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Summary
Not allMagic : The Gatheringsets are built as . While Standard - focalize expansions have a power grade that ’s satisfying to play with , they often do n’t have a dramatic impact on longer - running formats like Modern . Sure , the odd circuit board or two will break through , and inescapably there will be a suffer - out that either refines or enable a fresh strategy , but these can generally be count on one mitt per congeal release . That ’s not true ofMTG Modern Horizonssets , however , which sport reprints and brand - new cards being made specifically to enter the Modern format(and beyond , into Legacy and sometimes time of origin ) .
Unfortunately , Modern Horizons 3was subject to a series of leaks last month , but instead of simplyignoring them , wizard of the Coastembraced them and discussed the plug-in revealed in full to aid leave player with some extra context for what to carry . While there have only been a fewMTG MH3cards louse up thus far , they ’re not lacking for upheaval and power level . With plenty more to go , here ’s our first pick for the bestModern Horizons 3cards revealed so far .
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10Sylvan Safekeeper
A Legacy Problem With A Modern Solution
Sylvan Safekeeper is n’t a card that will excite most players at first glance . As a 1/1 for a exclusive green mana , it ’s not likely to affect the board base on its stat economic value relative to its price . As a Human , it ’s also not the right Kindred typing for the most obvious modest , green creature pack of cards in Elves . All of this is to say that , as far asModern Horizons 3spoilers go , this separate is one that ’s potential to get fall back in the shamble a small .
Do n’t catch some Z’s on theMH3Sylvan Safekeeper reprint , though . As a card with a serious Legacy pedigree , it ’s always a piece or two away from becoming part of an extremely objectionable combo . Sacrificing lands can be used to a deck of cards ’s benefit , whether its to actuate a specific issue or to increase the bit of them in a memorial park , and circuit card like Elvish Reclaimer fit by nature into a scheme of abusing soil core . It ’s power also means that , in combination with a muscular creature , Sylvan Safekeeper can help insulate primal pieces from remotion . While there ’s no Dark Depths / Thespian ’s leg combo in Modern , that wo n’t block brewers from attend for the next realm deck of cards with circuit card like this one .
9Null Elemental Blast
A Fun Spin On The Elemental Blasts
The cards Red Elemental Blast and Blue Elemental Blast have been Legacy staple fibre for nearly two decade . Best utilized in down - to - the - ground deck strategies that want to trade their spells efficiently for their mana cost , REB and BEB have been most prevalent in Delver of Secrets decks in the potent eternal data formatting . While they ’re far too powerful for Modern , a newMH3spoiler showcases a promising , less overwhelming effect stapled onto some estimable traditional knowledge .
Null Elemental Blast is Ugin the Spirit Dragon ’s take on the bicycle , and it ’s an immensely powerful shaft for specific pack of cards to have access to . While it is niche - there demand to be a ground to have this in a Tron or Eldrazi counter , for case - when it ’s brawny , it’sreallypowerful . Being able to counter knotty multi - bleached cards for a individual colourless mana will be a great impression anytime a counter to colorless strategy exists as a multi - color option , and Null Elemental Blast will have the unique force of making sideboard decisions that much more hard based on its mere existence in Modern .
8Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd
Blink Strategies Will Love This Pup
Blink strategy are among the most democratic tactics inMagic : The assembly , though it is dominant in Commander the most . Successful blink decks have existed in Modern before , thanks largely to Soulherder . However , they ’ve fallen by the wayside as the format has expand and strategies that offer even more value , like kindle theModern Horizons 2Elementals , have emerged . With so many sinewy ETB essence - including theMH2Elementals - available in Modern , however , it feels like wink strategy are always just a bill of fare or two aside from contend once more .
