With Modern Horizons 3 releasing in just over a week, many players are excited to see how various formats get shaken up. This set is filled to the brim with efficient powerhouses and elite haymakers that are sure to bring change to Modern and beyond. If MH1 and MH2 were any indication, some of the best cards may even require bans in short order.
Speaking of which, with MH3 coming to MTG Arena, Wizards of the Coast has decided to preemptively ban a multitude of strong newcomers in Historic. Honestly, most of the bans are not at all surprising given the established ban philosophy. First and foremost, the “free” spells (Special Guest Evoke Elementals and MH3 Flares) all got the axe. Next, cards that severely mess with the opponent’s mana, like
Harbinger of the Seas
Harbinger of the Seas
Nonbasic lands are Islands.
, met the banhammer. Finally, enemy-colored Fetchlands are a no-go.
Given the fact that
Blood Moon
Blood Moon
Nonbasic lands are Mountains.
and the ally-colored Fetchlands were already banned, seeing this many cards banned isn’t surprising. However, some players are questioning whether these bans went far enough. There are a few cards in particular that could turn out to be extremely problematic for Historic and Brawl play. The question is: will players be able to adapt, or will more bans be on the horizon? Let’s discuss.
Incredible Fast Mana
The first card that immediately comes to mind as a potentially busted addition to Historic is Ugin’s Labyrinth. Other sources of fast mana have been banned before, such as
Dark Ritual
Dark Ritual
Add {B}{B}{B}.
. However, Ugin’s Labyrinth is much more restrictive. You need a huge colorless card to exile to get the extra mana, and the Land itself only produces colorless mana. Many decks can’t use a card like this as a result.
In Modern, players have mostly discussed using Labyrinth in Eldrazi Tron and Affinity shells. Without access to Tron Lands or
Eldrazi Temple
Eldrazi Temple
{T}: Add {C}.
{T}: Add {C}{C}. Spend this mana only to cast colorless Eldrazi spells or activate abilities of colorless Eldrazi.
on MTG Arena, a full-on Eldrazi deck may not meet the mark. Affinity, on the other hand, looks like an extremely promising home for Ugin’s Labyrinth.
Currently, there are a plethora of cheap Artifacts on MTG Arena. Thanks to Historic Anthology 6, the full cycle of Indestructible Artifact Lands from MH2, such as
Mistvault Bridge
Mistvault Bridge
This land enters tapped.
Indestructible
{T}: Add {U} or {B}.
, made their way onto the client. Meanwhile
Ornithopter
Ornithopter
Flying
and
Springleaf Drum
Springleaf Drum
{T}, Tap an untapped creature you control: Add one mana of any color.
provide some basic acceleration towards your big plays.
Missing out on
Urza’s Saga
Urza’s Saga
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)
I — This Saga gains "{T}: Add {C}."
II — This Saga gains "{2}, {T}: Create a 0/0 colorless Construct artifact creature token with 'This token gets +1/+1 for each artifact you control.'"
III — Search your library for an artifact card with mana cost {0} or {1}, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle.
is definitely unfortunate, but
Simulacrum Synthesizer
Simulacrum Synthesizer
When this artifact enters, scry 2.
Whenever another artifact you control with mana value 3 or greater enters, create a 0/0 colorless Construct artifact creature token with "This token gets +1/+1 for each artifact you control."
and
Nettlecyst
Nettlecyst
Living weapon (When this Equipment enters, create a 0/0 black Phyrexian Germ creature token, then attach this to it.)
Equipped creature gets +1/+1 for each artifact and/or enchantment you control.
Equip {2}
can create some huge Constructs themselves.
Frogmite
Frogmite
Affinity for artifacts (This spell costs {1} less to cast for each artifact you control.)
and
Sojourner’s Companion
Sojourner’s Companion
Affinity for artifacts
Artifact landcycling {2} ({2}, Discard this card: Search your library for an artifact land card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.)
may not be legal, but
Myr Enforcer
Myr Enforcer
Affinity for artifacts (This spell costs {1} less to cast for each artifact you control.)
and
Thought Monitor
Thought Monitor
Affinity for artifacts (This spell costs {1} less to cast for each artifact you control.)
Flying
When this creature enters, draw two cards.
are.
