Introduction
Hey folks! Márcio (@KbolMagic) here again to talk about the Modern Horizons 3 set for Limited.
This is the third set of the Modern Horizons series, sets that are not legal in the Standard or Pioneer formats but are designed to have cards that play in older formats like Modern, Legacy and Vintage. With that in mind, the power level of the cards of this edition is very high, which is also true for Limited.
In this set the Eldrazi Trio: Emrakul, Ulamog and Kozilek are back, full of other big Eldrazi creatures to go with them.
In this article, I will go through the mechanics and abilities presented in the set, the cards that I think will be more present in Limited, my favorite colors and archetypes and also, what I think are the most powerful cards of this set.
Mechanics
When it comes to Limited, Modern Horizons 3 is not an easy set to play. Despite not having new Mechanics introduced by this set, there are many older ones from previous sets that you need to know to understand the cards of this edition.
There is a huge list of cards with different mechanics, like Annihilator, Energy, Bestow, Ascend, Adapt, Emerge, Escape, Extort and many others. If you are not familiar with any of them or don’t know how they work, call your local judge if you are playing in real life or use the gatherer if you are playing online.
Colorless Mana
It is important to talk about Colorless Mana in this set, If magic would have another member in the five-color pie, (White, Blue, Black, Red and Green) it would be the colorless mana. Cards that require colorless mana to cast are very present in this edition, this mana can only be generated by Wastes or a source of mana that generates a not colored mana.
Some colorless spells like 《Kozilek’s Command》 need this specific mana to be cast and in the Modern Horizons 3 Limited you can only use in your deck, wastes and other colorless mana lands that you drafted or, in the case of sealed, opened in your pool.
Double-Faced Cards/Lands
MH3 has a new cycle of double-faced cards that can be played as a land or a spell. These cards are not only very good because of their versatility but they are key for succeeding in this format Limited.
《Fell the Profane》《Bridgeworks Battle》《Stump Stomp》《Suppression Ray》 and other cards of this cycle will make sure that you have the lands you need in the early game and also the spells to cast in the late game. It is usually recommended for Limited that you use 17 land cards in a 40-card deck, for using Double-Faced Land cards, I recommend that you use them in these land slots.
Top Commons of the Colors
After going through the new mechanics of this set, I am going to talk about my favorite commons of each color. Common cards are the cards that will be seen the most in limited, so we need to pay extra attention to them. I think the design team of this edition put a lot of thought into versatility, giving you many options and ways to play the same cards, which can result in different lines of decision-making.
White
At first glance, white common creatures in this set can do a lot of things, giving the player some lines of choices when they enter the battlefield or when they attack.
A good example is 《Hexgold Slith》 which reminds a lot of 《Glint-Sleeve Artisan》, but that can also generate energy when it enters the battlefield.
《Inspired Inventor》 is also a good common creature that can generate energy when it enters the battlefield, this energy can be used when it attacks, so it gains first strike and makes it harder to be blocked.
《Aerie Auxiliary》 is a nice flying creature that can put +1/+1 counters in your creatures, this card pairs really well with creatures that do some ability when +1/+1 counters are put on them and also in aggressive strategies.
The removals of white are 《Expel the Unworthy》 that can be a cheap removal spell in the early game or a hard removal if you spend more mana for the kicker cost. For me, the best common card of white is 《Dog Umbra》, an enchantment that works as 《Pacifism》, but it has flash and can be played in your creatures for them to gain Umbra Armor, again a lot of versatility.
Blue
Overall blue has good tempo cards that will allow you to reach the late game so you can play your big spells while also letting you draw some extra cards. I can see 《Serum Visionary》 being an uncommon card in any other set, in MH3 this is just a very good common creature.
《Aether Spike》 works basically as a 《Miscalculation》, except you can spend more energy that you have in stock if you need or save some energy if your opponent doesn’t have enough extra untapped lands to pay for the spell.
《Deem Inferior》 is a card that positively surprised me. When I took a first glance at it I didn’t think it would be as good as it is, blue traditionally doesn’t have good removal spells and giving your opponent the choice of where to put their card is not usually what you want. But the fact that it can target any non-land permanent and that there are big Eldrazi creatures hanging around in this set makes this card pretty decent.
