EDH Finance: Rotation and BFZ Spoilers

I know one thing: that I know nothing. This is especially true when it comes to MTG Finance, but this season I have decided to risk my tickets and my cold hard cash to see if I can win the MTG Finance Lottery. After listening to a series of podcasts, reviewed what is rotating out, researched new mechanics, and my basic understanding of “buy low sell high” I think I’m ready.

With the release of Battle for Zendikar, the entire Theros, Born of the Gods, Journey into Nyx, and M15 set will be rotating out of Standard. Since a lot of players will be getting rid of their rotating cards at a discount, this is the first area I’m going to be targeting as I feel there is a good deal of value to be had and where most of the long term picks will come from. I know that I have missed the boat on Eidolon of the Great Revel and Thoughtseize, and although I would expect to see a small dip in their price, I don’t see these becoming another Snapcaster Mage so I won’t be targeting these. 

I will be hedging my bet around cards that could and should see play in EDH as this is the format that I’m most familiar with; after all, I have seen first hand how EDH cards have gone up in price. An example of one such card is Chromatic Lantern: I remember getting a few of these as throw-ins for trades that were a little off in my favor. Because of the EDH market, this card is already over $5 and the foil is around $13. In the second half of the article, I'll go over some targets based off the juicy Battle for Zendikar spoilers.

Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

The first card I'm targetting is Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. Right now the card is around $5 and I have seen this card in both mono-color and two-color EDH decks. The card saw a massive spike (close to $16) with the announcement and release of the Commander 2014 pre-cons. This spike was understandable because all the pre-cons were mono-colored. Once Theros rotates out and availability starts to dry-up, I can see this card going up in price in the years to come. 

The Chain Veil

This card was made for Super Friends (my favorite style deck) and with the recent printing of ten planeswalkers to use as your General (five from C14 and five from Magic Origins), this card is going to see more play. Also, if you read the mtgcommander.net forums (the official forum of the EDH rules committee), then I’m sure you have seen request after request of people asking the Rules Committee to legalize all planeswalkers to be used as Generals. If that happens, this card is going to spike tremendously. For these reasons and because I feel that I can pick these up for cheaper than the TCG-mid price, I’m going to be targeting these pretty aggressively especially if I can get my hands on some underpriced foils. 

Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker

Another card I’m excited to pickup — just because I love planeswalkers so much — is Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker. Right now he is just around $5 and he was once over $40! With Stormbreath Dragon rotating out, I can easily see him being a good replacement for Stormbreath’s slot. Sarkhan was also a pick of the week from Jason Alt, so I feel fairly secure here.

Purphoros, God of the Forge

The last card I’m going to be targeting is Purphoros, God of the Forge. Purphoros sees a good amount of play today in many EDH decks as he is just pure good stuff in the format. He not only damages all your opponents when ever a creature comes into play, but he's a good mana dump that pumps your creatures. Another consideration for Purphoros, God of the Forge is his playability in Modern. Purphoros already sees play in one deck “Soul Chamber” (granted not a widely played deck but a super fun one), and I can see him in future decks as a possible finisher. Granted this card is probably a little wide and much riskier than the other cards, I’m still thinking he is a good pickup. 

Battle for Zendikar Mechanics 

With new Battle for Zendikar spoilers coming out daily, you can expect to see price spikes all over the board. Being well positioned before a card spikes can make the difference from seeing true success vs true bulk. The new Battle for Zendikar mechanics that we know of are: Awaken, Rally, Converge, Landfall, Ingest, Devoid, Eldrazi processors, and Eldrazi Scion tokens. Here are some of my specs based on the new Battle for Zendikar mechanics.

Dromoka's Command and Hardened Scales

Awaken basically turns a land into a creature with +1/+1 counters and provides you the effect of the spell as well. Something to note: Awaken is not like Entwine where you pay the casting cost then pay extra to get something more; the Awaken cost gives you both the effect of the card and turns your land into an Elemental creature with counters on it. Currently in Standard, I’m liking Dromoka's Command and Hardened Scales. If this effect becomes popular although I’m leaning more towards Dromoka’s Command as it has more cross format favorability and its price tag is very low right now as it was just printed in the Magic Origins Clash Pack. 

Animist's Awakening and Sword of the Animist

Landfall, my favorite of the Zendikar mechanics, triggers whenever a land enters the battlefield. Because of this I’m really liking Animist’s Awakening and Sword of the Animist. I’m making both of these cards my ticket pickups as I can get 100 of each on Magic Online for just under 20 tix. Right now I’m still getting a playset here and there in paper, but I’m mainly making this my Magic Online speculation. Since I started picking these up, I have seen a rise in both cards on Magic Online, probably due to people speculating like myself. 

Jwari Shapeshifter

Rally is an ability based around Allies; basically whenever an Ally enters play, something happens. I think this mechanic will create some fun decks but I’m hoping enough Allies get printed (at a relatively low casting cost too) so that we can see some good Ally decks appearing in both EDH and Modern. If this happens, I believe Jwari Shapeshifter will see a nice bump as it copies any Ally on the field while still retaining its Ally subtype. Right now Phantasmal Image is holding around 6 dollars; with Jwari Shapeshifter being so low, I see this as a relatively inexpensive lottery ticket. 

The rest of the mechanics are interesting, but I won’t be making any purchases around them. 

Conclusion

MTG Finance isn’t one of those things you master overnight. I certainly don’t expect to quit my day job, but this is an area of Magic that I want to get more involved; hopefully with these first couple of picks I can learn from the mistakes I’m about to make and grow as a Magic player. If you have any questions or comments about my picks, please leave a comment below.