Sets (MH3/M3C) Modern Horizons 3 Testing and Includes Thread

This is a testing/includes thread. Post pictures using /ci or a text list using /c with what cards you plan to include and what cards you plan to test.

Including:



Including if I Open:


Testing:

+The rest of the Landscape cycle.


+ All 10 DFC Dual Lands

All in all, Modern Horizons 3 is very powerful. It suffers slightly from a lot of the "Bread and Butter" cards that have been staples in previous sets relating specifically to parasitic mechanics rather than being more open-ended. For example, instead of Lose Focus and Unholy Heat, we got Aether Spike and Galvanic Discharge. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as these cards could be just what was needed to support some narrower decks in Constructed. I am a little bit dubious as to their Cube capability. I feel like a lot of the previous cards we have for Energy especially are at such a low power level that they don't really mesh well with the new cards from MH3. Having said that, I do appreciate that many of the new enablers for the Eldrazi are designed more in the style of Rise of the Eldrazi than Battle for Zendikar. In either case, this set feels like it was primarily looking to push Energy and Urzatron in constructed, which inherently means that there aren't going to be as many cards for Cubers as we otherwise would hope. Personally, I think this was a good experiment, and I believe there is a lot of potential for future Horizons sets that focus on increasing the density of high-power cards with popular but under-played mechanics. I'm not sure Energy and Colorless Mana Matters were necessarily the best choices, however, I think this set works as a proof of concept for future sets in this vein.

I am very happy to see the return of Bestow in this set! Triton Wavebreaker looks like a fantastic Blue one-drop. The fact that it can double as a noncreature spell leads me to believe it is a great Prowess card, both as an enabler and a payoff. I also am a big fan of Trickster's Elk. I don't necessarily think this card is better than Kenrith's Transformation, but I think the actual design is still great. Although I think we could have definitely seen some more Bestow cards, especially at higher rarities, I think these new additions are good pieces for a Cuber's toolbox.

What are your plans for this set?
-GT
 
Set is obviously drastically pushed so many people will be tempted into obsoleting some of their favorite cards for the new spice. I bet this set will have one of the highest inclusions ever.
 
Set is obviously drastically pushed so many people will be tempted into obsoleting some of their favorite cards for the new spice. I bet this set will have one of the highest inclusions ever.
Honestly, I think this set is probably closer to one of the Standard Sets from last year more than the previous Horizons sets. Most of the pushed cards are for niche linear constructed decks that don’t translate well to Cube.
 
It has been the new norm for me for years that my testing list for new sets is between 1 and 5 cards. Modern Horizons sets used to be an exception, but this one isn't. Themes like energy and eldrazi/colorless and the presence of dfcs made many cards unappealing for me. Many of my hopes for this set have been disappointed. But there are some cool additions here.

Definite includes:



A sweet 2-drop for black, simple and elegant, playable in every deck, yet very synergistic. And a retro frame version! Love it.

Green gets a nice midrange creature that's another landfall payoff and a sweet cantrip that ramps AND fills your graveyard. Awesome.

I'll also happily adding the retro frame versions of Tireless Provisioner and Abiding Grace.

There are more cards I'm keeping an eye on but I don't see them getting in with my summer update, e.g. Nulldrifter or Etherium Pteramander. The reason I am so hesitant adding new cards is not (just) that I dislike them. It's mostly that I am very, very happy with ~96% of the cards in my cube and I don't want to disturb the balance of what has gotten so, so close to my ideal draft format.
 
There are more cards I'm keeping an eye on but I don't see them getting in with my summer update, e.g. Nulldrifter or Etherium Pteramander. The reason I am so hesitant adding new cards is not (just) that I dislike them. It's mostly that I am very, very happy with ~96% of the cards in my cube and I don't want to disturb the balance of what has gotten so, so close to my ideal draft format.
That's a great place to be! Maybe you'll be the second @Grillo_Parlante and finish your Cube at some point ; )
 
I've got a 720 unpowered Cube focused on mostly-fair Magic and this set has been wonderful for me.

I tend to test 15-25 cards a set for the last few years, and this is going to be the record for me, looks like.

Instant Classics for my Cube


I have been convinced on Pyrogoyf!


Fantastic New Inclusions





Marginal Inclusions




Pick-Ups for my On-Deck Binder




Other neat cards



I might write something up about it over the weekend if I find the energy.
 
honestly I don't know if anything will even crack my 360, it's all themes I don't really support at the moment

Ajani, Nacatl Pariah is the only card I'm actively gonna slam in early
a bunch of the modal dfcs I will at least test
and of course something will make huge waves in Modern and I'll be like "maybe this is good" and then try it and it won't be, but it's okay because something else will make equally huge waves and I'll be like "can't believe I ever didn't run this"
 
I was a little bit disappointed in this set as previews first started rolling in, just because it seemed like a lot of the main mechanical themes were based on somewhat complicated mechanics that I have no nostalgia for because I was not playing for like the entire time between 2013 and 2021. Energy and colorless mana costs were always gonna be a hard sell for me, and I recently started purging Devoid cards because it's just additive distraction and also it's corny. Bestow is also whatever for me, I objectively recognize that it is cool and flexible and interesting but I just have like, 0 love for enchantments as a theme, and it's complicated enough that I'm not excited to run it.

