Modern Horizons 3 spoiler season may be continuing, but if leaks are your speed, technically we have the entire core set revealed to us. There are quite a few cards that still need official confirmation, but cards that have been officially confirmed are seriously impacting the secondary market.
Because the cards in Modern Horizons 3 are so powerful, synergy pieces pointed out by various players are seeing a huge price spike. Synergies that cause cards to spike in normal sets are being completely dwarfed in power level. Players are seriously hustling to get themselves ready for Modern Horizons 3.
Let’s take a look at some of the cards spiking in price, and why they are doing so!
Shuko
This may seem like a rather pointless artifact, but there is a lot going on that actually makes Shuko very powerful. A good example of what Shuko is capable of is looking at it in the Legacy deck Cephalid Breakfast, where this card sees competitive play.
Cephalid Breakfast wins the game by offering a midrange plan combined with a potential combo finish.
Cephalid Illusionist
Cephalid Illusionist
Whenever this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability, mill three cards.
{2}{U}, {T}: Prevent all combat damage that would be dealt to and dealt by target creature you control this turn.
can mill your entire library as long as you repetitively target it. You can revive multiple
Narcomoeba
Narcomoeba
Flying
When this card is put into your graveyard from your library, you may put it onto the battlefield.
via mills, using it for
Dread Return
Dread Return
Return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield.
Flashback—Sacrifice three creatures. (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then exile it.)
‘s Flashback cost. Revive
Thassa’s Oracle
Thassa’s Oracle
When this creature enters, look at the top X cards of your library, where X is your devotion to blue. Put up to one of them on top of your library and the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order. If X is greater than or equal to the number of cards in your library, you win the game. (Each {U} in the mana costs of permanents you control counts toward your devotion to blue.)
and win the game.
The only thing you need to get this process going is something that can repetitively target a creature. Shuko can do that. Since it has equip zero, you can repetitively equip it to Cephalid Illusionist and mill your library.
That said, there is a much better zero mana equip cost artifact in Legacy that sees monstrous amounts of Commander play. Why don’t we see
Lightning Greaves
Lightning Greaves
Equipped creature has haste and shroud. (It can't be the target of spells or abilities.)
Equip {0}
instead of Shuko? The answer to this question is
Urza’s Saga
Urza’s Saga
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)
I — This Saga gains "{T}: Add {C}."
II — This Saga gains "{2}, {T}: Create a 0/0 colorless Construct artifact creature token with 'This token gets +1/+1 for each artifact you control.'"
III — Search your library for an artifact card with mana cost {0} or {1}, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle.
, one of the most powerful lands ever printed. On top of making massive threats, Urza’s Saga can tutor an artifact with mana values zero or one before it leaves. Shuko is tutorable via Urza’s Saga. That’s why it sees play over Lightning Greaves.
Why is Shuko suddenly seeing a price spike now? Legacy is not the reason, but the reason is related to why the card is good in Legacy. Shuko combos extraordinarily well with a new Legendary creature confirmed to release in Modern Horizons 3.
Nadu, Winged Wisdom
Nadu, Winged Wisdom
Flying
Creatures you control have "Whenever this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability, reveal the top card of your library. If it's a land card, put it onto the battlefield. Otherwise, put it into your hand. This ability triggers only twice each turn."
is a three mana creature that awards you for targeting your creatures with abilities. Twice per turn, for each creature you target, you basically get a
Coiling Oracle
Coiling Oracle
When this creature enters, reveal the top card of your library. If it's a land card, put it onto the battlefield. Otherwise, put that card into your hand.
effect. You can easily reset your triggers with Blink effects, allowing Nadu to draw through your whole deck with the right setup.
This card looks absolutely insane, and Shuko can trigger Nadu as many times as possible without a cost. Since Urza’s Saga is legal in Modern, Shuko is likely going up in price for both Modern and Commander demand.
Before Shuko started spiking, the card was worth about $4.20 according to TCGplayer market averages. The card is now quickly approaching $15 according to recent TCGplayer sales.
Notably, foils have quite a multiplier on them since this card originated from Betrayers of Kamigawa. At the time of writing, this is the only printing for Shuko, which means this slight increase in demand is going to seriously skyrocket the price of Shuko. If this becomes an established Modern strategy, Shuko could be absurdly expensive.
Sensei’s Divining Top
Sensei’s Divining Top
{1}: Look at the top three cards of your library, then put them back in any order.
{T}: Draw a card, then put this artifact on top of its owner's library.
had a similar rarity from a similar set.
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Greenbelt Rampager
Greenbelt Rampager may seem a little underwhelming, but there is a very specific reason why this card is rising in price now, and it’s something we’ve mentioned before. Greenbelt Rampager started getting attention when the Modern Horizons 3 card Primal Prayers was leaked. This Aluren-adjacent card is slightly underpowered compared to its predecessor, offering an alternate mana cost of one Energy for creatures with mana value three or less instead of being free.
Greenbelt Rampager can create some infinite combo scenarios with Primal Prayers, as well as ramp up your Energy count in the early game to go the distance with the four mana enchantment. Typically, Aluren decks want to resolve their namesake card and win immediately afterwards. With Primal Prayers set up, Greenbelt Rampager offers infinite ETBs. You’ll pay an Energy to cast Greenbelt Rampager, which will be replaced by its ETB effect while bouncing back to your hand.
As a result of these interactions, Greenbelt Rampager has seen a massive financial spike. Starting at 25 cents, the card is now selling for as much as $4.50 for nonfoil variants, and $15 for foil ones! Similar to Shuko, Greenbelt Rampager only has one main set printing in Aether Revolt. It also has a List printing.
Eldrazi Support Rising
Eldrazi support across the board is beginning to see some price increases, which isn’t too surprising. There is a heavy Eldrazi theme in the new Modern Horizons 3 set targeting Modern and Commander. As a result, players trying their hand at these archetypes in either format may be getting ready.
Alternatively, players could be trying to find upgrades for the new Eldrazi Incursion EDH deck. This new Five-color Devoid strategy releases as a Commander precon alongside Modern Horizons 3.
Either way, Eldrazi Temple, one of the strongest pieces of Eldrazi support, is seeing a price spike across its multiple variants despite being recently reprinted as a part of Commander Masters.
Across all of the cheaper variants of Eldrazi Temple, prices seem to be increasing from about $3 to $7 with specifics varying per printing. On the more expensive side of things, the Secret Lair Eldrazi Temple has spiked from about $25 to $65! Recent sales suggest this card is going to rise above $70.
Keep an eye out for other obvious Eldrazi support pieces, like
Eye of Ugin
Eye of Ugin
Colorless Eldrazi spells you cast cost {2} less to cast.
{7}, {T}: Search your library for a colorless creature card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.
, to see a price increase. The card has been slowly climbing in price and is already worth around $40.
If there are any strategies you want to try out for yourself involving cards from Modern Horizons 3, we recommend you get the pieces right away. If word starts to spread around the internet, you could be paying some hefty premiums.
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