Summary
The Modern Horizons sets have followed a fairly consistent pattern across the three separate installments. TheseMagic: The Gatheringsets are created to inject cards directly into the Modern format without having to pass through Standard like most sets. That opens up design space that might otherwise be problematic for Standard, Pioneer, and other premier Constructed formats.
In addition to bringing a few hundred new cards to the format, these Horizons sets also hand-select reprints that will enter the Modern format for the first time. These are cards that either predate Modern’s cut-off of Eighth Edition and beyond, or ones that were initially printed in supplementary products like Commander precons.
Every Play Booster of Modern Horizons 3 includes at minimum one New-to-Modern reprint. These cards can be recognized by their set symbol watermarks in their textbox.
10Uncommon Rarity Downshifts
Some Love For The Peasant Players
There’s a community of players out there who are only interested inrarity downshiftsfrom supplementary sets. It’s become a habit from Wizards to use sets like Modern Horizons to reprint cards at lower rarities and introduce those cards into formats like Pauper,Peasant Commander, and so on.
Modern Horizons 3 has two major rarity downshifts that affect format legality. The first is Angel of the Ruins,a landcycling hate-piecefor artifacts and enchantments, and a great reanimation target. Second is Decree of Justice, which was once a Standard-defining wincon, but has since been power crept into obscurity.
9Sylvan Safekeeper
Keeps Everything But Your Lands Safe
The actual rules text on Sylvan Safekeeper can be a little misleading to someone who’s never encountered it. To the uninitiated, Safekeeper looks like a card you’d play to protect your creatures, though it does so at the cost of sacrificing lands.
In practice, Safekeeper’s usually used in reverse. This is an ideal card for decks thatwantto sacrifice lands, andthe shroud abilityis just an extra bonus. Plenty of decks across multiple formats have reasons to put lands in the graveyard, and Safekeeper’s one of the best ways to do it.
8Urza’s Incubator
A Popular Typal Powerhouse
If Urza’s Incubator sees any Modern play,it’ll be in Eldrazi deckslooking to slam huge top-end colorless threats. However, with Eldrazi Temple legal in the format, and the introduction of the equally new Ugin’s Labyrinth, it’s unlikely Eldrazi needs the help.
Rather, Urza’s Incubator is a great reprint for Commander players. Though somewhat overrated by the community, Urza’s Incubator is a colorless typal payoff that can slot into any deck, and typal decks are one of the most popular strategies in the format. The reprint shaves a significant amount off the price.
7Elf Support
Just What The Elvish Doctor Ordered
Elves have a tough time in Modern; it’s the type of deck that, were it ever to become popular in the meta, is easy to adapt to and prepare a sideboard for. Still, Elves has its dedicated Modern followers, and Modern Horizons 3 gives them just enough reason to pick their dusty Elf decks back up.
Priest of Titania’s the big seller, beinga two-mana dorkthat potentially taps for tons of mana. There’s also Wirewood Symbiote, which regularly shows up in any format where Elves are tapping for copious amounts of mana.
6Buried Alive
Good Enough To Dig Up Some Old Decks
Buried Alive hasn’t been particularly relevant in quite some time, but that’s the beauty of these reprints. Adding the card to Modern gives it new life, pun fully intended. It’s not clear that it’ll produce results, but at least it’s available as a tool for anyone willing to try.
Buried Alive will most likely see play in dredge decks, which have been dormant in the format for quite some time, or in experimentalArclight Phoenix builds. Dumping three Phoenixes in the graveyard can set up some powerful plays, though the set-up might be too much to ask.
5Medallions
Another Shot At Reprinting A Great Cycle
The Medallion cycle from Tempest makes a return in Modern Horizons 3, not long off the heels of their reprints in2023’s Commander Masters. Unfortunately, the pricing model used for Commander Masters led to very little of the product being opened, and the prices of the Medallions were hardly affected.
With another printing here, the average price of a Medallion is poised to drop significantly, making these Commander staples more accessible to players. On top of that, they enable somepowerful storm strategiesin Modern, in particular Ruby Medallion, which works perfectly with red ritual effects.
4Recruiter Of The Guard
A Tutor Creature With A New Rarity
The Recruiter of the Guard reprint is a tad frustrating. On one hand, it sees a healthy amount of Commander play and has a non-zero percent chance of finding its way into Modern decks. On the other, being bumped up to a mythic rare is unnecessary and hurts its availability.
Originating from 2016’s Conspiracy: Take the Crown, Recruiter was originally a regular rare and is only just now receiving its first meaningful reprint. The uptick to mythic rare isn’t an indictment of its power though; Recruiter’s a great tutor creature, and pairs exceptionally wellwith flicker effects.
3Kappa Cannoneer
Big And Hefty Wins The Race
Kappa Cannonner was a Commander exclusive that took Legacy by storm. The card’s fairly easy to cast with improvise,hard to kill due to ward, and hits like a turtle-sized cannon-wielding truck. It’s a surprisingly potent threat from a card designed fora vehicle-themed Commanderprecon.
Artifact decks are far from their height of popularity in Modern, but they’re always floating around in some capacity. Kappa Cannoneer is the type of card that can take a tier-two deck to the top ranks; you’ll just have to find the rightshellfor this indomitable Turtle.
2Toxic Deluge
Black’s Best Ever Sweeper
There was once a time when Jund decks (black-red-green) and other midrange strategies ran a copy of Damnation, at least in their sideboard, but it’s a rarity to run into an actual wrath effect in Modern anymore. Toxic Deluge might change that.
Deluge isthe best black board wipeever printed, introduced way back in Commander 2013, and never viable in Modern despite being printed in six other products. It’s a popular Commander staple, so the price drop is welcome, and it might be pushed down the curve far enough to see actual Modern play.
1Phyrexian Tower
Powerful, And Potentially Problematic
Phyrexian Tower’s a scary card to introduce into a new environment. Lands that tap for more than one mana have the potential to upend a format, even if there’s a cost associated with that mana production. In this case, it’s gated behind the meaningful cost ofsacrificing a creature.
Commander players will rejoice at another Tower reprint, currently the most expensive of the New-to-Modern reprints. However, it remains to be seen how impactful it will be in Modern, a format where you may cast a free Grief, then sacrifice it to Phyrexian Tower for two mana on turn one.
