With the announcement of Modern being a format that Wizards is going to move forward with (according to Aaron Forsythe at the Magic panel at San Diego ComicCon), we should begin exploring the format for staples that will most likely see play in the format at one time or another.

The Lands

To begin with, let’s take a look at the place that defines formats, and that is the lands. I believe the Ravnica-block shock lands, combined with the Zendikar fetch lands, will be the go-to place to build your mana base in Modern. Now, this is not ground-breaking information, and the rising price on these guys is the proof that people know about these lands. For reference, I will list the current sell prices from Internet retailers (CoolStuffInc.com is sold out of all of them but two as I write this article!).

As you can see, they are all around $15 right now, but as this format picks up steam, the price on these guys won’t slow down. The only people picking up these right now are speculators and the format front-runners, but as soon as they announce a PTQ season that is Modern, these will be some of the most sought-after cards in the format, and their price will continue to reflect that. If we get a Modern PTQ season, the top tier of these lands will hit $40, with the rest falling in line according to popularity. These are safe pickups, and if nothing else, you can move them to the speculators.

I am curious about what is going to happen with the Zendikar fetch lands after they rotate from Standard. I know their price will fall, but for how long and how far? With the potential for Modern to become a tournament format fast approaching, people may be less willing to let them go, and if enough Modern speculators feed the frenzy and try to accumulate large numbers of these, they won’t stay cheap for very long. I believe the Zendikar fetch will drop to between $5 and $7 for a short time and then shoot back up to around $10 once a Modern (or another Extended) season is announced.

There is also another set of lands that we cannot forget about that will most likely see some love during Modern since they are far less painful than the lands we have covered thus far, and that is the filter lands from Shadowmoor/Eventide:

I don’t think these lands will see the price increase the shock lands have seen, but they are lands to keep an eye on because they will see play. Pick them up cheap, but don’t go broke expecting them to blow up.

There is also one special land that I believe is worth mentioning, and that is Grove of the Burnwillows. This land was a powerhouse in Extended before they decreased its size. This card comboed with Punishing Fire to keep the aggressive decks under control, and there is no reason to think that Modern won’t use the same tech. Right now, CoolStuff has them for $4.99, which is a reasonable price, but if they become a format staple, that price will look like a steal. The roof on this card is between $12 and $15. If you can find them cheap, they may be worth picking up for the gamble.

Staples

The card that is on everyone’s mind right now is Dark Confidant. Bobby is currently $44.99 on CoolStuffInc, which is actually a better price than most of the Internet, but as I write this, there is only one left. This card is seeing a lot of love in Legacy right now as well, so combined with the impending Modern format, Confidant is a rising star in the financial world. The fact that Confidant is older and arguably more powerful than Tarmogoyf could mean that this is only the beginning. If you don’t already have these, get them. They will not depreciate and have a great possibility of jumping again.

Speaking of Tarmogoyf, this guy is going to be the go-to beater in Modern for aggressive and control strategies, which should be a surprise to no one. Currently, CoolStuff has this Lhurgoyf sitting at $74.99. Even with the new format, I don’t see this guy getting much higher than $80 in the near future. Get them and have them, but only if you can get a deal.

Thoughtseize is a card that has been on a downward trend since the end of Extended season, but will pick up steam as the best discard spell in the format. This card could easily see $30 again, but I would not expect it to go much higher than that in the near future.

A card that I did not realize was not on the Banned List already before writing this article is AEther Vial. This card allows decks to cheat their mana base by playing mana-intensive creatures and too few lands with little consequence in the games in which you draw your Vials. I would say this card will be the backbone to any dedicated creature deck in the Modern metagame as long as it remains legal in the format, and along those lines, AEther Vial will see about a $10 jump to the $25 range if it has a home in the environment.

Speaking of cards needing to stay off the Banned List, there are a few cards that I would say are on WotC’s short list for getting the axe in this format; since we don’t know when this will happen, you need to be especially careful about the potential value of these cards.

Number one on the DCI’s Most Wanted list is without a doubt Stoneforge Mystic. It slices, it dices, it can have a Batterskull ready in minutes! And it’s machine-washable. But on a serious note, we all know the power level of Stoneforge, and since the ability to tutor up and drop equipment at instant speed for the low cost of 2 mana each is something we cannot ignore, I doubt the DCI can, either. I think this card will hold value due to Legacy, and spike if it gets to see any serious Modern play during its first season, but expect it to face the wrath of the banhammer for the second time.

Number two on the list is Jace, the Mind Sculptor. While he is fine in Legacy (for now), I think he may still be pushing the power level for a smaller Eternal format like Modern. However, since Jace is always going to have value while he is legal in a format that sees consistent play, he is still a safe pickup otherwise.

Number three is Hypergenesis. I think this card has the possibility of taking the format by storm if the right list can be developed, but that may take a few months into the season for that to happen. If this is the case, expect Hypergenesis to go from less than a dollar to about $5 and possibly higher depending on how long they allow it in the format.

I feel that there are more cards that belong on this list, but without seeing any tournament results and basically taking shots in the dark as far as Modern goes, these seem to be the worst offenders. If you have more ideas, I would love to hear about them in the comments, as the more we all know, the better we can all be prepared.

Happy grinding!

JR Wade

JohnRobertWade at gmail dot com

@THEJRRR on Twitter