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Five Fearless Predictions About Modern Masters, Magic 2014, & Theros

Magic finance guru Ben Bleiweiss shares five bold predictions about the future of Modern Masters, Magic 2014, and Theros. Sound off with your opinions in the comments!

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Hello everyone! In today’s article, I’m going to make five predictions about the future of Modern Masters, Magic 2014, and Theros! Wizards has been dropping hints about Modern Masters, M14 and Theros for months now, and the full list of Modern Masters gives us a great jumping-off point to make some educated predictions about Magic’s future.

Prediction #1: The Price of Modern staples in Modern Masters will be at (or above) their pre-Modern Masters printing prices come Modern season in January.

The price of a Future Sight Tarmogoyf is $130, and we are having issues keeping them in stock. We’ve started the Modern Masters version of Tarmogoyf at $120, and I expect to sell out of those long before Modern season rolls around in January of next year.

The timing on Modern Masters is interesting. There are two open slots for product releases right now in Magic’s schedule. One is the June release, which has typically been the "casual" set (Planechase, Archenemy, Commander), and the other is the November release, which is a "holiday/gift" release: Premium Deck Series and the Gift Box. Wizards of the Coast has already announced that they will be doing annual Commander decks starting in 2013, and it looks like this is the November/holiday release for this year.

That put Modern Masters in the June slot—a time that Modern isn’t really being played heavily. The demand on Modern cards (and the format) is larger for the three months of the Modern PTQ season than the rest of the year put together. Modern Masters is already going to be a very limited release. The entire supply of the set will be completely dried up by the time January rolls around (given a six month lead time), and there’s only one printing of the set being done so no new supply will be out there to fill the void.

Right now, the price on the "Modern playable" Modern Masters common, uncommon, and rare staples is around 60-75% of the original printings of the cards, rarity changes notwithstanding. On mythics, that number is closer to 80-90% of the original price. I expect this gap to be closed entirely within the next six months, with the MM versions of the cards rising to meet the original versions and not vice versa. I also think that for cards that have new artwork, it’s possible (and I believe even likely) that the Modern Masters versions are MORE expensive than the original versions. This includes Sword of Fire and Ice, Sword of Light and Shadow, and Tarmogoyf.

Prediction #2: Thoughtseize will be in M14. The Shadowmoor/Eventide filter lands will be in Theros block.

All the way back in October of last year, Aaron Forsythe wrote an article explaining a little bit more about Modern Masters.

From Aaron:

"I made a big deal early in the format’s life that not only were we allowed to reprint the staple cards of the format, but that we actively planned to do so. A good bit of that rhetoric was anchored in the fact that I knew the ten "shocklands" were slated to appear in Return to Ravnica and Gatecrash; similarly, a couple other big Modern cards are slated to show up in other Standard-legal sets down the line."

Now that we know the cards in Modern Masters, here’s a list of the cards (by rarity) that are notable omissions from the set. I’m not listing every card here, just the ones that are Modern playable.

Commons ($1 and up): Blightning, Chromatic Star, Coiling Oracle, Cranial Plating, Darksteel Citadel, Devoted Druid, Essence Warden, Lightning Bolt, Martyr of Sands, Qasali Pridemage, Rune Snag, Sakura-Tribe Elder, Serum Visions, Simian Spirit Guide, Sleight of Hand, Smash to Smithereens, 5x Snow-Covered Lands

Of these, Serum Visions and Sleight of Hand are the two that are most likely to show up in M14.

Uncommons ($3 and up): Aven Mindcensor, Counterbalance, Cursecatcher, Dryad Arbor, Fabricate, Ghostly Prison, Heritage Druid, Imperious Perfect, Isochron Scepter, Knight of Meadowgrain, Lightning Greaves, Magma Jet, Merrow Reejerey, Might of Old Krosa, Remand, Rule of Law, Shattering Spree, Spectral Procession, Steelshaper’s Gift, Sylvan Scrying

Of these, I believe the Elf and Merfolk cards are likely to be in the next Modern Masters printing, whenever that will be. I believe Ghostly Prison and Rule of Law are most likely to show up in M14. With Lay of the Land spoiled, Sylvan Scrying is unlikely, but it’ll be reprinted eventually. Also of note are the missing Urza lands, which are under $3 but are conspicuously absent from this set; they are also be likely for a second Modern Masters series.

Rares/mythics ($5 and up): Ajani Goldmane; Angel of Despair; Auriok Champion; Azusa, Lost but Seeking; Baneslayer Angel; Birds of Paradise; Bloom Tender; Bribery; Chord of Calling; Cloudstone Curio; Crucible of Worlds; Damnation; Daybreak Coronet; Deus of Calamity; Doran, the Siege Tower; Duplicant; Ensnaring Bridge; Erayo, Soratami Ascendant; Flagstones of Trokair; Forbidden Orchard; Fulminator Mage; Gaddock Teeg; Gemstone Mine; Glimpse the Unthinkable,; Goblin Charbelcher; Horizon Canopy; Idyllic Tutor; Infernal Tutor; Jace Beleren; Lord of Atlantis; Magus of the Moon; Mikokoro, Center of the Sea; Miren, the Moaning Well; Mirror Entity; Mutavault; Noble Hierarch; Oblivion Stone; Painter’s Servant; Phyrexian Arena; Prismatic Omen; Proclamation of Rebirth; Rafiq of the Many; Reflecting Pool; Regal Force; Sower of Temptation; Staff of Domination; Stillmoon Cavalier; Tezzeret the Seeker; Thoughtseize; Threads of Disloyalty; Through the Breach; Time Warp; Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth; Venser, Shaper Savant; Vexing Shusher; and, of course, all ten Shadowmoor/Eventide filter lands

To cut this list down to a more manageable size, here are the really key rare/mythic omissions and my explanation of each:

Damnation: Though Wizards has said they want this effect to be in white and only to rarely be in black, this could eventually make its way to a T2 set. The effect isn’t overly powerful; it’s just in a different color.

