Dear Blathering Tithe: Snap Yo Fingers?
Stop!
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Dear Blathering Tithe,
I noticed that Snapcaster Mage and a lot of Modern staples seem to be going down in price. Is it worth picking them up now if I want to play Modern after the pandemic in paper?
Signed,
A Maybe Modern Player
Dear A Maybe Modern Player,
That is a perennial question in MTGfinance: When is the best time to buy a staple card for an eternal format? I honestly can’t answer that question definitively for you as that comes down to what you believe is a fair purchase price. Now, yes, the price is definitely down from what it has been at so it’s good that you noticed that! There’s a lot of cards in Modern so let’s just focus in on Snapcaster Mage!
I find it’s best when determining whether or not to pick up a card by breaking down what would make the price move up and what could make the price move down.
Your Love, Keeps Lifting Me Higher and Hiiiigher!:
- Snapcaster Mage hasn’t started to ‘recover’ from the last reprint it’s had. Paper demand is likely atrophied due to everything going on with the Pandemic.
- There IS paper demand and usually when it is played it’s a playset.
- It has a lot of eternal demand in both Legacy and Modern. It is a solid card to run in cEDH (which, despite many curmudgeon takes, is starting to rise in popularity!)
GET LOW!
- Because of it’s known demand by Wizards it is a prime reprint target. Ideally, I like buying cards a little after reprints because the increased supply temporarily decreases the price.
- Beyond supply saturation, there’s also something to be said about staples being constantly reprinted. We need not look further than Goyf and Karn to see what happens to old favorites that are reprinted with even moderate frequency. The old grey mares may not be what they used to be but they still see play even if their prices continue to go down.
With more reprint avenues being created (Secret Lairs, non-Standard Showcase , and The List )the chances of seeing ol’ Snappy in our future are becoming more likely (Like your GDS opponent overestimating their luck). Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a snazzy old border one from Time Spiral Remastered as Flashback was a theme of Time Spiral Block originally!
I see the price of Snapcaster Mage, as of this writing (02/26/2021), is around $36–$39 on TCGplayer . So if it’s worth getting a playset for around $160. Go for it.
Personally, I’m going to wait and see how they’re going to reprint the card next. Snapcaster is not Reserved List and a lot of Legacy and Modern (and cEDH) players who run Snapcaster Mage already have all the copies they want. I really can’t see a scenario where a significant amount of reprints being put into the market wouldn’t drop the price. Much like when my opponent Storms off, it’s best to be patient and wait for an opening.
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