Modern Horizons Announced
Spoilers, Rumors, and Speculation forum
Posted on Feb. 28, 2019, 8:33 p.m. by CastleSiege
A new Modern-legal set, skipping Standard.
Official previews start at the end of May.
Releases June 14, 2019.
Draft pre-release weekend: June 8-9.
254 card set, all of which are new to the Modern format. All reprints are of cards that are not currently Modern-legal.
Buy-a-Box promo will be a reprint.
MTGO price will be $6.99 per pack.
Many new cards will be throwbacks to old cards or characters from the lore (see the two spoilers from today).
Sources:
Official Modern Horizons Announcement
Magic | WeeklyMTG - Modern Horizons
February 28 Spoilers:
What character do you think is featured here?
This is super interesting, and I am excited to see what new toys they will print, or what old toys they will print that are not Modern-legal, but could very well be.
Looking at that artwork, the first thing that came to my mind is Eldrazi-Sorin. The somewhat mottled nature of its flesh; the meld between two creatures, and, of course, the human-like figure having Sorin's long white hair all were factors in that immediate reaction.
I hope that is not the case. I like Sorin, and feel him being made into an Eldrazi would be awful for his character arc.
I did not have time to watch the stream, but did they say prerelease would only be draft, or are they doing sealed as well?
February 28, 2019 8:57 p.m. Edited.
CastleSiege says... #4
I would also be really bummed out if that art ends up being an Eldrazi Sorin. At first glance I thought it might be Tezzeret. The humanoid kind of looks like him.
I think pre-release weekend is only draft. I'll update the info posted if I find out otherwise.
February 28, 2019 9:02 p.m.
ZendikariWol says... #5
Can we talk for a second about how much better than a masters set this is? I haven't been able to say this for a while but good call, WotC.
February 28, 2019 10:03 p.m.
Sounds interesting. Yawgmoth is who the image brings to mind. Which make sense with Serra getting a card.
February 28, 2019 10:36 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #7
This is certainly an interesting product, and I am glad that WotC finally has decided to print cards that are legal in modern, but not standard; hopefully, this set shall have reprints of both Doubling Season and Akroma's Memorial .
At long last, there is a card of Serra, herself, but I am very surprised that she is being printed in this set, and not a Commander set, as that would offer fewer restrictions on how powerful she could be. It is not at all surprising that she generates angel tokens, but her first ability feels rather underwhelming when one considers how famous and legendary a character she is in the story; at the very least, it could have given +1/+1 to all creatures.
However, I am overall very excited for this set, and I hope that it can live up to the great hype that WotC has been giving it. Is it safe to presume that all new cards that will be introduced in this set shall be legal in legacy, vintage, and EDH?
February 28, 2019 10:38 p.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #8
Btw I think that art is
Brisela, Voice of Nightmares
February 28, 2019 10:41 p.m.
Um...
The madmen finally did it.
Serra, as a Planeswalker card.
I mean, yeah, sure, she's average right now, being a 1 Loyalty 'walker for 4 that ETB's with a Serra Angel , but still! They gave in to community demand and made a Serra Planeswalker.
Fuck it, I might actually put money down on this, which I haven't for any Masters.
February 28, 2019 11:13 p.m.
ZendikariWol says... #10
APPLE01DOJ, that is so not Brisela... though it kinda looks like a tree version of her...
February 28, 2019 11:22 p.m.
PlatinumOne says... #11
berryjon: average? i can easily see her going into a GWx token deck. ramp into her turn 3, pop her ult turn 4, keep at least 1 creature on board to become immune to damage. most likely an abzan build with Lingering Souls
DemonDragonJ: what modern deck are you using with Akroma's Memorial ? a tron variant?
February 28, 2019 11:22 p.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #12
yea I was viewing the image on my phone, can clearly see its not while viewing from a PC.
February 28, 2019 11:54 p.m.
PlatinumOne: I am enough of an Old Fogey and Vorthos that any Serra that doesn't make Jace, the Mind Sculptor look like garbage is merely average. ;)
I'm still going to get at least one copy of her, that's for sure.
March 1, 2019 12:34 a.m.
