Sets (MH3/M3C) Modern Horizons 3 Testing and Includes Thread
- Thread starter TrainmasterGT
- Start date
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
I ended up including…
Of those, I expect Shadow of the Second Sun to be cut again soon, potentially for Season of Weaving. It got drafted and fit the drafter’s deck perfectly, but they cut it from their final list regardless because it felt like too much of a slow and expensive win more card.
The Apprentice played as well as expected, it’s really great! I don’t know how good the Pteramander is yet, I regularly swap out my one mana ninja enablers, and this one happens to also bolster the artifact matters aggro decks.
Colossal Dreadmask was an unexpected delight at the prerelease for me. It’s really, really good at upgrading inconsequential threats, forcing villain to deal with one beatstick after another. Collective Resistance is a less glamorous sidegrade, but it’s super useful. Good car!
Last but not least, Horrid Shadowspinner is Psychatog’s replacement. The tog had the problem that it was a bit too explosive at times, and do-nothing at others. I like the Shadowspinner a lot more, because it’s more proactive, has lifelink (which is another tool to help the discard matters deck stabilize while setting up), and has a nice mini game going on where you can try to boost its power to increase the effect. I love it!
Of those, I expect Shadow of the Second Sun to be cut again soon, potentially for Season of Weaving. It got drafted and fit the drafter’s deck perfectly, but they cut it from their final list regardless because it felt like too much of a slow and expensive win more card.
The Apprentice played as well as expected, it’s really great! I don’t know how good the Pteramander is yet, I regularly swap out my one mana ninja enablers, and this one happens to also bolster the artifact matters aggro decks.
Colossal Dreadmask was an unexpected delight at the prerelease for me. It’s really, really good at upgrading inconsequential threats, forcing villain to deal with one beatstick after another. Collective Resistance is a less glamorous sidegrade, but it’s super useful. Good car!
Last but not least, Horrid Shadowspinner is Psychatog’s replacement. The tog had the problem that it was a bit too explosive at times, and do-nothing at others. I like the Shadowspinner a lot more, because it’s more proactive, has lifelink (which is another tool to help the discard matters deck stabilize while setting up), and has a nice mini game going on where you can try to boost its power to increase the effect. I love it!
Blasphemy!
I'll just say this much: there's a reason we needed Psychic Frog 
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
See, I tested the Frog, and it was busted! Not touching that card with a 10-foot pole for my cube!I'll just say this much: there's a reason we needed Psychic Frog
I'll just say this much: there's a reason we needed Psychic Frog
Power creep over the last five years? Or 15?
Try 20
And now we have Psychic Frog, too : )
I would like to make a guess. If we fast forward 23 years from now to 2046. Exactly the same amount of years since Psychatog from Odyssey.
My guess is people will remember Psychatog more than they will remember Psychic Frog. People will also have more and better memories from Psychatog.
My guess is people will remember Psychatog more than they will remember Psychic Frog. People will also have more and better memories from Psychatog.
Yeah I’m also not a huge fan of the WTWLF Cube
Here to stay:
Cards I'm personally excited about but which weren't quite slam dunks:
Cards that, when I saw what they did to constructed formats, I said 'wow, I actually super want this in my Cube':
As anyone can see, I'm pretty bullish on the MDFC lands and the nonbasic hate. Grist is the hardest of the new flipwalkers to support, but I do support his flip-condition, so I'm happy and excited to run all five of the new flip walkers. Some cards that are otherwise clear Cube wins don't work well enough with my flavour, though - the 'energy package' is too many cards in+out for a minor patch, a couple of the creatures felt off-theme for my version of Tarkir... I thought for a while about Birthing Ritual, too, but I want to see what it does in other cubes first before I buy a copy.
Cards I'm personally excited about but which weren't quite slam dunks:
Cards that, when I saw what they did to constructed formats, I said 'wow, I actually super want this in my Cube':
As anyone can see, I'm pretty bullish on the MDFC lands and the nonbasic hate. Grist is the hardest of the new flipwalkers to support, but I do support his flip-condition, so I'm happy and excited to run all five of the new flip walkers. Some cards that are otherwise clear Cube wins don't work well enough with my flavour, though - the 'energy package' is too many cards in+out for a minor patch, a couple of the creatures felt off-theme for my version of Tarkir... I thought for a while about Birthing Ritual, too, but I want to see what it does in other cubes first before I buy a copy.
Last edited:
Alright, it's been nearly a year since MH3 released. I finally had my first cube draft in a while over the weekend (write-up coming at some point in the next month) and had a number of cards perform pretty well.
