  We study the stability of the Couette flow $(y,0,0)^T$ in the 3D
incompressible magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations for a conducting fluid on
$\mathbb{T} \times \mathbb{R} \times \mathbb{T} $ in the presence of a
homogeneous magnetic field $\alpha(\sigma, 0, 1)$. We consider the inviscid,
ideal conductor limit $\textbf{Re}^{-1}$, $\textbf{R}_m^{-1} \ll 1$ and prove
that for strong and suitably oriented background fields the Couette flow is
asymptotically stable to perturbations small in the Sobolev space $H^N$. More
precisely, we show that if $\alpha$ and $N$ are sufficiently large, $\sigma \in
\mathbb{R} \setminus \mathbb{Q}$ satisfies a generic Diophantine condition, and
the initial perturbations $u_{in}$ and $b_{in}$ to the Couette flow and
magnetic field, respectively, satisfy $\|(u_{in},b_{in})\|_{H^N} = \epsilon \ll
\textbf{Re}^{-1}$, then the resulting solution to the 3D MHD equations is
global in time and the perturbation $(u(t,x+yt,y,z),b(t,x+yt,y,z))$ remains
$\mathcal{O}(\textbf{Re}^{-1})$ in $H^{N'}$ for some $N'(\sigma) < N$. Our
proof establishes enhanced dissipation estimates describing the decay of the
$x$-dependent modes on the timescale $t \sim \textbf{Re}^{1/3}$, as well as
inviscid damping of the velocity and magnetic field that agrees with the
optimal decay rate for the linearized system. In the Navier-Stokes case, high
regularity control on the perturbation in a coordinate system adapted to the
mixing of the Couette flow is known only under the stronger assumption
$\epsilon \ll \textbf{Re}^{-3/2}$. The improvement in the MHD setting is
possible because the magnetic field induces time oscillations that partially
suppress the lift-up effect, which is the primary transient growth mechanism
for the Navier-Stokes equations linearized around the Couette flow.
