Modern Horizons 3 has finally gone digital! Players now have the opportunity to test the most broken cards from the new set and see where the chips fall. Between Boros Energy synergies, and the power of
Nadu, Winged Wisdom
Nadu, Winged Wisdom
Flying
Creatures you control have "Whenever this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability, reveal the top card of your library. If it's a land card, put it onto the battlefield. Otherwise, put it into your hand. This ability triggers only twice each turn."
, new cards are absolutely proving themselves at the moment.
Even though Modern Horizons 3 has only been available digitally for a few days, we’ve already seen some larger tournaments take place. It quickly became clear that Boros midrange strategies are on the menu. While the archetype has been innovated upon since this event, we know that Boros is a decent choice in early Modern Horizons 3.
While that list did not include the cards spiking today, there have been some innovations since the event. Many people are keen on some new synergies using some old cards that are now more prevalent thanks to the new Modern Horizons 3 cards.
In this early meta where no one really knows what to play, something tried and true can be incredibly attractive. Let’s take a look at the cards spiking thanks to Modern Horizons 3 innovations!
Flagstones of Trokair
Flagstones of Trokair is a Legendary land that wants to be destroyed. This card can be used as a ramp option alongside cards like
Cleansing Wildfire
Cleansing Wildfire
Destroy target land. Its controller may search their library for a basic land card, put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.
Draw a card.
. If you target Flagstones with it, you get to find a land, draw a card, and the Flagstones replaces itself with its own effect.
Despite it being a helpful example, this card isn’t spiking because of Cleansing Wildfire. Instead, this spike is caused thanks to its power in conjunction with another card in the Boros Midrange list: Boom//Bust. Boom//Bust is a land destruction tool that blows up a land on both player’s field. Flagstones of Trokair helps to break the parity since you’re not actually losing a land.
The Flagstone and Boom//Bust package is seeing play in a variety of different Boros Midrange strategies as a way to slow down opponents. As a result of this, Flagstones has shot up in price. All three printings of this card are seeing incredibly aggressive price spikes. As an example, the variant found in Time Spiral Remastered has spiked from $2.62 to about $11.50 according to recent sales! The card still has a wide range of sales between variants, commonly selling for between $9 and $13. As you may expect, copies of Flagstones of Trokair from its earliest printing with decent condition demands a slight premium.
Boom//Bust
Both halves of this land destruction combo are spiking this week. Notably, if you want to break the parity of Boom//Bust and destroy opposing lands without suffering the drawback, Flagstones of Trokair is not the only way to do this. You can also use Indestructible lands to accomplish this, which is a common strategy in the Pauper format.
Notably, like our other spikes on this list, this combination first showed up in an Aspiringspike list, and has gained traction since then. That list was utilizing a Boros Energy package with a ton of new cards including
Amped Raptor
Amped Raptor
First strike
When this creature enters, you get {E}{E} (two energy counters). Then if you cast it from your hand, exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland card. You may cast that card by paying an amount of {E} equal to its mana value rather than paying its mana cost.
,
Guide of Souls
Guide of Souls
Whenever another creature you control enters, you gain 1 life and get {E} (an energy counter).
Whenever you attack, you may pay {E}{E}{E}. When you do, put two +1/+1 counters and a flying counter on target attacking creature. It becomes an Angel in addition to its other types.
,
White Orchid Phantom
White Orchid Phantom
Flying, first strike
When this creature enters, destroy up to one target nonbasic land. Its controller may search their library for a basic land card, put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.
,
Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd
Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd
Flash
Whenever Phelia attacks, exile up to one other target nonland permanent. At the beginning of the next end step, return that card to the battlefield under its owner's control. If it entered under your control, put a +1/+1 counter on Phelia.
,
Ajani, Nacatl Pariah
Ajani, Nacatl Pariah
When Ajani enters, create a 2/1 white Cat Warrior creature token.
Whenever one or more other Cats you control die, you may exile Ajani, then return him to the battlefield transformed under his owner's control.
,
Unstable Amulet
Unstable Amulet
When this artifact enters, you get {E}{E} (two energy counters).