Fulminator Mage: Likely had a big price spike after MM had been decided. Will probably show up in MM2 down the road.

Mutavault: Perfect for a box set. Assuming there are four or five Commander decks in November, any tribal deck would be able to use this.

Side note: There are likely five or six nonbasic lands in M14. It’s very likely one of them is a cycle of five. Of the choices for the cycle of five, it’s either the M10 lands, the Innistrad lands, or the Onslaught fetchlands. I put the chances at 60% M10, 30% Innistrad, and 10% Onslaught fetchlands. I put the chance of the sixth slot being at 90% Evolving Wilds / Terramorphic Expanse and 10% Mutavault.

Another side note: Also assuming there are four or five Commander decks in November, I would be shocked if one of them was not a Sliver deck so they could expand on the Sliver theme started in M14.

Noble Hierarch: The best time to reprint this would have been in M13 when exalted was brought back for a curtain call. Might have to wait for MM2 to see Noble Hierarch again.

Prismatic Omen: Wizards shied away from any cards that might potentially have to be banned. This is why we didn’t see Seething Song or Bloodbraid Elf or Second Sunrise in Modern Masters—I’m sure that any archetype/deck that was heavily into their internal watch list for Modern was put off in Modern Masters just in case. This is also why we didn’t see Sleight of Hand or Serum Visions. If Valakut isn’t degenerate two years down the road, Prismatic Omen will likely be in MM2. It’s also a great card to put in a casual box set (Domain theme Commander deck, anyone?) because even if it’s banned in Modern, it has a lot of value to Casual players.

Sower of Temptation: Generic enough to slot into M14, a box set, or MM2.

Thoughtseize: I’ll be shocked if this isn’t in M14. I like using the word shocked a lot since Shock is confirmed to be in M14.

The Shadowmoor/Eventide filter lands: Mark Rosewater has gone on record saying R&D wants to give access to all ten dual lands as much as possible. We just had a block where one of the main features was a reprint of a highly valued dual land cycle from Modern (shocklands in Ravnica block). I believe that all ten Shadowmoor/Eventide filter lands will show up in Theros block.

Prediction #3: Theros is going to have Giants.

The feed-in product for Theros is Duel Deck: Heroes vs. Monsters. This set will contain six Theros preview cards.

There were also a shocking number of Giants pumped out in Modern Masters—this is not a tribe we expected to see a large amount of support for! One interesting note is that Wizards redid the artwork for one of the Giants so that it is a picture of a Giant holding a Roman column.

We know that Theros is going to have a Roman (or Greco-Roman) theme. We know that Heroes vs. Monsters is going to factor into Theros, and we know that some of the main villains of Roman mythology are Giants, Titans, and Cyclops figures. I find it very likely that Giants will play into Theros prominently as a tribe.

Prediction #4: The main theme in Theros is going to be legends.

Wizards doesn’t wholesale change their rules without good cause. There was a major rule change announced for the handling of legendary permanents, and this change goes into effect for M14.

The last time Wizards of the Coast changed the legends rule was back in 2004 right before the release of Champions of Kamigawa. Kamigawa block was also the last block to feature a legendary theme. Roman mythology is filled with an undercurrent of legendary creatures and deeds. Wizards is also trying to alternate blocks between top-down design (themes) and mechanical design (mechanics). Innistrad block (including Avacyn Restored) was a top-down design. Scars of Mirrodin and Return to Ravnica block were both mechanical designs. This means that Theros is more than likely a top-down design set, so the legendary theme is going to be pushed pretty hard because of the resonance of a legendary figure with players.

Prediction #5: There is a returning mechanic in Theros. It’s going to be grandeur.

Back in March, Mark Rosewater confirmed that there will be a returning mechanic in Theros. Given the change to the legendary rule and the likely legendary theme of Theros, grandeur (last seen in Future Sight) is the mechanic I believe is going to return. In a world where both players can have legendary permanents on their side of the board and you can play a legend to replace your previous one, grandeur has a new level of gameplay that didn’t exist previously.

Another consideration is flip cards (done Innistrad-style). Flip cards were insanely popular and are going to return someday. The mechanic of a lowly warrior going on a journey and becoming a legend is one that bleeds top-down design, and it can now be accomplished in an aesthetically pleasing way that Kamigawa block flip cards could not do.

The problem with flip cards as the returning mechanic is that the mechanic was so risky that I can’t see Wizards pre-planning it to return this quickly. It’s probably in the Top 10 mechanics Wizards has done after the fact—but before the fact there was a huge public backlash (and equal support) just on the announcement. I’m sure Wizards would want to see how flip cards played out before throwing them back into the mix as a mechanic.

You know what would be truly epic though? What if there were a pair of flip cards that both flipped simultaneously to form one super-huge creature? It’d be the Kyscu Drake / Spitting Drake / Viashino Dragon mechanic fused with B.F.M. from Unglued—instead of sacrificing Kyscu Drake and Spitting Drake to put Viashino Drake into play, you FLIP them both at the same time (say, at end of turn or at the beginning of your next upkeep if both are in play) and they form a huge creature on the flipside where half the card is the backside of Kyscu Drake and the other half is the backside of Spitting Drake.

Mark Rosewater, you officially have my permission to use this idea free-and-clear!

And that, as they say, are my five predictions about Modern Masters, Magic 2014, and Theros. I hope you enjoyed this article, and I look forward to discussion in the comments!