Modern Horizons 2 was the long-running best-selling Magic: The Gathering set before finally being dethroned last year by Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth. Now, Modern Horizons 3 is coming to try and knock Gandalf off his perch, by reminding everyone what makes Horizons sets so exciting.
As a direct-to-Modern set, every card in the booster packs will be legal in Modern, which can be controversial to some who preferred Modern before the likes of Fury and Ragavan upended it. For other formats like Commander and Legacy, they’re treasure troves of spicy cards worth slotting into your decks.
Updated May 26 at 09:48 BST by Joe Parlock: Modern Horizons 3’s preview season keeps on trucking, with a weekend that’s slower, but no less powerful. Latest Cards – May 26, 2024
Arna Kennerüd, Skycaptain
A sleepy Sunday this isn’t, with Ripples of Undeath giving black its very own Sylvan Library-esque effect.
What else is going to be revealed to shake things up? White
Ajani, Nacatl Pariah by Ilse Gort
My man, my boy, the love of my life Ajani Goldmane is the poster child for Modern Horizons 3, and he’s getting all kinds of Cat synergies in this set.
You can also expect lots of lifegain, and Flare of Fortitude might well be a new staple for Commander to frustrate board wipers with. Blue
Kappa Cannoneer by Jesper Ejsing
Kappa Cannoneer, the legacy staple, makes its way to Modern with Modern Horizons 3.
We’ve also got the return of Tamiyo, long before she was compleated by the Phyrexians, and a new take on every Judge’s nightmare, Sphinx of the Second Sun. Black
Chthonian Nightmare by Josu Solano
In a set full of Lhurgoyfs, black’s graveyard abilities are going to be incredibly powerful.
Red
Powerbalance by Steve Ellis
Burn, chaos, and Goblins abound in Modern Horizons 3’s red cards. Green
Flare of Cultivation by Billy Christian
Here is every green card in Modern Horizons 3, including a return of Six, living its best life post-Wrenn.
Multicolored
Psychic Frog by Pete Venters
Here is every multicoloured card in Modern Horizons 3, including the many legendary creatures that give this set a distinctly Commander-y feel. Colorless
In any set with an Eldrazi theme, there’s going to be tons of colourless cards in there too.
We’re organising these previews by colours in the mana cost, meaning anything with devoid is in the table of its cost’s colours, rather than here. Retro-Frame Reprints
Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer by Simon Dominic Brewer
Exclusive to Collector boosters, these cards are reprints from Modern Horizons and Modern Horizons 2 in the retro frame.
These aren’t parts of the set’s limited environment, and use their originating set’s set icon, but can still be pulled if you want to bling out your Modern decks. Special Guests
Thought-Knot Seer by Svetlin Yelinov
Found in one in 62 Play boosters, Special Guests in this set include the cycle of evoke creatures that made Modern Horizons 2 so infamous, as well as a few other choices.
Commander Decks
Like most sets these days, Modern Horizons 3 is launching alongside four preconstructed Commander decks, full of brand-new cards, cards found in Modern Horizons 3, and reprints of older staples. Despite the name, cards in these decks aren’t legal in Modern unless they already were before the set released.
These are not a straight-to-Modern product like the set’s booster packs. Tricky Terrain
You’re a changeling, and you’re a changeling, and you’re a changeling with Omo, Queen of Vesuva.
Anything with an everything counter on it is every possible type it can be, which has some really interesting outcomes. Want to turn off Mutate?
Put an everything counter on your opponent’s creature, and it suddenly becomes a Human unable to be mutated on to. Want to play lots of lords and have them all buff each other up?
Everything counter. Turn on Tron with just one land?
Everything counter. Maze’s End win?
Everything counters to make your lands Gates. Omo finally takes the changeling ideal of being everything at once and makes it more than just a cheap way to shore up Kindred decks.
Graveyard Overdrive
Lhurgoyfs is a big theme of Modern Horizons 3, with the all-time famous creature type getting lots of new cards. But Disa is about more than just Lhurgoyfs.
It’s a strong self-mill commander with Lhurgoyf recursion, and rewards smashing with them with even more Tarmogoyf tokens. Exactly what a Tarmogoyf token is is yet to be revealed, but it’s likely a token version of the Tarmogoyf card itself.
Creative Energy
Energy has been a recent focus for Commander products, thanks to Fallout’s Science! deck making energy counters more viable a strategy.
Spending counters, proliferating, and making lots of energy is the aim here, with an added token copy theme bolted on for extra swinginess. Eldrazi Incursion
This is Wizards’ second whack at an Eldrazi deck, after the Commander Masters Eldrazi Unbound deck proved to be more of a generic colourless-matters deck over being about everyone’s favorite extra-planar tentacle monsters.
Expect lots of colorless cards, plenty of devoid, and, of course, lots and lots of Eldrazi to devastate the board harder than Zendikar.
