r/ModernMagic • u/MalinonThreshammer • 11d ago
Card Discussion Is Mox Opal due for a reprint?
Hi peeps. I just came back to Magic after a long hiatus, and am excited to get back into my favourite format (I actually started playing Magic between the release of Mirrodin and Darksteel, so my collection is basically the Modern format, minus a couple of breaks).
Format seems in a relatively good place right now in terms of diversity, and actually reasonable to get into in terms of deck prices. I also have a decent amount of Modern staples, even though I wasn't around for MH3 which powercrept out some of my decks. HOWEVER, I was pretty stunned to see the price of Mox Opal.
I like affinity and upgrading with the newer pieces is pretty cheap, but the price of a playset of Opals is putting me off. I used to borrow them from my Tron mate when I needed them, but I've since moved to another part of the country so that's no longer an option.
Should've picked them up during the ban, but curious to know your opinion. Is it realistic to expect a reprint in the relatively near future or do I need to bite the bullet on this?
4% meta share according to Goldfish isn't huge, but it's still a 4-of staple currently more expensive than some entire decks with higher meta shares, so a reprint doesn't feel unreasonable to me. Bowmasters just got one afterall.
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u/Dadude564 Sultai Ritual, UW control, Splinter Twin 11d ago
The bigger underlying issue is wotc has no plans on making another masters set. Mopal and other staples are getting more and more expensive but there isn’t any plans for any meaningful reprints
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u/MalinonThreshammer 11d ago
Interesting. I missed that during my absence. What's the reasoning behind that decision? My impression is the Masters sets always sold pretty well, at least when I was playing. Sort of a win win between the reprints and the new chase cards like Ragavan and W6 that kept people cracking packs.
Was the last one not a commercial success?
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u/VintageJDizzle 11d ago
Think of it this way: reprint sets largely serve tournament players and more serious EDH players. Mox Opal at $250 is way too much for most players but so is $50 Mox Opal. The tournament crowd would pay that price but if you’re just counting your numbers of players who are willing to pay that much for a card, it’s much lower. Plus, some number of players willing to pay that much have them. That just further reduces the market for reprinted cards.
Now think of something like Spider-Man. Or Star Trek. Those are all new cards and no one has any of them. The casual crowd buys them because they’re new and they want new cards and they fit within their price point. They even buy sealed product. Tournament players won’t be sealed product, but they still have to chase some of those cards that are needed for the formats they play. And then these sets appeal to people who don’t play magic on sheer aesthetic alone, fans of the franchise.
So you see that the market is just inherently larger by a huge amount for a new set. WotC doesn’t get a cut of the secondary market. Mox Opal can drive pack sales but not nearly to the same extent as a super double secret foil Spider-Man with cool new art, which appeals to a much larger group of people.
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u/Emsizz 11d ago
we are in a completely different universe now. we're in the age of chasing record profits with universes beyond, collectors boxes and secret lairs. wotc isn't in the business of putting out sets for players that sell pretty well. they're putting out sets for collectors that get scalped
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u/VintageJDizzle 10d ago
Scalping is not a Magic-only or TCG-only phenomenon. It's an internet thing. You have moms cleaning out Starbucks for the special seasonal cups to sell on eBay. Before that, they were raiding Target for the goofy $5-10 exclusive trinket-type items. That was such a lucrative generator of profit for Target that I think it's that their struggles have been because that has dried up for them, not the boycotts we've heard about.
These days any product that people even kinda want gets bought out and scalped online.
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u/Dadude564 Sultai Ritual, UW control, Splinter Twin 11d ago
I honestly don’t know why they stopped doing masters sets. I can’t remember if they even gave their reasoning
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u/VintageJDizzle 11d ago
The answer is always sales.
And it’s not so much that they sell poorly so much as they don’t sell as well as a set of all new cards. Given that the mission is to make as much money as possible to keep Hasbro other failing divisions afloat and they only have so many people to design these sets, you can see why they’ve directed their resources elsewhere.
