Top 5: Cards to Buy, Sell, or Hold, Middle-earth Edition

This year, instead of Modern Horizons 3, we got a set done in cooperation with a strong IP, namely The Lord of the Rings. The result still is a release that was designed specifically for Modern and does not go through Standard or Pioneer. Today we take a closer look at the biggest financial players of the set so far!

half price

Hold/Buy: Delighted Halfling

is a card that was hyped at the very start, then fell in price when sellers thought there might not be a good home for it, and immediately went back to being hyped. This tendency is clearly seen on the price graph. There was a huge trough around June 20 when the card lost 25% of its market value.

However, when players saw the strength of a turn two uncounterable , especially against cascade decks, and having a mana dork that doesn't die to in Golgari Yawgmoth, the opinion shifted. While the price dipped just a bit, I expect players to find more and more shells where this card fits, punishing the ever-present countermagic. It also find homes in formats outside of Modern, like EDH or Legacy. If you can grab some copies at €15, I wouldn't hesitate.

Golgari Yawgmoth by Xerk
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Four-Color Omnath by Hayato Igura
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Hold/Buy: Orcish Bowmasters

is slowly taking over Modern and Legacy. It punishes draw effects like , , , or , which gets its own section below. Crucially, it also kills off X/1 creatures with ease, the most notable being but far from the only. It hits , , and as well.

bowmasters price

Similarly to Delighted Halfling, it initially dipped in price but has been climbing up ever since. While already expensive now, I don't see it seing any less play. On the contrary, players keep incorporating it into more and more strategies such as Rakdos Scam, Grixis Death's Shadow, Dimir Control, or Golgari Yawgmoth (see list above). If you already own Bowmasters, I'd hold them for a while. As far as I'm concerned, its price will peak at the Pro Tour in Barcelona.

Rakdos Scam by gnorligrande, 1st at Modern Last Chance Qualifier
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Buy: Flowering of the White Tree

Now let's talk about cheaper cards. was a card that appeared on Top 10 lists of best cards from the set. One Magic Hall of Famer even put it as number one! While the card has not been able to prove itself as a major addition to Modern, it has seen some use in the format and a lot of use in Commander. It's also entire possible that all the focus directed at made players overlook other potential buildarounds.

flowering price

Considering it dropped to as low as €5, I think it's as good time as ever to invest in a playset. Long term I envision it to tick up thanks to EDH but also sporadic Modern and Legacy play. There might even be a legendary aggressive deck some time in the future, akin to what already exists in Standard and Pioneer, causing the card to double or triple in price. Foils go for similar prices, so if you prefer bling, you can choose that as well with little-to-no financial impact.

flowering of the white tree Nazgûl

Sell: Nazgûl

is a weird one, as it is an uncommon commanding a price of almost €10. It has a clause that you can play up to nine copies of it, which increases the demand by default. If you want to play it, you are likely to want to include the maximum. It sees no Modern play and seems to be good nowhere else than in Commander. However, in this format it does circumvent the usual restriction to only one copy of any card, so there is even more room to take advantage.

Nazgûl price

Nazgûl is pretty narrow though, so I don't really expect players to find too many other shells outside of the ones that have been found already. On top of that, it's an uncommon whose availability is, by definition, much wider than for a rare or a mythic rare. In the long term I expect it to lose value due to players opening more packs or Wizards adding subsequent printings or print runs.

Hold: The One Ring

has been the talk of the town in Modern. Every single deck tries to jam it in, from Izzet Breach, Izzet Murktide through Four-Color Omnath and Azorius Control to Golgari Yawgmoth. Some players go as far as to give it the treatment and put it into literally any shell to see if it works, even Merfolk or Burn.

ring price

The card is undoubtedly powerful, and there has been speculation if it ought to be banned. My personal take is that it is way too early to make any such claims, as every exciting card, whether newly printed or unbanned, sees play everywhere until it doesn't. The same happened with and .

I do believe this card will peak at the Pro Tour, so I would hold it at least until then. If it doesn't show up a lot there, the price won't plummet, but if it does very well, we'll see another increase. The price is already high, so I can't recommend you make a purchase here unless you specifically want to play it. For any financial gains, buying in now feels unsafe. I think it is best to just hold on to the ones you own and buy only when you need them for your deck.

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, not of Cardmarket.