The 75 Best Cards in Modern Horizons 3 Ranked

Steve Vrooman June 5, 2024 Collecting, Deckbuilding, MTG Cards

Last updated on March 27, 2026

Kaalia of the Vast | Illustration by Livia Prima

Modern Magic sets have been super powerful, and Modern Horizons 3 looks to be no different. There are some very nutty things in here, and I think we’re all hoping that this doesn’t break formats.

The power level of these cards is so high, I’m sure a favorite or two will inevitably get left off this list, but I think we’ve got everything that’s gonna make waves. And rankings are weird when cards are this powerful in a format like Modern. Is a card only for Amulet Titan better than a card only for Domain Zoo or a new deck entirely? It’s a bit about your favorites and where we think the meta will shake out in a few months.

The memes are that this is Commander Horizons, and that’s fair enough, in its way. To that end, this ranking will have the cards that have a reasonable shot at being Modern playable at the top, sliding toward kinda dreaming to get into Modern but unlikely as we transition into the Commander space. Note that stuff on the top of the list will also be awesome in Historic and Timeless on MTG Arena.

If you're interested in how these will play in Limited formats, check our Modern Horizons 3 Limited Set Review where we rate all the cards, and our MH3 Sealed Guide if you're specifically interested in Sealed or our MH3 Draft guide for, well, Draft!

Table of Contents show

#75. Commander Grab Bag!

There’s a ton of awesome reprints and new cards for Commander in this set, including some awesome commanders both new and old between the main MH3 set and the Modern Horizon 3 Commander precons. This list is the cream of the crop that’s not already in the top 74:

#74. The Landscapes

Lovely for Commander. Just look at them!

#73. Urza’s Cave

Busted in Commander, Urza's Cave seems tempting in some kind of The Enigma Jewel deck, which is barely fringe in Standard, much less Modern.

#72. Ugin’s Binding

Ah, the good ol’ days when Cyclonic Rift was the thing EDH players had to worry about. Ugin's Binding is nuts, especially if you’re doing some self-mill, even if you’re just using some of the 100ish colorless artifacts that cost 7+.

#71. Etherium Pteramander

If affinity works in Modern and uses black, this can basically be a 5/5 flier for 2 black mana. Is that good enough when your Myr Enforcer is free? Well, it flies and it can feed your Flare of Malice. Probably stil marginal.

#70. Metastatic Evangel

That’s a lot of poison counters for EDH! Is it enough for Modern? Unlikely. Plenty of other durdly EDH uses for this white creature, as well.

#69. Party Thrasher

There is a deck where Party Thrasher just spews value, like with Inti, Seneschal of the Sun and Laelia, the Blade Reforged. Probably not happening. Maybe.

#68. Aether Revolt

4 mana is a bridge too far for Modern, but Aether Revolt gives teeth to energy combos in Commander, which right now struggle to win the game.

#67. Unstable Amulet

This red artifact seems pretty awesome in Ruby Storm.

From an EDH perspective, Unstable Amulet is a payoff for casting exiled cards, and that’s a small list, including Passionate Archaeologist and Flaming Tyrannosaurus, so Prosper, Tome-Bound and various Doctor Who decks will rejoice.

#66. Frogmyr Enforcer

If affinity is a thing, four more Frogmites are needed. Or four more Myr Enforcer. Or both! Frogmyr Enforcer is a genius use of the prototype mechanic!

#65. Ashling, Flame Dancer

This red creature feels good in a prowess or Ruby Storm deck. It nets a lot of cards and then pays you back if you’re storming. For 4 mana without haste, this elemental shaman is hard in Modern, but it does draw a card with each spell if you’re hellbent. If you just dump Ashling, Flame Dancer in the graveyard with Dragon's Rage Channeler for the inevitable Underworld Breach, isn’t that eventually useful?

See our next card for more.

#64. Consign to Memory

Consign to Memory is the perfect sideboard card against an Eldrazi deck, so we’ll see if those are good. This blue instant also counters artifacts, Karn, etc., and also fizzles lots of stuff while replicating into Ashling triggers, which allows an Izzet deck to be pesky while converting into while rummaging/drawing three cards and dishing out a one-sided Pyroclasm.

I won’t do a spit take if there’s a deck that maindecks this.

