3 Cards to look out for prior Battle for Zendikar Release! [Flash!]

I'm just going straight to the point here. Three cards to keep a lookout over the next 2-3 weeks. The price spikes for these cards are happening or may have happened, but they may continue to grow if my punts are right.

	See the Unwritten - Ferocious Seeing how the new Eldrazis are rolling out, See the unwritten is a very attractive card to have in a deck with so many targets and critters to choose, This will definitely be a new archetype or upgrading the current decks running this card if it is already prominent in Standard Constructed.  Plus, having Ferocious mechanic on it just made it sweeter for the BFZ block. Speculated Price: $15-$20 at its peak
	Animist's Awakening - Landfall With Landfall returning, I would expect this card to actually make it into its own deck in Standard Constructed. At the moment now, it seems clunky and weird playing this that if you have that much mana to make an impact using this card, you would probably be better off play See the Unwritten or Genesis Wave.However, if this set has great landfall abilities, then this card will be an all-star. At the moment now, I'll say this is not something to delve in too deep as a spec, but keep an very close eye on it. Speculated Price: $3-5.
	KTK + ZEN Fetchlands - Search for... / Landfall With the new duals released, that's one more target these fetches can target into. The usability of these fetches has just gone up! Expect demands to be growing once BFZ rolls in. Also, with the Zendikar Fetches now spiked to unbelievable prices, they are the best replacements or inclusions to decks with budget or just need a fetchland to grab that particular colour. Speculated Price: $25-$35 at its peak, Depending on Fetchland

Honorable Mentions:

• Harabaz Druid - Ally
  
  
  
  As mentioned in my previous article, this card is an extremely powerful mana dork if left unchecked and it can potentially summon Eldrazi easily. Yes, it is not in Standard, and it may be a hype over the BFZ expansion. Still, it has already spiked $4.00. It may still grow if the Ally deck breaks out in the Modern format. But, nevertheless, if you have managed to acquire some of this card and are not using, why not sell? Though it has room to grow, $4 for this card is really pushing it and having acquiring them before the spike at $0.50, that's a $3.50 or a 700% profit margin right there! In short, Look to sell this card if you don't need it!

There are many and I really mean many cards to lookout for. But, these are top 3 cards that I can think of as an immediate discussion. Sure, these choices are not really ground-breaking, but I still think they are good picks to voice out and just let the others know.





Edited, 2nd september 2015: Formatting corrected

Ally Tribe. An underrated contender in Modern

Recently, I have been more active in the Tappedout forums discussing in the topic of the Ally tribe in their Primer build.

My Modern 5c Ally Blitz deck: Collected Alliance

Just to let you know, I have been playing this deck in my local game stores' events and I can quite consistently go 2-1 overall. Sometimes I can go 2-0 with the last game split with the opponent. I usually give the win so I won't count.

Since on the topic of allies, I realised there are no articles discussing the power level, finance and playability of the different allies from the original Zendikar block. Hence, I have decided to come up with this article discussing their play viability in constructed and which ally card potentially has a chance to see a spike when BFZ block comes out and suddenly, modern is a viable card.

Currently, there are 31 Allies in the gatherer list, including the new . I'll be strictly reviewing the Ally creature cards in the Original Zendikar Block. So things like Changelings or other spells that produces ally creatures won't be included. Without further-ado, let's begin!

