(Night Beam)er, Benz, or Bentley

Hey there YGO Community,

I didn't post last week because of ORAS and the Philly Regional. But I'm back this week with your YGO finance fix. Philly was great. I got to see so many friends, eat great food, meet a couple of fans, and make a few potential business connections. More importantly than that, my brother, Jon Blank got 7th with BA. I'm not here to write a tournament report though, so let's get to it.

1. The Current Trend
In the last article I wrote, I said Denko Sekka was one event away from going up. Well, that happened last week. They are now roughly $25 after reaching $30 for a few days. I still think this card is a good investment. And how could we forget Majesty's Fiend hitting $45 before settling right around $35? I predicted the card to hit $50 at the NAWCQ, I was right that it would increase in value, just four months later. I still kind of count it as a win.

2. Speculation Targets
The card I want to talk about this week is, you guessed it, Night Beam. This card has always been worth $5+ and has been a strong sidedeck card since its release. But now it's beginning to be played in some quantities in the maindeck. If Dust Tornado is good enough to be played, I think the normal spell that doesn't let them chain to its activation is probably playable. The card is still relatively cheap with BP03 copies available for roughly $3, while Ultras can be picked up for $5 and Ulti's for $9. If this card continues to be played, I could see this card reaching the $15 that it used to be if not hitting $20-25.

3. What to Dump
This section continues to be the weakest part of the article. It's just that except for Forbidden/Limited List predictions, I don't really see anything I'd want to run a fire sale on.

Keep the juice flowing,
Lyle

P.S. Thanks to my close friend Richard “Panda" Perez for today's topic. If you want a shout out, submit possible topics and if I use it, you'll get your name in my article.

The Arc Light Rises

Hey there YGO Community,

You guys continue to show so much love with every post. Even more than love, you keep giving me feedback to improve every facet of these articles. I'm just so thankful that I'm doing something so many people enjoy being a part of. Whether it's just reading the articles, commenting on them, suggesting topics/cards for me to talk about, even telling me that you don't like this or that about my article series. It all helps and I'm so thankful for each and every one of you who reads. We're so close to 2,000 views, so if you like this week's article, please feel free to send the link to your friends or share it on your preferred social media outlet.

1. The Current Trend
It looks like people are starting to realize how good Denko Sekka is. This newfound appreciation for the pseudo Cold Wave on a stick has caused the demand for the card to rise and the price along with it. The card is now averaging $25+ after being $15-18 since release. I think the card has a lot of potential as an OTK-enabler. But you don't come here to see what I think about a card as far as playability goes. You read to see what I think about a card as an investment. Ib think that $30 is about the the ceiling for this card, that is until it puts up a major event top being played in triplicate. If that happens, expect the card to jump to $40+.

2. Speculation Targets
This week's target is Herald of the Arc Light.
The card reads:
1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters
Any monster sent from the hand or Main Deck to the Graveyard is banished instead. During either player's turn, when a Spell Card, Trap Card or monster effect is activated: You can Tribute this card; negate the activation, and if you do, destroy that card. If this card is sent to the Graveyard: You can add 1 Ritual Monster or 1 Ritual Spell Card from your Deck to your hand.

As with last week's speculation on Exa-Beetle, this card is exciting because of the impending release of the Nekroz archetype, specifically the card Nekroz Kaleidomirror. You activate it to summon the card The Nekroz of Unicore, sending Herald of the Arc Light to the grave and you get to search for your next ritual monster or the spell with which to summon the one you already have in hand. The card is currently $2-3 and I've been targeting them as throw-ins and in deals where my trade partner just wants cards out of my smalls($8 or so and under) binders. I think the card has a lot of room to grow and is a very safe pick up at a mere $3, not to mention the reprint in the Special Edition should keep their price low for quite a while.

3. What to Dump
As I just referenced, and you should probably know by now, all of the cards printed Super Rare are going to be reprinted in the Special Edition boxes for this set. If you have copies of Supers that are more than $5, now's probably the time to move them so you can pick them up in the very near future at a significantly decreased price.

As always, I look forward to hearing from you guys and gals.

