Why do I have so many Temple of Abandons? Because people keep abandoning them….. duh!!
But actually its much more then that, and here’s why you should be hoarding them as well!
It has been a long time since we had lands in standard that weren’t relevant to eternal formats (i.e. not shocklands). For those of us who pay close attention to finance this means profits! The price of non-eternal lands in standard is very predictable and cyclical. Overall the trend is that the price will fall to its lowest point around the core set then start to climb around the first set of the new block and peak right after the second set of that block (this is when you flip the spec).
Here are the most recent examples:
But actually its much more then that, and here’s why you should be hoarding them as well!
It has been a long time since we had lands in standard that weren’t relevant to eternal formats (i.e. not shocklands). For those of us who pay close attention to finance this means profits! The price of non-eternal lands in standard is very predictable and cyclical. Overall the trend is that the price will fall to its lowest point around the core set then start to climb around the first set of the new block and peak right after the second set of that block (this is when you flip the spec).
Here are the most recent examples:
and if we look further back, we can affirm this trend
Right now several of the Theros block lands that see more play have already jumped, Temple of Epiphany is 11$ (tcg mid) because everyone is currently building Jeskai, but Temple of Abandon remains a 4$ card because it doesn’t see nearly as much play.
Here is a graph of the price of Temple of Abandon now:
Here is a graph of the price of Temple of Abandon now:
It hasn’t had its jump yet. L
This isn’t a slump but rather a forestalling of a jump that is to come. People won’t play Jeskai forever and once people become board of the deck or it becomes too mainstream, the demand for other temples (especially those which help them cast green monsters) will rise. Additionally the introduction of the second set in this block should open up the possibility for even more diverse and multicolored decks to become popular, and if the Jeskai combo deck ever breaks the format, expect to see a spike in temple of abandon as well because its an important card in that deck.
Even if this temple proved to be an outlier from the normal trend, the risk here is very low, its easy to pick these up in trade at $3 or $4 and its hard to see it going much farther below that. Additionally after the first SCG of the new season, Star City was buying these at $3, meaning that they are also weary of the possibility of a spike in the price of this temple.
One final note is that I choose to keep these in my trade binder. If someone wants to trade them from me, I trade them at a value of $5 even though the TCGplayer mid is $4, because this is often a beneficial trade for both parties. The standard player probably doesn’t care about that one dollar because they really need the card so the trade is good for them. The trade is also good for me because I am essentially removing some of the risk of my spec and generating insurance. I have owned at some point about 40 copies of temple abandon, but have traded away 8 of them in this way, generating approximately $8 in value. What this means is that if this spec ends up not really panning out, I can trade away all my copies at TCGplayer mid ($4) and still make a profit. Even in the scenario where the price of the temple goes down, I end up loosing $8 less then I would have otherwise.
Ultimately Temple of Abandon seems to be a card with a huge amount of upside that’s poised for a spike. As long as you invest smartly in it, there’s minimal risk involved. So next time you see a Temple of Abandon for trade make sure you pick it up!
This is my first article for the site and I hope that many more are to follow.
Tweet at me @ziquallx
By Spencer G.S.
This isn’t a slump but rather a forestalling of a jump that is to come. People won’t play Jeskai forever and once people become board of the deck or it becomes too mainstream, the demand for other temples (especially those which help them cast green monsters) will rise. Additionally the introduction of the second set in this block should open up the possibility for even more diverse and multicolored decks to become popular, and if the Jeskai combo deck ever breaks the format, expect to see a spike in temple of abandon as well because its an important card in that deck.
Even if this temple proved to be an outlier from the normal trend, the risk here is very low, its easy to pick these up in trade at $3 or $4 and its hard to see it going much farther below that. Additionally after the first SCG of the new season, Star City was buying these at $3, meaning that they are also weary of the possibility of a spike in the price of this temple.
One final note is that I choose to keep these in my trade binder. If someone wants to trade them from me, I trade them at a value of $5 even though the TCGplayer mid is $4, because this is often a beneficial trade for both parties. The standard player probably doesn’t care about that one dollar because they really need the card so the trade is good for them. The trade is also good for me because I am essentially removing some of the risk of my spec and generating insurance. I have owned at some point about 40 copies of temple abandon, but have traded away 8 of them in this way, generating approximately $8 in value. What this means is that if this spec ends up not really panning out, I can trade away all my copies at TCGplayer mid ($4) and still make a profit. Even in the scenario where the price of the temple goes down, I end up loosing $8 less then I would have otherwise.
Ultimately Temple of Abandon seems to be a card with a huge amount of upside that’s poised for a spike. As long as you invest smartly in it, there’s minimal risk involved. So next time you see a Temple of Abandon for trade make sure you pick it up!
This is my first article for the site and I hope that many more are to follow.
Tweet at me @ziquallx
By Spencer G.S.