All in all, the main thing holding this deck back has been speed. The Bridges all enter play tapped, and without
Memnite
Memnite
in the picture, Springleaf Drum isn’t quite as reliable of an accelerant. Labyrinth helps solve this problem. Playing Synthesizer or Nettlecyst a full turn ahead of schedule is huge. The printing of
Frogmyr Enforcer
Frogmyr Enforcer
Prototype {3}{R} — 2/2 (You may cast this spell with different mana cost, color, and size. It keeps its abilities and types.)
Affinity for artifacts (This spell costs {1} less to cast for each artifact you control.)
to go along with Myr Enforcer should provide enough redundancy for Labyrinth, too. Only time will tell if Labyrinth ends up living up to the hype, but there’s a lot going for it.
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An Amazing Card Advantage Engine
The other card that has the possibility of being a broken engine is Necrodominance. Necrodominance is very reminiscent of
Necropotence
Necropotence
Skip your draw step.
Whenever you discard a card, exile that card from your graveyard.
Pay 1 life: Exile the top card of your library face down. Put that card into your hand at the beginning of your next end step.
. Rather than drawing a single card each turn, you get to pay life on your end step to draw as many cards as you want. In this case, you only get to keep a maximum of five cards in hand, but that doesn’t stop Necrodominance from providing a ton of card advantage.
Typically, the main concern for cards like this is that they slot right into combo shells. However, many of the best combo-oriented cards that pair well with Necrodominance, including sources of acceleration like Dark Ritual, are banned. Without ways to turbo out Necrodominance, the card has a much higher chance of being relatively fair.
Some players have mentioned the chance for Necrodominance to appear alongside
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
{T}: Add {C}.
{2}, {T}: Choose a color. Add an amount of mana of that color equal to your devotion to that color. (Your devotion to a color is the number of mana symbols of that color in the mana costs of permanents you control.)
and
Gray Merchant of Asphodel
Gray Merchant of Asphodel
When this creature enters, each opponent loses X life, where X is your devotion to black. You gain life equal to the life lost this way. (Each {B} in the mana costs of permanents you control counts toward your devotion to black.)
. Necrodominance does fit this shell well. It adds plenty of Devotion, and Gray Merchant can help supplement the life loss associated with Necrodominance.
Additionally, Necrodominance pairs nicely with
Borne Upon a Wind
Borne Upon a Wind
You may cast spells this turn as though they had flash.
Draw a card.
if you have a lot of mana and life to pay, since you can cast a bunch of cards in your end step before going to discard. It’ll be interesting to see how players continue to try to maximize this card.
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Can Players Adapt?
At the end of the day, as strong as Labyrinth and Necrodominance may end up being, it makes a lot of sense to let the cards run their course. There’s a real possibility neither of these cards are as oppressive as they look in the context of Historic.
As amazing as Labyrinth is as a “Sol” Land, you need to pair it with lots of expensive, colorless cards. On top of that, arguably the best deck in Historic right now (Izzet Wizards) matches up extremely well against Affinity-style decks. Izzet Wizards attacks at blazing speed, and Affinity isn’t a removal dense archetype.
Furthermore, Izzet Wizards comes equipped with a playset of Flame of Anor, which absolutely dunks on Artifacts. So, even slamming a turn one
Chalice of the Void
Chalice of the Void
This artifact enters with X charge counters on it.
Whenever a player casts a spell with mana value equal to the number of charge counters on this artifact, counter that spell.
off Labyrinth won’t always slow the Wizards deck down as much as you think.
Kappa Cannoneer
Kappa Cannoneer
Improvise (Your artifacts can help cast this spell. Each artifact you tap after you're done activating mana abilities pays for {1}.)
Ward {4}
Whenever this creature or another artifact you control enters, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature. It can't be blocked this turn.
is the one card that trumps Artifact removal thanks to its Ward ability, but
Slickshot Show-Off
Slickshot Show-Off
Flying, haste
Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, this creature gets +2/+0 until end of turn.
Plot {1}{R} (You may pay {1}{R} and exile this card from your hand. Cast it as a sorcery on a later turn without paying its mana cost. Plot only as a sorcery.)
is fully capable of racing the enormous Turtle.
In the case of Necrodominance, a fast start from the Wizards deck backed up by
Spell Pierce
Spell Pierce
Counter target noncreature spell unless its controller pays {2}.
provides a recipe for success. Ultimately, as strong as these cards are, context of the format matters. Modern Horizons 3 should undoubtedly shake things up in Historic and Brawl, but given the stale nature of these formats, this could be a very good thing. We’re excited to see how the MTG Arena world adapts to one of the strongest sets that’s ever been added to the client.
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