So anyway I plugged in a ridiculous string of Scryfall search terms as usual (today's was (set:mh3 or set:m3c) -o:{e} is:firstprint -o:devoid -is:dfc -m:{c} -o:bestow -o:desert -o:commander) and still ended up with a good amount of stuff that I think is at least fun to think about.

Stuff that I'll probably actually end up putting in a cube sometime soon

This might be the "pretty good but not busted 3 mana blue draw spell" I've been looking for. Might test this in place of Quick Study.


Just a cool straightforward card, I like how it works on its own but goes bananas if you build for it.


Might include this as part of my quest to find more white removal that isn't enchantments but whyyyy did they have to word it like this it's so dumb it reads so dumb I know there's probably an extremely specific reason why and I don't care it's duuummbbb.


hhhhh this name is so corny but it's perfect for the mini artifact cube so I am forced to purchase it. They've got me on the ropes.


I love this category of card selection stuff in green that also mills you, and this one also ramps which is like maybe kind of insane? Idk but definitely want to see someone run this alongside Satyr Wayfinder and friends at least once.


"Counters aggro" is a deck that a lot of my player sort of stumble into on accident and I feel like this could be a good signal to just go for that. I could honestly see this being completely cracked in the right deck and if it's in the wrong deck it's like, fine, which is a good place to be. Also if 2 mana 3 power dudes have a million fans I am one of them etc.


Is it me or is this card kind of nuts? I'm gonna test it probably but I kind of think it might be a little too good at doing its thing without much interesting synergy to back it up.


I love quests I love quests I love quests


Haven't seen this one talked about much but feels like a fun card for low power shenanigans. Guy that is also a bomb.


Probably too good but I wanna see someone go off with it at least once.


You know what they're always saying about me I love a marginally subpar removal spell with a little bit of thematic upside. They shout this at me as I pass on the street.

Stuff that'll probably go in a box and then later I will take it out and go "oh yeah this thing" and then do something with it

One of those cards that's flexible and won't break anything and I will probably pull in and out of cubes all the time when I need to quickly fill a slot with something from the maybeboard box.


This card is cool and makes me laugh, don't think I have a good spot for it at the moment but if I ever build a high power, fair games, draftable kinda cube, a thing I consider doing every three months, this is at the top of the guest list.


Same as above, very cool very strong, don't have a spot for it right now but at the top of the list if I do some day. Also you may notice that it is a little doggy.


???? maybe???? I basically already have this card with Conclave Mentor and people love that, so I don't know if I'd want to replace it. But it would be nice to have more cards that spread this theme into black.


I mean I gotta own it right.


I have a lot of nostalgia for Watchwolf but it's hard to get people who are not also original Ravnica freaks excited about it so maybe this slightly better one could...probably not but I could dream couldn't I...


Love everything about this card except the statline. 1/4 is just such an annoying body to play against, but maybe it's not so bad since it's probably tapping out for mana a lot. But man ferocious+eternalize so cool, this is the kind of thing these sets should be all about imo.


Idk kinda neat but I dunno if it's neat enough to overcome the visceral appeal of just putting fuckin Overrun in a cube. Would be cool if this also gave trample or something so it could do it's job better.


Just kind of cool and I like these sort of low power but not awful tutor cards.


Cool engine, sick art. Could actually see this being kind of overbearing and annoying to play against but you'll feel pretty cool if you're the guy draining for 2 every turn and flipping your whole deck over.


I think this card kind of rules but the problem is I don't know where you play it (I know the actual answer is "EDH"). Probably too slow for aggro and not really incentivizing what control generally wants to do. Maybe some kind of grindy midrange deck? Could be interesting to throw in somewhere just to see what people do with it.


I could see this card creating some kind of obnoxious board stalls but I like that it's a hatebear that's like, hard to get mad about. Could be fun.


Kind of perfect for Pushstart (fair card that is stupid) but maybe just a little too wordy for my tastes. I'll mull it over.


Purchasing this card like one might purchase a tape measurer or an egg whisk. Yeah I'll probably need that at some point, why not.


Psychatog is one of my favorite cards so I'll at least have this on hand, for reasons.


Extremely generically good, basically viewing this thing as wood glue in case I need to fill a hole anywhere.


Cool weird twist on a manland and a reanimator card that I don't think we've really seen before, I think this'll lead to some great story moments but I could see it being kind of repetitive to play against.


One of the dumbest pun card names of all time but man you sure could do some stupid shit with this huh.

Stuff that is just cool and I may not ever actually put anywhere but it is fun to look at them and think about them

Hahahahahahaha what a stupid card it's so awesome.


"Land cards in your graveyard have dredge 2" is just one of the best lines of text I've ever seen. This is one of those cards that makes me seriously considering building a deck for EDH, a format I don't even like.
 

Onderzeeboot

Ecstatic Orb

This is the most experimental include of the bunch, but it looks like a very powerful late game card. Drawing extra cards and always having mana open on your opponent’s turn are things blue like a lot!


I didn’t think Blood Artist would ever be at risk, but bringing your own body, not gaining a bunch of incidental life gain, and the versatility make me think it’s finally time to replace the Artist!


Very neat and useful batch of mechanics. I want to trigger both of Legolas, Master Archer’s abilities with this at least once!


