Modern Times - Curio, Caverns, and Breach
Hello everyone! Today in Modern Times we’re taking a look at a few existing Modern format pieces that have experienced some considerable movement since
Cloudstone Curio
Cloudstone Curio seems to be the little combo piece that almost could. Over its long price history, Curio has seen numerous speculative spikes, yet always seems to settle at a price slightly higher than its pre-spike trend. This happened during
Recently, with BRO and Phyrexia: All Will be One (“ONE”) shaking up the meta, Golgari Elves has found a way back into the fringe of the format, making some recent appearances in higher profile RCQ events and similar competitive settings. Cloudstone Curio is a terrific one-of or two-of in these decks, in particular with other key pieces like
Now one may wonder if new game pieces from ONE will continue to push this higher. It’s possible. With a swathe of new Proliferate-oriented cards along with the new Toxic mechanic and combo-enabling planeswalkers like
Again, Curio always seems just a hair away from being incredible, but tends to fall just slightly above average in most cases. Nevertheless, keep an eye on it, as it seems likely that we can expect some price movements in the near future!
| Cloudstone Curio | ||
|---|---|---|
| Ravnica | ||
| Masterpiece Series: Kaladesh Inventions | ||
Gemstone Caverns
This card has always been a hidden gem… Okay, all poor puns aside, Gemstone Caverns is one of the most intriguing lands in MTG, let alone Modern. The unique ability to have a free land on turn zero that can add mana of any color to your mana pool is exceptionally useful, albeit highly conditional on your opening hand. Given that Gemstone Caverns is legendary, it’s seldom useful to play more than one copy in your deck, given that it can only add colorless mana otherwise.
These mild drawbacks notwithstanding, the upside of Gemstone Caverns, particularly if you are on the play, is enormous, especially in faster-paced formats like Modern. Prior to BRO and ONE, Caverns sat at around $35, but it’s shot up to $50 in recent weeks.
The recent resurgence of Crashing Footfalls-style builds has fueled this surge. Most Footfalls decks play Caverns as a two-of to increase the chances of a turn two Cascade trigger. Beyond high tier decks like Crashing Footfalls, anti-meta builds and prison-style decks are also popping up all over the radar and slotting in Gemstone Caverns to increase the probability of a turn one
If you want Gemstone Caverns, I would advise waiting a couple weeks for the afterglow of ONE to subside. By then, I would imagine Caverns will slowly creep back to $35-$40, which seems to be its equilibrium long-run price.
| Gemstone Caverns | ||
|---|---|---|
| Time Spiral | ||
| Time Spiral: Remastered | ||
Underworld Breach
Underworld Breach has always been a fascinating card. In a lot of ways, it’s a dumb-downed , but in the form of a two-mana enchantment. The ability to recur low-cost cards from one’s graveyard is invaluable in any format, especially eternal formats like Modern and Legacy.
Prior to BRO, Breach was around $9. In a very short time period between the preview season for ONE and its subsequent release, Breach has climbed to a near record-high of around $20 (the highest it’s been in over two years).
The reason for this? The shifting sands of the Modern meta. Breach-style decks are slowly breaking away at the meta with decks like Temur and Jeskai Breach making considerable splashes across many high-profile events. More interestingly, Breach-style decks have been getting some help with the addition of low mana value cards like
The question now becomes if this price will stick. It could be that Breach-style builds are simply a transitory shock to otherwise stable meta. In recent weeks, perhaps the usual Murktide-style decks and Hammertime builds weren’t well-suited for Breach builds, especially with the recency of ONE’s release. Personally, Breach-style builds seem to keep up-to-par with the existing meta and stand to benefit significantly from ONE relative to other decks in the meta. These points notwithstanding, the dust hasn’t completely settled from the flood of new cards into the format from ONE, so only time will tell if the current price point for Breach will truly stick.
| Underworld Breach (Extended Art) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Theros Beyond Death: Extras | ||
| Theros: Beyond Death | ||
Concluding Thoughts
The recent release of two heavily artifact-themed sets has given way to some interesting price movements across Modern. The Modern meta also seems to be shaking up ever so slightly with Crashcade decks making a hearty resurgence in the meta along with Underworld Breach decks, too. I expect the movements we’re seeing now are indicative of future movements of similarly dated cards in Modern’s card pool! Keep an eye on those trinkets and borderline playables in your collections, as there’s no telling what brews could bring their price points to a boil!
Corey Williams is an Assistant Professor of Economics at Shippensburg University in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. He considers himself a macroeconometrician with his research body reflecting work in applied macroeconomics and econometrics. Corey is an L1 Judge who started playing Magic around Eighth Edition. He enjoys Modern, Commander, cEDH, and cube drafting. Outside of Magic, he loves running, teaching, and the occasional cult movie.