	Agadeem Occultist Modern Playability: Low - Medium.  Decent mana cost, but the mechanic is slow isn't impact-ful enough to turn or win games. It's best in EDH or casual play. P/T is also very low. Finance It won't see anything more than $1.00 when BFZ rolls around. It's very hard to abuse the card without a good board-state. But, hey if you are having a decent board state, why are you still needing this card? Sure Modern has a lot of cards costing 1-3 mana as the most probable CMC. But, it's not that viable to just keep taking things which doesn't help the ally board-state. Who knows, unless you are playing it as a control deck, then it may help. May. Until we can make use of this card in a decent control deck, I'm leaning for it to be a bulk rare.
	Akoum Battlesinger Modern Playability: Medium - High.  Decent mana cost to its ability. It is only good in an aggressive shell. Finance It is a common card, so there is a maximum ceiling to what it can hit. Still, 2 mana for 2/1 most of the time is okay, but not back-breaking. It's a decent card that gives a small anthem effect which is often overlooked, but it is still quite good for 2 mana.
	Bala Ged Thief Modern Playability: Low Bad casting cost to its mechanic. It works well in multiple triggers, but other than that, it's not as good as it seems. Finance It won't see any play in modern. Bulk rare. Skip
	Bojuka Brigand Modern Playability: Medium Decent mana cost to its ability. It is only good in an aggressive shell. Only drawback is that it cannot block Finance It is a common card, so there is a maximum ceiling to what it can hit. It is good for what it does, but it has serious competition with at least 4 other cards with the same CMC ability. It won't have a crazy spike in any way.
	Graypelt Hunter Modern Playability: Low  Decent finisher for an ally, not counting other support cards. It's slightly high mana cost to its decent 3/3 body is good enough for a strong finisher if left unchecked. Finance It is a common card, so there is a maximum ceiling to what it can hit. It's not a bad card, but neither is it actually good.
	Hada Free Blade Modern Playability: High.  Best used in an aggressive shell. But, its extremely low cmc to its effect makes it ideal for a Ally-tribe-only Tarmogoyf. It scales very well as more allys comes into play Finance There is a good chance this can break the $2.00 mark if ally deck does breakout in modern. It's extremely low cost for a scaling ability that makes it strong in late game. It's currently the only 1-mana ally card. So, it will see fit in most ally decks requiring a cheap 1-drop to fill the curve.
	Hagra Diabolist Modern Playability: Low  High mana cost for its potentially abusive ability. Resolving this for 2 turns can actually close games. But, the drawback is its weak P/T. Finance It screams to be broken in a deck, but its high mana cost at 5 and weak body makes it not an ideal pick in Modern.
	Halimar Excavator Modern Playability: Low  It is good for casual games. If it is seriously to be considered for modern play, a lot of effort is required to make it work. Trust me I have tried it. Finance Best in casual play. Not ideal for modern. Skip.
	Harabaz Druid Modern Playability: Medium - High  Decent mana ramp for ally deck. It's crazily good in late game and by itself can give you a deep mana sink which you can easily empty your hand. It's weak P/T and summoning sickness are the only drawback for this otherwise awesome mana dork. Finance At the point of writing this article, it spiked to $1.80 before breaking to $4.00. I'm guessing it's a hype thing, but it does have potential to break the $5 mark if it really breaks out in modern. If all else fails, it should settle back to around $1-$2. But, now it's still too early to tell. It is one of the cards that has potential for a third spike.
	Highland Beserker Modern Playability: Low It is good in an aggressive shell. But it does not give much other than First Strike. While the ability is good and does help prevent or changes blocking/attacking strategies, the card itself has a relatively low P/T. It's decent, but not that good overall as it has serious competition with Akoum Battlesinger. Finance It's not a bad card, but neither is it actually good at all.
	Joraga Bard Modern Playability: Low  Similar to Highland Beserker, it's good to give all Vigilance but it honestly doesn't help in the boardstate as much as we all think. It's definitely better than First Strike in most cases, but 4 mana for it is not exactly appealing. Finance It's not a bad card, but neither is it actually good at all.
	Jwari Shapeshifter Modern Playability: Medium.  The Phantasmal Image of the ally tribe. It's good in what it does and when it works. But, there are times which this card fails miserably. Finance Currently, it's holding at around $1.00 after a small spike at the point of writing. It has the potential to go up to $2-$3. But, I'm not counting on it to be anything more than $3. Phantasmal Image is potentially strictly better choice in most cases.
	Kabira Evangel Modern Playability: High.  One of the best 3-drop we have in the tribe. Gives everyone protection basically just win games Finance Currently, it's holding at around $0.50 after a small spike at the point of writing. It has the potential to go up to $3-$4 if the deck breaks out. It will be a 4-off in most variants of decks playing Ally.
	Kazandu Blademaster Modern Playability: High Low mana cost for 3 abilites is a steal. It's mostly a 2 mana for 2/2, First Strike, Vigilance. It's the best 2-drop for aggressive shells and will scale quickly if left unchecked. Finance Similar to Hada Freeblade, this is in my radar to potentially break the $2 mark if Ally decks become a thing. It scales and curve very well with Hada freeblade in the same deck.
	Kazuul Warlord Modern Playability: Low It is good in an aggressive or a midrange shell as a finisher. Its relatively low P/T and lack of trample are the things limiting it to be a first-pick in constructed. But, solely based on the ally creature pool, this has massive potential to be a late-game anthem. Only issue is that once we look at other support cards, this falls flat. Finance It's not a bad card, but neither is it actually good at all. It will still be a bulk rare, but likely to hover around $1.
	Makindi Shieldmate Modern Playability: Low  Great if you want a good blocker. But in Modern format, we need more than just shields. Finance Not ideal for modern. Skip.
	Murasa Pyromancer Modern Playability: Low  Terrible mana cost to P/T ratio. Decent ability however, but the biggest drawback is that it only hits creatures. Finance If this hits players and if it is 4 mana cost, it can be a serious contender. But, in most cases, Hagra Diabolist is strictly better to win most games.
	Nimana Sell-Sword Modern Playability: Low  Tough competition with 3-4 other cards doing the same thing for much cheaper rate. Bust. Finance Not ideal for modern. Skip.
	Ondu Cleric Modern Playability: Medium  Decent mana cost to its ability. It is only good to prolong matches. But, solely itself, it's very easily removed. I personally won a lot of games thanks to this card. It's stupidly good when it works, but it will fall flat if it doesn't. Actually, the worst is spending 2 mana to get 1 life. That's not actually that bad in some cases. Finance It is a common card, so there is a maximum ceiling to what it can hit. It's not a bad card, but neither is it actually good at all.
	Oran-Rief Survivalist Modern Playability: Medium.  Decent mana cost for what it does. A less powerful Hada Freeblade and Kazandu Blademaster. But it is still decent. Finance It is a good card, but we won't see spikes from this card.
	Sea Gate Loremaster Modern Playability: Low It's actually crazy good if you have the right board. But, in most cases, it's just aiming to be removed before you get to draw. Finance Bulk rare status. It won't really be a serious contender unless a control version of ally deck comes out.
	Seascape Aerialist Modern Playability: Low  Over First Strike and Vigilance, this actually does help win games. Only thing is the mana cost and low P/T. Finance It's not a bad card, but neither is it actually good at all.
	Stonework Puma Modern Playability: None  Trust me when I say no deck will play this. Finance It's a bad card. Like really bad. Bust.
	Tajuru Archer Modern Playability: Low  Opposite of Murasa Pyromancer. This instead has a relatively lower cost, but it hits only flying creatures. It's not something that we need in most games. For most cases, the best is still to direct the damage to players. Even in possible control shells, we would have other stuff to use to deal with the creatures instead. Finance Not really a good card. Bust
	Talus Paladin Modern Playability: Medium Decent P/T body and ability for its mana cost. It can work as a finisher and this card can grow stupidly big if left unchecked. Lifelink for all here is just a cherry on top in late game. It won't win games immediately, but it can change games. Finance It has potential to be a good curve-ender. But, the decks will mostly play 1-2 off if its being played. Likely to be still in bulk rare though.
	Tuktuk Grunts Modern Playability: Low  A little high mana cost for what it does. Akoum Battlesinger is better. But, this grows overtime. But at that turn, I rather be doing other things. Finance It is a common card, so there is a maximum ceiling to what it can hit. It's not a bad card, but neither is it actually good.
	Tuktuk Scrapper Modern Playability: Low  Decent ability against the meta. It's an affinity hate that deals damage to player? Yes please. Finance 1-off in sideboard at most due to meta. Hence, don't expect it to spike. Also, it's 4-mana so its still relatively expensive still.
	Turntimber Ranger Modern Playability: Medium  A bit on the high end of the mana curve. But, this has potential to be broken with infinite combos. However, at the moment now the combo is a little too clunky Finance If there is a chance for the combo to be broken and abused, then it will see a price increase. However for now, it will still be in the bulk rare price.
	Umara Raptor Modern Playability: Low - Medium  Decent mana cost to its ability. It is only good in an aggressive shell. It's a good 3-mana drop with decent scaling. But, it could be better. Finance It is a common card, so there is a maximum ceiling to what it can hit. It's not a bad card, but neither is it actually good.
	Vastwood Animist Modern Playability: Low Low P/T, weak ability overall. No. It's not a good card to Consider. Finance It is not decent nor even playable in constructed.

