Something is about to happen to Modern that hasn't happened in the almost decade long existence of the format. Rather than just picking up occasional new cards from newly printed sets, with occasional additions and subtractions from the ban list, Modern will be getting a large influx of impactful cards all at once.

Modern Horizons is coming and it's going to change everything.

Modern Horizons is the first set Wizards of the Coast has ever printed with the Modern format specifically in mind. Modern Masters and friends were printed with Modern in mind, but their purpose was to properly distribute Modern cards that were older and difficult to find. Modern Horizon's sole purpose is to add cards to the Modern format directly, without worrying about their effect on Standard.

There will be new cards in Modern Horizons, but those are both hard to speculate on while also not being the most exciting element of the set. The real jawdropper is that Modern Horizons will contain many reprints that will be entering the Modern format for the first time. This of course is huge news and has sent the Magic community into a fervor trying to guess what cards will make the jump from Legacy into Modern.

We will be looking at a whopping 50 of those possible cards today, as well as assigning them a rating for each of five categories that are important to what they bring to the Modern format:

Playability:Reprinting Bird Maiden into Modern is a thing that could safely be done, but as it would never actually see any play it would be essentially pointless. Wizards of the Coast has said they don't want to completely overhaul the format, but there's going to need to be a threshold of playability to make these cards matter.

Interactivity: One of the biggest complaints about the Modern format for years has been that many matchups end up feeling like "two ships passing in the night." Modern is a very linear format, not having the safety value of Force of Will like Legacy does. Modern Horizons is a chance for Wizards to address this concern without screwing up Standard.

Build Around: You can only add so many universally powerful cards to a format until they become completely ubiquitous and push out other options. We can see this in Legacy with Force of Will, Brainstorm, Wasteland, and, until it was banned, Deathrite Shaman. Cards that require some deck-building work are exciting because they can breathe new life into a format rather than stifle it.

Fun Factor: Cards should be fun! Nexus of Fate, Aetherworks Marvel, and Krak-Clan Ironworks are recent examples of cards that are very unfun, and the last thing Modern needs is more unfun cards. Fun cards do exciting and rewarding things while allowing both players interesting choices.

Risk Factor: Adding very powerful cards to a format can be very scary. If you add a card or cards that are too powerful you can risk upsetting the entire format, creating broken scenarios or damaging the overall health and diversity of the format. Modern is fairly healthy at the moment, so all powerful and risky cards must be closely examined.

And then of course we'll get a final verdict on the card being in Modern Horizons.

Got it? Then let's go!

Playability: 8

Interactivity: 8

Build Around: 6

Fun Factor: 6

Risk Factor: 6

A home run from the start! One of the biggest problems in Modern is that decks often lack the tools to properly interact with the unfair linear decks of the format without going to their sideboards first. Rishadan Port is a powerful disruptive element that plays best in mono or two-colored fair decks. It breathes new life into Aether Vial, while creating tension with the crazy mana bases that Aether Vial decks play. It's iconic, a flashy rare, and jawdropping. Rishadan Port is the perfect box topper.

Verdict: Box topper.

Playability: 7

Interactivity: 9

Build Around: 2

Fun Factor: 5

Risk Factor: 3

Speaking of interactivity, it is high time that Modern had a counterspell flexible enough to handle the myriad of problems that an interactive deck must try and solve. Such a universal counterspell is problematic in Standard because it reduces gameplay and deck-building choices, but Modern is too highly powered at the moment to handle weaker counterspells. It's not quite Force of Will, but it's a start. Counterspell is a mortal lock to be in the set, I'd bet my Cube on it.

Verdict: Hard lock.

Playability: 3

Interactivity: 6

Build Around: 10

Fun Factor: 10

Risk Factor: 2

Okay, sure, there's some wishful thinking here, but pushing tribal decks back into Modern very likely one of the goals that Wizards of the Coast has set out for this set. Tribal decks are fun, accessible, and often inexpensive entry points, and they also make use of fun build-around cards that other decks don't want. Goblin Ringleader is the lynchpin of Goblin decks and allows them to compete as more than just blitz aggro decks.

Verdict: Very likely, probably alongside some friends.

Playability: 3

Interactivity: 8

Build Around: 2

Fun Factor: 3

Risk Factor: 4

Right now the best two decks in Modern are Izzet Arclight and Dredge, making powerful sideboard cards like Containment Priest likely welcome additions to the format. You can do some crazy stuff with blinking your opponent's creatures away forever, but realistically this is just a safe and powerful sideboard card to help handle graveyard decks.

