Preview season for Magic: The Gathering’s next set, Modern Horizons 3, is in full swing, and we’ve got an exclusive look at 10 uncommon cards! This is a cycle of two-color MDFCs (modal double-faced cards), meaning you can play them either as the spell on the front side or the land on the back, with each one representing one of Magic’s color pairs.
Flip through the image gallery below to see all 10 new cards:
This cycle of double-faced cards is rather unique compared to similar designs – Magic has had plenty of single-color MDFC lands, with a spell on one side and a land that taps for the same color on the other, but this is the first time we’ve seen dual lands like this. The spell on the front uses hybrid mana (meaning its cost can be paid with mana of either color that is shown), providing a lot of flexibility in how each card could be used.
That will likely be enough to make a few of them an appealing choice for Commander players looking to sneak more spells into their mana bases, and probably useful pick-ups when doing a booster draft for Modern Horizons 3. Of course, I’m certainly no pro, and I generally don’t play the Modern format that this set is largely designed around, so I can’t speak to the exact power level of the individual cards here without inevitably making a fool of myself.
That said, there are some clear synergies that this sort of design enables that seem worth pointing out. For example, they provide welcome support to a fun but currently fringe card called Goblin Charbelcher, which attempts to kill the opponent by using a deck that runs no cards with lands on the front face. That strategy previously had no access to dual lands to fix its mana, but now it has 10 more to choose from (though the red-green and green-blue options are likely the most relevant to it).
On top of that, it’s possible that the actual effects of these spells might not matter much when it comes to their usability. That’s because some of the most powerful cards currently played in Modern can be cast for free as long as you exile a card of a specific color from your hand. Running a blue-black dual land that can also be used to cast either Force of Negation or Grief (both Modern staples) for free could just be an appealing enough proposition on its own in the right deck.
But again, I’m no pro, and I’m sure it won’t take long for those who are to pick these cards apart and find all the best (and worst) ways to use them. For my money, I’m just glad they are at the uncommon rarity rather than anything more scarce, as I could certainly see a few of them becoming staples of budget Commander mana bases in the future.
Modern Horizons 3 is available for pre-order now. It's set to launch officially on June 14, with paper prereleases taking place starting June 7 and its digital debut on MTG Arena on June 11.
Tom Marks is IGN's Executive Reviews Editor. He loves card games, puzzles, platformers, puzzle-platformers, and lots more.
