After several months of ranking mythic rares, we finally hit the very first set that wasn't a Standard release. In fact, this was the first fully reprint booster set since the days of Chronicles and Wizards was quite wary of the fact that they might overdo it and have another disaster like that set on their hands. That's right, we're talking about Modern Masters 2013, the first reprint set fully devoted to reprinting key Modern cards to get more copies in players' hands.

I still remember when this set came out. How excited we all were and how scarce the packs themselves were. I drafted it multiple times at my local shop that first night and took a box home with me as well. The set had tons of amazing powerhouse cards with a seriously exciting Limited environment. This first ever Masters set is without a doubt my favorite, and one I'm excited to talk about. Let's go ahead and rank those mythics!

Number Fifteen

People might remember the trend of bad mythics beginning with Masters 25 and the notorious inclusion of Tree of Redemption, but oh no, there were some stinkers right from the jump. Jugan, the Rising Star was absolutely lambasted by many players and was far and away the last thing you'd want to see out of your Modern Master booster pack. Unlike the majority of the Champions of Kamigawa legendary dragons, this one had such a low level of impact upon death that it was hardly useful anywhere. If you saw it in Limited, it was a great pick, but besides that, it was - and is - close to worthless.

Number Fourteen

For a lot of people, Ryusei is just as bad as Jugan, and that's true. Ryusei doesn't really have much of a home in most spaces and is as bulky as bulk rares get. However, this dragon has a lot more utility than Jugan's meager counter distribution, as it provides a mass board wipe that can clear opponents' boards if they're able to deal with it. As far as mythics go, however, it's still pretty disappointing and simply doesn't measure up to a set stacked with tons of outstanding cards.

Number Thirteen

Unlike Jugan and Ryusei, Keiga was extremely well liked and at the time was reasonably desirable. Having a massive threat is great and stealing an opponent's best creature even if they are able to kill it makes it very hard to deal with. The fact that it's down here at the bottom of the list with the likes of Ryusei and Jugan is more coincidental than anything. The rest of the set is just that much better. Make no mistake: this is leagues better than the prior two dragons.

Number Twelve

It's been a number of years now, but I recall Shackles being a bit of a head scratcher at the time. It saw respectable play but not a massive amount compared to other cards, and the bump to mythic felt a bit odd as well over other cards. The reality of this rarity shift was likely due to Limited concessions, as a repeatable Control Magic effect doesn't seem like the thing you want to show up at anything below mythic. Even with minimal use in Modern and other competitive formats as well, the card still holds a decent value, and was seen as a solid inclusion in this set if only because it was a $20 card at the time.

Number Eleven

At the time, Progenitus was still pretty hot and had an air of mystique surrounding it. Multiple reprints since and a lot of that feeling has faded, but at the time it was an extremely cool card. The only problem was how niche the card was in terms of utility, as you'd only look to cheat it out in competitive formats, thus playing it at small numbers, or using it to helm a Commander deck. The card was a really cool inclusion to showcase the broad appeal of a set like this, but paled in comparison to most of the other mythics in the set.

Number Ten

When I ranked the mythics of Shards of Alara, I ranked this one kind of lower. That's because that set is full of so many all-timers and it was a bit of a ho-hum planeswalker, even if it was fun to utilize. By the time Modern Masters 2013 came around, it had been commanding a respectable price tag thanks to Commander. Players might've wondered why there couldn't be other planeswalkers instead, however given that Modern Masters 2013 was Alara Block backwards, there weren't a lot of options to choose from. As such, giving this lower tier walker a reprint here was great to get more access to the players that wanted it.

Number Nine

Three legendary Kamigawa dragons ranked at the bottom of this list because, well, they aren't that great. In truth, I don't think Yosei stacks up quite as well as several of these other cards either. Vedalken Shackles and Progenitus don't see much competitive play, but it's more than this big dragon. However, the card had a pretty notable tournament pedigree in its heyday and was awesome in Limited as well. Most importantly, though, it still maintained a pretty strong utility in Commander where you could sacrifice it, tap down an opponents' stuff, make them not be able to untap, and then bring Yosei back to do it all over again. Given all that, it easily deserves a spot firmly towards the middle of this list.

