Illustrations by Martina Montrasi and Eric Fletcher

An Introduction to Premodern

http://www.premodern.guide

By Phil Nguyen

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Quick Start Guide

Why Premodern?

Introduction to Premodern

Legal Sets

Banned Cards

Other Introductory Content

Decks

Tier 1

Tier 2

Tier 3

Gameplay and Meta

Sideboards

Where to Play

Recurring Leagues & Events

Online — Webcam

Online — MTGO

In-Person

Pick-Up Games

Appendix

How to Get Started in Premodern on a Budget

Deck Selection

Budget Considerations

How to Play via Webcam

Platforms

Cameras

Standalone Webcam

Cell Phone

Lighting

Etiquette

Content Creators

YouTube

Twitch

Twitter

SoundCloud

Podcasts

Blogs and Newsletters

Special Online Events

Quick Start Guide

  • Premodern is a two-player format that uses a minimum of 60 cards in the main deck and a maximum of 15 cards in the sideboard consisting of cards from Standard-legal sets spanning from Fourth Edition to Scourge. The ban list can be found here.
  • Contemporary rules are used — that means the format uses the London mulligan and there is no mana burn or damage on the stack.
  • Modern framed cards are widely allowed. Gold-bordered cards from the World Championship Decks are usually allowed but it is ultimately up to the event organizer.
  • The top decks typically include Elves, Goblins, Burn, Replenish, Stiflenought, and TerraOath. The format has dozens of Tier 2 decks that are competitive. The best source for deck lists is TC Decks.
  • Decks in Premodern are relatively affordable, with over a dozen Tier 2 or better decks purchasable for $200 or less when including modern framed and gold-bordered cards.
  • Gameplay is typically highly interactive and leans towards onboard threats. Strategies rely on synergistic cards as opposed to landing game-ending haymakers. Enchantments and artifacts play a huge role in the format. Mana bases above two colors can be shaky and requires trade-offs.
  • Premodern has a vibrant webcam community and you can find games in the Premodern Online Play Facebook group or the #find-a-game channel in the Premodern Discord. MTGO is also a popular option as well through the MTGO Community Premodern Series. You can also attend in-person meetups or tournaments around the world.
  • The best place to connect with the Premodern community is in the Premodern Facebook group, the Premodern Discord, on Twitter, or Reddit.

Why Premodern?

  • Gameplay and Deck Design — The format contains a wide variety of decks with five to eight decks at any given time considered tier one and over 30 tier two decks that are competitive. There is ample room to brew decks as well. Decks are generally designed with synergies at their core as opposed to slamming powerful haymakers.
  • Nostalgia — Many fan-favorite cards and strategies are playable, including Madness, Psychatog, The Rock, and Goblins. You even get to see cards like Gush, Survival of the Fittest, Oath of Druids, and Tinker, which may be too strong with contemporary cards but appropriately powerful in Premodern.
  • Accessibility — Decks are relatively affordable. The format’s rules recommend allowing the usage of modern frame reprints and most event organizers will allow gold-bordered World Championship cards to further increase accessibility. Additionally, the format uses a fixed pool of cards meaning that new set releases will not power creep your existing collection. While there may be a few cards that are on the Reserved List, they are not considered staples in every deck and numerous competitive decks can be built without their inclusion.
  • Community — As a community founded and managed format, Premodern has a strong culture with a mix of competitive and casual fans from all around the world. You’ll find content creators and event organizers excited to support the format, as well as great discussion on Facebook, Discord, Twitter, and Reddit. Both in-person, webcam, and MTGO play is common for Premodern.

Introduction to Premodern

Founded in 2012 by Martin Berlin, Premodern is a community-driven constructed format consisting of a minimum of 60 card main deck and a maximum 15 card sideboard utilizing cards from the sets between Fourth Edition and Scourge. The format uses contemporary rules, including the London Mulligan, no mana burn, and no damage on the stack.

Legal Sets

Premodern’s card pool covers the 29 Standard-legal sets printed between 1995 and 2003.

Fourth Edition

Ice Age

Chronicles

Homelands

Alliances

Mirage

Visions

Fifth Edition

Weatherlight

Tempest

Stronghold

Exodus

Urza’s Saga

Urza’s Legacy

Sixth Edition

Urza’s Destiny

Mercadian Masques

Nemesis

Prophecy

Invasion

Planeshift

Seventh Edition

Apocalypse

Odyssey

Torment

Judgment

Onslaught

Legions

Scourge

What about Portal?

Portal sets and cards distributed only as promos (e.g., Mana Crypt, Nalathni Dragon) are not legal. The reasons for this exclusion is that these cards were not standard-legal during the Premodern era and aren’t as cohesive with the other sets in terms of design and flavor.

Can I use modern frame cards?

