Albegas wrote: ↑3 years ago
I have to wonder how much of that is driven by a lack of demand for physical cards. I can't speak for the rest of the world, but I'll be (pleasantly) shocked if the US is having IRL tournaments come June or July. I don't know how quickly COVID affected demand for physical cards initially, but after roughly 9+ months of shutting down IRL tourneys, there must be some sort of toll on demand. This is entirely speculation, so I'd genuinely love to be corrected, but everything I know about economics leads me to believe that anything that isn't a Commander staple or a low supply Commander champ is being kept cheaper by COVID, and the second WotC reopens IRL tourneys, we'll see a noticeable spike in paper prices.
As an inhabitant of finance circles, I can confirm that the demand for physical cards has shot up. No two ways about it - it is at an all time high, prices are sky rocketing in a way that is truly terrifying, thrilling and unprecedented. Now this might come as a shock to many here, but it is truth. Beyond truth. I mean I could show everyone the graphs, but there would be no point, we are talking gains thousands upon thousands, just head onto the finance sites and look around.
Cradle, Mox d, Dual lands (real ones), Tabernacle, Moat, Gilded Drake, Nether Void, The Abyss, Eureka, Chains, original Moxen, the remaining power nine, Sanctum, Workshop, Bazar, need I go on. Not just the reserved list cards, either. Add to that original printings of Sylvan, City of Brass, Mishra's factory and you get the drift. Beta is quietly going berserk while your modern collections plummet. This is the most overheated physical MTG economy I have ever seen, and I have been at it a while. I don't want to sound like the infamous Rudy, but your Japanese limited edition planeswalker double arseholed extended art foil etched with an artists finger still attached to it? Worth the square root of sod all, people. You were had. Mugged. You bought your collectors boxes on release- congrats- the toilet is over there and you just flushed away hundreds you could have saved by buying singles. In five years, your cards won't be worth much either. Today's mtg is designed for snowballing games of EDH. The cachet of old school art or whatever won't apply to today's mass produced low quality card stock product, and likely never will..
The thing is, Modern is cheap because nobody, but nobody, sees the cards as going up, and people are worried- the format has enforced rotation, and people can see Pioneer and Modern in competition post Covid, they don't know which will win, or if both can coexist. Anyone with hopes that Modern will be the next Legacy and Legacy becomes vintage is seriously deluded. Legacy won't go anywhere. Its player like it and they make money holding onto the cards. Meanwhile holding on to your £40 bobs and another printing will see them hit 10. They see reprinted staples nerfed frequently, and obsolescence kicks in with every new Uro, and the few rare reprints that really hold prices or created more demand (the original masters set Tammy effect) are EDH/Legacy staples Force of Will. Modern is truly horrible to have money in- the core sets inevitably add in some good old cards year on year, slashing prices, and rotation . Nobody is playing physical modern, and we do not know if Modern prices will recover or be nerfed to be as cheap as Pioneer. People are webcamming commander because as a "casual" format, cheating is not an issue in friendly playgroups. Ditto Legacy has some paper discord Legacy being jammed because people like the format and it is often played low stakes as a community format. Modern has always been a competitive format with expensive cards. Demand is low so Modern prices are low- great to buy in, but if you need to keep shelling out to make decks competitive, and if depreciation of staples continues, it makes it a financial millstone.
