This is not a new tale but an oft-told one that bears regular reminders. If only to myself. Let me set the stage.

For whatever reason, I’ve been enjoying building and playing with a Clerics typal deck for some time. With every new set, I take a close look at what new cards I can use in the deck. The last update to my standard B01 Clerics Typal deck came with the release of Caverns of Ixalan late last year. Among the cards that I added to the deck were Roaming Throne and Preacher of the Schism.

I pulled the former as my promo during pre-release and immediately recognized its value (the card’s value has borne that out as well – one of the few times I got it right). And I knew immediately that it was headed into my Clerics deck. I was not quite as sure about Preacher of the Schism. The 2/4 body is a decent stat for , I wasn’t quite as sure about the overall card. I liked it, thought it would fit well, and added it to my deck, knowing that I could always pull it later if my gut instinct turned out to be wrong.

Well, I added it to my Arena deck but procrastinated on getting it for my physical deck. I suspect that at this point you know where this is going. I just never saw what was coming. With Standard being re-emphasized by Wizards and a certain Rakdos deck doing well recently, the card has started to rise in price.

A few months back, it was going for around CA$1.00 to CA$1.50. As of late January, it now sells for between CA$4.00 and CA$6.00. And that’s when you can find it. It has been consistently sold out at my favourite LGSs for weeks now. If it does suddenly appear available, it tends to be the foil versions, a version I try to avoid.

I still want the card for my deck. If anything, playing with it as confirmed that it deserves a spot in the deck. So, now I’m left to see when I can buy it. As I wait, I’m left with a dilemma: Do I get it at the new higher price or do I wait for it to come down? The upcoming Murders at Karlov Manor set could help dry up demand for it and drive the price back down. Then again, it might also drive it up further [Mental note here to go check the new set now that it has been fully spoiled]. I fully expect it will drop in price when the set rotates out of Standard but then I won’t need it anymore anyways.

Let’s hope I learned my lesson this time. But knowing myself, I may be re-reading this post in the future…