10 Sweet Budget Commander Cards from Modern Horizons 3

Modern Horizons 3 is now available, and the real brewing has started. Though many of the more popular build-arounds from the set, like Tamiyo and Sorin, are seeing a lot of Modern interest too, there are plenty of cards that are less interesting for Modern, and so are enjoying some nice low prices.

Here are 10 cards we’ve picked out as giving you a lot of bang for your buck. 

BUDGET COMMANDER CARDS FROM MH3

HONORABLE MENTION

The fetchlands are enjoying a nice dip in price right now, and reprint time is always a good time to get in if you’re lacking the ones you need. This time around it’s the Allied fetches, and they have some nice options for the old border if that’s what you enjoy. Personally I’m smitten by the Borderless Bloodstained Mire, but honestly any Bloodstained Mire is a good one. 

10. RIPPLES OF UNDEATH

Ripples of Undeath is just a really solid engine piece for a self-mill deck. Getting to mill every turn for two mana and no other prerequisites keeps things spinning, and paying {1] and 3 life to grab one of those milled cards? That’s sweet. I don’t think this card is on the power level of Sylvan Library, but if you think about it, this kinda is Sylvan Library, but black, especially given black can get stuff back from the yard. 

One of my top picks for upgrading the Jund Precon, which appears in my upgrade article. 

9. CURSED MIRROR

This thing has had enough reprints now that basically any red deck can run it, and honestly? Why aren’t you?

Cursed Mirror is good at all points of a game, and at the very worst is still just a manarock for three mana. Ever heard of Quadrant Theory? Well, check out this piece explaining exactly what makes this card so good.

I’m currently really enjoying it in Henzie, where I dropped it in as a second Primeval Herald, which I’d already Blitzed in. Ramping four lands, and feeling devilish >:D

8. GLIMPSE THE IMPOSSIBLE

Sometimes you want some red “draw” that doesn’t strand important cards in exile. What if I told you that not only was that possible, but that for every card you didn’t play, it got put in your yard… and you got to make an Eldrazi Scion, perfect for chump blocking or using for bursts of extra mana?

Well, you’d think “Damn Kristen, that sounds like a powerful red common!”, and you’d be correct. I love this card, and I’m jamming it in a bunch of decks. Copying it in spellslinger builds gives you even more value, and more ways to storm off.

7. COLLECTIVE RESISTANCE

You gotta pack disenchants, and you gotta pack protection. This is true at all levels of play, from highly interactive combo magic right down to traditional battlecruiser levels of play. If you’re in green, you can pick up one of the best modal spells we’ve seen in 2024, Collective Resistance, which even has Escalate, allowing you to truly customize your dish. The dish in question? A massive blowout. 

6. ABSTRUSE APPROPRIATION

We can all agree that Utter End is unplayable trash, right? Good. Well now we have Abstruse Appropriation to put the final bismuth nail in Utter End’s coffin. Because now, you not only get to exile the nonland permanent, but you also get to cast their spell. 

What the heck?! This is a great removal spell, and reminds me of Hurl Through Hell, which has a timing restriction. Besides which, the borderless art is amazing. 

5. DESERTED TEMPLE

This reprint decimated the price on Deserted Temple, putting it firmly in accessible territory for players with a budget to consider. Now that you can get your hands on a cheap copy, you can start to plan world domination through extreme mana production. Cabal Coffers… Flipped Itlimoc, Cradle of the Sun… Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx…

Aside from accelerating you significantly, it can also untap lands that enter tapped, and provide you a second go on Maze of Ith and Spires of Orazca, among other effects. Card’s just very very good in lands-matter decks.

4. VOLATILE STORMDRAKE

While we won’t ever see a reprint of Gilded Drake, Volatile Stormdrake, like a bunch of other MH3 cards, is as close as we’re likely to get. Jacob has an excellent rundown on the other “reserved list reprints”, by the way.

Volatile Stormdrake is a solid plan B, and can answer most issues you’ll see in higher power games. What makes it so good is that it has a secret second mode: you can exchange control of it with something else, and then just not pay the energy, and what you stole will be sacrificed. Which functionally makes this a two mana blue edict that leaves behind a flier for the opponent. 

3. THE MEDALLION CYCLE

The Medallion Cycle, featuring Pearl Medallion, Jet Medallion, Sapphire Medallion, Ruby Medallion, and Emerald Medallion are enjoying a reprint in Modern Horizons 3 that makes them much more accessible to budget brewers. Mono-color decks are some of the best kinds of decks to build on a budget, and it’s in these decks that these cost reducers really shine.

2. TOXIC DELUGE

Toxic Deluge is one of the best wrath spells in Commander, and I’m all for making good removal spells accessible to the playerbase, because lord knows people don’t run enough wraths. Please put this one in your black decks. You won’t be disappointed.

1. RECRUITER OF THE GUARD

The best budget pickup of Modern Horizons 3? Well, for me it has to be Recruiter of the Guard. Recruiter is such a great card in Commander. It finds combo pieces, it’s a toolbox all-star, and these days, it can tutor up Solitude, which you can probably free-cast with whatever else is in your hand. There are a multitude of Commanders that love this card, from Hofri to Delney, from Brago to Ranar. It’s just an incredible workhorse of a card, and this reprint makes it easier to grab than ever.

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Modern Horizons 3 has some excellent budget pick-ups for the avid brewer, and we didn’t even cover the incredible new MDFC land cycle. 

For more advice on what might bolster your brews, check out our Modern Horizons 3 Set Review.