by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist ![]() Modern Masters 2015 turned out to be a pretty strong set. It also has probably the best mix of mythic rares that a set has ever seen, with one exception, a card that has been printed several times: Comet Storm. It is widely panned as one of the worst mythic rare inclusions in any set by competitive players. Having been printed in Worldwake, as a pre-release promo, Commander 2011, and Modern Masters 2015, it’s pretty much a bulk mythic rare. Yet, it’s usually on plenty of buylists for more than a quarter - the usual bulk mythic rare. So where’s the demand coming from if the card’s so bad? Comet Storm is basically a functionally better Fireball, one of the iconic burn spells of Magic. Whereas Fireball divides the damage among targets, Comet Storm deals X damage to each target. That sounds pretty good, right? Plenty of Commander players think so. With so many ways to copy big spells in the format, such as Increasing Vengeance, Reiterate, and Reverberate, it can serve as a finisher in a format otherwise flooded by mana. It’s also at Instant speed, meaning you can unleash it on anyone’s turn. ![]() Beyond just being a really big burn spell, it has some synergies with a few Commanders, as well. The most notable is that with the Red/Green Legendary Giant from Shadowmoor: Rosheen Meanderer. This Giant Warrior has the ability to add 4 colorless mana to your mana pool, but it can only be used for X spells. In a deck mostly populated by Hydras with X costs in their casting requirements, Comet Storm helps finish the deal. Wort the Raidmother is a popular Red/Green Goblin Commander that not only brings a couple of Goblins into play when she enters, but also gives your red and green instant or sorcery spells conspire. Conspire is a really cool mechanic that allows you to simply tap two creatures that share a color with the spell that you are casting; you then get to copy it and are also able to choose new targets for it. A massive Comet Storm or Banefire is often the endgame for this really powerful Goblin Commander and her army. ![]() Melek, Izzet Paragon is well known as one of the best Budget commanders out there due to the fact that he can cast any red or blue instant or sorcery spell from the top of your deck and copy it. Comet Storm is a particularly juicy burn spell for him to Fork. Gisela, Blade of Goldnight is one of the most popular Angel Commanders for good reason: she doubles all of the damage that your opponents receive (yes, this includes the damage your other opponents would do to each other!) Comet Storm is pretty nasty in this deck, even though you would rarely play copy spells in the deck. Riku of Two Reflections can copy any instant or sorcery spell for only UR (Blue/Red). Two mana to copy a Comet Storm is pretty sweet. Other Commanders that like to include Comet Storm among their 99 are: Ashling the Pilgrim, Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh, Daretti, Scrap Savant, Heartless Hidetsugu, Jaya Ballard, Task Mage, Rakka Mar, Urabrask the Hidden, and others. So next time someone hates on Comet Storm, remind them that Wizards knows how good this card is in Commander. Why it was included in Modern Masters 2015 is beyond me, but it’s far from the worst mythic rare ever printed.
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by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist ![]() Telling Time is a very useful draw card with a somewhat unique effect. Originally printed at uncommon in its previous two printings in Ravnica and Tenth Edition, Modern Masters 2 now releases this card at the common rarity. It's similar to an older card called Impulse, but its effect is slightly different. Impulse is a card that is not legal for Modern that lets you dig 4 cards deep into your library, You get to choose one to add to your hand and put the rest on the bottom in any order. Telling Time lets you dig three deep, put one in your hand, one on top, and one on the bottom. It allows you to set up your next draw while also putting a card you may not need to the bottom. While Serum Visions is a bit more powerful, as it costs only one mana and does something similar, Telling Time is a useful card. With Brainstorm, Ponder, and Preordain already legal in the Pauper format, the addition of Telling Time to the all-common format is probably not that big of a deal. However, in Modern Masters 2015 limited environments, having this card at the lowest possible rarity will make it a valuable pick. by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist ![]() Modern Masters 2015 has shaken up the Magic world by reprinting cards at much lower rarities than they were originally printed. Several semi-valuable mythic rares have been reprinted at rare, and some rares dropped to uncommon. One case of a former rare dropping all the way down to common is Scion of the Wild. Originally printed in Ravnica, and again in Tenth Edition, the Scion grows in power and toughness with each creature you control. It's a fun card that could be a bomb in draft, but otherwise it's pretty much always been a bulk rare. Now it's at common. From a draft perspective, this is pretty neat, but more importantly, it makes it accessible to Pauper