The contents of Iconic Masters are trickling out as sealed side events fire off at HasCon. The set doesn’t go on sale until November 17, 2017, but you can check out the crowd-sourced card image gallery at MythicSpoiler. You can also venture into the Reddit hinterlands for your own reconnaisance, but watch out for werewolves if you do.
There are some flashy cards in Iconic Masters. [casthaven]Mana Drain[/casthaven] has to be the marquee card, and other Legacy-banned cards like [casthaven]Channel[/casthaven] also show up. But what are the big reprints that are legal in Modern? What cards will stop being ridiculously overpriced, hopefully, assuming you can buy packs of IMA without too much trouble. What cards make you say “oh thank you yes yes yes” when you see them?
This is a pet Modern sideboard card of mine when I play Jeskai. It’s nothing amazing, but I had to call around to locate copies of [casthaven]Thundermaw Hellkite[/casthaven] a couple years ago. Maybe they’ll be easier to find now.
Yeah, yeah. I showed you this earlier today. Still, [casthaven]Primeval Titan[/casthaven] is a Modern powerhouse in decks that feature either [casthaven]Amulet of Vigor[/casthaven] or [casthaven]Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle[/casthaven]. This big beater gets reprinted every so often, and it’s still in high demand. Just not in Commander.
Whoa. Original Lorwyn art [casthaven]Thoughtseize[/casthaven]? I have a couple Theros boxes squirreled away for flashback drafts, but this is the art I want to own.
[casthaven]Ancestral Vision[/casthaven] is a card in need of a reprint in Modern. It’s also in need of a deck. I picked up a set of [casthaven]Restore Balance[/casthaven] at Grand Prix Vegas, so you know where my allegiances lie.
Entry number one in the “why is this card so overpriced?” compendium. Welcome back, [casthaven]Auriok Champion[/casthaven]. Eat it, burn.
A useful reprint at common if you need to build a [casthaven]Collected Company[/casthaven]-style Modern deck. Works normally with [casthaven]Vizier of Remedies[/casthaven] because WTF is a -0/-1 counter?
Entry number two in the “why is this card so overpriced?” compendium. [casthaven]Glimpse the Unthinkable[/casthaven] is now a card people can playtest with, meaning UB Mill will go from a Modern deck that looks cool and nobody plays to a Modern deck proven to be unplayable.
I cracked a Masterpiece Series copy of [casthaven]Oblivion Stone[/casthaven] a few weeks ago. But I still like seing this reprint.
Entry number three in the “why is this card so overpriced?” compendium. Soon we’ll find out if [casthaven]Mishra’s Bauble[/casthaven] is actually broken in Modern or not. I’m just saying, it’s a lot easier to persuade someone that Grixis Shadow is better than Jund Shadow if they don’t own any copies of [casthaven]Mishra’s Bauble[/casthaven].
Oh baby. Maybe [casthaven]Grove of the Burnwillows[/casthaven] really a Legacy reprint, but I suspect it’ll see more play in Modern once it stops being prohibitively expensive. Yes, the full Future Sight cycle of dual lands appears in Iconic Masters at rare. [casthaven]River of Tears[/casthaven] and [casthaven]Graven Cairns[/casthaven] see some play. [casthaven]Horizon Canopy[/casthaven] is the biggest deal for Modern. And [casthaven]Nimbus Maze[/casthaven] is a card too, I guess.
Anything else fun? The mythic “cycle” are the New Phyrexia Praetors, so more reprints of [casthaven]Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite[/casthaven] and friends. [casthaven]Bloodghast[/casthaven] and [casthaven]Aether Vial[/casthaven] show up at rare. So do [casthaven]Supreme Verdict[/casthaven] and [casthaven]Anger of the Gods[/casthaven]. And like I said, you can explore the rest of the set in the wild. It looks like a good one.
Carrie O’Hara is Editor-in-Chief of Hipsters of the Coast.