<3
I love you. You were by far my favourite card from the first Modern Horizons set. I was so excited when I first saw you in the spoilers. I think most people liked you for either their Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow Commander deck or Legacy deck. Because your Changeling mechanic made you a Ninja, and being an one mana, unblockable, Ninja makes you a very unique card. But I didn’t care for you being a Ninja, I loved you for being something else.
In my Hanjo Masters #2 cube I wanted to try to add a couple of Tribal strategies. Not a full Tribal cube. I have bad, very repetitive, experiences with constructing and playing Tribal cubes. But just a couple of Tribal strategies in the mix, similar to the first Modern Masters set. In the first Modern Masters set Rebels was a very popular and loved strategy, but also Goblins was a fan favourite because it could double with the Combo strategy because Empty the Warrens was very potent in both. In Hanjo Masters #2 I wanted to incorporate a 5 color Allies strategy and, more importantly, the forgotten Rogue strategy with their unique mechanic of Prowl.
I don’t think Prowl saw much play outside of its limited format, and therefore became a forgotten mechanic. And I think that is a shame because it is a very cool mechanic. I really like Prowl. Cube is the perfect place to give a forgotten mechanic a new life, especially my lower power level Masers cube setup. The thing a Prowl strategy needs is multiple evasive one drops with the creature type Rogue. Lorwyn block offered 2 of those cards: Nightshade Stinger and Prickly Boggart. The Stinger was performing great, the Boggart on the other hand was a bit of a trap card. The problem with fear is that it can be blocked by Artifacts. And I also happen to put a big Artifact strategy in the cube, so a lot of Artifact creatures. So the Boggart wasn’t working, but there wasn’t an alternative for a long time. That was until you came. My gift from the first Modern Horizons set: an evasive one drop with the creature type Rogue. And I loved you for that.
You didn’t just fix my ‘an evasive one drop with the creature type Rogue’. Before 2019 there were a total of 5 available one mana creatures with either the creature type Ally or the mechanic Changeling. All of them being white, except for one very bad blue one. And the Ally strategy was an aggressive one, but not having a good spread of one drops was not helping the strategy. That was again, until my gift from the first Modern Horizons set: an non white, playable, one drop with the creature type Ally. And for that I love you even more.
Maybe, in 2026, it is time I explored the reason other people love you. Maybe 2026 is the year I should make a new cube for you to shine as an unblockable one drop with the creature type Ninja. Just maybe.
With love,
Hanjo
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