Bang for your Buck: Investing in cards before Gatecrash – Blue

Disclaimer: I can not be held responsible for any poor decisions I make in regards to any cards you might buy in response to my article. I’m going to post my thoughts and plead my case for each card I recommend, and if you agree then by all means head out to your local gaming store or buy cards online and try to snap up some good deals. I’m basing my information off of months of standard gaming experience as well as prices in my area and how they’ve reacted to the ever changing metagame. I can only hope that the decisions I make are good ones and that my gamble pays off after buying the featured cards.

I’m sorry I fell behind in posting my investing articles. As I post this, there are still a few days left before Gatecrash goes on sale, and even then I wouldn’t expect prices to really get out of control until the first big event with Gatecrash cards. If that’s the case, you most likely have a week or so to pick up some cards before they jump in price. Now that the pre-releases are done and the list of cards is out, it’s probably easier to speculate on which cards we think will jump in value. Let’s get started with blue today, and if you have any suggestions or comments please be sure to leave them after this article.

M13 Blue cards

Augur of Bolas should hold steady at his current price, and might even see a small increase in value with an increase of UB control, Grixis, and Esper decks. Clone is another card that I think might get some more play as well now that blue has both Watery Grave and Breeding Pool. Where it will fit I don’t know yet, but at about .50 cents a card, it wouldn’t be a waste to pick up a play set of them. Yes it’s no Phantasmal Image, but I think gatecrash will add a lot more depth to the metagame. Maybe somebody will play a Biovisionary deck with tons of clone effects to win the game?? Heh, anything is possible.

Jace, Memory Adept

Jace, Memory Adept should probably see some more play too, but if you haven’t bought him by now in the USA, you might be out of luck. He’s reached upwards of $18 in some places, but I think he still has some more room to go up further, especially with Dimir cards making UB mill/control viable. I’d also pay attention to our merfolk as well. Simic has added quite a few cards with the Merfolk creature type and Master of the Pearl Trident could see a sudden jump with people decide that a Prime Speaker Zegana and a Master Biomancer deck is viable.

Avacyn Restored Blue cards

After taking a look through the Avacyn blue cards, it doesn’t seem like there will be that much of a change in prices or cards that could get big. Temporal Mastery is a little cheap right now, hovering around $9 or so, and there is a good chance that it could get big in both UB mill/control or Esper control to give the player an extra turn to mill you out. Tamiyo, the Moon Sage should also maintain her value after Gatecrash I think. If i had to speculate on anything I’d say go with Deadeye Navigator. He’s 6 mana but his ability could come in useful in Simic decks to blink Master Biomancer, Thragtusk, or whatever. I wouldn’t say that’s a good bet, but just a thought right now since he’s really cheap. A play set isn’t necessary though, 2 would be fine. 

Dark Ascension Blue Cards

There really isn’t much to look at in DKA. Dungeon Geists seems a little underpriced at $1.50 or so now, and if control or Spirits gets big again he might see an increase in value. Increasing Confusion is also another card that could see a slight increase as well, but it’s highly unlikely. I’d probably stay away from Dark Ascension cards. 

Innistrad Blue cards

Innistrad has a lot more to look forward to than DKA does. Snapcaster Mage should continue to be stable around the $21-$25 range. Laboratory Maniac and Mirror-Mad Phantasm will probably continue to see fringe play in 4-5 color Seance decks but most likely won’t see an increase in value (that combo is fun to play with if you haven’t tried it. Let the Phantasm die, create a token of him with Seance, pay the 2 mana to “shuffle” him back in and mill yourself down to zero cards, then on your next upkeep make a copy of Laboratory Maniac with  Seance and win the game when you can’t draw cards). 

So what card do I think has the biggest chance of of making an impact in standard? Undead Alchemist.

Undead Alchemist

This unassuming, yet beefy Zombie can put a legion of Zombie tokens into play with multiples, and with all the weapons that Dimir is giving him in Gatecrash, your board will be crawling with the shambling undead.  Throw in a play set of Mind Grind, plenty of counterpells and removal, and some Diregraf Captains or Blood Artists to make your opponent think twice about wrathing the board with a Supreme Verdict and you have a pretty sweet UB zombie mill deck. You can buy these guys pretty cheap now (50 cents each or so?), so pick up a play set and test it out. Another card to look out for is Cackling Counterpart. I think you’ll see some Biovisionary decks popping up using Clone and Cackling Counterpart to get copies out as fast as possible, and then using populate to make tons of copies so you win the game the following turn. It’s a stretch, but so were Seance decks too! This metagame is all sorts of crazy!

Return to Ravnica Blue cards

Jace, Architect of Thought

Oh Jace, Jace, Jace. How the mighty have fallen. Jace, Architect of Thought is almost half the value he was when he first hit the scene, but I expect him to increase in value in a few weeks as players return to control decks such as Esper and Grixis control. Pick him up now while he’s cheap, because he’ll creep up over $25 again in a few weeks I think. Outside of Jace, I don’t think you’ll find any other good cards in RTR to invest in. 

Next time on Bang for your Buck

Some good deals in blue if you act quick I think. There aren’t a whole lot of cards but I think the addition of Simic lands and Dimir lands will really jumpstart previously dormant cards and combos. You can expect a lot of UB and UBW control decks to pop up in the coming weeks. Next time I’ll be following the color order and doing black. If work doesn’t overwhelm me too much, you can expect it right before the weekend or just after it. If you can think of any other great combos that could affect card prices in blue, please leave a comment and let me know. Thanks for reading and be sure to check back later for the next color.