My "Definitive" P1P1 order for Modern Horizons

I was scrolling through Twitter this morning when I stumbled upon
https://twitter.com/_Malavi_/status/1158728682438942721/photo/1
This is Lars Dam's (Malavi on Twitter/MTGO) definitive P1P1 order for Modern Horizons.  I agree in a lot of places, but also disagree on just as many.  Here's my list:

Click on the picture to zoom in, I recognize it's a bit small.
I'm going to point out places where I have strong opinions, or why certain cards are where they are in the ranking.  The ranking starts in the top left at Yawgmoth, goes all the way down to Force of Virtue, and then goes to the next column and so on.

Yawgmoth, Thran Physician #1

The best card in the set by a mile, Yawgmoth is also in one of the two best colors, Blue and Black, which I have tied.  Yawgmoth takes 0 work to build around and can be jammed into any deck that can cast him.  He's hard to kill, generates a persistent advantage, and has the potential to take over any game in which he survives.

Serra, the Benevolent #8

Everyone plays this card wrong, including myself for the longest time.  You should both rarely cast Serra on turn 4, and you should almost never make a token.  In the vast majority of games, if you can play Serra and +2 her, you win the game next turn with the Worship emblem.  The only decks that can viably beat this are Iceberg Cancrix/Stream of Thought Decks and decks containing Rank Officer.  It is very trivial to put more creatures into play than your opponent has removal spells in their library, and as your White decks rarely draw extra cards your opponent will deck out first from drawing any cards whatsoever.  A note on White cards in general on this list; I prioritize first picking good White cards as having the ability to draft a good White deck is a major privilege at most tables.

Winds of Abandon #11

Considered by many to be the best card in the set, this card can often be seen coming and gets much worse in games 2/3 where opponents can board in Prohibit or Mind Rake to beat it. This card is also not easy to splash as it's only powerful if cast for 4WW, so you can't realistically expect to cast it unless you can reliably overload it once you're at 6 mana.  Still a completely incredible card, but these are the reasons it's at #11 and not #1.

The First Sliver #19

This card is both much easier to cast than it looks, while being a lot more powerful than it looks at the same time.  The fact that it gives "All Slivers Cascade" is a big red herring, as all you really need is your 5 mana 7/7 Cascade to break most games wide open.  Of course you need to pick up enough Springbloom Druids and Arcumm's Astrolabes to cast this, but once you do the reward is more than worth it.  5 Color Slivers is also a completely reasonable although mediocre archetype that this opens up, and in that deck if you cast this card you often win instantly.

Sling-Gang Lieutenant #25

I pick this card 1st more than almost any other card in the set, but I am probably the lowest on it of anyone.  I think this card often traps people because it makes you feel smart when you make an attack that exactly kills the opponent combined with the ability, but in match-ups where your opponent is trying to deck you or is killing you with evasive creatures, this card is just 3 1/1s for 4 mana and that's just not good enough with how good 4 mana cards are in this set.  Like Winds of Abandon, this card is still incredible, but be wary of how cards make you feel vs. how much they translate into winning games other cards wouldn't.

Springbloom Druid #32

I got a lot more receptive to this card after Mythic Championship Barecelona, as this is a card a bunch of the best teams had as the best common in the set.  This card is just the perfect enabler, as every single kind of strategy can use it in some fashion as long as they can play enough green sources.  I think snow is the 2nd best strategy (after Ninjas) and this is by far the most important common for snow decks.

Firebolt #35

The best uncommon or lower removal in the set, there is a huge number of X/2 creatures in the set and this kills them all for just 1 mana.  The bonus utility of being able to kill and X/4 for 6 mana or another X/2 later in the game is massive, and both you and your opponent will often mill over this card for value at times.  Firebolt is just a huge problem solver in this set, although I think this would be a very favorable set for Shock for what that's worth.

Cloudshredder Sliver #44

This is the absolute best card you can have in a Slivers deck, and I'm a big fan of cards that open you up to archetypes that other people don't have the same access to.  Anytime I face down this card turn 2 on the play I feel like I can never win unless I instantly kill it or my opponent doesn't play a 3rd land, and that's an insane amount of power for a 2 mana card.  Late in the game this card often means oops I win unless there's instant speed removal involved.