players. The all-common Pauper format is always happy to see former uncommons drop to common, but for a rare to drop down to common is especially unusual. As green beatdown decks are fairly common in Pauper, it's a bit of a surprise that Scion of the Wild hasn't really seen play in the format. There is a Green/White Token list I found that runs two copies, but beyond that, it only sees some limited play in Rhys the Redeemed and Trostani, Selesnya's Voice Commander decks. It could be a good choice for a Pauper Commander token deck, however. by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist ![]() With the release of Modern Masters 2015, it was originally believed that Magic players will get to acquire several cards from the Command cycle from Lorwyn. Not only was the set supposed to include the extremely popular Cryptic Command, but also includes Austere Command, Incendiary Command, Primal Command, and Profane Command. In particular, Austere Command would have been an important reprint, not so much for the Modern format, but for Commander. Alas, only Cryptic Command and Profane Command ended up being reprinted. Austere Command is an extremely powerful board-wipe in the Commander format. Because of this, it was included in one of the Commander 2011 pre-constructed decks. But outside of its original Lorwyn printing, that was the only other time that it was released. Because of its popularity in the Commander format, both printings run more than $7 a copy. Why is it so good in Commander? It gives you options. 6 mana seems like a lot to pay for a boardwipe, but you get to choose 2 of 4 options. You can destroy all artifacts, all enchantments, creatures with converted mana cost 3 or less, or creatures with converted mana cost 4 or more. Considering all of these options, it can be extremely one-sided depending on who's playing it. While players are definitely happy that Cryptic Command was reprinted, it turned out that Incendiary Command and Austere Command would not be reprinted at all. Primal Command, however, would be reprinted in the Duel Decks: Zendikar vs Eldrazi. It was hoped that a new supply of non-foil and foil versions would make Austere Command much more affordable. Cryptic Command saw a price dip even due to everyone wanting four copies of it. With Austere Command you'll probably ever only need one, but since no new copies have entered the market, its price is only going to continue to rise for some time. by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist ![]() Fulminator Mage is a nasty card. There's no worse feeling than having one of your dual lands blown up without warning. It's been a popular sideboard card in Modern for quite some time, although its overall play has seen a decline since the banning of Birthing Pod. It still sees play in Junk and Jund decks. Because it's not a popular four-of (sideboards tend to contain 2 or 3 copies), it's very likely that Fulminator Mage won't keep a $35-40 price tag. Being previously only printed in Shadowmoor has made this useful card very expensive for some players to acquire. That will no longer be a problem with its MM2 reprint. For Legacy, Cube, and Commander players that want foil copies of the Mage, Modern Masters 2015 has a foil in every pack, so Fulminator Mages in foil are now quite obtainable. by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist ![]() Of all the cards being reprinted in Modern Masters 2015, Noble Hierarch is perhaps the number one card that people wanted to see. Long a staple in Legacy, Hierarch is also very valuable in a wide array of Modern decks. Being able to provide Green, White, or Blue mana is a big deal. The Exalted trigger also comes into play quite often. Noble Hierarch has always been a good card, but as it was only ever printed in Conflux, supply of a card that is played primarily as a four-of has been dwindling. Noble Hierarch has been a $45+ card for a long time, but with this reprint, that price should come down significantly.. The reprinting in Modern Masters also means that the foil copies of Hierarch will see a noticeable dip in value, as every Modern Masters pack comes with a foil. However, players looking to build Bant Control or Green/White decks will be quite happy to see Hierarchs in far greater supply. This is a very important reprint for the Modern format. by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist ![]() Modern Masters 2015 is full of some very valuable reprints. With supply being greatly outstripped by the rapidly growing demand for the Modern format, these reprints are more needed than ever. Splinter Twin is one of many Rise of the Eldrazi cards being reprinted in Modern Masters 2015. As of the announcement, it's been a $25 card. Other expensive Rise cards like All is Dust, Kozilek, Butcher of Truth, and Ulamog the Infinite Gyre are being reprinted at their original mythic rare status. Twin is only a rare, so it's likely going to see a noticeable dip in value. To be fair, however, Splinter Twin a four-of in any Twin combo deck. Even though the supply will grow sharply, and the price may plummet at first, it should be a good long term value as the Modern Masters 2015 copies are swept up. |
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