Modern Horizons 3 Commander (M3C): Set Guide

When Modern Horizons 3 released on June 14, 2024, it came with a surprise twist on the usual product structure: instead of preconstructed Modern decks, Wizards bundled in four full Commander precons. Modern Horizons 3 Commander - set code M3C - is a 398-card set in its own right, and it's worth understanding on its own terms rather than treating it as an afterthought to the main set.

Each of the four decks is a love letter to a classic Modern archetype. If you've been playing Modern long enough to wince at the words "Eldrazi Winter," you'll recognise the references immediately.

The four decks

Each deck comes built around a face commander and a clear mechanical identity. Here's the lineup:

| Deck Name | Color Identity | Commander | |---|---|---| | Graveyard Overdrive | Black, Red, Green | Disa the Restless | | Tricky Terrain | Blue, Green | Omo, Queen of Vesuva | | Creative Energy | White, Blue, Red | Satya, Aetherflux Genius | | Eldrazi Incursion | White, Blue, Black, Red, Green | Ulalek, Fused Atrocity |

The archetype callbacks are pretty clear once you see them. Graveyard Overdrive nods to Jund, one of Modern's most iconic midrange strategies. Tricky Terrain alludes to Urzatron - the green-blue land-based ramp archetype. Creative Energy echoes the Energy mechanic decks that dominated Modern Horizons 3's release meta. And Eldrazi Incursion is an unambiguous reference to "Eldrazi Winter," the 2016 period when Eye of Ugin and Eldrazi Temple enabled one of the most oppressive Modern formats in recent memory.

What's new: 60 never-before-seen cards

Each of the four decks introduces 15 brand-new Commander cards, for a total of 60 cards that had never appeared in Magic before M3C. These are the cards numbered 1-8 and 84-135 in the set (with alternate versions numbered 9-83 and 136-151).

Several reprints in the decks also received fresh art. Cards getting new artwork include Basilisk Gate, Legion Loyalty, Crib Swap, Drowner of Hope, Dryad of the Ilysian Grove, Eldrazi Temple, Forgotten Cave, Magus of the Candelabra, Skullwinder, and Stitcher's Supplier - a nice mix of Commander staples and Modern-relevant pieces.

Mechanics

Carried over from Modern Horizons 3

The decks lean into two mechanics from the main MH3 set: Energy and Devoid. Energy fits naturally in Creative Energy, while Devoid threads through the Eldrazi Incursion deck the way it did in Battle for Zendikar-era Eldrazi design.

A wide roster of returning mechanics

Beyond those two, M3C pulls from a surprisingly broad palette of older mechanics. The full list is worth a look:

• Annihilator, Cascade, Demonstrate, Encore, Escape
• Fabricate, Flashback, Lieutenant, Myriad, Overload
• Populate, Proliferate, Reconfigure, Regenerate, Tempting Offer, Unearth

That's a lot of ground to cover, and it reflects the way Commander precons tend to cast a wide net - there's something for graveyard players, token players, and combo-curious players in each box.

Experience counters return

One of the more interesting mechanical callbacks in M3C is the return of Experience counters. First introduced in Commander 2015, this mechanic ties your commander's power to your own game history - the longer you've been playing, the more your commander benefits. It's a mechanic that rewards patient, snowballing play styles, which fits the Commander format well.

New land types and card types

Following the main set's lead, the Eldrazi Incursion deck features the Kindred card type on some spells - a relatively new rules term that covers what used to be called "Tribal" cards. M3C also introduces a new Cave, a new Desert, a new Gate, and a new Locus, which is a welcome addition for Urza's Tower fans building land-synergy decks.

What's in each box

A standard M3C deck contains:

• 1 foil-etched Display Commander card
• 1 foil Commander
• 1 additional foil Legendary card
• 98 regular cards
• 10 double-sided tokens
• 1 helper card
• 1 deck box
• 1 life wheel
• 1 Collector Booster Sample Pack (2 cards)

The total comes to 100 cards per deck - a complete, ready-to-play Commander experience.

Collector's Edition

A Collector's Edition of all four decks was also released, and it goes all-in on the foiling. Every one of the 100 cards in each Collector's Edition deck is foil, and each deck includes two showcase Borderless Profile cards. The Display Commanders in the Collector's Edition are ripple foil-etched, which is a striking treatment if you like your commanders to make an entrance.

One caveat worth flagging: the decks were advertised as containing 13 borderless cards each, but this turned out not to be accurate for the Eldrazi Incursion deck specifically. Worth knowing if you're buying with that expectation.

Format legality

This is probably the most important thing to understand about M3C, so let me be direct.

The new cards in M3C are not Modern-legal. Despite carrying the Modern Horizons branding, these Commander decks were designed in the same spirit as Commander decks that accompany Standard releases - they exist for Commander play, not to inject new tools into Modern.

Here's how legality breaks down:

• New M3C cards (numbered 1-8 and 84-135) are legal in Commander, Legacy, and Vintage.
• Reprints in M3C (numbered 152 and above) are legal in any format where that card's name was already legal. So if a reprint was Modern-legal before M3C, it stays Modern-legal - but the M3C printing doesn't make anything newly Modern-legal.
• Nothing in M3C becomes Modern-legal just by appearing in these decks, unless it was already permitted in Modern under a different printing.

All cards in the decks are Eternal-legal, so Legacy and Vintage players can use any of them freely.

Arena availability

For the digital release of Modern Horizons 3 on Magic: The Gathering Arena, the eight face and reserve commanders - Disa the Restless, Omo, Queen of Vesuva, Satya, Aetherflux Genius, Ulalek, Fused Atrocity, Azlask, the Swelling Scourge, Cayth, Famed Mechanist, Coram, the Undertaker, and Jyoti, Moag Ancient - were made available in Limited packs at roughly 1 in every 21 packs, replacing a card of any rarity when they appeared.

Set legacy

M3C is a curious product. It sits at an interesting crossroads: it uses Modern Horizons branding and clearly draws inspiration from Modern's history, but it's designed and legal like a standard Commander release. For Commander players, that's largely a good thing - the decks are flavourful, mechanically diverse, and well-stocked with new cards. For Modern players hoping the precons would shake up the format, the legality situation means these decks exist in a separate lane.

I think the archetype callbacks are the most charming part of M3C's identity. Whether you lived through Eldrazi Winter or discovered Jund through YouTube highlight reels, there's something genuinely fun about a Commander deck that wears its Modern history on its sleeve. These aren't just Commander decks - they're a kind of celebration of what made Modern the format it is. ✨