A bit of stabilizing for the discard matters deck that’s a lot less all in and a lot less “oops I win” than Psychatog. Even if it gets blocked, it’s still decent !


Yay, more escape that I want to run! Very good, very nice!


A card that intersects ninja’s (as an enabler), artifact matters, and historic beatdown you say? Sign me up!
 

Pacifism plus protection in one card. Might not quite make the cut, but it's noteworthy.


This is the kind of removal I'd like. It kills small stuff easily and big stuff inefficiently, but this one has everything working against it. Sorcery speed AND they gain life?! This is no Bloodchief's Thirst.


I'm likely going to test a high powered RWg Landfall aggro deck with Steppe Lynx, etc.


Enables aggro and blink in a cool way.


3 mana Oust that can have some synergy might be alright.


Will test this. Not sure that I'll have the noncreature density to make it happen. Should probably try Swiftspear, as well.


Seems cool for almost any black deck. Hell of a common.


If I add walkers.


Is the extra mana worth the flashback? Maybe.


This might be kinda good.


I think this gets going slow enough in most games that it's not gonna break anything. Definitely pushing it, though.


Sac outlet that makes mana looks good to me.


Aggressive red creature that can haste an annihilator trigger. Significant that this phoenix can block for a long game deck.


DUH.


Solid red beater.


This is like bad Abrade, so it seems alright. I'll grab one as a maybeboard card.


Seems like it's good, but scales to the power of the environment?


4 toughness is so annoying for aggro, but this adds too much mana for me to ignore.


This is free, but seems maybe ok? Feels like it basically morphs a dude into a mana elf and then replaces the card in hand, which isn't so scary. I could cut Arboreal Grazer.


DUHHH.


Maybeboard for if I need a bit more C. Really not a bad combination of abilities.


Do I proxy off myriad and take a tramplegoyf? Maybe.


That's potentially a lot of ramp.


Flying has been a bit too good in my cube plus he provides a steady stream of lands. The last effect may prove overwhelming, however.


Decent body and a cool effect. Shame it isn't 1U. This is a big maybe.


Creatures into lands into titans.


Instant speed ramp works well in GU for me.


Sorting by color sent the Eldrazi to the end:

The wording is ugly as hell and I probably won't need a blue 7, but maybe.


Little expensive for what it does, but it's pretty cool.


This is crazy good.


Daze Snake seems fine. Not particularly interesting, but fine.


This is a pretty bad turn 3 play, but the potential follow ups are incredible.


DUHHHHH.


My midrange may need a nerf. If so, this looks decent.


The front half is kinda weak, but the flashback is coooool.


5 mana instant draw 3 is fine and then spawn is nice, but blue draw is really good these days. Maybe this can make it in.


I don't like mixing cards between players, but this card is interesting.


Pretty pushed, but with 1CR so early in the curve, it's basically multicolored. Still, pushing the limits with this one. 5/3 trample haste with one friend out.


Exiling kill is always worth a look.


Sometimes super Bolt doesn't seem too offensive.


Definitely worth a try.


Super Duper Ball Lighting+++ seems so cool, but there's no way, right?


DUHHHHHHH.


DUHHHHHHHHH.


Kicked and unKicked are both ok. I'll check my red 2s.


DUHHHHHHHHHHH.


DUHHHHHHHHHHHHH.


The leap in mana seems good for me. Skip turn 4 and SLAM on turn 5.


This looks annoying as hell, but is a sweet payoff. Broodwarden2.


I'm moving away from lands with non-mana abilities, but I'll have a few 2 mana lands that are worth grabbing.


Again, I could use reach. This looks good all around.


Maybe. The 5mv RG slot is probably not going to this guy, but I'll have to see my colorless density to be sure.


Makes for some cool decision and tricks while also adding to my reach density and being really solid on its own.


Again, I don't like mixing cards between players, but this is a solid removal spell. Utter End was a bit lacking.


This can generate a lot of value, but will be difficult to cast.


That first effect is so huge on avoiding non-games.


Kill 3 small dudes might be a lot to deal with, but this is appealing.


This isn't that good, but it has effects on 2 mana, 6 mana, and every later turn.


The cost might be tricky, but this is a classic one mana protection spell that I'll definitely try.


No other madness cards is a bit sad for the set and I doubt anyone is ever assembling CCCCCC in cube.


Nice to have some colorless payoff that's also otherwise useful.


2/9, 9/2, kills spawns.


Turn two C could be an issue, but this has some good effects.


A lot of decent options.


There's so many great titans now that I may have to cut some. We'll see.


I've been considering a multicolor increase in addition to quite a few hybrids from the last Ravnica. This might work.


If I were to cut the titans with the shuffle trigger, this looks very good.


Building a board full of 10/10s sounds fun.


Annihilator 13 is where this would peak for me.


The exert only nets 1 mana and gives haste to an annihilator. Seems ok, but adds some complexity to land effects.


As I said in the spoiler thread, this can add C. It also ramps. And sorta cycles. Really good card that I suspect everyone will run.


C source with a spell attached.

+most MDFCs and all Landscapes.
Landscapes adding C is so good for this update.



I'm very tempted by a lot of the artifact-themed cards. There's a lot of interesting builds to be had there. Energy is beginning to look appealing, as well.