Verdict: Likely exciting sideboard card.

Playability: 4

Interactivity: 2

Build Around: 7

Fun Factor: 4

Risk Factor: 2

This could be Nature's Lore, but why not give the people more copies of the very expensive Portal: Three Kingdoms printing? Three Visits is a cute Rampant Growth variant that would likely be the second best of such in the format behind Sakura-Tribe Elder. Nothing crazy, just a cute little reprint.

Verdict: Likely.

Playability: 10

Interactivity: 8

Build Around: 2

Fun Factor: 3

Risk Factor: 10

Force of Will is the defining characteristic of the Legacy format and the glue that holds Legacy together. Force of Will in Modern would do irrevocable damage to the identity of both formats at once. Would it help the format become less linear? Sure, but it's not worth the identity crisis it would cause. This is the exact kind of format upheaval Wizards of the Coast said they wanted to avoid, making Force of Will an absolute non-starter.

Verdict: No freaking way.

Playability: 7

Interactivity: 9

Build Around: 4

Fun Factor: 5

Risk Factor: 8

Daze however, is more palatable. Daze is far easier to play around, also requiring a deck capable of getting ahead and casting it early. Furthermore, bouncing a Steam Vents back to your hand only to pay two more life to play it untapped again is a real cost. It's not likely, but it would certainly be a universal answer that would help the interactivity of the format.

Verdict: Not likely, but possible.

Playability: 5

Interactivity: 8

Build Around: 5

Fun Factor: 6

Risk Factor: 2

Pernicious Deed is a great catchall answer that is both powerful but appropriately costed. It's not easy to play and only some decks are going to want it, but it provides an interesting and powerful answer to the multitude of things that Modern can throw at you. This feels exactly like the kind of interactive card that Wizards would want in Modern.

Verdict: Very likely.

Playability: 3

Interactivity: 4

Build Around: 10

Fun Factor: 7

Risk Factor: 2

Adding new build-around cards to the format is a nice thing, and Sterling Grove is a popular casual favorite that has some tournament pedigree as well. It's niche and may never end up seeing play, but it's a fun tool for deck-builders to have.

Verdict: Reasonable inclusion.

Playability: 6

Interactivity: 5

Build Around: 8

Fun Factor: 3

Risk Factor: 5

God I love Tangle Wire. Another aggressive and disruptive element that is mostly universal, Tangle Wire may prove to be too powerful in conjunction with other aggressive artifact elements, but once again offers a way for aggressive decks to interact with the format's various linear decks. It can definitely be frustrating as far as fun factor goes, but it is possible.

Verdict: Punishing but possible.

Playability: 2

Interactivity: 3

Build Around: 8

Fun Factor: 7

Risk Factor: 2

Is this a "my favorite cards in Cube" list or a possible Modern Horizons list? Hardcore prison elements are always scary, as they can go from fun 'plan to disrupt powerful decks' to 'one player not playing spells anymore' pretty quickly. Still, Braids, Cabal Minion is pretty fun and iconic.

Verdict: Fun but not likely.

Playability: 6

Interactivity: 7

Build Around: 2

Fun Factor: 4

Risk Factor: 4

Toxic Deluge is one of the more powerful sweeper effects in Legacy, but has interesting built in self-regulation as it's hard to cast more than one of them in a game. Life totals are a risky business in Modern with so many decks employing fetchland/shockland mana bases, making Toxic Deluge a powerful but interesting inclusion.

Verdict: Powerful but balanced inclusion.

Playability: 3

Interactivity: 7

Build Around: 10

Fun Factor: 8

Risk Factor: 2

Carrion Feeder looks innocent, but it really is the perfect synergy piece for sacrifice decks. It's cheap, offers free sacrifices for good benefit, and is a zombie for extra synergies. Carrion Feeder feels like a perfect Modern card, as many times I've been working on Modern brew and wished I had access to it.

Verdict: Great addition.

Playability: 2

Interactivity: 7

Build Around: 10

Fun Factor: 9

Risk Factor: 1

Astral Slide and Lightning Rift are essentially the same concept, even if they do different things. Both cards were major parts of Standard and Extended during their times and are fun build-arounds, whether separate or together. There would need to be a somewhat significant cycling theme to make either card make sense and they probably wouldn't make too much of an impact, but they're fun to think about.

Verdict: Fun but unlikely.

