How Four Zeniths Became Two Grims (and Then Came Back Home)

 

Back in January 2025, right after Green Sun’s Zenith (GSZ) was unbanned in Modern, I moved my four Mirrodin copies. Card Kingdom graded them EX (their graders are notoriously strict) and gave me $29.75 each + 30% trade credit, totaling $154.70 for the playset.

I combined that with other stock I already had on hand and used the whole bundle to pick up two Grim Monoliths, which were priced at $315 each at the time.

When you break it down, those four Zeniths alone made up 24.4% of the value of the two Monoliths. The rest came from bulk/value I was happy to clear.

And honestly, during the entire time I didn’t have the Zeniths, I never thought about building a deck that needed them. Not once. I didn’t miss them — they were just cardboard I converted into something sturdier.

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This Week: The Loop Completes Itself

Fast-forward to now: I reacquired all four GSZ again on CardSphere for about $11 in trade value each.

That means:

Four GSZ → $154.70 → 24.4% of two Grim Monoliths → reacquired all four again for $44.

But here’s the kicker:

Those same Grim Monoliths are now $450 each.

That’s a +$135 jump per copy, or +$270 on the two I acquired in that trade — before even counting the fact I re-bought the Zeniths at a massive discount.

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Why This Feels Insanely Clean

• Monolith appreciation. The two I picked up at $315 are now $450 each — a huge gain just by holding.

• GSZ depreciation → opportunity. Selling them high and re-buying them low is the dream scenario.

• No deckbuilding FOMO. I didn’t need the Zeniths for anything during the time I didn’t own them.

• Value equilibrium achieved. I kept the rising assets (Monoliths) and recovered the falling ones (GSZ) cheaply.

This is basically a perfect example of how natural market swings can reward patient, non-forced trading.

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Closing Thoughts

I love when MTG finance lines up like this. No speculation, no hype-chasing — just:

1. Trade out a newly relevant card when the market is hot

2. Convert into something stable

3. Wait

4. Reacquire the original cards for pennies

5. Watch the stable asset climb

Now I’m sitting on four Grim Monoliths total, two of which massively appreciated, and I’ve got my four GSZ back without ever needing them during the gap.

I’ll happily take that outcome every time.