#63. Imskir Iron-Eater

I want this to work in Modern affinity, but I can see losing with Imskir Iron-Eater in hand too often. So EDH, I suppose, where this Rakdos demon is cracked.

#62. It That Heralds the End

If you get It That Heralds the End out on turn 1 with Ugin's Labyrinth into Urza's Incubator on turn 2, you can cast a 7-drop Eldrazi. Or you could have assembled Tron instead for the same result.

#61. Deem Inferior

Hot take: People are sleeping on Deem Inferior. This blue sorcery is a 1-mana tuck in a deck that draws a lot of cards. Look, Temporal Cleansing propelled me up the ladder in a go-wide merfolk deck in Standard. Not having to tap creatures for that effect is wicked cool.

#60. Sylvan Safekeeper

A card like Sylvan Safekeeper will find a way!

#59. Strix Serenade

This counterpoint to Swan Song seems bonkers in cEDH. It’s also a really nice thing to have up on turn 1 on the play against Rakdos Evoke while being more flexible than Stern Scolding.

#58. Ghostfire Slice

Kozilightning Bolt here is awesome against specifically Domain Zoo and maybe Omnath right now. But if that changes, Ghostfire Slice is the truth, and one of the best devoid cards.

#57. K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth

The cEDH staple joining pops in Modern! K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth joins Necrodominance as something that either makes Death's Shadow pop off or just lets them kill you faster. All of these black decks need to put a lot of weight on March of Wretched Sorrow to just not die. We’ll see.

#56. Springheart Nantuko

From Arboreal Grazer to Primeval Titan itself, Springheart Nantuko can do some shenanigans with Amulet of Vigor out. Is there room in the deck for this green creature?

#55. Six

Six does a ton in Yawgmoth and Amulet Titan decks. Theoretically. It’s always a question of finding room in the lists.

#54. Aether Spike

Aether Spike is the backbone if there’s an energy control or midrange deck. My gut says that’s gonna be a thing.

#53. Wrath of the Skies

With no energy synergies, this is not The Meathook Massacre. It’s more like a million Fatal Pushes that nabs cheap artifacts and enchantments. You can cast it for X=0 to nab all things 0, including tokens. And in the energy deck, if you have energy about you can often spend just 2 mana and get Farewell at home minus the exile. So how do we get cheap energy? Good question….

#52. Cheap Energy Spells

These are very different, yes, but these are three cards that make 2 energy counters at instant speed for only 1 mana. If the energy midrange deck works in Modern, it’ll be on the backs of Galvanic Discharge, Inventor's Axe, and Tune the Narrative. If not, we always have EDH.

#51. Nulldrifter

No one bothers to Feign Death a Mulldrifter. But Pundrifter here is a 4/4 flier with annihilator if you do. So Nulldrifter has an outside chance of Modern play, especially with Ugin's Labyrinth. Fine for Commander blink decks, though the draw trigger isn’t an ETB effect.

#50. Jolted Awake

Hot take: This white sorcery is the best MH3 card no one’s talking about. If the energy deck has trivial amounts of energy lying around, Jolted Awake will feel like Reanimate for most things by turn 3. That’s pretty busted. The question is if that’s worth being in an energy deck in Modern.

#49. Thief of Existence

Is there anything else I want to see in my Storm the Festival pile than Thief of Existence when they’ve got The One Ring out? Can mono-green climb high enough to matter?

#48. Null Elemental Blast

Terrific against Omnath, Locus of Creation decks, Null Elemental Blast is awesome in Commander. Pain lands, talismans, Sol Ring, and more than 300 other lands can tap for colorless mana. This kills or counters the majority of commanders with little fuss.

#47. Cursed Mirror

People are sleeping on this Commander bomb. Cursed Mirror seems like lovely ramp that can clone your Thought Monitor, their Grief, and so on. Note that the new Eldrazi titans are worded to be less tempting to copy with this, so let that inform you of its power. Remember, it has haste!

#46. Kozilek’s Command

Kozilek's Command does a ton for you in a colorless space, from scrying to being colorless removal to providing graveyard hate. This seems great in Tron or artifact ramp. Infinite colorless mana isn’t super hard in Commander, and this becomes a perfect colorless tutor under those conditions.

#45. Planar Genesis

For the deck that wants Growth Spiral early and Impulse late: Planar Genesis. We don’t have that deck in Modern right now, but as Admiral Kirk says looking over the Genesis Planet at the end of Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan: “There are always… possibilities.”

