Locations
I know, I know, it's Modern Horizons 2. It's a direct-to-Modern set, and wild cards like Subtlety and Solitude sure to change Modern forever. I wrote last week about some of the coolest Commander reprints included in the set - which is huge considering how expensive some of those cards were - and today I want to round out the set now that I've had a few days to take it in.
First Impressions
Wow.
I think that pretty much sums it up. We're seeing designs I never even considered, and I'm incredibly excited about what this set means for my favorite format Modern. Modern has really been through the ringer of the last few years, but I'm optimistic about the future of the format. We went from golden age to golden age in the format until Modern Horizons and Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis took things over, and from there we struggled from broken set to broken set as Wizards pumped ridiculous cards like Urza and Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath into the format.
Thankfully, a ban update back in February reset things fairly substantially. Since then, the format has settled into a powerful-but-fun groove, with a set of top-tier decks but nothing overtly dominant and plenty going on beneath the surface. Now Modern Horizons 2 is going to add to that, with cool upgrades to existing archetypes and a couple opportunities for new ones to establish themselves, like Enchantress. I have no idea how it will all shake out, but it feels like good fun to find out.
But what's great about Modern Horizons 2 is that what I just described only applies to about half of the set. The rest is a ton of Commander goodies, from much-needed reprints to the coming Squirrel Armageddon. There's a ton to love on this side of the set, and I want to explore a few of those highlights a little more today.
But first, Merfolk!
A Modern Merfolk Aside
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In fact, while we're at it, you might know that I'm a huge Merfolk fan. It's the first deck I ever made the Top 8 of an Open with a decade ago, and I've been a Fish champion ever since. I have the deck foiled out in Modern and Legacy, and it's one of my most prized possessions.
Wizards brought in pros to help them test Modern Horizons 2, and Brad Nelson put in a lot of work to help Merfolk out with a trio of incredible new cards. As much as I enjoy getting a little stabby with fffreak in Among Us, he's among my favorite human beings to be around, and now he's the guy who helped save Merfolk.
There's absolutely no telling where the archetype goes from here. Infinite Spreading Seas.dek? Mono-Blue and drop the Lurrus and Unsettled Mariner variations? Counterspell?
I don't know the answers yet. But here's where I'm starting.
Modern Merfolk | Modern | Corbin Hosler
- Creatures (29)
- 2 Cursecatcher
- 3 Svyelun of Sea and Sky
- 4 Lord of Atlantis
- 4 Master of the Pearl Trident
- 4 Merfolk Trickster
- 4 Rishadan Dockhand
- 4 Silvergill Adept
- 4 Tide Shaper
- Instants (7)
- 1 Spell Pierce
- 2 Dismember
- 4 Force of Negation
- Artifacts (4)
- 4 Aether Vial
Back to Commander
If every set is a Commander set now, how does Modern Horizons 2 stack up?
Well above average, I'd say. It starts with Chatterfang, Squirrel General (the name is a bit on the nose, but hey, why not), but it goes much deeper.
The great thing is this isn't a one-of Squirrel general. The set comes with a ton of support for Chatterfang, which already is absurd thanks to the Parallel Lives attached to it. The fact that it can also sacrifice Squirrel fodder to remove creatures (in a way that gets around indestructible effects) just pushes it over the top as the perfect commander Squirrels have always been looking for.
So how to generate those tokens? Chitterspitter and Squirrel Sanctuary will do the trick, and Sylvan Anthem will pump those tokens and dig you through your deck. If a bunch of small creatures aren't enough, Squirrel Mob will get huge with all your tokens, and Squirrel Sovereign will buff all the nut collectors. And if you really want to get degenerate, you can break Chatterstorm any number of ways.
The Best Riffs This Side of Taylor Swift
This set has turned out a bit like Time Spiral, with a ton of riffs and callbacks to old cards. While some of those are great Lagac memes, others are a little more relevant to Commander. And who doesn't love Ornithopter of Paradise?
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Let's start with the latter. Timeless Witness is the best Eternal Witness knockoff we've maybe ever seen, and it's sure to become an instant staple in EDH. I have no problem paying an extra mana for a Witness, and since it keeps the same power and toughness it'll still play nicely with Reveillark shenanigans.
But Timeless isn't just a riff on Eternal Witness; it's an upgrade. Sure, it's worse at grabbing a fetch or a mana dork out of your graveyard on turn three, but the extra mana on the front end is a price well worth paying to gain access to the eternalize half of the card. Value after a board wipe? Check. Value off of being milled, either by yourself or an opponent? Check. Great callback art? Check and check.
Tireless Provisioner is the card I didn't know I needed until I saw it. Tireless Tracker has an impeccable pedigree, both in 60-card competitive formats and in 100-card singleton. Gaining value off the thing you most want to do in Commander - make land drops - is a great attribute on a creature, and the Provisioner is the perfect complement to Tracker. The Clue/Food/Treasure token combo theme the set has is really neat, and Provisioner does a heck of a Lotus Cobra impression, plus more.
The riffs go on and on, from Tormod's Cryptkeeper to Brainstone to Sol Talisman. Some of them are more playable than others, but pretty much every one will make me smile when I crack it in a booster.
I'm sure many more words will be written in the future about this card, but for now I'll just say I'm thrilled to have this addition to the pantheon of Swords. It's got the best abilities for Commander out of possibly any of them, and it's going to be a surefire addition to decks all across the EDH spectrum.
The best design in the set. It's hard to say much about Damn that hasn't already been said, but my favorite thing in Magic design is when something that seems "obvious" gets printed 28 years into the game. I felt that way when they introduced mechanics like exert, and using overload here to make a card that perfectly blends the flavor of Damnation and Wrath of God is just awesome.
Thraben Inspector has shown up with a warrant, and they've brought some friends. This is a perfect fit into the "when you are attacked" crowd of cards that famously includes Ghostly Prison but also has some newer nice additions like Revenge of Ravens and Ever-Watching Threshold.
Search the Premises isn't anything broken - you do after all have to pay the mana to crack the Clue. But I think I like it even more because it's a really fair effect. Opponents aren't likely to want to give you tokens, but it also doesn't demand an immediate answer like Smothering Tithe, so odds are people are just going to leave you alone, exactly what you want to accomplish in a deck with cards like this.
Coin Flips
I may not personally be a fan of flipping coins, but Krark's Thumb fans can rejoice - there's more coin-flipping goodies in this set!
That starts with the Chance Encounter reprint, which gives the coinflip deck an actual alternate win condition to go with its new cards. That's always something that's been popular with Commander players, and Yusri, Fortune's Flame pushes the coin flipping in ways not previously explored. I was never a huge fan of competitive Pokemon due to how many coin flips there were, but I think it works perfectly in a format like Commander, and I think this is a pretty neat direction to push with Tavern Scoundrel.
I'm not sure Green needed this effect, but with that said I haven't seen it broken yet, either. Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth has been a defining card throughout its history, and I can't wait to see what Yavimaya brings to the format. And I like that they actually made a specially named land legendary!
There's so much more to talk about in this set, and we'll be thoroughly examining the ways to incorporate the set into your Commander decks in the coming weeks, but that's what stands out to me so far. What are your thoughts or favorite cards or themes in the set?
Thanks for reading,
Corbin Hosler
