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Modern Masters 2015 – What We Know & Curious Speculation

Simon Read

Modern Masters 2015Everyone is excited for the second Modern Masters set, due to be released on May 22nd 2015, but right now we only know about a limited number of cards. I’ve picked a few of the more interesting cards and given a few thoughts on them below.

The Eldrazi

Emrakul, the Aeons Torn was one of the first cards spoiled for MM2 and it was an easy guess that the other two titans would follow, but now its official: Kozilek and Ulamog will be reprinted in this set along with All Is Dust. So, that covers the big guys, but what about the rest? MM2 still needs to be playable in Limited formats, so I’m certain that we will see the other Eldrazi cards such as Spawnsire of Ulamog and Hand of Emrakul in the set. However, I wouldn’t bank on the coloured cards such as Kozilek’s Predator being present, simply because the MM2 draws from a lot of older sets and pushing all of the Eldrazi support cards would take up a lot of room.

Vendilion Clique

Faeries isn’t a big deck right now but I’m sure with this reprint and a few other supporting cards in-set we may see a very small resurgence in the popularity of this archetype. There’s not much to say about this card other then to mention the ‘broken glass’ moment with the artwork, pointed out to me over social media. The new artwork looks like two girls using a selfie stick. Check that artwork. Yep, you see it now.

All The Commands

The full cycle of Lorwyn Commands is being reprinted in MM2 which will help players finish off their Scapeshift and UW Control decks with slightly easier access to Cryptic Commands. The other Commands make for interesting plays and will work well in Limited play but otherwise its really Cryptic that we’re after.

Splinter Twin

Another card that has spiked in popularity, especially since the banning of Pod, is Splinter Twin and its great to see it being reprinted in MM2. A lot of players are keen to get a hold of this card and funnily enough it’s quite a key component to the Twin Exarch deck.

Tarmogoyf and Bob

Both of these powerful cards were reprinted in the first Modern Masters and were arguably the most popular cards from that set and now they’re gracing MM2 with their presence. Bob, or Dark Confidant to use his real name, is being reprinted with his new ‘Skrillex’ artwork that we saw in the first Modern Masters which has divided players slightly. Some prefer the original, others the new style, but it all comes down to personal opinion.

With regards to Tarmogoyf, it’s an important card and highly sought after which combined with MM2’s limited print run means its unlikely to change its price. I hope that this second reprint might have an impact on reducing the price but it stands to reason that it could follow last year’s printing and actually shift the price up.

Spellskite and Fulminator Mage

These two cards are solid sideboard choices in Modern, especially Spellskite, it’s fantastic to finally have better access to the card. This is first time these two have been reprinted since their initial releases years ago. Whilst Fulminator Mage is mostly used in Living End and Jund to help against decks such as Scapeshift, Spellskite is great to side in against Infect plus it fits well in the sideboard of Affinity thanks to it being an Artifact creature.

The Missing Red Mythic

At the time of typing we are missing any rumours or confirmation of a Red Mythic Rare for MM2. Wild speculation of what it could be:

  • Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker – He was reprinted in MM1 but Wizards has shown they’re not against reprinting again with Bob and Tarmo, so Kiki is high on my list of potential cards.

  • Thundermaw Hellkite – He was much beloved back in his Standard days, could he be in MM2? Unlikely but I’m already running short of good, reprintable Red Mythics, which leads me to…

  • Ajain Vengeant – As suggested to me by a regular in the store, this guy could possibly be the reprinted here. He fits the known sets that cards are being pulled from, he has been used in Modern, plus it brings another Planeswalker into the set.

In the following weeks we’ll start to see a lot more of the set including the Commons and Uncommons and we can see how well the set will play on its own in Limited formats. Right now the headline cards are fantastic and I can understand why players are so excited for this set to be released.