Top 5: Cards to Buy, Sell, or Hold in August 2023

Last time we discussed the release of Tales of Middle-earth and its financial impact on the Magic market. In the meantime those prices have adjusted to the built-up hype, we've had Commander Masters, and there was an unban announcement concerning Modern and Legacy. Let's look at the ramifications!

Buy: Lórien Revealed

is a fascinating case when it comes to card evaluation. During preview season, everyone was underwhelmed, then overhyped about some cards. Upon release, it turned out that the cycling creatures made a much more powerful deck. It took a few more weeks to figure out that the actual best cycler and arguably one of the biggest surprises in the set was the innocuous Lórien Revealed.

Its power comes from the consistency it provides to blue strategies. It allows them to make their land drops while skimping on the overall count. In the current age of free spells, the fact that it pitches to both and is a huge boon to the card and the decks playing it. Last but not least, it can be hardcast in the later stages of the game, acting as .

The card climbs up in price slowly but surely, bit by bit, cent by cent. Almost worthless upon release, now it rakes in around €2 a piece, with foils double or triple that amount. It is not a card for which the hype can die down. It's essentially a cantrip with additional utility. The copyright notice listing Middle-earth Enterprises might also complicate future reprints.

The very first recommendation is to dig them up from your prerelease bulk box. Next, acquire enough copies for Modern, Pauper, and potentially even Legacy play. I'd also be tempted to pick up some foils with the intention of holding them for a couple of months, if not years.

Modern Temur Rhinos, Sample List
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Buy: Preordain

becoming Modern legal has spawned a ton of creativity in the community and even an article of mine. While not a flashy card that makes everyone wildly excited, it is a great consistency enhancer whose value is immeasurable, its impact rarely visible at the end of a game.

Preordain has been reprinted into the ground, so it's not particularly expensive. You could buy it at any time for roughly €1. However, I want to focus on a very specific version that is of particular interest to old-frame aficionados, like myself. In Commander: The Brothers' War, we got a retro Preordain that matches nicely with Beta basic lands and Onslaught . This appeal reflects in the price, as it is sitting at around €5 and still climbing. The fact that its value is quintuple that of the base version should already ring an alarm bell.

preordain

Considering this is the only old-frame version of the card, and now it is widely played in Modern, I'd suggest picking up at least a playset for personal use. I do not see it getting cheaper, and I absolutely expect it to increase in value over time. Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if it hits €10 in a year or two.

Izzet Murktide by TSPJendrek, 4-0 at Modern Preliminary, August 16
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Sell/Hold: Orcish Bowmasters

In the previous installment of this series I recommended holding or even buying more copies of . At the time, it had already increased by 50% from around €20 to around €30. Would it have paid off to follow this advice? Well, as of the writing of this article, the card's price trend hovers around a whopping €45, and you cannot find any on Cardmarket cheaper than €40. Using this as a metric, buying back then at €30 would have yielded you at least a €10 profit apiece.

Now, as you can see from the headline above, I am not saying to liquidate all your copies just yet! Despite the obnoxiously high price the card commands already, it still keeps going up. It is not impossible to see it hit €50 within a couple of weeks. So if you want to try to maximize your monetary rewards, you can hold them for a tad longer before selling them off. If you want to maximize your play value, you might as well keep them. And if you are in need of Bowmasters for your deck, the best time to have bought them is past but the next best moment may be today.

Modern Rakdos Evoke, Sample List
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Sell: The One Ring

makes it onto the list once again but in a different capacity. Last time, I advised holding it through its peak value. It was worth around €60 then and now, although the trend indicates €63, the price is slowly coming back down. If you have held on to your Rings and have no intention of playing them in Constructed formats, I'd pull the trigger and liquidize them. If you'd bought them over a month ago, you may have already made 200% or even 300% on your purchase. The full art bundle versions are suffering a similar fate, albeit in a more aggressive fashion. Their price now is down to €40-ish with clear and sharp signs of just steadily going down.

the one ring

Nevertheless, the card still sees a bunch of play in Modern's top decks. It's just that players have stopped forcing it into every imaginable strategy that exists.

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Hold: Jeweled Lotus

was released in Commander Legends, and I vividly remember the heralded end of Commander. Players voiced their concerns that this card was yet another auto-include alongside the overly popular . It was one of the most expensive cards in the set, and you couldn't get it for less than €50. Ban talk was everywhere, everyone running amok. While in the end, much to nobody's surprise, it did not spell doom for the biggest Magic format, the card held its value as a powerful mythic as it is. Now comes Commander Masters with a reprint of Jeweled Lotus. Rejoice, EDH players! Finally you'll be able to equip yourself with this gem at hopefully half the price …

Well, not so fast. If you look at both starting price and price trend, the reprint seems not to have moved the needle at all! All that hope gone and thrown out of the window. The card is just as expensive as it was. Or is it?

jeweled lotus

The Commander Masters version actually looks to be climbing up! Most copies on Cardmarket exceed €70. It is possible that it dipped at the very beginning, and now both versions' prices are in the process to converge. The overall point is: I do not see any signs of it actually dropping significantly. My recommendation here is to hold on to Jeweled Lotus. So far additional supply has only created an even higher level of additional demand. This is a sign that, unless they try reprinting it into the ground by downshifting it to rare, the card will only go up or at the very least stay as is.

That's it for this installment of Buy, Sell, or Hold! A lot is happening in the finance world of Magic. With so many sets, different versions, and supplementary products it's almost hard to keep up. May you make good financial decisions, and I will see you next time!

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, not of Cardmarket.