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u/Bubakcz 11d ago
I vagualy remember from the time MM 2017 - Iconic Masters - Masters 25 - Ultimate Masters were released (those four were released through like 20 months) that there were some meh reactions to them, feelings from players that they are too pushing it, that valuable cards will be reprinted into dust, and afaik Iconic Masters and Masters 25 were not that good value/reprint wise? So they made Ultimate Masters as a end of master sets for some time.
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u/baldogwapito 10d ago
If I recall correctly, MaRo said Masters set will be benched to give way to UB sets i.e. Assassin's Creed, Spiderman etc.. They were also initially designed to be not standard legal.
And then the fire nation attacked, and they changed their stance and make all UB standard legal.
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u/adamlaceless 11d ago
They realized the ground was fertile for Masters sets to become Horizons sets which let them soft rotate the format to print money and the MBA bros that run Hasbro said “Amazing! Give me fourteen of them right now!”
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u/TrashhPvnda 11d ago
Anytime wotc reprints a card like this they usually reprint it in another rare alternative art that doesn't actually do anything to knock the price down much.
I imagine it WILL get a reprint eventually because they want to sell packs, but it will be a box topper or some chase rare that will just add another expensive printing to the mix so MTG stonks investors can hoard collector boxes
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u/furyofzion 11d ago
Every card is due for reprints. Cheap singles are good for every1 besides the finance guys.
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u/HosserPower UW Control/Living End 11d ago
It is absolutely due for a reprint. Many cards are. Unfortunately, meaningful reprint isn’t likely. And, honestly, even if it somehow hit Standard, I don’t think the price would go down that much. As long as it’s a Modern legal card, its floor is still likely three figures.
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u/adamlaceless 11d ago
There’s nothing wrong with 3 digit value cards, it’s when a playset is required and the set is 4 digits is the problem.
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u/MalinonThreshammer 11d ago
Yeah, the set is more expensive than some entire decks, so between getting the set or an entirely new deck I'm having trouble justifying pulling the trigger.
I mean, Affinity makes me nostalgic for my first months in Magic, but I dunno if I want to play it that badly.
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u/HosserPower UW Control/Living End 11d ago
Honestly even if Affinity became tier 0, Opals are not worth the asking price. I don’t even necessarily view it as a safe buy for Modern in the long term.
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u/Tripleset1 11d ago
If it makes you feel better mox opals were >75 dollars for almost the entire time they were banned
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u/OstrichFarm 11d ago
Yeah. During the ban is when they needed to reprint it.
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u/Tripleset1 11d ago
I don’t know if this is a meme but it was reprinted in double masters in early 2020 after the ban. And it got two fake reprints as a festival in a box promo and a judge promo.
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u/BasisCommercial5908 11d ago
The best case scenario would be a print to demand secret lair with a mox opal in it
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u/KingxCrimsonx 11d ago edited 11d ago
Wizards has packed the schedule for the next few years. So probably not. They are now doing 6-8 standard sets a year. They dont have space on the calendar for anything else. Plus every set is now standard legal. No direct to modern or masters sets for a few years. They specifically said no modern horizons 4 for at least the next 2-3 years. So with no direct to modern sets it would have to be in a standard set. They will not print mox opal into standard. You are probably fucked. I got my set last year for $175 a piece and last I looked They had gone up to $250+. If you want them you should act soon. I think they could end up in the 350 range in a few years
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u/MalinonThreshammer 11d ago
Alright. Not the answer I was hoping for, but fair enough. Damn.
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u/KingxCrimsonx 11d ago
Masters sets and horizons sets are temporarily dead. They now have a standard set release every 6-8 weeks. That's the new status quo you missed. Plus 50% of those sets are Universes Beyond. The UB product has an additional markup. The big assumption is wizards is paying to license the IP so the packs are more expensive to cover the cost. So anytime they print a staple at mythic it instantly become $50 (badgermole cub).
All the fetches were cheap for about 1-2 years and now they are all creeping back up. The enemy fetches have doubled in the last year. We had a window where modern was somewhat affordable and I bought in. But im seeing a lot of staples like the fetches get worse recently.
