Weekly Winners 2021 - 10

Somewhat of an odd week. Not really any spikes that has one really obvious or notable reason and of course still a lot of older cards moving up.

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 Selective Memory $6.18 (+1066.04%)

 

This Worldwake rare suddenly spiked with no good direct apparent reason. It went up by over a thousand percent. We see the market price still lagging behind only going up with about $0.50. The card barely seems to see any play in Commander, and the last notable time it was mentioned was back in November when Saffron Olive did a Much Abrew Modern deck with it where you try to remove your deck and win with Thassa's Oracle.

Bad tongues speculate that there may be inside knowledge. Perhaps a new commander will be printed in Strixhaven or some new combo arises with this card. That being said, Selective Memory is a rare card printed over 10 years ago with no reprints since then. It has a unique effect, and may indeed be eligible for a new combo at some point. Maybe someone (or a group) is merely speculating on this to happen at some point.

 

 

Selective Memory	CardKingdom $1.29	TCGPlayer $6.18
Thassa's Oracle	CardKingdom $8.99	TCGPlayer $8.82

 

#2 Pearl Medallion $29.24 (+118.37%)

 

From 2017 onwards, Pearl Medallion has been steadily trending up in price. As its original printing saw three (steep) spikes, its reprint counterpart has been steadily creeping up.

From the second half of 2016 up until today, a whopping 9 relevant commanders have been printed that have synergy and/or use for Pearl Medallion. However, its overall play rate in EDH is not that high, compared to the almost $30 price tag.

EDH is most definitely the driving factor behind its most recent spike, but there is something else too. Pearl Medallion is quite a unique card, together with the medallions of other colors. Especially for mono-colored decks, this cycle of artifacts from Tempest can prove quite useful. There are not many cards giving a discount on your colored mana in the white color identity. Pearl Medallion is a good example of the influence of uniqueness, next to the influence of play rate.

 

Pearl Medallion
Tempest	CardKingdom $17.99	TCGPlayer $29.24
Commander 2014	CardKingdom $13.99	TCGPlayer $13.73

 

 

#3 Zombie Master $13.15 (+117%)

 

Wait! Before you think you are about to read yet another story about old cards being bought out... Consider that there is something very interesting about the spike of this particular Revised Edition rare. Check out the graph on the card page!

As you can see, its market price was much higher than its average price since november 2020. This means that Zombie Master is much more than 'just another old card buyout'.

A higher than AVG market price means that people are willing to pay more money than the listed prices in webstores. To put it more simply: the card was undervalued by stores. This week we've seen a price correction.

The reasons for this seem to be twofold. On the one hand Zombie Master is a card that sees some (not much) play in EDH. Two recent sets feature Zombie-themed commanders that could cause a small uptick in demand. On the other hand, it is an iconic card that's a nice addition to any casual zombie deck. My hunch here is that older cards that actually have some demand behind them trend up in a very different way than just blind investment in any older card.

 

Zombie Master
Revised Edition	CardKingdom $9.49	TCGPlayer $13.15

 

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.

 

Opposition Agent $16.25 - Stable

 

Orvar, the All-Form $6.10 - Trending down slowly

 

Omnath, Locus of Creation $6.51 - Trending down slowly

 

Omnath, Locus of Creation	CardKingdom $6.49	TCGPlayer $6.51
Opposition Agent	CardKingdom $19.99	TCGPlayer $16.25
Orvar, the All-Form	CardKingdom $10.99	TCGPlayer $6.10