All B/R update speculation.

[xfxf]

The other day I was out to collect the low hanging fruits for my future Vintage deck on SCG and thought to myself, why not get a full playset of that Mystical instead of just 1 while I'm at it, but they were out of stock on Mystical Tutors. I clicked the wishlist button. About a week later I got the notification saying that it was back in stock and when I checked their site there were 30 cards.

My conspiracy theory is, they have an inside source and were holding the Mysticals on hold until they received confirmation that it wasn't getting unbanned. They received the confirmation and re-listed the card.

As I said, just a conspiracy theory..

[Asthereal]

They have just printed Miracle cards.
Don't worry, they will definitely NOT unban Mystical for a while.

[AriLax]

The other day I was out to collect the low hanging fruits for my future Vintage deck on SCG and thought to myself, why not get a full playset of that Mystical instead of just 1 while I'm at it, but they were out of stock on Mystical Tutors. I clicked the wishlist button. About a week later I got the notification saying that it was back in stock and when I checked their site there were 30 cards.

My conspiracy theory is, they have an inside source and were holding the Mysticals on hold until they received confirmation that it wasn't getting unbanned. They received the confirmation and re-listed the card.

As I said, just a conspiracy theory..

Actually, it's far more likely that SCG actually has a decent/large amount of Mysticals and lists them in batches, making decisions about price point between batches. This is how they run prerelease orders, it prevents mass speculation while still allowing enough to keep business (they are willing to leave out 40 copies for spec but not 400), and in general allows for better reaction to the market.

[dontbiteitholmes]

Actually, it's far more likely that SCG actually has a decent/large amount of Mysticals and lists them in batches, making decisions about price point between batches. This is how they run prerelease orders, it prevents mass speculation while still allowing enough to keep business (they are willing to leave out 40 copies for spec but not 400), and in general allows for better reaction to the market.

I wonder how many people inside WotC know about bannings/unbannings before they go public. Seems like trading on this kind of insider information could be higher reward lower risk but on a much smaller scale than insider trading of stocks.

I don't know what to think about SCG sometimes. I don't think WotC gives them advanced knowledge of bannings/unbannings but I feel like every once in a while they catch wind of something down the grapevine.

[AngryTroll]

I don't know what to think about SCG sometimes. I don't think WotC gives them advanced knowledge of bannings/unbannings but I feel like every once in a while they catch wind of something down the grapevine.

Every B/R List Announcement is preceded by months of debate and speculation. It'd be easy to figure out an "unbanned" price for all of the cards that could be unbanned, and list only some of the total stock at the current price on the evening of the announcement. By 12:01 SCG can update the price. No need for insider trading; I'm sure that could get SCG in huge amounts of trouble.

On the other hand, when cards are unbanned out of the blue, there must be a scramble to figure out an appropriate price. I know that I picked up Entombs shortly after midnight for much less than they cost the next morning.

[Koby]

AFAI-remember, SCG takes down most of their B&R stock prior to midnight during announcement nights to specifically prevent a run on any potential unbans. The ban cycle is mostly self evident through tournament performance.

My prediction for Legacy at this cycle:
No change. Go out and play whatever you will.

[Fizzeler]

I agree with you Koby, no real change to the list for Legacy anyway (or they unban Earthcraft), Modern now that I have suspicions about bannings/unbannings

[Lord Seth]

For Legacy, I predict no new bannings, though if they do ban something it'll almost certainly be Show and Tell or something else from that package (but Show and Tell still seems the most likely). Again, I don't think they'll be banning anything, but if they do I don't see any other real candidates.

For unbannings, I again don't think there will be anything. But if they do, I think it'll be Mind's Desire or Earthcraft.

In Standard, I'm even more confident there will be no changes.

No guesses about Modern.

[Fizzeler]

For unbannings, I again don't think there will be anything. But if they do, I think it'll be Mind's Desire.

I hope man, I have a Judge Promo that is just aching to be played!

[dontbiteitholmes]

Every B/R List Announcement is preceded by months of debate and speculation. It'd be easy to figure out an "unbanned" price for all of the cards that could be unbanned, and list only some of the total stock at the current price on the evening of the announcement. By 12:01 SCG can update the price. No need for insider trading; I'm sure that could get SCG in huge amounts of trouble.

On the other hand, when cards are unbanned out of the blue, there must be a scramble to figure out an appropriate price. I know that I picked up Entombs shortly after midnight for much less than they cost the next morning.

You can adjust your sale price, but you can't retroactively buy stock at $2-3 each for a card that is now selling for $30.

Anyways I was more referring to how some asshole off the street could turn a nice profit quickly if they had that kind of info. Turn back the clock and imagine someone had known Land Tax was going to get unbanned. They could have bought out every Tax on Ebay for ~$4 a piece then had them all for sale ending within a week of the announcement and easily turn a 500% profit on each transaction.

As far as next B/R most likely no changes.

[xfxf]

Taking down the B&R list on the day of announcement is old news. People have been discussing the possible unbans since last month and I'm sure the B&R stock saw some action (albeit small) since the unban of Land Tax. I'm also sure that leading vendors are already playing the next level game and holding onto the possible Land Taxes not only a day before but by keeping a decent stock.

[Goaswerfraiejen]

It won't happen, but I wouldn't mind seeing Survival take on Show and Tell.

[Julian23]

I'd love to see Survival of the Fittest and Show and Tell battling it out. Finally a feeling of Good vs. Evil back in the format.

Although an active Survival usually stops S&T pretty much cold anyway.

[Shawon]

I'm hoping that come next week, we'll be a month or shorter from seeing Earthcraft vs Show and Tell.

[Julian23]

Yeah. I'm so tired of Land Tax keeping Show and Tell in check.

[Lord Seth]

By the way, why was Earthcraft banned/restricted in the first place? This is the only rationale provided by Wizards of the Coast at the time:
"Earthcraft joins the many other combo cards that are restricted in Type 1."

Which is one of the vaguest explanations ever and could be used as a rationale for banning any combo card. Were Earthcraft decks really tearing up formats that much?

[Fizzeler]

I'd love to see Survival of the Fittest and Show and Tell battling it out. Finally a feeling of Good vs. Evil back in the format.

Although an active Survival usually stops S&T pretty much cold anyway.

I would like to think of it more as Clash Of The Titans than Good Vs Evil

By the way, why was Earthcraft banned/restricted in the first place? This is the only rationale provided by Wizards of the Coast at the time:
"Earthcraft joins the many other combo cards that are restricted in Type 1."

Which is one of the vaguest explanations ever and could be used as a rationale for banning any combo card. Were Earthcraft decks really tearing up formats that much?

Only because of Squirrels Nest, because apparently making infinite tapped (save 1) Squirrel tokens was broken

[Vicar in a tutu]

When is the next DCI ban/unban update?

[death]

Next week, but I'll spare you the wait. No changes.

[(nameless one)]

Kiki-Mite combo exists. Why not Earthcraft-Squirrel's Nest?