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The Horizon is Here
Hey gamers! Modern Horizons 3 is dropping this week. For a lot of Magic players, this has been something to look forward to all year. The two previous Modern Horizons sets have been impactful, memorable, and format-defining. If you play any of Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Pauper, Oathbreaker, Commander, cEDH, or even Sealed/Cube, you’re going to have to factor in MH3 cards, or potentially get left behind.
Wizards/Hasbro is determined to maximize our FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out), and knowing how the previous MH sets landed is sure to make players buy MH3. But there’s a limit.
This set is officially too expensive for me. I’m not buying any sealed product. There’s a lot of voices from the internet that will tell you that you can make your money back, or should, by buying boxes of Magic. Even if that’s true, the up-front cost of this set is too much. I’m out.
I will probably pick up some singles, as per usual, like the following cards.
Wow Cards
These are the cards I think are the most eye-popping. I do expect most of these to be too far outside of my price range to get a copy. Most of them are too powerful for my playstyle anyway, or better in formats like Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Pauper and cEDH.
If any of these fall into the cheap category, however, I’m probably grabbing one.
If I don’t cover a card, that doesn’t mean it’s not good. Most of these cards are good. But such-and-such card being good in Commander, in a variety of decks like yadda-yadda is not something I want to write 200 times. I’m only covering the ones that really stand out to me. Which is still a lot.
I’m also not looking at reprints. Consult a Modern specialist for what’s new to that format, otherwise the cards should be known quantities by now.
Main Set Mythics
Birthing Ritual – Cheap, flexible and lots of potential for free resources. Reminiscent of Birthing Pod and a tiny bit like Oath of Druids, which have a big competitive history. The ‘mana value X’ thing can hold it back, or make it bananas with tokens and fun one-drops like Death’s Shadow or Phyrexian Dreadnought. Maybe not reliable enough. Huge value potential in Commander.
Ocelot Pride – Very cheap, and has big potential to snowball in the early game. In the late game, some Commander decks are going to easily double up a scary amount of tokens. One Avenger of Zendikar or Entreat the Angels later and you’re golden.
Shadow of the Second Sun – Very expensive, but potentially strong, what’s really interesting about this card is that it’s part of a growing amount of ‘extra upkeep’ or ‘extra beginning phase’ cards that should enable all sorts of fun strategies in casual Commander.
Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student – A one mana blue creature that turns into a planeswalker (!) when you cast Brainstorm (!!!) is hot sauce. Potentially. Unless the planeswalker side is just not that great, which is a real possibility. Time will tell, because this card will be tested heavily for Legacy and Vintage.
Ugin’s Binding – Hooo, baby this is a spicy one. This is not only powerful for constructed blue Eldrazi decks that can get to 7 mana (Tron, 12Post), but also for artifact decks that cheat their way to the same, like 8Cast or Affinity. Either of Sojourner’s Companion or Myr Enforcer can make for a free Cyclonic Rift with this card, and probably better options too. This could be big in Modern and Legacy. In Commander, a 7 mana colourless creature is pretty trivial to push out. It might even be your Commander.
Ugin’s Labyrinth – Another spicy Ugin card. This is a fairly easy way to make a Sol Land (making 2 colourless on tap) with minimal downside. There are plenty of playable cards to imprint on this, not just Eldrazi. Easier to set up with 60 cards than 99, but still solid in Commander. Wasteland might keep this from being a thing in Legacy, though.
Ulamog, the Defiler – The new Emrakul is kinda cool, and the new Kozilek is kinda spicy, but new Ulamog is very terrifying. Even just as a spell. Doubling the cast trigger, or copying this spell – both fairly doable – can wipe out pretty much an entire deck. It’s likely possible to exile the whole thing.
But that’s not all! Ulamog, the Defiler has potentially the biggest body of all the Eldrazi titans, plus an obnoxious Ward condition. It’s not indestructible like previous Ulamogs, but harder to target, and the +1/+1 counters are an enters-trigger, not a cast trigger, and Ulamog sees all cards in exile for his bonus, regardless of how they got there. Which all but assures he’s going to be big.
And finally: Annihilator. This didn’t need Annihilator. The game doesn’t need Annihilator. But it has it, and this will make for salty players. The Annihilator ability counts any +1/+1 counters on Ulamog, not just the ones from his entry-trigger, so you can also add them later for more Annihilator. Yuck. Wish this didn’t exist.