For now, however, I think that I need to keep my cube's archetypes pretty basic while I work out how to have a mid-high powered Eldrazi format.
 
Going into spoiler season I didn't think this set would have much for Welder's Workshop because of the emphasis on Energy and {c}, but I was quite mistaken. There's a little treat for every color in here, but Black is getting an absolute overhaul in the creature section that I'm really excited about. As always, I'm looking for cards that create or copy tokens, synergize with artifacts, and interact with the graveyard.

- Inchblade Companion
-When I first started building this cube, I got a lot of enjoyment out of using silver-bordered cards, Arena-only cards, or restored versions of Universes Beyond cards. It's fun to play in a format where there are really no rules, and there are so many great Alchemy cards that could be real Magic cards with pretty simple templating changes. Inchblade Companion literally doesn't need to change at all! But after a while this became less interesting to me, and I'm working on replacing all these types of exceptional cards. Kindly Cognician will likely be the last one replaced. Anyway: Ocelot Pride is a really sweet card with that does everything my cube likes! And it's great at carrying equipment, too. The only way it could be better is if it had Embalm or something. At that point, we'd really be gilding the lotus.

- Saw it Coming
-All my Foretell cards are likely on the way out, as part of my effort to gently reduce the complexity of the cube. There's plenty to think about on board without having to worry about face-down cards in exile, and Saw it Coming is the least unique Foretell card in the environment. Meanwhile Flare of Denial is a rare self-sacrifice card in Blue and feels reasonably fair to me. I'm very bad at evaluating cards of this kind. Only time will tell.

- Sibling Rivalry
-I like spell-copy effects more than Threaten effects anyway, and the whole Flare cycle feels thematically right in this cube.

- Conspiracy Theorist
-Conspiracy Theorist was nearly unseated by Volatile Wanderglyph earlier this year, and this dapper reptile is simply too powerful for him. A very cool discard outlet that's a bit less of a puzzle to use, plus it plays well with tokens.

- Den Protector
-Fanatic of Rhonas is a perfect card for my cube and gives Green a nice payoff for its many self-mill effects. And I'm trying to eliminate face-down cards, anyway. Also: cool art. Lots of cobra imagery to enjoy.

- Path to the Festival
-Another Flare card that I think works great. If all these cards end up costing $20 I might skip them, though.

- Ironsoul Enforcer
-Ironsoul Enforcer has been on the ropes for a while, but keeps surviving updates because he's an artifact that reanimates artifacts. But that Commander text has always bothered me. Meanwhile Angelic Aberration is a very cool payoff for going wide with tokens. The art is also totally sick. I'm one step closer to cutting Starnheim Unleashed now, and after that the rest of the Foretell cards will be toast.

- Vivien, Monsters' Advocate
-Another planeswalker bites the dust. This card almost replaced Killer Service, but that card has a picture of a large rhino wearing a vest, so it stays. I can't WAIT to Populate a Tarmogoyf token. I literally can't wait. Somebody come draft this cube with me right away.

- Shambling Ghast
-This card made me so happy during spoilers. It has been driving me insane that every color but black had an artifact creature at one mana. Luckily, this plucky airborne amphibian is here to solve my problem. Plus: an Alara reference is always worth bonus points.

- Fanatical Offering
-Love the art and flavor. Love a new Flashback card for graveyard value. Fanatical Offering is a 10/10 on mechanics for me, but it annoyed me that it was so similar to Bitter Triumph in art, mana cost, and additional cost.

- Cryptbreaker
-Cryptbreaker has been here as a discard outlet since the first draft of the cube, but it has always bothered me that he seems to signal a Zombie deck that doesn't really exist. Obviously you'll eventually get enough Zombies just off the back of this one card, but you'll never really pop off and get free value. Meanwhile Nethergoyf is just plain cool and can reanimate itself.

- Ruthless Knave
-This one feels pretty straightforward. The cube doesn't need Ruthless Knave and Skullport Merchant.

- Herald of Anguish
-YES. Love everything about this card. A very easy switch, and hard to imagine a card that could replace Crabomination. It would have to have equally fun wordplay in the name and a cool picture of a dinosaur skeleton, or something, plus perfect mechanical relevance.

- Chronomancer
-Very excited to cut the last Necron cards from my Black section. I never thought these cards would be replaced, but MH3 knocked them all out in one fell swoop. Homicide Investigator almost replaced Chronomancer a few months ago, but Marionette Apprentice has a better haircut, plus her cool aunt is already here.

- Cryptek
-I think this is just a straight-up improvement. Never thought I'd be able to cut Cryptek, but here we are.

- Royal Warden
-This is probably a downgrade on power level, but who could say no to these vicious metal grubs? It does a lot of the same stuff as Royal Warden, but it isn't quite as much of a free value proposition. Very fun with Equipment lying around.

THE COMMANDER MODULE
- No cuts, we're actually adding a sixth monocolor commander per color thanks to this spicy tree. Green is the control valve for how many mono-color legends I can include, since so few mono-green commanders are really relevant to my goals.

- Tetzin, Gnome Champion
-So far the Jeskai commander slot has been one of the most difficult to fill. So far I've gone Kykar, Wind's Fury > Optimus Prime, Hero > Narset, Enlightened Exile > Tetzin, Gnome Champion. None of them have felt right, which sucks because it's my favorite color combo! Now Cayth is here to settle the debate once and for all. I really don't think they could print a more perfect commander in these colors for my cube. It would have to do something insane like create Gearhulk tokens.