Generally yes! The Premodern homepage states that it supports the usage of reprints. For example, you may use a Flooded Strand printed in Khans of Tarkir instead of Onslaught or a Wasteland printed in Eternal Masters instead of Tempest. Most Premodern players prefer old frame cards but if you have or prefer modern frame cards you are welcome to use them.

Can I use gold-bordered cards?

Usually! Gold-bordered cards from the World Championship Decks product printed between 1997 and 2004 are not expressly allowed or disallowed in the Premodern rules but are left up to the discretion of event organizers. In general, the Premodern community has embraced the usage of these cards and the most popular events have allowed their usage. This is especially beneficial for accessibility of some higher-end cards, such as Gaea’s Cradle and Survival of the Fittest, as well as staples like Wasteland. Some events do not allow gold-bordered cards (e.g., SCG CONs in the U.S. and sometimes the European Championship) so always check with the event organizer first.

Can I use proxies or playtest cards?

Similar to the usage of gold-bordered cards, the official Premodern rules do not directly discuss proxies and playtest cards so the usage of such cards are left up to event organizers. Some regularly scheduled larger events do not allow proxies and playtest cards, such as the Premodern Facebook Group Monthly, while others do. In casual play most players are amenable to them as long as they are clearly marked and identifiable. There is even a resource available to print high-quality playtest cards of Premodern’s pricier cards.

Banned Cards

There are 32 cards on Premodern’s ban list, of which six are there due to the ante mechanic.

Amulet of Quoz

Balance

Brainstorm

Bronze Tablet

Channel

Demonic Consultation

Earthcraft

Entomb

Flash

Force of Will

Goblin Recruiter

Grim Monolith

Jeweled Bird

Land Tax

Mana Vault

Memory Jar

Mind Twist

Mind’s Desire

Mystical Tutor

Necropotence

Rebirth

Strip Mine

Tempest Efreet

Tendrils of Agony

Time Spiral

Timmerian Fiends

Tolarian Academy

Vampiric Tutor

Windfall

Worldgorger Dragon

Yawgmoth’s Bargain

Yawgmoth’s Will

Martin Berlin is responsible for maintenance of the ban list, which he handles with input from the community as well as through rigorous testing with trusted partners. The last time the ban list received an update was in July 2023 when Land Tax was banned (after being previously unbanned in June 2018). Prior to that the most recent changes were in October 2022 when Show and Tell was unbanned and August 2019 when Yawgmoth’s Bargain was banned and Frantic Search was unbanned.

For more background on cards included in the ban list, I recommend listening to Mike Arnold’s discussion on Premodcast or I Play Magic’s video on the topic.

Other Introductory Content

Decks

One of the defining features of Premodern is the huge array of viable decks. The best place to view current Premodern deck lists is TC Decks and the Premodern Facebook Group. The Premodern homepage also features example deck lists but these should be utilized to get a flavor of possible decks and strategies as opposed to viewed as current competitive lists.

If you’re looking for a quick list of common decks, as well as the cost of acquiring the cards needed with filters for modern frames or gold-bordered, check out this spreadsheet. You may be delighted to see how relatively affordable many decks in the format are! For more details on this spreadsheet and how to enter the format, head to the “How to Get Started in Premodern on a Budget” section below.

A note on the tier classifications below: These are subjective tiers (with decks sorted alphabetically) and are meant to give you a directional sense of the relative competitiveness of decks as well as how approximately commonly played the decks may be. Visit our friends at Spike Colony for more up to date tier lists for competitive-minded players.

Tier 1

These decks are generally agreed upon as among the best decks in Premodern.

Deck Name

Description

Burn / Sligh

Aggro deck utilizing direct damage spells like Lightning Bolt and Fireblast and efficient creatures like Jackal Pup and Mogg Fanatic. Grim Lavamancer, Cursed Scroll, and Sulfuric Vortex help provide sustained damage over the long run.

Elves

Combo deck that utilizes Gaea’s Cradle and Priest of Titania to generate massive amounts of mana before overrunning the opponent with Kamahl, Fist of Krosa or Tribal Forcemage. Wirewood Symbiote and Multani’s Acolyte can provide repeatable card draw while Survival of the Fittest is also used for card advantage with Squee, Goblin Nabob or for tutoring toolbox answers.

Goblins

Aggro deck that utilizes Goblin Lackey for explosive starts but can also generate sustained card advantage and pressure with Goblin Ringleader, Goblin Matron, and Siege-Gang Commander. The most popular flavor of Goblins is Red-Green, which has access to Naturalize to handle troublesome enchantments (primarily Oath of Druids and Survival of the Fittest). Mono Red, which uses Ancient Tomb for faster starts, can be seen often as well, while Red-Black is more rarely seen for discard and Dralnu’s Crusade, which gets around Circle of Protection: Red.

