The Modern metagame underwent several changes in recent months. Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty had a massive impact on the format. And Wizards of the Coast turned Modern on its head when they banned
Lurrus of the Dream-Den
Lurrus of the Dream-Den
Companion — Each permanent card in your starting deck has mana value 2 or less. (If this card is your chosen companion, you may put it into your hand from outside the game for {3} as a sorcery.)
Lifelink
Once during each of your turns, you may cast a permanent spell with mana value 2 or less from your graveyard.
. With all the changes the format went through, card prices changed too.
Cards rise and fall in popularity and in price. As Magic: the Gathering‘s metagames shift, so does its secondary market. Sometimes prices double or triple in price and when they do, I report on them. But more often, card prices gradually rise in price over time with overall substantial gains.
Welcome to The Meta & The Market, where I cover the gradual shifts of Magic’s secondary market as it adapts to the trends of the game.
Force of Vigor
As seen in the graph below, the price of Force of Vigor raised substantially over the last several months. The regular art and foil-etched versions of the card went from $21.00 to almost $30.00. And the foil retro frame version jumped up to $38.00.
Force of Vigor is a heavily played sideboard card in Modern. It is an answer to artifact-themed decks which recently gained new toys like
Oni-Cult Anvil
Oni-Cult Anvil
Whenever one or more artifacts you control leave the battlefield during your turn, create a 1/1 colorless Construct artifact creature token. This ability triggers only once each turn.
{T}, Sacrifice an artifact: This artifact deals 1 damage to each opponent. You gain 1 life.
and
Moonsnare Prototype
Moonsnare Prototype
{T}, Tap an untapped artifact or creature you control: Add {C}.
Channel — {4}{U}, Discard this card: The owner of target nonland permanent puts it on their choice of the top or bottom of their library.
from Neon Dynasty.
But more often, decks like Amulet Titan and Crashcade use Force of Vigor as an answer to other sideboard cards like
Blood Moon
Blood Moon
Nonbasic lands are Mountains.
and
Chalice of the Void
Chalice of the Void
This artifact enters with X charge counters on it.
Whenever a player casts a spell with mana value equal to the number of charge counters on this artifact, counter that spell.
.
Read More: Kamigawa Raising More Commander Prices!
Seachrome Coast
Seachrome Coast almost doubled in price over the last couple of months. The original printing of the card went from $11.00 to about $18.00-$19.00. The expedition from Zendikar Rising rose from $13.00 to $22.00.
This price rise is most likely attributed to the rising popularity of blue-white artifact decks playing the
Thopter Foundry
Thopter Foundry
{1}, Sacrifice a nontoken artifact: Create a 1/1 blue Thopter artifact creature token with flying. You gain 1 life.
+
Sword of the Meek
Sword of the Meek
Equipped creature gets +1/+2.
Equip {2}
Whenever a 1/1 creature you control enters, you may return this card from your graveyard to the battlefield, then attach it to that creature.
combo alongside other powerful artifact cards like
Esper Sentinel
Esper Sentinel
Whenever an opponent casts their first noncreature spell each turn, draw a card unless that player pays {X}, where X is this creature's power.
and
Urza, Lord High Artificer
Urza, Lord High Artificer
When Urza enters, create a 0/0 colorless Construct artifact creature token with "This token gets +1/+1 for each artifact you control."
Tap an untapped artifact you control: Add {U}.
{5}: Shuffle your library, then exile the top card. Until end of turn, you may play that card without paying its mana cost.
. Some Hammer Time decks also splash blue for
The Reality Chip
The Reality Chip
You may look at the top card of your library any time.
As long as The Reality Chip is attached to a creature, you may play lands and cast spells from the top of your library.
Reconfigure {2}{U} ({2}{U}: Attach to target creature you control; or unattach from a creature. Reconfigure only as a sorcery. While attached, this isn't a creature.)
.
Read More: Prices Climbing Quickly For This Heavy-Hitting Modern Card – Is it Worth Buying Now?
Archmage’s Charm
The price history of Archmage’s Charm is a bit of a rollercoaster. It started off around $3.00 when it first came out in Modern Horizons. But this year, it jumped up to nearly $20.00 as Azorius Control decks rose to prominence in Modern. But as you can see in the graph below, Archmage’s Charm sunk back down to around $13.00.
Now, Archmage’s Charm is back to $20.00. The latest price increase started around the time when WOTC banned Lurrus in Modern, causing blue-white control strategies to rise again.
Read More: WOTC Announcement Spurred Buy-Out of This Modern Card
Turntimber Symbiosis
Wizards of the Coast reprinted in Turntimber Symbiosis in Challenger deck which kept its price low for a while. But recently, Symbiosis rose from $2.00 to $4.00 due to its frequent inclusion in Modern Amulet Titan decks. The extended art printing is about $12.00.
In addition to Modern, Turntimber Symbiosis is a great Commander card. Think of it as a land card you’d put in your deck like normal. But as an added benefit, you can play it as an awesome spell. Because of this low-deck building cost, Turntimber Symbiosis can be played in many Commander decks.
Read More: This Kamigawa Card is Renovating This Classic MTG Archetype in Modern