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17 Hour of Devastation Cards That Will Most Likely See Modern Play


Hour of Devastation is the latest Magic: The Gathering set from the Amonkhet block brought to us by Wizards of the Coast. It reveals to us the fate of The Gatewatch and the plane of Amonkhet against the God-Pharoah, Nicol Bolas.

As for the cards in general, the set has been referred by some players as underwhelming, especially for Standard players as it does not create or destroy a surviving archetype but merely supports the established decks with new toys.

From a Modern player's perspective, however, Hour of Devastation is a gold mine of cards that may push their current deck up a tier or helps it against its current bad match-ups.

Here are the 17 cards that might see Modern play:

  1. Claim/Fame

    This card has a high potential of being picked up and housed in a Grixis Death's Shadow deck or any of its variance. For the price of 1 black mana, you'll be able to return Death's Shadow, Snapcaster Mage or a Tarmogoyf (in some variances) from the graveyard to the battlefield and if you do return a Snapcaster Mage you have the option to pic Claim again to return another one from the graveyard to the battlefield.

    It may have gained its popularity due to Claim but Fame also has an interesting applicability as for a 1 generic 1 red mana, you'll be able to give any creature of yours haste. Talk about gaining a quick advantage.

  2. Liliana's Defeat

    There's one big reason why this card might see play in Modern, and that reason is Liliana of the Veil. A lot of the people I've asked have certain anger towards this Planeswalker as it is one of the best Planeswalkers to use in Modern. In some games, Liliana of the Veil can really take over and simply control your enemy's board or hand until they submit or Liliana's final mode truly controls.

    I know, there are better cards in handling Liliana of the Veil like Abrupt Decay however, Liliana's Defeat not only destroys a Liliana Planeswalker but destroys black creatures as well. The best example for comparison between Abrupt Decay and Liliana's Defeat is the two creatures that make the Death's Shadow deck formidable  namely, Tasigur, the Golden Fang and Gurmag Angler. These two creatures are 4/5 and 5/5 respectively, they also possess a Delve ability which makes the player cast them on an earlier turn than the given CMC. They possess 6 and 7 converted mana cost respectively, of which Abrupt Decay cannot destroy and Liliana's Defeat can.

  3. Ramunap Excavator

    Ramunap Excavator is a great inclusion to BGX midrange decks as it allows them to be able to have a solution to their worst match-up Tron. Coupled with Ghost Quarter a BGX, that usually plays with 3 lands, will be able to destroy the Urza lands while setting up their board.

  4. Life Goes On

    In a format where there will be Burn and Aggro decks, a 1 CMC card that gives 4 life, with a potential of gaining 8 life instead, is a great card to have, especially if you want to gain life and establish a board right away.

  5. Torment of Hailfire

    This card had Modern players curious on its applicability especially with that fact that you can repeat this cards effects X times by paying X along with the initial 2 black mana cost. This card may make certain deck strategies work again or replace a win condition of a certain deck to make it more viable.

    It might find its house in a hand disruption deck like 8-rack or in a Control deck. (yes, a control deck may be emerging in Modern because of this).

  6. Supreme Will

    This card has received mixed reviews from Modern players.

    Supreme Will is a 3 CMC Mana Leak with a 2nd mode that of Impulse and, like Mana Leak, is also 2 CMC. Upon casting, you may only choose 1 mode so you're basically casting an overcosted Impulse or an overcosted Mana Leak.

    On the other hand, Supreme Will has a greater late-game potential than that of Mana Leak as in a scenario where you have come across a grind match where your opponent can easily pay the 3 mana cost to ignore Mana Leak you can decide to use the 2nd mode to gain an advantage or find a solution against your enemy.

    In a losing long game, a top deck Mana Leak could mean doom to the disadvantaged player but a late game top deck of Supreme Will may even turn the tide of the match making Supreme Will worth the mention in this article.

  7. Hostile Desert

     

    Hostile Desert is rather interesting and likely to see play in Modern due to 2 things:

    First, Fetch lands are legal in Modern as well as land-based strategies, meaning you can easily fill up your graveyard with lands making Hostile Desert's activated ability consistent.

    Second, it becomes a 3/4 elemental creature that cannot be destroyed by Lightning Bolt. 

  8. Solemnity

     

    I felt like including Solemnity in this list as it was sorely needed for a time when Infect decks simply dominated the Meta due to the printing of Blossoming Defense. However, like most Modern decks, an archetype never really disappears and we could sleep easy at night knowing should Infect ever return Solemnity would be an available sideboard card against them.

    The potential of Solemnity, however, does not stop there as even in the current meta it may just see modern playability, whether offensively or defensively.

