To Modern Master or not

With Modern Masters spoilers revealing more and more cards by the hour, it’s clear that Wizards is going to deliver a great set. A set that Wizards has put a lot of time and effort put into creating. The top dog in the set is Tarmorfoys whose prices are still more then players are willing spend and with foil prices that would make you wish you had a time machine. TCGplayer is a bit more competitive when it comes to prices for Tarmogoyf but is still pretty pricey. There is really no difference for the card between TCG and SCG, except for the fact that SCG is not out of the card. 

Will the price come down when Modern Masters come out? Yes and no. I know that’s not really an answer but bear with me. I believe that people are forgetting a couple of facts about Modern Masters. First it’s a 229 card set which is bigger than Dragon Maze and just shy of Gatecrash. Secondly the value of the cards in Modern Master is more than both Gatecrash and Dragon Maze together. This begs the question, what is the down side to Modern Masters? 

Here is the information that you should consider when looking at Modern Masters: 299 cards, 24 packs per box, with a $6.99 MSRP per pack.

Current cost of boxes:

Current price for a Modern Masters box is $299.99 on SCG.

Current price for a Modern Masters box is $249.99 at the lowest on TCG with an average price of $263.50.

Current price for a Modern Masters box on eBay is $240.00 at lowest with the price climbing. 

What does that mean when the set drops? Well a couple of things. Stores have been preselling their boxes of Modern Masters and have slowly been increasing the price. The reason for the climb in price is that stores are only allowed a certain number of boxes. So as the date for the release gets closer the price of the boxes will climb and hit a high of $400 or more.

Now if you think you that you can save some money by gambling on buying singles, you might be losing even more. I have talked to some of the other store owners about what prices they will be selling their packs at. The answer was around $10 a pack; no one will be drafting Modern Masters at those prices. So unless Wizards print more product then needed you will not be drafting Modern Masters unless you’re at a large tournament. 

Here is a current list of cards from Modern Masters in descending price.

High 

Tarmogoyf $115.02- $129.99

Dark Confidant $47.66- $59.99

Vendilion Clique $41.18- $49.99

Cryptic Command  $32.97- $34.99

Sword of Fire and Ice  $30.50- $34.99

Doubling Season $28.82- $34.99

Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker $28.76- $29.99

Elspeth, Knight Errant $27.54- $29.99

Sword of Light and Shadow $25.22- $29.99

Arcbound Ravager $23.74- $24.99

Sarkhan Vol $18.47- $19.99

Kokusho, the Evening Star $18.00- $19.99

Progenitus $17.66- $19.99

Engineered Explosives $16.71- $19.99

Aether Vial $15.99- $14.99

Glimmervoid $14.99- $16.29

Kira, Great Glass-Spinner $14.99- $16.19 
Vedalken Shackles $14.99- $16.07
Academy Ruins $13.63- $14.99

Tooth and Nail $12.99- $14.99

Gifts Ungiven $10.70- $11.99

Woodfall Primus $10.32- $11.99

Mid 
Lotus Bloom $9.99- $10.00 
Blood Moon $9.00- $10.00 
Knight of the Reliquary $8.51- $9.99

Yosei, the Morning Star $8.50- $9.99 
Divinity of Pride $8.25- $9.99
Kataki, War's Wage $7.98- $9.99
Extirpate $6.00- $7.99
Life from the Loam $5.99- $8.41
Stonehewer Giant $5.14- $5.99

Jhoira of the Ghitu $5.99- $6.24
Figure of Destiny $5.22- $5.99

Demigod of Revenge $5.69- $6.99
Keiga, the Tide Star $5.62- $5.99

Low

Scion of Oona $4.89- $3.99
City of Brass $4.00- $4.59
Oona, Queen of the Fae $3.99- $5.10
Squee, Goblin Nabob $3.82- $3.99
Dragonstorm $3.00- $2.99
Angel's Grace $2.99-$3.48
Jugan, The Rising Star $2.73- $3.99
Greater Gargadon $2.00- $2.00
Death Cloud $1.89- $1.99
Meloku the Clouded Mirror $1.68- $2.99
Ryusei, the Falling Star $1.64- $2.99
Verdeloth the Ancient $0.94- $1.49
Worm Harvest $0.89- $1.49
Skeletal Vampire $0.81- $1.99
Rude Awakening $0.52- $0.99
Molten Disaster $0.48- $0.75

Just looking at the list of cards and their current prices, this set is amazing. Some of the prices for some for these cards are just insane! The set will be worthwhile if of course you are able to pull three or four high cost cards and the other cards are all at mid-priced.

Now we still have to wait until all the spoilers are released and then we can truly figure out the sets value. If you haven't pre-ordered your box of Modern Masters by now, and were on the fence, I think seeing the prices of just the rares can change your mind. But if you don't have the money to spend on Modern Masters, and don't play Modern, you most likely don't care much for Modern. 

Overall Modern Masters will be a good set, but if you are looking to invest a large amount of money into something I would avoid this set. The reason being that a good chunk of the cards that you would want to see are still missing from Modern Masters. Fetch lands and other great cards that are seeing play in modern will not be seen in Modern Masters on a simple bases the cards don't fall in the print range. 

Those who play modern will not be picking up this set for the simple reason that the cards they want they can go out and buy for the same amount as the cost of the box. Those who want to get into modern will also most likely not purchase large amount of Modern Masters simply based on the price. 

I predict that some of the value of the cards in Modern Masters will not live up to the value of the original printing. I would wait until the prices come down to get the singles you want, otherwise don't expect to see a box of Modern Masters going for less them $300 in the near future.