The Modern Horizon line of releases for Magic is always uniquely exciting, thanks to its focus on reprinting classic cards. These reprints serve an important role in the meta of Magic – making old cards legal again in the modern format of the game, but also helping to reduce the aftermarket costs of some cards from their ludicrous values down to somewhere between affordable and slightly less ludicrous. For me, cracking Modern Horizon 3 packs – the latest release of the line – turned out to be a much more introspective experience than I expected.
I was a late bloomer when it came to learning to read, so seeing the gnarled visage of Treefolk, the decrepit rotting bodies of zombies, and the regal-looking elves on Magic cards were my first introductions to the high fantasy genre. This genre and the creations in Magic: The Gathering continue to influence my career and inspire me today. That said, ranking high among my favorite creature types in the pantheon of Magic: The Gathering – alongside the ranks of dragons and slivers – the cosmic threat known as the Eldrazi I’ve always found to be a bit of fresh air. I’ve appreciated the jolt of science fiction and borderline elder horror vibes they put in the game. Their heavy inclusion in MH3 initially drew most of my attention, but as I opened packs, seeing all the reprints and next to my piles of cards featuring the likes of Fallout Power Armors, 40k Necrons, and Optimus Prime, my thoughts went back to those old days of Magic. Times when my imagination would see hordes of goblins climbing on the backs of lumbering creatures made of oak playing out in front of me on pieces of cardboard. Now, that image was cloudy and muddled with all manner of other properties and characters from other series and mediums. I found myself wondering if Magic had deviated too far.
Before anything else, I want to clarify that while I have found the cards from Universes Beyond to be fun (check out my thoughts on the Fallout cards here), I still haven’t quite come to grips yet with the plethora of properties that can now be found sprinkled throughout my friends’ decks. Gandalf teaming up with the likes of Optimus Prime or the Necrons from Warhammer 40k may be novel and silly (and I openly admit that I am currently working on a deck that tries to incorporate every property Wizard’s has brought to magic just for fun), but I miss the days when the “wild” cards were squirrels or other random critter types. Back when Magic felt more self-contained.
There is a part of me that wonders if all of these Universe Beyond and cross-over releases are simply Wizard’s way of chasing after what’s hot right now (ie multiverses and IP crossovers thanks to the likes of Fortnite and others). They explored this years ago, with all of the different planes that early sets of Magic visited, and the game still maintained its identity. It was able to define itself without the need to throw in a character from your favorite Saturday morning cartoon. Does having Ezio from Assassin’s Creed fighting alongside The Ur-Dragon improve the game, or does it just make it look silly? I don’t know. Perhaps this is just my “old man yelling at clouds” moment, but I don’t know if I would have been as enthralled by the fantasy genre when I was young seeing him alongside fantastical creatures like dragons and merfolk.
Maybe it’s because I play primarily casually with friends and keep away from the “Modern” format for the most part (the cost of maintaining a modern deck scares me), but Modern Horizons 3 is the first of this series of releases that I’ve explored. This may also be why it has especially hit me in the nostalgia bones. Seeing fresh versions of classics like Phyrexian Tower being pulled from packs again or the resurgence of the highly requested fetch lands takes me back to those Boy Scout camping trips where we would all hangout playing Magic, and those moments in our local game shops cracking packs and being excited to see that awesome mythic that the other pulled—some of those pulls are being reprinted here in MH3. But perhaps what all this nostalgia fodder has made me realize and miss the most was simply having time to enjoy a set of new cards before the next “hot new set” came out.
There was a time when, between one set and another, you could have upwards of three months, giving my friends and me time to strategize, formulate, test, and enjoy a set. Now, you are lucky to get a full month between releases. In the span of less than three and a half months (105 days if you want to be exact), players will have four releases to digest and try out (Outlaws of Thunder Junction – April 19th, Modern Horizons 3 – June 14th, Assassin’s Creed – July 5th, and the upcoming Bloomburrow – August 2nd). Sets with unique mechanics, aesthetics, and exciting cards to build decks around but with no time to let them breathe and build a passionate following around. I realize I don’t have to get cards from every set, but just because I don’t have to doesn’t mean I don’t WANT to. I’ve played these games for going on three decades now, I love my collection; I want the nice new cardboard, but I also want the time to enjoy said new cardboard, too. A luxury that I feel is becoming more and more out of reach.
As I sit here in my local coffee shop contemplating and reflecting back on my years of spellslinging and planeswalking, thinking about all the fun reprints I can put into my decks, Modern Horizons 3 is already old news thanks to Assassin’s Creed now being out. There’s a lot in MH3 I enjoy, but what I’ve gotten most out of the set is just the trip back down memory lane that it has taken me on. I miss a lot of old Magic, even though I still like many of the new cards and mechanics introduced in modern-day Magic. But even if those days are long gone, I think I’ll still be playing Magic in another thirty years. And I think I will pick up these Modern Horizons sets going forward, if for nothing else than these nostalgic trips to my childhood and to simpler times.
Snag some Modern Horizons 3 goodness on Amazon or from your local game store!
Thank you to Wizards for providing our writer with Modern Horizons 3 product.
