If you’re a competitive MTG player, especially in North America, chances are you’ve turned your attention to the Modern format. Both the US and the Canadian regional championships are this weekend! With invitations to the coveted Pro Tour, and even the Magic 2024 World Championships on the line, the stakes are higher than ever for these events.
The problem? Modern is a solved format. Crashing Footfalls and Yawgmoth Combo are the clear frontrunners, with Amulet Titan, Rakdos Scam and maybe Living End being the only other archetypes that many MTG players consider competitive. There are some other archetypes that players could argue are relevant, but this looks to be the overall consensus of the format. In such a rigid playing field, it’s difficult to get ahead of the metagame.
If players don’t like the playstyle of some of the top decks, and don’t have the time to learn the more complicated archetypes like Amulet Titan and Yawgmoth Combo, finding a deck to play this weekend is going to be difficult. That’s why now, more than ever, any bizarre off-the-wall strategies that have some semi-consistent results are seeing increased interest. Seismic Assault happens to fit that criteria.
Is the deck worth registering this weekend? Probably not. That said, Seismic Assault’s recent results seem to speak volumes, as one of the card’s variants is seeing a big spike this week!
Seismic Assault
Exodus copies of Seismic Assault seem to be incredibly popular all of a sudden. This card is singlehandedly responsible for creating a Modern archetype that revolves around discarding lands to deal damage to opponents. Combined with Life From the Loam, Seismic Assault can deal six damage turn over turn, which is usually enough to bury your opponent in the dust.
One big addition to the Assault Loam strategy, as it is called, released recently is Inti, Seneschal of the Sun. This all-star two drop from The Lost Caverns of Ixalan goes crazy alongside Seismic Assault. Every time you discard a card, Inti exiles the top card of your deck and allows you to play it until your end step. This, essentially, means you get to Impulse draw three times if you have Seismic Assault and Life From the Loam assembled.
This newfound synergy has allowed Seismic Assault to top eight multiple Modern challenges, while having strong showings in different online events. That said, a Modern Challenge top eight and a Regional Championship are very different things. While this deck has some strong showings, it also doesn’t have the consistency of the Modern format’s top decks.
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The Spike
Seismic Assault’s spike is a little odd. The Exodus copy of this card is spiking much harder than the rest and, while the other copies are finally starting to show a slight increase in interest, you can still easily find a copy of Seismic Assault for under a dollar – as long as it’s not an Exodus one.
If, for whatever reason, you are specifically after the Exodus Seismic Assault, especially if its in near mint, prepare to pay quite a premium. In just two weeks, an Exodus Seismic Assault in near mint has risen from about $1.75 to $10! Sales are rather consistent for near mint copies at the time of writing.
If you’re after an Exodus Seismic Assault, but don’t want to pay $10 for it, prices drop off quite a bit if you’re interested in something other than a near mint condition one.
Otherwise, if you’re looking for the cheapest Seismic Assault you can find, you can find them for less than fifty cents. That said, interest in Seismic Assaults across the board do seem to be ticking up, suggesting that this price may not stick around forever.
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A Card to Watch
Glint Hawk, a rather strange common from Scars of Mirrodin seems to show signs of a price spike. For now, the spike is rather small, jumping from just a few cents to a couple dollars, but sales suggest that some buyers believe this card to be the next big thing.
Glint Hawk, for a one mana creature, is quite powerful. While it does have a restrictive ability, this could easily become an upside in the right deck. Glint Hawk notably sees a ton of play in Pauper, finding a home in the Azorius Affinity archetype, as well as various Experimental Synthesizer decks.
Glint Hawk also happens to only have one printing, making any level of demand for the card a cause for a price spike. Even though this card is a common, the supply for it is smaller than it may seem.
For this reason, Glint Hawk also has a big foil multiplier. Grabbing a foil Glint Hawk will run you $8 or more.
Is Seismic Assault the Real Deal?
Probably not, but there is an undeniable race to acquire these cards, so maybe a testing team for the upcoming Regional Championship weekend figured it out! Unfortunately, it will be impossible to know what the case is until we see it for ourselves. Regardless of how well it does this weekend, Seismic Assault is certainly on players’ radar.
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