Last updated on December 17, 2024
Splinter Twin – Illustration by Goran Josic
WotC finally told The One Ring, “You shall not pass!” – in Modern, at least, where the Ring got banned yesterday alongside Amped Raptor and Jegantha, the Wellspring.
To shake things up even more, WotC unbanned four cards in Modern:
Here's a quick snapshot of the unbanned cards' financial data, alongside our guesses of what could be their new ceiling.
Green Sun's Zenith is unbanned
It's been more than a decade since WotC decided to sunset Green Sun's Zenith in Modern, but the green sorcery hasn't been idle: it sees a lot of top-tier play in Legacy (ironically, alongside one of 2024's problem childs: Nadu, Winged Wisdom) and cEDH.
Green Sun's Zenith[/card's another rare with not too many reprints, the last being Double Masters 2022, and yesterday's unban has roughly tripled its price from about $10 to over $30 according to TCGPlayer.
Source: TCGPlayer – Green Sun's Zenith - Double Masters 2022
Like [card]Splinter Twin, though, Green Sun's Zenith‘s spike may be more about hype and nostalgia than punching power in current Modern.
Faithless Looting
“One of the cards that died for Hogaak's sins was Faithless Looting,” admits WotC's Dan Musser in yesterday's Banned and Restricted Announcement, explaining why it got banned in 2019. Five years later, they feel that they've introduced enough graveyard hate in Modern for Faithless Looting‘s safe return.
Faithless Looting is a common that has been reprinted to hell and back, most recently in Modern Horizons 3 and Outlaws of Thunder Junction. It's certainly in great demand – it's a multi-format staple that sees competitive play in Pauper, Legacy and cEDH, on top of being extremely popular in Commander at large – and may be able to break Modern in half…
… but most Modern players that want a playset probably already own one.
Yesterday's unban pushed the price up from a quarter to around 50 cents, and some versions are out of stock in TCGPlayer. It may go above $1, as it did when it was Modern-playable, but so much supply I doubt Faithless Looting‘ll become the new rags to riches story.
Source: TCGPlayer – Faithless Looting – Commander: The Lost Caverns of Ixalan
Splinter Twin
WotC decided to find out what a good chunk of Modern players have been wondering since 2016: Would Splinter Twin be strong today?
“Answers exist that once didn't,” Musser says, listing Solitude, Force of Negation, Force of Vigor, and Flare of Denial as options that could stop Twin decks on their tracks, and citing those free spells as the reason to unban the red enchantment.
What about its price?
Unlike Faithless Looting, Splinter Twin is a rare with few prints: just Modern Masters and Rise of the Eldrazi.
But, on the other hand, unlike the other Modern cards unbanned yesterday – that WotC expects to see play in several different archetypes – Splinter Twin only supports one strategy, and it may not be overly strong.
Splinter Twin‘s price has nevertheless skyrocketed more than 400%, going from $5-$6 to around $20-25, which was its peak price back when it was a Tier 1 powerhouse.
Source: TCGPlayer – Splinter Twin – Modern Masters 2015
Mox Opal
“Our expectations are that the reintroduction of Mox Opal will give rise to several interesting artifact strategies both new and old,” Musser writes, “without adding any power to strong decks.”
Top players may not exactly agree on Mox Opal being mostly harmless, though…
… and this legendary artifact is very capable bringing the house down in other Magic formats: just two days ago, the Vintage MTGO Challenge 32 finals was a Paradoxical Outcome mirror with 2x Opals on each side; a week ago, three of the four finalist of Baked Ziti Open cEDH brought Mox Opal along; and it sees top-tier Legacy play too.
All this already made Mox Opal an $80-$90 card before being unbanned – it has jumped now to over $130, with some offerings going much higher.
Source: TCGPlayer – Mox Opal – Double Masters
Wrap Up
Green Sun's Zenith – Illustration by David Rapoza
The One Ring and at least one card from the Energy decks were clear candidates for the chopping block yesterday. But it wasn't clear at all that WotC would decide to also include a handful of unbans, and let alone which specific cards could return to Modern.
As noted in their article, WotC expects these bans and unbans to be a pretty big shake-up in the Modern meta, and have noted they intend to have more unbans in the next B&R announcement in March 31.
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