PlatinumOne says... #14
berryjon: the comparison to jace is irrelevant because the cards do very different things. i'd also argue that this serra planeswalker does in fact make jace look like garbage. serra ults on turn 5 by herself. jace waits until turn 9. serra's +2 adds a ton of power to the board letting you kill an opponent. jace lets you...scry your opponent? serra's neg ability gives you a big flyer with vigi. jace's neg ability lets you...bounce a creature and let the opponent re-play it. its no contest.
March 1, 2019 1:04 a.m.
PlatinumOne says... #15
i mean with this serra, you can just -3, get an angel to block to protect serra, next turn +2, attack for 5 with the angel and STILL block to protect serra, then -3 again and just beat face with angels. kinda bonkers actually.
March 1, 2019 1:08 a.m.
DPenguin22 says... #16
I also agree that Eldrazi Sorin would be disappointing, though not unheard of since he’s stuck on Innistrad where the Eldrazi most recently were. However, that creature looks more tree-like than Eldrazi-like, and the plane looks more like Dominaria that Innistrad. So, if we go back to old school Dominaria characters, it could maybe be the Great Spirit or Greensleeves? That’s just a guess though.
Also, they’re not going to print Doubling Season or Akroma’s Memorial or anything, because the only reprints for this set will be ones that are new to modern. Meaning we’ll likely get something like Counterspell , Daze , Swords to Plowshares or something like that.
March 1, 2019 2:48 a.m.
PlatinumOne says... #17
DPenguin22: do you play UW control in modern? lol.
Mother of Runes reprint would be cool. but they'll have to be careful of which reprints they choose. otherwise modern just warps into legacy. UW control is already really good in modern, so bringing legacy counterspells to modern will only push it over the top.
March 1, 2019 2:59 a.m.
So, instead of using the existing product line of Masters sets to introduce new cards to old formats, Wizards is using a new product line to introduce that notion. Who thought of this genius thing? Literally everyone, ever since the first Masters set debuted.
At least the intended price point is lower, though still double the standard booster price. I am not excited by the current two cards at all - a bad planeswalker and a worse Cabal Therapy . Like why make cabal therapist, when you can simply reprint Cabal Therapy to be modern legal? Also, why is it at rare? The therapy is a low power uncommon at best.
Also, this means new cards for pauper too, so that is exciting.
March 1, 2019 5:24 a.m.
rockleemyhero says... #19
DemonDragonJ unfortunately those 2 cards will not be reprinted. It says that the only reprints will not be currently modern legal. Both of those cards are currently modern legal... =\
March 1, 2019 1:35 p.m.
ZendikariWol says... #20
Wait...
I was looking at an article recently (some sort of Q&A with a member of R&D, I don't remember which one) where they mentioned that there are quite a few legendary creatures whose cards they are dissatisfied with. Gerrard Capashen gets brought up a lot. Perhaps they're using this, beyond valuable reprints, to print some spicy, spicy old-school legends??
March 1, 2019 1:36 p.m.
landofMordor says... #21
ZendikariWol that would be so sick. I’m very excited for this set, and I’m just hoping the retail price is cheap enough for me to pick up some singles for Cube. (This has got to be one of the bigger Cube sets of the year, judging by the power and versatility of Cabal Therapist).
March 1, 2019 2:18 p.m.
LittleBlueHero says... #22
Could that art be Gaea? Shes never been physically depicted but is said to have intervened during the phyrexian invasion. Would make sense shes a little angry if thats when shes time period shes being depicted in.
March 1, 2019 2:38 p.m.
captainamerica says... #23
I'm hoping we get (cheaper) analogs to Path to Exile and other powerful modern cards. The price tag is what really limits me in my modern builds
March 1, 2019 2:55 p.m.
captainamerica says... #24
Also, here's what we know on Sorin:
He was incased in rock that was impaling him and preventing him from planeswalking away.
Tezzeret has merged with the Planar Bridge so I don't think it could be him
I'm pretty sure Brisela has perished, however she was a combination of 2 angels that were weirded by the Eldrazi
My genuine hope is that the art is "Prime Time" depicted on Regatha or something. Maybe they'll reprint the cycle???
March 1, 2019 3 p.m.
SeekerofSecrets says... #25
I'm so hyped for this... if i finally get access to cards like Counterspell , Daze , Gush , Snap heck maybe even Force of Will , I'll finally be able to play U delver. Might be a pipe dream but I'm still pumped
March 1, 2019 3:53 p.m.
