Horizon sets feel as if they've always been with us, but that's not actually the case. Today, I want to delve into that exactly - how they came to be, whether community wanted them at all, and what they led to. 

Whether you're a Modern player yourself or a person peeking in to see how it all works, grab a cup coffee, find a comfortable position, and enjoy the read.

What is Modern?

The classic definition is that Modern is a non-rotating format that has a its own ban list and includes all the cards from the present going as far back as Eighth Edition.

While every format has a custom ban list and a set time-frame, today I want to focus on the non-rotating part of the definition. There are plenty of non-rotating formats like Pioneer, Pauper, or Legacy, but it works a tad differently here (which I will delve deeper into later).

What's also worth mentioning is the size of the player base. For a long time, Modern was said to be the biggest competitive non-Standard format, which means that was the place for the Spikes of the world to explore a non-rotating card pool. It has always had a huge fanbase, mainly relishing in the deck diversity of the format. It's always been thought that in Modern any deck could take down the next tournament and one wouldn't be terribly surprised. The 'Other' category is always 20% strong, a ton of people play their pet decks (usually blinged out), and locally you wouldn't be shocked to see no duplicate of a deck in the entire room.

All of the above has created a self-fulfilling prophecy, as you'd think you could actually win with anything so you don't stress over choosing a Tier-1 deck and opt for what you like the most instead - when enough people do it, it creates the environment that you thought was there to begin with (which may or may not have been there).

All in all, Modern is thought to be the brewers' paradise where you can compete at the highest level and yet still find success with the deck you love the most and have the most experience with. This perspective on the format has kept it alive and strong.

The history of Modern Horizons sets

(Modern) Horizons sets are products that inject cards directly into a format, circumventing Standard and any Standard-reliant formats. Therefore, any Modern Horizons set is legal specifically in Modern but also in Pauper, Legacy, Vintage, or EDH but *not* in Standard or Pioneer.

Way back I remember completing one of the player satisfaction surveys that WOTC sends out periodically still to this day and there was a question about a product that would provide Modern with cards directly. At that time, there was a popular opinion, including my own, that it's a great way to inject Modern with more powerful cards which we otherwise would never get, as these hypothetical cards would need to go through Standard and Pioneer. Personally, I also loved the idea that we could reprint sentimental classics from Legacy into Modern without the fear it'd ruin younger formats, like Kappa Cannoneer or Toxic Deluge. The thought that I might play some Legacy bangers in Modern made me so excited!

Eventually in 2019 Modern Horizons 1 saw the light of day. We got what we asked for and more! We got some proper bangers in Giver of Runes, Ephemerate, Echo of Eons, Yawgmoth, Thran Physician, or Seasoned Pyromancer. It looked really promising! It looked...

What actually happened with Horizons sets

If you've played Modern long enough, you might remember that those used to be the pillars of the format:

Green—Ancient Stirrings or Noble Hierarch

Red—Lightning Bolt, Monastery Swiftspear

Black—Thoughtseize, Death's Shadow

White—Path to Exile, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben

Blue—Cryptic Command, Snapcaster Mage

Out of all of the above, only two or three cards still see play at all and they are hardly pillars. The big selling point of Modern was that you could take your old deck, dust it off, and run an FNM with it. But if you stopped playing at UG Infect or Whirza, you might be in for a rude awekening.

In 2021 which is, oh my god, 3 years ago I touched on this topic after MH1 and MH2 released. I argued that the pillars got completely changed, affecting how the format is perceived and played, losing its original allure. I also stated that the format is basically rock-paper-scissors with Dragon's Rage Channeler, Urza's Saga, and Shardless Agent. Well guess what - these cards are nigh-unplayable nowadays! It's the perfect irony that what I said back then signalled rotation-ed-ness of the format is no logner valid, because we re-rotated again!

The larger point I'm trying to make off of this example is that these direct injections very much put stronger cards directly into the format, but their power is so off the charts that they have completely overshadowed the original staples that had been with us for years and years. Who knew we'd live a time where Cryptic Command or Goblin Guide would be literally unplayable?

There is another angle to all of this but it's a bit more granular. While yes, we've been getting stronger cards which replaced some oldies or entire decks, there is a new group of cards that WOTC seems to embrace: free spells. It used to be that Legacy was the format where you could play all the zero mana interaction and Modern, as the younger of the two, did not include such effects. Tapped out? You're vulnerable to my misdeeds!

We did have the Pact cycle, but them being free had an insane restriction that could cost you the game. Decks playing them naturally were built in such a way that the limitation was minimal but that also meant that you needed to have a very well crafted deck to begin with to take advantage of such cards. Now? Every black deck had Grief (when it was legal), every blue deck has some number of Force of Negation and/or Subtlety, green decks always pack some Endurances, etc. Modern has not only stopped being free-spell-free but it has fully yet involuntarily embraced them and seems to be unable to function without them.

Modern feels like Block Constructed

All of the above brings me to the crux of this piece and a sentiment I'd like to share. While with just MH1 and MH2 legal we'd seen their great influence, now with MH3 here as well the pool of Horizons cards has expanded so much that the format feels like Block Constructed. Within the top cards played in the entire format, 70% to 90% are from Horizons sets, be it free spells, insanely efficient creatures, or hate pieces.

What has further contributed to this effect is that WOTC has felt pretty cavalier about printing cards into Modern and they've done so without Horizons sets specifically! Lord of the Rings a year ago and Assassin's Creed a couple of months back were all direct-to-Modern sets, further compounding on the sentiment that Modern does not feel organic.

While it's possible to adjust and learn to enjoy what's now, we might long for Electrolyze - we in 5 years will long for Ragavan and Orcish Bowmasters when the new best things to be doing are Iron Man and The Undertaker.