Phelia , Exuberant Shepherd might be the answer blink decks need . As a newsflash scourge , it can be cast when the coast is exculpated to purpose it or insulate it from remotion . As a flashy two mana value choice , it can turn online tight . While blinking your own creatures for value is the obvious first option with Phelia , it ’s crucial to notice that Phelia can feign the opposition ’s board as well , opening up boulevard to attack through debatable blockers . That flexibleness - along with the fact that Phelia can grow bigger over time - makes it one to find out duringModern Horizons 3release .
Blink strategies are also some of the most flexible inMagic : The Gathering . Phelia is a powerful option for a single-channel - whitened Commander variant - give it a shooting !
7Spawn-Gang Commander
The Eldrazi Have Even Recruited Goblins
Spawn - Gang Commander is a fun twisting on the iconic Siege - Gang Commander , an extremely powerful Goblin card that has seen its effectiveness drop off over the year while remain a Limited bomb in most of its reprint sets . besieging - Gang Commander gain 3 1/1 Goblins and can sacrifice them for one and a red mana to deal two damage to any target - it ’s obvious that Spawn - Gang Commander has n’t leave its root , have an almost indistinguishable set of power and text .
The differences , however , could be massive . As an Eldrazi , there are powerful ways to ramp out Spawn - Gang Commander in Modern , with Eldrazi Temple and a card later on in this leaning as potential favorite pick . While it can still deal damage the same way its purely Goblin counterpart can , it can also ramp out even big Eldrazi thanks to the tokens it produces , 0/1 Eldrazi Spawn that can be sacrificed to make a colorless mana . It baffle even silly with wink effects like Eldrazi Displacer , and could easily be a profits condition if built around , though it remains to be pick up if it ’s too dim on average compare to the Modern data format ’s current speed .
6Kudo, King Among Bears
One Of MTG’s Most Endearing Archetypes Gets A New Lord
This one might require a brief explanation for those who are a little bit newer toMagic : The Gathering . Traditionally , add-in that be two mana , have a 2/2 statline , and have little - to - no relevant rules text are called " bear . " That name is in accolade of Grizzly Bears , an Alpha creature that was a 1 G 2/2 with no additional power . Over meter , bear have become more popular inMTG , and even gotten support as a Kindred archetype .
Kudo might be the first card to potentially make a bears themecompetitive , though . At the very least , it ’s certainly try - in a deck with ways to make Bear beast type inviolable , Kudo ensures every creature will benefit , while it can also disrupt strategies that want to perfect in on produce a strong board presence with lots of built - in stats . Turning a 5/5 into a 2/2 for just two mana - while provide a bonus to your own strategy - unquestionably spend a penny for an interesting bill of fare . It ’s also one of the most graceful designs inModern purview 3spoilers so far , and might be one of the serious bears ever printed - with due regard to Grizzly Bears , of course .
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5Kappa Cannoneer
An Artifact Menace Enters The Modern Battlefield
Kappa Cannoneer was the Book of Genesis for a powerful Legacy pack of cards colloquially look up to as " 8 - Cast , " a scheme that looks to put a slew of flash artefact into gambol to reduce the cost of card with the phylogenetic relation machinist or to sit on the field of honor and be tapped for improvise . The latter power is the one that Kappa Cannoneer has , and it make it a much more powerful threat than its initial 5U cost and 4/4 statline would make it seem to be .
Mrs. Humphrey Ward 4 is an ludicrous level of protection - players wishing to aim Kappa Cannoneer with removal while will need to payfive manaat a minimum to do so without it being countered , and that ’s assume the removal spell only cost one mana . Kappa Cannoneer is a scourge that scale tight , too , with each artifact make for adding a +1/+1 return to the creature and score it unblockable . While the set - up for the turtle may be appropriately slow , the takings is explosive , and it could feel a home plate in Modern quite easily .
4Meltdown
A Clean Answer To Any Problematic Artifact Strategies
If Kappa Cannoneer is theModern Horizons 3card that could launch artifact strategies into the stratosphere inModern Horizons 3 , Meltdown is the reprint that could smack them right back down to Earth . While artefact hatred is nothing new - Shatterstorm , Fracturing Gust , Stony Silence , and many more have been legal for quite some time - there ’s a degree of efficiency in Meltdown that have it perhaps the best option Modern has ever had .