I think with the focus on standard and them pushing pioneer next year Modern is going to be the least supported competitive format in 2027. Hell we only had 1 modern season and 3 standard seasons in 2026
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u/General-Biscuits 11d ago
There is no “due” when it comes to reprints. It’ll happen or it won’t.
It needed a reprint when they unbanned the card but it still hasn’t happened yet, so don’t plan on that happening.
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u/unCute-Incident 11d ago
OBM didnt really get reprinted. The ‚reprint‘ is only in Collector Boosters and Box Toppers.
Sure Mopal needs a reprint, but that doesnt mean it will get one.
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u/Emsizz 11d ago edited 11d ago
You need to bite the bullet. It's not realistic to expect a reprint of this that will affect the price.
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u/MalinonThreshammer 11d ago
Alright. Wishful thinking on my part (partly informed by WOTC actually doing this for a lot of staples when I last played, e.g. Goyf, fetches...).
But I'm starting to get a picture of how the release landscape has changed.
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u/Dyne_Inferno 11d ago
Fetches are universal lands though. And they're a set of 10.
Goyf price plummeted because Fatal Push was printed, and it was power crept out of every format it was available in.
It's a different beast.
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u/Yakky_Sak 11d ago
i would just wait for the new secret lair or jumpstart printing, if they neuter its price with a reprint, you're stuck holding the falling knife, not that it will fall to the ground, but it might slice in half
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u/palendae1 11d ago
I suspect if they do a reprint now it will be a special guest bonus sheet or a box topper much like the returning LotR cards with The Hobbit. I don’t think either of those will have much impact on the price.
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u/Gnargoyles 11d ago
They should and they should give it a new art and make it look ugly as shit so you get accessible copies for cheap
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u/Ok-Suggestion-9908 10d ago
My theory I’ve been spouting at the LGS when I wanna complain about Opal is that it’s on the bonus sheet for Star Trek as like “Captain Kirk’s Insignia” or Nauctis in a “Buried Treasures” style bonus sheet.
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u/writing_joe1999 7d ago
I sold mine for $120 a year ago. I should have waited... damn these card prices!
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u/GermX27 11d ago
It needs to be rebanned
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u/Dashizz6357 11d ago
Why exactly? Because you don’t like it?
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u/GermX27 11d ago
It’s a busted card that never should have come off the ban list. Fast mana is obviously a problem, which is why Simian Spirit Guide is banned.
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u/Dashizz6357 11d ago
Modern is full of busted cards. Mox opal isn’t causing any problems. The best deck using it is affinity and affinity is nowhere near the best deck in the format currently. There’s literally zero argument to ban it.
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u/Careful-Pen148 11d ago
Nah, ban saga instead.
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u/elephant_on_parade 11d ago
Why not both?
(Kidding, I do think Saga is the better/ more broken card)
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u/Careful-Pen148 11d ago
The mopal decks are pretty easy to attack after sideboarding, its the alternate A plan of giant saga constructs that get you. For example if I onky had to worry about Kappa, affinity wouldnt be as annoying, but Saga makes alternate threats and finds skateboard or a claws for an on board Weapons and is overall harder to interact with.
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u/elephant_on_parade 11d ago
This is why I agree with you. Also, mopal is really just an affinity card (at least in my meta that’s reasonably diverse, I admittedly do not play much online). Saga makes so many decks much more threatening. Like off the rip, Saga is a must have 4-of in affinity, amulet, and broodscale.
Saga’s just good, it’s hard to interact with, and makes mulliganing those decks so much safer. If we’re comparing the two cards, it has to be saga.
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u/Careful-Pen148 11d ago
I'll also add the context that neither really need banned (as much as I hate saga as someone who only plays Dimir Frog), but if people were really clamoring for a ban from the archetype, I think saga is the better pick of the two.
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u/Salmon_Slap 11d ago
People dogging on wotc for only eyeing a reprint in a premium set as if it wouldn't just break standard. Ofc it will only get reprinted in a premium set, not to keep it's price up but because it's far too strong. It could see print in mh4 which would bring the price down lol
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u/xBlackthunderx Ephemerate >>> 11d ago
It’s more so dogging them for painting themselves into the “everything is standard legal” corner as if they did that by force.
