Modern Masters 2017

[Oversoul]

I don't know how many people here have caught it, but lately the Magic interwebz have been abuzz with speculation regarding Modern Masters 2017, as WotC announced its existence and release date, but curiously went silent on the set after that, eventually publishing the packaging art at the same time they revealed the Amonkhet packaging art and other details. There have been conspiracy theories about what this lack of promotion for a set might mean, and other hilarity. Well, they've finally begun spoiling the set.

So far, I'm seeing spoiled...

Griselbrand
Stoic Angel
Restoration Angel
Domri Rade
Damnation
Zendikar Fetchlands
Guildgates
Those Alara tri-color lands that EtB tapped

 

[Oversoul]

It's still pretty early, but it looks like this set will have a much stronger multicolor theme going on than previous Masters sets. The presence of Griselbrand flies in the face of that, but it might be an exception. Perhaps the set is trying to go for angels and demons as a bit of a subtheme, invoking "Duel Decks: Divine vs. Demonic."

Damnation is easily the most popularly requested reprint of all time, and players in multiple formats have been complaining about the price tags on Zendikar fetchlands ever since Khans of Tarkir mitigated the high prices of the original Onslaught fetchlands. Even though these booster packs are expensive, the demand for those two alone should be enough to have this set selling like hotcakes. Might be that WotC was planning to get the Magic community to hype this set for them for a change, which is clever. I hope it works, actually. I have never been fond of the prolonged drama of "spoiler season" and the minor scandals surrounding market manipulation by large distributors with possible inside information.

 

[Spiderman]

<moving to General. I don't think it's an Issue yet...> Spidey

 

[Oversoul]

Didn't really think it mattered too much. It has been a sort of "controversy" in some places, but I think that for the most part cooler heads have prevailed. To the extent that there's an "issue" in the sense of a problem, I think it's mostly that Modern enthusiasts are concerned that WotC is trying to relegate their format, and keeping quiet about the release of a set that is designed with the format in mind played into that issue.

 

[Oversoul]

To be clear, I don't want to downplay the concern point, because most of the discussion I've seen in other spaces has been surrounding that. Personally, I wasn't worried about it and never shared the concern, but I'm not a fan of the Modern format, even though I do like Modern Masters sets for other reasons (they just have a lot of good cards in them), and I don't think anyone else at the CPA is either, to make the case for that. Modern is a pretty popular format (much moreso than Legacy or Vintage, which I am more interested in), and I don't want to come on here and present the negative side of the debate I have no real stake in when no representative of the affirmative side is here to make their case. I'm all for criticism of WotC when I think that they've actually messed up, but so far I don't think that they have in this case. Some people do, but I see no reason to belabor the point if no one else wants to, and my reason for posting the thread was more to analyze the contents of the set than any issues surrounding it. To an extent, they're intermingled: some Modern players were anxious to have the fetchlands released in a Standard-legal set because they believed that a Masters set wouldn't have enough impact on the supply, or that the fetchlands would be used to move boosters off shelves in what would be an otherwise low-value set. There's also been speculation that WotC wants to develop something as an official answer to the unsanctioned "Frontier" format (started in a game store in Japan, only allows cards from Standard sets from M15 onward) and that they might want to start it at Magic Origins and keep fetchlands out of the environment, which would entail not reprinting them in a Standard-legal set. Another possibility is that they just didn't like what fetchlands did in Khans of Tarkir and want to keep them out of Standard henceforth.

Look at me go. I should have started one thread about the content of the set and another thread on the rumor mill that has consumed everything about it up to this point (hopefully, the "issue" largely goes away as the entire set is unveiled).

Goblin Guide, another totally sensible reprint, is also in the set.

 

[Spiderman]

and I don't think anyone else at the CPA is either...

Yeah, that's pretty much how I decide if a thread goes in Issues or not. It's a fine line of course, but since I doubt it affects anyone here at the moment, I thought it would be more in General for "informative" purposes.