I'll cover my MH3 performers in depth as I remember things while writing up the draft re-cap, but what have people tested out and decided to keep/cut since MH3 came out?
I'll cover my MH3 performers in depth as I remember things while writing up the draft re-cap, but what have people tested out and decided to keep/cut since MH3 came out?
For my unpowered, low curving, synergy cube, there are a ton of goodies that are likely staples for a long time.
I decided to omit the MDFC lands from the cube, but there are some really strong ones if that's your thing.
White aggro
Slam dunk card at my power level. You can disrupt blockers or more often, blink your stuff while growing itself. Being able to flash it in at EOT to then blink a prototype card or an noncreature card is really strong.
I don't quite have enough +1/+1 counters stuff going on in my cube, but if I did, this guy would be insane. For your human theme, this will lead to some crazy turns.
These two together form a very strong combination, allowing you develop your board both wide and tall. Ocelot is a beast by itself and with any equipment/counter/aura it's even more ridiculous. Guide is a life buffer in racing situations and also provides buff + evasion for very little work.
Decided to cut them because
1. Energy
2. Snowballs too hard for one drops, putting too much pressure on the format and making it tough to go for the synergy decks I want to promote.
Sacrifice stuff
These two cards have made Black sacrifice strategies much less narrow and more interesting.
Fantastic glue card for artifacts, sacrifice, blink, counters and humans.
Might be my favorite card from MH3. Having a Phyrexian Altar on a body greatly diminishes how narrow it can be. It's a lot more than that though as you get an artifact for every sacrifice allowing a host of synergies. And it's a zombie for Gravecrawler for an obvious combo.
Might be a pet card of mine. I love how open ended it is as sacrificing something as unassuming as a fetch will generate mana or board presence. Crazy with stuff like Balance or Wildfire or alongside another sacrifice outlet for double triggers. The base body is a 3/3 menace for 3 which is perfectly reasonable.
Another pet card. "Draw" 3 for 3 is a great rate, but this can also be a ramp spell or a token producer. I need more instants/sorceries for Young Pyromancer and friends and I have liked this one quite a bit.
Complexity
I haven't tested any of the other flip walkers in this set (even though Ajani, Nacatl Pariah is an absolute beast), but this is great. It's a one mana creature that produces artifacts and flips into a reasonable walker for slower decks. I might cut it because it's a double face card, but I think it's one of the fun ones.
Great in theory, rough in practice. A 2 drop with GY hate and reanimation potential seems great. So is the fact that if you have counter synergies you can trigger it multiple times. However, with no reminder text for Adapt and Finality counters it gets confusing really fast.
Goyfs
I'm on the fence with this one. It's clearly good enough, it's just a question of what I want to support. Also annoyed that it only checks your GY whereas most other Goyfs check both, leading to some potential confusion.
The Goyfs in this set are insane. This one does everything Black wants with lifelink, selfmill and recursion. In fact it's a little too insane for my tastes as a 3/4 for 3 that fuels itself and gets something back while providing an 6 point life swing is too much. And that is with just creature/land/artifact or something. It can be considerably worse!
Another one I am avoiding for being too dominant for too little work even at higher power level. If it didn't have the last line of text about other Goyfs triggering it, I would enjoy it a lot more. With that line, a clone becomes bullshit IMO, another Goyf is BS too. I lump it with Gut, True-Soul Zealot and Broadside Bombardiers as Red threats that will just take over the game if answered.
GY stuff
Ok baseline, with the enchantment type helping with delirium. Granting haste and evasion for a single mana is very good, especially when you can play this from the GY. I have the LoTR one mana cyclers to help with the Bestow 6 among others which helps.
Probably the best threat in my cube. Grows big (++ with draw 7s), generates card advantage and can have evasion while stocking the GY. Could see this being cut for being too strong.
A plant for more controlling Boros decks. Helps stabilize and close games. While tough to get any GY action in White, Red is really good at it and some colorless cards help.
Took me a while to find a slot, but getting back any permanent and ramping in the process does a lot of work. Especially when the ramp is in creature form. One of the best self-mill options at that mana in Green.
This one I do not run, but can't really say why. Blocks all day, provides a lot of mana and can be cast from the GY.
Lands stuff
Love this guy because who knows what you are going to do with it. I made a few adjustments for Six (like Seal of Fire for a build your own Molten Vortex), but cycling away dead lands for gas is very strong while also filling the GY.
