Bang for your Buck: Investing in cards for Dominaria – White, Blue, and Black

Disclaimer: I can not be held responsible for any poor decisions I make in regards to 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. Prices I used are based on TCG player.com’s mid-level price range.

Pro Tour Dominaria is just around the corner, and while it seems like we’ve learned a great deal about the standard format over the last few weeks from PPTQs, Team GPs, and FNMs, the pro tour has the potential to blow that all out of the water. The format is shaping up to be one of the most diverse in recent memory, but there’s always the possibility that everybody gravitates towards one deck after the pro tour. Thankfully all of these events leading up to it have shown the merits of all strategies, but just how much will these results impact prices of standard cards in the coming months? That’s what I hope to cover in this week’s articles. As always I’ll be started with white, blue, and black, but before that we’ll take a look at what cards I talked about in my previous article.

 

Previous White, Blue, and Black suggestions

 

• Approach of the Second Sun – Miss. This probably would have hit its target of $3 like I stated last time if it hadn’t been reprinted in the supplemental standard product Wizards released. Oh well.
• Gideon of the Trials – HIT. Gids saw a lot of play during Rivals of Ixalan standard which helped his price a lot, but now BW vehicles and UW control are putting pressure on his price again. He’s doubled in price since last time to over $20.
• Oketra the True – HIT. She didn’t go up much, but $3 from $2.75 is a win in my book. I don’t think she’s being played much, but has lots of casual appeal outside of standard which has helped this mythic rare.
• Angel of Invention – HIT. I said to sell at $7.75 last time, and if you did you made a nice little profit. She’s dropped to just under $4.50 now, and I doubt Gift decks will keep her afloat much longer.
• Jace, Cunning Castaway – Miss. I said to buy in at $4, but if you waited you could have done it at $3.25. At least he’s seeing some casual play now with Oath of Teferi decks.
• Torrential Gearhulk – N/A. It did see a lot of play when UB control was king, but has tapered off a bit. Still around the same price of $12 from last time.
• Bontu’s Last Reckoning – N/A. Another card that didn’t move from it’s previous price of $3. I guess UB and Grixis control decks still need a hard board wipe.
• Liliana, Death’s Majesty – HIT. She was $7 last time, but thanks to some sideboard play and scarcity, she’s almost hit $11.
• Ruin Raider – Miss. Not something I expected to do well, but as a long show I wasn’t too surprised it didn’t see play in some sort of BR pirate deck. Down to about $.75 from $1.
• Yahenni, Undying Partisan – HIT. I’m a little surprised this penny stock saw some upwards action. Yahenni went from $2 to about $2.75, I guess on the back of some tribal vampire action and maybe some casual standard decks’ sideboard.

 

I seem to have done rather well with my picks last time, and if you had followed my advice you probably could have made a little money and saved a bit more. With a somewhat established standard metagame, it might be a little bit more challenging to do now, but I think there is still some value floating around in standard.

 

White Suggestions

 

I’d like to start off with a powerful, yet fragile long shot. As a mythic rare from a set that will be rotating out of standard in September, Angel of Sanctions ($2.50) won’t have many chances to shine, but I have a feeling that there is definitely a Shalai/Sanctions/Lyra Dawnbringer deck out there and that it could be really good in this metagame. Cards like Glorybringer and Heart of Kiran might be lethal to it, but it’s also incredibly good against decks full of planeswalkers, enchantments, and vehicles. Somebody will find a place for it these last two months. I’m betting on a double up to $5 this summer before it drops back before rotation.

 

Sell

 

He’s seeing a lot of play this season which is why Gideon of the Trials has hit $20, but it won’t last forever. This is basically a scarcity issue. GoT isn’t going to hold his value like Gideon, Ally of Zendikar after rotation, so I would probably sell him in the next month or two if you’re not going to use him. He’ll be a $6-7 card come August.

 

There’s absolutely no way the $15 price tag on this will stay. If you haven’t bought yours yet, don’t. Once the metagame shifts and we see people hating it out with Shalai, Voice of Plenty or winning with BR decks that have lots of disruption, Settle the Wreckage should drop to about $10 or so. Good time to trade it away for value right now, or sell it if you need the money.

 

Penny Stocks

 

One card that has caught my eye recently was Hour of Revelation ($.75). It seems like a good card to have in a permanent-less white control deck that wants to win with Approach of the Second Sun. It destroys not only creatures, but planeswalkers and vehicles as well which are a control deck’s bane. Might show up as some SB tech this season or next!

 

Blue Suggestions

 

We all know that the Kaladesh was incredibly overpowered in standard. There are tons of cards that made it to various other formats like Legacy and Modern, and it’s only a matter of time before other cards in the set are broken. One such card is Whir of Invention. It’s basically a Chord of Calling for artifacts, and if you remember how expensive Chords were before the M15 reprint, then you can imagine what kind of heights Whir could reach. This is my longshot, long term investment suggestion. At $2, it’s not too much out of your pocket and it will probably go down a little more before rotation, but I just want you to consider it before supply dries up.

 

Champion of Wits ($3) is a staple in God Pharoah Gift decks, and I’m sure that strategy will continue to see play until rotation, but there are now other decks like UW Historic and UB midrange that are picking up on the drawing power of Champion of Wits, and I think that could cause an increase in demand this summer and increase the price. I don’t think it will be much, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see it touch $5 or so. Keep that in mind if you’re thinking of selling them.

 

 

Sell

 

 

Now don’t get me wrong. Disallow is an incredibly powerful card . . . in standard. Right now its $6.25 price tag is totally justified. But what happens when it rotates? Is it strong enough to see play in Modern? Probably not. That means it’s going to start dipping hard by the end of this season. I would get rid of mine if you’re not going to play them and pick them up at the end of the season if you want them. If you plan on making some Frontier decks, I would hold onto them though.

 

Penny Stocks

 

River’s Rebuke ($.75) seems like it could be a good sideboard card this summer to help blue based decks deal with decks that focus on planeswalkers and vehicles. Temur energy used it before, but I have to admit this is a longshot.

 

Black Suggestions

 

It’s another long shot, but I think Improvise decks might be able to put up some good numbers this summer in the next two seasons. It showed up as UB and Grixis Improvise at the Big Magic Open in Yokohama a month or so back, and thanks to cards like Karn, Urza of Scion it had quite a bit of power. Herald of Anguish is only $2 right now, and while I think most of the demand for it is casual, it’s another one of those cards that could show up in the future when the conditions are right. I don’t think it will go up much unless it showed up in BR and BW Vehicle sideboards, but it’s something to keep an eye on. Treasure + Karn + Herald is dangerous.

 

Penny Stocks

 

Deadeye Tracker ($1) seems like it could show up in some sideboards as some anti graveyard hate. If Gift, Scarab God, or some other reanimator type effect becomes popular, I could see some people trying out the tracker. It’s also not bad against control. You can get rid of 2 cards at a time which is also nice.

 

Coming Up Next

 

I’m a little disappointed that there weren’t more good buys in black but with a lot of standard cards starting their pre-rotation downswing that’s to be expected. I’m sure there will be some more value that I didn’t see coming after the Pro Tour, but if you have the inside line on some sweet tech and want to share that info, please feel free to put it in the comments below! I’ll be talking about Red and green next time for sure, but depending on how many possible picks there are in artifacts, lands, and multicolor cards I might try to do it all in one article if possible. Thanks again for reading and hope to see you back in a few days!