MAYBE MAYBE MAYBE
A bunch of cards that look cool but I don't want to make room for them right now. The goyfs toward the bottom have a good chance of replacing some of the colorless 40k cards that are still lurking around my artifact section.
Argent Dais
Ugin's Binding
Emperor of Bones
Retrofitted Transmogrant
Ripples of Undeath
Molten Gatekeeper
Glimpse the Impossible
Sarpadian Simulacrum
Skittering Precursor
Birthing Ritual
The Hunger Tide Rises
Propogator Drone
Archway of Innovation
Monumental Henge
Shifting Woodland
Spymaster's Vault
Hourglass of the Lost
Exterminator Magmarch
Sphinx of the Revelation
Lazotep Quarry
Sunken Palace
Barrowgoyf
Pyrogoyf
Imskir Iron-Eater
 
My cube is about enabling big engines with splashy plays, but avoiding cards that can take over the game by themselves (few exceptions, but still).

There are cards that I am stoked to include and think will allow for even more craziness which I love. I won't be including energy just yet as I don't feel like adding extra ressources to track, the cube is already complex enough. Though there is one card that is calling me, what a nightmare! Same thing with colorless, that is for another cube.

Snap includes



A sacrifice outlet that converts creatures into mana and artifacts. While we already have Phyrexian Altar that does a similar job, this one comes with a decent body, makes tokens and has great creature types. Speaking of kindred, Gravecrawler lets you get as many sacrifices and casts as your life total, enabling some cool loops. The fact you are creating artifact tokens with each sacrifice helps trigger stuff like Mayhem Devil and fodder for Legion Extruder. This lets the aristocrat deck be less isolated and can branch out to other themes.



An amazing glue card for counters, artifacts, tokens, sacrifice, blink and humans. Once again, the sacrifice deck branches out to other themes which increases options during the draft.



A splashy finisher for RW control decks. White sucks at filling the GY, so Red will have to do a lot of work. Or draft plenty of fetches and cheap interaction to get there as well.

Almost certain



A solid beater that ties together a bunch of themes thanks to the Deliriumesque ability. I want GY payoffs in Black that aren't just reanimation spells, this seems like a good candidate!



I've been looking for Red token makers and this guy delivers in a pretty unique and synergistic way. Triggering off fetches, evoke elementals, Chromatic Stars and other incidental sacrifice effects means you can throw it in many different shells. The fact that the tokens self-sacrifice means you get more triggers for your Marionette Apprentice. But you also get ramp! Combined with the Soultrader mentioned above and Earthcraft, you are now able to create big mana engines based around creatures rather than spells. This opens the door to more creature-based combo decks which is a nice alternative to classic Storm.

Aggro-combo has never looked so good in my cube!



2/2 haste for 2 is a good place to start and having the landfall ability boost your team can lead to a big surprise attack. I am considering adding a bunch of token makers in Red, this would complement them very nicely since every instance of Battle Cry will trigger on attack.



This is actually pretty cool. "Draw" 3 for 3 mana is solid rate. It's worse than that early since they go away on your end step. However in a GY deck? Mill your Anger, Lava Dart and Call of the Herd while making three tokens that ramp! In a token deck, 3 bodies for 3 mana is a fine rate as well. Plus I love the art!



Love these 2 mana landfall cards. This one makes tokens and that would have been enough for me. Instead there is an additional wall of text that I'll put up with because I love the base case.



Speaking of aggro-combo, how about dumping your hand after a Time Spiral and hitting for 8 damage? The discard and counter synergies interest me as well as the needing to attack to get value. Duelist of the Mind and Proft's Eidetic Memory could be fun ways to make this a more reliable strategy. This type of draw 7 combo appeals to me more than Narset, Leovold and Hullbreacher.



I may like this card a bit too much because of the ability to fetch Urza's Saga. My fear is that the build around aspect won't matter when you smash with your 8/8 vigilance because you have some self-mill going.



Who knows how this will play out, but it seems like a more volatile creature land and I'm fine with that.



Fixing*, ramp and draw smoothing on a single land. Yes!

High maybe

Eladamri, Korvecdal: A unique cheat effect in Green. I like that it can be any creature you cheat out. I also enjoy the fact that it once again asks you to care about creatures to do unfair things. If the cheat aspect doesn't work out, well it's still potential card advantage casting your elves off the top of your deck.

Birthing Ritual: What is great about this Pod variant is that once you've cast it, you no longer need to pay mana into it. It's also less backbreaking to not have enough of a certain mana value creature since it can get creatures that are cheaper too. You also have the benefit of seeing your top 7 cards and then sacrificing the creature if you want. That's a lot of upside for 2 mana! Less of a tutor, more of a value engine.

Flare of Duplication: You know what might lead to some splashy plays? A free Fork variant! I don't know what to really do with this except copy a Fiery Confluence, Fireblast or a Stoke the Flames to burn people out. Or maybe a Time Spiral and generate mana and cards! Deck people with Wheel of Fortune?