Playability: 2

Interactivity: 5

Build Around: 6

Fun Factor: 7

Risk Factor: 1

Speaking of relics of Magic's past, Psychatog is a legend. Once referred to as the most powerful creature in the game, Psychatog's best days are well behind its toothy grin. This is another fun and historical one, unlikely to make an impact on the format but would bring a smile to many players faces.

Verdict: Fun but unlikely.

Playability: 9

Interactivity: 9

Build Around: 4

Fun Factor: 9

Risk Factor: 8

Okay, how about a relic of the past that may actually make an impact? Fact or Fiction is one of the most powerful card draw spells ever printed. It is restricted in Vintage, and was so warping in Standard and Extended it spawned the acronym EOTFOFYL - "end of turn Fact or Fiction, you lose." There isn't much pure card draw in Modern, meaning that Fact or Fiction would be a significant upgrade to control decks, but it's not outside the realm of possibility. It's also one of the most skill testing and fun cards ever printed, for what it's worth.

Verdict: Risky but not impossible.

Playability: 10

Interactivity: 8

Build Around: 2

Fun Factor: 4

Risk Factor: 11

Modern is a format where Ghost Quarter and Field of Ruin are not only playable, they're downright necessities. Wasteland would completely disrupt and shake the very foundation that Modern is built on. It would be likely be even more disruptive to the format as a whole than Force of Will, making it about as reprintable as Black Lotus.

Verdict: Get real.

Playability: 9

Interactivity: 7

Build Around: 1

Fun Factor: 6

Risk Factor: 8

Swords to Plowshares wouldn't rock the Modern format as hard as some of the other cards on this list, but it's frankly just not necessary with Path to Exile already available. As Path to Exile sees heavy play and has an appropriate drawback, there's just no appreciable reason to upgrade it to Swords to Plowshares.

Verdict: Highly unlikely.

Playability: 2

Interactivity: 3

Build Around: 10

Fun Factor: 8

Risk Factor: 2

More tribal stuff! Silvers are a very fringe Modern archetype that could use a boost from a few of the Legacy legal silver like Muscle Sliver and friends. Fun new tribal cards? Very unlikely to upset the format in any meaningful way? Sounds like a shoo-in to me; assuming there's room for a full Sliver theme in the set.

Verdict: Likely if there's a Sliver theme.

Playability: 9

Interactivity: 6

Build Around: 3

Fun Factor: 4

Risk Factor: 8

Baleful Strix looks very innocent. A seemingly glorified Elvish Visionary, Baleful Strix often looks awful in many unfair matchups. However the card is a completely busted form of card advantage in all fair matchups where creatures actually matter, further extenuated by recursive elements like Liliana, the Last Hope and Kolaghan's Command. This is the kind of polarizing card that makes formats frustrating - insanely good in some matchups while comically bad in others. Modern would be better off without it.

Verdict: Certainly possible but hopefully unlikely.

Playability: 5

Interactivity: 6

Build Around: 9

Fun Factor: 7

Risk Factor: 2

Veteran Explorer is a surprisingly powerful card that has operated in fringe Legacy strategies for years, and while it would be an interesting addition to the Modern format that would help push a new archetype and make basic lands more important, it would be lacking its key partner in crime Cabal Therapy. Cabal Therapist is cool but not quite there, meaning Veteran Explorer is likely better left on the bench.

Verdict: Unlikely.

Playability: 10

Interactivity: 10

Build Around: 1

Fun Factor: 7

Risk Factor: 10

We've already talked about how we don't want to destroy the identity of Modern by turning it into Legacy, and about how Wizards of the Coast doesn't want to completely revamp the format. For god sakes Preordain is banned in Modern!

Verdict: LOL

Playability: 3

Interactivity: 5

Build Around: 10

Fun Factor: 7

Risk Factor: 2

As much as I want my Goblin friends back, I'm sure my Team BCW teammate Ross Merriam would love to see Wirewood Symbiote reunited with Elvish Visionary. Just like with the Goblin cards, powerful and fun tribal cards in iconic tribes feel like low hanging fruit, making Wirewood Symbiote and friends feel pretty likely.

Verdict: Very likely.

Playability: 4

Interactivity: 6

Build Around: 3

Fun Factor: 5

Risk Factor: 4

Ah yes Mercadian Masques, also known has manascrew paradise. Dust Bowl has a long pedigree in Extended, and would provide decks with some more insurance against the various busted non-basic lands in the format. The risk is there, but Modern feels plenty fast enough to handle Dust Bowl. It's not even clear that Dust Bowl is better than Field of Ruin.

