In the right deck, slamming down an Urza on Turn 3 or 4 will lead to an easy win. The Lord High Artificer effectively turns all of your artifacts into Mox Saphires.
Mox Saphire is one of the “Power 9” (the 9 rarest and most powerful cards in Magic: the Gathering), and under normal circumstances, is not legal in Modern. But thanks to Urza, you can make a full field of them.
Now, Urza, Lord High Artificer, is rising in price.
Urza, Lord High Artificer
All versions of Urza are on the rise. The regular art copy from Modern Horizons rose from $43.00 at the beginning of February to $55.00-$60.00 at the time of writing.
Premium versions of Urza are even more expensive. The foil-etched Urza is currently $60.00+. And the foil retro-framed Urza is almost $100.00!
Read More: It Was Once a Modern Staple, But Now It’s an Endangered Species
Why Did Urza Rise in Price?
There are a few possibilities as to why Urza rose in price.
First, Wizards of the Coast recently 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.
in Modern. This announcement spurred a ton of market movement for cards costing three or more mana, like
Seasoned Pyromancer
Seasoned Pyromancer
When this creature enters, discard two cards, then draw two cards. For each nonland card discarded this way, create a 1/1 red Elemental creature token.
{3}{R}{R}, Exile this card from your graveyard: Create two 1/1 red Elemental creature tokens.
and
Ranger-Captain of Eos
Ranger-Captain of Eos
When this creature enters, you may search your library for a creature card with mana value 1 or less, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.
Sacrifice this creature: Your opponents can't cast noncreature spells this turn.
. Part of Urza’s rise could be attributed to the Lurrus ban as players look for new ways to close out games.
Second, artifact strategies received a lot of support in Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty. Cards like Moonsnare Protoype spurred players to experiment with 8-cast strategies in Modern. These decks play
Thoughtcast
Thoughtcast
Affinity for artifacts (This spell costs {1} less to cast for each artifact you control.)
Draw two cards.
and
Thought Monitor
Thought Monitor
Affinity for artifacts (This spell costs {1} less to cast for each artifact you control.)
Flying
When this creature enters, draw two cards.
to draw large quantities of cards, while Urza produces loads of mana.
Lastly, The Brother’s War comes out later this year. This is a set focused on the feud between Urza and his brother, Mishra. It is possible that people are buying Urza now in anticipation of the upcoming set.
Read More: Kamigawa Raising More Commander Prices!
Is it Worth Buying Urza Now?
I recently bought a few copies of Urza despite the price hike because I think Urza’s price has room to grow further.
There is some risk to buying Urza right now. Double Masters 2022 comes out later this year, so there’s a chance WOTC reprints Urza. But if Urza doesn’t show up in the set, it will likely become more expensive as The Brother’s War approaches.
If you find any low-listed copies on TCGPlayer around $50.00, I’d personally jump on the opportunity.
Read More: It Keeps Rising – How Expensive Will This MTG Super-Staple Become?