Emperor of Bones: A high impact 2 drop that works really well with +1/+1 counters! The base is a bear with some GY hate attached. The upside can be really strong, reanimating a fatty with haste. It's a shame that finality counters don't let the creature hit the GY (for Triplicate Titan and such). It's a shame you can't Adapt if you have a counter from elsewhere. It's a shame there is no reminder text for any of these abilities! The potential is there, not sure if the complexity warrants the inclusion though.

Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd: This is a few words away from being a staple. If only it could target lands! I would like to replace Flickerwisp for a 2 mana version, but blinking lands can be huge. Urza's Saga, landfall triggers, a Surveil dual, Shelldock Isle. The doggo keeps the interesting play lines of interacting with your opponent's stuff and even grows. The fact it has flash and can be used as a combat trick might just be enough to replace the elemental. I'll have to test!

Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student: I love these artifact tokens and having a repeatable source for one mana is right up my alley. Flipping Tamiyo isn't particularly hard in my cube I think and the payoff for doing so is ok? You won't run away with the game, but at the same time she will give you the tools to get to the late game. Why am I not higher on her then? It's a flip card that doesn't have a clear home.

Fanatic of Rhonas: I'm not big on 2 mana dorks for this cube, but having a solid self-mill payoff in Green has my interest.

Chthonian Nightmare: I know I said that I didn't want energy, but this card has me second guessing. I've been flirting with the idea of the OG Recurring Nightmare, but decided not to because it can't be interacted with and it brings along repetitive play patterns. The ETB on the new one leaves a window to have interaction and there is a cap on the size of your targets. I mainly want this as a value play so that is fine considering the amount of high impact 3 drops in the cube. It's also a whole mana cheaper. Lots to like, but energy...

Low maybe

Metastatic Evangel: This is cheap to get onto the battlefield and is missing some limitations I would expect. It's not capped, meaning you can trigger it multiple times a turn and the creatures just need to ETB (and not be cast), meaning it works with blink.

Ocelot Pride: A nice little self-contained token maker that wears equipment well. It has late game relevance which is a plus, but I don't love the signal that life gain might be a theme.

Sink into Stupor: a highly versatile card that smooths draws or interacts with the opponent. Don't really want to introduce MDFC if I don't have to so probably a pass, but seems great.

Accursed Marauder: The effect hitting non-tokens is a big game and so is only costing two mana. Zombie type is relevant for me but I've just added a lot of sacrifice support with other MH3 cards and I want my Black section to support other archetypes.

Ral, Monsoon Mage: The base stats and mana reduction are perfectly ok. I don't like flipping coins though. Seems potentially very strong in the right deck, but once again, complexity reels its ugly head. Lots of words and a DFC for some spell velocity support. I don't think it's needed, though it does look fun!

Malevolent Rumble: Ramp, draw smoothing and self-mill is a nice package. I wish I could return any card type though.

Kudo, King Among Bears: A fun hatebear that equalizes all. Especially if you have +1/+1 counters to get an advantage, this could be powerful. Stopping an early reanimated Troll offers nice counterplay for one of my fairest guilds. It also doesn't really push an advantage and opens you up to serious pain should it get removed at the wrong time.

Six: Not sure why I need this or where it fits, but it hits a lot of the right notes. Until I figure it out, into the Maybeboard it goes.

Lazotep Quarry: A sacrifice outlet and potential recursion. It does effectively cost 4 mana to return a 1 mana value card, but it comes back as a 4/4. I don't think the rate is quite there, but it's close.

Too much power, not enough commitment

Ajani, Nacatl Pariah
Barrowgoyf
Pyrogoyf

These all seem really pushed, but also kind of take over the game by themselves. Not exactly what I am want to do in my cube right now even if I would enjoy playing these cards.



All in all, I am very happy to be increasing the combo potential for aggressive decks, a large part thanks to sacrifice shenanigans. For me, this MH set has lived up to the hype!
 
180 Jeskai Cube include:


I think that having only one include just shows how content I am with this cube and I feel that it's in a really nice place right now. It also shows how much my design goals have shifted since the pervious Modern Horizons set, which introduced 13 cards (of which only one is left as well).

the Stickered Cube includes:


Due to the lack of experience I still have with the cube I do not know how to evaluate what I want. That said, I've already added numerous double-faced cards to it, plus I really liked the play patterns of MDFCs in Zendikar Rising, so the cards seem like easy included (Pinnacle Monk being stickerable is a big bonus). I also really like the Landscape cycle!
 


Blood Artist has a nice effect, but I was never satisfied with it or any of its variants. They have irrelevant bodies and always end up being a little more narrow than you would like them too. Marionette Apprentice solves these issues with a decent body, bringing its own token and triggering on artifacts.

Warren Soultrader is similar. Phyrexian Altar was never quite there, because it had the usual problem of being a non-creature in a deck that demands creature density. A 3/3 statline, useful typing (Zombie for Gravecrawler) and creating artifacts that can be exploited push it into relevance.



Shifting Woodland is a unique effect that seems more than worth a try.

I ran two Birthing Pods, now I can cut one for Ritual and get a bit more variety. It's the more versatile card of the two and better for cube, but I'm willing to keep the original one for one.



The GR Monsters deck is bad. It has all the tools it needs except for interesting, powerful beaters. Flametongue Kavu was one of the few good ones, but the 2 toughness has become more of a liability as I added additional tokens. My hope is that Pyrogoyf promotes that kind of beatdown but isn't too easily slotted as a curve-topper.

