MH3 Special Guests Boast Evoke Elementals and Multi-Format Staples!

Earlier today, the Modern Horizon 3 debut stream gave us a nice glimpse into the wonders that the set has to offer. We’ve seen a ton of leaks up until this point. Now, we got to see a large number of official spoilers, many of which we hadn’t seen in any capacity yet.

Notably, the debut stream and WeeklyMTG follow-up didn’t just highlight cards from the main set. We also got to take a look at what the face Commanders for each Precon are all about. On top of that, there’s a big emphasis on booster fun treatment within the set. This includes retro frame cards from the first two Modern Horizons sets exclusively found in MH3 collector boosters.

One of the cooler groups of cards outside of the main set that can be found in typical play boosters, though, is the collection of 10 Special Guest cards. These borderless mythic rares can be found replacing a common in roughly one out of every 64 play boosters. You can find foil versions in collector boosters as well. So far, Solitude had been confirmed as a Special Guest and other MH2 Evoke Elementals were leaked. Now, we have confirmation that the full cycle makes up half of the Special Guest cards.

Solitude

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The “free” Elementals from Modern Horizons 3 are certainly the heaviest hitters among the Special Guest cards from a financial perspective. They are clearly some of the most powerful cards in the Modern format and beyond.

Solitude is an elite piece of interaction whose efficiency makes it an all-star. In control decks, you can tap out for a Planeswalker and make sure it survives a turn cycle. In Eternal formats, slamming Seasoned Dungeoneer and using Solitude to maintain The Initiative is quite powerful.

These Evoke Elementals are also easily abusable. Esper Goryos’ Vengeance shells in Modern pair Solitude with Ephemerate, for example. You can Evoke Solitude and cast Ephemerate with the trigger on the stack, ultimately exiling multiple opposing Creatures and getting a 3/2 with Lifelink for one whole mana!

Grief

Similarly, Grief is a staple in black Scam decks in Modern that use Not Dead After All in the Ephemerate Slot. In Legacy, many players want Grief to be banned for its role in Reanimate shells. Both Solitude and Grief sit at $21 in their cheapest forms, according to TCGPlayer market price.

Fury

Fury, on the other hand, saw its price plummet a bit since being banned in Modern. It currently has a price tag of roughly $6. It’s interesting to see a banned card in Modern appear as a Special Guest in a Modern-themed set, but this specific design was in progress long before the ban occurred. With these Elementals coming to Arena, I would be shocked if all three of these Elementals aren’t preemptively banned in Historic (Timeless enjoyers, get ready for a shakeup).

Subtlety

The last two free Elementals are likely the fairest of the bunch and most likely to remain legal in Historic. Subtlety is undoubtedly a strong card, but doesn’t have the same broken applications. You can use it as an efficient tempo play, but the opponent can always put their Creature or Planeswalker on top of their library if they want. Hard casting it can be powerful, but not always easy to set up. Nonetheless, Subtlety still sees a decent amount of Modern play and has a price tag of $17.

Endurance

Lastly, we have Endurance. Endurance is an excellent sideboard card against graveyard-centric archetypes. It’s a perfectly reasonable card to cast at three mana, too, sometimes eating opposing copies of Dragon’s Rage Channeler for lunch. Endurance is the least pricy card in the cycle besides Fury, coming in at $16. It’s worth monitoring how much these Special Guest variants specifically end up going for.

Thought-Knot Seer

While all 10 Special Guest cards appear as borderless mythic rares, the other five Special Guests were previously printed at rare or uncommon. The remaining Special Guests also offer significantly less reprint value.

Thought-Knot Seer is the priciest of the remaining cards, despite sitting at only about $4. Given the set’s focus on Eldrazi, though, it’s nice to see the card get some cool new artwork. Perhaps the printing of Ugin’s Labyrinth will put Eldrazi Tron back on the map in Modern and Thought-Knot Seer will shine once again. We’ll just have to wait and see…

Persist

Persist is another reprint of a former rare and another card that debuted in MH2. The card isn’t worth much at just barely over a dollar, but does see some Modern play. Many Indomitable Creativity decklists feature Persist as a way to bring Archon of Cruelty back from the graveyard. Persist was previously leaked as a Special Guest card, so seeing it appear here isn’t too surprising.

Prismatic Ending

Prismatic Ending is a very cheap card (roughly 30 cents), but a neat inclusion for a couple reasons. First, the image is simply gorgeous, and this is the first time the card will boast new artwork. Second, for players that enjoy playing MTG Arena, Prismatic Ending should play a major role. Historic Control decks have utilized Fragment Reality as a way to remove small opposing Creatures. Prismatic Ending accomplishes the same goal but is much more flexible.

The only thing that’s a bit awkward with this card on Arena is its rarity. Despite being featured as an uncommon in MH2, players will presumably have to use mythic rare wildcards to craft it. Players have complained about this issue in the past, and unfortunately, things are unlikely to change at the moment.

Dismember

Liekwise, Dismember is another excellent uncommon removal spell being added to Arena. Dismember is powerful because it essentially breaks the color pie. It provides blue and green decks with much needed disruption on the cheap. Paying four life is just not that big of a cost in many matchups. Phyrexian mana remains one of the most busted mechanics to this day.

Expressive Iteration

Lastly, we have Expressive Iteration. Expressive Iteration is a strong card in Modern, and has been banned in Legacy, Pioneer, and Explorer. This card was already on Arena and has been a staple of one of the strongest Historic decks available: Izzet Wizards. The card is very cheap once again, coming it at under 40 cents.

Ultimately, while the second half of the Special Guests weren’t too exciting value-wise, the appearance of the full Evoke Elementals cycle helps make up for that. Whether you’re looking to add some pizzazz to your Modern deck or strengthen your Timeless deck on Arena, these Special Guests should come in handy.