Normally I like to wait until we have a full spoiler out to take a look at things, but the upcoming release of Guilds of Ravnica has already drummed up a good deal of talk. Today I would like to go through all the non-Assassin's Trophy cards that have been spoiled that could possibly have an impact somewhere in Modern specifically.

To start, I would like to highlight what might be the best addition to honest creature decks in Modern in a long time:

Modal cards like this are exactly what the more fair decks in Modern could use to be more competitive. The "wrong half problem" and "not enough sideboard slots" start happening less and less when we have more cards like this that are good in a variety of situations. Previously creature toolbox decks had to pick between cards like these:

Now they will simply be able to play Knight of Autumn to cover more of their bases at once, or simply have more cards for every matchup. The best part about Knight of Autumn is that even when the Naturalize and gain life modes are not relevant, it will still be able to simply come down as a four-power creature to apply pressure to our opponent.

This card will be a very easy upgrade for the decks that are interested in this style of effect and I very much look forward to dying to turn three Karn Liberated while holding Knight of Autumn in my hand.

Next up we have a card that slots nicely into the "Counter-Burn" archetype I have been enjoying a good bit in Modern:

A spell that quite literally both counters and burns. While I do not expect this card to become a four of in any Modern deck, I think Tempo would not mind playing some copies of this in the sideboard, perhaps over other tools like Wizard's Retort or Disdainful Stroke we have played previously. This is effectively a two for one when we are interested in turning our cards into 2+ points of damage in the late game anyways.

Up next we have a rather unique design that I really like:

This might be the least obnoxious, playable, Hexproof creature that has ever been printed. I love that the rules text on this card has drawbacks for both players, while also allowing both players to turn off all the drawbacks if they want to. It makes sure that even in situations where it just eats a removal spell and dies, you generally do not lose tempo on the exchange since even one-mana removal spells effectively cost three.

Finally we have the "Obstinate Baloth" anti-discard clause attached to this package which is really impressive on a 6/6 body. While it always felt somewhat appealing to bring in Obstinate Baloth against Liliana of the Veil decks, the fact that our four-mana creature was often smaller than a Tarmogoyf left a lot to be desired. Same thing with how a 4/4 lines up against the delve threats out of Hollow One.

This next card is one that feels like it could slot nicely into a deck powered by delve creatures such as Hollow One:

The key to making a symmetrical card like this powerful is to take the symmetry it offers and break it in your favor. While cards like Hollow One and Gurmag Angler often only cost one mana, they still have a converted mana cost much higher than 3, which makes Ritual of Soot a basically one sided effect against smaller creature decks. I do not expect this to see main deck play, but in the sideboard does not seem unreasonable.

Up next we have the card that I will be informing people "is not a budget Snapcaster Mage" for likely the next decade:

While this card lets us reuse a useful spell for two additional mana, and provide a bit of card selection, it does not do the most important thing Snapcaster Mage does - attack. Modern is a format where you need to combine your disruption with a clock and Snapcaster Mage is able to serve as both of these things.

That being said I would not be surprised if Mission Briefing still has a place somewhere in Modern. For starters, there are some decks that are interested in playing more than four ways to reuse a spell out of their graveyard and this could easily fill in as a fifth and sixth copy of that effect after Snapcaster Mage.

Another thing worth noting is that while Mission Briefing does not provide strict card advantage, it does provide selection toward helping us find the specific card we are looking for. Because we do not choose what card we are replaying until after the Surveil, we can combine Mission Briefing with other cantrips to dig even deeper when we do not find the card we need right away.

Speaking of other cantrips - this next card is interesting:

I have heard people compare Discovery to Preordain. While the effect is close, I would like to just be clear that there is a very big difference between one and two mana. That being said - I think there is likely a place for this card in a deck that is interested in getting cards into their graveyard anyways. If we are discarding something we want discarded, this effect is worth more than just drawing a single card. One of my favorite combo decks, Grishoalbrand, immediately came to mind when I read this. I would not be surprised if this ended up replacing some amount of Night's Whisper or Cathartic Reunion in this deck.

The Dispersal half of this card is more icing on the cake than anything. In a combo shell it could serve some utility on occasion by bouncing an annoying hate card such as Leyline of the Void, but I would not expect this half of the card to be used all that often.

The last card I would like to touch on today is another design that looks like it is aiming to dismantle the obnoxious big mana decks that exist in Modern:

While varying iterations of Memoricide are nothing new to Standard - in fact Lost Legacy is currently legal - Unmoored Ego is unique in that this is the first of these effects without a limit. It is the first of these effects that allows us to name Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle or Urza's Tower. This is the type of disruption that midrange decks really want against these big mana decks - disruption that allows them to be proactive instead of reactive.

Wrapping Up

What cards out of Guilds of Ravnica have caught your eye for Modern? Are there ones you are looking forward to trying out that I did not list here? Let me know in a comment below!