Today, the Pro Tour starts, Edge of Eternities Draft and then Modern Constructed. I love Modern as a format, because it showcases old cards, fun interactions, and people who have favorite decks trying to go the distance.
The Modern metagame is pretty healthy, considering that there’s no single best deck at the moment (subject to change if a deck rocks the PT) so people all have their preferred plans. It’s a race, maybe there’s interaction and maybe there isn’t, but people have what they like to do and they are good at it.
So let’s go over the main decks and a little bit of the outliers, with an eye on what’s the best buy if one of the decks looks unstoppable. I’m going over the known decks, if something shows up out of nowhere then I advise you to hang on tight.
For each of the decks, I’ve identified cards I think are good buys. The already-expensive cards might go to crazy expensive, but mostly I’m looking for things that are a little cheap and a lot of potential.
It’s also worth mentioning that as tournament cards, we have two big differences from most Commander-based specs. First, people buy these in fours, because you need a playset and preferably a matching set at that. Second, tournament players don’t always want the most fancy version. There’s a big chunk of tournament players who like nonfoils, to avoid warping and being called out for marked cards.
Esper Goryo’s
Atraxa, Grand Unifier – Griselbrand might be the more powerful thing to reanimate, but Atraxa is a lifepoint swing AND a reload of cards in hand. There’s also a very spicy target in the FCA nonfoils and the step-and compleat foils. Both are good and this is one of the many cards that people would want by the playset.
Goryo’s Vengeance – As the namesake card, this does it all, and even comes in a sweet movie poster frame if you’re really feeling frisky. There’s other versions, but this one is both unique and very reasonably priced.
Psychic Frog – The borderless is pretty pricey, so I’d be looking at the regular nonfoils. This has enough use in Legacy and Exile decks that I feel okay about picking up a couple of playsets.
Tameshi Belcher
Lotus Bloom – The only major reprint of this is the Time Spiral remastered one. There’s a retro foil version that’s the only special version, and that’s the one most likely to bump if the deck performs.
Tameshi, Reality Architect – There’s a neon borderless version that I’d be after, because this is a great combo card in Commander as well.
MDFC lands – Several of these lands are over $5, and if this deck takes off, then basically all of these lands are on the agenda. They were ‘only’ uncommons but it’s been more than a year and we can already see what Sink into Stupor’s price has done. I wish I could pinpoint better than this, but the 3 life lands seem to be a bit more prevalent here, both rares and nonrares.
Boros Energy
Guide of Souls – This had fallen down some since the recent bans but it’s back up in price. The card is still very very good and should the deck perform, this will go higher, though it’s a rare and not mythic.
Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd – Phelia is amazing in just about any deck that can flicker its own things for value, but don’t overlook how good it is to just banish a blocker. The synergies are very strong in this deck and Orzhov Blink, so this might see copies go off this weekend.
Voice of Victory – The regular nonfoils have doubled up since June, and this card has a long time to be good in both Modern and Standard. I can easily visualize matches on camera where interaction is just sitting in hand because of this.
Eldrazi Tron
Ugin, Eye of the Storms – Used to be that you got your seven mana, and then you had to activate Karn to get rid of something. Now you get to 7, you get an exile on cast, and if it resolves, you either get a card back or you add more colorless and cast a second thing, wiping out a second permanent. If Ugin has a good weekend, the sky is the limit.
Kozilek’s Command – I know this has been called out in articles and MTG Fast Finance, but it just gets better and better. No other deck wants this, yet it remains a powerful and flexible card in these decks.
Sire of Seven Deaths – Foundations gave us a lot of ridiculous cards, but this one will cost your opponent seven life almost no matter what, and some good camera time could end up goosing this price pretty high.
Esper Blink
Ephemerate – I like the new Spider-Man secret lair version of this most, but when you’re maxing value on the first cast and the rebound, people pay attention.
Emperor of Bones – Resetting the counters on this allows you to bring back cards, and this deck excels at maximizing the triggers involved. Look for some sick sequences on camera.
Witch Enchanter – Quietly one of the most expensive MDFCs, if it keeps doing well, this could be a huge gainer.
Other Decks
Pinnacle Emissary – Assorted Affinity decks are going off with this, using the warp cost of a single mana plus cheap artifacts to build some ridiculous turns. A good showing could have this taking off.
Shifting Woodland – A backup piece in multiple combo decks, plus an incredible utility land in Commander, this has all the signs of breaking out.
Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury – Another Boros card that survived the bans, look for this to do a lot of work this weekend, with likely price gains to match.
Doorkeeper Thrull – A surprising number of decks have trouble with this card, and sometimes all you need is a turn or two.
Blade of the Bloodchief – The Broodscale combo can end a game out of nowhere, and since this has had no reprints of note, there’s a lot of room for grown if the combo performs this weekend.
Allosaurus Rider – Neoform decks are trying to cheat this in and then sacrifice it for value, and as one of the core unfair cards, it might have a very profitable weekend.
Consign to Memory – One of the top sideboard cards across the format, this has been climbing higher and higher since its release. Clearly it needs a reprint, but it hasn’t happened yet.
Wrath of the Skies – a pet card of mine, if you can turn one Tune the Narrative and turn two Wrath of the Skies, you can clean up lots and lots of problems. Matchup-dependent, yes, but very powerful.
Cliff (@WordOfCommander at Twitter and BlueSky) has been writing for MTGPrice since 2013, and is an eager Commander player, Draft enthusiast, and Cube fanatic. A high school science teacher by day, he’s also the co-host of the MTG Fast Finance podcast. If you’re ever at a GP and you see a giant flashing ‘CUBE DRAFT’ sign, go over, say hi, and be ready to draft.
