Spoiler Highlight: Phlage, Titan of Fire's Fury on Modern

The Titan cycle, started in Theros Beyond Death brought two of the most powerful creatures Magic has had in recent years: Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath, banned from Pioneer and Modern, and Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger, a Pioneer staple that occasionally appears in Rakdos Evoke and Midrange lists in Modern - now, the newly revealed Phlage, Titan of Fire's Fury is the third in the cycle to be released, this time in the Boros combination and with a widely known spell attached to it: Lightning Helix.

With a decent body, the ability to control the board and serve as removal and win condition with the same proportions, the new Titan could be the newest staple that Modern Horizons 3 brings to the competitive Metagame.

In this article, we review its potential in the format!

As part of a cycle, Phlage, Titan of Fire's Fury has the same inherent abilities as its brothers: having an effect whenever it enters play or attacks and needs to be cast for its Escape cost to remain on the battlefield.

While Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath interacts with land drops and Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger revolves around the resources in the opponent's hand, Phlage works primarily with the battlefield, dealing with Planesewalkers and small creatures while giving its controller an extra breather.

There is no shortage of targets for its ability in Modern today, and there should be no shortage even after the release of MH3 - after all, except for the colossal Eldrazi and perhaps some other more relevant piece, most of the creatures that can enter the format should be within its damage scope.

Furthermore, Phlage also allows to accelerate the clock and deal damage to the opponent if there are no creatures or Planeswalkers worth destroying with its Lightning Helix, making it also an option for more aggressive decks, despite three of damage for three mana is far from ideal for archetypes like Burn.

As shown above, there are several threats (some that are present in multiple decks) that Phlage can easily resolve while still functioning as a “backup removal” and threat as the game goes on. Therefore, its potential in the format should not be ignored - but which strategies can the new titan fit into?

The Goodstuff variants, known as “Five-Color Piles”, are the first and main strategy that can benefit from the new creature.

After all, it naturally tends to go for the long game, makes more efficient use of removals of this genre, can discard Phlage with Fable of the Mirror-Breaker to generate value, in addition to the titan being a pitch for Solitude when needed, and its combination of removal and Fetch Lands offer enough resources to cast it at least once - and Phlage rewards its controller with a significant boost of pressure, with up to nine damage each turn.

Domain Zoo may want one or two copies of Phlage as a recurring threat and also to have more reach during the game, in addition to this deck having no difficulty paying its Escape cost with Leyline of the Guildpact and Fetch Lands.

However, Zoo's flex slots are now almost scarce, requiring it to share space with cards like Nishoba Brawler or Stubborn Denial.

Despite the difficulties with the mana base (which can get worse with Harbinger of the Seas), a Jeskai Tempo where we replace Murktide Regent with Phlage is another option for the archetype, but would require other deckbuilding concessions to cover the Escape, possibly with a more proactive proposal and less focused on cards like Counterspell.

On the other side of the spectrum, Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury is a removal and a win condition. Therefore, a deck like Jeskai Control could be interested in two copies to interact with the battlefield while extending the game to the point of using it as a threat along with ways to protect it.

Finally, I don't believe Burn can extend games to the point of using Phlage, and it is too slow as a Lightning Helix variant. However, between the mix of Fetch Lands and the few concessions to running it compared to Prowess lists, it might be worth replacing a flex slot or two to try Phlage out.

Overall, the new titan looks like one of the most powerful cards in Modern Horizons 3 so far - and it won't be surprising if it becomes one of the set's most impactful creatures.

Phlage doesn't seem like a Legacy or Timeless staple currently, but its individual value is great, and its potential to control battlefields or speed up the clock certainly makes it worth considering in various strategies.

Thanks for reading!