MTG Modern Horizons 3 review - The most powerful Magic set of all time?

MTG Modern Horizons 3 is an absolutely bonkers set, and it’s exactly what I hoped it would be. As someone who has played Magic: The Gathering since the mid/late 90s, I’m intimately familiar with the game. Not only is Modern Horizons 3 the strongest set I’ve ever experienced, but it’s easily the strongest of the three Modern Horizons sets. Wizards of the Coast sent me some packs to open, and I was overwhelmed with what I found in almost every single pack.

From the Vexing Bauble to the more ridiculous, powerful Eldrazi, MTG Modern Horizons 3 did not disappoint when it came to getting the most bang for your buck out of a booster pack. Sure, each pack varies, and you won't get a $100 card in each pack. I will say that I was not let down by what this set offers.

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MTG Modern Horizons 3 is designed for Eternal formats and brings untold power

It's the time of the Eldrazi. (Image via Wizards of the Coast)

The first question is of course, what exactly is MTG Modern Horizons 3? It’s the latest expansion for Magic: The Gathering, and it’s not a “Standard” set. This isn’t something you will buy if you want to get your Standard Friday Night Magic deck something new and shiny. Modern Horizons 3 is for the Modern fans, the Eternal fans, and Commander players.

There are some truly fantastic Commander-only cards in this set, that’s for sure. It’s a set designed for people who want ridiculous, powerful cards - and boy does it deliver! I streamed my pack cracking last night over on Twitch, and I can tell you that many of the packs we opened came with a statement like “THIS CARD IS BONKERS!”

It’s a set that is more expensive than your standard MTG booster pack, but I have to say, financially, it will be worth it. Every card in this set isn’t a 20-dollar card, but you will get powerful cards in virtually every pack, with quite a few that have monetary value, if you’re looking to resell. There are simply too many cards to even focus on, though - so I think we’ll go through each Rarity, and see what the stars are.

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Mythic Rares in MTG Modern Horizons are absolutely unhinged

A few of our favorite Mythic Rares in the set (Image via Wizards of the Coast)

There are some absolutely mind-breaking MTG Modern Horizons 3 Mythic Rares! You’ve got Phyrexian Tower, which is an amazing way to get two black mana and some bonkers planeswalkers. Tamiyo makes an appearance as a creature that flips into an incredible planeswalker (Tamiyo Seasoned Scholar). Are you running Omnipotence and just want to slap a bunch of cards down at once? She lets you draw half your deck and no longer have a maximum hand size.

Herigast, Erupting Hellkite gives all your creatures Emerge, and is one of my favorite creatures in the entire game. Coram the Undertaker brings Dredge to Commander as well. Though it’s a 0/5, anytime you attack each player mills, you can play land and cast a spell from the cards in your graveyard every turn - if they were put there this turn on each of your turns.

Of course, there’s also the Eldrazi - Emrakul, Ulamog, and the rest of their cosmic horror friends. Emrakul and Ulamog in particular are my favorites, though. While the Mythic Rares are great, I think the greatest value and most power hides in the Rares.

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Rares hide the real power in MTG Modern Horizons 3

All types of decks have something to look forward to in Rare (Image via Wizards of the Coast)

Most of my favorite cards in this set come from the Rare category. You’ve got Disruptor Flute, which I did pull one of, and is one of my favorite cards in years. MTG Modern Horizons 3 brought this card to life, which is a Pithing Needle, but so much better. You also have the five colored Medallions, which cost two, and make all cards of that color cost one less. In particular, Sapphire Medallion, which I pulled several of, is among my favorites.

You also have Harbinger of the Seas, which is a fancy new version of Blood Moon, only as a creature, and makes nonbasic lands become Islands! Winter Moon is another highlight and would be a real benefit to Prison/Jail decks. The ability to allow players to only untap one nonbasic land a turn will turn heads and boil blood.

The Flare cards were also a bit of a hot topic of debate. Some people think they’re all bad, but I disagree vehemently. Especially Flare of Denial - it’s a Force of Will, where you just sacrifice a nontoken blue creature! You also have, for fans of Simic decks, Nadu, Winged Wisdom, which is a ridiculous way to mana ramp.

I’ve never been happier with the power level of a set, that’s for sure. I expected it to be powerful, but I don’t know if I could pick ten rares that are the best even if I tried. MTG Modern Horizons 3 is such a wonderful set. You’ve got amazing reprints and even better, alternate, better versions of classic cards. It’s such an exciting set!

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Even Uncommons and Commons are wonderful in MTG Modern Horizons 3

There are some really amazing bombs in the Common/Uncommon rarity (Image via Wizards of the Coast)

One of the Commons in this set was so powerful that it had to be banned in Pauper before the set even went live: Cranial Ram! The possibility to flood the board with cheap artifacts, and swing for gigantic numbers was too good, I suppose.

You also have Pyretic Rebirth, which brings an artifact or creature card back to your hand, and deals that card's mana value in damage to one creature or planeswalker. For four mana, you can delete almost any creature on the board, depending on what you’ve put in the grave.

I’m also a huge fan of the Two-Color Modal Lands/Spells. Blue/White, Blue/Black, Red/Black, Red/Green, and White/Green are all represented with solid cards that fit that identity, or can also be a land in a pinch. Suppression Ray, Waterlogged Teachings, Strength of the Harvest, all five of the cards in that line are wonderful.

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Final Thoughts

Sadly, I didn't pull a single 'goyf so far in MTG Modern Horizons 3 (Image via Wizards of the Coast)

Is MTG Modern Horizons expensive? Absolutely. Are the Commander decks pricey too? They are, and second/third market prices are going to get worse. But are they worth it? They absolutely are. The Commander decks are powerful, and I didn’t open a single booster pack where I thought it wasn’t worth it. I did get quite a few of the same Rare, but that is likely to happen anytime you pop a booster box.

It’s still certainly worth it. There are plenty of big-money cards and ones that, while not valuable monetarily, will be serious contenders in a variety of formats going down the road. I don’t know if there will be a Modern Horizons 4, but I can tell you this: if this is how it goes out, they went out with a bang. MTG Modern Horizons 3 is one of my favorite sets of all time.

MTG Modern Horizons 3 is now available in both physical formats, as well as in MTG Arena.