Keep the juice flowing,
Lyle

Ambitionz Az A (Shared) Ridah

Hey there YGO Community,

Well, this past weekend was the debut for NECH cards and things went about like everyone expected. Qliphort, Shaddoll, and Burning Abyss were the decks that put up the best numbers. But something else happened this weekend as well. Yang Zing won their first confirmed Regional, causing the deck to rise slightly in price. The addition of Yazi, Jiaotu, and Brutality seemed to be exactly what the deck needed to put up some numbers. Also, the Grave of the Super Ancient Organism buyout is over and copies are between $10-15 like I predicted. Hopefully you got your hands on a couple and can flip them for a profit. If you're reading this, I believe you definitely have the business sense to do so. But I know you're not here for another “I told you so", so let's get into it.

1. The Current Trend
It's the week following release, so prices on all cards not currently in a Tier 1 deck continue to trend downwards. If there are cards you want for yourself, pick them up. Obviously, cards that did show up in winning decklists are either rising or staying where they are with no real signs of depreciation.

2. Speculation Targets
I have two cards that I'd like to talk about this week since last week wasn't really in depth and instead I just played the part of news correspondent. The first card is Inzektor Exa-Beetle. This Secret Rare from Order of Chaos reads:
DARK
Rank: 6
Insect/Xyz/Effect
2 Level 6 monsters
When this card is Xyz Summoned: You can target 1 monster in either player's Graveyard; equip that target to this card. This card gains ATK and DEF equal to half the original ATK and DEF of the monster equipped by this effect. Once per turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card to target 1 face-up card on each side of the field; send those targets to the Graveyard.
1000 ATK/1000 DEF
This card has been around for a long time and hasn't really done all that much since the Chaos Dragon Format when you'd go mega plus from Light Pulsar Dragon or Sangan. Well, the idea is kind of the same with the deck it's going to be played in: Nekroz. The play goes:
Activate Nekroz Kaleidomirror sending Shooting Quasar Dragon to Ritual Summon 2 Nekroz of Brionac
Overlay for Inzektor Exa-Beetle
Activate effect targeting Quasar on summon
Activate effect to send two cards to the grave, target Quasar and whatever card your opponent has that you want gone
Effect of Quasar to Special Summon Shooting Star Dragon from your Extra Deck for free.
This card is currently approximately $4 and has been played before. If it's played again, I can't help but feel it'll reach $15-20 again.

The second card is Shared Ride. I've been stocking up on this card for a while now. Getting them out of peoples' dollar binders, pulling them out of crap foils that I've bought, you know, just setting them back for a rainy day. It looks like the sky is about to open up. It's good against every Tier 1 deck and can absolutely break the mirror of any of them. It can cause Qliphort to skip their entire turn the same way as Maxx “C" can cause BA to end their turn. Even if you just cycle the card in response to their search effect, it is a quick-play Upstart Goblin that doesn't gain your opponent life. At best, it's a Time Walk, setting your opponent back an entire turn. And we all know how important tempo is in YuGiOh these days. Copies are between $4-7 and if you're going to get them, I'd say do it now before there's another buyout.

3. What to Dump
I'm finding less and less to try to move each week. I think that this section is going to stay a little slow for the foreseeable future.

If you have any suggestions for topics or even just ways to make the articles better, feel free to let me know on social media.
Twitter: @SparkConfidant
Reddit: BigTymeJuice

Keep the juice flowing,
Lyle

Grave News

Hey YGO Community,

Sorry I didn't post last week. I was just incredibly busy getting things ready for the big Sneak Peek weekend. So I figured I'd make it up to you by posting some breaking news type stuff today. Without further ado, let's get into it.

1. The Current Trend
With the release if New Challengers this coming Friday, forums and Facebook groups are buzzing with questions of how to beat them or how to slow them down. There is a card that I've been considering boarding against the deck. It's Grave of the Super Ancient Organism, an Ultra Rare from Raging Battle. The card reads:
Continuous Trap
While this card is face-up on the field, Level 6 or higher Special Summoned monsters cannot attack or activate their effect(s).
Apparently I'm not the only one who thought this card was a good side choice because TCGPlayer.com experienced a buyout on the card mere hours after I bought my playset. Buyouts have long been a thing in MTG, but they are just starting to creep into YGO and this will undoubtedly drive the price of this card to $10+ when the buyers re-list them later this week.

