With a possible ban list on the way, the market is sure to shift. Despite the uncertainty of what could be hit, there are new engines and tech cards that have yet to surface that have potential to trend up.
Underworld Goddess of the Closed World
One of the few cards to come out of Blazing Vortex, Underworld Goddess of the Closed World has seen a recent bump in price. This is while it has not seen play in any recent Konami-sanctioned tournaments! I believe this card has potential to see mainstream play under the right conditions, and more pertinently, potential to spike in price.
This card is comparable to Kaijus in terms of niche. You would likely use Underworld Goddess to defeat the same threat as a Kaiju. However, she cannot be used in every deck. That being said, she has a niche that cannot be matched by Kaijus - she is readily available as long as the materials are on the field, being an Extra Deck monster.
That is not where the differences stop. As opposed to Kaijus, you gain a powerful body in return. In that case, Underworld Goddess is a reverse UNO card.
I see Underworld Goddess spiking when combo decks become more mainstream again, which could be the case if Eldlich and Virtual World are hit hard. Leaving a Link-2 monster on the field reduces the cost by one monster as well. In terms of current price, I would try to pick it up for $25, its recent low before trending up to $33.
Evil Twin Lil-la and Ki-sikil
The dynamic duo is attached at the hip, even when it comes to price. Evil Twin Lil-la and Evil Twin Ki-sikil share the same price, since you can't play one very well without the other. While it is these cards going up in price, I believe the reason they are going up is because of the power of the influencer versions, Live Twin Lil-la and Live Twin Ki-sikil.
One card engines have been influencing Yugioh's meta since Tour Guide from the Underworld. Live Twin Lil-la and Ki-sikil do not have to link into their Evil Twin counterparts. They offer access to rank 2 XYZ monsters such as Number 29: Mannequin Cat or Sky Cavalry Centaurea for Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS - Sky Thunder afterwards. Making two bodies are also useful for generic links such as Predaplant Verte Anaconda. Finally, they are searchable with Cynet Mining. While you are running this engine, you may as well run the Evil Twins as well. Essentially, the engine is great, and its use in the future will inevitably increase the one printing of the rarer pair.
S-Force Bridgehead
S-Force has just recently came out, but it doesn't seem to be turning many heads. While it does have more support coming out like S-Force Chase and S-Force Dog Tag, I am unsure that those cards will raise the competitive viability of the deck. That being said, the archetype has many good attributes going for it, specifically with its main powerhouse, S-Force Rappa Chiyomaru. In that case, it would seem wise to invest in Chiyomaru. However, the precedence suggests their searcher field spell instead.
In the case that S-Force gets great support, surely Chiyomaru would go up in price. However, the same could be said for S-Force Bridgehead; field spell searchers like Prank-Kids Place trend upwards due to their importance. Furthermore, Chiyomaru is likely to be reprinted if it gets a ton of attention. In cases where the first chase card of an archetype is reprinted, the second best card normally spikes. This can be seen with Dragonmaids. These cards are easy $2-3 throw ins.
Conclusion
Ban list season is a potentially rich time to sell and buy. But the volatility of potential investments is unreliable. During this time, it is useful to observe cards that are generic. They have an observable effect depending on how a meta shifts. Predictions like that can be based on previous market trends, making for a safer investment.
