The upcoming Modern Horizons 3 release looks to spoil players of every Magic: The Gathering format. The third iteration of Modern Horizons brings a massive power creep to the Modern format which will certainly shake up the meta that will develop over the Summer.
On the Commander side of things, MH3 introduces some much-needed support for energy decks, a swarm of new and reprinted Eldrazi, a Lhurgoyf tribal commander that creates tokens of a staple card, and… “everything” counters?! With such creative approaches to the four Commander preconstructed decks, theory-crafting how to build around them is going to be a blast.
Disa the Restless (Jund: Black/Red/Green)
The first half of Disa the Restless is a “cheat” effect for Lhurgoyf permanents. Building a deck (or being the target of abilities) that discards or mills Lhurgoyf permanents will allow them to be played for free. If this was all that Disa had to offer, she could still be considered a fun and viable MTG commander. But the second half of her card is why her deck is named “Graveyard Overdrive.”
Disa the Restless is capable of generating tokens that are copies of the Tarmogoyf card whenever your creatures deal player combat damage. Tarmogoyf is considered a staple card in many graveyard-based decks. As of 2024, there are nine different card types in MTG which makes the maximum power/toughness that Tarmogoyf can be with its ability 9/10. With Tarmogoyf being priced around $10, Disa prints board value every combat phase.
Omo, Queen of Vesuva (Simic: Blue/Green)
Shapeshifters are one of the most fun tribes to play with in MTG Commander. Many of these creatures can be inserted into any other tribal deck to enhance their capabilities. Omo, Queen of Vesuva and her Tricky Terrain precon deck is no exception to this. Omo introduces “everything” counters which cause lands to be every land type or creatures to be every creature type.
We haven’t been given official rule clarifications for these “everything” counters, but it’s to be assumed that this would allow lands to be considered Urza lands. Combined with Urza’s Workshop, this could be one of the best mana generation engines in Commander.
Satya, Aetherflux Genius (Jeskai: Blue/Red/White)
As an energy enthusiast, Satya, Aetherflux Genius is the commander that I’m looking forward to the most from Modern Horizons 3. Combining energy generation with copying attacking tokens? Count me in. Satya also sports the Jeskai mana colors which contain a healthy variety of energy-related cards and many creatures worthy of being copied.
The energy archetype in Magic: The Gathering had been seemingly forgotten about for years. But with the Fallout energy-based precon released earlier this year and Satya’s Creative Energy precon deck, energy players’ appetites can be sated– for the time being.
Ulalek, Fused Atrocity (WUBRG)
Representing the Eldrazi, Ulalek, Fused Atrocity is a fusion of two titans: Ulamog and Kozilek. Both of these are also included in Modern Horizons 3, but their fused version is the face of the Eldrazi Incursion precon deck. This is one of the more complicated commanders out of the four preconstructed decks, but like most Eldrazi decks, it has tremendous potential.
To make the most of Ulalek’s ability, you’ll need to understand how the Stack works in MTG. This is the order in which spells are resolved based on their type, player priority, and interactions. You could think of this as the order of operations in math.
Ulalek’s ability requires careful planning from the player to use efficiently. After casting an Eldrazi spell and paying two colorless mana, you can copy just about every type of spell that you control along with new targets for each. This can outright win games when copying powerful triggers or abilities. The tricky part about it is that the copy ability applies to spells you control, which means that these spells need to be cast and currently on the Stack (under your control).