Long story short, keep a lookout for the white ally cards, as well as Harabaz Druid. It also makes sense when we see the first 3 spoilers for support in the ally tribe:

Do you see where this is going? The best bet is that if Modern Ally is a real thing, the base shell of the deck will be in Green/White colours. That's the main reason for looking and keeping track of the green and white cards as priority. 

Also, as mentioned, Hada Freeblade, Kazandu Blademaster, Harabaz Druid and Kabira Evangel are good cards for the casting cost and abilities. Hence, these are the cards that I will be taking a closer look.

Looking at the recent BFZ spoilers, it seems that that the new creatures won't really be getting the +1/+1 counters as to the old counterparts from Zendikar. The mechanic have now officially been named Rally. But, we would see better ability support from the new Allies.

Vetaran Warleader is the closest that we have for a strong 3-drop for ally in replacement for some of the older allies with the older mechanic, and Gideon looks promising as an ally support Planeswalker. Hero of Goma Fada is too expensive for modern play though. I'll review them more if they happen to be in my top 10 picks in a future BFZ First Look article.

My speculation targets for PTOrigins

The top 8 decks for PTOrigins has been revealed and this has really made cards like Demonic Pact spike hard. Open confession; I did not buy any pieces despite sending a text to my friends what to look out for this weekend.

My speculation list was quite different from the above. In terms of what I actually bought, I went for the cheaper, but higher risk specs and this is my list as a result: 

Card Bought	Number of copies	price per piece
Grim Haruspex	28 eng, 1 jap	SGD $0.60 ea
See the Unwritten	6 eng, 1 jap	SGD $4.00 / $5.00 ea
Ghostfire Blade	27 eng, 1 jap	SGD $0.60 ea
Silumgar's Command	12 eng	SGD $1.00 ea

Bummer... I could have dumped a few dollars into demonic pact for the easy money, but the copies here were going for $7.50 last checked. I was only willing to buy them in at $5 a piece and the places selling at that price were out of stock. Nevertheless, let's make lemonade out of lemons.

Prices captured on 2nd August 2015, after the announcement of PTOrigins top 8.
Source: www.mtggoldfish.com

I mean that jump from $7.50 to $13 is still money that could be made. But, nevertheless, it's still good to see 2 out of the 4 specs that I bought made it to the top winners immediately after the ProTour. I'll see how much can they rise before determining the profit margin. 

I don't expect Ghostfire Blade to stay in the increment trend for too long as it may or may not be relevant once rotation. I believe it would still be a relevant but can the deck last through two rotations? It's quite hard to tell now, so that is likely an early out if it hits $2.00 - $3.00 a piece. 

See the Unwritten potentially may see play in the post-Theros rotation period, so I'm not too bearish with the prices. It has a good potential to double from here on, so I'll take my chances. I may get a few more copies if I can get them under $4.00.

Grim Haruspex is a tough one. Abzan Rally seemed to dominate the meta until this recent ProTour, falling out from the Top 8. I'm not exactly confident in it going any higher than $3.00 if the meta shift caused the Rally deck to become obsolete. But, it is already cheap enough to jump in as bulk rare spec, and no matter what, it is still a card draw engine. If nothing else, just look at the casual appeal for this card.

