MTG MH3 Leaks Showcase New Boros Escape Titan!

Over the past couple weeks, tons of Modern Horizons 3 leaks have been coming out of the woodworks. While there are going to be a lot of Modern Horizons 3 cards being officially previewed next week, that hasn’t stopped us from seeing a bunch of leaks in advance. From a unique cycle of “free” Flare spells to a Land capable of tapping for two colorless mana on turn one, there are some powerful cards in this set.

Recently, two new strong mythic rare cards were leaked. One of them is a Boros Escape Creature that shares a lot in common with Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath When Uro enters, sacrifice it unless it escaped.
Whenever Uro enters or attacks, you gain 3 life and draw a card, then you may put a land card from your hand onto the battlefield.
Escape—{G}{G}{U}{U}, Exile five other cards from your graveyard. (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its escape cost.) and Kroxa, Titan of Death’s Hunger Kroxa, Titan of Death’s Hunger When Kroxa enters, sacrifice it unless it escaped.
Whenever Kroxa enters or attacks, each opponent discards a card, then each opponent who didn't discard a nonland card this way loses 3 life.
Escape—{B}{B}{R}{R}, Exile five other cards from your graveyard. (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its escape cost.) . The other is a neat Eldrazi haymaker that should be a perfect fit for Commander.

Of note, before we go into more detail about these cards, we should reiterate that these are still leaks. As such, either one could turn out to be fake, though we will be covering them under the assumption that they are real. If you’d like to wait for an official preview, consider this your spoiler warning. Let’s start by taking a look at the intriguing Boros Titan.

Phlage vs Uro vs Kroxa

First up, we have Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury. This card is extremely similar in templating to both Uro and Kroxa. For those who have played against Uro, you know how devastating it can be when the opponent has access to a massive threat that can be cast repeatedly out of the graveyard. However, while Uro and Kroxa are similar in design, there is a pretty big power disparity between them. Uro is banned in Modern (for good reason), while Kroxa struggles to show up beyond a one-of in Rakdos Scam decklists.

Part of the reason Uro is so much stronger than Kroxa is that Uro’s triggered ability is pretty powerful by itself. Paying three mana straight up to gain three life and build your own Growth Spiral Growth Spiral Draw a card. You may put a land card from your hand onto the battlefield. is perfectly reasonable. On the flip side, paying two mana to get Kroxa in the graveyard and force the opponent to discard a card simply isn’t that impressive, especially since they take no damage if they discard a non-Land card. Overall, Phlage seems much closer to Kroxa’s power level than Uro at first glance.

The first time you cast Phlage, you’re just getting an over costed Lightning Helix Lightning Helix Lightning Helix deals 3 damage to any target and you gain 3 life. at Sorcery speed. For fast decks like Modern Burn, the upside of having a late game bomb likely isn’t worth the downside of having a burn spell that is so much more inefficient than other options. This isn’t to say there aren’t potential shells where Phlage can thrive, but instead that the card requires a bit of work to maximize.

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Ways to Use Phlage

One of the archetypes in Modern where Phlage seems like it could slot into is Boros midrange. Primarily a mono-white deck splashing red for potent sideboard options, the main goal is to grind your opponent into dust. Abiding Grace Abiding Grace At the beginning of your end step, choose one —
• You gain 1 life.
• Return target creature card with mana value 1 from your graveyard to the battlefield. can keep returning Martyr of Sands Martyr of Sands {1}, Reveal X white cards from your hand, Sacrifice this creature: You gain three times X life. to play, keeping your life total high. From there, you can use The One Ring The One Ring Indestructible
When The One Ring enters, if you cast it, you gain protection from everything until your next turn.
At the beginning of your upkeep, you lose 1 life for each burden counter on The One Ring.
{T}: Put a burden counter on The One Ring, then draw a card for each burden counter on The One Ring. to bury the opponent in card advantage.

As good as this deck is, it lacks a way to quickly close the game. Phlage could help fill this role. The fact that you both gain life and deal damage with Phlage means that in addition to keeping you alive, it will end the game pretty quickly once you Escape it. Phlage’s presence lets you lean more heavily on cards like Wrath of God Wrath of God Destroy all creatures. They can't be regenerated. , since you know you have a huge monster ready to dominate the game all rolled up.

On top of that, when all else fails, you can always pitch Phlage to Solitude Solitude Flash
Lifelink
When this creature enters, exile up to one other target creature. That creature's controller gains life equal to its power.
Evoke—Exile a white card from your hand. . Having this option in games where you feel like you don’t have the luxury of setting up Phlage or the opponent has graveyard hate lined up is rather important.

