Weekly Update (Aug 02): Complete Double Masters Previews

This week, the biggest finance news is Double Masters. We got the full spoiler on Friday, which means we can actually get a pretty good, early look at the expected value of the set. While we will have a full expected breakdown in the not super distant future, we've been keeping a real time spreadsheet with prices to track the set's expected value. Right now the average value of a mythic from Double Masters is about $26, while the average rare is just under $4. That puts the expected value of booster box at about $362 without foils, and around $400 with foils included. Toss in a couple of box toppers, which are currently very pricey, and — on average — a box of Double Masters has an expected value of around $500, which is extremely high. This means that prices will certainly continue to drop in the coming weeks, so if you need singles from the set, you'll likely get the best deal if you are willing to wait about a month for the set to be opened and hit the market.

Meanwhile in Modern, the biggest winner this week was Gemstone Caverns, with the Time Spiral land increasing 17% to just under $43. This is likely a side effect of Arcum's Astrolabe being banned in Modern. The primary home for Gemstone Caverns is Mono-Red Prison where it offers another way to play Blood Moon on turn one. Now that Arcum's Astrolabe is banished, Blood Moon is once again a legitimate option in Modern. If you happen to have copies you don't need, I'd look to sell or trade them away while prices are high. Gemstone Caverns has never been reprinted, which is the main reason it's currently so expensive; once the reprint inevitably happens, it will likely end up $10 or less. 

Finally, the other trend of this week is Modern and Commander staples like Cavern of Souls, Crucible of Worlds, and Liliana of the Veil which dodged reprintings in Double Masters. While it might seem like a good idea to snag copies now before prices get even higher, unless you need them to play with in the near future, it's probably better to wait. With the announcement of "the list" in Zendikar Rising set boosters and Commander Legends coming later this year, odds are that the expensive cards that didn't get reprinted in Double Masters will be reprinted before too long. Unless it's a card you need to play a deck right now, with so many products these days, waiting until a reprint happens and picking up what you need at a discount is a good way to save a few (or in some cases many) dollars. 

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