One of the more interesting aspects of Modern Horizons III when compared to the previous two Modern Horizons sets is the clear emphasis on reprints and reworking old designs. There haven’t been many cards spoiled thus far, but if the initial wave is any indication, there are going to be a ton of reprints joining the format. From Orim’s Chant to Kappa Cannoneer and beyond, there are a number of Eternal powerhouses being welcomed to Modern.
Beyond just reprints, there are also plenty of new cards directly referencing classic ideas. Chthonian Nightmare, for instance, is obviously a unique take on Recurring Nightmare. Given how early we are into spoiler season, I’m sure there are more reprints and redesigned cards to be revealed.
This begs the question: what other cards that aren’t Modern legal would be nice to see enter the format? Obviously, many Legacy and Vintage staples would simply be too powerful for Modern. Still, there’s certainly room for some neat additions. As such, we thought it would be interesting to go over some of the cards we most want to see implemented. This is undoubtedly subjective, but we feel some of the following cards could help improve the Modern landscape overall.
Punishing Greedy Manabases
One thing that many players complain about when it comes to Modern is how strong the mana fixing is. Couple that with the general lack of ways to disrupt an opponent’s mana production, and it makes sense why multi-color strategies are so popular. There’s a reason why Blood Moon is an elite sideboard cards for decks that can maximize it, such as Rakdos Scam.
Beyond Blood Moon and Magus of the Moon, there aren’t many ways to punish opponents for playing tons of non-basic Lands. Even Blood Moon’s presence has not stopped Amulet Titan from becoming a dominant force in the Modern metagame. With this in mind, having a card akin to Price of Progress in Modern could be a nice way to reward players for playing more basic Lands.
Ultimately, Price of Progress itself may be too powerful for Modern. Nonetheless, a reworked version (perhaps that costs more mana or only deals less damage overall) could be a nice touch. Not to mention, Burn has fallen out of favor and notably has a pretty atrocious Amulet Titan matchup. Instead of relying on cheesing the matchup with Tunnel Ignus, which is extremely narrow, Burn decks could turn towards this more versatile damage dealing spell.
On top of just spells, there are a multitude of Lands in Eternal formats that are capable of efficiently interacting with opposing non-basic Lands. Some players have mentioned adding Wasteland to Modern, but this seems a bit too format-warping for my taste (especially with Wrenn and Six legal here).
That being said, both Rishadan Port and Dust Bowl seem like reasonable cards to consider. Both cards require extra mana investment to utilize, so they don’t just slot naturally into tons of strategies like Wasteland. Rishadan Port is particularly strong in Aether Vial decks that can get ahead on board without investing a ton of mana. Aether Vial strategies have seen their representation plummet in the face of Orcish Bowmasters[/tooltip] and company, so anything that can help revive these decks is welcome in my book.
Read More: Underrated MTG Hydra Helps Unique Gruul Counters Shell Flourish!
Make Creature Decks Great Again
The reality is, Creature-focused decks as a whole have dwindled over the years. It doesn’t help that Golgari Yawgmoth, Thran Physician combo, one of the few Creature heavy decks in the format, prays on decks that are trying to win in combat with small Creatures. Prowess has seen a recent surge thanks to Slickshot Show-Off, but most aggro decks, especially typal decks, have fallen off the map.
With this in mind, I’d love to see even more Creature support for typal decks and Aether Vial strategies alike. We actually have already seen Priest of Titania leaked, so more typal support is absolutely not far-fetched. For example, Goblins, one of the most powerful decks in Legacy, is nearly nonexistent in Modern. Of course, elite sources of fast mana like Ancient Tomb and Chrome Mox are likely off the table. A payoff like Muxus, Goblin Grandee, on the other hand, may be just what the doctor ordered.
Muxus is the type of card that incentivizes you to play a large number of Goblins in your deck, and the reward is massive. Six mana is a lot, but Skirk Prospector goes a long way. Broadside Bombardiers and Goblin Lackey are other amazing Goblins to consider if you want to go a different direction.
For Merfolk, Emperor Mihail II is a very strong card to put in with Aether Vial. For Humans as well as basic Death and Taxes decks, Recruiter of the Guard has a lot of juicy targets to dig up. Recruiter slots right into Abiding Grace midrange decks in Modern too, as it can fetch up Solitude.
Read More: New MTG Thunder Junction Spoilers Boast Cycle of Broken Moxen Conjurers!
Other Unique Options
Beyond mana punishers and typal payoffs, there are tons of other cool choices to include in Modern. Triumph of Saint Katherine is a really sweet and efficient card when you get to enable its Miracle ability. Triumph is quite strong, but without Brainstorm in the format, is a little tougher to reliably set up. This adds a bit of randomness and encourages players to think outside the box to enable it, which is part of the fun.
Another potentially neat inclusion is Wild Mongrel. Since the banning of Faithless Looting, many synergistic discard strategies such as the various Hollow One shells have largely disappeared.
Wild Mongrel is a repeatable discard outlet, threatens damage rather quickly, and works perfectly with Madness cards like [tooltip]Blazing Rootwalla. One player suggested pairing this with Wonder in Modern if it’s reprinted, and I’m here for it.
While these cards are some personal preferences for inclusions we’d like to see in Modern Horizons III, there are lots of other cards to choose from. The possibilities are truly endless. Modern Horizons III is releasing in just over a month, so keep your eyes peeled for any awesome spoilers that could help shake up the format.
Read More: Four Thunder Junction Cards Can Take Mediocre MTG Archetype to Colossal Heights!
