The "straight to Modern" sets like Modern Horizons and Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle Early are very divisive.

On the one hand, the sets have sold very well and contain many cards that are now iconic in the game like Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer and Orcish Bowmasters. These cards have been staples in any format they are legal in, from Modern to Legacy to Vintage Cube. On the other hand, these sets contain cards like Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer and Orcish Bowmasters, which are so powerful that they've changed Eternal formats like Modern and Legacy to feel like rotating formats.

Whichever side you stand on, there's no doubt about it: Modern Horizon sets are a big deal, and when Modern Horizons 3 drops this summer, its impact will be felt across the entire game.

And even more so this time around!

Modern Horizons 3 will also be printed on to MTG Arena, where it will of course be draftable, but will also be legal in the Timeless and Historic formats. This is huge for us MTG Arena players, as given the reputation and power level of Modern Horizons releases, there are bound to be a ton of powerful cards as well as awesome old reprints.

So, what do I want to see in the set?

Archetype Help

For all it's faults, one thing the Modern Horizons sets have done well is provide boosts to suffering archetypes.

Due to new cards and power creep, archetypes tend to wax and wane over time. Decks that were once powerhouses fall by the wayside, while new ones creep in. It can be very hard to supplement these archetypes via Standard legal sets, because maybe there isn't an artifact or enchantment set in the works for a while, or even if there is they can't print cards that powerful into Standard.

However, Modern Horizons sets are the perfect place to do this and we've seen this done very successfully across both Modern Horizons sets. Cards like Territorial Kavu for Domain, Thought Monitor for artifact decks, as well as reprints like Sterling Grove for Enchantress have all made significant improvements to those archetypes.

For all the complaints you may have about cards like Fury, The One Ring, and Urza's Saga, these are Modern Horizon Sets at their finest.

While they are sadly often overshadowed by these ridiculous power level outliers, it is amazing to have all sorts of new tools for deck-building, so let's amp it up! There are tons of Modern archetypes that have fallen by the wayside over the years, so let's give them a little boost, as well as boosting classic archetypes as well.

Returning Favorites

Modern Horizons sets aren't just about new cards either. Quite frankly, Modern is the new Legacy. Because of the reserve list and the rising cost of Legacy cards, the format is frankly just not suited to be a widely playable format. As such, the Modern Horizons sets have been the perfect chance to add beloved Legacy cards to a format people can actually play.

Note, this does not mean adding Wasteland, Daze, Force of Will, Ancient Tomb, etc. to the format. We're not talking about ridiculous, format-defining power level outliers, we're talking about all-time classic cards that hold a ton of nostalgic value as well as fun gameplay. We've already seen this in prior Modern Horizons sets; Cabal Coffers spearheaded a new archetype, Counterspell has seen a ton of play, and creature combo decks have occasionally touched on Eladamri's Call.

So, let's see some more! There's an almost uncountable number of awesome cards in Magic's history; unique build-arounds like Veteran Explorer and Standstill, as well as super utility cards like Cabal Therapy or Careful Study.

Hell, Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer isn't even that good in present day Modern because of how good the interaction is, I doubt Goblin Lackey would be problematic.

Completed Cycles

Modern Horizons sets are also great places to finish cycles that don't really fit anywhere else.

The original Modern Horizons gave us the enemy-colored Horizon Canopy lands, making perhaps the most awkward dual land cycle in Magic's history with six of the ten color pairs. We've been waiting five years, it's about damn time that we finish this one up.

There' also some fun ones too. The Volrath's Stronghold, Academy Ruins, Hall of Heliod's Generosity mega-cycle is still incomplete, and there's also a chance to do fun things like continue the Llanowar Tribe and Healer's Flock cycle - maybe Mogg Fanatics? A 3/3 for that sacrifices to deal 3 damage? Not every card needs to be a world breaker, some can just be fun too!

Updated Callbacks

Another great part of Modern Horizons sets is the chance to "fix" older cards. This can mean to print versions of cards that have obvious design flaws or are maybe a bit too good, and present a new version of them that fixes these issues as well. We've seen this a ton in past Modern Horizons sets to great effect:

All three of these cards are great but not overwhelming, seeing play at various points across various decks, all being "new" versions of Mother of Runes, Baleful Strix, and Entomb. This is perhaps the greatest strength of these sets; the ability to go back on old mistakes and make them right again in a way.

Supplemental Gems

Modern Horizons sets have also been a very nice way to introduce fun supplemental (which are mainly only legal in Commander, Legacy, and Vintage) cards into the "real" formats.

Fun and thematic win conditions like Titania, Protector of Argoth, great synergy tools like Recruiter of the Guard, and additional redundancy in cards like Shardless Agent are all cards that have been great for deck-builders to have access to.

With more and more cards being printed in supplemental releases, this is a great way to get those cards into more games.

Frankly, there are a ton of fun designs that aren't really good enough for Vintage or Legacy that don't really have a home aside from Cube Drafts. Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast is a super fun synergy planeswalker, as well as cards like Anje's Ravager and Ophiomancer which may not necessarily be good enough but would be awesome to have in the deck-builder's arsenal.

Thanks to previews we already know we're getting Kappa Cannoneer and Laelia, the Blade Reforged, and I hope this trend continues. This is also a bit of a selfish one, as I am considering making my Cube a "No Supplemental Product" Cube, but I'd still like to have access to some of these awesome cards that aren't mucking things up with the initiative or the monarch.

Also, Muxus please!

Format Reactions

Make no mistake, both Modern Horizons sets as well as Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle Earth have changed Modern forever. All three sets have been so monumentally impactful that Modern is almost described as a rotating format now because of how much upheaval they cause. Again, there are arguments for this both being a good or a bad thing, but it's the world we live in.

So, let's see some cards designed with those changes in mind.

Modern is a format that is absurdly hostile to small creatures right now, especially 1 toughness creatures. Aside from all the normal removal spells, specifically Orcish Bowmasters and Wrenn and Six both make playing 1 toughness creatures a huge liability; let's see some pushback against that with some designs that counteract the current rules of the format.

I'd also love to see some punishment for the absolutely unhinged mana bases players are allowed to play in this format between fetchlands, triomes, and more. Maybe not something as blunt as Price of Progress, but make playing five colors at least cost something.

A Fun Draft Format

And lastly, let's see a fun draft format!

This set is going to be draftable on MTG Arena, as well as a Pro Tour and competitive format, meaning that it's all got to come together for an excellent experience. This also makes obtaining the cards much easier as well, as cost is always a concern when it comes to a set like this that is both expensive and full of cards that will be mandatory.

Thankfully both prior Modern Horizons sets as well as Tales of Middle Earth have good reputations when it comes to being good limited formats, so I am hopeful here.

Pro Tour Amsterdam

Like any Magic player I'm very interested in how Modern Horizons 3 turns out, especially for Historic and Timeless on MTG Arena, but it's also of great interest to me because it is the next Pro Tour format for both Modern and Draft.

I played in the first Modern Horizons Pro Tour and it was a blast and I'm expecting nothing less here!