I'm quite bullish about this one. It's still a Command with 4 utility regardless. The utility modes are actually very relevant in constructed format and it's cheap to buy in at the moment! Except that I foolishly clicked "buy" at $1.00. This can be a spec that I'm looking to keep a slightly longer term if it doesn't see play or price spike in the next. It eventually will find its home, but it will take awhile.

What I've targeted in GP Singapore and why

GP Singapore has just passed and I was not exactly that prepared for it. Sadly I don't have $1000 in my bank ready to use, nor do I have a huge binder full of good stuffs to trade off for even cooler stuffs. However, I did managed to trade in for a lot of cool stuff and what I think are potential long-term holds.

I haven't really blogged about myself as a trader and my actions in awhile now. I started blogging for about a year as a reflective form, which documented my trades and how I think I should improve. Well, that post is back for this one and I really think I should reflect and think what I really should/want to do with my limited budget. Also, it serves the reflection portion of my trades in GP.

While I cannot remember the exact trades and what I have sold, (I didn't record them down. Too much of a hassle..) I can state here roughly what I was targeting for and why.

• God cards from Theros Expansion (THS / BOG / JOU)
  
  This was my prime target for GP. I could only afford the non-foil ones and this was my prime target. I firmly believe that some of the God cards will see play in Modern. If not at worst, fueled by EDH or casual demands. Yes, the foil ones will definitely be a better pick, but the growth trajectory will more or less be the same, differing only in the scale of multipliers. 
  My argument is this, not everyone is into foils and even more in the EDH/Casual market crowd loves to innovate and home-brew. So having acquiring the non-foils would mean easier liquidity in future. That being said, I do have my eyes on Foil Thassa and Keranos as my main targets.
• Jace, Architect of Thought
  
  I did mention once that I decided to stop buying foil Planeswalkers. The buy-in price for some of them are insanely expensive, and also, because I see no value in collecting just one of each when I could better put the money into trading and investment. When the news and talk about Jace, AOT was fringe playable back then earlier in the year, I kept my eye on the social media sites and when there are more talks about it being a contender in certain control decks and Sideboard plan, I immediately bought out from the shops I frequent to. Also, during the GP event, I managed to snipe and buy them out in the $3 - $4 range.
• Shocklands / Fetchlands
  
  I regreted one thing in the GP. Using fetches and shocks as leverage for trades. I let go a few shocks for the trades and sale to buy in some of the God cards and as well as several other pieces for my 2nd Modern deck, which I now regret making it. (More to that in a later post)
  However, I managed to acquire 2 foil shocks and a few more Bloodstained Mires in the process, so I'm cool with it. I will still be actively looking for them as a higher priority than Jace AOT from now onwards. Well, maybe when Khans expansion reaches near post-rotation, when the prices dip first.
• Foiled EDH deck pieces
  My lowest priority in the trading list, but I managed to acquire some pieces for my EDH deck. The foiling process is surely, but slowly. I love EDH, but I only could afford to have 1 deck at a time because I don't play it often. 

Other Cards that I have sniped during the GP event:

• Rattleclaw Mystic ($0.50 - $1.00)
  With no good mana dorks coming up in MTGO, I would expect Rattleclaw to bounce back to its former price tag of ~$4
• Dictate of Erebos ($0.50 - $1.00)
  Have you seen Grave Pact? How is this different from it?!
• Breaking // Entering ($1.00)
• Mind Grind ($0.50) 
• Consuming Aberration ($0.50) 
  Casual Cards that see some play in EDH and kitchen table. Word going around with my own group of friends and speculators is that they are viable long-term holds. Great! right up in my alley.
• Haven of the Spirit Dragon ($3.00 - $3.50)
  Cavern of Souls' price trajectory really taught me something; if it's a land that can give a popular tribal multi-colour/colour fixing, there is potential. If that land has an additional ability in it, it's golden!
• Savannah (SP) (~$80)
  It's a 1-off thing... I traded 1-for-1 using a Snapcaster Mage

So where does this go for me now? Personally, I'm going back to do bulk rare trading and occasionally do some trades online. With my Modern decks near completion, I don't foresee myself doing huge buys after completing my second Modern deck. In an earlier article, I mentioned the need of sustaining a higher percentage of "liquid" asset over "solid". I'll put this as my goal for this year. At least this gives me another reason to save up other than the anticipated Overseas Immersion Programme later this year. 

What I bought and why? [May 2015 - 22 June 2015]

A rather active period for me, as I decided to hit hard in some of the specs. The main target as you can see are the God cards from Theros expansion. I'm looking to trade heavily into them. Both foils and Non-Foils due to the casual appeal.

In the same time, I have moved out a lot of unused modern staples like Snapcasters, Leyline of Sanctity, etc. to acquire these cards and as well as to build up my liquid asset. As I did bring up a couple of times when I first started the blog, the biggest issue for me is to balance out liquid and solid assets. Hence, I'm moving towards that as the goal for the year.

As I am still studying, my finance flexibility isn't rather rigid and I can only spend that much on cards. Sure, I can don't spend any of it on cards; that's one way. But, I have to remember that I have a lot of cards that may worth value that are still sitting in my binder. I have to move them asap in order to clear out and restart the collection. I'll talk about this in a later post after GPSingapore.

