The reprint set offers plenty for the budding Modern player.
Even with Modern becoming increasingly expensive thanks to the evergreen impact of the Modern Horizon expansion sets, Double Masters 2022 offers a variety of reprints for the popular constructed format. When reprint sets such as Double Masters 2022 roll around, it grants players another chance to pick up these Modern staples for their collection, perhaps giving them a route to play the format differently through more affordable means.
Even with these hurdles, let’s look at some of the best Double Masters 2022 reprints for Modern that are worth picking up or know which cards to keep when opening those boosters.
#10 Bring to Light
Bring to Light remains on the outskirts of Modern by seeing play in variants of TitanShift and Niv-to-Light. While Bring to Light is one of the lesser exciting reprints from Double Masters 2022, Bring to Light is a decent card if you want to expand TitanShift into blue or want to play multicolor card strategy in Modern, with the latter seeing play in Pioneer.
#9 Hardened Scales
Not as popular in Modern as it once was, Hardened Scales Affinity remains a decent option for those looking to enter Modern on a budget. Before the timely banning of Mox Opal, Hardened Scales Affinity utilized the zero mana artifact to curve out threats ahead of schedule. Even without the defining artifact, Hardened Scales Affinity remains playable and adopts one of the cards reprinted in Double Masters 2022, . It’s through using the one mana enchantment that players can add additional +1/+1 counters to permanents, with Walking Ballista and Arcbound Ravager being the popular options for the Modern strategy.
Market Price: $4.53
Market Price: $4.50
Through demand in formats such as Commander, Hardened Scales became an expensive card given the emphasis on counters in the singleton format. With this much-needed printing in Double Masters 2022, players can pick up the enchantment more affordably if they want to build Hardened Scales Affinity in Modern. Before, Hardened Scales saw a reprint in Commander 2016 before the original Khans of Tarkir printing.
#8 Aether Vial
Despite Modern tribal archetypes falling out of favor due to the printings of Prismatic Ending, Solitude, and Fury, Aether Vial is a decent reprint in Double Masters 2022. At present, Aether Vial sees the highest representation in Death & Taxes as a method to drop cheap yet disruptive creatures into play without paying any mana costs.
Market Price: $9.65
Market Price: $13.21
Even with the downtrend of Aether Vial in Modern, the Double Masters 2022 reprint provides an excellent opportunity to pick up the artifact for your collection. There will come a time where strategies such as Death & Taxes, Humans, Goblins, and maybe even Merfolk can claw their way back to the higher tiers of the Modern metagame once again. Either way, Aether Vial is a solid reprint if you are looking to play these styles of decks in the future.
7# Cavern of Souls
Speaking of tribal archetypes, Cavern of Souls sees a much-needed reprint in Double Masters 2022. While the card somehow kept the mythic rarity, it could allow Modern players to pick up the unique land for their decks. Right now, Cavern of Souls features highly in Amulet Titan as a promise to cast Primeval Titan without worrying about any opposing countermagic.
Market Price: $66.16
Market Price: $83.21
To that end, Cavern of Souls is also influential in tribal archetypes such as Humans, Goblins, and Elves to ensure these threats enter the battlefield. It’s often the price of Cavern of Souls that discourages players from wanting to play these archetypes in Modern. Cavern of Souls is so critical in purpose that it remains frustrating for the card to keep the high rarity but despite these complaints, a reprint at a higher rarity is better than no reprint at all.
6# Surgical Extraction
First printed in New Phyrexia, Surgical Extraction remains one of the best ways to remove problematic cards from the graveyard. Even though Surgical Extraction is not true graveyard hate, the instant offers a lifeline against Izzet Phoenix and Dredge, who both lean towards the combo-aspect of utilizing the graveyard.
While Izzet Phoenix and Dredge aren’t as popular anymore, Surgical Extraction is a card to consider when fleshing out your Modern collection. Modern goes through ebbs and flows, meaning there could be a point where these combo-focused graveyard archetypes rise again. If this happens, it will influence the price of cards such as Surgical Extraction as a definitive answer to these archetypes. There could be instances where you want a cheap yet interactive way to temper with these graveyards at the cost of one black mana (or two life). There isn’t another card quite like Surgical Extraction in Modern, making it a unique and useful card to utilize in the format.
5# Kolaghan’s Command
Another staple that catches a reprint in Double Masters 2022 for the first time is Kolaghan’s Command, a modular instant with application in numerous archetypes in Modern. In Modern currently, Kolaghan’s Command features in Rakdos Midrange and Grixis Death’s Shadow as it offers versatile answers to opposing strategies.