《Utter Insignificance》 is another “Removal” spell that is good in blue, it can be played mid-combat and also allows you to exile the enchanted if needed.
Black
Black is well-known for the removal spells on Limited. 《Breathe Your Last》 is an upgraded 《Murder》, and 《Murder》 was already a premium removal spell for Limited, this card is one of the best commons in the set, for sure.
《Wither and Bloom》 doesn’t fall too much behind, a -3/-3 that can put a counter on a creature later is very good, especially when you can take advantage of creatures that do some ability when a +1/+1 counter is placed on them.
《Dreamdrinker Vampire》 is a good versatile creature with lifelink, it can be a solid early drop and goes well in the adapt strategies. The fact that 《Accursed Marauder》 ability doesn’t let your opponent sacrifice a token creature is very relevant in this set that is full of Eldrazi Spawns, you will often sacrifice the marauder himself to its ability, but it is still an ok common card.
《Refurbished Familiar》 is a good flying creature that I see being better in the draft than in sealed, it will work well with more artifacts in the deck. 《Fetid Gargantua》 goes really well in decks that can put +1/+1 counters in your creatures, drawing cards, while also being a very present body in the board is good for a common creature.
《Gravedig》 is also very good, it is very versatile as it allows you to make a 2/2 if you want to put some pressure early game and also can give you some card advantage, by returning a creature from the graveyard, with the option of doing both with entwine.
Red
I didn’t like the red commons that much in MH3, the power level of creatures is low and the removal spells are good but they are not able to deal with big creatures on the board.
With that said, there are some cards that you need to look for if you are playing red, 《Voidpouncer》 is a small version of 《Reality Smasher》, it can become a 5/3 creature with haste and trample if the kicker cost was paid.
《Skoa, Embermage》 is a 4/4 creature that can deal 4 damage to any target, it is pretty good especially if you manage to blink it.
《Fanged Flames》 and 《Galvanic Discharge》 are the common removal spells for red, they are both very useful in dealing with small and medium-sized creatures, but red will have a hard time removing a big Eldrazi if you are facing one.
Green
Green is full of good creature cards in the common slot but lacks a bit in the removal spells. 《Horrific Assault》 is one of the only common removals available in green, it is pretty good though.
Talking about the creature cards, 《Basking Broodscale》 is a very good 2 drop that can adapt to become a 3/3 and also make an Eldrazi Spawn token to help you get the mana you need for your big Eldrazi creatures. 《Eldrazi Repurposer》 is a solid 3/3 for 3 mana that leaves an Eldrazi Spawn when it enters the battlefield and when it dies.
《Evolution Witness》 is very good, for 3 manas + 2 of the adapt ability, you can have a 4/3 creature that returns a permanent from your graveyard to your hand and if you manage to put some extra counters on it later it can return more permanents. 《Nightshade Dryad》 is a card that can generate any color of mana that you need, it not only fixes your mana but is a really good blocker.
The games of this Limited tend to be a bit long, with 《Colossal Dreadmask》 you have a 6/6 trample creature in play, and with the bonus of an equipment that gives +6/+6 trample to your creatures, it might be a good way for you to win a board stall. Bestow is in general a really good mechanic for limited and 《Nyxborn Hydra》 represents it pretty well, the same way as 《Colossal Dreadmask》, this card can sometimes help you cut through a messy board.
Lands
MH3 has a cycle of 10 common land cards that can generate colorless mana and also allows you to fetch 3 different kinds of basic lands. They are the landscape lands and they are so very important for Limited because they actually allow you to fix for “4” different kinds of colors if you count the colorless.
As I stated the importance of having colorless mana generators earlier in the article, I think you should play as many of those as you can in your Limited decks, as long you can fetch at least 2 lands of your color with them. Eventually, they can also allow you to cycle them out to get a new card.
Color Ranking
In this section, I will rank the colors of this set in the order of my favorite to the least favorite ones. This is just a first analysis of the commons of the set and it may be subjected to changes as we play more of the Modern Horizons 3 Limited.
I will put Black, in the first spot of color preference in MH3, the 2 excellent removal spells that it has in the common slot, summed up with the fact that it goes well in different archetypes is enough to make me want to play this color.
I will put Green in second place because of the amount of good creature cards available, despite the fact of not having many removal spells in the common slot. It makes up a bit for the lack of removal spells when we talk about the green uncommons and I think it will pair well with some colors that have more removal available.