Meantime, this is what I have been trading:

Cards purchased / Traded	Prices per piece
1x Heliod, God of the Sun 1x Karametra, God of Harvests 1x Keranos, God of Storms 1x Xenagos, God of Revels	Trade With: 1x Scute Mob  1x Vedalken Shackles (MMA)
2x Kruphix, God of Horizons 1x Karametra, God of Harvests 1x Ephara, God of Polis	333  Points (PucaTrade) 195  Points (PucaTrade) 143 Points (PucaTrade)
1x Abrupt Decay 1x Ashen Rider 1x Krosan Grip 1x Rakshasa Deathdealer 1x Silumgar, Drifting Death 1x Terastodon 1x Utter End	Trade With: 1x Bloodstained Mire 1x Fracturing Gust 1x Tyrant's Choice (Foil)
2x Breaking // Entering 1x Conjurer's Closet 2x Dictate of Kruphix 1x Medomai the Ageless 1x Pithing Needle 2x Rakshasa Deathdealer 1x Rattleclaw Mystic 2x Strionic Resonator	Trade With:  1x Bloodthrone Vampire (Foil) 1x Cavern Lampad (Foil) 1x Congregate (Foil) 1x Dazzling Ramparts (Foil) 1x Dragon-Style Twins (Foil) 1x Erase (Foil) 1x Fortify (Foil) 1x Fossil Find (Foil) 1x Highspire Mantis (Foil) 1x Meandering Towershell (Foil) 1x Mind Sculpt (Foil) 1x Monastery Flock (Foil) 1x Nature's Panoply (Foil) 1x Poison the Well (Foil) 1x Scion of Vitu-Ghazi (Foil) 1x Sidisi's Pet (Foil) 1x Sigiled Skink (Foil) 1x Smite (Foil) 1x Tormenting Voice (Foil) 1x War-Name Aspirant (Foil) 1x War-Wing Siren (Foil) 1x Whirlwind Adept (Foil) 1x Windstorm (Foil)
3x Jace, Architect of Thought (Duel Deck)	$4.13 each ($12.39)
1x Chromatic Lantern 3x Erebos, God of the Dead 1x Purphoros, God of the Forge	1x Leyline of Sanctity (M11)
2x Chord of Calling 1x Ephara, God of the Polis 1x Erebos, God of the Dead 1x Heliod, God of the Sun 1x Karametra, God of the Harvests 1x Pharika, God of Affliction 1x Tasigur, the Golden Fang 1x Thassa, God of the Sea	1x Boseiju, Who Shelters All 1x Leyline of Sanctity 1x Persecute Artist (Unhinged) 1x Spell Pierce
7x Kruphix. God of Horizons	$4.00 each ($28.00)
1x Prophet of Kruphix (Foil)	$5.00
8x Karametra, God of the Harvests	$2.50 each ($20.00)
1x Feed the Clan (Foil)	$1.00
1x Become Immense (Foil)	$6.00
3x Nettle Sentinel (2 NM, 1Ex)	NM: $1.50 each Ex: $1.27 ($4.24 after disc)
1x Ephara, God of the Polis 1x Karametra, God of the Harvests	$1.98 $2.50
Small Collection from a friend quitting MTG	$75.00

Yes, as I said, it's quite an extensive list. I won't be posting my sell-list however. If not there will be no end to this post!

In a quick summary of my trades:

• Gods acquired are for extremely long-term investments. I'm talking about holding them for 3-5 years at least. I have calculated the ROIs and stuff and I'm expecting them to hit at least $8 at that point of time.
• Feed the Clan, Jace, AOT and Become Immense Foils are extremely situational. I will want to keep them, but am willing to trade them if the trade value is good. This includes any other unmentioned Modern-usable cards.
• Nettle Sentinel and the other rares are strictly for trades and resale. 
• EDH staples like Prophet of Kruphix Foil, Chromatic lantern is meant to be kept for future EDH decks.

So, what do you think? Did I make good trades or I made a bad move moving out the cards like Leyline? What have you traded/bought in the past month or so? Comments and share! I love to hear your discussions and thoughts!

Keep a lookout for this binder during GPSingapore! I'll be using this as my main trade binder! Just... dont' expect any high end cards from me alright? I'm still doing mainly bulk rares and cheaper cards :)

What I bought and why? [13 April 2015 - 15th April 2015]

A pretty short update for this. I just think I want to log down what I have bought and the reason for buying it.

Cards purchased	Prices per piece
4x Stony silence (French) 1x Polluted Delta	Trade with Marsh Flats
2x Windswept Heath (Jap)	$18.00
1x Dromoka's Command	923 Points (PucaTrade)
1x Lightning Helix 1x Tasigur, Golden Fang 1x Stony Silence 1x Hada Freeblade (Promo)	1x Wooded Foothill 1x Tibalt, the Fiend Blooded (Duel Deck foil) 1x Unburial Rites 3x Pack Rat

Dromoka's Command is a bomb in 2 formats; Standard and Modern Constructed. It has been picking up traction over the past few days and it has reached the $9, nearing the $10 mark soon. It would break the $10 mark eventually, and I would expect it to reach $15 this year.

Windswept Heath / Polluted Delta is pretty self-explanatory. Fetchlands are the best bet to buy in for any eternal formats. I'll expect it to stay at around the $30-$40 range in future since its a reprint.

Stony Silence hoses Affinity and  has spiked to $4-$5 recently.  I'm not surprise to see them creep up to $6 - $8 eventually. Even if the price does not increase, it would maintain a value in that range, so it's still a relatively safe buy-in or trade pick ups if I can get them under $4.