2. Speculation Targets
I was actually going to write about this card as a Spec target today, but it seems like I may be a little late to my own party. If you can get copies for $5 or less, they are a must buy even if you just wanna flip them for the quick come-up. This card has so much potential. Think about it, it's Fiendish Chain for all Level 6 or higher monsters. It stops Qliphort in their tracks. Think about all the decks that are currently or will be relevant in the near future and how this card interacts with them:
Qliphort
Shaddolls (Only the Fusions, I know)
Yang Zing (Synchros)
Nekroz (the new hotness that everyone is hyping)
Spirit Beasts (More new hotness)
If you can get these copies, do so. If you already have yours, good job.

3. What to Dump
I'm still not sure what I'd dump. If you have $40+ cards from the Sneak Peek that you're not going to play, those are my suggestions as to what I'd move (to the highest bidder of course).

It's good to be back.
Keep the juice flowing,
Lyle

The Legion of Doom(star)

Hey YGO Community,

The support I continue to get on my article series is incredible. I'm glad you guys didn't lose interest after a few weeks. If you think of anything you'd like me to talk about or that you think I missed, let me know. You can contact me via social media on
Twitter: @SparkConfidant
Instagram: @DontKnowHow2Lose
Facebook: Lyle BigTyme Bumbaugh
Or you can leave a comment right on my article.

1. The Current Trend
Nothing really groundbreaking happened this week, save for LC5D's rarities being leaked(either correctly or incorrectly). I did notice a few prices being higher than I had anticipated this week. Artifact Sanctum is $40+ with the advent of Shaddoll Artifacts finally being recognized as the best version of the deck(I told y'all over a month ago), Satellarknight Artifacts, and 50+ Card Control.
And we all knew that copies of Skill Drain were on the rise, but I didn't know that the Ultra from Turbo Pack had reached $45. It shouldn't be terribly surprising since Yang Zing plays it in triplicate, as well as the Qliphort deck that is being released in NECH.
Other than what I write about and what people post in Facebook YGO Groups under the headline “Why is X card $Y?", it can be very hard to find out that cards are trending up in price.

2. Speculation Targets
This week I want to talk about another card from DUEA, Doomstar Magician. This card is one that people are already hesitant to move for its current price of $2.50. This card feels like a gainer to me. It has a lot going for it for both competitive and casual players:
It's Dark - Players know that traditionally, Light and Dark Attribute monsters tend to be the most powerful.
It's Level 4 - This opens up XYZ plays in almost every archetype.
It's a Spellcaster - Casual players love any card that reminds them of the Dark Magician and Yugi.
It works against Pendulum Summoning - It kills one of their Pendulum Zones, rendering it impossible to perform a Pendulum Summon.
It replaces it's cost - You have to discard a card, but it replaces itself. It's fine even it it's used only as a reverse looter effect.
It's an anti-meta card - Cards that fight against new mechanics often prove themselves incredibly valuable.
I don't know that this card will be $20, but this card has a lot going for it and I will be ready if it is.

3. What to Dump
This is always the weakest part of my articles, I know. But I really have no idea what I'd be trying to dump this week. Just the stuff I've been telling you to dump for weeks.

Keep the juice flowing,
Lyle

Catching a Cold Wave

Hey there YGO Community,

I got sick at the Frederick Regional on Sunday, so I haven't been able to write anything until today. That's why today's article didn't go up on Monday like usual. I had one weird interaction at the Regional that I want to talk about today, after the financial advice, obviously.

1. The Current Trend
Billy Brake's 60 Card Control list was spoiled this week, causing The Beginning of the End to shoot up to over $10 before settling at $8+. Now, I've played my fair share of this card before, both when I first started playing again and this past winter when I played Jeff Jones's REDRUM deck, so I know just how good this card can be. Cheap card advantage is always good, but I don't think this particular card is quite good enough to warrant the lofty price tag. I'll talk about it more in What to Dump.

2. Speculation Targets
I've recently been picking up the original versions of cards that have been or will be reprinted in the near future. People always think that a reprint will kill the price of their card, so they dump it immediately for a fraction of its original price, only to need the card a month down the road. It happens like clockwork, the reprint is announced and people dump their cards with the intent of picking them back up later for what they think will be a lower price. That's fine, but players tend to want the original printing of cards more than the reprint unless they're on a strict budget. I've been targeting the original versions of cards that were reprinted in the Mega Tins(ARK, Exciton, Dracossack, Mistake, Dichotomy, etc) that were worth $15+ prior to the reprint. The market is currently flooded with the cards and they're still holding some amount of value. Think about this: Mecha Phantom Beast Dracossack was a $50+ card prior to the Mega Tins and is currently worth right about $25 with tin versions fetching $15-20. I can't help but feel like Dracossack is too good to never be played again, and when it is, its price will shoot back up, the same thing goes for any of the other cards that I've mentioned. I'll address future reprints affecting prices in next week's article.

