or worse, we are starting to see this happen in Magic: the Gathering as well. Following this trend could lead to a good investment, especially as these arts are unlikely to see any kind of meaningful reprint as the are considered special treatments. 

$87.00$89.99

$3.30$3.99

Smothering Tithe, is the most prominent example of this. The cheapest versions of Smothering Tithe are currently about $20. The Wilds of Eldraine: Enchanting Tales anime Smothering Tithe is currently at $70 and rising. Anime styled Rhystic Study is currently approaching $80. The Anime alternate arts that don’t feature “Waifus” don’t have a similar markup. While it might be too late to capitalize on these options, some cheap pickups I do recommend are the anime printings of Spectral Sailor, Teysa, Orzhov Scion, and Savra, Queen of the Golgari. Spectral Sailor is a playable card in both Pioneer and Commander, as well as being remarkably cheap right now at $1. Teysa and Savra are both under $5 and some of the best options for a commander with Waifu art.

Smothering Tithe (Anime Borderless)	CardKingdom $64.99	TCGPlayer $76.00
Rhystic Study (Anime Borderless)	CardKingdom $89.99	TCGPlayer $87.00
Spectral Sailor	CardKingdom $1.79	TCGPlayer $1.00
Teysa, Orzhov Scion (Anime Borderless)	CardKingdom $3.49	TCGPlayer $4.39
Savra, Queen of the Golgari (Anime Borderless)	CardKingdom $3.99	TCGPlayer $3.30

Stickers

I like to include one safe bet based on competitive 60-card formats each month. Usually I base the format of choice off whatever format I play most in a month, because I want to be able to give advice I can believe in. This month, I spent a lot of time playing Legacy. Based on the current state of the format, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, I think stickers are a good investment right now. Specifically, the sticker sheets from Unfinity. 

In the past month of playing Legacy, it’s become very clear to me that Goblins is a legitimate contender for best deck in the format. It’s fast enough to race combo decks, it's resilient enough to power through Bean decks, and goes bigger than Delver. Not to mention, the deck is a lot of fun to play. If I was writing this article a few months ago, I’d have recommended Muxus, Goblin Grandee as the card to invest in. Unfortunately, I think the window to buy that card cheap has closed and it has settled. Stickers, however, warrant a buy. 

$0.25$0.35

$0.25$0.35

Much like my previous articles about Triumph of Saint Katherine, stickers present a world in which paper and online Legacy are different. Online, the amount of mana generated by _____ Goblin is based on a roll of a D20. In paper, the amount of mana generated is based on stickers. In paper, this makes the deck more powerful because before you even attempt to cast “Name Sticker” Goblin, you know how much mana you’ll need to pay. The downside, however, is you need to pay money for stickers. Stickers that most people probably threw away when they were opening packs of Unfinity or after drafting. Currently, the most expensive sticker is around $5 while the rest hover between $1-$2. I expect these to double in the next couple months. If Goblins remains dominant, we might be paying $20 for sticker sheets by Eternal Weekend. 

You can find Unfinity sticker sheets by going to the set page and filtering for the Common rarity. 

Talion, the Kindly Lord

My final Safe Bet for the month is Talion, Kindly Lord. Talion is a fantastic card in the 99 of a Commander deck, or a Rhystic Study in the Command Zone. I’ve been very impressed with Talion in CEDH, but what makes it a Safe Bet is the way it scales with your play group. The more competitive your play group is, the more cards Talion will let you draw. This flexibility allows Talion to find a home at any power level. Currently, Talion is under $5. I expect as Wilds of Eldraine leaves Standard/print Talion will slowly creep up. This is not a pick that will spike overnight, but definitely a long-term investment. 

Talion, the Kindly Lord	CardKingdom $4.99	TCGPlayer $4.00
Talion, the Kindly Lord (Borderless)	CardKingdom $6.99	TCGPlayer $5.49

Triumph of Saint Katherine (Again)

I promise, I’m not as obsessed with this card as my articles make it seem. If you read my articles in October, November, or December, you know the story of this card. In December, I recommended selling Triumph at $20 as I expected that to be a ceiling point for the card. It has since fallen and copies can be picked up for $13. With the announcement of the Universes Beyond: Warhammer 40,000 cards coming to MTGO, I expect Triumph to creep up once again. 

Triumph of Saint Katherine	CardKingdom	TCGPlayer $16.14
Triumph of Saint Katherine (Surge Foil)	CardKingdom	TCGPlayer $54.99

Thanks for making Safe Bets with me again this month. 

Further Reading:

Karlov Manor Guild Leader Variants For Your Collection