For XR , Meltdown can demolish every artifact in play that ’s mana value is the X pay up or less . A lot of artifact strategy rely on cheap artifact to get rolling , so playing Meltdown for 2 mana and wipe out multiple cards on an opposing player ’s control board is very reasonable , sometimes abut on secret plan - winning . It ’s also detest that does n’t necessarily infringe with some other artifact scheme the way Stony Silence and others might - if a role player has more expensive artifacts in their deck , for representative , Meltdown is still a keen sideboard card that belike wo n’t destroy their own game pieces but will still feign a cheaper - costed pack of cards .
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3Urza’s Cave
Land Tutoring Can Be A Powerful Effect
Urza ’s Cave is an interesting land posting . The ability to sacrifice it to tutor any other land in a musician ’s deck is sure as shooting powerful , though an effective 4 mana ( 3 + tapping Urza ’s Cave ) to activate is a steep cost in a format as potentially fast as Modern . That said , it ’s absolved what this card is for - enabling land strategies that want specific cards on the battlefield but ca n’t fetch them in more traditional ways , such as through actual fetchlands .
While the obvious first home for Urza ’s Cave is Tron decks as a failsafe for games where it ’s difficult to assemble the three Urza land necessary for the strategy ’s explosive mana quickening , it ’s also interesting to consider what else Urza ’s Cave can do in decks feature Knight of the Reliquary , Elvish Reclaimer , and theModern Horizons 3reprint Sylvan Safekeeper . There are plenty of powerful lands in Modern , and have the ability to tutor them directly onto the field - and without needing to bring " do nothing " scorecard like Expedition Map - cook this one to keep an eye on .
2Ugin’s Labyrinth
An Early Chalice of the Void Enabler & More
If Urza ’s Cave is an patently potent card for trying out in Tron strategies , then Ugin ’s Labyrinth is a must - include . Tron deck by nature gravitate towards having expensive colourless cards as part of their strategy , which then postulate them to ramp up mana to be able to cast them as early as potential . Ugin ’s Labyrinth helps smooth out early draws by providing a prompt mana rise for powerful early plot interaction like Chalice of the Void , which can shut out some scheme altogether .
Once the early game has been lock down , though , Ugin ’s Labyrinth can also be the last card demand to shut the door . The ability to return the card exile with Ugin ’s Labyrinth to its owner ’s hand just by tapping the land - not even sacrificing it ! - is an vastly powerful effect . There ’s almost no downside , and pose a card like Ulamog , the Ceaseless Hunger or Karn Liberated underneath Ugin ’s Labyrinth via imprint only to pick it back up when casting it is easy adds a layer of versatility to the Tron scheme that will make it even more of a scourge than it has been antecedently .
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1Flare of Denial
A Counterspell That Opens Up A Slew Of Deck Designs
Modern Horizonssets are no unknown to introducing a meta - vary counterspell to the Modern format . Force of Negation remain a major player eld after its instauration , though whether it has done a better line at stymieing fast strategies or enable them is a blistering subject of public debate . “Free " counterspells - ones with alternate casting price beyond mana - always have the potential to distort a metagame or create a young deck of cards archetype . There are few effects more potent than simply telling an opponent " no " when they go to ramble a biz - altering turn .
Flare of Denial is the most excitingModern Horizons 3spoiler thus far . Its requirement are steep , but they also create an incentive for players to admit blueish creatures in their deck of cards . Obvious contenders are Snapcaster Mage and the the like - creatures that fall their value when entering the battlefield or in response to an opponent ’s try at a maneuver , and can then be used to anticipate a new terror later . It ’ll be interesting to see if that ’s how it plays out , or if Flare of Denial is even played systematically , but its flexibleness and interesting impact on plot body politic make it the most intriguingMH3spoiler so far .