#44. Threshold Lands

Sleep on Barbarian Ring and Cephalid Coliseum at your peril!

#43. Wastescape Battlemage

Wastescape Battlemage is lovely, cheap utility. And it’s a wizard, Harry!

#42. Orim’s Chant

Is Orim's Chant better or worse than Silence? Depends on the deck. This white instant feels inevitable in a deck I’m not seeing right now.

#41. The Creation of Avacyn

So Atraxa, Grand Unifier. They can obviously Pick Your Poison this black saga, but otherwise The Creation of Avacyn seems a simpler way to cheat your angel out than a reanimator strategy.

#40. Ocelot Pride

If Ocelot Pride isn’t answered, it will take over. That sounds like a good place to find white, Boros, or even cat aggro.

#39. Primal Prayers

I can’t even predict everything you’d want to flash down with some energy here. You need enough card draw to make this green enchantment not just a worse Collected Company, but is Primal Prayers going to give Longtusk Cub and friends a new life?

#38. Laelia, The Blade Reforged

Laelia, The Blade Reforged is powerful and its exile payoff triggers off cascade, which is potentially interesting.

#37. Ripples of Undeath + Victimize + Buried Alive

Reanimator/dredge gets some awesome tools, two old, one new. Buried Alive into Victimize is a classic, and if that’s too slow, Ripples of Undeath is the business. Which is why….

#36. Nethergoyf

…is better than you’ve heard. Nethergoyf isn’t just a bad turn 1 Tarmogoyf. It’s a long-term threat out of the graveyard for when you can afford to escape with card type duplicates. You gladly eat removal with this and wait. And in the meantime…..

#35. Chthonian Nightmare

Chthonian Nightmare is a 2-mana Reanimate for anything with mana value 3 or less, which, like Return Triumphant, isn’t quite good enough even for Standard. But if you’re reanimating a 1-drop over and over again and netting energy, this again seems as good as the energy deck if it wants black. If you have a lot of energy from other sources this black enchantment is a very efficient reanimation spell.

#34. Elves!

Two old and one new for elves. Can they bust up enough tiers to matter on the backs of Eladamri, Korvecdal, Priest of Titania, and Wirewood Symbiote? I kind of hope so, actually.

#33. Recruiter of the Guard

I will always think, “Thaaaaaliaaaaaaa, Mom said it’s time to come home for dinnnnnerrrrrrr!” when I cast this card. Recruiter of the Guard is in white and a soldier, and so a very Commander white creature.

#32. Disruptor Flute

I can only picture The Second Doctor playing this Disruptor Flute. Maybe this replaces Pithing Needle in Karn-boards? Flash makes it versatile against all sorts of stuff, including notorious card drawing permanents, planeswalkers, cascade, etc. As Jiminy Cricket sings:

“When you get in trouble and you don't know right from wrong,

give a little whistle!”

#31. Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury

Does Phlage, Titan of Fire's Fury help Boros Burn finally get over the top? Does it star in some kind of legends deck? Is this the truth in a blink or scam shell? Likely this elder giant is a one-of finisher in those sorts of decks.

#30. Birthing Ritual

So they nerfed Birthing Pod eh? But Brainsurge helps here. And note that Birthing Ritual allows you to cast cheaper than the one tick up Pod and Prime Speaker Vannifar cycle. You can sacrifice a 1-drop for a 1-drop. That seems really good in the right shell.

#29. Kozilek’s Unsealing

Kozilek's Unsealing is not Up the Beanstalk. But it is downright absurd, yes, even without Eldrazi. This devoid blue enchantment seems cracked in 7-drop happy affinity if they can take a turn off for it, which remains to be seen.

#28. Guide of Souls

Soul Sister aggro??!? Guide of Souls is fine on its own in a humans shell, but imagine grabbing this white cleric in a Boros energy aggro deck.

#27. Deserted Temple

Untapping Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx seems nice, and I’m thinking hard about Spymaster's Vault. Deserted Temple goes infinite with Cabal Coffers and Rings of Brighthearth, which can be fetched out of the Karn-board. If you’re playing Necrodominance and handling the life loss with March of Wretched Sorrow, all you need is one Exsanguinate type of card or Walking Ballista in the deck. I’m convincing myself and need to stop before I leap off this janky precipice…..