Why do I hate Annihilator so much? Because it attacks players’ ability to play the game, and because it barely matters in formats like Vintage, Legacy, and Modern. The damage dealt by the creatures with it will usually just end the game anyway. And very few of those creatures even see play. Same goes for Pauper, though Ulamog’s Crusher is still scary. I don’t know cEDH well enough, but I doubt it matters much there either. So the main place where Annihilator can matter is Casual Commander, where the effect is most unwelcome.
Main Set Rares
Flares – More free spells! More ways to make Commander players worry that a tapped out opponent still has cards to play. These do not seem playable in 60 card formats, except maybe the green one in Legacy Nic Fit with Veteran Explorer. But that might just be a silly dream. Free spells are bad for the game. The more the game depends on them, the faster it is, and mana means less and less. Free spells ensure powercreep. I don’t like these cards and wish they would stop printing stuff like this.
Abstruse Appropriation – Is this really a Modern set? This is a Commander card. What other format bothers with 4-mana removal spells? In Commander, this hits a lot of problems and dodges Protection from black/white, which is cool, and then you can cast the thing later. That’s so Commander!
Aether Revolt – Another Commander card, this easily augments cards like Impact Tremors for sped up, passive damage wins. That strategy is really getting a lot of powerful stuff, like Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might, and wins games. The energy aspect of this is also very strong, and can make this card a real killer if you can get some energy going.
Archway of Innovation – Innovation! Improvisation! Impressions?! This card does impressions! Well, it does an impression of Tolarian Academy. And that might be enough. This might not be broken completely, but it’s going to be very very good, and probably net you a free or heavily discounted spell every turn. Use your equipment or treasure tokens or whatever. Tough to imagine this outside Commander, because few spells are expensive enough to require improvising. Can be used on your Commander, and help pay a heavy Commander tax, too.
Arena of Glory – Haste is great, and extra mana is great, and combining them on a land that might even come into play untapped is very good. This should find a home in a lot of red Commander decks, even if the effect is fairly mana intensive.
Devourer of Destiny – Having an ‘opening hand’ effect can be great, and this is also perfect to stash under Ugin’s Labyrinth and turn it into a Sol Land. That’s a intriguing little package that could see play in all sorts of shells that have almost no intention of ever casting the Devourer of Destiny. There are some interesting applications for stashing stuff in exile before the game, like setting up Ulamog, the Defiler, in addition to sculpting your opening draw. Maybe a surprise format all-star.
Echoes of Eternity – Double all colourless. Yup. Everything from Sol Ring to The One Ring to Kozilek, the Great Distortion. This is probably ‘kill on sight’, or else you’ll get buried quickly in value or just OP power. Sometimes this will just cause confusion, as there are so many complicated triggers to resolve. And considering the powerful colourless stuff floating around these days, this might just be a win-more. This is the sort of card that’s making Commander less fun. And what other format would even look at this?
Harbinger of the Seas – Blood Moon and Magus of the Moon see tons of play in a lot of formats. In part because a lot of decks can’t do much with red mana and Mountains. Will this? It seems likely, and also enables the Islandwalk strategy central to some Merfolk builds. The popularity of Spreading Seas makes me think it’s okay to give opponents the Islands. This is a real Modern forward card. Slow clap.
Kozilek’s Command – If you can generate the colourless mana, this is a pretty efficient piece of tech. Making Spawn can be either for a go-wide creature attack or a whole lot of extra mana to cast a big Eldrazi very early. The other modes are very flexible and strong, especially being able to exile a creature that has Protection from a colour. Instant speed is great. This seems very playable.
Nadu, Winged Wisdom – I really dislike this kind of card: the simic snowball card that plays extra lands and draws cards and accumulates resources so fast, a lot of decks can hardly keep up. These decks often struggle to win the game because all their value cards are smallish creatures, but they take up most of the gametime and gameplay, and often lean on Thassa’s Oracle and friends because it’s easier to deck themselves than deal 40 damage. I digress.
Want the hot combo cards with this guy? Try Cauldron of Souls, Sway of Illusion, and formerly useless Legends cards Sea Kings’ Blessing and Sylvan Paradise, both of which target all of your creatures for a single mana at instant speed. They just jumped in price, which is no coincidence.