Replenish

Combo-Prison deck that uses Frantic Search, Careful Study, and Attunement to discard enchantments before bringing them back via Replenish. A few versions of the deck exist, the most popular leaning heavily on Parallax Wave and Parallax Tide to lock the opponent out of creatures and lands before winning with Opalescence. Another recent version takes a more controlling route with counter magic. An older variant utilizes Pandemonium and Saproling Burst but has fallen out of favor due to the cards being less useful outside the combo.

Stiflenought

Combo deck that gets a Phyrexian Dreadnought into play using Stifle or Vision Charm. There are many different flavors of Stiflenought with most utilizing Daze, Gush, and cantrips. Mono Blue and variants with white (for Meddling Mage and Swords to Plowshares) are the most popular.

Other variants exist too — Black brings Duress and Psychatog while red has Lightning Bolt, Fling, and Fire // Ice. Green is the least common and supplies alternate threats like Nimble Mongoose and Werebear.

Terrageddon

Midrange deck that makes use of Weathered Wayfarer to generate card advantage while early pressure can be applied by Nimble Mongoose and Werebears, or Meddling Mages and mana denial. Terravores help finish the game alongside Armageddon.

Tier 2

Premodern has a vast array of tier two decks which have a strong chance at taking down an event.

Deck Name

Description

Aluren

Combo deck that uses Aluren alongside Cavern Harpy and a suite of other creatures with enter-the-battlefield triggers, such as gaining infinite life (Soul Warden, Spike Feeder), drawing your deck (Wirewood Savage), generating infinite mana (Cloud of Faeries, Wall of Roots). There are a few builds of Aluren: a newer build utilizing Survival of the Fittest, a Nic Fit style list that utilizes Veteran Explorer and Pernicious Deed and one that leans further into assembling the combo with a set of Intuition.

Angry Hermit

Combo deck that uses Hermit Druid to mill over your deck into the graveyard with a Sutured Ghoul on top and then uses Krosan Reclamation to shuffle back in a reanimation spell to bring back the Ghoul, exile Phyrexian Dreadnoughts, and swing for the win. Also has an alternate plan of using Stifle or Vision Charm to beat down with the Dreadnoughts. Prepare to mull aggressively!

BW Control

Control deck utilizing a disruptive suite of Duress, Gerrard’s Verdict, Swords to Plowshares, and Vindicate with finishers including Eternal Dragon, Exalted Angel, and Decree of Justice.

Deadguy Ale

Midrange deck that leverages Dark Ritual to power out early Hypnotic Specters and Phyrexian Arenas, backed up with discard (Duress, Gerrard’s Verdict) and answers (Vindicate, Swords to Plowshares). Exalted Angel is typically the finisher of choice for this deck.

Devourer

Combo deck that grows a large Phyrexian Devourer by exiling cards from the library (and then responding to the sacrifice trigger by exiling even more cards) before using Fling or Altar of Dementia to win. The most popular variant of the deck plays many artifacts to leverage Tinker and Goblin Welder alongside sol lands for potentially fast kills. Another version includes Oath of Druids as well to cheat the Devourer into play.

Enchantress

Combo-Prison deck that generates huge card advantage through Argothian Enchantress and Enchantress’s Presence and using Serra’s Sanctum to make large amounts of mana to finish an opponent through Sacred Mesa, Decree of Justice, or Opalescence. Another version uses blue to lock out an opponent by bouncing all their permanents with Words of Wind.

Frantic Storm

Combo deck that chains together a large sequence of spells through the help of cost reducers such as Sapphire Medallion and Helm of Awakening and untap effects like Frantic Search, Cloud of Faeries, and Snap to mill an opponent using Brain Freeze.

Full English Breakfast

Combo deck that uses Volrath’s Shapeshifter alongside a toolbox of creatures found through Survival of the Fittest. The typical win involves the Shapeshifter becoming a Phyrexian Devourer to add +1/+1 counters, and then turning into a Triskelion to shoot the counters at the opponent. Older versions would use Phage, the Untouchable to defeat the opponent. There are three variants of this deck, one which is a more traditional toolbox, another that leans a little more into the combo with more Unearth and Intuitions, and another that uses Hermit Druid.

Gro-A-Tog

Aggro-Control deck utilizing efficient cantrips and interactions to pump up Quirion Dryad and provide fuel for Psychatog. Despite using spells of many colors, the deck utilizes a critical mass of Islands to power Gush and Foil.

Madness

Aggro deck utilizing the Madness mechanic through cards like Wild Mongrel and Careful Study to cast efficient threats like Basking Rootwalla and Arrogant Wurm. One variant will run Survival of the Fittest to maintain pressure later in the game.