3. What to Dump
The Beginning of the End. Billy Brake made a very good meta choice with his 60 Card Control deck. Now, everyone and their mother is jumping on the deck. Neat. Time to plus from this herd mentality. Dump your copies to them or to the internet for a quick profit before the card goes back down to $2-3 where it belongs.

Now I want to talk about an interaction I had at Frederick Regional this past Sunday. Now, I'm a pretty recognizable guy. I'm 6'2, almost 300 lbs, and I'm pretty well-known in the NY-VA region as far as TCG tournaments go. But Sunday, I was trading and hanging out with a group of friends when a player approached me and wanted to trade. I told him I was a little busy at the moment and I'd get to him as soon as I was able. I didn't want to blow the guy off or tell him to F-O, but I was legitimately busy. He must think pretty highly of himself as a trader, probably considering himself a Shark, so he told me that “My time is worth money, I can't stand in line to work with you". Before I tell you all what I told the guy, I'd like to clarify that I do not consider myself a “Shark", I'm above that. A friend jokingly referred to me as an “Apex Predator" after watching the movie, Chronicle and we all had a laugh, but the more I thought about it, the more it fit. My friends and I prey upon the self-proclaimed “Sharks" and work with the actual vendors, meaning that nothing preys on us, making us, by definition, Apex Predators. Anyway, back to the story; I tell the guy “If your time is worth money, then any trade you make with me is going to be a poor investment". He looks offended and leaves. He probably had a nice book with decent cards, but he didn't get to trade with me because of his attitude. Moral of the story is that if you wanna trade with people and potentially make a profit, don't be an asshole and especially don't talk down to people. I guess that goes for life in general though. Let me know what you think. And as always,

Keep the juice flowing,
Lyle

Knocking on Heaven's Horn

Hello YGO Community,

This week has been awesome and I even had my first fan add me on Facebook. I'll be at the Frederick Regional on Sunday, October 12. If you're there and you're a fan or you have some advice or a request for a topic, or you just want to say hi, feel free to. I'm pretty recognizable, I'll be the tall, bearded guy in a backwards baseball cap and some sort of button-down shirt. But without further ado, let's get into this week's article.

1. The Current Trend
This week was the first one under the new Limited/Forbidden list, so obviously some prices were still crazy high (Raigeki and Glow-Up Bulb) while just about everything else stayed the same. All the cards in the Big Three stayed right where they were and those decks continued to do as well as they had been.

2. Speculation Targets
I wanna talk about the card Black Horn of Heaven. This card was THE CARD of Geargia format, so you obviously know what it does. The card kind of died this format due to the fact that it can't stop Shaddoll Fusion and if you do stop Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss, he gets his effect. But there is this mechanic called Pendulum Summoning that you might have heard about and they happen to be Inherent Summons, the same kind that Black Horn stops. “But Lyle, Black Horn says 'a monster.' I'll only stop one of them and the others will live." False. Until recently, I thought the same thing, but then I read in the Judge Forum that since Inherent Summons could only happen one at a time when Black Horn was printed, it says “a monster", not “one monster". It was ruled that it would stop the entire Pendulum Summon. At least until they release a new printing or errata for the card. That's pretty good if you ask me. And with the exception of Ultimate Rare copies, the average price for them across the board is $7-10 in a format in which they're not played. Remember how high they got when they were a 3-of in nearly every 55? Even if they do errata the card, the card won't go down in price. And if there's ever another XYZ-centric format, the card is guaranteed to go back through the roof. Have I ever steered you wrong before?

3. What to Dump
I personally think people should be moving all their extra copies of Raigeki right now. They're still fetching a good price and people are still buying them. You don't want to be stuck with 20 copies when the price goes down. Personally, the only copies I'd want to own would be LOB 1/e or RP01 Ultra.

Keep the juice flowing,
Lyle