Party Thrasher – This reeks of some horrible combo, or just too much value in Commander. Watch out for this one. Convoke is just another way of saying ‘free’ under the right circumstances. Even discounted exiled spells is enough to make this extremely playable. Red does a lot of ‘play from exile’.
Powerbalance – Of all the cards in this set that raised my eyebrows, this raised them the highest. I don’t know if this will be nuts in 60 card play, but in 4 player Commander? If you can manipulate the top of your deck, this can be a non-stop parade of free spells for you, or a reason for opponents to do nothing lest you get more free spells. On straight value, no shenanigans, this probably will net you 4-5 free spells over the course of a Commander game. I’m probably underestimating this. It’s probably more like 1 per turn cycle. At least. Honestly, powercreep is one thing, but the amount of free casts and free spells and free free free is really undermining Magic.
Ripples of Undeath – I’m not sure this is a wow card on power, as it looks too mana-intensive for 60 card formats, but this is super-great for a lot of Commander builds that like to mill and draw cards for a lowish cost. While it’s not Dark Confidant or even Phyrexian Arena, the potential to draw an extra card each turn should be enough to keep this in demand and semi-valuable.
Shifting Woodland – Wowzers, do lands ever do a lot these days. This one is quite mana intensive, and might be best as an alternate gameplan for when your main plan ended up in the graveyard. Whether this ends up being Primeval Titan or Griselbrand or Bolas’s Citadel or Dark Depths remains to be seen, but those are a few things it could certainly copy.
Six – A promising value engine that is likely too slow for 60 card formats. Maybe I’m wrong. In Commander, this is probably pretty obnoxious to play against. Exile is a must, otherwise the Six player can just bring anything that’s destroyed right back, or loop their spells. Once this combines with extra turn spells, it’s all over. Probably headed straight for cEDH.
Spymaster’s Vault – Connive is excellent, and while this isn’t the easiest to combine with a huge boardwipe, it’s fairly easy to get value out of. Again, we’re talking Commander, where you’ll need a fair amount of mana to make this work regularly, but that’s where it’s designed to go, right? Commander Horizons?
Strix Serenade – Hey it’s Swan Song 2.0! That card is a big success in cEDH, and this should be too.
The Necrobloom – Probably harmless, but a Field of the Dead creature that gives Dredge to your lands is something to keep an eye on.
Warren Soultrader – This is basically a twisted version of Phyrexian Altar on a Zombie Goblin Wizard body. Seems like a combo win or two waiting to happen. The mana cost is a real thing, and this will never be Skirk Prospector, but as an instant-speed, no-mana sacrifice outlet, this is already interesting, and making treasure ranges from great to OP. Great creature types too, and this plays well for all three.
Wheel of Potential – Super-high upside as a callback to Wheel of Fortune, but a little tough to control, especially since opponents can decide if they want to make it a symmetrical effect. Energy decks might be able to draw an absurd amount of cards and win that same turn, ignoring the amount of cards the opponents drew.
Wight of the Reliquary – A callback to Knight of the Reliquary, which is a strong card with a great pedigree, still seeing some Legacy play today in Lands decks. The Wight is a little different but does a lot of strong things for a low cost. It’s even a great beater if you’ve got nothing more than a full graveyard. I could see a deck form around this card, for sure. Maybe even in Modern!
Wrath of the Skies – Paying WW to destroy all the 0-mana artifacts and tokens on the battlefield is no small thing. Being able to scale is great. Paying extra mana to store some energy for another application while casting this is a thing too. This sure looks good for white energy builds.
Main Set Uncommons
MDFC Lands 2.0 – The first round of these from Zendikar Rising were already powerful. MH3 takes them to a new level. Now they come in multicoloured, and there are a number of new mono-coloured options that can come in untapped by paying 3 life. That might even be upside in some decks, and a few of the cards are much more playable than previous options… which still saw play. Decks like Goblin Charbelcher and Oops, All Spells! are sure to be better, and plenty of other decks might pick some up as well. These will be all over Commander. Witch Enchanter looks like the cream of the crop, likely finding a home in white Initiative decks in Legacy/Vintage.
Amped Raptor – This has some drawbacks for sure, but there might be a deck for this. In the right build, this is pretty close to a 2 mana cascade spell that can hit 2 mana spells too. Sometimes you’ll hit a 1 drop and keep an energy for the next one. The ability is on entry, not cast, which is intriguing. Very possible it’s too slow or finicky for 60 card formats, though, and too small for Commander.
