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Modern Horizons 2 is fast approaching, with a release date of June 18th, and as normal Wizards are slowly spoiling the set. This is your roundup of all cards so far! But first of all, what actually is Modern Horizons 2?
Where normal sets are Wizards’ way of introducing cards to Magic as a whole, Modern Horizons 2 will never be standard legal. This supplementary set is made to put cards straight into the other rulesets, without ruining the balance of Standard. For this reason, it is also banned in Pioneer, which consists of Standard-legal sets from Return to Ravnica onwards. Whereas the Commander sets are oriented for Commander players (but still legal in Legacy and Vintage), Modern Horizons 2 will be legal in Modern, Commander, Legacy and also Pauper and Penny Dreadful if it is within their rules.
Modern Horizons 2 is pretty much Wizards of the Coast having a little fun with card designs. Not every card in Modern Horizons 2 is expected to see play outside of specific decks, and even then some of them are just for fun and for silly combos. It also sees reprints of famous cards that were either not legal in Modern, or incredibly expensive. So let’s start the run down!
A Commanding Presence
Despite not being a Commander set, there is still support for Commander in Modern Horizons 2. One of the first announced cards this week proves that. Chatterfang, Squirrel General is a 2G 3/3 Legendary Squirrel Warrior with a B ability, making him a nice Golgari commander for Squirrel Token Decks. With Forestwalk and a Token-cloning ability, he will prove to be very powerful in a BG Tokens Deck.
Next up is Zabaz, the Glimmerwasp. This 1 mana artifact insect plays into the Modular archetype for Boros. The Arcbound cards make a return in Modern Horizons 2 as well, giving you ample opportunity to utilise Zabaz in Draft! The third major Commander announced this week, that isn’t appearing later on down the blog, is Lonis, Cryptozoologist. This Simic Snake Elf Scout is the PI of Ravnica, and creates clues whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control. Bring out your UG Investigate cards from Shadows over Innistrad and go crazy!
Positively Loreful
A huge part of the first Modern Horizons was bringing characters from the stories of Magic the Gathering into the card game. Modern Horizons 2 continues this, with some fan favourite characters finally getting cards! Lore cards, like Garth One-Eye and Geyadrone Dihada turn up after appearing in the novels! Fan-favourite characters from cards too, like Tourach, Dread Cantor and Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar make their first appearance as playable characters! Personally, I’m most looking forward to Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer. This R 2/1 Monkey Pirate both mills and creates treasure tokens, and also fits into Monkey Tribal AND Pirate Tribal. Ooh-arr, me hearties indeed.
Following the Reprints
Also, much like Modern Horizons, Modern Horizons 2 has brought back a lot of cards from older sets! Some of these are not new to Modern, but many are, and many have new art. Famous cards like Counterspell, Cabal Coffers, Sanctum Prelate and Mishra’s Factory make their way into Modern for the first time! However, cards that support other archetypes in the set also make an appearance. Squirrel Mob returns to play with the BG Squirrel decks, and Vindicate + Gorilla Shaman for land destruction!
Modern Horizons 1 is also getting some of the favourite cards reprinted for the Collector Boosters! These already great cards are becoming even better by being printed in the retro booster first seen in Time Spiral Remastered. (Well, technically they were first seen in Alpha but Time Spiral Remastered reprinted cards in the border first.) Cards like Llanowar Tribe, Sword of Truth and Justice, The First Sliver and Soulherder look great in this treatment, and I can’t wait for more!
This set is looking better and better by the day! Even though we couldn’t cover all the cards announced, there’s more to come out before the 18th June. Keep your ears to the ground for more Modern Horizons 2 news!