Whoever is leaking cards over at Wizards of the Coast has the process down to a fine art by now. Over the last week we’ve seen a huge number of leaks from Modern Horizons 3, and today some new MH3 reprint leaks have appeared as well. These leaks, if real, have the potential to completely transform Modern. If you haven’t paid attention to the format for a while, now may be the time to prick up your ears.
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A Quick Disclaimer
Before we get into things, a quick disclaimer. As with all leaks, the cards we’re covering in this article are unconfirmed. Though they appear convincing, they may just be well-crafted fakes. It’s also worth mentioning that Modern Horizons 3 has a Commander product associated with it, too. Some of these cards, then, may be reprints for that, and therefore not Modern legal. The leak photos (above) do appear to show cards pulled from a Play Booster, which would imply they’re main set cards. That said, nothing is certain at this point, so don’t go buying singles based on this information.
One more thing: the leaks above do include a few new cards, those being Necrodominance, Detective’s Phoenix, and a new red artifact starting with ‘Unstable.’ These cards are exciting in their own right, but we’ll just be covering the reprints here today. Stay tuned to the site for coverage of the new cards!
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Brainstorm
On to the MH3 reprint leaks proper, and we’re starting with a big one. If the photos above can be trusted, Brainstorm may be coming to Modern for the first time ever. For the uninitiated, it’s a one blue mana instant that lets you draw three cards, then put two cards from your hand on top of your library in any order. Sounds innocent enough, but Brainstorm is actually one of the most powerful cards in Magic’s history and a core pillar of both Legacy and Vintage.
The reason for this is the card’s interaction with Fetchlands. Using Brainstorm normally will ultimately just draw you one card, albeit with an excellent selection. Using it alongside a Fetchland, however, will let you draw a card and shuffle away the two worst cards in your hand, likely improving the quality of your next draws. This interaction has made the card a staple in every format where it’s legal, but it’s never been legal in Modern. Given that Ponder, a far inferior card, ended up banned in the format, Brainstorm has the potential to seriously shake things up.
Where exactly would it see play? Anywhere and everywhere. Every deck playing blue, be it Domain Zoo or Izzet Murktide, would need to at least consider the card. Decks that don’t play blue would need to consider splashing for it as well. Such is Brainstorm’s sheer format-warping power. It’s a piece of Magic history and a great teaching tool for new players, and for those reasons, the leak may actually be legit. Of all the cards in this batch, though, this is the most tentative.
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Kappa Cannoneer
Next up we have another spicy one: Kappa Cannoneer. This is a card originally printed for Commander that ended up seeing serious play in Legacy, due to Magic’s designers underestimating the power of Ward. Improvise lets the card come down for just one mana consistently, while Ward four may as well be Hexproof in most games. As we covered yesterday, this is one of the main cards causing the controversy around the Ward mechanic. Gavin Verhey himself even admitted that the card was a mistake in a recent Good Morning Magic.
It’s a great card, then, and it would be even better in Modern. Decks like Tron already play plenty of cheap artifacts, and could easily support a resilient threat like this. More exciting is Cannoneer’s potential to boost the up-and-coming Affinity decks in the format, however. Simulacrum Synthesizer has single-handedly brought the archetype back into contention, and Cannoneer would be a very powerful addition that could slot in effortlessly.
Kappa Cannoneer is a more reasonable leak than Brainstorm, but it’s also a card that originally hails from a Commander product itself. For this reason, it may well be part of the MH3 Commander decks instead. If it is coming to Modern, though, get ready to see it across the table regularly, and for Simulacrum Synthesizer to spike again.
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Sylvan Safekeeper
Most of the MH3 reprint leaks from this batch are blue cards, but green does get some love too. Sylvan Safekeeper is a real vintage, first printed way back in Judgment and only seen in Commander products since. The card lets you trade in your lands for temporary Shroud on your creatures, which is handy in Tempo decks or those that rely on a single powerful creature to win.
The card has seen Legacy play in Dark Depths decks, where it can cover your Marit Lage for a turn to guarantee a 20-damage swing. Outside of that, though, it’s quite a niche card, showing up mostly in Commander lists. Dark Depths is currently banned in Modern, and most decks in the format aren’t all-in on a single creature, so the impact of this one may well be minimal. It’s a great reprint regardless, though, since unlike the above cards Safekeeper is actually relatively pricey, going for $10-15 currently.
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Cephalid Coliseum
Now this one is really interesting. You probably haven’t heard of Cephalid Coliseum, since it’s a relatively obscure Odyssey land that has only ever been reprinted in niche products. Once in the 2002 World Champion Decks, and once in From the Vault: Realms. Remember From the Vault? Don’t worry, neither do most other players. The card is worth a look, though, since it does a very passable impression of Bazaar of Baghdad.
As long as Threshold is active, you can cash the Coliseum in for one blue mana to draw three cards and discard three cards. This is, like Bazaar, absolutely ideal in Dredge strategies. Such decks haven’t been big hitters in the Modern metagame for a while, but Coliseum could change that. It could also slot into other graveyard decks, like Living End and Hollow One/Vengevine variants. Throw in the fact that it’s also an untapped blue source, and you have a card that could be a shot in the arm for underpowered decks in the format.
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The Medallion Cycle
Rounding out the MH3 reprint leaks are a couple of Commander favorites. Both Emerald and Sapphire Medallion have been spotted in leak photos. These are two mana artifacts that reduce the cost of specific-colored spells, green and blue respectively. And while they haven’t shown up yet, it’s safe to assume the rest of the Medallion cycle will be in MH3 as well, if these leaks are legit. In Commander, these are near-auto-includes in decks of their color, since they work like mana rocks that can ‘trigger’ multiple times per turn if you cast more than one spell.
Outside of Commander, though, the Medallions are less exciting. The Sapphire and Ruby Medallions see sparing play in Legacy, in High Tide and Storm decks, but the rest have been confined to Commander so far. This may change if they become Modern legal since new Combo decks will likely open up, but this doesn’t seem particularly likely. These are great Commander reprints, and it’s fine if they’re no more than that.
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