Collective Resistance – This is just plain excellent for green decks. All modes are relevant, and casting this for 1GGG and getting peak value is outstanding. Even just destroying an artifact and enchantment for 1GG is terrific. Should see tons of (Commander) play, and might even sneak into a few 60 card decks.
Consign to Memory – Is this another variation on Stifle? Sure looks like it, and it does the thing that Stifle does a lot of these days: negate Phyrexian Dreadnought‘s entry effect for a cheap 12/12. Since there’s another mode that counters The One Ring and other problem artifacts, it’s probably good enough for some sideboards too. Replicate is an odd addition, but definitely not unwelcome. I expect this to see some 60 card play.
Emrakul’s Messenger – This is cheap to cast and easy to activate. Spawn might not be much for attacking, but they block just fine, and their ability to self-sacrifice for a colourless mana is very strong. Drawing a lot of cards can be trivial. This plus Rhystic Study is potentially a lot of ramp to help cast those cards you’re going to draw.
Glaring Fleshraker – If you’re making lots of Spawn, Scions, Myr, Servos, Thopters, Golems, or whatever, this card threatens to be an easy passive wincon ala Impact Tremors. Simply casting a lot of artifacts will cut down life totals quickly.
Marionette Apprentice – This card represents probably the easiest and most attainable wincon in the set (for Commander). This card basically reads: Whenever you sacrifice a treasure for mana, each opponent loses 1 life. I’m paraphrasing, but if you want to get right to the meat of winning with it, there’s no more direct route. Works well alongside Mirkwood Bats and Nadier’s Nightblade, the latter of which is also in this set.
Metastatic Evangel – What the proliferate actually buffs is up to you, but this is a cheap creature and an easy way to activate proliferate. Could it play well with something like poison counters? Very possible. Probably destined to be a Commander value engine.
Monstrous Vortex – This seems insane. Playing 5 mana+ creature spells is pretty trivial. While this being 4 mana pretty much disqualifies it from most 60 card formats, it’s important to note that cards like Fury and Solitude trigger this. A likely Commander staple, the kind that makes opponents groan at the absurd value they know you’ll be getting.
Null Elemental Blast – This is especially notable because of Urza’s Saga, a colourless land that sees a ton of play these days, and it might be aimed at Atraxa, Grand Unifier more often than not. But it’s just fine as an answer to a lot of Commanders. Not every deck can cast it reliably, but those that can cast it might want it whenever they can draw it.
Propagator Drone – This is a really easy way to grow a token army, and it comes on a very cheap body. By itself, it will evolve all your 0/X, 1/X, and 2/1 tokens when it enters, which is a great start. Making tokens that make mana, without having to tap it, is pretty decent too. Despite costing 2 mana, there’s no way this wasn’t made for Commander.
Roil Cartographer – This is pretty good. Play 6 lands, draw 3 cards. Much easier with fetches. With determined landfall, this is an excellent source of energy, and regardless of how you got your energy, a great way to spend it.
Scurry of Gremlins – We’ve seen cards like this before, like Heroic Reinforcements, Rally at the Hornburg, or even Stimulus Package: make 2 tokens, get some other upside, often haste. Scurry of Gremlins is mostly the same, but it has an extra bit of text that gives you an energy for each creature you control when you play it. Which could be a lot. Since it has a stackable way to spend energy that’s extremely alpha-strike friendly, this card could win some games.
Unstable Amulet – Another passive damage dealer, this time for spells cast from exile, graveyard, top of library, etc. Not too hard to do. Probably not good enough for 60 card formats, but very strong in Commander where the damage can add up quickly. This plays best in a deck with lots of extra energy, but at least provides a single instance of card advantage by itself if there’s no other energy cards.
Urza’s Cave – Searching is powerful. While this is land-only, lands are very strong. Instant speed is pretty good too. Being an Urza’s land makes Urza’s Workshop slightly better. Being a Cave means it’s probably among the best Caves. The name is the type, like Juggernaut and Phyrexian Juggernaut. Not my kind of card, and kinda clunky, but this will see play.
Vexing Bauble – Opinions on this card are divided. I’m of the opinion that it’s not great. Some people think it’s going to make waves in older formats where it hits Force of Will and/or Black Lotus. We’ll see. It can be found by Urza’s Saga, which is something.
