Last updated on December 27, 2024
Phyrexian Tower | Illustration by Martin de Diego Sádaba
With over 300-400 cards printed in both Modern Horizons 3 and Modern Horizons 3 Commander sets, we’ll have plenty of new toys to play with in Modern as well as in other formats. Today we’re taking a look strictly at the reprints, cards that already existed and had a high price tag (mostly). There aren’t many noteworthy rarity shifts in this Magic set, so we’ll focus more on the reprints overall.
Not all reprints reduce the price of the cards – hello fetch lands — but mostly do and some reprints tank the price of the card into oblivion. These 26 reprints are getting the most attention from the MTG community, either because of the price reduction or because they’re good cards and will have a strong impact in the Modern format. Without further ado, let’s get to the list.
#26. Junk Diver
Previously a rare printed only in Urza’s Destiny and Commander 2014, Junk Diver appears as an uncommon this time, and the price tanked. It’s mainly played in EDH for combos that require looping artifacts from the graveyard into play over and over again.
#25. Wirewood Symbiote
Wirewood Symbiote of Legacy elves fame is entering Modern for the first time. It can be an important role player and, as an uncommon, this reprint will help tank the price of the card, which wasn’t that high to begin with.
#24. Priest of Titania
A key piece in some strong mono-green combos, Priest of Titania isn’t an expensive card, but it sees play in elves decks in Pauper and EDH, It’s an interesting addition to the Modern format, but there’s the worry that Orcish Bowmasters won’t let 1/1’s without an ETB trigger flourish.
#23. K’rrik, Son of Yawgmoth
While not contributing that much to the price reduction at first, the reprint of K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth raises the supply of a popular EDH and cEDH black commander, and those tend to become pricier with fewer reprints.
#22. Laelia, the Blade Reforged
As one of the best exile payoffs, Laelia, the Blade Reforged is a strong addition to Modern and and you should be happy to see it in your MH3 Sealed pool, but the card wasn’t in high demand before since every Commander product reprints it. It also sees play in other formats like Legacy, Vintage, and Cube. There will be an increased demand for this legendary red creature, so here’s hoping that the extra printing of these new Laelias meets that new demand.
#21. Recruiter of the Guard
Recruiter of the Guard was already a $16 card, so this reprint will help, even if this white creature was bumped up to mythic. The Recruiter was only printed in Conspiracy: Take the Crown before, so it suffered from availability. It’s a tutor for creatures on ETB, like Imperial Recruiter, and a good blink target.
#20. Eldrazi Temple
Like Aetherworks Marvel, the reprint of Eldrazi Temple is much appreciated, as this land could spike in price due to all these new Eldrazi being released into Modern, Legacy, and Commander. This reprint will help to keep the card in the $4-5 range.
#19. Dryad of the Ilysian Grove
Dryad of the Ilysian Grove is a staple in EDH, as it’s one of the best ways to fix your mana and ramp at the same time. It's also an enchantment creature so it counts as an enchantment for the many decks that want those. It’s not breaking any ground in Modern since it’s already legal there, but the reprint helps keep the card price at bay.
#18. Farewell
One of the best board wipes in Magic and a staple in many formats like Pioneer, Standard, and EDH, Farewell is a card that needs to be constantly reprinted to prevent the price from going up – not unlike Tarmogoyf in the Modern Masters era.
#17. Aetherworks Marvel
Aetherworks Marvel is a card that’s poised to make a Modern comeback if energy returns to be a thing in the format. Thankfully they reprinted this legendary artifact, to prevent a spike in price, even if it’s speculative. At the moment, this reprint shaved a good $2-3 off the card’s price.
#16. Buried Alive
Getting to Entomb three times leads to all sorts of combos, from dumping your Arclight Phoenix into the graveyard to your more powerful haymakers like Griselbrand or Archon of Cruelty. Buried Alive is an $8 uncommon, so reprinting this black sorcery can alleviate that, if ever so slightly.
#15. Kappa Cannoneer
This is a very interesting reprint for Modern, as this blue artifact creature can be easily cast for less than 2-3 mana due to improvise. Magic's best turtle, Kappa Cannoneer is a very resilient threat that can be a finisher and it saw some Legacy play. This is a situation where the reprint into Modern can make the card slightly more expensive due to higher demand, and it wasn’t an expensive card before. Early movement shows the card getting a few bucks more expensive, going from the $3-6 range, but this is very speculative, and prices tend to drop overall.
#14. Kaalia of the Vast
Although unlikely to see Modern play, this human cleric is one of the best commanders included in MH3. A very popular Mardu commander and among the best Mardu cards in the format, Commander players are always happy to see Kaalia of the Vast get reprinted. Its price currently sits at $8-9.
#13. Orim’s Chant
Orim's Chant in Modern makes Isochron Scepter / Silence decks a little better and more consistent. Depending on whether the card sees heavy play or not, this white instant can stay in the $5-10 range, a little cheaper than before the reprint.
