Tarmogoyf Headlines in Modern Masters
The word on everyone’s lips nowadays is Tarmogoyf. Many players are saddened by the fact that this epically broken foe will never return to Type 2 despite thousands of requests to the R&D department at Wizards, but happily, “The Goyf” will be returning to limited print in June 2013 with the release of Modern Masters, a 229-card set that will reprint Modern-legal cards from Eighth Edition to Alara Reborn.
Designed to encourage growth within the Modern format, which allows cards to be used from Eighth Edition to the current Ravnica block, the new set will follow the same formula followed by Wizards with every major release (101 commons, 60 uncommons, 53 rares, and 15 mythic rares), but as it appears to be more of a greatest hits compilation of the past six years’ there are some very discernible differences in this release. First off and most noticeable, the set will have a higher MSRP starting off at $6.99 rather than the $3.99 typically charged for Standard legal booster packs. Don’t dismay, dear reader, because this set will not feature basic land cards but instead will have a foil in every pack. Sadly, for those of you that love to pimp out your decks with those nifty foreign language cards, this set will only be available in English despite its global distribution, still have no fear, you will still be able to customize your deck with tons of alternate art and fancy foils.
Long-time Magic players will certainly remember the 1995 Chronicles release, that failed chemistry experiment that literally bubbled over the beaker and flooded the market with reprints of highly sought after cards from Magic’s first few editions before blowing up in Wizards’ faces and leaving behind the beastly Reserved List that forces players trying to get into the Legacy format to part with kidneys and valuable bodily fluids just to obtain just one staple card. It appears that Wizards’ is taking great care not to repeat their mistakes as evidenced by the extremely limited release scheduled for Modern Masters. And the proof is in the make-up. The packaging for the new set features 24 booster packs in a box as opposed to the usual 36, which of course makes this set perfect for Draft and Sealed Deck formats and makes running prerelease events a snap for store owners. As opposed to previous Masters Editions releases, Modern Masters will be available both in stores and Magic: The Gathering Online with the key proviso that cards purchased from the online format will not be redeemable for their physical counterparts, another nod to the care Wizards’ is taking to not flood the secondary market and upset the value of existing collections.
Initial talk appears to be focused on a limited print run of this already sought after set. Store buzz will continue to speculate as to what the next high profile card will come in this set. For now, all of us will have to lookout for more spoilers as the release date looms nearer.