Mono Black Aggro

Aggro deck with cheap threats such as Dauthi Slayer and Skittering Skirge combined with discard disruption. Dark Ritual helps accelerate the game plan. Another variant sometimes called Broccoli Soup uses Rancor and more.

Mono Blue Control / Tide Control

Control deck that stabilizes through counter magic and wiping the board with Nevinyrral’s Disk, Powder Keg, and Parallax Tide. The deck typically wins with Faerie Conclave and Mishra’s Factory though Morphling or Rainbow Efreet are sometimes thrown in for a personal twist.

MUD

Prison deck using artifacts, such as Tangle Wire and Sphere of Resistance, to restrict the opponent’s mana. The deck can be colorless, splash Blue for Tinker, or most commonly run both Blue and Red.

Patriot / The Solution / Star Spangled Slaughter / Angel McAngelface

Midrange deck using efficient removal (e.g., Swords to Plowshares, Lightning Bolt, Fire // Ice) and utility creatures Mother of Runes and Meddling Mage before closing out the game through the air with Lightning Angel and Exalted Angel. Another version seeks to be more proactive by using Silver Knight and Future Sight instead of counter magic or cantrips.

Pit Rack

Prison-Control deck, sometimes called SPUD (i.e., Spitters and Pits Under Duress) due to the resemblance of the sometimes used Plague Spitter to a potato, uses discard spells and Bottomless Pit to deplete the opponent’s hand before closing out with The Rack or other chip damage sources.

RecSur / RocSur

Midrange deck utilizing Survival of the Fittest and Recurring Nightmare together to generate huge amounts of value. The deck packs a lot of disruption in the form of discard and toolbox answers.

Stasis

Prison deck that locks down an opponent’s permanents by maintaining Stasis’s upkeep through Forsaken City or returning Islands to hand via Gush or Thwart. Once the opponent is unable to cast their spells Black Vise will take down their life total.

TerraOath

Prison deck utilizing land destruction effects and Sphere of Resistance to slow an opponent down while chipping away with manlands or a large Terravore (either cast or brought out through Oath of Druids). The white splash has access to Swords to Plowshares to better handle large threats while the red splash has Pyroclasm to address go-wide strategies.

The Rock

Midrange deck using Pernicious Deed and Cabal Therapy to disrupt the opponent while stalling with Wall of Blossoms and Wall of Roots before finishing off the opponent with a combination of Treetop Village, Ravenous Baloth, Blastoderm, Spiritmonger, and Deranged Hermit. Some variants will also include Natural Order or Phyrexian Rager for extra value.

Tireless Tribe

Aggro-Combo deck revolving around swinging in with Tireless Tribe and using About Face. Sometimes you’ll see a more all-in version using Gush.

UW Control / Landstill

Control deck that contains timeless spells such as Swords to Plowshares, Counterspell, and Wrath of God to stabilize the game before landing a Standstill and finishing with a cycled Decree of Justice or Mishra’s Factory. A recent innovation in this archetype has utilized Parallax Tide and Seal of Cleansing to permanently remove up to five lands of an opponent’s, forgoing Standstill to enact a more proactive game plan.

UW Flippi

Midrange-Control deck named after the creator, Flippi Boehm, who is constantly adjusting the deck.

White Weenie

Aggro deck utilizing small creatures with utility or evasion that can be pumped up using anthem effects. Splashing Blue is also common in order to get access to Meddling Mage and sideboard cards. Or even all five colors!

Tier 3

Decks in this category are generally competitive but are on a lower power level than the rest of the field or do not yet have enough results to have established their place in the format. With the right matchups and skilled play it’s possible for these decks to advance deep into an event but it will be an uphill battle.

Deck Name

Description

Balancing Tings

Combo deck aiming to ramp with lands that sacrifice for two mana to cast Balancing Act while blinking out an Anurid Brushhopper or flashing back Roar of the Wurm. This theoretically leaves the board clear of creatures and lands and both players’ hands empty.

Clerics

Aggro deck relying on creatures that are difficult to interact with, such as Mother of Runes, Beloved Chaplain, Devoted Caretaker, and Master Apothecary. The deck will often splash blue for Meddling Mage or black for Rotlung Reanimator and discard. Another variant that has gained popularity is Mono Black, relying on explosive starts with Priest of Gix and a finisher Scion of Darkness and reach with Shepherd of Rot and Cabal Archon.

Contamination

Prison deck aiming to lock an opponent with Contamination alongside Nether Spirit paired with disruptive elements.

Doomsday

Combo deck that seeks to have Future Sight in play and then create a pile with Doomsday that has at least two Lion’s Eye Diamonds, Doomsday, and Ebony Charm. These cards will generate six mana, allowing you to cast Ebony Charm to drain your opponent and cast Doomsday again, looping the Ebony Charm. Other Doomsday piles that have been considered in the past include Sutured Ghoul + Shallow Grave, Draco + Erratic Explosion, Pandemonium + Saproling Burst + Replenish, and Desperate Research + False Cure + Reverent Silence.

