Magic’s Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury, reignites the Modern format’s burn decks in MH3
After a slew of Modern Horizons 3 (MH3) leaks flooded the Magic: The Gathering community, Wizards of the Coast leaned into the unplanned reveals to confirm which of the cards were actually real. Fortunately, despite the size of the leak, plenty of surprises remained for Magic players eager to upgrade their Modern format decks for a new competitive landscape that the MH3 release is certain to usher in.
Among the new cards coming in MH3 is another addition to a small cycle of elder giant titans from the plane of Theros. Today Polygon can officially introduce Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury, a new take on a classic burn spell. It’s a card that could potentially be the crucial upgrade needed to revive one of the Modern format’s oldest strategies — especially with the help of the two other cards revealed in the story below!
That’s right: Burn decks could be coming back into fashion, after years on the sidelines of competitive and semi-competitive play.
Templated like the two-color elder giants that were first introduced in 2020’s Theros Beyond Death, Phlage pairs a powerful effect that triggers when it’s first cast, but requires some additional legwork to stick around as a permanent on the battlefield via its escape mechanic.
When it first enters the battlefield, it immediately deals three damage to another creature or player, and gains its controller three life — an effect that already exists on a popular card called Lightning Helix, which for years existed as a cornerstone in Modern’s red/white burn deck. But like its Titan predecessors, Phlage then sacrifices itself and heads to the graveyard until its additional escape cost is paid.
In order to move Phlage from the graveyard back to the battlefield, its controller must pay an additional four mana and exile five other cards from the graveyard – only then does it stay on the battlefield, triggering its Lightning Helix effect again upon entry, and repeatedly after that whenever it attacks.
Historically, red/white burn
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