#26. Fanatic of Rhonas

Speaking of infinite mana, can I interest you in Fanatic of Rhonas, to put this little snake in a mono-green devotion deck that can grab Staff of Domination from the Karn-board?

#25. New Sacrifice Cards

So Phyrexian Tower into Warren Soultrader into the rest of the Rakdos sac stuff into Marionette Apprentice, which is almost Mayhem Devil Apprentice. Looping Forsaken Miner, I think there’s enough to elevate the tiers of this deck in Modern, and of course this is all bank for EDH.

#24. White Orchid Phantom

Ouch! Orzhov Scam anyone? And White Orchid Phantom isn’t the only thing in this set going after fancy lands!

#23. Winter Moon

Winter Moon will be better than people think and they will hate it. Those Karn-boards are just not big enough anymore, are they?

#22. Urza’s Incubator

If you land an Ugin's Labyrinth correctly, you could drop an Oblivion Sower on turn 3 with Urza's Incubator on turn 2. There’s Tron and maybe other ways to ramp better to big Eldrazi, but that seems decent and it’s colorless.

#21. Psychic Frog

Is Psychatog back? Psychic Frog is different, and it’s a decent madness enabler. I don’t know exactly where this goes, but it’s psychic, so it probably does.

#20. Amped Raptor

Amped Raptor doesn’t have to be as good as the hype surrounding it to still be quite good in some kind of aggro deck or even as the only energy card in a deck like Domain Zoo.

#19. Echoes of Eternity

Echoes of Eternity is absolutely absurd on the battlefield, for both Eldrazi and artifacts. Clear busted combos in Commander, but casting this kindred enchantment in Modern is no easy feat. We want to say Tron for all of this, but there’s only so much room for big spells in that deck. Which one’s going forward?

#18. Meltdown

Meltdown. How do you rate a red sorcery which will show up in every sideboard that can play it?

#17. Static Prison

Three turns is forever in Modern. Static Prison can do huge work in any deck with white, but this is Leyline Binding in something like an energy control deck or an energy aggro deck, if either of those are things.

#16. Brainsurge

Instant-speed draw-four for 3 mana hasn’t been a thing in Modern, but Brainsurge is here and is going to be powerful.

#15. Kappa Cannoneer

Affinity aggro is back on the menu with Magic's best turtle, Kappa Cannoneer!

#14. The Medallions

These are amazing Commander cards that are mostly not quite there for Modern. Perhaps Jet Medallion in Coffers? Ruby Storm with Ruby Medallion will be tried, although it lacks the rituals it has in Legacy. Sapphire Medallion for some kind of blue storm? Maybe. And there seems no home for Emerald Medallion and Pearl Medallion in 60-card formats right now.

#13. Toxic Deluge

This is one of the new-to-Modern cards that, thanks to being reprint in MH3, are now Modern-legal. A Toxic Deluge board wipe on turn 3 for the Cabal Coffers deck seems perfect for hitting The One Ring on turn 4. Unless that deck shifts instead to Necrodominance.

#12. Harbinger of the Seas

Merfolk can often protect Harbinger of the Seas, as can control. Blood Moon destroys people and they can often actually use the red mana. Blue, though? This merfolk wizard seems gloriously tilting and looks to see merfolk rising like the tide.

#11. Devourer of Destiny

Exiling cards off the top isn’t exactly Once Upon a Time, but the card selection there for free is awesome on Devourer of Destiny. I can’t see a Pull from Eternity build with this Eldrazi, but you can then feed this card to Ugin's Labyrinth and that all seems wack.

#10. Necrodominance

The latest and best “fixed” Necropotence seems really close to the original. The reduced hand size doesn’t matter much, but you are drawing the cards and not just placing them in your hand, which has positives and negatives, especially against Orcish Bowmasters.

Folks are asking: Is Necrodominance just worse than The One Ring with no Dark Ritual to power this out? Maybe in a normal deck, but if there’s a way to storm off on the end step, this will be awesome.