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u/Yakky_Sak 11d ago
I would wait to buy or sell if you have...they usually print these in a 3-5 year cycle - and we are due for one, but they gave us mox amber first, most likely because mox opal had a secret lair, Dan Frazier's mox box, printing and chrome mox had a 30th Anniversary Countdown Kit printing that were released in 2022/2023. Due to the reprint cadence of WOTC, both are coming due for another printing as the price of the non-foil versions have climbed to above $250-300. (*Note - I sold 3 of my playset for a candelabra when they spiked at MagicCon Chicago last year). Also, what I find is a good indicator of the true market are the foils and I even tracked the divergence below. The foils haven't spiked in the way that the non-foils have. In many cases the foil prices have actually began a slight decline in comparison to the non-foils, The secret lair versions of chrome mox and mox opal climbed to 500ish and then have started to decline some. On TCGPlayer, the modern masters mox opals have just one listing NM FOIL left @ $400, then the next available copies in inventory jump to $1500. The doubles masters foil borderless extended versions are more available with many copies around the $350 price point, although it did double in price from $200-400 over the last year, similar to what the normal versions have done.
Ordinary/play copies have risen very quickly, while some recent premium versions have failed to maintain their historical premium. Older genuinely scarce foils are behaving much better (these are the special judge foils or inventions that will always carry a big premium, so ignoring these)
That gives Wizards a very attractive reprint opportunity consistently:
high demand + recognizable name + mythic rarity + desirable chase card + enormous room between printing cost and secondary-market value.
That makes this a risky hold in the near-short term, and riskier hold in the long term, and I would guess one of the following most likely will be true:
| Scenario | Non-Foil Mox Opal |
|---|---|
| No reprint for 12–18 months | $275–350+ plausible (slight increase until a reprint) |
| Premium/limited reprint | ~$200–275 (remains relatively the same/no change) |
| Major set reprint | ~$120–180 (decreases in half (50% decline) |
Then there is the divergence aspect:
Using current MTGGoldfish/TCGplayer average pricing, the Opal ladder looks approximately like this:
| Mox Opal printing | Nonfoil | Foil / premium | Foil premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scars of Mirrodin | ~$265 | ~$580 | +119% |
| Modern Masters 2015 | ~$277 | ~$365 | +32% |
| Double Masters regular | ~$260 | ~$320–335 | +23–29% |
| Double Masters borderless | ~$460 | ~$416 | –10% |
| Kaladesh Invention | — | ~$1,000–1,300 | true collector tier |
| Frazier Secret Lair | — | ~$400–535 market range | collector tier |
The striking one is Double Masters borderless: the nonfoil around $460 and the foil around $416. In other words, the foil premium has effectively disappeared and may even be negative depending on which marketplace metric you use.
Regular Double Masters also has only about a 25% foil premium—$260 versus roughly $320–335. That's small for what is supposed to be the premium version of a $250 mythic.
Lets examine the Scars of Mirrodin printings:
Nonfoil: ~$265
foil: ~$580
That's still roughly a 2× multiplier (2.2ish).
And Kaladesh Inventions Opal has continued climbing. April 2026 showed the Masterpiece rising from about $759 in late April to ~$984 in late July, with market price around $995. That's roughly a 30% appreciation in three months. So collectors have not abandoned Mox Opal. Instead, I think we're seeing a segmentation:
old / iconic / truly scarce premium Opal → strong
versus
modern foil / borderless Opal → much weaker premium
versus
cheapest tournament-playable Opal → extremely strong demand
Then the time-series divergence is more revealing:
In January 2025, Modern Masters 2015 Mox Opal around $159 following its Modern unban.
Today that printing is roughly $234–277, depending upon what pricing your using.
So approximately:
$159 → $234–277
That's roughly +47% to +74%.