Verdict: Scary but reasonable.

Playability: 6

Interactivity: 5

Build Around: 6

Fun Factor: 7

Risk Factor: 3

Bloodbraid Elf didn't break anything on its way back into the format, so it seems unlikely that Shardless Agent would either. Yes it is very good in conjunction with Ancestral Vision, but there's no Brainstorm to set that one up and Simic isn't exactly lighting the Modern world on fire. Shardless Agent feels like a fun card that would fit right in to Modern.

Verdict: Very reasonable and likely.

Playability: 6

Interactivity: 6

Build Around: 6

Fun Factor: 7

Risk Factor: 5

Oh boy this is an interesting one. From a tournament perspective, the Judgment Wish cycle is very interesting, allowing players access to things during a game they don't usually have access to. Unfortunately they're only really used any more in Legacy as pseudo-Demonic Tutor effects, meaning they're only likely to help combo decks. It's an interesting cycle but seems to come with too much baggage.

Verdict: Possible but a bit out there.

Playability: 5

Interactivity: 8

Build Around: 7

Fun Factor: 7

Risk Factor: 2

If there's one deck that doesn't exactly strike fear in the hearts of opponents in Modern, it's a derpy white creature deck. Yes, Recruiter of the Guard is a Human and may augment that deck a bit, but it's doubtful it's that much better than Militia Bugler. Giving tutors to combo decks is bad, but giving them to derpy creature decks is both fine and fun.

Verdict: Very likely.

Playability: 3

Interactivity: 7

Build Around: 10

Fun Factor: 9

Risk Factor: 3

Like Carrion Feeder, Goblin Bombardment is a supremely fun build-around card for creature-based sacrifice decks. It doesn't do anything exceptionally flashy, but provides a good effect at a good cost. The likelihood of Goblin Bombardment being a fringe to unplayable fun card is far higher than it being broken, which sounds like an excellent choice for the set.

Verdict: Very likely.

Playability: 7

Interactivity: 6

Build Around: 1

Fun Factor: 3

Risk Factor: 3

Another holdover from Legacy, Flusterstorm is a very convoluted and confusing card, especially in multiples. While most combo decks in Legacy are spell based (Storm, Reanimator, Show and Tell), Modern has such a variety of linear decks that all do crazy things Flusterstorm doesn't even feel like it would be that effective. This, coupled with the complexity, makes it feel rather unwanted.

Verdict: Unlikely.

Playability: 8

Interactivity: 2

Build Around: 7

Fun Factor: 6

Risk Factor: 8

Entomb without access to Reanimate, Exhume, or Animate Dead sounds kind of fun, as using it to get cards like Bloodghast or other cool value outlets sounds like the path to some sweet brews. The problem is, then you remember that Goryo's Vengeance is still in the format and it all goes out the window. As long as there are super efficient reanimation effects Entomb is too scary.

Verdict: Very unlikely.

Playability: 3

Interactivity: 2

Build Around: 6

Fun Factor: 3

Risk Factor: 8

Natural Order, like Show and Tell, and Oath of Druids, was printed during a simpler time. Back then, the best thing you could get off Natural Order was Verdant Force. Nowadays we've got Progenitus and Craterhoof Behemoth winning you the game effectively on the spot. "Having a creature" and "resolving a 4 mana sorcery" aren't the easiest thing to do in Legacy with Force of Will in over half the decks, but would be exceedingly easy in Modern most of the time. Natural Order is just too much.

Verdict: No thank you.

Playability: 7

Interactivity: 7

Build Around: 3

Fun Factor: 2

Risk Factor: 2

There have been murmurs that maybe Portent could stand in as the 'worse than Ponder but better than Serum Visions' cantrip of choice in Modern, but let's be real... Portent is an ugly Magic card. There's a reason that "draw during the next turn's upkeep" template resides in the garbage, and that's because it is garbage. It would be shocking to see any card with that templating in the set for any reason.

Verdict: This is not Coldsnap, so no.

Playability: 3

Interactivity: 2

Build Around: 10

Fun Factor: 5

Risk Factor: 3

Enchantress decks have long been a fringe archetype in Legacy, with Argothian Enchantress being the best enchantress effect by a wide margin. Pushing a new archetype into the fold sounds exciting, but both enchantments as well as Argothian Enchantress herself can be difficult to deal with. Adding another hard to answer linear deck to the format doesn't really sound like a great idea. Fun card though.