Phlage, Titan's Fury seems tough to beat, being both repeteable removal and life gain. However, it's in colours that don't fill the graveyard too well and, when they do, they do it in a control shell. Those are decks I want to boost so this is a good include.



GB is a graveyard-centric combination, often leaning into higher mana costs and sacrifice synergies. Wight of the Reliquary fits all those themes and, hence, is a great include. It's a bit pushed, but it shouldn't be oppressive.

I've always wanted to run Winter Orb because it promotes unusual decks, but it's just too good. It has a massive stifling effect in deck viability and slots too easily into aggro decks, hurting more synergetic ones. Winter Moon could be bad, but I'm more than willing to give it a try.



The Flares seem fun, interesting and balanced. Denial might not have enough non-token creatures and Malice might be mediocre, but I'll still try them out. Flare of Fortitude is a rare sacrifice effect in white, which could be useful if I run Academy Rector.



This could be the green equivalent of Young Pyromancer or The Raven Man. While wordy, it also acts as a potential Bramble Soreverign, whose effect I liked but which fell behind the curve.

14 cards so far! Like always, these sets may not be the healthiest for constructed, but they are great for Cube.

Some other stuff that interests me:

 
Including if I Open:
0d16e8e0-31b2-4389-afd6-783c501f6fa0.jpg
71a98efb-9b0a-496b-ac21-8d70527ea544.jpg
Update: I opened Flare of Denial and Ajani, Nacatl Pariah, so those are probably going into the Cube.
 
Hey everyone,

I didn't add anything from MH3 to my cube yet but I played a couple drafts on Arena and fell in love with my latest deck, so I thought I'd share it and some insights from playing with it.

"I want this in my cube" - is what I thought after playing the first round with this deck:

Jund aristocrats










Observations:
- I got a bit lucky with 3x Marionette Apprentice..
- The 4+ drops barely mattered in this deck
- The cards I wanted on the battlefield together were Marionette Apprentice, Warren Soultrader and a token maker.
- Malevolent Rumble was fantastic at finding any of the missing pieces and provided fodder
- Chthonian Nightmare was very good at keeping the pieces on the board
- Chump blocking and using Warren Soultrader to bank the mana as treasure was great
- With Apprentice and Soultrader each creature dying dealt two damage to the opponent
- Basking Broodscale could be any card that makes two bodies in a cube and was fantastic with our Recurring Nightmare variant

Multiple games ended with a board like this, with no hope for the opponent to turn the tide (special attention to the greedy Phlage, Titan of Fire's Fury splash) .
MH3_Jund_Aristocrats_s.png

What I've learned from MH3 so far is that these more open ended designs that not only fit well but play important roles in multiple archetypes (like the Apprentice and the Rumble) will be amazing for [my] cube and I hope that they will design like these in the future. Those two cards + fixed Nightmare will definitely go into my cube and I have high hopes for them.
 
What I've learned from MH3 so far is that these more open ended designs that not only fit well but play important roles in multiple archetypes (like the Apprentice and the Rumble) will be amazing for [my] cube and I hope that they will design like these in the future.
Yeah, Malevolent Rumble looks sweet enough to make me consider adding Eldrazi Spawn tokens. That card does a lot. It might be the best green self mill sorcery now. I want two of these in my cube, preferably two copies of the same one. Even though this one is wordier than a couple of the others (via scryfall), the addition of a spawn token makes it cook! I will have to investigate other spawn token cards now.
 
I've also had good results with



- Constant flow of bodies to sac/equip/anthem up
- Ramps you to the big stuff
- Helps to rebuild after a Wildfire effect
- Endless chump blockers

It's no bitterblossom, but a very flexible card that seems to be underrated in cube world
 
I already did, and there are a few great options in MH3, but beyond that it’s slim pickings. Only Nest Invader and Pawn of Ulamog are really worth it imho. I think it’s really unfortunate (and annoying) that they switched to Eldrazi Scion tokens in BFZ…
Agreed. I am stubbornly avoiding the devoid ones, even though a few are appealing. There's also Awakening Zone, but I don't think I want to run that. The Scion thing is indeed annoying, but I don't see any of those that make me think twice about adding that token type. I think I will simply run two copies of Malevolent Rumble and be reasonably satisfied.

Edit Re:ravnic:
I don't have enough ramp stuff going on to make Awakening Zone make a ton of sense, but your list of uses has me rethinking this card again. I will keep it in mind as a maybe card.
 

Onderzeeboot

Ecstatic Orb
I can do customs of course. A cross between Nest Invader and Eldrazi Repurposer would be sweet. Give me that 2/2 that can make two Spawns!

Really though, the cards that really make me excited for running spawns are Emrakul’s Messenger, Skittering Precursor (hint: fetchlands), and Writhing Chrysalis (hint: Wildfire!) Malevolent Rumble is a good pickup, and I would love for Kozilek’s Unseeling to not be a trap!

What Spawns are missing for me, is a {G}{U}
card and a {G}{U}{R} card, and maybe a bit more monocolored support, to really make it stand out as a theme for my Temur section. I love the Chrysalis’s play pattern of creating spawns and doing something when you sac them, and I think I want to explore something in that direction.
 
