The Best Modern Horizons Card?
- Andrew Dauphinee
- Aug 2, 2019
- 2 min read

So many Modern Horizons card have had a significant impact on the Modern format. Hogaak has arguably been the most impactful and a ban on the card is a hot topic in the community with varying opinions. However, there is another card that has a more widespread impact on not only the Modern format, but Legacy as well. I'm talking about the 2 mana planeswalker Wrenn and Six. Wrenn and Six may actually be the most impactful and powerful card of Modern Horizons and I'll explain why.
Planeswalkers in general are essentially a shield on your life total. Opponents are required to spend more resources and turns trying to remove a planeswalker to regain an advantageous position on the board, allowing you more time to find your answers and develop your game plan. This can give you an extra 1-3 turns, sometimes more, which can have a warping effect on the game.
Wrenn and Six is a multi-dimensional planeswalker that can have a huge impact on the early game. Its +1 ability to return a land from graveyard to hand allows players to ensure more consistent land drops in the early game, ensuring that they can cast their spells on time and to the greatest effect. Additionally, Wrenn and Six bolsters the Landfall mechanic, helps thin out your deck from lands by returning Fetch Lands, allows more draws with cycling lands, and perhaps most importantly, allows players to keep more risky 7 card hands. Mulliganning can alter the course of the game and sometimes a risky 7 is better than a good 5, especially if you know you can hit your land drops or remove early threats.
If lands are not an issue, no problem; Wrenn and Six can help clear the board of early threats and mana dorks. It's -1 ability, which it can use 3 times in a row before being put in the graveyard, allows for more tempo plays and early disruption, especially given the amount of 1 toughness creatures that are crucial to many decks in Modern and Legacy (Birds of Paradise, Dark Confidant, Noble Hierarch, Thalia, Delver of Secrets, Baleful Strix). Decks reliant on these early creatures to control the board, ensure proper mana, or are necessary for a turn 2 or 3 combo, are at the mercy of Wrenn and Six, requiring opponents to mulligan more aggressively to protect their creatures and deal with Wrenn and Six more effectively. The loss of 1 or 2 cards early can have a drastic impact on the game as it progresses and can immediately disadvantage opponents.
So what do you think is the most impactful card from Modern Horizons? Hogaak, Urza, Wrenn and Six, or maybe the cycle of canopy lands? Comment below!
I know Modern is complaining about Hogaak because it really is a menace to the format right now, but I think the argument for banning Wrenn and Six in Legacy is stronger (not trying to say they can’t coexist). Wrenn and Six is homogenizing Legacy because decks that never played Red or Green (or both) are now playing Wrenn and Six because how powerful it is to Wasteland and then plus 1 get wasteland back. This card single handedly replaces Loam decks and simultaneously improves and complicated control decks. Almost every Control deck right now is playing 4 (or trying) and that’s making Wasteland worse and better because more decks are splashing to cast him and suffering because other people…