#9. The Flip Walkers

Ajani, Nacatl Pariah / Ajani, Nacatl Avenger and Grist, Voracious Larva / Grist, the Plague Swarm feel like they can see Modern play, perhaps slotting into Zoo and Yawgmoth, respectively, or reviving some aggro or graveyard archetypes. Ral, Monsoon Mage / Ral, Leyline Prodigy feels like the art is telling us to play it in storm decks. Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student / Tamiyo, Seasoned Scholar seems like an option in Historic wizards that can get to its draw-third-card payoff, and someone will try brewing fevered combos with Sorin of House Markov / Sorin, Ravenous Neonate, but I’m not seeing it.

All sweet commanders, though; check this spellslinger EDH deck with Ral, Monsoon Mage!

#8. Vexing Bauble

Vexing Bauble doesn’t fix everything when you’re on the draw, but it fixes quite a lot.

#7. Nadu, Winged Wisdom

Why is this a thing? Nadu, Winged Wisdom will be a Modern deck, maybe a couple. Even just tossing around a Shuko to make this bird wizard trigger is pretty awesome.

#6. Eldrazi Titans

Reading people talk about how, no, their favorite of these cards is the best one reminds me of K-pop stans going after each other. All are awesome in different ways. It seems impossible there’s not an Eldrazi deck in Modern after this set, and the best will rise based on archetype support and the shifting meta: Emrakul, the World Anew, Kozilek, the Broken Reality, and Ulamog, the Defiler.

These are bombs, and I've already been brewing an EDH deck commanded by Emrakul, the World Anew. But not every deck is Eldrazi, which is why we have a cycle of lands higher on this list.

#5. Keyword Lands

This cycle of lands with a keyword connected to each color is sweet. It requires you to play basic lands or domain mana to come down untapped, but Archway of Innovation dishing out improvise is insane with the number of artifact tokens out there. Shifting Woodland is one of the best delirium cards, and Spymaster's Vault is also strong. Monumental Henge is like an already flipped Search for Azcanta for control decks. I don’t see Arena of Glory kicking Hanweir Battlements out of Amulet Titan anytime soon, though.

#4. MDFCs

Some of these are better than others, sure. But the spell/creature side of these are more efficient than the average from the Zendikar Rising modal double-faced cards and the mono-colored ones can enter untapped if you pay life, so I think many will find a home, and not just in Goblin Charbelcher decks.

The removal spells in here are quite nice, and there’s a bunch, but my vote for unexpectedly powerful dark horse here is the instant-speed tutor (note the flash text there!): Waterlogged Teachings / Inundated Archive

And you gotta catch 'em all for Commander!

#3. Ugin’s Labyrinth

If you build around it, this land may be the most rawly powerful card in the set. Ugin's Labyrinth protects your big Eldrazi or even an Arcane Proxy from Grief and then lets you get it back! The chance to drop The One Ring on turn 2 is just the nuttiest version of what this thing can do.

Hype seems high with this one: thus far it looks like one of the most expensive cards in MH3.

#2. The Flare Cycle

Free spells are always cracked. Does having to sac a nontoken creature put some brakes on? Sure. But Flare of Duplication will give burn and prowess a chance to Lightning Bolt the dome after combat and sac a Monastery Swiftspear to copy the instant for no mana! The five cards from the Flare cycle are among the best this set.

#1. Fetchlands

Reprints, and you’re rolling your eyes, but this is de rigeur: Bloodstained Mire, Flooded Strand, Polluted Delta, Windswept Heath, Wooded Foothills.

Wrap Up

Phyrexian Tower | Illustration by Martin de Diego Sadaba

I imagine there’s two kinds of readers, and perhaps you can tell us which one you are in the comments below or on the Draftsim Discord. One kind gets to the end of this list, sees a lot of lands, and it makes them happy. Lands are huge. Lands are the backbone. Lands are Magic: The Gathering.

The other kind just wants to see which busted creature reigns supreme, like kaiju toppling cities while battling for dominance. For that reader, “OMG the Titans Aren’t Top Five!” is the headline. And that, in the end, is fair enough.

For me, Modern is a format that’s about inches, not miles. And something as simple as Vexing Bauble may be the biggest card in the set. But from a Commander perspective, there’s just a lot here to digest. I don’t know about you, but this gives me quite the shopping list.

Happy brewing!

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Steve Vrooman

A casual MTG warrior since Ice Age, Steve would have liked to have seen at least one card with cumulative upkeep in Kaldheim. He likes to think he'd be in Lorehold, but it's probably Silverquill.

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