Tasigur, the Golden Fang is essentially Goyf 5 and 6 in modern. He has seen play around in a few rouge decks and as well as in Abzan decks. This is a significant proof that he is here to stay. Still, I'm not really convinced that he will rise to anything like Goyfs any time soon. Still, he is a good trade target for other things

Hada Freeblade Promo and Lightning Helix is more for my decks and inventory usage. No other comments in finance side of the 2 cards.

What I bought and why? [23 march 2015 - 7th April 2015]

A pretty short update for this. I just think I want to log down what I have bought and the reason for buying it.

Cards purchased	Prices per piece
4x Anafenza, the Foremost (Foil)	$18.00
1x Wooded Foothills	$12.00
11x Rest in Peace	$2.00
1x Anger of the Gods	Trade with Gaea's Revenge

Anafenza, the Foremost is a bomb in 2 formats; Tiny Leaders and EDH. She is also seeing some play in certain variants of Abzan decks. This is more for a long-term holding rather than a quick buy/sell. I would think that getting it to  be around $30 due to casual and Tiny Leaders demand would not be far-fetched by next year.

Wooded Foothills is pretty self-explanatory. Fetchlands are the best bet to buy in for any eternal formats. I'll expect it to stay at around the $30-$40 range since its a reprint.

Rest in Peace is meant to be a long-term holding card. It's like Stony Silence, which has spiked to $4-$5 recently and it's all due to Affinty and Tron decks in the Modern meta. Similarly, we can expect Rest in Peace to slowly and eventually, rise up to that price when the meta calls and when the time is right. 

Anger of the Gods is a much better card to hold as compared to Gaea's Revenge.

Project: Zer0 Speculation - Noble Hierach, Linvala, Elesh Norn in MM2015?

Noble Hierarch.... an overpriced mana dork.. Don't get me wrong! I love this card and honestly speaking, she is one of the most powerful mana dork after Deathrite Shaman.. But, at the price tag more than most other more useful utility spells and creatures... I'm a bit skeptical with the current price tag (as of writing) to be its right price tag for the card. I did write an article explaining how ironic and exaggerated some card prices are and on that topic, I did mention in comparison of this to Snapcaster Mage, Deathrite Shaman and Cryptic Command. Now that I've made my point, which is exactly why a reprint would be great for this card. 

Linvala is a great card which has seen play in certain builds running white. With the recent release of Siege Rhinos, most Abzan decks would run the latter over her now. Hence, I won't expect the price to be that high after reprints. Even without it, the reduction of usage will eventually lead to the decline in the demand. Still, Linvala was still used in the Format and honestly, I think that a reprint of Linvala is definitely a welcome by many.

There we have it; the grand-empress. Since FRITES took off in standard, she has been taking down decks on her own. Modern saw her presence in Gifts decks and sometimes Legacy maybe I think. Overall, I love this card a lot and I first witnessed her power in EDH, and then gradually in Modern, when I acquired my second copy. Elesh Norn is not exactly a modern staple, but she is definitely a modern powerhouse in the right decks.  

What I bought and why? [9-13 march 2015]

So I've seen trends going around that many big-time speculators are disclosing what they have bought over the weeks etc, and their justifications. Well, I think I want to join in the fun! I've done a spreadsheet on what I have bought and sold, along with the prices.

What I have bought so far and the reasons for buying.

Most of them are for investment and safe to say, most are safe bets to go buy into. I have some high risk speculation cards which I will go into later for my reasoning.

Foil Thought Scour is a step too late. I had the opportunity to ship them out at 1200 points each on PucaTrade, but I hesitated. In the end I lost that window to trade it out and eventually, had to settle it for selling them at $8 each.  The profit margin was still okay though, but it would have been better even if it is out via points. The considerable amount of difference in the profit still does matter in the end when I think about the possible trade routes. Even then, it's still good to see profit.

Smother was a simple plan; pick it up at $1.50 when the prices reflected are $6 and just sell it at that price. No questions asked.

Abrupt Decays are safe spec pieces that I have been trading them for awhile since last year. The profit margin is quite reasonable and on my side, I still have 11 more pieces. Those will be waiting for the prices to hit $18 - $20 before letting go of them.

I'm not willing to let go of Snapcaster Mage despite the obvious increment in prices. I firmly believe in my words that Snapcaster Mage will hit $50 this year. Heck, I'm willing to do a bet that it will hit $55 by the end of the year! I'll be looking to sell them at that price range by then. I don't foresee myself using them anytime soon. Even then, a reprint for Snapcaster Mage is an easy priority target in future Modern Masters reprints.

Okay, let's move on to the Higher risk speculation pieces

Rakshasa Deathdealer

• 4-off in almost all Standard Abzan deck? a 2/2 for 2 mana which is a relevant draw in early and late game. It's $1 now but I expect to see it reaching $3 - $4 tops when Theros rotates out. Even if it isn't in Abzan decks, G/B/x variants can run this still. 

Trail of Mystery (High Risk)

• I don't know... I thought manifest and morph would be a thing with this...

Ghostfire Blade (High Risk)

• A strong card if there some works of colourless or morph creatures... Affinity may not want to play it over cranial plating, but there is still hope in seeing it in some decks post- KTK... 

Spirit of the Labyrinth

• Modern and Legacy playable. I know the foil is insane now, so the non-foil would pick up the trend.. Plus, this card is in Born of the Gods... it's a small set and also, it's barely opened as compared to the other expansions of that block... so it would probably be a long-term keep. 