 

[Oversoul]

Goblin Assault: Another Alara-block card (probably doesn't mean much, but they sometimes focus more on drawing from certain sets for one of these reprint sets). Also, another goblin thing, which might be of interest: the last Masters set had an elf subtheme, and maybe they want to give goblins some love this time around (in which case goblins need more good new cards). I don't remember ever seeing Goblin Assault as anything other than mediocre, but if it's just a draft-balancing part of a goblin-subtheme, I can live with that.

 

[Oversoul]

Vanish Into Memory? The worst "you make the card" result ever? Modern isn't a format that I know very well, but this thing seems like it wouldn't be playable in Modern even if the last sentence of its rules text were excised. Huh. So far, it's been mostly great rares and dud uncommons.

 

[Oversoul]

Here's the Tolarian Community College video that spoiled Goblin Guide. He always does the best videos for card spoilers.

 

[Oversoul]

More spoilers coming in...

Terminate: Yep, it fits with the multicolor theme. Should have seen that coming.
Primal Command: Hm, never used it myself. Doesn't seem that impressive.
Harmonize: Eats an uncommon slot for draft-balancing crap. Oh well.
Molten Rain: Not bad.
Thragtusk: Good.
Venser, Shaper Savant: Excellent.
Ranger of Eos: Huh, I remember that this was some huge deal in Standard back when Alara Block was current, but I just can't remember the details...

It's amusing. Going to other sites it looks like everyone's holding their breaths on the presence/absence of Liliana of the Veil in this set.

 

[Oversoul]

And here's some more...

Wooly Thoctar: More random Alara Block stuff. Seems fine.
Rhox War Monk: Actually a very solid card in the right deck.
Sprouting Thrinax: Yep, Jund 'em out.
Tower Gargoyle: Never really used this one. But they can't leave Esper out and it fits with the others.
Snapcaster Mage: Well, I can understand why they moved it to mythic rare. Whatever, at least it's in the set. People were assuming that Snapcaster Mage was the mysterious guy on the box art, but now it's official.
Sedraxis Specter: Continuing the theme with the last shard of Alara. I never cared for the Unearth mechanic, myself.

This probably won't be quite as cool as the first Modern Masters, but it's shaping up to possibly be a bit better than Modern Masters 2015.

 

[Oversoul]

And here are some more...

Deadeye Navigator: Yes! Great Whale's best friend.
Bonfire of the Damned: Good. Could use a reprint.
Might of Old Krosa: Sure. This is a good card for an uncommon slot.
Grafdigger's Cage: Good. We could use more of these too.
Temporal Mastery: Ha! The most disappointing miracle of them all. Come on, WotC, where's Entreat the Angels?
Path to Exile: Much needed reprint.
Inquisition of Kozilek: Even more needed. We got a reprint in Conspiracy: Take the Crown, but that was at rare. It's back down to uncommon, where it belongs.
Zur the Enchanter: Cool, I suppose. I always liked this guy. Built my first ever EDH deck around him. I think mostly because he's so good in Commander, the price tag on him is kinda steep. I already own a couple copies, so this doesn't help me, but it's good that other people might have more access to him. Generally, I don't want slots for this set wasted on highly Commander-specific cards, because those could always just go in designated Commander products, but Zur is just a really cool card in several ways.

 

[Spiderman]

Modern Masters 2017 Card Image Gallery

 

[Oversoul]

And here are some more...

Stony Silence: Good. Would have been nice in Standard right now, though.
Abyssal Specter: I get that Hypnotic Specter isn't in Modern, but that doesn't mean the bad version of it is a good card to reprint.
Linvala, Keeper of Silence: Very nice.
Phantasmal Image: A fine card. Not sure how it fits the themes of this set, but it's good, so whatever.
Séance: For some reason, I thought this piece of crap was already reprinted. Maybe it's just that I opened multiple copies in Dark Ascension boosters. What a bad card.
Entreat the Angels: Yes!
Sphinx's Revelation: Sure.
Mist Raven: Not bad.
Momentary Blink: Yep, seeing the patterns in the set already, I kind of expected this one.
Pyromancer Ascension: Oh, I love Pyromancer Ascension! Does anyone still play the card in Modern? I don't really follow the format most of the time...
Death's Shadow: Another card that I really like, just conceptually. Its drawback makes it useless for bland, straightforward gameplay. But in a combo that can make use of it, the card packs a punch.
Abrupt Decay: Another much-needed reprint. If Legacy costs weren't already through the roof for other reasons, reprinting this could help a little.
Craterhoof Behemoth: This had been the other card besides Liliana that there'd been a lot of anticipation of in this set (once Damnation and the fetchlands had been spoiled and people guessed that Snapcaster Mage was the box art). If they put her in the set too, they'll have given the most vocal contingent of players seeking reprints out of this set everything that they wanted.

