Since the moment it was announced, there’s been a lot of hype for Modern Horizons 3. Parallel to this, there’s also been a great deal of fear for this potentially overpowered set to release. As if this major concern wasn’t enough, following Modern Horizons 3’s First Look, even more problems appeared.
For better or worse, Modern Horizons 3 contains Commander decks, breaking tradition for Horizons sets. While the new Commander cards all appear very exciting, these cards quickly caused confusion and legality concerns. Despite having Modern in the name, the Commander cards weren’t Modern-legal, which baffled and bemused many players.
Unfortunately, just as this problem was steadily resolving itself, it seems a new issue may be arising. Despite the new Commander cards being Commander exclusive, it now appears they can be found in Play Boosters. Worryingly, this means these cards could be legal in Draft, exacerbating already existing concerns.
Commander Exclusive Cards in Draft?!
Following the Debut Stream for Modern Horizons 3, Wizards released their usual article, all about collecting the upcoming set. Detailing all the gorgeous art treatments and where you can find them, this article dives deep into pack contents. Here, toward the end of the article, there’s one very curious detail that’s as delightful as it is concerning.
In the Wildcard slot within Play Boosters, MTG players have a small chance of finding “Commander mythic rares.” In total, eight mythic rare Commander cards can be found, which are likely the Commanders for the preconstructed Commander decks. To support this theory, these cards are available in both a regular and borderless frame.
Regardless of what cards these actually are, these are Commander-exclusive MTG cards appearing in Draftable packs. In theory, this could be a fun rarely-seen addition that’ll make Drafts that much more spicy. Unfortunately, there is one major problem with the addition of these cards to Play Boosters.
Currently, the legality of the eight Commander mythic rares has not been confirmed by Wizards of the Coast. Ideally, these cards will just be Draftable, like everything else you could find within a Play Booster. Worryingly, there’s a non-zero chance these Commander-exclusive cards won’t be playable, even if you find one.
While we don’t expect the latter situation to be the case, there’s been no word from Wizards so far. Given the potential confusion the inclusion of these cards could cause, we certainly hope Wizards speaks out soon. Should this not happen, Prerelease weekend for Modern Horizons 3 may be an absolute argument-filled nightmare.
Commander Horizons 3
From the moment the Commander decks were announced, Modern Horizons 3 has been fighting against them. While they look like fun, many players have pushed back against the confusion they cause. Over time, this has slowly dissipated, as MH3 is hardly the first set with Commander decks. Unfortunately, this new Draft debacle may erase any confusion-mitigating progress made.
Even if the eight mythic rare Commander cards are Draftable like everything else, they’re bound to confuse players. If you can play them alongside every other Modern Horizons 3 in Draft, surely the same must be true in Modern… right? We’d like to say the answer to this question is an emphatic ‘of course not’ but even that is unclear.
Considering the eight mythic rare Commander cards should have the M3C set symbol, hopefully, any confusion will be mitigated. That being said, we have to wonder why on earth Wizards would make these cards available in Play Boosters. The likely answer is to give everyone access to the set’s most fun cards, but that’s caused major problems before.
Unfortunately, there’s no simple solution to the problem that Wizards of the Coast has created here. If the eight Commander cards aren’t legal in Draft, then players may be disappointed opening packs to find them inside. Alternatively, if they are legal, some players may think they’re Modern-legal too, causing further problems down the line.
Frustratingly, without official confirmation from Wizards, we simply don’t know what’s going on. Currently, we don’t even know which of the eight mythic rare Commander cards will be appearing in packs. We can only hope that all of these details will be revealed soon, as they’re making our heads spin at the moment.
Good News for Arena Fans?
Thankfully, while the inclusion of the eight Commander cards may cause problems on paper, MTG Arena could massively benefit. Since they’re appearing in Play Boosters, these cards should also be added to MTG Arena. That will be the case, at least, provided Wizards is ensuring a one-to-one Draft experience with paper.
Sadly, while a lot of MTG players would quite like to use these cards, there’s also no confirmation about this. Since MTG Arena is not guaranteed to have a one-to-one Draft experience, as Murders at Karlov Manor proved, these cards could be skipped over. Hopefully, for excited MTG Arena players, this won’t be the case, but we don’t know for sure.
Ultimately, we’re just going to have to wait and see what happens in the future. Considering the immensely high potential for confusion, we can only hope Wizards will clear everything up soon.
Read More: New CEDH Staple Spotted in MTG Modern Horizons 3 Spoilers!