Verdict: Possible.

Playability: 9

Interactivity: 1

Build Around: 3

Fun Factor: 1

Risk Factor: 7

True-Name Nemesis is the worst designed Magic card this decade... why is it Blue and not White?!? The pinnacle of non-interactively, True-Name Nemesis has a similar problem to Baleful Strix in that it is going to be excessively good in your fair matchups and almost unplayable in your unfair matchups. However unlike Baleful Strix, True-Name Nemesis actually just kills you, not puts you behind on cards. True-Name Nemesis is an embarrassment in one on one play and shouldn't even be in Modern.

Verdict: Don't you dare think about it.

Playability: 7

Interactivity: 3

Build Around: 9

Fun Factor: 5

Risk Factor: 5

We've basically lumped all the other Goblin cards in with Goblin Ringleader alongside a smiling seal of approval, but Goblin Lackey deserves its own section. Goblin Lackey is the only real 'broken' card in the Legacy Goblins deck, allowing for very degenerate starts as early as turn two. In Legacy Goblin Lackey is often either answered (by fair decks with ample answers) or ignored (by combo decks looking to kill on turn two or three). There are less fair decks with answers in Modern and the combo decks simply aren't nearly as fast. Goblin Lackey wouldn't be broken, but it would be a significant strain on the format.

Verdict: Plausible but unlikely.

Playability: 10

Interactivity: 2

Build Around: 6

Fun Factor: 4

Risk Factor: 10

"Sol" lands, that is lands that tap for two mana, are another staple of the Legacy format, and that's where they should reside. Ancient Tomb (or City of Traitors) would bring with it a whole host of problems into Modern, shaking the very foundations of the format. Lands that tap for more than 1 mana on turn one should stay in Legacy.

Verdict: Absolutely not.

Playability: 7

Interactivity: 5

Build Around: 2

Fun Factor: 4

Risk Factor: 5

Sylvan Library suffers from the same templating problems as Portent; it's just an ugly Magic card. The rules around drawing extra cards in your draw step with Sylvan Library aren't even completely clear to me, and Green paying life to draw cards just doesn't make any sense. A card like Mirri's Guile feels far more in line with the spirit of what Sylvan Library is trying to do without being an abomination of a card.

Verdict: No chance.

Playability: 9

Interactivity: 1

Build Around: 7

Fun Factor: 3

Risk Factor: 9

Without Tendrils of Agony or Lion's Eye Diamond it is not entirely clear what Dark Rituals role would be in Modern, but it most certainly would not be used for anything wholesome. Dark Ritual is the best ritual effect ever printed, and Modern is a format where Rite of Flame and even freaking Seething Song are banned.

Verdict: No chance.

Playability: 9

Interactivity: 3

Build Around: 1

Fun Factor: 2

Risk Factor: 8

Realistically, these cards make no sense. Why can Red counter spells and kill Blue enchantments? Why can Blue kill creatures and enchantments? These are relics of a bygone era long past by current design standards. They're defining features of Legacy and Vintage, nothing more.

Verdict: I would be astounded if these were in.

Playability: 6

Interactivity: 5

Build Around: 3

Fun Factor: 3

Risk Factor: 5

If it wasn't already obvious, I don't like a lot of the Commander product-only cards. They're so obviously pushed to the point of being boring. Leovold, Emissary of Trest is an obnoxiously powerful Magic card, despite it costing three different colors of mana. Without Brainstorm and Ponder being so ubiquitous it's effect is lessoned, but it's still a nightmare for fair decks and a Trained Armadon against many of the unfair decks. I fail to see how Leovold makes Modern a better format.

Verdict: Doubtful.

Playability: 8

Interactivity: 4

Build Around: 5

Fun Factor: 2

Risk Factor: 7

Speaking of cards that are extremely powerful in fair matchups and almost worthless in unfair matchups, we have Mother of Runes; as if Humans needed any more help. Mother of Runes is another obnoxious card to play against, forcing an immediate answer or helping to invalidate large portions of your deck. Unless they are playing Tron, in which case she's a glorified Eagar Cadet. Once again I fail to see how Mother of Runes makes Modern a better format.

Verdict: No thank you.

Playability: 4

Interactivity: 8

Build Around: 7

Fun Factor: 7

Risk Factor: 1

Not every card that would be an interesting add to Modern needs to be a world breaker. Cute and fun little cards like Innocent Blood add wonderful small tools to each deck-builder's toolbox. There's fun synergy stuff with Bloodghast or maybe you just want a one-mana Cruel Edict in your creatureless deck. Innocent Blood is fun!