Wastescape Battlemage – The mana required for this thing is a little wonky, but at full kicker, exiling 2 permanents and leaving a body behind for 5 total mana is pretty sweet.
Wurmcoil Larva – Wurmcoil Engine is a fantastic card. This is Wurmcoil Engine Lite. Still pretty great and easy to get tricksy with entry and death triggers. Black artifacts is becoming a real thing, and this is a sweet addition, even if it’s not quite Wurmcoil Engine.
Main Set Commons
Accursed Marauder – Cheap cost, decent body, good types, and an Edict effect that can’t be chumped away by a token make for a pretty solid-looking card. Does Pauper want this? This might take Fleshbag Marauder‘s place in some Commander decks.
Basking Broodscale – An easy combo enabler at common. Not exactly sure what they were thinking here. Stuff like this makes me wonder if they test much at all any more. Will this be banned in Pauper? Possible.
Combines with Blade of the Bloodchief, Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest, Ghost Lantern, Necrosynthesis, Odric’s Outrider, and Sadistic Glee (also a common). All require you to sacrifice the Spawn each time, but you get infinite mana, as well as enters/exits/sacrifice triggers and an enormous Broodscale. We’ll see.
Cranial Ram – An easy go-tall game ender at common. Not exactly sure what they were thinking here. Stuff like this makes me wonder if they test much at all any more. Will this be banned in Pauper? Likely. There’s already talk of it.
This one just looks too much like Cranial Plating, already banned in Pauper. This is different, with different downside, but it also has different upside, like including a token body. We’ll see.
*Note – This card was pre-banned in Pauper June 6th, days before Modern Horizons 3’s official release.
Eviscerator’s Insight – Cards like this are heavily played in Pauper, and this might get there with Flashback. Others make treasure and map tokens, though, so it’s a high bar to clear. Same goes for Commander, but this certainly has potential.
Evolution Witness – As a payoff for +1/+1 counters, returning a card from your graveyard to your hand is a really good one. This seems easy to use, and if you’ve got some good spells to sling, can make them come back over and over.
Fetid Gargantua – A lot of what I wrote for Evolution Witness applies here. Easy to use, great payoff. The mana cost is a lot more to get started, and green is more +1/+1 counter friendly than black, but a lot of decks can make this a powerful card draw engine.
Gift of the Viper – This does a lot of things for 1 mana, and puts a lot of varied counters on a creature. I can see this making the cut in a few Commander decks which care about kinds of counters.
Molten Gatekeeper – Add this to the list of creatures that do an Impact Tremors impression. They’re all good, and enable passive kills of entire Commander tables. This one is a little extra, being an artifact creature and having a sweet, cheap Unearth cost to mitigate it being destroyed or allow the owner to bring it in from the graveyard before a huge group of creatures enter.
Siege Smash – This is a really intriguing card. Krosan Grip is an incredible answer to a whole bunch of obnoxious cards, and Siege Smash hits a fair number of those too. Mostly Sensei’s Divining Top. Another great answer to that card is very welcome. This is totally playable in a number of formats, including Commander, and the stat boost option might even come up occasionally.
Sneaky Snacker – Brainstorm is legal in Pauper, and that’s all it takes to bring this card back from the grave. Could that be a thing? It also works with Bazaar of Baghdad, which draws 2 cards, combined with your ‘draw for turn’ unless you turn it all into Dredging. Vintage Vengevine decks maybe?
Thraben Charm – This is a Pauper possibility like some others in the set, but it’s also the kind of card I play in Commander, and will probably go in my Cube also. Three solid modes.
Commander Mythics
Azlask, the Swelling Scourge – At one point, I yearned for a 5 colour Eldrazi Commander option, so I could build a deck using all the coloured and Devoid Eldrazi. I’m less enthused about that now, especially because of this guy. I’m not a fan of the payoff, especially the Annihilator aspect. I don’t want to play with it or against it. Too bad, because experience counters are kinda cool.
Cayth, Famed Mechanist – This card seems tailor-made to combine Impact Tremors, enters-ability creatures, blink effects, and control. This could be deceptively strong, and have a very clear, very hard-to-stop gameplan.
Coram, the Undertaker – Coram is okay. Getting to play cards and lands from the graveyard on your turn, even if it’s only one of each, is pretty strong. It’s worded that you can play opposing cards in this way also, which is the best part of this card. But you’ve gotta get lucky with mill, or you’re just going to be getting an okay spell and an okay land most of the time, which is okay, but maybe not quite competitive or satisfying.