Draco Blast

Midrange-Combo deck that applies early pressure and disruption before finishing with an Insidious Dreams to grab a Draco and Erratic Explosion to hit the opponent for 16.

False Cure

Combo deck using False Cure and the alternate casting cost of spells like Reverent Silence and Skyshroud Cutter to cause the opponent to lose life.

Fluctuator

Combo deck enabled by Fluctuator allowing cycling costs to be free, which can result in going through most of your library before casting Songs of the Damned to generate a large amount of mana before winning with Haunting Misery or Drain Life.

Greater Good

Combo deck using Greater Good and Phyrexian Dreadnought to draw many cards and eventually assemble the Pandemonium and Saproling Burst combo to deal a large amount of damage to the opponent.

GW Prison Oath

Combo-Prison deck aiming to use Oath of Druids to bring out a Phantom Nishoba with an alternate plan of locking down your opponent through Sphere of Resistance, Rishadan Port, and Wasteland while beating down with Mishra’s Factory and Treetop Village. This deck has mostly been replaced by TerraOath decks.

Lands

Combo deck that generates card advantage through Horn of Greed, Exploration, Summer Bloom, and Lair bounce lands, the deck will finish off an opponent using Seismic Assault or Sickening Dreams.

Life

Combo deck seeking to gain infinite life using en-Kor creatures to infinitely target a Daru Spiritualist or Task Force before sacrificing it to Worthy Cause or Starlit Sanctum. Once infinite life is attained the deck can win through Test of Endurance or Unspeakable Symbol.

Machine Head

Midrange deck with disruptive creatures like Hypnotic Specter and Ravenous Rats accompanied by discard, burn, and removal. Somewhat similar to Draco Blast but without the combo finisher.

Merfolk

Aggro deck with low-costed merfolk paired alongside Lord of Atlantis and Island-friendly cards like Gush and Foil. A few different builds exist, including Mono Blue with looters like Merfolk Traders with Wonder and Curiosity, splash green for Gaea’s Skyfolk and Quirion Dryad, or include in the Stiflenought package to help against aggro strategies.

Mono Black Control

Control deck that aims to go big with Cabal Coffers to land multiple Corrupts to end the game.

Mono Green Stompy

Aggro deck with efficient creatures backed up by pump effects of Giant Growth, Bounty of the Hunt, Rancor, and Elephant Guide and a low land count.

Mono Red Control

Control deck with bountiful amounts of sweepers in the form of Nevinrrayl’s Disk, Powder Keg, Slice and Dice, and Pyroclasm. The deck wins through attacks from Shard Phoenix and manlands, or by casting a kicked Urza’s Rage.

Mono White Control

Control deck utilizing Eternal Dragon and mana rocks to eventually land a large Decree of Justice.

Parfait

Prison deck that is the spiritual successor of the historical Parfait deck (which was impacted by the Land Tax ban) and utilizes oppressive enchantments such as Oath of Druids and Zur’s Weirding while gaining card advantage through Sylvan Library and Mulch.

Pattern Rector

Combo deck that traditionally won with a Phyrexian Ghoul or Nantuko Husk attacking in, sacrificing an Academy Rector, fetching a Pattern of Rebirth, sacrificing the creature enchanted by Pattern, fetching another Rector, sacrificing the Rector, fetching a Saproling Burst, and then eating those tokens too. The deck can also be tuned to just fetch up big creatures like Symbiotic Wurm or Akroma, Angel of Wrath, or big enchantments like Confiscate. Newer versions utilize Goblin Bombardment and looping Karmic Guide and more to deal infinite damage.

Ponza

Midrange deck that utilizes a mix of land destruction and efficient damage sources. Traditionally it’s Mono Red with Stone Rain, Pillage, and Avalanche Riders but Mono Green is also popular with Thermokarst, Winter’s Grasp, and Creeping Mold. You may also see decks utilizing both red and green spells.

Psychatog

Combo-Control deck with early interaction through discard, counters, and creature removal followed by Psychatog to close out games.

Pyrostatic Oath

Prison deck using Oath of Druids into Bloodfire Colossus to keep the board clear of creatures while cards like Pyrostatic Pillar and Sulfuric Vortex apply constant pressure alongside burn spells. The deck has declined in popularity with the rise of RG TerraOath.

Reanimator

Combo deck that reanimates a big creature like Phantom Nishoba or Akroma from the graveyard. The sideboard often tries to sidestep graveyard hate by using Oath of Druids or Stronghold Gambit.

Rebels

Midrange deck with rebel synergies to flood the board while backed up by counter magic.

