Modern Horizons 3 (MH3): The Complete Set Guide

Released on June 14, 2024, Modern Horizons 3 is the third entry in the Horizons series - a line of sets designed to skip Standard entirely and inject new cards (and carefully chosen reprints) straight into Modern. With 524 cards, double-faced cards throughout, and a dedicated bonus sheet of new-to-Modern reprints, MH3 is one of the most ambitious sets printed in the format's history.

What is Modern Horizons 3?

Modern Horizons 3 (MH3) is a booster set released on June 14, 2024. Like its predecessors - Modern Horizons (MH1, 2019) and Modern Horizons 2 (MH2, 2021) - it's built specifically for Modern-legal play, meaning nothing in the set enters Standard or Pioneer. It's designed to be drafted, so Limited players get a full draft environment at the same time Modern players get a wave of new tools.

The set contains 524 cards total and features double-faced cards as a notable part of its design space.

Format check: Cards in MH3 are legal in Modern, Legacy, Vintage, and Commander. They are not legal in Standard or Pioneer. The bonus sheet reprints may also represent the first availability of certain cards on Magic: The Gathering Arena for Historic.

Themes and mechanics

MH3 features double-faced cards as a recurring element - cards that transform or have a second face, which tend to reward careful play and add decision points throughout a game. The set is designed with draft in mind, so its mechanics are built to create interesting Limited choices as well as Modern-playable power.

The full mechanical breakdown of every new and returning keyword is broad, but the presence of double-faced cards signals that the set rewards players who can plan ahead and manage card states on the battlefield.

Limited and draft

MH3 is explicitly designed to be drafted, following the same philosophy as earlier Horizons sets. The draft environment is built around the full 524-card set, with the bonus sheet adding an additional layer of texture to packs - each Play Booster includes one card from the bonus sheet, which means drafters will regularly encounter reprints alongside the new card pool.

The double-faced cards add a specific dynamic to Limited: unlike a vanilla two-drop, a double-faced card often represents two different game states, and reading your opponent's board becomes a little more complex when any face-down card might flip into something unexpected.

Rules note: Double-faced cards in a draft require opaque sleeves if you're playing in a sanctioned event, since both faces need to be hidden from opponents before they're revealed.

New-to-Modern reprints and the bonus sheet

One of MH3's most interesting structural choices is how it handles reprints. Every Modern Horizons set has included a dedicated reprint slot - cards from Magic's history that haven't previously been Modern-legal, brought in through the Horizons set. In MH3, those reprints are collected on a bonus sheet.

Every Play Booster in MH3 includes one bonus sheet card. These cards carry the MH3 expansion symbol but are printed with a watermark of their original set's symbol in the text box - a nice nod to where the card came from. It's a small design touch, but I think it makes these feel like proper artifacts of Magic history rather than just reprint filler.

The bonus sheet reprints are all new to Modern - meaning MH3 marks their first legal appearance in the format. Their inclusion in MH3 does not change their legality in other paper formats (Legacy and Vintage players won't see anything shift), but for Arena and Historic players, many of these will be appearing on the platform for the first time.

The allied-color fetch lands are also part of MH3, though notably they're not new to Modern - they've been legal in the format before. They're included in the set but aren't part of the new-to-Modern bonus sheet cycle.

Set legacy

MH3 arrives as part of a series that has arguably reshaped Modern more than any other product line. MH1 introduced cards like Wrenn and Six and Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis (the latter banned shortly after release). MH2 brought Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer and the Evoke Elementals, which restructured the format's tempo and midrange foundations almost overnight.

MH3 carries that same weight of expectation. A 524-card set landing directly in Modern, with a full bonus sheet and double-faced cards throughout, is the kind of release that players, brewers, and competitive grinders spend months unpacking. Whether MH3's long-term legacy proves as format-defining as its predecessors is something only time - and the banlist - will tell. 😄