Wizards of the Coast has given us our first taste of the upcoming Modern Horizons 2 set and what a sweet taste it was. Enemy fetch lands—with both old border and extended art variants—plus a new showcase frame, the arrival of Counterspell in the Modern format, and even more previews!
Don’t miss our coverage of today’s previews from Adventures in the Forgotten Realm and the return of sanctioned in-store play to the US.
Unfortunately, Wizards also announced that the release of Modern Horizons 2 has been pushed back a week to June 18, 2021 and its prerelease is also moving back a week to June 11. It will still be available on Magic Online on June 3, though.
Straight to Modern, Take 2
Modern Horizons 2 is the follow up to the wildly popular Modern Horizons set that was released in June 2019. Modern Horizons was the first supplemental set, which are sets that aren’t Standard-legal, in Magic’s history to be made Modern-legal. Previously, supplemental sets were only legal in Legacy, Vintage, and Commander—but not Modern.
The original Modern Horizons was so successful, in fact, that it helped make the second quarter of 2019 Magic’s best quarter ever at that time. Wizards is definitely hoping to capture that same magic with Modern Horizons 2, as evidenced by their first big reveal: the inclusion of the enemy fetch lands.
Enemy Fetch Lands
The availability (or lack thereof) of fetch lands is a constant part of the Magic community’s discourse. There was immense disappointment when no fetch lands were included in the original Modern Horizons, so much so that Wizards promised that fetch lands would show up in multiple places the next year. Those places ended up being Secret Lair: Ultimate Edition, which included alternate art versions of the enemy fetch lands, and all 10 getting special expedition versions in Zendikar Rising.
Well, Wizards has rectified that original mistake in Modern Horizons 2 and then some. The enemy fetches—Arid Mesa, Marsh Flats, Misty Rainforest, Scalding Tarn, and Verdant Catacombs—are all rares in the set.
The enemy fetches are also getting extended art variants, similar to most rares from the last few years’ worth of sets.
And, most excitingly, the enemy fetch lands are also getting old border variants. Wizards reintroduced Magic’s original frame earlier this year in Time Spiral Remastered and man do the enemy fetches wear it well! The allied fetches actually debuted in Onslaught with Magic’s original frame—and now players can get enemy fetches that match.
Counterspell
Like Modern Horizons before it, Modern Horizons 2 will reprint existing Magic cards that aren’t Modern-legal in order to make them legal in the Modern format.
In fact, Wizards says that Modern Horizons 2 actually focuses more on new-to-Modern reprints rather than brand new cards. There are 42 such cards in the set and each draft booster is guaranteed to have one.
Wizards revealed today that Counterspell was in fact one of the cards they will be adding to Modern via Modern Horizons 2. Check out that amazing full-art variant!
“Sketch” Showcase Frame
As with all recent sets, Modern Horizons 2 will have its own unique showcase frame. The theme for the set’s showcase frame is “sketches,” which is expressed by using the original sketch for the cards’ art paired with a very DIY/in progress frame.
The example Wizards showed off today is Urza’s Saga—the card, not the set—which is both a saga and and land. Don’t worry, my head is spinning, too.
Popular Spell Effects on Permanents
Wizards had a few other cards to preview, both of which were artifacts that have effects that mirror existing popular spells.
First up was Brainstone, which staples Brainstorm onto an artifact.
Next was Diamond Lion, which is literally Lion’s Eye Diamond on a two-mana 2/2 creature.
Box Topper
Finally, Wizards revealed the box topper for Modern Horizons 2, Sanctum Prelate. It’s a reprint in Magic’s old order and is not included in the normal set.
