At this point, Modern Horizons 3’s spoiler season may have well come early. Since late April MTG players have been delighted, surprised, and perplexed by a huge number of leaks. On their own, these leaks would just fuel the rumor mill, however, Wizards took a different approach for Modern Horizons 3.
Rather than ignoring the leaks, or employing the Pinkertons, Wizards wholeheartedly embraced leaks this time around. In a recent news post, Wizards confirmed many of the leaks to be genuine, providing high-rez images of the cards. While not everything was confirmed to be the real deal, such as Brainstorm, most of the leaks were officially confirmed.
Following on from this official confirmation by Wizards, unsurprisingly, the leaks haven’t stopped. Most recently, a string of new dedicated Commander cards from the set have surfaced online. Revealing the contents of two of the decks, within the latest Commander leaks there are some absolutely insane Eldrazi cards.
As if new Eldrazi support wasn’t exciting enough, the latest round of leaks has also debuted the first Kindred spell in MTG! Before we get too carried away with that, however, it’s worth keeping in mind leaks are still leaks. Even after Wizards has confirmed the authenticity of past cards, these new leaks could be cleverly concocted fakes. If anything, the floodgates have been opened in this regard, so it’s important to remain vigilant.
Eldritch Immunity
To kick the latest round of leaks off, we have one of the most anticipated returning card types in MTG. Previously known as Tribal, this MTG card type was controversially changed to Kindred back in November of 2023. Six months later, we have finally seen the first Kindred MTG card, Eldritch Immunity.
Outside of its technically new, but not really, card type, Eldrich Immunity is an incredibly useful spell. For just one colorless mana, a creature of your choice gets protected from every single color for that turn. If you’ve got mana to burn on the Overload cost, this effect can be given to every creature instead.
Within Colorless decks, Eldritch Immunity is going to be an auto-include thanks to the protection it provides. Regardless of what color your opponent is playing, this card does the job and saves your bacon. Thankfully, in Commander, this card may be rather useful even if you’re not playing an Eldrazi Typal deck as colorless mana sources are plentiful.
Mutated Cultist
As impressive as the return, or rather debut, of Kindred is, Mutated Cultist kind of blows it out of the water. When played alongside Dark Depths this card is utterly bonkers. If you manage to play both of these cards on turn three, your opponent may as well concede instantly.
When achieving this combo not only do you get a 20/20 Marit Lage, but you also a ten-mana cost reduction. This would allow you to play Kozilek, Butcher of Truth for the low cost of nothing at all. As far as turn-three plays go, it’s safe to say that Mutated Cultist has some amazing potential.
Sadly, in most Commander games, you Mutated Cultist won’t cast you Kozilek for free, but that doesn’t mean they’re bad. Even if you have to remove +1/+1 counters, the ramp Mutated Cultist provides is incredibly lucrative. As if that wasn’t good enough, this card having Deathtouch makes it that much better once it’s in play.
Bizmuth Mindrender
For better or worse, the other cards we’ve seen from the Eldrazi Incursion Commander deck aren’t as exciting. That being said, Bizmuth Mindrender isn’t a bad card by any means. Should you manage to deal damage with this spaghetti monstrosity, you’re guaranteed to steal a nonland card from your opponent.
Depending on how mana-flooded your opponent is about to be, this ability could theoretically mill them a fair amount. More exciting than this, however, is the ability to play the stolen card for almost free. Rather than spending boring ol’ mana, you can pay life to cheat in whatever you just took from your opponent.
As the Grand Larceny deck recently proved to us, stealing cards from your opponent can be incredibly fun and lucrative. Unfortunately, as much as there is potential, there’s equally the possibility you could steal a complete dud. Thankfully, Bizmuth Mindrender should hopefully be able to sneak in for damage more than once thanks to having Menace.
Selective Obliteration
While it’s not the worst, Selective Obliteration is one of the strangest board-wipes we’ve seen in recent memory. On one hand, this potentially powerful spell won’t touch any of your colorless creatures, which is a huge upside. At the same time, however, Selective Obliteration also gives your opponents the opportunity to protect themselves.