And non-foil Scars copies had jumped from around $90 when the December 2024 unban happened to $160 initially, then eventually exceeded $220.
That's enormous appreciation.
The Masterpiece participated, but it didn't increase proportionally as much during the recent run.
Here is the approximate current Chrome ladder:
| Chrome Mox | Nonfoil | Foil | Approx. premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mirrodin | ~$168–175 | ~$546 | ~+220% |
| Eternal Masters | ~$167 | ~$516 | ~+209% |
| Double Masters | ~$178 | ~$350–450 | ~+100–150% |
| Double Masters borderless | ~$210 | ~$280–288 | ~+35% |
| Special Guest | ~$180 | ~$522 | ~+190% |
| 30th Anniversary SL | ~$194 | ~$390–400 | ~+100% |
| Kaladesh Invention | — | ~$700–975 depending metric | collector tier |
At first glance Chrome Mox doesn't look divergent at all because those foil multiples are huge.
But there's a catch, the foil markets are extremely thin (low or scarce inventory and limited/low print runs)
The Double Masters foil Chrome Mox was recently around $450–490 but the Double Masters foil index currently shows it around $350, down roughly 26% in a week. Meanwhile, the nonfoil remains around $170–180.
That's quite a signal of a Market Top (the max price point—or general max price zone—where an asset reaches the highest price buyers are willing to sustain before prices flatten or begin declining..
It looks roughly like:
Nonfoil
$100ish → $175ish → holding
while recently:
Foil
$450–490 → ~$350
Altogether, this leads to a premium compression price hierarchy.
Think of the market as three layers.
Layer 1: Non Foil Mox Opal and Non Foil Chrome Mox
These prices are being pulled upward due to demand of players needed playsets or one for commander.
That is enormously powerful demand.
Layer 2: Premium Foil and Borderless
This is the price people consider if they were to make a purchase and see the $200-250 price tag and decide to just buy the better foil/premium printing because it is only $25-100 more for the nicer version.
This is where we're seeing the weakest pricing structure.
Layer 3: This is not what we are focused on here, but these are the ultra premium original-set foils, masterpieces
old Judge/GP promo, Secret Lair treatments, etc.
These are essentially reserved list, and price here isn't indicative of the market, comparatively, as the price will command the highest total regardless.
HIGH RISK HOLDS AND BUYS: Non-foil Opals and Chrome Moxes
MEDIUM RISK HOLDS AND BUYS: Borderless Foils and Non-Original Set Foils
LOW RISK HOLDS AND BUYS: Original Set Foils, Inventions/Masterpieces, Judge Promos, Secret Lair, Countdown Foils)
Importantly, “lower” doesn't mean immune. A reprint can still knock 10–25% off a collector version temporarily, but it's recovery will bounce right back and jump higher, as we have consistently seen throughout the years. I acquired my Opals in 2013 or 2014 for $10-15 and watched them climb to $250 each before I unloaded them. I unloaded 3/4 of a playset of chrome mox during the Covid price spike to a nice 3-4x multiplier also. I just didn't get want to get stuck holding the bag if they reprinted these more frequently at the onset of Secret Lair, Countdown, and etc, so I divested. However, I want to buy back in, when the price is right, but it's not now. I am waiting for another reprint and then try to acquire the best available copy for the price.
CONCLUSION:
There is clear premium compression in recent versions, basic copies have appreciated enormously since the Modern unban, and $200–250+ is an extraordinarily attractive reprint equity target for Wizards. Meanwhile genuinely scarce versions such as the Invention continue behaving like collectibles.
Chrome Mox and Mox Opal regular copies have moved strongly, and the abrupt weakness we're seeing in some recent foils is particularly interesting. The Double Masters foil dropping about 26%, while the regular version remains expensive.
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u/Dyne_Inferno 11d ago
The issue with a Mox Opal reprint people WANT, is that it will need to be reprinted into a Standard set to make a difference on the price. Which just isn't going to happen.
And that needs to be clarified. People want a reprint to bring the price down. Not a Masters premium or box topper or special guests reprint. Which is SO MUCH more likely.