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With the Pro Tour wrapping up this past week, I was planning on writing a follow-up on the Modern format and what price spikes we can expect from the coverage. That plan was derailed when a one Mr. Aaron Forsythe announced the release of Modern Masters. Set to release next June, Modern Masters, contains cards spanning from Eighth Edition to Alara Reborn. The breakdown is as follows:
- 229 Cards total
- 15 Mythics
- 53 Rares
- 60 Uncommons
- 101 Commons
As of now, we only know one confirmed reprint, but as always, I love to speculate, so not only will I be covering what we already know, I will take a shot at what we can expect from the set. I am extremely excited for this release and the Grand Prix in Las Vegas that will follow; I think this can have a very positive impact on the game and the longevity of Modern as a whole.
Before I go any further, I want to talk about the boring stuff to catch anyone up to speed who hasn’t seen the coverage or read the breakdown of what we currently know. Unlike a typical set, Modern Masters, will be a short run so as to not flood the market while at the same time still being available in a large enough quantity to alleviate some of the high prices the format has bestowed on some of the staples. The packs will MSRP at $6.99 each and come in boxes of twenty-four packs. With the limited number of commons and uncommons, you will probably open most of a set in each box, meaning some of the current high-end staples such as Kitchen Finks and Lightning Helix will probably see a more significant price-percentage decrease than the rares.
Packs will contain no basic lands; instead, each pack will contain a foil of one of the cards in the set. To me, this reads that foils overall will be relatively cheap since like Alara block premium packs, the market will be flooded with them. Twenty to thirty cards will have new art, such as the already spoiled Tarmogoyf, but it is safe to say that alternate-art foils will probably fetch more of a premium. This also means the foil and non-foil original print variants of each alternate-art card will probably hold a higher value, seeing less of an impact from the reprint. Another small aspect of the set that most people have overlooked is the fact that the set will only be printed in English. This may not seem like a very relevant piece of information unless you are a collector or dealer in foreign foils. The price of Modern and Legacy staples will drop initially, but I expect original-print foreign cards to hold steady or at least see less of an impact when the set drops.
Some other small tidbits of information we currently have when formulating an idea of what will be contained within the set is that there will be no cards on the current banned list for Modern printed within this standalone. Some of the cards will also be shifting rarities, as we can see by the previously mentioned Tarmogoyf that is now a mythic. The set is also intended to draft and will be the central focus of the Grand Prix next year that has been announced for Las Vegas. I am not sure if there will be enough product to really create a Draft format, but if you can manage to get your hands on a box, it seems that it would be a blast with the described built-in archetypes such as Faeries and dredge, among others.
So, now that we have the basics out of the way, it’s time to do a little speculating on the set such as I did a while back on From the Vault: Realms. Since this is a far larger set, I am not going to give a card-by-card breakdown, but I do want to talk about some of the cards I believe are obvious inclusions. Please add anything in the comments you feel I may have missed or even just a breakdown of your own. I think one of the most enjoyable parts of these reprint sets is to try to construct the set in your head and see how close you and Research and Development are. Even if you are wrong—because let’s face it: It is unlikely you or I will guess the exact contents—it is a good feeling when you see some of your picks actually make it to the shelves.
Commons and Uncommons
For the archetype picks I imagine the previously mentioned Sprite will make the cut as might Stinkweed Imp to support dredge and Desperate Ritual or other mana producers such as Chromatic Star and Seething Song to help with the storm archetype. We don’t have a list of everything that can be drafted yet, so it is hard to say beyond these three decks we can expect, but I would imagine some Zoo staples such as Lightning Bolt and Steppe Lynx may also get the nod. I am also expecting to see an affinity deck show potential, meaning Frogmite and Myr Enforcer among others such as Shrapnel Blast may also be inclusions.
This set is not just about draftability, but also about reducing the overall cost of Modern, so there will obviously be some cards within the set such as Sensei's Divining Top that may be reprinted even if it does not directly support of the Draft archetypes. Some of the other money cards I expect to see are Imperious Perfect for the casual crowd and Kitchen Finks considering it is the most widely played card in Modern. I would also not be surprised if Merfolk was a potential deck so that they could reprint some of the staples for that deck such as Merrow Reejerey and Cursecatcher.
Keeping in mind that Modern is also filled with casual staples such as Imperious Perfect, I would expect a number of cards to slide under the competitive players’ radars but still be solid choices. I think this is a far more relevant aspect for the rares that have seen little to no Modern play but still have a high price tag, but there will also probably be some commons and uncommons as well, such as Paradise Mantle and Steelshaper's Gift, which does see some minor play.
Rares and Mythics
I am not sure how much of this set will contain casual cards, but with the release of the Commander’s Arsenal, it is clear Wizards has those players in mind as well. If there are in fact casual cards contained within this set, I would not be surprised to see Door of Destinies and Rhys the Redeemed sneaking their way in. Both cards would work well in the Limited format since there will probably be some tribal influences and since both have relatively high price tags even for seeing no competitive play.
Of course, the part most people care about are what high-dollar cards there will be contained within the foils and what that will do to the market over the next few years. Some cards that are demanding a high price currently that I believe will make the cut include:
- Dark Confidant
- Thoughtseize
- Mutavault
- Noble Hierarch
- Elspeth, Knight-Errant
- Knight of the Reliquary
- Reflecting Pool
It should also be mentioned that because this set is not only being provided to bring Modern prices down and is also being used to play with, we will probably see some cheaper rares that most would consider unplayable. I don’t expect the set to be solid gold, and I can’t imagine Wizards is planning on doing only one of these sets, so why would they put all of their eggs in one basket? I imagine that similar to the From the Vaults series, the set will contain a headliner—in this case Tarmogoyf—and some midrange cards and be filled out from there with an even price spread down to bulk. I feel that this argument also lends itself even more to the previously stated comment about casual cards in the format, allowing them to make both groups happy while not being forced to jam the entire set full of $10 competitive cards.
If you have any questions or comments regarding Modern Masters, please send them in; I am excited to see what you guys think. I mentioned earlier to ready your picks for the mythic spot, and now that you have had a minute to think about it, I want to tell you why. I am going to hold a contest beginning next Friday and ending on the first of December. Send me your picks for the remaining fourteen spots, and I will keep a tally of what each person picked. The person whose guesses are closest to the actual set—once it is fully spoiled—will receive a prize, and yes, it will be worth it. I will start taking entries next week, and tiebreaks will be decided by who sends his or her submission in first. I will disclose the prize at the end of the contest, but believe me that this is not something you want to miss out on. With your submission, please also include a way to contact you. I have set up an e-mail so you can keep your info private as well as your picks. Stay tuned next week when this goes live, and get your picks ready!
Ryan Bushard
