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Author's Note: Hey everyone! Before we get into this article, I just want to note that these mythic ranking articles are switching to every other week beginning with this article. As such, you'll see my next one of these articles around June 19th.
2020 saw the surprise return of Masters sets in the middle of the pandemic when Double Masters released. The set was a hit, and players were thrilled to gain new access to several cards that were difficult to obtain. Given the popularity of the set, Wizards decided to run it back with Double Masters 2022 in its namesake year. With forty mythics to cover, we've got a long, long list to rank today.
Double Masters 2022 is a monster set, and I'm continuing to only talk about the top ten cards in the set. As a result, here's a long list of the bottom thirty cards of the set, then we'll talk about what the best of the best are this time around. Make no mistake: this set is filled to the brim with great mythics, but I'd be here all day if I tried to talk about all of them. With that having been said, let's get to ranking!
33. As Foretold
27. Monastery Mentor
16. Bitterblossom
12. Food Chain
10. Seasoned Pyromancer
Seasoned Pyromancer marks one of the first real reprints of cards from the Modern Horizons sets and one that clearly came about due to the high playability of this particular card. Seasoned Pyromancer became a huge card for Modern players everywhere and was both somewhat expensive and really needed a reprint so players could have better access to it.
9. Cavern of Souls
Between being a regular competitive all-star as well as a Commander staple, Cavern of Souls was always an exciting card to see get reprinted. Despite being more kindred focused or else used in small numbers, Cavern of Souls has continued to be expensive, and as such, it's a slam dunk among top mythics of the set.
8. Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
The last time I did one of these mythic ranking articles that included the three Eldrazi titans, I had Emrakul in first and Kozilek in second. By this point, though, Emrakul had more or less stabilized as players who needed copies had been able to acquire them with the last few printings. This time around, though, Kozilek was a monster price-wise thanks to it arguably becoming the best of the three in Commander (where Emrakul is banned). Because of this, it had the largest demand and was huge for players, though the variant versions of Emrakul also deserve a shout-out for being the more in demand variant.
7. Warrior's Oath
For some time, we'd been seeing Portal: Three Kingdoms cards getting special reprints in premium releases like judge foils, Commander's Arsenal and From the Vault. The big one, though, was the inclusion of Imperial Recruiter in both Masters 25 and Modern Horizons 2.
Double Masters 2022 saw this trend continue in force with a pair of major P3K inclusions, with the first being Warrior's Oath. In truth, I don't think this card is that huge compared to other top slots, and the way its price plummeted after release is a testament to that. However, the simple inclusion of the card and the fact that it put more copies into players' hands is worth a high ranking alone.
6. Mana Drain
The third major reprint of Mana Drain wasn't quite as exciting as the first two times where it was a monumental inclusion in its respective releases. Nevertheless, this powerful counterspell remained incredibly popular and expensive, and getting more copies into players' hands was quite welcome. Even with this extra printing, it remained fairly expensive - a testament to its enduring popularity.
5. Allosaurus Shepherd
Allosaurus Shepherd was probably the newest card at the time to make a showing in this set, but it was well deserved. Prior to the second printing here, players were only able to get copies in the original Jumpstart set, which was famously under-printed at first thanks to the pandemic. This extra printing helped stem the bleeding for both Commander players and - surprisingly - Legacy players who needed full playsets of the card for Elves.
4. Mana Vault
It's a bit funny looking back at how cheap Mana Vault was once upon a time. Less than ten years ago, you could get copies for $10 tops pretty easily. Now by the time Double Masters 2022 dropped, the card was scaling close to $100 apiece. This reprint gave players better access to Mana Vault given the increasing demand as more players picked up the format and cEDH gained greater traction as a way to play Commander.
3. Wrenn and Six
When it was first printed in Modern Horizons, Wrenn and Six became an instant competitive staple. It was banned and Legacy and remained a hot commodity in Modern for years to come - so much so that it was prohibitively expensive for players to get copies. With its inclusion here, it eased the burden of Modern players needing to acquire copies for their decks, making it a top tier inclusion in a release like this.
2. Dockside Extortionist
Right from the jump with its release in Commander 2019, Dockside Extortionist was a pretty pricey card. It was pretty clear instantly just how good the card was for Commander. Even by the time 2022 rolled around just a few years later, the card was extremely expensive with players begging for a reprint. Despite criticism that the reprint would've been better served in Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate due to its flavor, the reprinting of Dockside Extortionist was cheered for giving players better access to such a major Commander staple.
1. Imperial Seal
It's hard to overstate just how big the reprint of Imperial Seal was at the time. Much like Warrior's Oath, it continued the trend of mega-expensive cards needing reprints, and in this case reprints from the elusive Portal: Three Kingdoms in particular. Imperial Seal was the granddaddy of expensive playable cards that weren't on the reserved list. Much like Mana Drain once upon a time was considered off the table for ever getting a reprint.
The card's printing here shattered those notions and proved that all bets were off. Any card not on the reserved list could - and would - be reprinted when the circumstances were deemed right. For many players, it was exciting to finally be able to afford a copy of this card that often would go for close to $1000 before the reprint, making it easily the most important mythic of the set, if not simply the best.
Paige Smith
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