Worlds is definitely the most exciting Pro Tour of the year. The greatest players from around the globe face off in multiple formats, battling until the best player in the world is crowned champion.

Seeing how your hometown heroes and favorite pros fare against the competition is always exciting to see. Even more exciting for a market watcher is discovering what new decks come from the fray and what old archetypes reestablish their dominance.

There is a lot of money to be made for a trader who is quick to act, monitoring the results and deck techs as they are updated. But with so many decks and so many formats, where does one begin? At the beginning, naturally…

Here is a list of some of the major archetypes and the rares that make them tick. If an archetype does particularly well, you can expect their money rares to increase in value. If a popular deck all of a sudden isn’t, then you can expect the popularity of their rares to follow suit. I highly recommend you watch the results closely this weekend and get a jump as soon as possible to get the best value. Magic Onliners, pay extra close attention!

Jund
This is the obvious elephant in the room. Regardless of the recent $5K and Magic Online results, few doubt that Jund will not be the most played Standard deck at Worlds. However, from a financial perspective, the Jund power rares have little upside left. Already the most played deck in the format, demand has close to peaked. Though the rares can definitely gain a little value with a strong performance, I think that they have a lot more to lose if a deck emerges that can outright beat Jund and compete against the rest of the format.
Rares to watch:
- Broodmate Dragon, Maelstrom Pulse, Dragonskull Summit, Rootbound Crag, Verdant Catacombs: These rares are almost completely exclusive to Jund. The manabase is obviously a lot more flexible than the Dragon and neo-Vindicate, so those cards stand to lose less if the deck were to take a back seat to something better, faster or stronger.

- Garruk Wildspeaker: One thing I noticed is that highly playable planeswalkers retain price regardless of if they have a tier one deck featuring them or not. This might be due to the casual player push, but whatever the reason, Garruk isn’t likely to lose much value if any at all if Jund all of a sudden doesn’t exist. This is a safe card to hold.

Vampires
According to Frank Karsten’s “Winner’s Game Percentage” analysis*, Vampires was the #2 deck from Zendikar Game Day. It could be possible that I was completely wrong and Vampires could be worth playing. Or it could just be that the deck was played in such sheer volume that it was bound to have enough high finishes to take second place in the rankings. I’ll let you sound off in the comments with your thoughts. I still don’t think this deck is the real deal in its current incarnations, especially since it is so weak against the current top deck. It will be interesting to see how things develop come Worlds.
Rares to watch:
- Bloodghast, Vampire Nocturnus: While Bloodghast has Extended playability in Dredge, no deck in Standard plays these creatures save for Jund. Vampire Nocturnus shot up almost overnight when Zendikar was spoiled. This is due largely in part to the M10 Mythic Rare shortage (see Baneslayer Angel, Master of the Wild Hunt), but also due to the fact that the vampire lord actually has a deck. I think it is extremely likely that Vampires won’t put together the same numbers for Worlds as they did for Zendikar Game Day. However, though these cards are basically strictly limited to one deck, I think the casual demand will be enough to keep these rares from completely bottoming out.

- Marsh Flats, Verdant Catacombs: Fetchlands are never really a bad investment. Verdant Catacombs is riding pretty high right now due to Jund (and this too, I guess), but Marsh Flats is probably the cheapest of the new fetches. Overall, I don’t think these will drop much even if the Vampires fail to fly at Worlds. (Whew, got through a whole segment about Vampires without a Twilight or New Moon joke! Yesss! …oh dangit, I’m gonna hear it from CW now…)

*I highly recommend you go through that article as there is a lot of very useful information for traders and gamers alike. Karsten’s metagame breakdowns and “average decks” can be extremely useful for helping with deck decisions and building gauntlets.

Boros Bushwhacker
This is without a doubt the aggro deck of choice for Standard. It has a puncher’s chance against Jund and can seriously punish an opponent’s slow draw. Whether or not the deck has enough consistency to survive in the long run, only time will tell. Until then, holding a long position in this deck won’t ruin your portfolio as the money rares are extremely flexible.
Rares to watch:
- Ranger of Eos: Antoine isn’t really expensive in the first place and worst case scenario, you can trade him come Extended season.

- Arid Mesa, Marsh Flats, Scalding Tarn: Read above re: Marsh Flats and Verdant Catacombs. Even if the deck falls off, you’ll still be able to use or trade your fetchlands. If the deck somehow wins the whole thing, expect these fetches (especially Arid Mesa) to climb.

