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Modern Cards in Trade

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Modern season is over, and a lot of us still have Modern staples sitting around. Many are trying to get rid of them but I don't think that's the correct option. We have something we have not seen in a while –- Modern FNM.

I have been trading and selling off my Modern staples quickly, even to people who don't frequent large events. For this reason, I have continued picking up Modern cards in trade –- with a few focuses. I'll go over a few of my favored targets here.

The great thing about Eternal cards is they are often popular EDH or casual cards as well. This makes it easier to trade them.

Cheap Decks

I covered this in one of my previous articles –- cheap Modern decks. A few of them in particular are common among casual-competitive players.

Soul Sisters/Martyr Proc

This deck has a few great targets. You want to have the cards no one else has for trade, so don't waste your time with Soul Warden.

Serra Ascendant, if you can get them cheap, will trade fast, both to EDH players (a turn one 6/6 flier? Sounds good) and to Modern players. Some B/W Tokens lists run this as well.

Ranger of Eos is great as well, and is played in some Zoo lists.

Path to Exile is just always a great card to have. They trade well, they sell well, and make your binder's C/U section look great.

Monoblue Tron

The great thing about this deck is that most of the targets are EDH staples, or at the least popular EDH cards. You will get a lot of demand for this stuff.

Platinum Angel is a card that fits what every casual player loves. It's a large creature, and it has a ridiculous ability.

Wurmcoil Engine is played in all Tron decks, and is just a great thing to own. Honestly, I see this guy hitting up to $15 in a year or so, if Tron continues to be a popular archetype.

Solemn Simulacrum is one of my favorite targets. It dropped to $2 at rotation, and has slowly creeped to $3. It is a popular EDH card (I think it's in every deck with my EDH group) and seems to do well in trades.

Oblivion Stone is a card that we've seen a lot of recent increase on. In fact, I ended up with nearly 30 copies of this card pretty quickly. I see it stabilizing, but we may see slow increases next Modern season.

B/W Tokens

Tokens is a popular archetype because it can be built in a lot of ways, and hell, it's just fun. I love playing a three-drop and getting three 3/3 fliers.

Elspeth, Knight-Errant is not only a great planeswalker, but also played in a few decks. B/W tokens, Martyr, and even white EDH decks. She is also pretty fun with Doubling Season, as if she resolves, your stuff is indestructible immediately. 'Nuff said.

Auriok Champion is a great card. With Honor of the Pure it really punishes Jund, and it gains a healthy bit of life. These are very tough to find; I've rarely seen them in a binder.

Honor of the Pure was a great card in Standard, and it continues to be great in Modern. It is reasonably better than Intangible Virtue in nearly any situation.

Again, I know the #1 response I'll get from this. Modern Masters. Modern Masters is releasing, and it will reprint a lot of cards. However, I think that commons and uncommons will be the biggest ones to worry about.

There is one other big thing, so large that 53 rares could hardly have an impact...

Land!

Yes, lovely, beautiful mana fixing. I love picking these up. They sell at great prices online, they trade well to EDH players, and they are just great cards to own. I'll go over a few of my favorites to grab out of binders.

Shadowmoor/Eventide Filter Lands

These cards have shot up -- and likely will stay there. They allow for things like turn one Champion of the Parish, turn two Ash Zealot, turn three Mirran Crusader without a hitch, and even with a basic Plains in the mix! The Eventide ones are the most expensive, and will get you the most trades. The Shadowmoor ones are also pretty good, although cheaper. They also have some room to grow.

Onslaught/Zendikar Fetchlands

The Onslaught lands have actually been moving upwards lately, alongside the Zendikar ones. Likely we will not see too much more movement on Zendikar fetches until Modern picks up again. this makes all of them great trade targets, and great ways to get those cards you want out of someone's binder!

Scars Duals

Yeah, we all love these. Way too cheap for the amount of play they see. I still like Blackcleave Cliffs the most, as Razorverge Thicket has dropped a bit in popularity. We all expect a rise next Modern season, and through the next couple of years.

Utility Lands

These are a bit tougher to categorize. They are played lands that have abilities other than mana production. Note that manlands are covered separately in the next section.

Academy Ruins -- Monoblue Tron and EDH, even Vintage plays this card.

Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle -- This is just played in Valakut. Some Red EDH decks may play it as a filler nonbasic. However, they trade well.

Tectonic Edge -- This is played in a few decks, and is an EDH staple. I'd worry less about the promos as tournament often players want nonfoils.

Manlands

These guys are great. Living through board wipes and dealing the final points. They also make attacks scary, and Liliana of the Veil worse.

Raging Ravine -- Jund loves it, and so should you. This guy gets especially insane late game. It is a large reason that Wrath does not destroy Jund. He's mainly a Modern card, but he may be in a few casual/EDH decks as well.

Mutavault -- Just be that guy who has a Mutavault for trade. Oh, the offers you will get. Most tribal decks want it, and even some nontribal run these as late beaters.

I'm working on a fun write-up for next week that I think you'll all enjoy. I couldn't get it finished for this week, but look for it next week.

Until next time -- don't forget to pick up foils!

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