    Offense-wise, Thing in the Ice gets a boost with this card as it will enter the battlefield with no ice counters on it meaning it's 1 instant or sorcery away from turning into a 9/7 Horror. Creatures with persist would no longer get -1/-1 which would make them a really annoying creature to deal with.

    Defense-wise, players, Creatures, Enchantments, Artifacts and Lands do not get counters as well so you need not worry about being swarmed by creatures jacked up with +1/+1 counters by gavony township and the like or simply thrown by a wide variety of counters that could spell doom to you game-play like Chalice of the Void and Walking Ballista.

  9. Oketra's Last Mercy

     

    Oketra's Last Mercy is a card introduced by Hour of Devastation that had a huge effect but an equal drawback.

    This card resets your life total back to your starting total. When facing an aggressive deck, that will throw everything at you just to be able to reduce your life to 0 during the early turns, and have this card in your hand after a huge non-lethal assault on your life, then being able to simply resetting it to 20 may buy enough time to regain the upper hand or for their deck to run out of steam and be unable to close you out of the game.

    For a 3 CMC card, it should be a sure thing to be played in Modern, however, the drawback it has it rather heavy and troublesome as your lands do not untap during your next untap step which is a rather crucial flaw as every turn counts in modern. A quick remedy suggested by many is to have mana dorks and/or artifacts that produce mana to lessen the impact of the cards drawback.

  10. Bontu's Last Reckoning

     

    Another card that has a huge impact and heavy drawback is Bontu's Last Reckoning. It's a 3 CMC sweeper but note that it actually destroys all creatures and not merely deals an X amount of damage like Anger of the Gods and Kozilek's Return. Also, it is a turn early than Damnation making its mana cost fighting of Modern viability but it's not really the casting cost that makes players unwilling to use this card but rather it's drawback which is trickier than the other Gods' Last Thing to do as it is a sweeper which means mana dorks will be unable to help you on this one so the drawback will really be felt so, a quick fix would probably be having an artifact that produces mana in play or having a non-creature permanent controlling the board while some if not, all your lands are tapped.

  11. Rhonas' Last Stand

     

    The lowest converted mana cost of all the Hour of Devastation high effect high drawback cards is Rhonas' Last Stand. At 2 CMC, you will get a 5/4 green snake and that's a scary creature to face during the 2nd turn. This card's drawback is a bit insignificant if you cast it at the 2nd turn (more so if you have cast a turn 1 mana dork) and would require a a little patience if you would cast it during the late game as all your lands do not untap so you might be tempted to cast other spells along with Rhonas' Last Stand so just note that your lands do not untap if you play that card.

  12. Fraying Sanity

     

    Fraying Sanity really needed to be on this list as the format has a Turbo-Mill archetype which makes this card a viable new toy for it. Coupled with Archive Trap, Mind Funeral and Glimpse the Unthinkable, Fraying sanity could really mill out a deck faster if not, half the time.

  13. Mirage Mirror

     

    Mirage Mirror made the list due to its sheer flexibility as it can copy any Land, Creature, Artifact and Enchantment, which makes it really helpful in a wide format such as Modern.

  14. Pride Sovereign

     

    Skeptical? I would not blame you but cat tribal may really be the next deck so a 3 CMC creature that gets +1/+1 for every cat in play and has the ability to create cats on his own is worth the mention.

    There are only 58 Faeries that are Modern legal to choose from yet there is a faerie deck so a cat deck with 103 choices of cats would not be too tough.

    Shadows over Innistrad block gave us the final pieces to make Spirit tribal a real thing and with a lot of cats introduced in the Amonkhet block another tribal should not be so surprising.

  15. Uncage the Menagerie

    In the right deck, you might be able to see Uncage the Menagerie go wild in Modern as you should never underestimate the strength of a really wide collection of possible cards with a different name and the same converted mana cost. This might find a home in Elves or a creature based archetype.

  16. Ammit Eternal

    Ammit Eternal received a lot of attention in the eyes of Modern players as it's a 3 CMC 5/5 creature that has Afflict 3 so it would be a tough creature to defend against especially if you find a way to negate the triggered ability of getting a -1/-1 counter with Melira or Vizier of Remedies.

    Despite his 2nd ability, any deck that plays black may use this 5/5 monster as it could really put a serious clock on your opponent.

  17. Hour of Revelation

     

    Hour of Revelation got my attention due its ability to cost 3 less just in case you were being swarmed by your opponent, being imprisoned by Lantern Decks or simply having a deadlocked board with your opponent of which you are losing on. This card destroys all nonland permanents so it serves as a good panic button or a way to reset the board state if it is beginning to be unfavorable to you. This card might see play in a Death and Taxes Deck or a Soul Sisters Deck of which has been known to play selfless spirit which could turn Hour of Revelation into a one-sided sweep or simply a way to address the flooded board state of your opponents.

     

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