Market Price: $3.86
Market Price: $4.19
Since Modern cares about strong yet low-toughness creatures, being able to remove a threat while selecting another mode is a solid play to make. Plus, there’s the option of destroying an artifact or forcing the opponent to discard a card on their upkeep. There are so many ways to play with Kolaghan’s Command that reward the instant with the Modern staple status, and this reprint in Double Masters 2022 is a welcoming one.
4# Inquisition of Kozilek
With a reprint set such as Double Masters 2022, it’s effortless to be caught up in the pushed rares and mythics. However, sometimes it’s good to evaluate the commons and uncommons to see whether they are worth keeping if you open any packs. Inquisition of Kozilek is one of those cards and sees extensive Modern play.
As Modern is represented by low mana value spells, the ceiling on Inquisition of Kozilek remains high given there are so many good cards to target in the format. Pairing the sorcery with Thoughtsieze gives you a clear idea of how to approach the next couple of turns while putting your opponent behind in cards. Despite falling in value over the last few years, Inquisition of Kozilek remains an excellent card to have in your collection, with Lightning Bolt and Path to Exile also being solid reprints at lower rarities from Double Masters 2022.
3# Seasoned Pyromancer
Seeing its first reprint since Modern Horizons 1, Seasoned Pyromancer is one of the best red cards to enter Modern in recent times. Discarding cards is rarely a downside in Modern, especially when you have the potential of creating two 1/1 Elemental tokens for your troubles. Modern archetypes often use the graveyard as an extension of their library, making cards such as Seasoned Pyromancer a staple for the format.
Market Price: $26.09
Market Price: $20.61
Often you see the Human Shaman feature in Mono-Red Midrange builds that focus on Obosh, the Prey-Piercer as a companion. Outside of these red-heavy builds, Seasoned Pyromancer sees play in Rakdos Midrange, Gruul Midrange, and sometimes in Jund as a one-off for additional value. Also, the card gives you something to do with your mana in the late game by creating two 1/1 Elemental Tokens for five mana. Overall, Seasoned Pyromancer is a fantastic card for Modern and another significant reprint from Double Masters 2022.
2# Wrenn and Six
Continuing the trend of influential Modern Horizons 1 cards, Wrenn and Six became a fixture of Modern as it is a two mana planeswalker with a motley of valuable abilities. Being able to recur a land card from the graveyard to your hand remains an excellent combination when paired alongside fetch lands (such as Wooded Foothills and Polluted Delta)) to guarantee land drops. Also, the second ability gives weight to the powerful yet low-toughness creatures in the format by adding extra value to the card.
Market Price: $57.25
Market Price: $75.22
There was a time Wrenn and Six became so definitive in Legacy, that it was soon banned since it pushed various archetypes out of the format. While it seems safe to keep legal in Modern for now at least, Wrenn and Six is a sorely-needed reprint given the value and usage in Modern. Typically you see the planeswalker feature in Four-Color Yorion, Jund, and Five-Color Omnath with applications in fringe archetypes. Another reason the price of Wrenn and Six remained so consistent is the necessity of running the complete set in any of these Modern decks, as it’s a card you want to have in your opening hand. With the release of Double Masters 2022, Wrenn and Six returns giving players a much-needed opportunity to pick up the polarizing planeswalker again.
1# Force of Negation
Following Wrenn and Six is Force of Negation, one of the more powerful counter spells to enter Modern. First seeing print in Modern Horizons 1, Force of Negation sees extensive play in multiple archetypes from Crashing Footfalls to Living End, with the instant also featured in Control archetypes given the ability to exile a blue card instead of paying mana costs. To that end, Force of Negation saw steep demand upon release thanks to the limited print run of the first Modern Horizons. The card saw retro frame treatments in Modern Horizons 2 but is not a genuine reprint given the low possibility of opening these unique variants in booster packs.
Market Price: $34.93
Market Price: $36.39
With Double Masters 2022, you have another opportunity to pick up the powerful blue instant without paying the current Modern Horizons price. The card will continue to be in demand in Modern (and to an extent, Commander), given it adopts a similar design space to the influential Force of Will from Alliances. And like Wrenn and Six, Force of Negation often comes as a complete playset in Modern decklists which drives further demand.
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While Double Masters 2022 could be a miss depending on if players can acquire enough product for release, these reprints are much-needed given the current cost of playing the Modern format. Modern is now at the mercy of Modern Horizons 1 and 2 in terms of power level and the monetary value of these Modern-curated cards, but Double Masters at least allows you to pick these influential cards at a slightly cheaper rate. The effort may not seem much given the current financial landscape of Modern, but it is something.