Slide-Rift

Control deck utilizing the Cycling mechanic to gain value, using red cards like Slice and Dice and Lightning Rift while versions with green (sometimes with or without red) use creatures with enter the battlefield effects like Wall of Blossoms and Cartographer. Many versions of RW have begun to shave Astral Slide and depend more heavily on Lightning Rift (and so the deck is often called Rifter these days).

Slivers

Aggro deck that uses evasion and protection from Winged Sliver, Hibernation Sliver, and Crystalline Sliver followed with Muscle Sliver to increase damage. Disruptive elements include Meddling Mage, Daze, and Winter Orb.

Survival Tradewind

Prison-Midrange deck revolving around Tradewind Rider locking out your opponent by bouncing all their permanents. Survival of the Fittest allows the deck to run a toolbox of creatures and some versions will also play Opposition as another prison element.

Survival Welder

Prison-Midrange deck utilizing Goblin Welder and Survival of the Fittest to lock out your opponent with looping Tangle Wires or attacking with a Phyrexian Colossus.

Threshold

Midrange deck utilizing early threats that scale up as the game progresses, including Nimble Mongoose, Werebear and Mystic Enforcer. The two most popular variants include Green-White and a Blue splash for Meddling Mage and counter magic.

Tin Fins

Combo deck utilizing Buried Alive to send two Krosan Cloudscrapers and a Sutured Ghoul to the graveyard and reanimating the Ghoul with Shallow Grave.

Trix

Combo deck using Donate to give your opponent Illusions of Grandeur, leaving you with an additional 20 life while your opponent must pay the cumulative upkeep or lose 20 life when the Illusions leaves play. Cantrips and counter magic comprise most of the remainder of the deck.

Tron

Control deck that plays similar to UW Control early on but aims to go over the top in the mid-late game by assembling Tron (i.e., Urza’s Mine, Urza’s Power Plant, and Urza’s Tower) and powering out huge Decree of Justice and Stroke of Genius. There are other variants of Tron decks too, usually relying on Crop Rotation and Living Wish to assemble the necessary lands consistently, but unlike the Modern format there are no great payoffs for assembling Tron early (you are usually better served cheating out creatures with Oath of Druids or Show and Tell or artifacts with Tinker) so the most successful Tron lists have used it at a closer rather than racing to assemble.

Turbo Land Oath

Combo-Control deck using Exploration, Horn of Greed, and Gush to generate card advantage while also utilizing Oath of Druids to stabilize (Spike Feeder, Spike Weaver) or attack in (Morphling). The deck eventually will be able to loop Gaea’s Blessing and Time Warp to take infinite turns.

Turtle Splash

Combo deck utilizing Saprazzan Bailiff’s leave the battlefield trigger and a repeatable sacrifice source (Altar of Dementia, Claws of Gix) to return a reanimation enchantment (Animate Dead, Dance of the Dead) and an artifact mana source (Lion’s Eye Diamond, multiple Lotus Petals) to recast the reanimation enchantment and bring back the Bailiff.

UR Control

Combo deck usually involving two variants, one utilizing the interaction of Chain of Vapor with Parallax Tide and Nevinnryal’s Disk (permanently exile lands or destroy much of the board while returning your permanent to hand) and another one focused on cycling synergies and Lightning Rift.

Zombie Infestation / Dredge at Home

Midrange deck making use of Zombie Infestation alongside synergistic cards such as Squee, Goblin Nabob and Ashen Ghoul. The deck can also splash Blue for Intuition to better search up Squee or Cabal Therapy. Another version uses Green for Survival of the Fittest or Red for Firestorm and Gamble.

Zombies

Aggro deck utilizing efficient zombies like Carnophage and Sarcomancy alongside disruption from Duress and Wasteland. The deck is able to have impressive late-game reach thanks to looping Gempalm Polluters with Lord of the Undead and repeated Shepherd of Rot activations.

Zoo

Aggro deck utilizing low-to-the-ground creatures (Savannah Lions, Skyshroud Elite, Carnophage) alongside efficient disruption (Duress, Vindicate, Wasteland). Versions with Red also contain direct damage like Lightning Bolt, Incinerate, and Grim Lavamancer.

Gameplay and Meta

The gameplay in Premodern is typically highly interactive and leans towards onboard threats. Decks are primarily built around synergistic cards as opposed to landing powerful haymakers.

Enchantments and artifacts play a huge part in Premodern and having some way to answer these permanents is critical for most decks. Cards such as Oath of Druids, Survival of the Fittest, and Phyrexian Dreadnought are among the most common cards to watch out for.