Number Eight

At the time, Elspeth getting a reprint was both a big deal and simultaneously underwhelming. In the early days of planeswalkers - which 2013 still counts as - Elspeth was generally considered to be one of the all-time best. The rankings of planeswalkers typically would look something like Jace, the Mind Sculptor in first, Liliana of the Veil in second, and then Elspeth in third. The problem was that in spite of that reputation, her utility had been dwindling for some time, as she was no longer playable in Standard and only showed up infrequently and in low numbers with Modern and Legacy. Still, this was a strong money mythic and a great include for this era.

Number Seven

The weaker of the Darksteel Swords still packs one heck of a punch and was a huge card to show up in the first Masters set. Despite not providing the level of raw advantage its sibling offers, Sword of Light and Shadow allows you to meaningfully dodge many of the most powerful removal spells ever printed. Additionally, while the life gain element isn't super incredible, getting to Raise Dead is, allowing you to keep a steady flow of creatures on the board at all times.

Number Six

Koko Puffs is a really interesting case. This card is clearly the best of the five Champions of Kamigawa dragons, but it often seems just a little okay by today's standards. What you have to understand is the context of the era in which it was reprinted. This set was released in 2013, and barely a year prior, Kokusho was unbanned from Commander in the 99 (where it had previously been - and remained until 2014 - banned as a Commander). As such, demand for this card was sky high for all the people that wanted to do sacrifice loops with the big Dragon, making it one of the premier cards to get in this set.

Number Five

A part of me almost wanted to put Sword of Light and Shadow side-by-side with this. The two are a pair and both are among the best Swords of X and Y ever printed. However, when you size both of them up, it's clear which is the better one. Sword of Fire and Ice almost always makes a much stronger appearance, dodging key removal spells while also providing card advantage and removal in the process. Even in the Batterskull/Jitte era of Stoneforge Mystic decks in Legacy, this Sword would usually play the role in a third slot in most cases owing to its versatile protection and powerful impact on the game as a whole.

Number Four

It's been a long while now since Vendilion Clique was a tournament viable card, having long been pushed out thanks to power creep. In its prime, though, Vendilion Clique was one of the most critically important cards in the entire Modern format, and as a result it was tremendously in demand and a major player in this and other Masters sets that would follow.

Number Three

Much like Clique, Bob doesn't see nearly as much play as it used to thanks to the power creeping of non-rotating formats over the years. However, at the time this was one of the most hotly in-demand cards and was considered to be among the strongest 2-drops in the game's entire history. It was a major player in all kinds of Black-based Midrange decks - primarily Jund - and to this day remains remembered as being one of the best cards ever created, continuing to inspire designs to this day.

Number Two

Many players will be quick to recall how the three big chase mythics of this set at the time were Goyf, Clique, and Bob. However, I'd argue that this one was bigger, even though it didn't command quite the same price. Kiki-Jiki was all over Modern in this era, showing up in Splinter Twin and Kiki-Pod combo decks quite a bit until both Splinter Twin and Birthing Pod were later shown the door. The card also had a massive amount of appeal in Commander and was great in Limited. What it lacked in monetary value, it absolutely made up for in its high playability at the time.

Number One

The monster, the myth, the legend. Prior to the release of Modern Masters 2013, Tarmogoyf had hit an unprecedented $200 price tag. Even this first printing didn't truly alleviate that, and in some cases actually caused the price to increase as people would get a single copy and then want three more for the set. The card wouldn't truly start to see a meaningful price drop for years after numerous reprints and the printing of Fatal Push and even then still commanded a pretty penny after all that. One of the greatest creatures of all time, the top spot simply couldn't go to anything else.

Paige Smith

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