Three Cards Spiking Because of Modern Horizons 3

Hello folks! Happy Wednesday. And what a Wednesday it is. Today, our conversation revolves around three very peculiar Modern cards that have seen some interesting price movements in the past couple weeks–driven mainly by the preview (and leak) season associated with Modern Horizons 3. Let’s jump in!

Simulacrum Synthesizer

I would argue that this is the best direct-to-bonus print sheet card I’ve seen. For three mana, you get a blue artifact that immediately generates some value by allowing you to scry 2. What’s more interesting, however, is its triggered ability, which generates Construct tokens each time an artifact with mana value three or greater enters your battlefield. This card has been seeing some noteworthy Legacy play, but it’s now starting to find a home in Modern in classic Affinity builds.  

With cards like Sojourner's Companion that usually cost zero due to its Affinity ability, alongside cards like Thought Monitor, which can easily cost one blue mana, Simulacrum Synthesizer generates immense value for just playing one's deck as they normally would.

Ultimately, any deck that has a heavy artifact synergy wants Synthesizer. You could also play Phyrexian Metamorph copying Synthesizer, while triggering it simultaneously. The upside of this card, if it persists without an answer, can snowball exponentially. Given how general Synthesizer’s effect is, it’s easy to imagine its upside only scaling up as more high-potential artifacts enter the game. With MH3 on the horizon, it’s not hard to imagine more synergies coming into relevance with this particular bonus sheet card.

So is it worth its current price tag? Man, it’s tough to say. At roughly $35 a card, it’s a pricey proposition to invest in a full playset immediately. However, its current price trend seems to have leveled out considerably. Ultimately, the incentive to speculate on this card in the short-term is tied heavily to where one expects Affinity to be after MH3. At the time of writing, there aren’t enough previews that seem outright amazing for Affinity players, although, it’s certainly possible that could change. However, I would argue that the theme of MH3 thus far is powering up underpowered archetypes, which Affinity does not fall within. Personally, I don’t find this an appealing speculation, but its recent price movements are not without explanation, which is important to address all the same. 

Simulacrum Synthesizer	CardKingdom $49.99	TCGPlayer $41.25
Simulacrum Synthesizer (Extended Art)	CardKingdom $69.99	TCGPlayer $44.73
Simulacrum Synthesizer (Showcase)	CardKingdom $94.99	TCGPlayer $69.95

Arclight Phoenix

The next interesting price movement has a history rooted back in 2019, when pre-Covid Modern was defined by Izzet Phoenix decks. The strategy of these decks was simple: cast a lot of spells that allow you to draw and discard a lot of cards, and then just get three or four Arclight Phoenixes back into play, and swing wide with some evasive flayers, which, if unanswered, would close out games quickly. Since Murktide Regent found a home in Modern in a MH2-defined meta, Arclight Phoenix has largely been pushed out of relevance. So, if this is the case, what’s up with the recent movement in Arclight’s price, especially given that it was just reprinted in Ravnica Remastered? 

Unfortunately, this recent price spike is the consequence of a leak (although, who knows, by the time this article posts, it may very well be confirmed). The leak in question is a reprint of a not currently Modern-legal black spell that puts creatures in your graveyard from your library. The theory is that you can easily plant three Arclights in your graveyard to be readily recurred more efficiently than ever before. 

Now in all fairness, the mildness of the price spike ($5 compared to $2 to $3 in market price) in Arclight tells us the market is reacting to such a leak, but is still hesitant given the precarious nature of leaks (as discussed in my previous article). So is it worthwhile to invest in Arclight given this leak? No. Not at least until the leak is confirmed.

The best practice here would be to have the Arclights you want in your shopping cart, and then regularly check official previews for the set. As soon as you see the leaked card get a legitimate preview (if it does), then pull the trigger and make your purchase before the market moves again. Yeah, it’s kind of like day-trading, but that is the risk-mitigating strategy for low-cost cards like Arclight that are moving due to leaked content. 

Arclight Phoenix	CardKingdom $4.99	TCGPlayer $5.51
Arclight Phoenix (Anime Borderless)	CardKingdom $4.99	TCGPlayer $5.41
Arclight Phoenix (Borderless)	CardKingdom $8.49	TCGPlayer $10.59
Arclight Phoenix	CardKingdom $4.99	TCGPlayer $4.99

Aetherworks Marvel

For those who may be unaware, Energy as a mechanic is making a comeback (again) in MH3 with some new confirmed previews as well as a Commander deck themed around Energy. Which is…odd…especially given the fact that the Universes Beyond: Fallout Science! deck was also Energy-themed. (For brevity and simplicity, think of Energy as a mana-like resource that doesn’t empty from one’s mana pool but has very limited uses.)

This brings us to Aetherworks Marvel. Back in 2017, Kaladesh and Aether Revolt introduced a slew of new Energy-themed cards to Standard (and Modern, but mostly Standard), including Rogue Refiner, Attune with Aether, Gonti's Aether Heart, Harnessed Lightning, and most notoriously, Aetherworks Marvel. Marvel represented the largest “payoff” that Energy-themed decks could achieve at the time, and boy was it a payoff! And what was this payoff? For six Energy, you could look at the top six cards of your library and cast any card from among them for free. As one could imagine, this paired immaculately well with Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger by enabling you to cast it for less than its mana cost, and without having to rely on Tron lands to do so. 

In fact this line of play was so oppressive that it found itself banned in July of the same year it was released. Despite Marvel's success in Standard, it really hasn’t had much success in integrating itself into the Modern meta for two reasons: the lack of Energy support, and access to the same payoffs faster through Tron lands. Yes, ripping an Ulamog off the top for six Energy on turn three or four is appealing, but you could also just be playing the Tron lands, and getting intermediate payoffs such as Expedition Map, Oblivion Stone, and other colorless staples en route to having all Tron lands online. 

However, as we can see, Aetherworks Marvel is spiking considerably. Prior to MH3’s previews, Marvel was a little less than $2, while today it’s commanding a modest market price of around $8 to $10. The question is, is it worth speculating on this card at this price point? I’m not going to say “no.” While the combination of leaks and previews from MH3 have given us a little bit more information on what to expect from Energy, the vast majority of Energy-themed cards, namely from the Creative Energy Commander deck, have yet to be previewed in their entirety. I think picking up a playset of these for less than $40 is still fairly low risk. My assumption is that we’ve only scratched the surface of what Energy has to offer from MH3. As Energy becomes more efficient to generate, and can enable better payoffs or synergize better with existing archetypes, then the utility that Marvel can provide will only continue to climb. 

Aetherworks Marvel

CardKingdom $8.99

TCGPlayer $10.25

Final Thoughts

The three cards discussed today have one thing in common: Modern Horizons 3. The allure of MH3 and its expected impact on not just the Modern meta, but also Magic finance in general, cannot be understated. Not even The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth had this pronounced of an impact financially on so many cards this quickly. These three cards are just the tip of the iceberg for many more movements to come. Speculate safely!