If you’re playing against mono-coloured decks, this board-wipe is entirely useless. Thankfully, in Commander, mono-colored decks are hardly the norm, so Selective Obliteration should get you some value. The more colors your opponents are playing, the higher the value from the board-wipe becomes.
In theory, while it does cost two less mana, Selective Obliteration is just a less reliable Kindred Dominance. Thankfully, to keep it relevant, Selective Obliteration does exile things and it doesn’t just hit creatures too. All in all, Selective Obliteration can force your opponents into some very tough decisions, depending on the construction of their deck.
Spawnbed Protector
At seven mana, Spawnbed Protector is hardy the cheapest, or fastest, ramp and reanimation engine. That being said, since they offer both these effects in one concise package, they’re not half bad. Sure, the Eldrazi creatures you reanimate only go back to your hand, but that’s still better than nothing.
On top of having two always useful effects, Spawnbed Protector also boasts a pretty powerful body. Should you play it early enough with Sol Ring, Ugin’s Labyrinth, Spawnbed Protector could work wonders. Even if you can’t play them early to make the most of their ramp, finding them late-game should still net you a good return.
Ultimately, while they may not be the most exciting new Eldrazi card in Modern Horizons 3, Spawnbed Protector should always be useful.
Twins of Discord
Forget Desolation Twin, there’s a new Eldrazi twin in town. Boasting a decent body, albeit only one of them, this new twin could potentially ruin an opponent’s day. Unfortunately, that all depends on the construction of your opponent’s deck. If just one opponent has either all odd or even mana-value creatures, Twins of Discord makes them completely defenseless.
Beyond potentially mitigating all, or at least a few, blockers Twins of Discord also gives your other colorless creatures Bloodthirst 2. Thanks to their evasion ability, which notably doesn’t require Twins of Discord to attack, activating Bloodthirst should be a breeze. So long as they stick around, this should make Twins of Discord an incredibly useful Eldrazi to have.
Eldrazi Confluence
Last but not least, for the new MTG leaks, at least, we have a surprisingly not Kindred Eldrazi spell. Offering a choice between three modes three times, Eldrazi Confluence has a great deal of utility. Unfortunately, all this utility does come at a non-insignificant cost that may impact its playability.
Depending on how you apply Eldrazi Confluence’s trio of abilities, you can get buffs, removal, evasion, ramp, or a flicker effect. Out of this long list, arguably the last two are the worst considering the mana cost required, however, the rest are fantastic. While Eldrazi Confluence is expensive for a combat trick, it’s more than capable of messing up your opponent’s plans.
Freshly Leaked Reprints
On top of all the new cards that we’ve seen, a number of reprints were leaked via mock-ups. Out of these leaked cards, only two are truly noteworthy for their value. These cards are Eldrazi Monument and Morophon, the Boundless, which are both worth around $10.
Alongside these somewhat pricy reprints, All Is Dust is getting another reprint too. In the mock-up for this card, All Is Dust is still listed as a Tribal Sorcery, however, that will surely change. Since we’re now seeing Kindred MTG cards on paper for the first time, we’ve got to expect Wizards will properly continue this trend.
To truly finish off this latest leak, three more less-than-stellar reprints are now supposedly confirmed. These reprints are Ugin, the Ineffable, Chromatic Lantern, and Forsaken Monument. Valued at around $2, $1.50, and $4.50 apiece, these cards aren’t amazing, but they nonetheless help contribute to overall value. Even Sifter of Skulls is getting a new reprint in this upcoming Commander deck!
Eldrazi Delights Galore
All in all, it appears that the Eldrazi Incursion deck is shaping up very nicely. Not only are there some great reprints, but finally Kindred MTG cards are being debuted for the first time! As if that wasn’t enough, many of the new cards look utterly fantastic, and the main set should have no end of upgrades. Between Nulldrifter, Herigast, Erupting Nullkite, and Emrakul, the World Anew, Eldrazi players are eating good tonight.
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