Modern has some pretty expensive cards. Some of these prices seem realistic, but others seem almost arbitrary. Today, I'll be going over Modern's most expensive cards (as sorted by TCGplayer) and reviewing them in terms of utility, flexibity, rarity, and more.

With Modern Masters II likely to be announced in the very near future, considering what is most in need of a reprint can help us decide where to put our funds in advance of what is sure to be a disruptive set to the finance community. Let's get started.

By a huge margin, Tarmogoyf is Modern's most expensive card. I'm not going to suggest that nearly $200 is a correct price for a modern-day creature that's not even on the Reserved List, but consider all the factors that are involved:

• A staple from a small spring set (relatively few packs sold) that's more than five years old (much smaller playerbase).
• The only reprint was in an underprinted supplementary set priced nearly double of a normal MSRP, usually marked up even higher, and specifically designed not to flood the market.
• A Legacy staple as much as it is a Modern staple.
• It's nearly impossible to play green decks without this card (except for some niche strategies like Birthing Pod, Scapeshift, and Infect).
• Always played as a four-of.
• A hugely important piece in two formerly dominant archetypes: RUG Delver in Legacy and Jund in Modern.

With all these factors, it's no wonder the price is so high. These facts also indicate that another reprint has to be on the table. This is a card needed in high quantities for multiple formats. I would be shocked if this was not included in Modern Masters II—it's too important to be so expensive. If you don't have an immediate need for Goyfs, it may be wise to hold off on acquiring them until we know what's going on.

Modern's second-most expensive card is a different story. Dark Confidant has fallen out of favor in Modern in a big way—it doesn't even fall in the top 50 of Modern's top staples! Furthermore, we had this exchange take place on Twitter recently:

Bob has the fact that it is a four-of staple in both major eternal formats, but neither metagame is really very friendly to it now. I don't expect it to appear in Modern Masters II at all. Its price nowadays is based more on pedigree and lack of supply rather than demand.

These factors won't change, so I don't expect a sharp drop, but if it continues to see minimal play, a gradual reduction in price seems obvious. Don't pick up copies, and maybe consider outing the ones you have for now.

Compared to Goyf and Bob, Vendilion Clique is much more niche, rarely played as a four-of, and isn't nearly as much of a staple. Despite seeing play in both Modern and Legacy, it just isn't as important a piece of the metagame.

The flipside is that it has nearly doubled in price since its Modern Masters printing. If Wizards of the Coast deemed it worthy of a reprint at mythic rare the first time around, it may be treated the same way again. However, I don't think that WOTC will want too many repeated cards across the two sets, especially at mythic, so I don't expect to see this one in MM2.

If you're looking to play it, I can't imagine it's getting any cheaper. I also can't imagine it's getting much more expensive without a spike in demand of some sort.

The only way Noble Hierarch doesn't appear in Modern Masters II is if WOTC suddenly decides it hates money. It will happen. Banning Deathrite Shaman caused this already expensive utility card to leap to ridiculous levels, and I think this is at the top of the list for MM2.

If you don't own any, don't buy any in the next six months. If you do own them, you may want to consider selling when MM2 is announced (or before—it's going to happen).

It's amazing to me that Cryptic Command was printed at rare in Modern Masters and still manages to come in as the fifth-most expensive card in Modern. This is also the first card on the list that sees virtually no play in Legacy, so its price is derived almost entirely from Modern.

Whether or not this appears in Modern Masters II will, in my opinion, be indicative of how WOTC views these sets. If the goal is to keep the price of Modern affordable for the average player, this doesn't necessarily have to be reprinted. It's a powerful staple, by all means, but it's not in every blue deck, it's not always a four-of, and it's not truly required to play blue in the format.

On the other hand, if WOTC is just trying to sell packs, it would be foolish to leave this out. I honestly don't know what its future is.

Let's discuss all five Zendikar fetch lands here--I don't see how they've maintained their current prices. Players made the enemy-color fetches work in Modern for years, and now we have allied-color fetches, cutting demand in half. Furthermore, the Khans fetches are less than half the price of their Zendikar counterparts, and players have already shown they can find ways to make off-color fetches work just fine.

These will also probably be reprinted in MM2 (although that's less of a sure thing given the Khans printing). Full disclosure: I haven't sold my personal playsets yet, but I think I'm probably going to. I just can't imagine a world where these stay above $30, if that. Frankly, I'm surprised they're still that high.

Considering Affinity is one of the budget decks in Modern, it would be a big oversight not to give Mox Opal a slot in Modern Masters II. It will almost certainly be mythic and it will always have "Mox" in the name, so if you play Affinity and own a set of this card, I wouldn't necessarily feel like you have to get rid of your copies in advance of a reprint. That said, I certainly wouldn't buy copies now, either.

Get the Picture?

With only a few exceptions, you don't need Modern staples if you're looking to play any decks. Most of the cards above are specific to certain decks and are not needed elsewhere.

If you're certain you're never going to play Affinity, then you don't need Mox Opals. If you're never gong to play blue control, you don't need Cryptic Command. If Brian Kibler and Gerry Thompson are to be believed, you don't need Dark Confidants at all. You need fetch lands, but you don't need the expensive Zendikar ones.

Of the cards above, only Tarmogoyf and Noble Hierarch can be considered "needs" for the format. And even then, that only applies if you're not playing green. And if you're playing Scapeshift, you don't need either.

So yeah, Modern has some expensive cards, but none of them are required for what is largely considered the best deck in the post-Treasure Cruise format: U/R Delver. This format is wide open, and you don't need to be scared off by the priciest cards in it. You have options.

As a financier, I'm feeling less and less comfortable holding Modern staples as the Modern Masters II announcement looms nearer. What do you think?