Eldrazi Green
Though this deck wasn’t included in Karsten’s metagame analysis, it will definitely have a showing in the Worlds metagame. It’s definitely on people’s radars now, so decks will definitely adjust. I think that the majority of the cards in this deck are limited to Eldrazi Green and that hurts the flexibility of the investment, but if the deck has any staying power at all it’ll be worth it.
Rares to watch:
- Ant Queen, Elvish Archdruid, Oran-Rief, the Vastwood: Even with the rising popularity of the deck, these rares still aren’t too expensive to be decent investments. However, they are so limited in their playability (i.e. they only work in green and/or elf decks) that I don’t see them having much profitability potential outside of the scenario that the deck wins Worlds. It could happen…?

- Master of the Wild Hunt, Nissa Revane, Eldrazi Monument: Master of the Wild Hunt is a little more risky than the other two because it wasn’t exactly Standard playable up until about two weeks ago. Nissa was a card that just needed a shot in order to prove herself. Eldrazi Monument was one I honestly didn’t see coming. Overall, these cards still aren’t very playable outside the green/elf deck (except Monument), so invest with caution.

- Garruk Wildspeaker: Unlike Nissa, Garruk doesn’t have a tribe tied to him, just a color. And Garruk pops out tokens that simply require an upside-down land or a die, not a creature that you are required to run in your deck. This makes Garruk a much safer investment in the long run. However, being played in the number one deck doesn’t help him much as far as upside.

Bant
This is a deck that I didn’t include in my pound for pound breakdown last week, but apparently put together a decent number of Top 8s on Zendikar Game Day. The deck is basically a midrange deck, much like Jund. However instead of playing creatures and spells that make more spells, it just plays creatures that are extremely efficient in Baneslayer, Rhox War Monk and Knight of the Reliquary. What the deck lacks in aggression, it makes up in control spells and countermagic. I don’t know what lists will break through at Worlds, but I would be surprised to see Bant somewhere near the top. It’s been a while since we’ve seen a blue deck there.
Rares to watch:
- Baneslayer Angel: The market has already begun to correct itself online, as Baneslayer is settling a little. However, as we know, paper markets are much slower to respond. A strong showing by Bant should cause Baneslayer to shoot right back up there, though, and the paper market would have never missed a beat.

- Noble Hierarch, Knight of the Reliquary, Elspeth, Knight-Errant: Noble Hierarch has slowly but surely taken over Birds of Paradise as the one-drop accelerator of choice in green, and the price reflects that. Knight of the Reliquary shot up when the fetches were revealed in Zendikar, but never really saw much play in Standard. Could this finally be her time to shine? And re: Elspeth, see Garruk and the “playable planeswalkers” comment. Overall, these cards were doing fine before Bant became a deck in Standard and I don’t see them dropping at all if the deck slows down. Knight of the Reliquary could be the biggest mover if the deck has a strong showing though.

- Misty Rainforest, Glacial Fortress, Sunpetal Grove: These lands were extremely underplayed coming into Zendikar Game Day. I mean, c’mon. When you see a UG land worth less than a BG land, you know it’s only a matter of time before the meta corrects itself and blue is dominant again. I think the blue lands are extremely good buys right now because once control picks up, they will take their rightful spots in the color hierarchy (and Bant could very well be the deck to lead that charge). Sunpetal Grove… not so much.

Other Cards to Watch
- Day of Judgment: Wrath of God at cheaper than Wrath of God prices? Something is wrong with this picture. Day of Judgment is a great investment at the moment, especially since it has a whole extra year until it rotates out of Standard. If and when control makes its glorious (read: annoying) comeback, expect DoJ to reach WoG status.

- Sphinx of Jwar Isle: Another control finisher that you might see riding alongside Baneslayer Angel. Its strength versus Jund will be the primary reason you see it anywhere near the top tables. If it ends up in a Top 8 list, Sphinx can easily double overnight.

- Extended Staples: I’m sorry that I didn’t get a chance to break down the Extended metagame. I would have really loved to include them in this article, but there isn’t enough room/time. Just a reminder to all you readers though, this is probably the last chance you have to pick up your Extended staples for a “low” price. Worlds will set up the metagame for the PTQ season in January. Once the results come, it will just remind everyone about that and if you wait until December it will probably be too late. Tarmogoyfs and Ravnica duals are all sure bets when it comes to Extended. A few other cards I have on my list are Engineered Explosives, Chalice of the Void, Vedalken Shackles, Umezawa’s Jitte, and even Zendikar fetchlands (just because they’re current, doesn’t mean you can’t plan ahead with them too!). Plan ahead so you can get the most value for your ticket/dollar.

Worlds never fails to disappoint when it comes to new decks and awesome tech. Keep a close watch this weekend and you can stay on the edge when it comes to the early investments. Though it may be redundant to many of you, I hope that this article helped serve as a reminder of that. Thanks for stopping by the shop!

Peace

Jeremy Fuentes

Additional References:
- Observing Price Comparisons Between Cardboard and Digital Magic (Case Study #2)