Fiery Islet #45

I think this is probably the most underrated rare in the entire set, as it's often picked for its monetary value and not to get put into decks.  As a piece of U/R aggressive decks, this card drastically raises your consistency, giving you consistent access to both colors of mana without slowing you down, while also acting as a "draw a card" enabler for your Spinehorn Minotaurs/Eyekites later on in the game.  As I generally build my U/R decks with 16 lands due to the large amount of cyclers, this card allows for much better 9/8 or 10/7 mana bases depeding on your color split, and this is the deck that cares the least about taking damage from a land.

Trumpeting Herd #50

Another card I've seen get a bad rap, Trumpeting Herd is a weird card because it can act a bit slow while being awkward when you want to use Winding Way in your deck as well.  With that said, 3/3s are a good size in a format full of 2/2s,  and making two of them for 4 mana is an incredible rate.  The real kicker for me is that this card scales so well in multiples.  The first copy will buy you time to cast future copies, which get better as you get more and more 3/3s each turn.

Force of Rage #52

Another card I rarely see played correctly, this really shines the brightest in R/B, as you can use it as a defensive tool to kill an opposing attacker, while also putting counters on your Gluttonous Slug, while also sticking around until your upkeep so that you can sacrifice it to Bogardan Dragonheart.  Offensively this is just a harder to block Ball Lightning for a cheaper cost, although that mode comes secondary to the defensive option.

Fact or Fiction and Rain of Revelation #77/78

These cards are super super close in powerlevel, as there's enough cards you want to put in your graveyard intentionally that Rain of Revelation is often just 4 mana instant draw 3 anyways.  Fact or Fiction also gets severely worse against better players, and as it effectively "mills you" 5 cards it can be a concern in multiples in decks that want it. In general I always take the first Fact or Fiction over first Rain unless I'm already U/R, and I would rather one of each in decks that want this effect.

Snow-Covered Forest/Island #82/83

Snow decks are more often base Green compared to Blue, so being able to cast your Green spells more easily is a generally higher benefit.  Snow Island has the advantage of turning on Blizzard Strix and Winter's Rest, which both only need 3-4 snow lands in a deck to be good enough.  Picking these this highly is a concession to how good U/G snow decks are, just like where Changeling Outcast and Faerie Seer are higher up on the list for Ninja decks.

Settle Beyond Reality #91

Despite this card existing as the top white common on this list, I don't think Settle Beyond Reality is better than Answered Prayers or Irregular Cohort.  It is much more splashable however, and it can provide strong utility to any deck looking to exile creatures or blink its own.  I often play this card most often in Green decks with Springbloom Druid, where I generally want 1-2.

Sword of Sinew and Steel #100

This card is not very good, and only sits where it does as an insane sideboard card vs. B/R decks or artifact heavy decks.  I generally only play this card these days if I'm a token strategy with few pay-off cards, or for a Snow deck to suit up Springbloom Druids for later relevance.

Notable Omissions

• Urza's Rage:  The vast majority of players would increase their win percentage substantially by never putting this card in their deck.  Past all of the text that rarely matters, this is a 3 mana deal 3, not a remotely good enough rate in a format as powerful as this.  You're playing this because you don't have enough removal, and once in a while in a deck built around casting it for 12 to win, stop picking this card highly, it sucks.
• Dregscape Sliver: I would personally pick this card above Scale-Up at #80, but other people value this card so low that I almost always table it if I want it.  Part of this pick order list is accounting for what other people do, and cards that are underrated just can't get picked too highly when they always make it around the table.  Force of Rage is in a similar boat but makes it on the list as it's just so strong it doesn't matter.
• Cycling Lands:  People in general don't value these highly, and only the Jund colored ones are real stand-outs.  Don't sleep on them but you don't have to 4th pick Secluded Steppe over anything reasonable.

This list is pretty subject to change on any given day, but today this is my feel for how I'd pick the top 100 cards in the set.  Aside from Yawgmoth, any cards near each other are relatively close in power level and should be picked with some of your own preference in mind.

Kevin
@sealedawaymtg on Twitter
Sealed Away MTG in podcast form.