Thinking over this some, I expect we are likely to see cards that are commensurate with Modern's current power level, but too powerful for standard. I suspect they will not want too much powercreep, and will aim for preserving the "Turn 4 Format" of Modern.
To that end, I would not be surprised if they printed powerful, interesting cards with unusual effects not currently represented in Modern, as opposed to cards that are a strict improvement on what we already have.
As an example of what I mean, I will apply this reasoning to SeekerofSecrets' theoretical reprints.
Counterspell would be a strict improvement on a whole range of commonly-used counterspells in Modern. A Modern-legal reprint would greatly disrupt the format. Wizards has, since Modern's inception, made it quite clear two mana only buys you a conditional/avoidable counter.
Daze might be a better option for a reprint. It's a conditional counter for two, with some added utility (with the downside that they only have to pay , as opposed to Mana Leak 's ). This would be a pretty scary card in Modern, since even a tappedouted player could be a threat, but I do not think it will be too disruptive.
Gush is one I could see being reprinted.
I can see a sanp reprint, particularly in light of the recent Unwind printing.
Force of Will would be devastating for Modern. It works in Legacy because Legacy has so many hyper-fast cards that you often need a Turn 0 answer to threats. Modern does not have that problem that needs fixing.
Now, for what I want to see reprinted in Modern: Benalish Hero , and all that would imply for the set. I suspect I am in a very small minority on this, and that none of that minority is in a position to make that dream come true. Sighs.
March 1, 2019 5:04 p.m.
I wonder if some of the conspiracy and commander cards that are currently only legal in eternal formats will get printed for modern? I feel like I’ve often heard people say “if only this were modern legal” in regards to a number of those...
March 1, 2019 5:53 p.m.
ZendikariWol says... #28
Anything that refers to dethrone or the draft is not gonna make an appearance. That is... most of the conspiracy set.
March 1, 2019 6:20 p.m.
Fetches will not be in this set. Prices of - especially KTK fetches - have some serious potential upwards.
March 1, 2019 6:20 p.m.
CastleSiege says... #30
Who knows. Maybe they'll finish at least one land cycle with this set. Would be nice to have the other 5 Battle Lands, Bicycle Lands, Reveal Lands, or whatever the cycle of Battlevond lands are called.
March 1, 2019 7:43 p.m.
Matt_The_OGRE says... #31
I feel like if they reprint any counterspell it would be Memory Lapse , which would be pretty awesome.
March 1, 2019 9:07 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #32
PlatinumOne, I actually have that card in every EDH deck of mine, because I believe that that is the format in which that card is most useful.
rockleemyhero, that is most unfortunate, so I hope that WotC finds another set in which to reprint those cards, especially the memorial, which is now very expensive.
March 2, 2019 12:54 a.m.
landofMordor says... #33
My quasi-realistic wish list for the set would be to have some strictly-worse versions of Legacy staples -- a 2-mana Brainstorm , a 2-mana Path to Exile , a GGG Tarmogoyf , etc etc, and reprints of auxiliary sideboard tech like Containment Priest . I don't know for sure if that would happen, because it could be problematic to have 2 Paths in Modern (for example), but it might be good to give budget/casual players a chance to be able to fight it out with high-tier lists. I'm also super hyped about the old-school flavor that this set will potentiate.
I'm interested to hear others' wish lists!
March 3, 2019 5:05 p.m.
landofMordor says... #34
I mean, like cdkime said, I think our best assumption is that WotC will aim to preserve the Turn-4 nature of the format. You can't reprint Brainstorm or FoW because then Modern becomes Legacy, and why keep them distinct at that point?
March 3, 2019 5:06 p.m.
Hi_diddly_ho_neighbor says... #35
I don't play modern so unless this set has a wicked limited environment or they sneak some commander reprints in there I am rather indifferent towards it. That being said, it's nice that the MRSP is a little more reasonable.
I really like that Serra. As a card she seems powerful, but it also represents her from a lore standpoint very well. It would be awesome if they follow through on printing new cards of old legends whom they messed up in the past (i.e. Gerrard) or printing cards for legends whom have yet to receive one. I'd only hope that they don't attempt to give Yawgmoth a card. I am not confident WOTC could create a balanced card of him that doesn't disappoint.
