Quick Answer
Regional Championships move card prices. Not always dramatically, not always immediately, but the players who read a result and act in the first 48 hours consistently pay less than the players who wait for a Reddit post to tell them what happened. See current prices at /cards/mtg.
Regional Championships move card prices. Not always dramatically, not always immediately, but the players who read a result and act in the first 48 hours consistently pay less than the players who wait for a Reddit post to tell them what happened.
Simon Linabury won the ANZ Super Series Cycle 11 Regional Championship in Sydney with Mono Green Landfall on 13 March. His runner-up was also on Mono Green Landfall. Three of eight Top 8 spots went to the archetype. This is what that means for card prices in Australia.
The Roundtable: Six Voices on the Post-Event Market
Maya (finance): The signal I look for after a Regional Championship is not just which deck won, it is which cards appeared across multiple archetypes at high copies. Cards that show up as four-ofs in both the winning deck and the runner-up are the safest targets. At Sydney that list is short and specific: Sapling Nursery, Earthbender Ascension, Mightform Harmonizer, Llanowar Elves, and Badgermole Cub.
Dan (competitive player): The more interesting price story is Torpor Orb in the sideboard. It is a fringe card globally. Simon ran two copies specifically to answer Izzet Spellementals and Hearth Elemental strategies. If Mono Green's share of the Australian player base grows after this result, more sideboards will want Torpor Orb and it will move before people realise why.
Sam (singles market): Superior Doomsday placed twice in the Top 16 and nobody is talking about the specific cards in that archetype. That kind of quiet performance is where you find the gap between current price and where price goes after the next piece of coverage lands. I would rather own those cards at today's price than at next month's price.
Priya (community and content): Weenie White is the one I keep coming back to from a community angle. Jason Yan's 9th/16th with a deck that is significantly cheaper to build than the Tier 1 options is actually a bigger deal than it looks. Budget decks that top 16 a national qualifier become the decks that new players build. Demand follows from there.
Ren (new player, budget focus): I am going to be honest. I looked at the Landfall decklist and I could not immediately tell which cards were the expensive ones and which were bulk. Sazh's Chocobo looks like a common. Mightform Harmonizer looks important. How do I know what to prioritise if I am building on a budget?
Kai (contrarian): Everyone is saying Mono Green is the deck to be on. I remember people saying that about Badgermole Cub decks before Pro Tour Lorwyn Eclipsed. The Pro Tour field came prepared with Dimir Excruciator and Izzet Spellementals and the Cub decks posted a 40% win rate. Results can reverse fast when the global stage arrives with targeted hate.
Cards That Moved After Sydney
Sapling Nursery
Four copies in the winning list. The card that makes Mono Green resistant to removal sweepers by generating Treefolk tokens off land drops. In Australian Standard events before this result, it was present but not always a four-of in every list. After a mirror final where both players ran four copies, its place as a mandatory playset is confirmed.
If you are building Mono Green right now, this is the first card to acquire. Use the C3 Card Compare tool to check current AU price versus global pricing.
Earthbender Ascension
Four copies in every Mono Green list at the event, including both finalists and James Drake's 5th/8th finish. It is the ramp enchantment that builds counters off fetchlands and grows into a Trample threat. The card was already a known quantity but Sydney confirmed it is non-negotiable in the archetype.
Mightform Harmonizer
The kill condition. Four copies across all Mono Green builds. The combination of Harmonizer with any fetchland can create lethal attacks without warning by doubling power mid-combat. This is the card that closes games when Sapling Nursery and Earthbender Ascension have done their work. Its price in Australia is worth watching this week.
Icetill Explorer
The engine piece. Four copies in every Landfall list. Explorer effectively doubles the rate of land drops when in play, which accelerates both the Earthbender Ascension counter engine and the Sapling Nursery token production. It appeared 198 times as a four-of in a recent data set of Mono Green lists globally.
Slickshot Show-Off
Izzet Prowess underperformed at Sydney relative to its global meta share, but it remains the most-played archetype in Standard worldwide at roughly 22% of events. Slickshot is its core payoff and demand for the card has not meaningfully declined. Sydney's result does not change the global picture.
Cards That Flatlined
Eddymurk Crab
Entered many Izzet lists as mirror tech. Did not produce Top 8 results at Sydney. It is a real card in the right context but the Sydney result does not create a demand spike for it.
Dimir Excruciator pieces
Dimir Excruciator did not feature in the Sydney Top 32 in a meaningful way. Globally it sits at about 5% of the field. The archetype exists and has results but Sydney was not its event.
Bant Airbending
Two copies in the Top 17-32 range. Not enough penetration to drive price movement. A deck to watch rather than act on.
The Contrarian Take
Kai's point above is worth sitting with. Mono Green Landfall won a 208-player Australian Regional Championship in a mirror final. That is a strong result. It is also one event. The global data at MTGDecks.net still shows Izzet Prowess at 22% of all Standard events, more than double Mono Green's share. Before you acquire a full playset of everything in the winning list, consider whether Sydney is a signal about Australian player preferences and sideboard preparation, or whether it is a signal about the format globally. Those are two different conclusions.
If you are playing in Australian RCQs for the next Modern cycle, Standard card prices matter less in the immediate term. If you are building for MTGA or following global results, the Izzet data matters more than the Sydney result alone.
How to Track This in Australia
The C3 Card Compare tool lets you check current AU pricing on any Standard card. You can compare cards side by side to see which has moved more in the past 14 days, which matters right now when you are deciding whether to buy now or wait.
The C3 MTG card hub has individual card pages for Standard staples with current price data. Singles from Sydney's Top 8 archetypes are listed in the C3 eBay store.
Data sources: MTGTop8, MTGDecks.net, Magic.gg
The C3 Take
The decisions you make with your TCG collection matter more than most guides suggest. Whether you are buying, selling, or holding, the difference between a good outcome and a poor one almost always comes down to checking current AUD prices before you act. Use the live data at /cards/mtg to make price-informed decisions every time.
What to Read Next
- Browse MTG singles and prices at /cards/mtg
- Find your MTG colour identity at /quizzes/mtg-colour
- Calculate booster box expected value at /tools
Frequently Asked Questions
Which cards spiked the most after RQ Sydney?
Cards from Simon Linabury's winning Mono Green Landfall list saw the strongest movement. Sapling Nursery, Earthbender Ascension, Mightform Harmonizer, Llanowar Elves, and Badgermole Cub were the primary movers.
How long do post-tournament price spikes last?
Typically one to three weeks for competitive demand spikes from a single event. If subsequent events confirm the same cards are dominant, the price stabilises at the new level. If the deck fades from the meta, prices usually correct within a month.
Where can I check current AUD prices on Standard cards?
The C3 MTG card hub shows current eBay AU sold prices. The C3 Market page shows 7-day movement. Use the C3 Card Compare tool to check two cards side by side before purchasing.