Almost two weeks have passed since the release of the Maze of the Master expansion for the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game (TCG).
Seeing how the month of March is already drawing to a close, we thought it to be the best time to take a look at how the second-hand market is shaking out with this new release.
The Expected
While they're not exactly the leaders for best-selling cards from this pack, both Seventh Tachyon and Mulcharmy Purulia have solidified their value in the eyes of Yu-Gi-Oh! players.
For Seventh Tachyon, it was to be expected that it would command a princely sum due to its high rarity. Pre-orders of this card were selling around the $99 average before taking a nosedive to a $64 average the day of the set’s release.
From there, the value of Seventh Tachyon went back up by about $10 for a few days. This was not a surprising movement in the market as copies of the cards were finally spreading out to the wider world, making it easier for players to buy or sell this coveted consistency tool.
Add to the fact that competitive powerhouse archetypes like Ryzeal are able to make use of Seventh Tachyon quite readily, and you’d have a recipe for an upward rising market value as more organized tournaments were being held.
However, as more days passed, Seventh Tachyon started to experience a steady decline as it has now dropped to a $66 price average.
We don’t have any concrete proof as to why this is happening. We can only speculate that the price drop is occurring because Seventh Tachyon received a hit from the Official Card Game (OCG) Limited/Forbidden List update.
While Seventh Tachyon is currently at maximum copies in the TCG, the OCG has restrained this spell card to a single copy.
Konami has yet to release an update for the Limited/Forbidden List of the TCG at the time of writing. Owners may be off-loading their extra copies of Seventh Tachyon on the chance that the TCG might also restrain it to a single copy.
As for Mulcharmy Purulia, this card came in as a sorely needed reprint. While this card also commanded a high starting pre-order price of about $61 for the collector’s rare version ($37 for the standard Ultra Rare), it has now since plummeted to around $54.99 ($28/UR).
Hopefully, as more time passes, the average price of Mulcharmy Purulia will keep decreasing. With each fresh supply of copies appearing, there lies the hope that the forced inflation of this powerful hand trap lowers to a much more reasonable level for buyers.
Odion Popularity Rising
In a surprising but pleasant turn of events, three of the Odion archetype cards managed to claim a place at the top of the listing for the best-selling cards from Maze of the Master.
The Man with the Mark, Treasures of the Kings, and Anubis the Last Judge are all enjoying a surge in popularity, even if their price point doesn’t necessarily reflect it as much.
With an average second-hand market price of $12.49, $10.95, and $16.23, respectively, these cards are pretty budget-friendly for any interested player.
Though bear in mind that if you plan to use their higher rarity versions, each one can easily double in price. The collectors’ rare of each respective card are presently commanding an average market price of $39.58, $48.75, and $56. This can easily burn a hole into anyone’s wallet if careful consideration is not taken.
However, what's amazing isn’t their market price. From March 15th to 22nd, each of these three cards has sold above 700 copies in the second-hand market.
That’s not counting the rest of the days leading up to the present time nor any copies of the secret rares circulating the likes of TCGplayer.
From what could be scoured, the Odion archetype is receiving some form of success at the regional level. An Odion deck even managed to secure the top spot at the Philadelphia World Championship Qualifier (WCQ), though this was a mixed deck that included some parts of the Fiendsmith engine.
Nonetheless, and as far as general consensus goes, players have found the Odion archetype just fun to use. The constant trap recursion the archetype offers alongside its animated series theme is a breath of fresh air amidst the suffocating mercies offered by current rivals
The Odion archetype may not reach the widespread levels of notoriety or success as its peers, but it has shown its potential as a genuine rogue strategy for anyone willing enough to give it a go.
If nothing else, these cards are more than likely to fly under Konami’s radar as we await the latest update to the TCG’s Limited/Forbidden List.