Disa the Restless – The Lhurgoyf unifier we didn’t know we wanted. Did we want this? Are Lhurgoyfs good in Commander? It seems like their ceiling is fairly low, kinda like Domain cards, which can’t count past 5. I don’t think this is good, but I’m sure someone will prove me wrong at some point.
Jyoti, Moag Ancient – Dryad Arbor has a history, and makes for a heckuva token, but Jyoti doesn’t guarantee making any such tokens at all unless it’s your Commander. And if it does, it’s playing in the format with the most creature sweeper cards, like Wrath of God, which are extra good if they somehow also blow up some lands. Since the lands only appear after you cast Jyoti, they can’t help you recast it after that sweeper. Casting your Commander multiple times over the same game isn’t generally good, and a payoff based on it is not good either. I think this card is bad.
Omo, Queen of Vesuva – It’s a little weird that this doesn’t have Changeling. Am I wrong? I know the ‘Everything’ counter is supposed to mimic that (ha!) but it means that Omo isn’t every creature type while in your hand, library, graveyard, or while being cast. Which means there are synergies it misses out on. Adding an Everything counter to a land or creature is also really cool, making Omo a great way to leverage Locus and Urza’s lands. But that’s all Omo does: add Everything Bagel spice. And having to attack to do it more than once is fairly restrictive considering Omo is small and lacks evasion. 5 Toughness is a bit redeeming that way, but only a bit. I wish this was better than it is, but it seems pretty underwhelming.
Satya, Aetherflux Genius – The way to do an attack trigger right is to pair it with either Haste or some kind of evasion. Ideally both. Well Satya has them. Menace isn’t the best evasion, but it’s pretty good, and all that and a 3/5 body means Satya might get a few attacks in. The attack trigger is quite strong. Copying another creature you control and having the copy enter attacking is very good, and the fact that the copied creature doesn’t also have to be attacking is even better. That means you can copy an enters-trigger from a creature you normally wouldn’t attack with. Keeping the copy around by paying its mana cost in energy is a cherry on top, and a really great payoff for energy. I hope this inspires a lot of fun builds that don’t get too oppressive.
Ulalek, Fused Atrocity – So this is Ulamog and Kozilek fused and somehow small? At first glance, this might seem scary. A five colour Eldrazi Legend that can be cast for colourless is ready made for the Command Zone. Plus it has the pedigree of two insanely powerful Eldrazi Titans with multiple cards each. But Eldrazi triggers are a little all over the place, and not always so cohesive or consistent. The best ones come on the biggest creatures, when there’s seldom enough mana to cast them, let alone spare two more mana for a trigger double. One of the best things Ulalek can do is cast something like Spatial Contortion with an Annihilator trigger on the stack, which is just toxic. I’m not sure this would be good even with a deck full of tutors. What’s the plan other than a bunch of powerful but random effects that you might not have the mana to copy? This is a pass for me.
Commander Rares
Aether Refinery – Double energy is really good. The rest of the card is decent, with a tap ability that makes a couple energy and maybe an X/X token, but just being a passive energy doubler is more than enough. 6 mana is a lot but worth it, and this can be cheated into play easily enough, or just ramped into in a typical Commander game. While almost unplayable outside of red energy decks, this is pretty much a must-have for them.
Aggressive Biomancy – Simic silliness. Whether providing a ton of enters-triggers or acting as a pseudo-sweeper with all the fight action, or both, this card is fun and strong, and will take as much mana as you can throw at it. It is held back a bit by that mana-greediness, and it will probably underwhelm a bit as a result, but it’s still lots of fun.
Angelic Aberration – Making small creatures into 4/4 Eldrazi Angels with Flying and Vigilance is good, especially if they were a bunch of chumpy tokens. Making a ton of 1/1ish chumps is easy for so many decks. Add the Aberration and a Haste outlet and you’ve got a wincon right now, which is the best time to have one. This is totally playable, and kinda reminds me of Cyberdrive Awakener.
Blaster Hulk – A unique design that’s a wild way to use energy. Possibly very cheap to cast. I think this could be all kinds of fun, and it makes me want to build an energy deck. Sadly, it’s hardly playable outside one. Can someone explain why this isn’t a Construct?
