Modern MH2 Specs

Let’s say you play modern, have some money to invest and can sit on cards for a year or more.

Disclaimer: Don’t bet money you don’t have. I typically do this churn with store credit as you also get a trade in bonus.

Modern Horizons II prices are amazing right now and MH2 bulk rare prices are being deflated due to overall supply, lack of current modern bannings and MH2 cards being on cusp of playability (tier 1.5, 2 strategies) This will almost undoubtedly change in the coming months as MH2 supply dries up, cards are potentially banned (Dragon’s Rage Channeler, Ragavan, and Urza’s Saga) and Modern goes above a 1 mana cost format again.

To further illuminate this issue of the top performing decks in Modern at the moment you see a plethora of Modern Horizons 2 cards. 

Modern Challenge on 9-05

1st Place – Izzet Tempo (uses Dragon’s Rage Channeler, Ragavan, Unholy Heat and Murktide Regent)

2nd Place – Hammertime (uses Urza’s Saga, Esper Sentinel)

3rd Place – Jund Saga (Uses Dragon’s Rage Channeler, Ragavan, Unholy Heat and Urza’s Saga)

If you proceed to go back from here (Modern Challenge results wise) you will start to see a pattern.

Unholy Heat, Dragon’s Rage Channeler, Ragavan and Urza’s Saga are really GOOD and fit in a TON of strategies.

They are all 1 or less cumulative mana cost and have entire engines built around them. There are a few other MH2 cards which also pop up but much less frequently. What does this mean for MTG modern speculation?

Modern is most likely being warped around these highly efficient engines. Once we accept this how should we proceed finance wise? 

1. We should eventually assume a ban of one or (more likely) multiple MH2 cards will happen.
2. We should look at MH2 cards on the cusp of playability deflated value wise from this 1 mana cost of less quarter (DRC, Ragavan, Unholy Heat and Urza’s Saga)

Top remaining potential decks with MH2 if this quartet is banned.

• Elementals (Solitude, Fury, Endurance all see play. Though a potential Risen Reef banning would move this deck down a bit)
• Reanimator (Persist, Serra’s Emissary, Priest of Fell Rites, Archon of Cruelty are all set to spike)
• Yawgmoth Combo (Yawgmoth loses nothing with these bans. Grist and Ignoble to the moon.)
• Whirza (loses Urza’s Saga but still has a strong core with MH2’s Thought Monitor)
• Hardened Scales (loses Urza’s Saga but still has Zabaz a powerful card)

(This isn’t a metagame tier list for post banning. It’s more of what will be improved post ban. From these lists we see these MH2 cards below (in no particular order of power)

Mythics

• Solitude
• Fury
• Endurance
• Archon of Cruelty
• Serra’s Emissary
• Grist, The Hunger Tide

Rares

• Persist
• Priest of Fell Rites
• Ignoble Hierarch
• Thought Monitor
• Zabaz, the Glimmerwasp

I believe if Risen Reef sticks around Elementals may be the early deck to beat. This means the evoke elementals (most of which are already pricy will be moreso) I am more concerned however with maximizing potential growth. This means though Solitude may eventually be $50 from currently $20 other cards could grow substantially more. Underused mythics often grow more than rares in price due to scarcity (around  ¼ pull rate mythic to rare)

Mythic Targets

Archon of Cruelty (Currently priced for $7.99 at Card Kingdom could grow to $35-$50 easily in the next year)

Serra’s Emissary (Currently priced at ~$3 could spike to $20-$25 per based on future usage)

Grist, the Hunter Tide (Currently priced at ~$5 could go to $20-$25, especially if Yawgmoth combo becomes stronger in a potential future, slower format)

Rare Targets

Ignoble Hierarch (currently around $8-$10, this card is a staple in Yawgmoth and will absolutely see a spike.  Ignoble is arguably in a better color pie than Noble Hierarch.) (Though it’s probably a worse tribe.)

Persist (priced around $2 this card is a steal. It could easily spike to $10+ if reanimator is played more post potential bannings of DRC, Ragavan and Unholy Heat.)

Priest of Fell Rites ($.35 cents now. If played in reanimator post any bannings it will absolutely be a $5 rare. That’s like a 15x gain. It’s a no brain pickup for .35.

Thought Monitor ($2 right now. Already this is seeing play. With artifact lands a thing in modern he can come onto the board quick. Urza decks already replay him with Emry each turn for one blue mana, mini Ancestral Recall.)

Zabaz, the Glimmerwasp ($.35. If this card goes to a dollar you’ve almost tripled your money. If he goes to $5 you’ve made almost 15x your money)

Sanctifier En-Vec (Auriok Champion arguably worse than Sanctifier was $50 pre Sanctifier printing. Sanctifier is $1 right now. Seems like easy gains.)

Fetchlands are also easy money. Any fetch you buy now will likely almost double in a year. This is just how fetchlands work. They are also highly liquid to vendors. (Meaning you can probably sell a full stack at near full value at any mid sized modern event)

Other MH2 cards to keep an eye on.

Kaldra Compleat

Dauthi Voidwalker

Sanctum Weaver

Sythis, Harvest’s Hand

Dakkon, Shadow Slayer

I believe these are all decent cards and absolutely will rise. I’m not sure how much these will rise compared to other cards mentioned. They are still good to pick up and I will make sure I have a few sets on hand. If you have any comments, suggestions and insight please reach out! I can be reached at 941mtg@gmail.com.