Jordan Pollack: A Maze of Reprints
Welcome back readers! Let’s take some shots in the dark on Modern Masters 2017 reprints that could affect their supply and demand and ultimately their price. We know that this Modern Masters set will extend through Dragon’s Maze, so there is a bigger card pool to draw from.
In the past few years we have seen reprints in everything. New Eternal staples have been inserted into casual products like Conspiracy and Commander. Even the duel decks gave us alternate arts of popular staples and planeswalkers. Modern Masters 2017 will be no different. With no GP associated with the release, expect to see a very different price trend from the previous two Modern Masters sets.
Here are some quick hits of cards that desperately need a reprint. Not all of them will go down in price; see Tarmogoyf’s price trajectory. After it was reprinted in both Modern Masters 2013 and 2015 it went up slowly but steadily.
Let’s address the
big elephant in the room. This card has dodged reprint after reprint. Wizards has said putting a four-mana sweeper back in Standard won’t happen, so we have to look at supplemental product. The first printing in Planar Chaos is the only mainstream printing of the card. It has some small player rewards and judge foils prints, but those are even harder to find. This is a $15-20 card through and through and yet it sits at $55. If and when it gets reprinted, expect it to fall hard. Yes it’s a casual and EDH staple, but competitive environments can drive the price very fast. Jund decks in Modern and Legacy relegate it to the sideboard. Will it be too good in MM draft? Maybe.
Zendikar fetches
These lands need a reprint based on their high price point alone. Obviously they see play in all competitive formats, but EDH is huge too. These cards would drive sales of any set, so maybe saving them for Standard, such as in Amonkhet might make sense too. I actually want these cards to be in a Standard set because Modern Masters 2017 will already have plenty of juicy reprints, and a Standard set would have a much larger print run.
Ensnaring Bridge/Chalice of the Void/Engineered Explosives
I am lumping these together because I want to look at them from a macroeconomic scale. All three are expensive and unique. They are expensive because of their uniqueness. If you want to play a stall deck that doesn’t win through attacking, there is no substitute for Ensnaring Bridge. Chalice is such a unique ability in Modern that it can’t go unnoticed. It can completely shut down Burn decks, but for a hefty price tag. Engineered Explosives is a colorless board wipe that can hit more than just creatures. It can be played with any colors and it can be used at instant speed. Almost.
Dark Confidant/Vendilion Clique/Tarmogoyf
These are all being lumped together because I view them as the Big 3 of Modern Masters. You need high-end expensive cards to sell packs. Dark Confidant has fallen off the map because Burn decks are more popular, and everyone plays greedy fetches and shocks as manabases. Tarmogoyf is good in all formats and trades really well. These cards might not need a reprint, but all speculative lists have to start with these three cards.
This was just reprinted
with different art as an RPTQ promo, but it’s still quite expensive. This could be a marquee card in the set, and is very popular with the players. Nobody would be unhappy opening this.
Another marquee card! Very expensive right now, but look for it to stay expensive even if reprinted. If you think the of the color black in magic I think of Damnation, Liliana of the Veil, and Doom Blade. (Doom Blade because it’s been reprinted seven times and it’s vanilla removal.) Liliana is in such demand right now that even a reprint in Modern Masters 2017 might not be enough to meet demand.
This card should be banned, but right now it’s not. Affinity has been a top-tier deck for as long as Modern has existed, but more Tier 2 decks have become Tier 1 because Opal. The Cheerios decks with Puresteel Paladin and Sram, Senior Edificer needs the Opal. The Lantern control deck is much more consistent because of it. That’s grounds for a banning. Pricewise, this card is stupid expensive. Even though it’s a legendary card, every deck that plays it needs 4 of them. On to the next one.
If either of these cards are unbanned it would be a miracle. But they both could be very good in draft decks. These cards could get reprinted in a Modern Masters set and would be totally under the radar. Remember: You heard it here first.
Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur/Omniscience/Consecrated Sphinx/Phyrexian Obliterator/Past in Flames/Through the Breach
All Tier 2 rares that could see a reprint. These would help get people into the Modern scene and they trade and sell well. There could be a number of other cards on this list as well.
Unnecessary, as it’s the only good card in Dragon’s Maze. Leave it in the set to raise the set value of Dragon’s Maze, please. Also, I hate this card because it’s annoying.
That’s all folks. I would love to hear other people’s opinions so let’s keep the conversation rolling, and keep the hype train fueled!
Jordan Pollack is a Tax Accountant and Magic player from suburban Chicago. He holds an accounting degree from the University of Kansas and is currently pursuing CPA certification. He enjoys watching the Blackhawks and doing manly things such as fixing a leaky sink, grilling, and making sure his girlfriend has everything she needs (and wants).
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