The entirety of Historic Anthology 3 was previewed today, painting the full picture of the new injection of cards to Historic when it releases on Magic Arena (Arena) on May 21. The previews were spread across social media throughout the day, kicking off with Merchant’s video on the return of flashback.
The five flashback cards range from iconic to role players with Chainer’s Edict and Momentary Blink headlining the batch along with Devil’s Play, Roar of the Wurm, and Silent Departure.
Up next is the Honden cycle from CovertGoBlue.
The five Hondens come from Champions of Kamigawa and were reprinted in Eternal Masters. The legendary shrines will now give another archetype to Historic and already existing enchantment decks.
Luca Van Deun previewed the return of some classic cycling cards.
Gempalm Incinerator is a card with a long history in competitive play and is joined by Gempalm Polluter, Krosan Tusker, and Tectonic Reformation. The last of the bunch is an inclusion from Modern Horizons, the first card from the 2019 expansion to hit Historic.
Destructoid got the next couple cards — Ancient Ziggurat and Maze’s End.
Maze’s End is an all-time build-around and gets new toys to play with in Historic, including Golos, Tireless Pilgrim and Circuitous Route. Ancient Ziggurat will be a boost to creature-heavy strategies, just like it does in Modern with Five-Color Humans.
Hipsters of the Coast got to preview the next two cards — Akroma’s Memorial and Mirari’s Wake.
Mirari’s Wake is a longtime combo enabler from its time in Standard to Cube and Akroma’s Memorial has been a fan favorite since its debut in Future Sight.
Comic Book Resources went next with Swan Song and Enchantress’s Presence.
Enchantress’s Presence slots right into the rest of the enchantment matters theme and goes with previous Historic Anthology cards like Sigil of the Empty Throne and Ancestral Mask. Swan Song brings a new piece of countermagic to the format.
Dot Esports previewed Tempered Steel and Timely Reinforcements in its article.
Tempered Steel shaped Pro Tour Nagoya back in 2011 and will give artifact beat down strategies some more tools, while Timely Reinforcements will give control decks another card to fight aggressive decks.
The MTG Arena Twitter account previewed the final three cards to go along with Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger and Phyrexian Obliterator that were previewed last week.
Body Double, originally from Planar Chaos, gives graveyard-based combo decks some more action along with the final card previewed, Unburial Rites. Unburial Rites was the namesake card to many decks during its time in Standard and will most likely find a home in Historic with little trouble. Ratchet Bomb, the penultimate card previewed, is a solid option for decks lacking removal and helps as another answer to Field of the Dead.
Historic Anthology 3 comes out on May 21 for 4,000 gems or 25,000 gold on MTG Arena.