White is the next in the order of preference, it has very solid removals in the common slot, and also good creatures.
Blue has good tempo cards, counters and some cards to draw cards, it takes the fourth position.
Red takes the last position, the commons fall a bit behind when compared to the other colors, but if you find yourself with a good red pool of cards or see it opened in draft you should totally go for it.
Archetype Analysis and Ranking
In this section I will analyze the archetypes present in MH3, talking a little bit about each of their gameplans and already ranking them in the order of my favorite archetype until now to my least favorite. This is just a first analysis of the set and it may be subjected to changes as we go deeper in the Modern Horizons 3 Limited.
1. BG Adapt 
This Archetype is pretty good, it is based on getting your creatures stronger with the adapt ability. While playing with this archetype it is important to remember that you cannot adapt a creature that already has a +1/+1 counter on it, but if it gets another +1/+1 counter from another source, like 《Revitalizing Repast》, if it has an ability that triggers when it gets a +1/+1 counter on it, like on 《Emperor of Bones》, that ability will trigger again.
《Cursed Wombat》 is the card that represents this archetype well, as it will allow you to put an extra +1/+1 counter in your permanents. This combination of colors can be a solid midrange strategy and I think will be one of the most powerful archetypes of MH3 Limited.
2. GW Bestow 
Bestow is a great mechanic for Limited, it not only gives the enchanted creature bonuses but also leaves the creature with bestow in play after the enchanted creature dies. There are a lot of game advantages you can have with this mechanic. 《Golden-Tail Trainer》, 《Glyph Elemental》 and 《Nyxborn Hydra》 are what you are looking for when playing with this archetype.
3. GU Eldrazi 
This archetype is all about ramping up for big creatures, the big payoffs here would be cards like 《Nulldrifter》 or 《Twisted Riddlekeeper》. 《Snapping Voidcraw》 is the Green-Blue creature that will help you get that big mana you need for this archetype to work. With enough Eldrazi Spawns, I think even the Eldrazi Big 3 (《Kozilek, the Broken Reality》, 《Ulamog, the Defiler》 and 《Emrakul, the World Anew》) are not an impossible mission to cast in this archetype.
4. WB Sacrifice
White-Black Sacrifice is trying to take advantage of creatures dying to get some extra advantage. I think a key card in this archetype is 《Marionette Apprentice》, with other cards like 《Shilgengar, Sire of Famine》 and 《Victimize》 paired with a bunch of removal spells will make White-Black a good archetype.
5. RG Eldrazi 
This is a more aggressive version of the Eldrazi archetype. It is trying to play big creatures while also making a bunch of Eldrazi Spawn tokens. 《Titans’ Vanguard》《Wumpus Aberration》 and 《Writhing Chrysalis》 are cards that you are looking for when playing this archetype.
6. BR Artifacts
BR artifacts is trying to take advantage of the affinity for artifacts mechanic and play cheaper spells, while being aggressive with smaller equipments that have Living Weapon and other artifacts. 《Cranial Ram》, 《Refurbished Familiar》 and 《Etherium Pteramander》 are cards that represent really well this archetype.
7. RW Energy Aggro
Red-White is trying to be aggressive while using the energy mechanic as a support. In my view, the energy mechanic is not the main act in MH3, but just an assisting mechanic that is there to help you eventually give haste to a creature like with 《Conduit Goblin》 or pump your creature like with 《Scurry of Gremlins》. 《Guide of Souls》 is a card that you will want in every RW deck that you play in MH3 Limited.
8. UB Draw 3
This archetype is trying to draw a lot of cards to activate abilities that cost less when you drew 3 or more cards this turn. It is not every turn that you will draw a lot of cards, but drawing cards is generally good in Limited and while you are at it you are also trying to control the board estate with removal spells and counters. 《Sneaky Snacker》, 《Horrid Shadowspinner》 and 《Kami of Jealous Thirst》 are some cards you will see present when playing Blue-Black.
9. WU Energy
White-Blue is trying to play some creatures with evasion while having the support of the energy mechanic to get small advantages in the game. It is not a bad strategy and stopping those flying creatures can often be a hard task 《Emissary of Soulfire》, 《Riddle Gate Gargoyle》 and 《Electrozoa》 are cards that you might see when playing White-Blue.
