Modern Horizons II cEDH set review

With the spoilers finished, let's look at Modern Horizons 2's most interesting cards from cEDH's point of view.

I've selected 10 cards in no particular order for us to comment on, but first, let's get to the honorable mentions.

As MH2 came up with many viable cards for the format and nobody likes long lists, let's leave the cards that can be grouped or briefly explained here and take the cards that are most likely to show up at the next tables for us to look at in the list.

Note that this does not mean that the honorable mentions are worse than the cards on the list, it just means that they are groupable, like the Suspend cycle, or easily commented on, like Ignoble Hierarch.

The Evoke cycle came with strong cards in all colors. Some better than others. We'll probably look at Fury as a new way to Godo, Bandit Warlord resolve Opposition Agent and Collector Ouphe.

Subtlety came with a soft counter instead of a hard counter, so I hope to find this card in lists with a few colors and a little more fringe (I'll definitely test it on my Rashmi, Eternities Crafter), however in lists with many colors, the high quality of existing cards will be a difficult barrier to overcome for blue Evoke.

Grief follows the same pattern, there aren't many decks relevant in the hand disruption format. And Endurance deserves a spot on the list.

In this cycle Wizards have weighed their hand on some cards.

Profane Tutor has its Top 10 spot, while Glimpse of Tomorrow and Resurgent Belief can find a spot on more fringe lists. Gaea's Will removes the explosive potential of Yawgmoth's Will. Inevitable Betrayal is probably my favorite card in the set and may appear on lists with Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder that still use cards with Suspend and CMC 0, but unfortunately, it shouldn't be enough to restore the status of meta deck for Yidris.

Speedrun.

Sanctum Weaver is another line with Freed from the Real for decks that still use it, but it shouldn't be enough for a resurgence of the strategy for those players who left Freed in the past.

Ignoble Hierarch will go into as many lists as it fits, probably directly replacing a dork that generates green and not replacing Elves of the Deep Shadow. More mana fixing is good.

Unmarked Grave will see play on decks that do not seek to reanimate Razaketh, the Foulblooded.

Tavern Scoundrel is a mana engine for Krark, the Thumbless and Sakashima of a Thousand Faces, but technical analysis of its impact on the deck is beyond my comprehension.

Step Through giving 2 targets and searching for Spellseeker should be enough for Orvar, the All-Form.

Urza's Saga is interesting for decks with very few colors, appropriately perhaps in Urza, Lord High Artificer.

Finally, Sanctifier en-Vec is a good piece for Heliod, the Sun-Crowned, but WW can be hard to justify on lists like Tymna/Tana.

In the spirit of recycling iconic cards into new designs we gained Diamond Lion, whose needs to tap to activate makes me disappointed, and Sol Talisman. Two cards that probably shouldn't replace existing cards on the most popular lists.

Keep in mind there is no specific order on this list.

At first glance the new tutor is just a worse Demonic Tutor.

However, just as Lion's Eye Diamond enables strategies where Black Lotus would not work, Profane Tutor and its "drawback" from Suspend have already spawned a new cEDH deck. Tutors for Naus is a Turbo Naus deck that uses Codie, Vociferous Codex as an Ad Nauseam in the command zone and the interaction is simple:

Codie's ability causes any spell cast with CMC 1 to "cascade" up to an Instant or Sorcery costing 0. The deck now runs Profane Tutor to tutor Ad Nauseam. It's important to mention that Codie's ability doesn't give "cascade" on permanents with mana cost 0, so there's no restriction on not being able to run mana rocks such as Mana Crypt. The deck is extremely consistent and fast, although recent, as strategies with Ad Nauseam were already a commonplace in the format.

The 5-color goodstuff pile, in addition to the new tutor and maximizing cards with CMC 1, needs some rituals to sacrifice Codie, since it's quite complicated to storm without being able to cast permanents.

The truth is that Dauthi Voidwalker is a piece of hate that asymmetrically affects multiple decks in the format, while generating value in a deck with Tymna, the Weaver and preparing for a big payoff with his ability. Shadow could simply be unblockable because another creature with Shadow on the board will be another Dauthi Voidwalker, and it wouldn't be used to block under any circumstances.

I can't think of a farm deck that won't fit Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer. A monkey with CMC 1 that creates treasure, generates card advantage, and has Dash to screw with Imperial Seal? It's the type of card that needs a reason not to enter the deck, especially for decks without green that just got a red Birds of Paradise.

Humility with Flash that cantrips? Count me in!

Being an enchantment helps in dodging responses like Dispel and Flusterstorm, but it is vulnerable to enchantment removals like Nature's Claim and Abrupt Decay.

But let's be honest, when you try to combo with Thassa's Oracle, do you feel protected with a Miscast or with Wear // Tear?

Esper Sentinel probably already has his place reserved in Heliod, the Sun-Crowned, where his power can grow thanks to the commander.

The only complaint here is that for every new stax piece with the potential to impact the format, we get 3 or 4 tools to combat stax and speed up the format.

Either way, Void Mirror counters free spells and makes explosive turns difficult with cards like Ancient Tomb, Arcane Signet, Sol Ring. The new artifact covers many staples of the format and, despite its symmetry, should become quite popular.

I dedicated a space in the list to Endurance due to the obvious interaction with Thassa's Oracle.

Here the discussion is between when to use a specific answer, like Endurance, and when to use a generic answer, like Counterspell. In a vacuum the decision is simple, and we should prioritize generic responses, as they can handle varied and even unanticipated cases when creating a deck, as well as the ability to protect our combos.

However, Endurance presents itself as a free answer in a format where we are already using all other free answers and which can interact well with the most popular combos in the format. Endurance has the bonus of not only preventing Thoracle's trigger from winning the game, but the new Elemental also leaves the opponent with the deck exiled. Endurance also interacts very well with Underworld Breach lines and leaves a 3/4 on the board for Tymna players. These questions are being explored to see if Endurance has its place in the most popular lists.

The CMC 3 of Out of Time will be the main deterrent to the viability of this card.

Especially with current decks generating obscene amounts of mana, the ability to remove commanders using phasing is strong, as it prevents them from being sent to the command zone. Yes, removing the enchantment brings back all creatures, but its controller must weigh if returning his 3 opponents' creatures is an acceptable price to pay.

Again, Vanishing counting the number of exiled creatures makes this removal almost permanent for 3 or more removed creatures. I'm looking forward to seeing if Out of Time will be used as a sweeper to clear the way for a quick victory, or if the countdown for the creatures to return to the battlefield will slow the pod down.

In the current meta, Suspend could simply be "Exile target creature.". Going back 2 turns later when decks are as fast as possible currently will not be a drawback enough to prevent the use of this removal, especially to remove problematic stax permanents for turbo decks.

It's impossible not to compare Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth with Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth.

While Urborg offers a bit of fixing to cast Necropotence's BBB, Yavimaya doesn't do much to cast cards that were difficult to cast before. But the cost of using it is minimal, this should be enough to make the new land appear on some tables. Also, Arbor Elf untapping Gaea's Cradle seems like a good way to generate an absurd amount of mana.

Modern Horizons 2 brought a new deck to the format and several cards with power to swing the metagame. Its impact didn't raise immediate questions about bannings as we saw in Theros Beyond Death, but certainly cEDH players have gained a backlog of new cards that must be tested.