What a 2 drop for landfall. Makes tokens on the cheap, but also has the option of protecting it behind another creature and potentially getting some stupid boards.
Big two drop that tutors some of your best cards. Bloodghast makes it trivial to use the ability, but you can usually find fodder to sacrifice.
Ended up cutting this guy because I like other options more, but in a double fetchland format, it is plenty strong.
Utility lands
Really cool utility land. Looks like an expensive creature land, but then you copy a Bolas's Citadel you discarded and go off.
Included it, but haven't tested. Looks good on paper though as granting haste without going down on mana means you are hitting hard and surprising the opponent. Very good in Modern alongside Phlage for what it's worth and fun to be able to give two creatures haste with the one activation.
Haven't tested either, but this ties discard, counters and sacrifice. Tough to find room at 360(ish).
Whew! Forgot how many I had in the cube and somehow missed a few even then.
I decided to omit the MDFC lands from the cube, but there are some really strong ones if that's your thing.
White aggro
Slam dunk card at my power level. You can disrupt blockers or more often, blink your stuff while growing itself. Being able to flash it in at EOT to then blink a prototype card or an noncreature card is really strong.
I don't quite have enough +1/+1 counters stuff going on in my cube, but if I did, this guy would be insane. For your human theme, this will lead to some crazy turns.
These two together form a very strong combination, allowing you develop your board both wide and tall. Ocelot is a beast by itself and with any equipment/counter/aura it's even more ridiculous. Guide is a life buffer in racing situations and also provides buff + evasion for very little work.
Decided to cut them because
1. Energy
2. Snowballs too hard for one drops, putting too much pressure on the format and making it tough to go for the synergy decks I want to promote.
Sacrifice stuff
These two cards have made Black sacrifice strategies much less narrow and more interesting.
Fantastic glue card for artifacts, sacrifice, blink, counters and humans.
Might be my favorite card from MH3. Having a Phyrexian Altar on a body greatly diminishes how narrow it can be. It's a lot more than that though as you get an artifact for every sacrifice allowing a host of synergies. And it's a zombie for Gravecrawler for an obvious combo.
Might be a pet card of mine. I love how open ended it is as sacrificing something as unassuming as a fetch will generate mana or board presence. Crazy with stuff like Balance or Wildfire or alongside another sacrifice outlet for double triggers. The base body is a 3/3 menace for 3 which is perfectly reasonable.
Another pet card. "Draw" 3 for 3 is a great rate, but this can also be a ramp spell or a token producer. I need more instants/sorceries for Young Pyromancer and friends and I have liked this one quite a bit.
Complexity
I haven't tested any of the other flip walkers in this set (even though Ajani, Nacatl Pariah is an absolute beast), but this is great. It's a one mana creature that produces artifacts and flips into a reasonable walker for slower decks. I might cut it because it's a double face card, but I think it's one of the fun ones.
Great in theory, rough in practice. A 2 drop with GY hate and reanimation potential seems great. So is the fact that if you have counter synergies you can trigger it multiple times. However, with no reminder text for Adapt and Finality counters it gets confusing really fast.
Goyfs
I'm on the fence with this one. It's clearly good enough, it's just a question of what I want to support. Also annoyed that it only checks your GY whereas most other Goyfs check both, leading to some potential confusion.
The Goyfs in this set are insane. This one does everything Black wants with lifelink, selfmill and recursion. In fact it's a little too insane for my tastes as a 3/4 for 3 that fuels itself and gets something back while providing an 6 point life swing is too much. And that is with just creature/land/artifact or something. It can be considerably worse!
Another one I am avoiding for being too dominant for too little work even at higher power level. If it didn't have the last line of text about other Goyfs triggering it, I would enjoy it a lot more. With that line, a clone becomes bullshit IMO, another Goyf is BS too. I lump it with Gut, True-Soul Zealot and Broadside Bombardiers as Red threats that will just take over the game if answered.
GY stuff
Ok baseline, with the enchantment type helping with delirium. Granting haste and evasion for a single mana is very good, especially when you can play this from the GY. I have the LoTR one mana cyclers to help with the Bestow 6 among others which helps.
Probably the best threat in my cube. Grows big (++ with draw 7s), generates card advantage and can have evasion while stocking the GY. Could see this being cut for being too strong.
A plant for more controlling Boros decks. Helps stabilize and close games. While tough to get any GY action in White, Red is really good at it and some colorless cards help.
Took me a while to find a slot, but getting back any permanent and ramping in the process does a lot of work. Especially when the ramp is in creature form. One of the best self-mill options at that mana in Green.
