When Modern Horizons and its sequel, Modern Horizons 2, released, they famously broke several formats. In the first set, cards like Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis, Arcum's Astrolabe, and Wrenn and Six each saw quick bans. Modern Horizons 2 went even further with the likes of Fury, Grief, Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, Chatterstorm, Galvanic Relay, and Sojourner's Companion all seeing noteworthy bans.

Despite the noted power of these releases breaking multiple formats, it was clear that they were popular. For a time, Modern Horizons 2 was even noted as being the best selling Magic: The Gathering release of all time. As such, Wizards of the Coast decided to take another shot at it once again with Modern Horizons 3.

To the surprise of no one, things broke again, leading to numerous bans in several formats, particularly when centered around a certain Legendary Bird. As such, there are once again several powerful Mythic Rares in this release and I'm going to rank them all!

There is plenty to cover, so let's get right into it!

• 24. Ugin's Binding
• 23. Shadow of the Second Sun
• 22. Grist, Voracious Larva // Grist, the Plague Swarm
• 21. Kozilek, the Broken Reality
• 20. Breya, Etherium Shaper
• 19. Emrakul, the World Anew
• 18. Arna Kennerud, Skycaptain
• 17. Eladamri, Korvecdal
• 16. Recruiter of the Guard
• 15. Sorin of House Markov // Sorin, Ravenous Neonate
• 14. Ashling, Flame Dancer
• 13. Nethergoyf
• 12. Kaalia of the Vast
• 11. Herigast, Erupting Nullkite

10. Phyrexian Tower

I still remember when Phyrexian Tower saw its first reprints in Ultimate Masters and The List. It surprised many players that it was even allowed to be reprinted, given that three of the cards from the same cycle are on the Reserved List.

Phyrexian Tower, however, was not, which led to it getting a major reprint in Modern Horizons 3, thus bringing it into the Modern format. Its uses in the format have been limited, largely to decks like Golgari Yawgmoth. However, when it's good, it's really good, and it also proved a good injection of supply for fans of Commander and Cube who love taking advantage of its power.

9. Birthing Ritual

Modern Horizons sets really love their throwbacks, and Birthing Ritual provides a great example of this.

Birthing Pod was a true icon of classic Modern gameplay, providing both crazy combos as well as strong setups for those who wanted to play a more fair game. However, the card eventually proved too effective and was stifling Creature design, leading to its eventual ban.

Birthing Ritual provides a fun way to call back to the original Birthing Pod with a similar effect. The difference is that it's limited to the top cards of your deck as opposed to your entire Library. As a result, you can't go quite as deep, but that hasn't stopped players from trying it in a variety of archetypes. This includes the recent Simic Birthing Ritual decks taking the format by storm for a short while.

8. Ulamog, the Defiler

Many players have long spoken about the might of the original Eldrazi titans from Rise of the Eldrazi and their powerful Annihilator abilities. This has made them powerful cards in Commander, Cube, and even various non-rotating formats.

Ulamog, the Defiler takes this ability and cranks it up to 11. This has made it an instant favorite among the casual card, providing a threat capable of wiping out entire boards in no time flat. Best of all is the fact that it has even managed to find a home in the Modern Goryo's Vengeance deck. This owes to the fact that you exile a variety of large spells via Psychic Frog, setting up for a truly massive Annihilator trigger when you reanimate Ulamog.

7. Necrodominance

Shortly after this set released, while the world was still reeling from the might of Nadu, Winged Wisdom, Necrodominance started to sneakily put up some real numbers. Bolstered by cards like The One Ring, Grief, Soul Spike, Nethergoyf, Orcish Bowmasters, and Sheoldred, Whispering One, the deck became a who's who of powerful spells.

This didn't last long, however, as both The One Ring and Grief would eventually be removed from the format. Despite this, however, Necrodominance's power continued to live on thanks to MTG Arena's Timeless format, which saw this and the original Necropotence dominate Arena Championship 10. This deck's power would eventually lead to the restriction of Necropotence in the format, soundly affirming the power of this card even with all of its downsides compared against the original.

6. Ral, Monsoon Mage // Ral, Leyline Prodigy

Do you like Storm strategies? Then this card is for you.

The printing of Ral, Monsoon Mage alongside Ruby Medallion in the same set streamlined classic Storm decks in Modern in new ways. This took the deck from being a traditionally Izzet (Blue-Red) strategy to a Mono-Red one, providing eight whole new ways to lower spell costs and win the game.

