Singles Prices on the Rise; Players Seeking Older Versions of Staple Cards for the Format
The Premodern format, for Magic: The Gathering, is breathing new life into older cards, causing a spike in some single cards.
The hottest format for Magic: The Gathering in 2026 is Premodern, and players are seeking singles to play age-old decks. The Premodern format is a 60-card eternal format that includes cards from Fourth Edition through Scourge (see “The JDS Perspective“). This format has been around for well over a decade, but it wasn’t until about the last five to seven years that it truly gained popularity. It’s recent rise in popularity can be attributed to both nostalgia for earlier styles of Magic: The Gathering play, older Magic players’ frustration with Universes Beyond cards changing the flavor of more current modern formats (see “‘Universes Beyond’ Dilemmas“), and more major events for the format being run at conventions.
The Premodern format is a largely solved format, as several of the same decks that were good during that era of Extended format play are still good. Top decks in the format include Stiflenought, Mono-Red Sligh, Replenish, and certain typal decks. The format has its own banned list, which is community-monitored and updated from time-to-time to fine tune the format; the banned list is the only real mechanism that rotates cards in and out of the format (changing up the top decks).
All that said, the format is creating new demand for older cards used in the format. Several Premodern reserved list cards have seen solid price spikes in the last six months: Phyrexian Dreadnought (about $180 to $250); Cursed Scroll ($40 to $74); Replenish ($100 to $140) and Mox Diamond ($650 to $950). Premodern cards that haven’t been reprinted as much have also seen a boost in value, such as Arrogant Wurm, Phyrexian Furnace, and others. Additionally, old-bordered versions of uncommon and common card staples for Premodern have been rising in value, some of which include Accumulated Knowledge, Foil, and Goblin Warchief. Certain Arabian Nights cards like Ernham Djinn and City of Brass, that are in Premodern due to Chronicles reprints, are also going up in value.
Source: ICv2