See the Unwritten

• Firstly, it's a mythic that will be seen in EDH play. It screams for decks with unique synergy with this card and by itself, it's a game winner if done right. Second, it is very possible to see it in play in Standard constructed formats due to its power level. It may not be seen now, but I'm very sure that this will be a strong pick-up now. Too bad I only have 6 pieces... Should have bought more of them...

Anax and Cymede (Foil)

• Tiny Leaders is really in the rage right now and this is is a very strong choice as a tier 1 commander. Wait for it... if it really takes off, this would go up accordingly to demand and play.

Remember I had written an article regarding a project in which I'm making another modern deck?? You can read all about it in the link below:

http://project-zer0.blogspot.sg/2015/01/brewing-project-zer0-style.html

I have more or less completed the deck, but after a few games with it, I realized it's not my play-style. I sold the deck to a friend, while keeping the staples for my other decks. But, the underlying motive of the deck was still about brewing a deck for cheap using trade platforms. So here is the final spending:

Cards purchased	Prices per piece
2x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx	$6.65
1x Baneslayer Angel	$12.35
4x Nevermore	$1.00
1x White Sun's Zenith	$0.50
1x Leyline of Sanctity	$25.00
3x Wrath of God	$11.00

Combined PucaTrade / Deckbox Mailing cost:

~$50.00

Total:

$109.50

As I did mention, the total cost for the deck would hit around USD$350 if I were to buy from the shops (cos shops here mainly does a price guide from starcitygames with USD/SGD conversion factor.) I managed to reduce the price to $109.50 spent. I think it's a good amount of savings and considering that the cards that I kept were like 4x Leylines, Baneslayer Angel and the Wrath of Gods, I think its worth the money spent in the end. 

It was a small project I wanted to run for awhile and now that I have accomplished that goal, it's time to move on to other things. 

Abandoned....

You know the issue with people, in general, is that we tend to start off something, then ended up giving up halfway and we start again something. So basically, we end up with a lot of things started, but nothing finished.

So, in a review for 2014, I have decided to look through all the past attempted projects I have toyed around with and give a comprehensive breakdown on whether the project has been abandoned, why I chose to abandon it and what I did with the cards in the collection or project.

• Project: Zer0 Rare Trading {Still on going!}

This project is the reason why I started actively trading and going around places. It is also because of this project that I started out this blog and also, with credit to this project, eventually opened doors to overseas trading platforms like PucaTrade and Deckbox.org!

Though for the past couple of months, I haven't been active locally. So, I'll probably get back into that once I have fully sorted out my inventory of cards. At the moment now, I'm doing the same trade rates, $0.125 / $0.18 per bulk rare. $0.18 is because I view trades as ideally non-cash transactions, so In fact, I will not lose or earn anything if I go through the trades and bulk as an when. But, non-ideally or realistically, it is a loss if we look at face value if I don't bulk it at equivalent rate. Let's face it; no way I am able to find someone giving me that rate.

But, it's not just there to lose money for fun. Most of the cards in the project are mostly bulk rares themselves or a max cap at $2 rares / mythics. In that way, I can still move them easily to casual players and yes, get more bulk rare to put into the bin as a recycle or just bulk them out for staples. As of writing, I've more or less established the binders and boxes for the respective trades. However, I am unable to bring boxes into shops without drawing attention and against most LGS' regulations, it's not really nice to bring boxes for people to pick from it in front of the store. Hence, I have gradually stopped bringing them to shops. 

On the other hand, since I am not doing it offline, The stocks I made and posted online have to be accurate. Well, that will be an issue. I have sorted out the rares in the binders, but haven't had the time to sort and update the bulk rare boxes accordingly. 

Nevertheless, this project will still be around for the next couple of months at least. So that closes the case for this.

• Modern & EDH accumulation Library Project {Abandoned!}

This was one the big ideas I had when I am playing the 2 formats. The thing is that this was ended up being more of a show-off rather than having any practical uses. I still have them in the separate binders, but I decided to move them out for sale instead of building an arsenal. It doesn't make sense to hoard cards especially after the lesson learnt post Modern Banning, it just shows how volatile the Modern format is.

EDH is more stable, but it's a one-hit or miss kind of things. Honestly, I would personally invest in EDH staples, which are akin to both Modern and Legacy staples but, I have very limited budget and I cannot afford to hoard up cards without practical use or investment value.

• Foil Planeswalkers Collection {Hiatus....}

Initially, this was the ultimate end point for my Project: Zer0... As I first started the blog, my intention was to cover my entire trading journey and experiences to acquire these foils. However, as time passed, the trades were not fast enough to sufficiently reach any targets. I still managed to get a couple, but not really as easy as thought it will be. Also, some of them were bought. I mean like the prices of JTMS and Liliana? They are going to kill my wallet and push me into debt by a few years if based on my allowances! This project is put on hold and the future of it is really uncertain. The only reason is that as the expansions keep coming out, there is no way that I can keep up without doing a mass buy at one shot. The thing is this; the project has no firm boundary. Where do I stop exactly? Do I stop at just the regular foils or do I collect the SDCC promos? Speaking of promos... Is "Book Jace" count into the collection? 

