How Magic’s Modern Horizons 2 set turned a 25-year-old joke into a real card
Magic: The Gathering’s Modern Horizons 2 set, released five years ago, quickly established itself as a standout expansion celebrated for its exceptional Draft environment, valuable reprints, and innovative card treatments. The set remains highly regarded in the Magic community, even as newer sets like Modern Horizons 3 have since been released.
Among the set’s most memorable cards is Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar, a legendary creature whose absurdly complex name immediately catches players’ attention—it reads almost as if a cat walked across a keyboard. However, the card’s significance extends far beyond its comedic name. Rather than being an original creation for Modern Horizons 2, Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar represents the realization of a running joke from Magic’s earliest days, one that had been part of the game’s lore for approximately 25 years.
For decades, Wizards of the Coast had apparently insisted that they could never actually create a card based on this reference. By including Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar in Modern Horizons 2, the designers finally brought this long-standing joke to life as an actual playable card. This decision exemplifies Modern Horizons 2’s commitment to celebrating Magic’s rich history while surprising longtime players with callbacks to the game’s foundational era.