This has led to this new version of Storm, dubbed Ruby Storm, to become a fairly affordable and popular deck in the metagame. As of this writing, it maintains some of the highest meta share in Modern according to MTG Goldfish, with only Boros Energy overtaking it, and the deck owes its strength in no small part to Ral.

5. Ugin's Labyrinth

The entire Modern Horizons 3 set was a massive shot in the arm for Colorless and Eldrazi strategies. Cards like Kozilek's Command, Sowing Mycospawn, Devourer of Destiny, Nulldrifter, Glaring Fleshraker, and Writhing Chrysalis would all see major play in various formats thanks to this set.

All of them are soundly enabled by this one powerful land. By now, players are no stranger to the strength of Lands that tap for two mana. Dubbed "Sol Lands," these provide you the means of ramping into powerful strategies. This would enable decks such as Eldrazi Tron and Eldrazi Ramp in Modern thanks to the myriad of spells both decks run which cost seven mana or more.

Many players feared just how strong it would become when it was revealed. While it never ended up that dominant, Ugin's Labyrinth has quickly become a staple of the Modern format alongside the many new Eldrazi it enables.

4. Ajani, Nacatl Pariah // Ajani, Nacatl Avenger

If you've been paying attention to Modern over the past few years, you've likely run into the powerful Boros Energy deck. One of the biggest reasons the deck is so capable in the current metagame is thanks to the power of Ajani, Nacatl Pariah.

On the front side, Ajani doesn't look like much. Three power across two bodies is a fine rate for a two- mana Creature. The real power comes when you flip him over, something easily achievable by having his accompanying Cat Warrior token die in battle or otherwise sacrificed to something like Goblin Bombardment. The deck has other means of getting Cats onto the battlefield, making this all the easier to flip over.

The real power of the back side comes from the 0 ability. With one other Red permanent and a board of small critters, Ajani starts to hit like a truck turn after turn. This has made it one of the most feared cards in the Modern meta, though its uses are quite narrow compared to some of the other top spots on this list.

3. Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student // Tamiyo, Seasoned Scholar

If it wasn't obvious just how good a one-mana, zero power creature could be, Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student proved to be very good. Thanks to her constant production of Artifact Clue tokens, Tamiyo easily enabled a variety of strategies. This became especially true with the unbanning of Mox Opal, fueling archetypes like Affinity and the powerful Temur Underworld Breach deck.

The card has proven even more powerful in Legacy, where she generates tons of card advantage before turning into an engine for buying back powerful spells. The card has pushed Dimir Tempo strategies in the format over the edge, with many players feeling that she should be banned due to her power in the format.

While Ajani may be a bit more potent in Modern now, Tamiyo casts a much wider net in terms of uses, and handily earns her higher placement.

2. Ocelot Pride

It's rare to see cards quite so underrated as Ocelot Pride ended up being. During preview season, players thought it was an interesting card, but one that could be removed too easily and was likely better suited for Casual play.

While it certainly would become a Commander and Cube favorite, what really stunned players was just how explosive it would prove to be in Modern. Players quickly learned that you didn't even need to attack with it to get its triggers and could simply gain a life off of an accompanying Guide of Souls.

What's more, the card offered explosively exponential growth if you had the City's Blessing. One copy of Ocelot Pride makes two Cat tokens, two Prides makes six total tokens, three Prides makes fourteen tokens, and the full playset gives you thirty tokens. This compounds even further if you make a token copy of the Ocelot Pride itself, making it one of the most powerful threats the format has ever seen, bringing a high price tag with it.

1. Phlage, Titan of Fire's Fury

It was admittedly pretty tough figuring out how I wanted to rank this, Ocelot Pride, and Ajani, Nacatl Pariah on this list. All three have become synonymous with the powerful Boros Energy deck that not only took over Modern, but dominated formats like Historic as well.

In the end, I gave Phlage, Titan of Fire's Fury the top billing as the best Mythic Rare of the set. Not only has it led to this archetype's absolute dominance in Modern, but it's also propped up several other decks as well. This includes the likes of Jeskai Blink, Domain Zoo, and Jeskai Control, proving that Phlage easily has some of the strongest versatility of new cards from this set not named Nadu, Winged Wisdom.

Paige Smith

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