by Johnny Cycles, May 14th, 2024
Hello! Welcome to my third and final wish list item for Modern Horizons 3. My first card, Leyline of Tithes, is meant as sideboard hate to fight against the free spells. My second card, Lost Bird of Paradise, is a 1-drop mana dork with conditional hexproof meant to help Midrange decks compete with the undercosted, overpowered threats ruling Modern.
Thanks to everyone who watched the videos, read the articles, and commented on the cards! From the feedback I’ve received, applying the Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer treatment to a mana dork might be a little too powerful. It’s easy to see how helpful it would be to Midrange and overlook how busted it would make some of the already broken decks…
Our final card is designed to give Midrange decks a viable hasty threat that also fights against some of the unfair strategies via attacking their mana.
What’s Wrong with Modern?
Greedy mana bases that allow players to jam the best cards into decks lovingly called Money Piles with little to no drawback have been prevalent in Modern since the printing of Wrenn and Six (at least). I think the real culprit for 4- and 5-color decks running unchecked in Modern, however, is Ixalan, a largely underwhelming set known mostly for bringing Dinosaurs to Magic. So how did such a set break Modern’s mana checks and balances?
It introduced the Treasure token. And ever since, Wizards has been making more and more cards that produce Treasure tokens, including some of Modern’s most busted and played cards (Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer and Fable of the Mirror-Breaker, for example). And while these are only two cards, the stupid monkey is the best 1 drop in Magic that any aggressive strategy needs to have seriously good reasons not to be playing (like Merfolk, for instance). Fable of the Mirror-Breaker, meanwhile, is easy to splash Red for and the perfect mid- to late-game card for Combo and Control decks looking to find pieces or answers. It also serves nicely as a pseudo top end for low-to-the ground decks, particularly once it’s flipped.
These facts are borne out by the numbers. According to mtggoldfish.com, both are in the top 10 most cards played in Modern.
The trickle-down effect of these Treasure tokens attached to already busted cards is that it makes hate pieces like Blood Moon all but unplayable. Gone are the days a turn 2 Blood Moon against an opponent with no basics meant victory. Throw in a card like Boseiju, Who Endures (currently the second most played land in Modern, according to mtggoldfish.com) and an Izzet player who sticks Blood Moon can’t even reliably hold up counter magic to protect it.
And beyond Blood Moon to keep players honest with their manas, what other cards do we have?
But it’s not just the advent of Treasure tokens that have made playing 4- and 5-color decks more playable. Wizards continues to print cards that make doing so rewarding. Domain players have access to some of the best and cheapest removal and threats. Between Leyline Binding, Scion of Draco, Leyline of the Guildpact, and Territorial Kavu, Wizards has given to the greedy mana decks both tools that insulate them from hate cards and powerful threats to close out games quickly. Unless the opponent is playing a similar greedy mana base with similar removal spells…
Take two creatures from Domain Zoo as an example: Territorial Kavu and Scion of Draco. Both come can come down as a 4/4 or higher on turn 2. What commonly played removal spell can cleanly answer these cards that are not part of a Domain strategy? Pick Your Poison can get Scion, while Legion’s End and Fatal Push can snag Kavu. Unholy Heat can do it, as well, but only after jumping through some hoops. No wonder Rakdos Scam is so popular and Izzet Murktide has morphed into Temur Murktide.
Thus, the Domain Zoo player has access to the best and most difficult to deal with turn 2 creatures alongside the best and most efficient 1-mana answer (Leyline Binding). And we haven’t even touched on the second half of their textboxes yet.
Other Land Issues
I’m not going to go so far as to say the above lands are highly problematic in Modern, with the exception of Urza’s Saga, perhaps. However, they are all win conditions in popularly played decks. And we can’t forget Tron and the occasional Mutavault. Magic is full of powerful lands that can win games with a little help and synergy (unless you’re Urza’s Saga…then you don’t need help).
What is Needed to Fix Modern?
Midrange strategies need cards that do more than one thing if they’ll ever stand a chance against the top tier decks in the format. In fact, I would say that the best decks are full of cards that do more than one thing. And while it used to be that the proper sideboard tech could successfully metagame against certain strategies, Magic has evolved to such a degree that we need our hate to do two things as well. Or at the very least, to be flexible in choosing one of two or three options. This is why a card like Pick Your Poison is so powerful. It’s aggressively costed at 1 mana so that it almost always trades up. And it has flexibility in what it can answer.
Meanwhile, a hate card like Blood Moon or Field of Ruin just doesn’t do enough. We need an answer attached to a threat so that we can slow down the busted things our opponent is doing while advancing our own board.
Wish List Item #3
Our third wish list item does just that. Thanks to mtgcardsmith.com for the great looking card!
Let’s break this card down and then I’ll offer up some alternatives.
First, the mana cost in relation to its stats. It’s been more than 10 years since Wizards printed what was the first in a series of playable Dragons – Thundermaw Hellkite. Of course, it was a mere few months before they realized a 5/5 flying hasty Dragon with an ETB might be a little too pushed. Stormbreath Dragon came out in the fall of the same year as a 4/4. Every 5-mana flying, hasty dragon since has been a 4/4.
In a world of Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, Scion of Draco, and Orcish Bowmasters, I think the time has long come for us to get a 4 mana 4/4 flying hasty Dragon. Heck, Green has had access to 4/4 hasty threats with evasion for some time now, and it hasn’t broken Modern.
Now let’s talk about its ability. Unanswered, it turns any land into a Wastes every other turn. Even writing this sentence makes me think it’s too underpowered…
However, let’s consider our best case scenario.
That’s a turn 2 4/4 flier that nerfs a land and hits for 4.
Of course, this requires Arbor Elf surviving turn 1 (which happens probably 30% of the time), us having Utopia Sprawl and another Green source in hand on turn 2, and all of these pieces living long enough for us to cast Vornex, Born of Lava, which we also have to have in hand. That’s the nut draw. A 3-card combo (5, counting lands) to compete with a 1-card combo (3, counting lands) that has our opponent playing a 5/5 with upside or a 4/4 flier with upside on turn 2. Not to mention that same opponent can cast a 6-mana removal spell with just a single on turn 2 to answer Vornex, Born of Lava before it attacks.
I think it’s reasonably costed and worded.
Why a Dragon?
Well, if you’re at all familiar with my website, you know the answer. However, I think the ability matches the flavor very well. A fire-breathing, lava-oozing Dragon lays waste to both land and foe alike!
Variations
Can it be more pushed? Certainly!
As an ETB effect, we’re guaranteed to hit an opponent’s land short of counter magic.
Even more pushed? Make it an attack trigger without exert.
Even more busted? Make it an ETB and an attack trigger! I didn’t even make this card, as I knew it would be too powerful.
Should we make it less pushed?
Now it’s back to the current industry standard of 5 mana.
How about even weaker?
Likelihood Wizards Prints It
After seeing Winter Moon spoiled, I doubt we’ll see another card that hates on lands in Modern Horizons 3. However, I do think the stats and ability of Vornex, Born of Lava are well-balanced. Would it break Modern? No. Would it win games by itself if left unchecked? Yes. Can today’s decks reasonably interact with it? Most definitely. Does it give Midrange strategies a powerful tool to fight against some of the more busted aspects of the format? Yes. Does it give broken decks a new tool to make their strategies even more unfair? I don’t think so, but let me know in the comments!
Conclusion
What do you think? Is Vornex, Born of Lava a viable card for Modern? Is it too powerful? Not powerful enough? Would it be a game-changer or find a home only in the bulk rares section? Let me know in the comments or at johnnycycles16@gmail.com! Thanks for reading and watching!