Verdict: Possible, maybe passed over for Diabolic Edict

Playability: 8

Interactivity: 2

Build Around: 3

Fun Factor: 1

Risk Factor: 8

Wait what's that, we have time for one more obnoxious Legacy card? Hymm to Tourach is perhaps one of the most frustrating cards in the entire Legacy format. Sometimes it's double Thoughtseize, sometimes it's a minor nuisance, but either way it's all up to RNG which feels awful.

Verdict: God please no.

Playability: 3

Interactivity: 6

Build Around: 3

Fun Factor: 3

Risk Factor: 1

So how about the fixed Hymm to Tourach? Realistically a two mana Mind Rot is actually pretty good and while it doesn't look like much when placed side by side with Hymm to Tourach, Gerrard's Verdict is actually a pretty powerful spell with a reasonably accomplished pedigree. You can keep your Hymm to Tourachs with your Underground Seas, but Gerrard's Verdict is an interesting tool for fair decks in Modern.

Verdict: Pretty likely.

Playability: 3

Interactivity: 3

Build Around: 8

Fun Factor: 5

Risk Factor: 2

While we now have the two color cycling lands in Irrigated Farmland and friends, it's hard to match the efficiency of the Onslaught cycle of cycling lands. These cards saw a lot of play alongside Life from the Loam back in the day, and could possibly reinvigorate non-Dredge Life from the Loam archetypes. They're also great with Astral Slide!

Verdict: Possible if cycling is a theme.

Playability: 8

Interactivity: 4

Build Around: 4

Fun Factor: 3

Risk Factor: 4

Yes we have Stone Rain and friends in Modern, but how good is Sinkhole? Sinkhole hasn't seen play in Legacy in a long time and it's hard to think of a Modern deck that would be super interested in the effect. Regardless, two mana Stone Rain is still two mana Stone Rain, and with Wizards of the Coast being super cautious with land destruction effects I'd say Sinkhole is pretty unlikely.

Verdict: Very doubtful.

Playability: 8

Interactivity: 9

Build Around: 2

Fun Factor: 6

Risk Factor: 4

On the other hand, Vindicate feels perfect for Modern. Like Pernicious Deed, Vindicate provides a fair and flexible answer to the format's multitude of threats at a cost that is reasonable but not easy. Vindicate would never see print in Standard because Magic has moved so far past Stone Rain being a reasonable card, but Modern already has Stone Rain and friends.

Verdict: Slam dunk inclusion.

Playability: 7

Interactivity: 2

Build Around: 5

Fun Factor: 2

Risk Factor: 7

Two mana on turn one is too good! Modern is already full of busted linear decks, as well as having plenty of homes for Simian Spirit Guide and even Gemstone Caverns. Lotus Petal is just too simple and too easy, and that's before we even consider any sort of artifact synergies with Mox Opal.

Verdict: No way.

Playability: 7

Interactivity: 2

Build Around: 3

Fun Factor: 1

Risk Factor: 8

And you thought Blood Moon was bad. I understand that it's good to have checks and balances on non-basic lands running wild. Blood Moon and Back to Basics just aren't the way to go about it. They create awful game states where one player isn't even playing anymore, and that's just because the player put cool lands in their deck and wanted to play cool spells. There's a way to do reasonable non-basic land hate but Back to Basics isn't it

Verdict: I would be stunned if it was.

Playability: 7

Interactivity: 7

Build Around: 2

Fun Factor: 4

Risk Factor: 2

If we're going to let Vindicate in, Council's Judgment makes a lot of sense too. It's a simple and flexible answer that feels reasonable for the mana cost. The biggest count against it is how awkwardly it is worded, as most of the text on the card is largely irrelevant. This level of inelegance is annoying, but not really disqualifying.

Verdict: Possible

Modern After Modern Horizons

There's no doubt that Modern Horizons is going to change Modern forever, the big question is simply "how much is it going to change."

While Wizards of the Coast is likely to shy away from bombshells like Wasteland and Force of Will, if they are too careful they run the risk of releasing a set without any real excitement around it. Modern has been a linear but healthy format for quite a while now, constantly shifting and changing with dozens of viable archetypes. There's some serious risk here and Modern Horizons really needs to hit the sweet spot.

And that's not even discussing the fact that there are new cards too!

Modern Horizons spoiler season is going to be wild.