10. UR Energy
Different from the other archetypes where energy is the sidekick, here Energy is trying to play the main role. I don’t think it works really well as a main strategy as the payoffs of energy cards are not very interesting. 《Cyclops Superconductor》, 《Izzet Generatorium》 and 《Reiterating Bolt》 are cards you will see in Blue-Red.
Top 10 Most Powerful Cards
In this section, I will talk about my favorite cards of the edition For playing Limited. These cards are what I would like to open a pack and see, but there are really good cards apart from them that didn’t cut to the list, as MH3 has many powerful cards.
#10 《Springheart Nantuko》
Making copies of your creature and the bestow ability combined makes this creature very annoying to be dealt with and if you don’t, you most probably will lose the game against many copies of the same creature, good enough to enter the top 10.
#9 《Kozilek, the Broken Reality》
This is a very powerful card in the correct deck, by that I mean one built around with enough Eldrazi Spawn makers and mana resources to be able to reach the 9 mana that is needed to cast it. After it is cast it is so very powerful, you can transform 2 cards in your hand into 5/4 creatures while taking out 2 cards of the opponent’s hand (and he makes 2/2s) to make sure he is not gonna have some sneaky removal spell hiding in there, all of that while drawing 4 cards. The games that you manage to resolve this card you will probably going to win.
#8 《Toxic Deluge》
As most 《Wrath of God》 effects for Limited, deluge costs only 3 mana and is very powerful, especially if your opponents do not expect it and you manage to kill more than 1 creature with it.
#7 《Detective’s Phoenix》
Here is a good reason to play red. 《Detective’s Phoenix》 is not only an evasive creature with haste but it can be played as an enchantment creature from your graveyard. It is good for both early and late game and for sure will be able to take a lot of MH3 games home.
#6 《Laelia, the Blade Reforged》
《Laelia, the Blade Reforged》 is a familiar face for those who play Vintage Cube or Commander, but for those who don’t know this card, just hope it is on your side of the table when you see it. It is a very strong creature that can give you a lot of card advantage and get out of control really quickly if not dealt with.
#5 《Crabomination》
A 6 mana 5/5 creature that makes your opponent discard a card and plays a free spell from 3 random cards. This will be often a 3 card for one with you playing 2 spells, it is crazy good. The emerge ability is just a cherry on the top.
#4 《Ajani, Nacatl Pariah》
A very early drop that puts a total of 3 power and toughness on the table in the form of 2 creatures and it is fairly easy to flip into a busted planeswalker, sign me in.
#3 《Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury》
We meet 《Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath》 younger sister and she is as powerful as Uro himself. 《Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury》 allows you to 《Lightning Helix》 a target when it enters the battlefield and when it attacks, while being very hard to be dealt with because of the escape ability.
#2 《Solitude》
This card, first printed in MH2, sees a comeback in the booster packs of MH3, as a Special Guest card, together with the 4 other elementals of it’s cycle. According to WOTC release notes of MH3 “1 in 64 boosters will have a common replaced with a Special Guest card” and there are a total of 10 special guest cards in the set, so, opening a Special Guest card should not be an easy task. With that said, 《Solitude》 is both a removal spell and a lifelink 3/2 creature with flash, which makes it just awesome.
#1 《Fury》
《Fury》 is banned in Modern for a reason, so it wouldn’t be a surprise that it is a powerhouse for Limited. This card wins the first place of the strongest card of the edition, it is also a Special Guest card, so as stated above, it should be very hard to open.
Conclusions
Modern Horizons 3 is a wild ride, there are so many abilities and so many different ways to play the cards that I think it will make the players want to play this set for a long time after the release. I think the games are going to usually be long, even for the more aggressive decks and archetypes, so focusing on cards that might go over a board stall might be important.
Another consideration is that the landscape lands will allow a lot of color splashing. So giving extra attention to these lands will open up your possibilities of playing with stronger cards of different colors.
MH3 is a big set, with over 300 cards and for sure it will be very relevant to constructed formats. For Limited I bet it will be as fun to play as MH1 and MH2.
I hope that I could help you to understand a little bit of this edition and I can’t wait to play more and more of it. See you guys next time!
Marcio Carvalho (X)