Also, what about Alternate Arts? Like the Duel Deck versions and again, the promo foils given out at GP and PTs? Lastly, do I want singleton copies or multiple copies of these Planeswalkers? The project requires a firm establishment of the boundary I wish to set when collecting them before I continue working on this. I may eventually stop this. However, at the current state of things, I'm not too sure about whether I want to continue this as the end point of Project: Zer0.

• Foil God Collection {Abandoned!}

I managed to only acquire the Theros Expansion ones. The idea was to collect a single copy of all the Gods printed in the entire expansion series as the chances of them seeing a reprint is very low and the appeal to casual and EDH fanatics will definitely be a viable keep. 

However, the collection is nearly not worth keeping unless I have all 15 Gods plus the 5 weapons. It is then the collection will be complete. In comparison to the foil Planeswalker collection, this series is definitely much easier to complete. However, in comparison, the appeal is only specific to only a few of the Gods, naming Purphoros, God of the Forge and Thassa, God of the Sea in the Theros Expansion. The other Gods like Keranos, God of storm that see constructed play will definitely have their appeal. 

So what about the rest? I can keep them for long time, but they are going to rot there and do nothing for me if by then, the demand left in any of them had run out. In the 1 year span of holding, the price difference from the time I purchased them till the point I traded them out was -$26 difference. I would see the returns if I held them out longer, but then the next question will be, will it be worth it? The thing is this; if I were to buy a card and hold it out, it either has no play value to me, but will see a potential increase in the price due to demand / supply. Or, I buy a card for its play value and I maximize my reasoning for expenditure due to the playability of the card to me. For me, the planeswalkers will see more play in my decks over the Gods. Hence, this project saw the bin.

I have to admit that it was another brash attempt to do something with money. Really, money can really drive a person crazy and for this case, I wanted to invest the money I had with foils. Only that I didn't really know what I want to do with it until about a year later... Foil cards do have a rather stable price trajectory as they can hold the prices quite well. In comparison to the non-foil counterparts, the prices is considered to be held out quite well already. 

• Foiling my EDH Deck {in Progress...}

Yes, this is the move I decided to jump into mid of last year while I was doing the organisation and restructuring of the trades. I decided to foil out my EDH deck. Note that it's only 1 deck, so it's not as if it's going to be a multiple attempt under this project.

Firstly. a full disclosure is needed that while I do some trades to acquire some of the cards, I am using cash to buy most of the cards here. So if you are wondering if this is the definite end point for Project: Zer0, the answer is no. This is just something I wanted to do for awhile when I am building my EDH deck. To me, the format in general is considered casual; hence, the banned list is not as volatile as we know in Modern and Legacy. 

Hence, it is very safe to buy in the staples for the format in foils and not worry about it being banned. Also, some if not most are multi-format staples. They are either found played in Legacy or in Modern formats. Even if they are not found in eternal formats, the casual appeal and demand of those cards as staples in any EDH decks is enough to keep these cards holding their prices.

So what goes? What is next for me? At the moment now, I'm working on building a new modern deck on budget and I am around 80% completed. I hope to finish that first before deciding what to do with the other pieces. Right now, I'm actively trading out cards that I do not need for the relevant pieces.

In addition, I'm moving out moving common and uncommon EDH staples for bulk rare. No point for me to hold on to them unless they are foils or are in need. I rather use the bulk rares as alternative currency for my trading or bulking them out for multi-format staples.

I did mention this before when I discussed about the issues of parking investments in Modern format. It's too volatile to guarantee any returns, especially if it is at risk of seeing being banned. Hence, it's much safer to acquire staples that are used throughout the format or across different format.

For reference, I tend to use Eternal formats like Modern and Legacy, and Casual formats like EDH to gauge. Standard format is too short to see any long-term holding. They spike for when they are in season and upon rotation, the cards will definitely dip before any chance of recovery.

These staples used definitely will be a higher priced to buy in, but it's definitely more solid plan if we consider the risks and time involved. In the end, the staples will definitely be used to be played, so even if they do dip a little in the prices, I can still justify the buy-in to be played with. At least it gives the full money worth of why I am buying those staples at such high prices.

While I am in for buying multi-format staples, eventually it only makes sense if I were to either use them, trade out or sell them for profit. The lesson I have learnt over the year is that profiting from Magic: the Gathering is almost never there. Unless you are a solid speculator and have the capital and means to move cards, you won't really see a good sum of profit to justify your time and effort spent researching and collating data. In the end, the very thing that we want to do is to minimize our expenditure in this expensive hobby.

So as a wrap up, I abandoned some of the projects I had as it was rather impractical to have them running with such low budget. I don't have the means to either complete them or that even if I do complete them, does the money spent make sense to justify my action of acquiring or keeping them? For instance, it makes more sense to hold the foil planeswalkers over the foil Gods as I would use the prior over the latter in my casual decks, and it is easier for me to move foil planeswalkers than Gods.

In the end, it does matter in where and how I spend the money to improve my collection. I think it's a well-known fact that quality is definitely over quantity. It's easier to manage quality trades than having to lug around so many binders and doing only a few dollars for that day. Also, expanding my collection is one thing, but I have to consider my role in the game. Do I want to collect just for the sake of collecting? Or do I collect to play and have them as a reserve? To what extend that I want to hold them and how long I want to hold these cards?

I don't expect myself to make the "right" decisions all the time, but as long as I can justify why I am buying something or making that trade, it's definitely better than jumping into a project that is going to cost me a bomb just because it's an act of impulse.