#12. Estrid’s Invocation
Estrid's Invocation is a card that saw print once in Commander 2018 and it sees play in myriad enchantment-based decks, even in formats like Legacy. Blinking enchantments every turn is solid, and that triggers constellation and other relevant ETB triggers. This reprint can make a $15 blue enchantment go down maybe $10 or so.
#11. Sylvan Safekeeper
Sylvan Safekeeper is a rare from Judgment that’s been reprinted only in Commander sets twice. The inclusion of this green creature in Modern Horizons 3 has already lowered the price of this human wizard from around $15 to the $8 range. With Dark Depths banned in Modern, it’s unclear if there’s a shell for it, but it sees play in EDH as a way to protect key creatures and commanders from removal, while being a free sac outlet for lands.
#10. The Modern Horizons 2 Elementals
These five elementals see heavy Modern play, to the point that Fury was banned and Grief is probably the next in line. These are important reprints, but as a Special Guest reprint, which only appear in 1-in-64 boosters, it’s not clear whether the price will be impacted (and, in fact, pre-release prices for these are through the roof), so I’ve opted not to push these any higher up the ranking. At least they’re not getting more expensive, I’ll tell you that.
#9. Akroma’s Will
One of the best vigilance cards in the game and among the strongest protection spells, Akroma's Will became a staple of EDH, and thus the price spiked hard. As a reprint included in Modern Horizons Commander, it’s not going into Modern, but the price tanked hard after being reprinted in The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, going from the $20 to the $10 range.
#8. Deserted Temple
Deserted Temple is a new card in Modern, and you can use it to untap other powerful lands like Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx and Cabal Coffers. The reprints in MH3 and in Tales of Middle-earth: Commander will help solidify the card’s price at $5-6 instead of the old $14 price tag.
#7. Flusterstorm
Flusterstorm is one of the most played counterspells in formats like Legacy and Vintage, as it’s one of the best ways to fight storm and win a counterspell battle. Even being reprinted in sets like Modern Horizons 1, Flusterstorm still costs about $25-30, so here’s hoping that this reprint makes the card more accessible.
#6. The Medallion Cycle
These medallions have been reprinted very few times, and their price spiked to almost $20 per card, thanks to EDH, of course. The format already values 2MV mana rocks highly, and these are arguably better in long games than a Signet or Talisman as they generate constant cost reduction. Adding these to Modern can enable some storm combos or boost mono-colored decks. The reprint already dumped them into the $10 range.
#5. Toxic Deluge
Toxic Deluge is one of the best black sweepers, seeing play in EDH, Legacy, and Cube, but was until now not legal in Modern. Its reprint in MH3 makes it one of the New-to-Modern cards this set, and Toxic Deluge will probably become a Modern staple, and will for certain be a bomb in MH3 Limited formats. It was an $8-10 card before, and this reprint will get this card into the $5 range unless the card becomes totally bonkers in Modern, but we’ll have to see.
#4. Urza’s Incubator
It might not see play in Modern, but Urza's Incubator is a staple of EDH, mainly in typal decks. Reducing the cost of a certain creature type, or even for expensive commanders is a huge deal. This reprint makes the artifact go from around $35 to the $20-25 range.
#3. Cephalid Coliseum
Only printed in Odyssey as an uncommon, this used to be a $20 card, and after the reprint, it sits with a much more accessible $3-5 price tag. Cephalid Coliseum sees play in formats like Legacy, in decks like the occasional Dredge deck, and its presence can add to the diversity of Modern mill decks or reanimator decks.
#2. Phyrexian Tower
Phyrexian Tower entering Modern is a huge deal, and this black land has been reprinted only once in Ultimate Masters. The land is a staple in Eternal formats where you’ll sacrifice a creature for free and even generate mana in the process. Phyrexian Tower is a card in the $30-35 range, and this reprint can shave a good $5-10 off the card’s value, at least in the short run.
#1. Allied Color Fetchlands
The last time the allied fetch lands saw print was in Khans of Tarkir 10 years ago, so these were very much in need. These see heavy play in every format they’re legal. Although these reprints reduce the price, the demand stays constantly high, so in the long run, these prices can drop $5-10 but will rapidly recover.
Wrap-Up
Bloodstained Mire | Illustration by Bruce Brenneise
And there we have it folks, the best reprints from MH3. Although the best cards from Modern Horizons 3 are arguably the new cards, as you would expect from a Horizons set, these reprints are powerful and impactful. We can see that some were hand-picked by WotC to strengthen tier 1.5-2 decks, while some are welcome just to reduce the price of cards in the secondary market. There’s a huge amount of reprints, but these 26 are the most significant in terms of boosting availability, price reduction, and playability.
Which reprint from Modern Horizons 3 were you expecting to see in this list? Did I miss any obvious ones? Let me know in the comments section below, or in our Draftsim Discord server. Thanks for reading, and keep checking Draftsim Blog for constant updates on MH3.
Follow Draftsim for awesome articles and set updates:
Add Comment