This one I do not run, but can't really say why. Blocks all day, provides a lot of mana and can be cast from the GY.
Lands stuff
Love this guy because who knows what you are going to do with it. I made a few adjustments for Six (like Seal of Fire for a build your own Molten Vortex), but cycling away dead lands for gas is very strong while also filling the GY.
What a 2 drop for landfall. Makes tokens on the cheap, but also has the option of protecting it behind another creature and potentially getting some stupid boards.
Big two drop that tutors some of your best cards. Bloodghast makes it trivial to use the ability, but you can usually find fodder to sacrifice.
Ended up cutting this guy because I like other options more, but in a double fetchland format, it is plenty strong.
Utility lands
Really cool utility land. Looks like an expensive creature land, but then you copy a Bolas's Citadel you discarded and go off.
Included it, but haven't tested. Looks good on paper though as granting haste without going down on mana means you are hitting hard and surprising the opponent. Very good in Modern alongside Phlage for what it's worth and fun to be able to give two creatures haste with the one activation.
Haven't tested either, but this ties discard, counters and sacrifice. Tough to find room at 360(ish).
Whew! Forgot how many I had in the cube and somehow missed a few even then.
Lots of good choices there, of the cards you've highlighted I'm currently running the following:
Yeah, I think I'm out on the two white drops for the exact reasons you've mentioned. I just hate Energy as a mechanic and Ocelot Pride is just really dumb to see in action with how quickly it snowballs. At least Ragavan is pretty much neutralized with any blocker on the ground that can trade. Pride just accrues value so quickly and I don't really want even more token variety if I can help it.
Marionette Apprentice is awesome, it finally supplanted Blood Artist in my list. I still think it's the best overall for what it can create in certain boardstates, but with the proliferation of these effects including the likes of Vraan, Executioner Thane and already having Zulaport Cutthroat it felt like it was about time. An 0/1 with a non-relevant creature type is pretty dinky. Apprentice having a more relevant creature typing and branching into artifact pings (wombo combo with Gravecrawler and Warren Soultrader also!) makes it very appealing to try out.
The Goyfs have been pretty sweet, saw Nethergoyf in action the other day where I had to fire off an early Red Sun's Zenith to deal with it before it chunked in for 6+ damage. This updated suite of recursive creatures has me looking back into more burn options that can exile as well. What I really want is an instant speed Incendiary Flow. Pyrogoyf will be on a watchlist because I am wary of something that can go to the face for 4-5 consistently.
Those lands look like good options for me to toss into the Utility Land Draft, should be fun to see in action next draft. I'm definitely going to keep the Evangel in mind but man white 2 and 3 drops have gotten so tight in recent years. Making those cuts is always tough unless I'm swapping in a similar piece for greater synergies (ala Apprentice for Blood Artist). Horizon sets in general are so difficult to account for since it feels like there's always 12-14 cards that I want to try out.
Yeah, I think I'm out on the two white drops for the exact reasons you've mentioned. I just hate Energy as a mechanic and Ocelot Pride is just really dumb to see in action with how quickly it snowballs. At least Ragavan is pretty much neutralized with any blocker on the ground that can trade. Pride just accrues value so quickly and I don't really want even more token variety if I can help it.
Marionette Apprentice is awesome, it finally supplanted Blood Artist in my list. I still think it's the best overall for what it can create in certain boardstates, but with the proliferation of these effects including the likes of Vraan, Executioner Thane and already having Zulaport Cutthroat it felt like it was about time. An 0/1 with a non-relevant creature type is pretty dinky. Apprentice having a more relevant creature typing and branching into artifact pings (wombo combo with Gravecrawler and Warren Soultrader also!) makes it very appealing to try out.
The Goyfs have been pretty sweet, saw Nethergoyf in action the other day where I had to fire off an early Red Sun's Zenith to deal with it before it chunked in for 6+ damage. This updated suite of recursive creatures has me looking back into more burn options that can exile as well. What I really want is an instant speed Incendiary Flow. Pyrogoyf will be on a watchlist because I am wary of something that can go to the face for 4-5 consistently.
Those lands look like good options for me to toss into the Utility Land Draft, should be fun to see in action next draft. I'm definitely going to keep the Evangel in mind but man white 2 and 3 drops have gotten so tight in recent years. Making those cuts is always tough unless I'm swapping in a similar piece for greater synergies (ala Apprentice for Blood Artist). Horizon sets in general are so difficult to account for since it feels like there's always 12-14 cards that I want to try out.