Cantrips are an important part of Premodern but not a defining element like some other formats as Brainstorm is banned. Instead the format features a suite of different cantrips that can be used based on player preference and deck need, such as Portent (dig deeper), Sleight of Hand (draw immediately), Peek (information gathering), and Opt (instant-speed filtering). Free counter magic is available in the form of Daze, Foil, Thwart, and Misdirection but not commonly used outside a few key decks like Stasis and Gro-A-Tog, primarily due to the need for Islands.

The mana base is one of the trickiest elements of Premodern. Decisions around what colors to include in your deck and how to shape your mana base can be one of the most rewarding and agonizing aspects of the format. Only the five allied fetchlands are available and no fetchable dual lands exist, meaning stretching to more than two colors requires compromise. Many decks do play three or more colors, relying on rainbow lands like City of Brass, Reflecting Pool, Gemstone Mine, or a carefully tailored mixture of other painlands. Sequencing your land drops is vitally important in this format as well given the high concentration of basics and Wasteland (i.e., do you play Swamp on T1 to get the Duress in or do you play the Underground River to have Counterspell up on T2 and risk getting Wastelanded?).

Premodern is a mix of casual and competitive so it can be difficult to predict the meta. You will run into a mix of players looking to play the perceived best deck as well as players who want to play their pet deck and those who are brewing something spicy. Generally you can expect to see a greater share of Tier 1 decks at larger tournaments but otherwise it’s not uncommon to go for long lengths of playing the format and not see one of the Tier 1 decks.

Sideboards

Given the difficulty in predicting the meta, sideboards typically cover a few broad categories in Premodern:

  • Graveyard Hate — Graveyard combo decks (e.g., Angry Hermit, Reanimator, Fluctuator)  and graveyard synergistic cards (e.g., Survival of the Fittest, Recurring Nightmare, Gaea’s Blessing) are common in Premodern. Popular sideboard cards include Tormod’s Crypt, Phyrexian Furnace, Thran Foundry, Coffin Purge, Planar Void, and Withered Wretch.
  • Disenchant Effects — The format contains powerful enchantments (e.g., Survival of the Fittest, Oath of Druids) and artifacts (e.g., Phyrexian Dreadnought, Phyrexian Devourer, Scroll Rack) which demand answers. Popular sideboard cards include Disenchant, Naturalize, Seal of Cleansing, Aura of Silence, Annul, Dystopia, Nevinyrral’s Disk, Null Rod, Tranquil Domain, Crash, Overload, Shattering Pulse, Ray of Revelation, and Hull Breach.
  • Tribal Hate — Two of the most powerful Premodern decks rely on tribal synergies: Elves and Goblins. Popular sideboard cards include Powder Keg, Engineered Plague, Plague Spitter, Pyroclasm, Cursed Totem, Humility, Pyrokinesis, and Contagion.
  • Red Hate — Two of the most powerful Premodern decks are primarily red: Sligh and Goblins. Popular sideboard cards include Hydroblast, Blue Elemental Blast, Chill, Warmth, Circle of Protection: Red, and Rune of Protection: Red.
  • Early Creature Interaction — Two of the most feared creatures in early turns are Goblin Lackey and Phyrexian Dreadnought so many decks will have Swords to Plowshares, Vendetta, Smother, or Chain of Vapor to handle the initial onslaught and provide breathing room.

For more on sideboarding, check out this helpful video by I Play Magic!

Where to Play

Online

Webcam

Premodern has a thriving webcam community with many recurring events that are free to play. The most popular is organized through the Premodern Online Play Facebook group. The event attracts between 75 and 125 players each month from around the world who are assigned pods and typically play five/six games with the top players advancing to the playoffs. You will have about three weeks to schedule and play the games. To sign up check out the Facebook group around the end of the month to see a sign up post from Andrew Walker with pairings typically released on the 1st or 2nd of the month. Someone in your pod will typically create a group chat on Facebook Messenger to coordinate games. This league doesn’t allow playtest cards but does allow gold-bordered cards.

There are many other recurring webcam events as well, including one through the Beard Brothers Discord that allows playtest cards. Other regional leagues exist on an intermittent basis, including ones through Facebook groups for Spanish Premodern, Argentinian Premodern, Chilean Premodern, and APAC.

If you’re looking for a pick-up webcam game, the best place is to post in the Premodern Online Play Facebook group or in the #find-a-game channel in the Premodern Discord.

MTGO

The Community Premodern Series organizes leagues that run every two weeks, as well as monthly challenges. Check out this quick tutorial or read the instructions below on how to join:

  1. You will need to be a member of the Community Premodern Series Discord in order to find your matches and also register on Gatherling.
  2. You will complete six matches against six different players from the registered pool, doesn't matter who, as long as it’s six different people. After joining the Community Premodern Series Discord, you should get the CPL role by typing !cpl in #bot-commands area so you get pinged whenever someone looks for a Premodern game.
  3. Once a match is complete, the winner will report the result on Gatherling. You do this under the Player CP, on the right hand side where it says "Report Match Result".
  4. The winner will report the match, the person who lost the match will confirm it. If there’s an issue please let a tournament organizer know.

