One of the most intriguing aspects of Modern Horizons 3 is the set’s emphasis on reprints. As more and more spoilers have been revealed, we’ve seen a ton of cards finally get introduced to the Modern format. Many of these reprints, like Kappa Cannoneer, should have an immediate impact on Modern.
Over the past couple days, a few more extremely powerful reprints have come out of the woodworks. A Land capable of producing multiple colored mana at once, an extremely efficient and flexible board wipe, as well as a strong toolbox Creature are all making their way to Modern. Each of these cards have immense potential in the format, so let’s take a closer look at what they bring to the table.
Phyrexian Tower
First up, we have Phyrexian Tower. Phyrexian Tower is certainly the card in this group that has the most broken applications. If you have ample Creatures to sacrifice, Phyrexian Tower can repeatedly tap for two mana each turn cycle. Obviously, many decks won’t be able to utilize this Land, since sacrificing board presence isn’t always ideal for a mana boost. However, there are a number of decks where sacrificing Creatures isn’t a large downside.
Take Golgari Yawgmoth, for example. Between recursive Undying Creatures like Young Wolf and Creature tokens from Grist, the Hunger Tide, enabling Phyexian Tower is not hard and doesn’t come at a huge cost. At the same time, being able to cast Yawgmoth, Thran Physician a turn early or cast turn two Grist following turn one Young Wolf is quite valuable.
Going further, graveyard-based decks, including Sultai Vengevine shells, can even get some extra mileage from utilizing Phyexian Tower as a free sacrifice outlet. In some games, simply getting to sacrifice Stitcher’s Supplier to mill more cards can be powerful.
Bloodghast and Gravecrawler are easy cards to recur over and over if you need the mana, and with Satoru, the Infiltrator in the mix, sacrificing and returning them can net you a bunch of extra cards. Phyrexian Tower is easier to abuse than you might think.
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Toxic Deluge
Next, we have Toxic Deluge. Toxic Deluge should become an instant staple for a number of different archetypes. At minimum, Toxic Deluge can be used as a cheap board wipe. Decks like mono-black Coffers may be in the market for Deluge given its efficiency. March of Wretched Sorrow can help counteract the life loss from Deluge, which is a nice bonus. At only three-mana, you have the luxury of cleaning up opposing small Creatures the turn before slamming Sheoldred, the Apocalypse or Karn, the Great Creator.
Where Deluge starts to become much more threatening than Damnation and the like, though, is when you can kill your opponent’s Creatures with it while simultaneously keeping yours alive. Part of the benefit of Deluge in the Coffers deck is that once you play Sheoldred, you can cast Deluge paying four or less life and your Sheoldred will survive. If you’re lucky, Deluge can function more like Plague Wind than Damnation.
With this in mind, the ultimate home for Deluge in Modern is the Death’s Shadow archetype. Death’s Shadow decks are naturally filled with big Creatures. Whether you’re playing blue as a support color for Murktide Regent or green for Tarmogoyf, you’ve got plenty of beefy Creatures to play to the board.
One of the weaknesses of Death’s Shadow decks in the past has been the inability to close games against lots of blockers. These decks don’t typically have an abundance of threats, so sometimes, players have gone as far as to play Temur Battle Rage as a finisher. Deluge is much less narrow and can clean up opposing blockers while leaving your Creatures intact. Notably, your Death’s Shadows will survive your Deluge no matter how much life you pay, since paying life grows your Shadows for you!
Beyond Modern, Toxic Deluge will most definitely be a strong addition to Arena, too. Historic and Timeless shells alike should make great use of Deluge. It’s just too powerful to ignore.
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Recruiter of the Guard
Lastly, we have a Legacy staple that’s finally making its way into Modern. Imperial Recruiter was reprinted in Modern Horizons 2, so seeing Recruiter of the Guard join its red counterpart isn’t too surprising. Instead of being able to find Creatures with power two or less, Recruiter of the Guard finds Creatures with toughness two or less. In most instances, this distinction isn’t that important. That being said, the existence of one card in particular makes Recruiter a really interesting reprint: Solitude.
Being able to tutor up a removal spell at will is an incredible option to have. Both cards pair well with Ephemerate, and Recruiter is a great card to put into play off of Aether Vial. As of right now, one of the better performing archetypes in Modern that Recruiter could slot into is mono-white midrange.
Just like Ranger-Captain of Eos, Recruiter fetches up all of your potent one-drops like Martyr of Sands and Kami of False Hope that you can recur with Abiding Grace. Recruiter’s ability to grab Solitude or Skyclave Apparition, though, makes it an appealing consideration.
When Modern Horizons 3 leaks and spoilers started coming out a few weeks ago, we had mentioned our hopes for some specific reprints, including Recruiter, to appear in the set. Recruiter isn’t overly powerful, but if it can help Aether Vial strategies finally garner some attention once more, we’re all here for it. All three of these reprints could have a major influence on Modern, so be prepared for some interesting shakeups when MH3 releases.
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