Reprints are the biggest topic of my articles. I don't write articles for people that want to invest and make money on cards. I try to make it cheaper for the players. Modern is the most popular format by a pretty wide margin based on the attendance at large tournaments. As it is the most popular format, it also has the most demand on some older cards. It is unlike Legacy or Vintage because every card in Modern is not on the reserve list. Anything can be and eventually is reprinted. Many players point to the total cost of Modern decks and say that reprinting hasn't done anything. I don't think that's true, but it also may be true that it hasn't done enough.

I'm not sure how well this picture will show up in the article and on mobile so here is a link to the spread sheet. I used historical and current pricing data from MTGstocks.com to create a list of the top 25 most expensive and most popular cards in Modern and I left off a number of expensive cards that aren't played very often in Modern. This includes Sword of Fire and Ice, Bitterblossom, Sliver Legion, Doubling Season, etc. These prices may vary from store to store and may even be wrong as this article goes up. What I'm trying to illustrate is how reprints affect the price of popular cards.

Modern is an expensive format because of the raw number of cards contained within it. It's impossible for WOTC to know every new Modern deck before it happens and react with appropriate reprints until it's too late. It can, however, continue to reprint cards that are format all-stars more often. Tarmogoyf is one of very few cards included in every Masters set. The price trajectory of it has plummeted from its highest. Tarmogoyf is 31% of its peak price, which means after 3 Masters sets it has more than halved the value of the card even though it was a mythic. While I will admit that is not the only factor. Tarmogoyf is much less popular than it was when it was $220, and even right now isn't the most popular Green creature in Modern. These two factors have contributed to a lower priced Tarmogoyf. Only one of them is something that can be acted on. Plentiful reprints can and will help to lower the price of cards.

The cards I'm most worried about right now are the ones that have been reprinted very recently and are getting dangerously close to their peak price. Mox Opal is the most expensive card in Modern and is at 92% of its peak price. All it takes is one good weekend of Mox Opal decks to send it over the top and set record prices weekly. I'm not sure what Wizard's of the Coast's reprint policy is, but upon the release of Modern Masters 2015, Mox Opal was $35. It has only taken 3 years for it to triple in price. Does that mean if it had been reprinted in Modern Masters 2017 it would have been $35? I don't think so. The increased demand for Mox Opal coincides with the rise of artifact combo decks that play it outside of Affinity. Krark-Clan Ironworks combo and Lantern Control were not a prevalent force in 2015 and not part of the supply and demand equation.

There are two other mythic rares that were in 3 masters sets that are not on this list. Vendilion Clique was printed in Modern Masters, Modern Masters 2015, and Masters 25. After all that it has fallen from its peak price of $75 to $20. Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker was in Modern Masters, Modern Masters 2015, and Iconic Masters and now commands a price tag of $8 from its peak of $35. Popularity is as much a key here as for Tarmogoyf, but the number of reprints has also made supply available. There can be major dents made in the price of these cards with careful reprinting.

Which ultimately brings me to my final point: Are Masters sets successful? Do they accomplish the goal of making cards more accessible? I think the overall answer is yes, but at a disappointing rate. Tarmogoyf going from $220 a copy to $60 per copy is a great achievement, but it took 3 sets and 5 years to do that. At $60 it is still out of the budget of many players and still has some room to fall. Can you consider if a success if they do another Modern Masters set next year and include Tarmogoyf for a 4th consecutive time? How low does it have to go to satisfy players? I think $10 Tarmogoyfs are unreasonable, but I also think $60 Tarmogoyfs are unreasonable. I'm not sure how many more reprints it will take for Scalding Tarn and friends to become $20 or less, but I feel like we're likely still 3-5 years away from that reality. At the rate we're going, when Scalding Tarn is $20, will Bloodstained Mire be $60? The Khans of Tarkir fetchlands are still climbing and a few have already broken $20. Those were printed in Standard in a very popular set only 4 years ago. Ultimately, I think Modern card prices are a game of whack-a-mole that can't be won. Every time there is a reprint to nail one card down, another one will pop up. My best suggestion is to be ready for the next Masters set and purchase your cards at their new price before the inevitable rebound.