Copy Land – It’s about time. Hilarious. I want one. Probably not for the competitive circles.
Desert Warfare – Wow. This is a serious Desert payoff. Playing into a number of things Deserts already do, like sacrificing other Deserts, or themselves, and Cycling. This card is everything Desert players want. The token generation is no joke. The main drawback of this card is that it can’t be in the Command Zone. A must for every Desert deck.
Eldrazi Confluence – If an Eldrazi like Kozilek, the Great Distortion is your Commander, and by that I mean has 12 power and 12 toughness, Eldrazi Confluence‘s first mode chosen 3 times makes it 21/3, aka Commander Damage lethal. Just sayin. The other modes are decent, and overall this is pretty good and flexible.
Final Act – The cost is high, but it’s Commander, and the power and flexibility of the modes on this card make it an potential staple, and comparable to the heavily played Farewell in white. Removing counters is especially interesting.
Hideous Taskmaster – Annihilator and Haste is a dangerous combo, and this makes up to four portions of it. Gross. Luckily the Threaten effect is on cast, not entry. A card your opponents are going to hate.
Horizon of Progress – This is a big Wow. Like a WOW. It’s a combo of Reflecting Pool, Terrain Generator and Horizon Canopy. This would be in consideration for most Commander decks I build. Somehow, this doesn’t make colourless mana, which is an actual drawback in these Eldrazi-heavy times, but this is more than good enough regardless. I hope copies are reasonable enough for me to get one.
Inversion Behemoth – A cheap cost (except for double colourless) for a big toughness that can become a big power. Interesting and fun, and ‘any number of targets’ for your Nadu, Winged Wisdom deck. For real.
Lazotep Quarry – Another WOW land. This one makes colourless mana, is a cheap sacrifice outlet that makes coloured mana, like Phyrexian Tower, and then turns dead creatures into 4/4 Zombies at the cost of a sacrificed Desert, which could be itself without other targets. This just drips value and synergy. It would be amazing without the third ability at all. Again, I hope it’s reasonable.
Mutated Cultist – The dream: turn one Dark Depths and Lotus Petal, followed by Dark Ritual, then Mutated Cultist. All ten counters come off Dark Depths, Marit Lage appears, and you have 10 mana for Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger. Or Lightning Greaves and some spendin’ mana for going out after the game. Can someone please try this in Legacy?
Planar Nexus – A third WOW land? Seriously? So we actually got a non-acorn Nearby Planet. I was wondering if that was on the Horizon…. Well Urza and Locus land decks potentially get a big boost from this. Desert and Gate concepts too, though those already have a lot of options. And Caves… are also a type. It comes in untapped, which is a big plus. It makes colourless, and filters other mana for you. The ultimate role-player. None of these WOW lands are going to be affordable are they?
Salvation Colossus – A high cost artifact creature in white needs a little help, but with the mana ramp of green, or the alternate ways of getting creatures into play of the other colours, it’s totally doable. Once in play, the Colossus will help you dominate combat during your turn. The beauty of it is that it doesn’t need to attack, though it does a great job of that. And defending too. The Unearth ability requires energy the Colossus can’t provide, but it’s great if you can ever use it. Decks that make lots of tokens will like this the most.
Sawhorn Nemesis – A great way to single out an opponent and challenge your friendship with them. This is surprisingly cheap, and the Dinosaur type is unexpected but cool. The most diplomatic thing to do is make two copies, or however many you need so every opponent has one pointed at them. Otherwise expect salt and retaliation.
Selective Obliteration – While a true colourless deck loses nothing to this, and anything an opponent loses is pure upside, this will also whiff against any opponent playing only one colour. A gamble that will totally wreck decks with a lot of gold cards. Your meta call.
Silverquill Lecturer – This is a riot. Giving your creature spells Demonstrate is fun and silly, and can make for all sorts of bargaining. I would love one of these. If you can find a way to make your entry-triggers – or having creatures in general – into a downside for your opponents, you win big. This ability belongs in the Command Zone.
Stone Idol Generator – Some decks will find this one of the simplest and easiest ways to get a lot of energy. The token this generates is large, costs no mana, and can be made on the turn this artifact enters. More narrow than most of what I’ve covered, but a possible powerhouse in the right build.