As of right now, there aren’t many other Boros-colored Modern decks to choose from. It’s possible Phlage will show up in four-color Omnath, Locus of Creation Omnath, Locus of Creation When Omnath enters, draw a card.
Landfall — Whenever a land you control enters, you gain 4 life if this is the first time this ability has resolved this turn. If it's the second time, add {R}{G}{W}{U}. If it's the third time, Omnath deals 4 damage to each opponent and each planeswalker you don't control. piles, though competition for slots in those decks is certainly steep. Still, with ample Fetchlands available and Delighted Halfling Delighted Halfling {T}: Add {C}.
{T}: Add one mana of any color. Spend this mana only to cast a legendary spell, and that spell can't be countered. to help power out Phlage ahead of schedule, there’s certainly potential there. If Phlage proves to be even stronger than we expected, perhaps a more tuned Boros list with Fable of the Mirror-Breaker Fable of the Mirror-Breaker (As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter.)
I — Create a 2/2 red Goblin Shaman creature token with "Whenever this token attacks, create a Treasure token."
II — You may discard up to two cards. If you do, draw that many cards.
III — Exile this Saga, then return it to the battlefield transformed under your control. arises. We’ll just have to wait and see.

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Kozilek, The Broken Reality

The second mythic rare bomb leaked is none other than Kozilek, the Broken Reality. Kozilek isn’t the most threatening Eldrazi out there, but for nine mana you get a ton of value. Assuming you and an opponent each have two or more cards still in hand when Kozilek is cast, you end up getting a pretty big advantage. Your opponent has two 2/2s in play, but you draw four cards and end up with a 9/9 and two 2/2s that each get +3/+2. Notably, if you do not want to allow your opponent to Manifest cards, you can only choose one target.

In Modern, it’s unlikely this card will get consideration outside of Tron decks. Even in Tron, the competition for cards is quite high, and this card likely doesn’t beat out Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger When you cast this spell, exile two target permanents.
Indestructible
Whenever Ulamog attacks, defending player exiles the top twenty cards of their library. . Still, Kozilek has some nice applications.

Getting to draw a bunch of cards when you cast it is nice, and you end up with multiple threats in play. In some cases, forcing your opponent to Manifest two cards from their hand can be a huge downside for them. For instance, if your opponent is low on resources and is banking on using Solitude to answer your haymaker, Kozilek’s cast trigger can make your opponent put the Solitude into play face-down. It’s unclear if Kozilek will end up earning a slot in Modern Tron decks, but seeing it featured as a one-of to grab off of Sanctum of Ugin Sanctum of Ugin {T}: Add {C}.
Whenever you cast a colorless spell with mana value 7 or greater, you may sacrifice this land. If you do, search your library for a colorless creature card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle. seems perfectly reasonable.

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Maximizing Kozilek in Commander

Where Kozilek should garner the most attention, though, is in Commander. Kozilek is a solid addition to any Eldrazi-themed Commander deck, and there are some nice synergies to build around.

One aspect of Kozilek that can be quite powerful is its ability to pump all of your small colorless Creatures. Clearly, this works well with Manifesting cards, even from sources like Ugin’s Mastery. Kozilek’s buff also makes any excess Eldrazi Scions or Spawns into beefy attackers. As such, cards like Awakening Zone Awakening Zone At the beginning of your upkeep, you may create a 0/1 colorless Eldrazi Spawn creature token. It has "Sacrifice this token: Add {C}." become a lot scarier with Kozilek in the mix.

Another cool thing to do with Kozilek is to Manifest huge monsters from your hand with the intention of turning them face-up. Ugin’s Mastery synergizes well with this plan once again. You can work on setting up a turn where you cast Kozilek, put in something huge face-down, then attack and turn that big monster face-up.

Beyond Ugin’s Mastery, cards like Conjurer’s Closet Conjurer’s Closet At the beginning of your end step, you may exile target creature you control, then return that card to the battlefield under your control. and Argosy seem like perfect inclusions in a Kozilek Commander deck. After all, blinking your Manifested Creatures is a solid way to have them come back face-up.

At the end of the day, neither Phlage nor Kozilek seem quite as backbreaking as we might have expected from mythic rares in a Modern Horizons set. At the same time, they are strong enough to warrant consideration in a number of shells. With this in mind, don’t sleep on these large Titans, because they mean business.

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