This set was particularly exciting for my Peasant cube for one reason: new Bestow cards! I've always wanted to see Bestow return, since it was introduced at such a low ebb in the game's power level. MH3 really delivered on this axis, and as a bonus delivered some cool multicolor cards and a great new land cycle.


> Seasoned Hallowblade
Seasoned Hallowblade is mostly in the cube because I see it in a lot of cubes. I don't have any real personal affinity for it, so I was happy to cut it for this cool landfall elemental. Glyph Elemental also plays really well with "modified."

> Hopeful Eidolon
This cut came down to Hopeful Eidolon vs. Chaplain of Alms, and the Chaplain is going to stay because I like graveyard play and DFC's.

> Countervailing Winds
Countervailing Winds has been coasting along on its cycling ability and its theoretical usefulness in graveyard-focused decks for a while. We'll see if the flexibility of Soporific Springs makes up for the double-blue in this spell.

> Pixie Illusionist
Probably my personal favorite change! I have been hyped about Triton Wavebreaker since it was first spoiled. The card is perfect for my cube, rewarding enchantments, modifications, heroic, spellslinger, etc. So happy about this one.

> Flay Essence
I don't usually cut cards for a more expensive version of the same effect, but access to Fell Mire is worth it.

> Sigil of Myrkul
Sigil of Myrkul is just not as cool as I thought it was going to be. Meanwhile, Whither and Bloom works in the same deck, but it more directly impactful. Plays nicely with Mother Bear, Autumnal Gloom, Deathbonnet Sprout, etc.

> Flame Spill
I really like this little goblin. A 1/1 with haste for {R} is just nice to have, and I like having 2 card types for delirium.

> Heroes' Bane
Heroes' Bane is a fun card, but it's been hanging around a while simply because it's a Hydra and I like having one in the cube. Nyxborn Hydra is a way cooler card and has really cool art. Very happy about this one.

> Owlbear Shepherd
I almost cut Spirespine instead, but went with Owlbear Shepherd just because I think the payoff on the shepherd is not quite good enough for all the work players have to put in. Trickster's Elk seems really fun and useful.

> Devourer of Memory
Very cool card. I'll miss Devourer of Memory, but this new creature has so many cool ways to play in the cube's environment. Lifelink and the power-matters nature of its ability make it a great target for modifications.

> Appeal//Authority
A great pickup for players in either the Bant Auras or Naya Equipment decks. A perfect card for my cube. Appeal//Authority rewarded similar decks, but I like this a lot more, and it's a "true gold" card, which gives it a bonus in my eyes.

> Invasion of New Capenna
Another VERY sweet card for "modified" decks, plus it has Adventure, which I (along with everyone else) love. And it has some game in aristocrats! This card does a lot of the same work as Invasion of New Capenna, but has a dramatically lower complexity cost.

> Promise of Bunrei
A perfect card for my cube. I will always be delighted to play this on an Enchantment Creature, and the dual-land on the back gives it extra spice. Time will tell if Promise of Bunrei was the correct cut here.

> Harsh Scrutiny
Harsh Scrutiny kind of sucks and the only reason I haven't cut it yet is because it's the only hand-attack card in the whole cube. Its time has come, and Revitalizing Repast is about 1000 times more flexible and interesting, in my opinion.

> Make Your Mark
This one is tough because I really like Make Your Mark, but I like the access to Legion Stronghold, and I really like the idea of doubling power on a Charging Monstrosaur or something.


These are going to replace the Campus cycle from Strixhaven and the tapped duals from New Capenna that can be sacced for a card. For a long time I considered using the Panoramas from Alara and the Gates from Baldur's Gate to make multicolored access really easy, but those cards just didn't excite me. This new cycle is much cooler and more fun to draw late in the game. I just love these.
 
I was stunlocked by trying to figure out what to include from Thunder Junction, but I finally got it out of the way, so here's what I ended up with.



Triton Wavebreaker is a sort of 405th cube card, I could see myself replacing it easily, but I'm not terribly fond of a lot of the blue one-drops, and I could see someone doing cool things with this and dreadhorde arcanist or ranger of eos or something else.
Emrakul's Messenger is a neat little build-around that helps provide some creatures to convoke with in blue which I've been looking for.
Nulldrifter is the cooler older brother to Mulldrifter, a card I like a lot less than the average player probably. I like that using this with blink effects lets you cheat in a threatening creature instead of just durdling around for more card draw, which is rather essential to how I try to construct my blink archetype. Also does doubly duty as a cheat target.
Nethergoyf is probably too powerful of a card in my cube, for an archetype is that is likely also the most powerful. I like the incentives of drafting different card types though.
Mindless Conscription is another payoff for an emerging card-draw archetype. Kind of iffy, but I think it has potential considering I break singleton on brainstorm and frantic search, along some assorted red discard+draw 2s.
I fear that Flare of Duplication has a bit too low of a floor, but it seems exciting so I'm giving it a spin.
Six is insane, I like that despite being a value engine you have to enter combat with it to actually draw cards off it. The recursion mode is very appealing, letting you key off discard synergies, and potentially storming off by casting Mishra's Baubles off your excess lands.
Cranial Ram is an RB artifact payoff that seemed better than Oni-Cult Anvil that I had previously. I don't love it, but that's true for a lot of my gold cards. I think I need to reconsider my approach to them.

rip white
 
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