 

[Oversoul]

And there she is!

Liliana of the Veil: Yep, this set is now officially bonkers.
Magma Jet: By the standards of Modern, this is not a bad burn spell.
Burning-Tree Emissary: Not bad.
Past in Flames: Don't think this one really needed a reprint, but it is a very, very powerful card.
Falkenrath Aristocrat: Probably a real killer in Limited or in some tribal vampires deck.
Extractor Demon: Sees play in Modern.
Bone Splinters: Great removal.
Gnawing Zombie: More like "Nah" Zombie.
Mortician Beetle: Wait, how have I not used this in a deck yet?
Basilisk Collar: Pretty good.
Vithian Stinger: Meh.

Yeah, this is shaping up to be a great set even when held up against other Masters sets. It's no Eternal Masters, but still, I'm impressed.

 

[Shabbaman]

I'm surprised Damnation is only a rare. Previous Masters sets had poor availability, but there are rumours that Wizards increased the print run (although unfortunately you'll never learn what the print run actually is). With chase mythics like Liliana it's likely Damnation's value will tank.

 

[Spiderman]

Shabbaman! How've you been?

 

[Oversoul]

I'm surprised Damnation is only a rare. Previous Masters sets had poor availability, but there are rumours that Wizards increased the print run (although unfortunately you'll never learn what the print run actually is). With chase mythics like Liliana it's likely Damnation's value will tank.

I mean, it should tank. Not that I'm some big finance person. But just in comparison to prices on other cards, the only reason it's gone up as high as it has is that Planar Chaos had a low print run by today's standards. Generally, while there are cases where it being black makes it more valuable than Wrath of God, it is mostly just hype and a relatively low supply. If they'd put it into M15 like they were supposedly going to, no one would even care anymore by now.

 

[Oversoul]

And some more cards...

Terminus: Hell yes.
Lingering Souls: Good.
Gifts Ungiven: Wow. This set is amazing.
Scavenging Ooze: Good.
Blood Moon: Well, I know it's been reprinted a lot already, but there just seems to be a lot of demand for it.
Voice of Resurgence: Another excellent card.
Fiery Justice: Hm, got to have a few tricolor rares thrown in, I guess.
Augur of Bolas: Sure.
Compulsive Research: Probably very good in Limited.
Cruel Ultimatum: Was there any demand for this? I find it to be a fun card, but I didn't think people were clamoring for a reprint. Not bad, though.
Cavern of Souls: OK, this just goes above and beyond expectations. From a financial perspective, this set could have the most initial value per pack out of any set to date.
Flickerwisp: Yep.
Blade Splicer: I mean, with what else is in the set, you're not excited if this is your rare, but it's a fine card.
Tarmogoyf: At this point, I'm not even surprised.
Master Splicer: Artificer tribal a theme here?
Sensor Splicer: Woe betide the opponent sitting across from the guy who drafted all of the splicer cards.
Intangible Virtue: Also good.
Wing Splicer: I know this set is all reprints anyway, but it seems like WotC is really exploring the exploitation of EtB triggers in white/blue these days. Probably the accidental creation of the CopyCat combo in Standard will be the peak of that, but still...
Vital Splicer: OK, now there's just one more of these. Might as well put them all in the set?
Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius: Well, they reprinted the original Niv-Mizzet in the last Modern Masters set. So I guess this makes sense. I prefer the original, but this one has its uses.
Izzet Charm: Sure.

 

[Oversoul]

And now there's Serum Visions. I have some misgivings about that card. I think it's propped up by the silly bans on Ponder and Preordain in Modern. But it's certainly not a bad card.