So, I'm sortof ambiguous about this. Modern has certainly driven the prices of EDH staples harder than I would have liked, but the backend of that is that Vintage and Legacy staples have become more accessible as Modern has usurped the other Eternal-formats. On one hand, I'm really happy to pay $20 for powerhouse singles like
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite- and consider the Khans reprinting of the 5 Onslaught fetches a stroke of brilliance on WotC's part.
But, on the other- many safe-to-reprint in casual oriented sets and Standard sets simply don't get enough frequent saturation. I should be excited that
Academy Ruins is a card that I picked up for $4, and has had it's trade value spike over the last couple years, but instead I find myself more or less frustrated that it's no longer just a card that I can comfortably give to other members of my playgroups to enhance our gaming experiences. While the secondary market structure fundamentally benefits us as players, Wizards is particularly gunshy about stepping on collector toes, which has ultimately become a continuing force in making accessibility issues.
This is to say, that $20+ collectible pieces aren't bad for EDH, and certainly aren't bad for Magic on the whole- but accessibility issues to certain types of cards (looking at you
Maelstrom Pulse and
Verdant Catacombs) are a very real problem. Neither of these points of view are mutually exclusive, and while I have faith in Wizards looking to find creative solutions, we do know that sometimes the financiers of the game have to be offered up to the altar, collections have to be devalued, and rightly so, collectors will try to strongarm Wizards if they can, or us, the players if they feel compelled to. But if we all work in our interests, and split the difference- things just work out (like the Khans fetchlands "fiasco")