Sunken Palace – WOW land #4! This one enters tapped, but has the Cave type, and that’s sort of something. It will likely be more in future. For now, this has the ability to turn 7 cards from your graveyard (one Threshold) into a copy of a spell you’re casting. It costs extra mana too, but there’s no shortage of amazing spells that can be copied with this. Self-mill decks can really keep the value train rolling. If this only copies one thing it’s probably well worth it. I’m going to stop hoping these cards are going to be cheap and start imagining finding them in a paper bag under a park bench with nobody else around to claim them.
Talon Gates of Madara – WOW land #5. This one might be the WOWest of the lot. It enters untapped, makes colourless, filters to any colour for 1 mana and tap, and is a Gate. That alone would be an okay Gate, playable because the more Gates, the merrier. But the Talon Gates of Madara also has a sweet enters-ability, which phases out a creature. Not only that, you can pay 4 mana to put it directly into play from your hand. These two abilities together are wild. Ramp and temporary removal, or saving your creature, or whatever weird use you’ve got for Phasing. Another card I’d consider for almost every deck I build. I’m sure my praise of these lands is not helping them be affordable.
Tempt with Mayhem – Classic chaos card. Finding something truly absurd to cast this on is part of the fun. Fiery Gambit maybe? Someone will find something truly twisted to do with this, but it’ll mostly be used for mayhem. Or attempted mayhem, as many savvy opponents won’t be tempted.
Trenchpost – Another one? WOW #6? Maybe…? If this was the only Locus in the set, it would be a Wow, because Cloudpost is so crazy, but Planar Nexus is an option over this. I’m not sure more than the current Locus cards plus Vesuva are that necessary anyway. With luck or tutors, you can build a truly monstrous Cloudpost in Commander now. Still I’m not sure this is necessary, or if the effect is worth having over Glimmerpost‘s lifegain in Legacy/Vintage.
Twins of Discord – A big body and Bloodthirst for all colourless creatures are great, but the simple ability to prevent tokens from blocking is the primary reason to play this card.
Ulamog’s Dreadsire – A great card to cheat into play with Haste somehow. As long as it doesn’t enter tapped and attacking you’ll get both a big attack and the 10/10 token, which can be done during combat. Just in case you have to sacrifice your Dreadsire at the end of it.
Commander Uncommons and Commons
Nothing but reprints in these rarities.
Cards for Me?
These are cards that I’ll be looking to get for my collection. I don’t expect them to be expensive or widely played, but you never know.
Kudo, King Among Bears – Fun card, fun idea. Not sure if it was intended, but this is great for Hydras.
Mindless Conscription – It’s not always easy to draw 3 cards in a turn, but getting Amass 3 as a payoff is pretty fun. Is it powerful? Hard to say, but it sure seems like it would go well in a Jon Irenicus, Shattered One Commander deck. Giving another player several small Army creatures is one of my favourite things to do in Commander. It’s so stupid.
Mogg Mob – I like this for my Cube. Goblins are fun, and these guys have a strong self-sacrifice ability.
Muster the Departed – I like this for the Cube too. I like anything that makes 1/1 white Spirit tokens, and this has a solid and interesting effect in the end of turn populate.
Retrofitted Transmogrant – Lots to like here. An artifact Zombie that comes back from the grave untapped for a medium-sized mana investment sounds like something I’d play.
Sage of the Unknowable – Blue has a number of creatures that generate mana, almost always conditionally, or to be used conditionally. Like many of them, Sage of the Unknowable costs 2 mana, which is a decent deal for a mana-producer outside green. It’s tough to argue one of these over an Arcane Signet, but you never know.
Conclusion
If I look at the cards I want from this set, there really aren’t that many. If you remove all the cards from that list that I think would be too expensive to buy as singles, it’s pretty short.
Much too short to consider buying sealed product to take a bite out of the list. The sealed product is also too high for casual drafting fun or anything like it. Too high as a prerelease, too high as Commander precons, and once you successfully fight through the FOMO, these cards are just another wave of stuff. There will be spoilers for a new set within weeks.
I don’t know if others will feel the same way, but for me this is simultaneously the most ‘must-have’ set of the year, and totally skippable. That might not be the case for 60 card format players, but even with the name Modern Horizons, it’s pretty clear they’re pitching to the Commander crowd. Will we continue to drive sales and give them incentive to make it even more expensive and powercreepy next time? Keep your eyes on the horizon.
Thanks for reading!