Ultimate Masters is the end of the Modern Masters sets according to Wizards of the Coast. As we say farewell to the series, we should also say farewell to the cards being reprinted as they will likely plummet in market value over the next few months. About half of the rares in Ultimate Masters have already been spoiled and based on what we’ve seen there’s going to be a lot of value in the rare slot.
Although UM has a higher than normal MSRP, that is only going to do so much to keep the additional supply of cards from reducing card value. Ultimate Masters rares will continue to decline in price from now until their release. After release, prices will decline for another 3 to 6 months until the set is no longer in significant circulation, at which point card prices should stabilize and rise or fall with their popularity in Modern.
With that being said, here are 12 cards you should sell or trade before Ultimate Masters releases:
Ancient Tomb
Ancient Tomb is a card from Tempest, which was released way back in 1997. Its only been reprinted as an Expedition Land and in the FTV: Realms product. Ancient Tomb is not legal in Modern and isn’t a high demand card, although it does see play in decks such as Eldrazi and Sneak and Show. Expect Ancient Tomb to lose over half its value.
Current Price: $40
Expected Value: Less than $20
Dark Depths
Depths was printed in Coldsnap and anything that was ever good in that set has high valuations. Unfortunately for Marit Lage fanatics, Dark Depths has never been reprinted in paper form outside of From the Vault: Lore. It’s also a staple in Legacy decks, such as Lands. Since it is banned in Modern, its demand isn’t too high and its price is mostly determined by a limited supply. Dark Depths is being reprinted at Mythic Rarity, which should keep its price from plummeting into oblivion, but it's still going to have a major impact on the supply of this card, and ergo reduce its value.
Current Price: $50
Expected Value: Less than $20
Karn Liberated
Karn and Mox Opal are the two mythic cards that needed a reprint the most. To the chagrin of many Modern players, this is going to help make Tron decks more affordable. Karn is such a vital card to Tron (one of the most popular Modern decks), that it’s not going to take as dramatic percentage wise loss as other cards, but on a dollar loss basis, it is going to be considerably cheaper.
Current Price: $82
Expected Value: Less than $65
Demonic Tutor
Demonic Tutor is banned in Legacy and restricted in Vintage. As a reprinted card, its demand is almost entirely made up of Commander players, who can only play 1 card in their deck. It should still maintain some value as a card people will want to keep at least one copy of in their collection.
Current Price: $40 to $50
Expected Value: Less than $30
Temporal Manipulation
This reprint is meant for Commander players. Its only paper versions include Portal Second Age and a Judge Promo printed in 2016. Because it is more of a niche Time Walk card in Commander, it’s not very high in demand. All of this Temporal Manipulation’s value is the result of an incredibly limited supply. This card went from $90 to only $50 after a few years of the Judge Promo being circulated. An MM reprint is going to be much more devastating to its value than a Judge Promo. Sell this card fast, it's going to lose a lot of value very quickly.
Current Price: $80
Expected Value: Less than $25
Entomb
Entomb is a bit of a surprise reprint since it was printed in Eternal Masters. Before EM was printed, Entomb was selling for $30 a pop. It got sliced down to about $17 a year after its release.
Current Price: $18
Expected Value: Less than $11
Goryo's Vengeance
Goryo's Vengeance has never been reprinted. It has better demand than others since it sees play in multiple formats, including Modern. Perhaps the reprint will spur more players into Grishoalbrand. It’s still a niche card though, and the decks it currently sees play in are not too popular.
Current Price: $40
Expected Value: Less than $18
Celestial Colonnade
Colonnade’s already lost $6 in value since Ultimate Masters was announced last week and it is only going to get worse from there. Sure, Blue/White is popular right now, but it’s being reprinted at rare. This card should be on your high priority sell/trade list.
Current Price: $50
Expected Value: Less than $25 (and could get worse if Blue/White loses popularity)
Fulminator Mage
Fulminator Mage went from $40 to $25 when it was reprinted in MM2. Its pricing tends to spike and ebb with the format as a very volatile tech card. Expect Fulminator to initially drop in value after release. Fulminator is actually priced fairly low already, so you may want to consider picking this up again in about 6 months when UM is finished flooding the market.
Current Price: $25
Expected Value: Less than $15 (but may spike up in 6 months to a year)
Engineered Explosives
EE badly needed a reprint. After EE wasn’t announced in M25, its price skyrocketed from $50 to almost $90. EE should drop at a minimum to its pre M25 buyout and if speculators rush to sell this, expect it to go much lower.
Current Price: $75
Expected Value: Less than $40
Gaddock Teeg
Teeg got bought out after it wasn’t announced in M25. It was just $19! Teeg is an integral part of the Humans sideboard plan in modern, which is a very popular deck. Other than a few random taxes decks, it doesn’t see play in anything significantly popular. Teeg’s only been reprinted as a Judge Promo so supplies are extremely limited. If you don’t sell your extra copies now, you’re going to regret it. Once the speculators dump their copies (they bought up after M25) and the UM versions flood the market, it is going to take a big hit.
Current Price: $44
Expected Value: Less than $16
Noble Hierarch
This is the card I am most happy to see reprinted in an MM set. It’s integral to so many decks. A Birds of Paradise with a small upside shouldn’t cost $75+. Demand for Noble is high, but at the rare slot, it's going to increase supply significantly.
Current Price: $75
Expected Value: Less than $50
NOTE: This is just a sample of some of the cards we predict will take the biggest hit in value, but there’s a lot more. Everything will be taking significant hits as previous MM sets have shown. It would be wise to sell off any extra cards you own that are being reprinted as they will all likely lose at least 20% in value. Once UM isn’t circulating anymore (in 3 to 6 months or so) prices will slowly start to climb again. That will be a good time to buy back the cards you traded or sold. Remember to buy the staples you need from this set in 3 to 6 months, because there are no new MM sets releasing anytime soon to bring prices down again. (This time frame is just an estimate. My recommendation is to see when prices have stopped declining for an entire month. This is a good sign UM cards have fully entered the market and you are safe to buy without much loss as a result of increased supply, at which point prices should begin to rise again).
What cards being reprinted in Ultimate Masters do you think will lose the most value? Leave us a comment below!