Whenever you cast a spell from anywhere other than your hand, this artifact deals 1 damage to each opponent.
{T}, Pay {E}{E}: Exile the top card of your library. You may play it until you exile another card with this artifact.
,
Static Prison
Static Prison
When this enchantment enters, exile target nonland permanent an opponent controls until this enchantment leaves the battlefield. You get {E}{E} (two energy counters).
At the beginning of your first main phase, sacrifice this enchantment unless you pay {E}.
, Phlage, and more.
Between Flagstones and Boom//Bust, this card is definitely seeing the more aggressive spike this week. This spike is an incredibly fresh one, so there is some instability surrounding it at the moment. That being said, the card appears to be spiking from 50 cents to about $8. This spike is specifically for the Time Spiral Remastered variant, the only reprint that Boom//Bust has had since its debut in Planar Chaos.
Listed prices for Boom//Bust at the time of writing suggest that the card is worth about $8 in near mint condition. If you don’t mind finding some beat up ones, you can do so for a cheaper price.
Its tough to know how effective this land destruction combo will truly be. Early signs suggest that this may become a new Modern staple thanks to the buffs to Boros Midrange, but time will tell whether or not this is the real deal, or just a flash in the pan.
Soul Spike
Soul Spike is a card we’ve seen in our finance articles before. Free spells will always be powerful in any format, and this card is no exception. Capable of dealing four damage and gaining four life, Soul Spike is a terrible deal for seven mana. What players are interested in doing instead is exiling two additional black cards from their hand to cast this card for free.
This card is commonly included in black burn, which appears in the Modern format every once in a while. Instead of using the tried and true Boros burn synergy, black burn utilizes effects like
Bump in the Night
Bump in the Night
Target opponent loses 3 life.
Flashback {5}{R} (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then exile it.)
and
Chancellor of the Dross
Chancellor of the Dross
You may reveal this card from your opening hand. If you do, at the beginning of the first upkeep, each opponent loses 3 life, then you gain life equal to the life lost this way.
Flying, lifelink
to create a more volatile, but ultimately aggressive burn plan that can catch some players off guard. Lots of free effects can allow this deck to go faster than its Boros counterpart, but your cards need to line up correctly.
Notably, Soul Spike also showed up in an Aspringspike brew trying out
Necrodominance
Necrodominance
Skip your draw step.
At the beginning of your end step, you may pay any amount of life. If you do, draw that many cards.
Your maximum hand size is five.
If a card or token would be put into your graveyard from anywhere, exile it instead.
in Modern. Necrodominance, a new Modern Horizons 3 Mythic, has shown signs of breaking Legacy wide open. Many suspect that this will need to be banned in the format, and the fear around that power may carry over to the Modern format.
Soul Spike only has one printing from Coldsnap, a set printed 18 years ago. this means that any increase in demand for this card is going to seriously impact its supply. To translate, a small amount of demand is going to cause the price of this card to spike heavily.
Thanks to some increased demand due to black burn, and new Modern Horizons 3 brews, Soul Spike has increased from $4 to $30!
Be Careful Buying These Cards
It appears that the biggest driving force behind these spikes are early Modern Horizons 3 brews that are having an impact on the format. I want to stress, however, that the format is currently in a very unoptimized state. While this is an incredibly fun time, it also means that the cards spiking today may be worth nothing sooner than you think. There is a Modern Pro Tour coming up, and that will likely be the event that decides what the Modern format looks like. If the deck you bought is not on that list, you could lose a ton of money, especially if you’re buying into hyped cards that have no substance.
Be very careful when deciding what you want to build. If you aren’t prepared for your deck to fall off after the format organizes itself, I would wait and see what performs best. Alternatively, there are a few strategies that look a little… too good for the format. Those cards could also get the ban hammer, which would, once again, burn a lot of your money. I’m looking at you, Nadu, Winged Wisdom.
Either way, if you can find something to jam on a budget, this is a really fun time to just jam some Modern.
Read More: Incredible Boros Obosh Shell Emerges as Perfect Home for Phlage!