March 3, 2019 5:30 p.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #36
Memory Lapse would be ridiculous in modern. Nothing worst than Isochron Scepter imprinted with Memory Lapse on it. Talk about a boring unfun game. That is not what modern needs.
March 3, 2019 6:18 p.m.
mymanpotsandpans says... #37
All in favor of Veteran Explorer getting a reprint slot raise their hands!
No? Just me? Pernicious Deed maybe?
The thing that has me curious the most about this set is, what non legacy, vintage, commander sleeper card exists that they are going to reprint to shake things up? There has to be one card no one has thought of the design team has been laughing to themselves about since day one. Impulse , Exploration , Dack Fayden , Nimble Mongoose all could be pretty sweet.
March 3, 2019 10:37 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #38
I definitely hope that Undermine and Recoil are reprinted in this set, since, now that Absorb has been reprinted in modern, there is no reason to not introduce those cards to modern, as well (preferably demoted to uncommons, since none of those cards are sufficiently powerful to be rares).
It also would be nice to have the five primordial dragons from Invasion reprinted (i.e., Crosis, Dromar, and so forth), especially since Dromar is the only one who has not yet been reprinted in the new card frame.
Does anyone here wish to guess what percentage of cards in this set shall be reprints, and which shall be new cards? Unlike the Masters sets, the cards that are reprinted in this set shall become legal in a new format, so I am certain that WotC shall wish to be very careful about what cards they reprint in it, so I imagine that no more than half, or perhaps slightly less than half, shall be reprints, with the remainder being new cards.
March 5, 2019 9:27 p.m.
ToolmasterOfBrainerd says... #39
My biggest hopes are Baleful Strix , Daze , and Counterspell .
Counterspell probably wouldn't be too powerful for modern. Logic Knot and Mana Leak kinda suck; it's a little sad that modern doesn't have a counterspell that isn't embarrassing to play. With the prevalence of Cavern of Souls I find it HIGHLY unlikely that counterspells will ever be too powerful for modern.
I know from budget legacy that you have to do a little work to get Daze to function with shocklands. It's a pretty major deckbuilding restriction, especially in modern. All the same I'd love to see something appear that can play it. I think you could get UR Delver to function with turn 1 Island into turn 2 UR land.
Baleful Strix would be an amazing equalizer between the stupid creature aggro decks (looking at you humans and spirits and phoenix) and fair decks. Seriously, screw those decks. I'm sick of one-for-one removal not being good enough. The card is laughable in the face of bigger decks like Tron.
March 6, 2019 12:57 a.m.
CastleSiege says... #41
I think Baleful Strix is the most realistic of those three cards to be reprinted. Daze and Counterspell aren't unreasonable, but honestly I kind of hope Counterspell doesn't become legal in Modern. It's neat seeing decks forced to use alternative counters. Counterspell would make a ton of them obsolete and remove some diversity from the format.
March 6, 2019 5:46 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #42
CastleSiege, I agree that the original Counterspell should be limited only to the two eternal formats, to make it more special and those formats more powerful; it would upset the balance of modern too much if it were to be made legal in that format.
I hope that WotC keeps modern distinct from legacy and vintage, or there otherwise would be no point in having multiple formats.
March 6, 2019 10:50 p.m.
PlatinumOne says... #43
DemonDragonJ: there are 3 modern formats. modern is an eternal format.
March 6, 2019 10:52 p.m.
PlatinumOne - Modern is not an eternal format. Wizards defines eternal formats as any that allow cards from all non-silver-bordered sets. In terms of tournament play, that's Legacy and Vintage. Commander would be a third eternal format with significant Wizards support.
March 6, 2019 11:04 p.m.
PlatinumOne says... #46
cdkime: well its not a rotating format, so how is it not eternal?
March 6, 2019 11:12 p.m.
PlatinumOne - Because Modern does not fit the previously-mentioned definition. Modern only allows cards from certain sets, and thus is not a format allowing cards from any non-sliver-bordered sets.
Rotation has nothing to do with Wizards’ definition of “eternal format.”
March 6, 2019 11:57 p.m.
PlatinumOne - Argothian Wurm is on the Reserve List.
That said, I am in favour of having some fun land destruction options in Modern. Granted, I will fully admit I am biased toward unfun, grindy play, so I may not be a good barometer for what the general populace wants.
APPLE01DOJ says... #2
Dope!
February 28, 2019 8:55 p.m.