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The 10 Most Expensive Magic: The Gathering Modern Staples Prices Before and After Covid-19


Credit: WOTC

 

Paper Magic hasn’t been the same since March 23. On that date,  WOTC announced all in-store play of Magic: the Gathering was suspended. It started as a temporary restriction until May 10 and hasn’t been lifted since. Without paper tournaments, what has happened to the cost of Modern Staples? Are they dropping in value? That’s what we are trying to find out.Here is the price history of the 10 most expensive Modern Staples (excluding EDH price-driven staples).

  1. Jace, the Mind Sculptor

    Current Price: $87 Pre-Covid Price: $95Change: $8 decrease

    Jace has dropped a small amount. It does see play in a few Modern decks, including Bant, Sultai, and Azorius Control. It’s going to drop a bunch soon though, because it’s being reprinted.

  2. Misty Rainforest

    Current Price: $84 Pre-Covid Price: $69Change: $15 increase

    Misty Rainforest actually edges out Scalding Tarn as the most expensive Modern land. Despite a secret lair reprinting and COVID, Misty Rainforest has somehow managed to increase in price over the last few months. Simic builds in eternal formats have gained strength thanks to the relatively new cards Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath and Ice-Fang Coatl.

  3. Scalding Tarn

    Current Price: $72 Pre-Covid Price: $68Change: $4 increase

    Everyone has been complaining for ages that Scalding Tarn is way too expensive. Last year it hit as high as $110, then fell down into the upper $60's. It's rebounded a little bit over quarantine. Not bad.

  4. Cavern of Souls

    Current Price: $71 Pre-Covid Price: $57Change: $14 increase

    Better pick up your high value Modern lands. These cards just keep going up in value. Cavern has gone up by 25% over quarantine. It sees play in a variety of decks, including the new Modern Goblins deck.

  5. Verdant Catacombs

    Current Price: $65 Pre-Covid Price: $60Change: $5 increase

    Looks like fetches are growing in value despite no physical tournament play. Verdant Catacombs is the best of the non-blue fetches, so it isn't too surprising that it has maintained its value.

  6. Liliana of the Veil

    Current Price: $63 Pre-Covid Price: $58Change: $5 increase

    The best Liliana Planeswalker continues to see it’s value increase. She’s been on the decline for about a year, but this year has slowly been increasing in value again. I think she is still a bit undervalued.

  7. Dark Confidant

    Current Price: $49 Pre-Covid Price: $45Change: $4 increase

    Wow, even Dark Confidant has rose in value during the no-tournament Covid season. It currently sees play in Jund, but doesn’t make many appearances in other decks. I'm kind of surprised he has maintained his value.

  8. Ulamog, The Ceaseless Hunger

    Current Price: $45 Pre-Covid Price: $34Change: $11 increase

    Ulamog is a staple in Tron, which continues to be a solid consistent deck in Modern. A 30% plus increase in price for Ulamog over the last few months is pretty impressive.

  9. Force of Negation

    Current Price: $42 Pre-Covid Price: $31Change: $11 increase

    Force of Negation has increased by 30% or more during Covid. It currently sees Modern play in top Bant and Sultai lists.

  10. Tarmogoyf

    Current Price: $42 Pre-Covid Price: $43Change: $1 decrease

    Last, but not least, is Tarmogoyf. He has somehow managed to cling on as one of the top 10 most expensive Modern staples. Though, I don’t think it will for much longer. Tarmogoyf has been on a long trend downward for the past few years, and continues to do so for the foreseeable future.

  11. Summary and Looking to the Future

    Overall, the top Modern staples have increased in value. This is pretty unexpected. Without large Modern tournaments or physical tournaments at all, these staples have mostly gone up in value, and some by a significant degree. That means either fewer people are selling, or there is increased demand. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. What is strange is that by the time physical tournaments come around again, the top decks might change, so physical cards that never got played may have both increased and decreased in unison with MTGO demand. So why has this happened? Why are Modern cards still increasing in value? People know or expect to go back to tournaments eventually. Modern has been around for over 10 years and it continues to be one of the most popular paper formats. People are unlikely to sell their Modern staples at a discount because of this. Everyone knows a Scalding Tarn will still be valuable in 6 months or a year, even though you can't play with it today. That being said, I think MTG Arena could influence Modern prices in the future. Historic has been gaining popularity and includes many Modern Staples. A few pro players have stated it is their favorite MTG Arena format, and I agree. Plus, with Amonkhet Remastered coming this year, we know new cards are coming often. WOTC has also been proactive with the Historic ban list, showing that they are paying attention to the format. I would be happy to play a paper version of Historic, although it is a bit awkward to have such a specific card pool in paper. What do you think will happen to Modern prices in the long run? Leave me a comment below!

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