In this post, I take a look at the cards from Rebellion that have GAINED the most in the new modern. And I mean GAINED. Get it? Some of these cards GAINED a lot. Let's begin.
KELAN GAINES
Kelan Gaines gains. The end.
No but seriously, this card went from good to great about as fast as Kelan can strike you twice. 
He pairs unbelievably with Lorkus and Cryptic and has no Immortalis to worry about.
Sample battle: https://splinterlands.com/battle/sl_811ddb4b35cc70be47662c28f58c07af?ref=bravetofu
VENKA THE VILE
In the old Modern, Venka was already viiiiile.
As the Smith's worst nightmare, she made it a habit of terrorizing her opponents.
But occasionally she'd run into a djinn or mycelic-shaped wall. Forcefield made Venka sad.
She no longer has to worry about Forcefield, and she's feasting.
HELOISE THE HOLLOW
Have a look at the early battle data of the new modern in Champ and you'll find HTH has the highest win rate among cards with >1000 recorded battles (59.79%, just above Jicarilla's 58.62%).
Like Venka, Heloise is happy to see Forcefield go away. She also has a regular tendency to get stonewalled by pesky armor, and was glad to say goodbye to Kelya and Lux.
She still needs some rust to be effective, so make sure to bring her pet platypus.
Sample battle: https://splinterlands.com/battle/sl_c1d0436d59e2f531efdceaee7bee61af?ref=bravetofu
RISQRUEL DRATH
The squirrel got a boon in the new modern, and it's seen in the battle data.
A big part of that is the higher utility of Heloise. But Drath gets a boon as well from a massively powerful Fire team in Conclave Arcana, with the likes of Graybrow and the totally not Inept Healer by his side.
COMMANDER SLADE
Slade's a bad mf'er and he knows it.
With Oshannus leaving Modern, Slade became the defacto dodge-machine for Cryptic teams, and he now has two cards who can slap phase on him - Rune Arcanist and Jicarilla.
Few things are more satisfying than seeing Slade backfire shot after shot after shot and then smack with that big sword.
He's also a perfect pairing with EMP. Bring a bunch of armor enhancing hippos (and others) and watch him ram his armor for 12+ damage on his enemies.
Sample battle: https://splinterlands.com/battle/sl_4423fc3269cc2c4c25d2a4b96d085508
LORKUS
Potentially the biggest gainer other than Kelan is Lorkus.
He has Kelan Gaines to help of course. But he also has access to the two splinters that likely improved the most in the new Modern: Fire and Death. Tons of terrific melee and magic options Lorkus can give Life Leech to and watch them feast.
Sample battle: https://splinterlands.com/battle/sl_811ddb4b35cc70be47662c28f58c07af?ref=bravetofu
ELIAS MAX PRUITT
EMP's another massive gainer in the new Modern. Slade was already a good option, but now Elias also has a cat friend.
Leolin Sifu SMACKS from the second position, behind the Silverblade fighter (who also grants extra armor), when given EMP's piercing & armored strike. She only needs to worry about Thorns/Corrosive Ward but even so, her enemies often die before that matters.
Who doesn't want a cat friend?
Sample battle: https://x.com/Hanv/status/1923884470945579372
There ya go, your biggest gainers in the new Modern. Think I forgot someone? Let me know.
(All the art on this page was created using AI. Images were produced in Midjourney using original Splinterlands assets as the reference)