Magic: The Gathering Head Designer Hints That Hogaak Was Stronger Than Anticipated


When the straight-to-Modern format Magic: The Gathering expansion Modern Horizons was released, some fans didn't expect that "Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis" would make a huge impact on the Modern format, and it turns out that the R&D of Wizards of the Coast also didn't anticipate how "broken" it would be.

When a fan asked Mark Rosewater on his Blogatog, Magic Head Designer admitted that their most recent mistake when it comes to "broken" cards is a black/green hybrid card.

"We have made broken cards in all the colors," Rosewater wrote. "Our most recent mistake is black/green hybrid."

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It takes no brainstorming to know that the black/green hybrid card Rosewater is referring to is "Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis", a powerful 8/8 legendary Avatar creature with Convoke, Delve, Trample, and the ability for the player to cast it from the graveyard. Despite the banning of "Bridge From Below" last July, the graveyard-focused Hogaak decks are still taking the Modern meta by storm. Here's an infographic from the Mythic Championship IV Barcelona.

Mythic Championship IV Barcelona Metagame

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Credit: Wizards of the Coast

First of all, this shows that "Leyline of the Void" is the most played card at Mythic Championship IV and the #2 most played card is "Faithless Looting". These two cards are mostly played thanks to the overwhelming power level of Hogaak-based decks. Every other card in the snapshot from MCIV above is in the Hogaak deck almost exclusively.

At Mythic Championship IV, Hogaak decks are boasting a 21.4% of the tournament's metagame as shown in the snapshot below:

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Credit: Wizards of the Coast

If the Modern metagame continues to be so reliant on "Leyline of the Void" to keep Hogaak on check, it's likely that Wizards of the Coast will ban Hogaak and "Faithless Looting" in the Modern format, and Rosewater's hint that they consider it "broken" could be a sign that the card will soon get the hammer.

Related: MTG Artist Paul Scott Canavan Says That He's Colorblind

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