Modern: 10 Decks from MH3's First Week to keep an eye on

Modern Horizons 3 arrived at Magic Online, and with it, many players are starting to test the new cards and explore possibilities with the set's main new features. The first results of the Leagues are now available and demonstrate the changes and impacts caused by the expansion.

While already well-established archetypes add new cards, such as Necrodominance in Mono Black Evoke or Sink into Stupor in Living End, other proposals that have made results are entirely innovative or try to get the most out of some MH3 cards.

In this article, we present ten Modern decks that performed well in the Magic Online Leagues and that we should keep an eye on in the coming weeks and, especially, in the Magic Online Challenges!

Boros Obosh

Second place in the first Modern Challenge post-MH3, Boros Obosh is a Midrange aiming to capitalize as much as possible on the inclusion of Phlage, Titan of Fire's Fury in the format, using it with cards that benefit synergistically along the Titan, with Seasoned Pyromancer and Fable of the Mirror-Breaker while also resorting to other pieces to discard, such as Timeless Dragon, or that put more cards in the graveyard such as the interaction between Fetch Lands with Elegant Parlor.

With the excellent nature of a “fair deck”, Boros Obosh presents itself as a viable option in the Modern Metagame, which has inherent weaknesses, but also manages to extract as much as it can from one of the most powerful cards in MH3, and should continue as an option while the format adapts.

Boros Energy

Another archetype in the combination that stood out this week was Boros Energy, aiming to make the most of the interactions with the format's new Energy generators to create a disruptive Aggro game plan.

Amped Raptor, Guide of Souls and Unstable Amulet are excellent payoffs that turn Galvanic Discharge into a powerful removal and Static Prison into almost as good as Leyline Binding, while the synergy between its main cards also serves to transform any creature into a threat with Guide of Souls.

To complement this plan, Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd teams up with White Orchid Phantom to “lock” greedy mana bases or accelerate its own mana with Flagstones of Trokair, which is also complemented by Boom // Bust.

Overall, the LD theme seems a bit out of place on this list, and Boros Energy would probably benefit more from proactive/aggressive cards rather than conditioned interactions that don't work as well in every matchup.

Bant Nadu

Some are already calling Nadu, Winged Wisdom the most broken creature in Modern Horizons 3 - and maybe they're right.

Bant Nadu has already achieved impressive results in Leagues in both Modern and Legacy, and has already turned on the radar of several players about the need to include cards like Tunnel Ignus in their Sideboard.

This deck has several tutors that help you find your key pieces and start sequencing Nadu with Shuko to put different lands into play and cast more creatures - a plan complemented by cards like Springheart Nantuko and mana dorks, which can serve as food to find Outrider en-Kor to complete the combo without needing an artifact.

Mardu Ephemerate

Seeking to extract the most from Evokers, Mardu Ephemerate combines Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd with Ephemerate and several ETB effects that, together, can bury the opponent in a gigantic value pile.

Although the proposal seems powerful and runs some of the best cards in the format, a part of the deck seems to want to do too many things, such as the Energy package with Guide of Souls or the need for a set of Phlage, Titan of Fire's Fury, which interacts very poorly with Ephemerate - but we can't deny the amount of added value this list is capable of producing, and perhaps a more Orzhov-oriented version, even with a slight splash for the red, can place it in the position where this archetype wants to be.

Red Storm

Several variants of Mono Red Storm have appeared in Magic Online due to Ruby Medallion's reprint and the inclusion of Ral, Monsoon Mage.

Among them, Bryant Crook's Gruul Storm deserves to be highlighted due to its less linear game plan, where it mixes the combination of red spells with Underworld Breach and Questing Druid aiming to create another win condition which is as explosive as Grapeshot, and may, on a clean board, require less spell sequencing to close the lethal damage.

Temur Eldrazi

Plenty of Eldrazi variants have made results in the last week, and most of them are split between variants that use some color through Cavern of Souls and Secluded Courtyard and those aimed at Tron.

The colored versions have a more aggressive proposal and seek to extract the most from Ugin's Labyrinth to accelerate their mana, with Nulldrifter, Devourer of Destiny and All is Dust serving as food to the land while functioning on their own under other occasions.

Its mana curve is relatively lower, and its game plan is more proactive, including efficient three-drops like Eldrazi Linebreaker while It That Heralds the End increases the clock and lowers the cost of our curve-toppers.

Eldrazi Tron

The other variant involves the classic combination of Urzatron with Karn, the Great Creator (which can now be cast in the third turn with more consistency) to end the game with the combination of The Underworld Cookbook and Emrakul, the World Anew while carrying several elements to control the game, such as The One Ring and Chalice of the Void, which we can play earlier and “lock” several strategies and/or accumulate an absurd amount of card advantage.

The new Emrakul has proven to be more efficient than expected when it comes to Tron, and the ability to cheat on its mana cost with The Underworld Cookbook has caught the community's attention due to its more explosive potential - after all, in an ideal hand where we close Tron early, Emrakul, the World Anew can be cast on the third turn.

Golgari Warren

That Warren Soultrader is one of the top cards to build around in MH3 is nothing new, and its interaction with Gravecrawler is easily one of the easiest to take advantage of with lifegain and damage effects.

Golgari Warren wants to capitalize on this interaction by using Agatha's Soul Cauldron to turn Marionette Apprentice, Carrion Feeder and Walking Ballista into win conditions, while each one offers a different way to finish the game and get the most out of each activated ability.

Wight of the Reliquary is another essential card in this version, as it searches Spymaster's Vault - another very efficient win condition alongside the combo between Gravecrawler and Warren Soultrader, and Bloodghast works almost like free mana in this archetype.

Dimir Nightmare

And speaking of sacrifice, Chthonian Nightmare has been enabling some interesting decks in Modern this week. For example, it lets you sacrifice Bloodghast or Geralf's Messenger to bring creatures back from the graveyard, which can include Satoru, the Infiltrator's engine for extra draws, play Psychic Frog as a strong threat, or reuse Geralf's Messenger repeatedly throughout the game to get the most out of your cards.

This is also one of the best decks to run Flare of Malice right now, a free spell which benefits a lot from cards like Bloodghast or the fact that we can easily reanimate creatures with Nightmare.

Mardu Nightmare

And speaking of Chthonian Nightmare, the enchantment has also appeared in other builds, including those focused on Energy like this Mardu variant, where Ocelot Pride is the main piece alongside several cards that create tokens and enables the city's blessing quickly.

To make the most of the tokens and the ability to double their quantity, this version has Goblin Bombardment as a win condition alongside other impactful cards like Marionette Apprentice, while Guide of Souls will always transform a creature in each combat, making this list have different attack angles - although most of them suffer a lot against Wrath of the Skies.

That's all for today!

If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!