For pick-up games on MTGO, the Premodern Discord is also a great place but in the #find-a-game channel in the MTGO section or the Community Premodern Series Discord.

In-Person

Premodern is played globally and in various environments, ranging from your local game store to meetups at breweries or homes. In the U.S. many regions have their own Discords to organize meetups and tournaments, including New York City, New England, Midwest, Southeast, Portland, and California. Many countries will also have their own Premodern Facebook group. If you’re unsure if your area has a Premodern scene, feel free to reach out to me.

Appendix

How to Get Started in Premodern on a Budget

Premodern is relatively affordable compared to other popular formats due to 1) a fixed card pool, meaning it’s unlikely your deck will become obsolete, 2) allowing modern framed reprints in all cases and gold-bordered cards in most cases, and 3) having a wide meta in which decks can be competitive without Reserved List staples.

Deck Selection

The first thing to do is to check out the Premodern Deck Pricing Tool, which will list out common decks across various tiers and the estimated cost to purchase the cards. Additionally, there is a filter to choose whether to include modern framed reprints, gold-bordered cards, and playtest cards (more on these in the next section).

Including modern framed reprints and gold-bordered cards, there are approximately 14 Tier 1/2 decks you could purchase for under $250 each. Note that the costs exclude sideboards, which can vary quite a bit.

Which deck you choose to play depends on your own playstyle, but BW Control, Burn, UW Landstill, Goblins, Madness, and The Rock are among the most recommended decks to start off with given their competitiveness in the format and generally interactive gameplay.

Budget Considerations

Many decks in Premodern can also be built sub-optimally in order to be more affordable. For example, Burn is just over $100 but 80% of that cost is attributed to the eight fetchlands the deck plays to fuel Grim Lavamancer and Barbarian Ring. However, you can build the deck without fetchlands by trimming on the two aforementioned cards and playing other burn spells (e.g., Lightning Rift, Price of Progress, Seal of Fire) instead. The deck may not perform as optimally but it’ll be pretty close. Similarly, Elves typically plays a full set of Gaea’s Cradle but if you can only afford one or two then including Crop Rotation could be a reasonable decision. Your deck won’t be as quite as explosive but you’ll still have a great time in the format and have a working deck.

Another path to consider is to play in proxy-friendly environments. The format has several proxy-friendly events and leagues to participate in and pick-up games as well. If you do use proxies, there is a Premodern resource available of high-quality and recognizable playtest cards that you can print yourself using a service like MakePlayingCards or even just printer paper:

How to Play via Webcam

Premodern has a thriving webcam community which allows you to play games even if your local community doesn’t have a scene yet. Additionally, the webcam aspect is a great way to meet players from around the world and connect over some cardboard!

The Paper Legacy Discord also has a great guide covering setup, production recommendations, and more.

Platforms

The Premodern community typically uses Whereby, a free-to-use video conferencing platform that has minimal setup. Note that the free tier has a 45-minute limit so you may need to restart if games go long. The paid tier is approximately $7 a month and includes the built-in option to record your games.

Other platforms are often used as well, including Tolaria, Discord, Zoom, and SpellTable.

Cameras

There are many options to use for webcam play, including: 1) standalone webcam, 2) a cell phone, and 3) laptop webcam.

Standalone Webcam

This is the preferred option for ease of use and clarity. The Logitech C920 series (~$70) is seen as the best entry-level webcam and should suffice for webcam gaming needs. To attach your webcam so that it looks over your mat, I recommend using a webcam stand or gooseneck phone holder (~$20). Players without a stand or holder have also utilized creative ways to hold their camera, including taping it to a ruler and stack of books, using pipes secured across their play area, or cutting up Magic storage boxes (and here’s another design).

If your webcam has an Auto-Focus feature, sometimes it is recommended to disable this feature to prevent your screen from seemingly zooming in and out.

Cell Phone

If you don’t want to purchase a standalone webcam you may also use your cell phone as a webcam. For example, you could download the Whereby or Zoom mobile app and join the room on your computer (to see your opponent’s boardstate) and on your phone (to broadcast your boardstate to the opponent). Then simply mute your phone to avoid an echo effect and hide your computer’s video.

If you have an iPhone and a Mac computer you may also make use of a new feature called Continuity Camera to use your phone as a webcam and avoid joining a video conference room twice. For Android users, DroidCam is often recommended.

Lighting

Lighting is often overlooked when it comes to playing webcam Magic. Often players will blame their webcam when in fact improvements in lighting will make a huge difference. I recommend viewing this video by The Spike Feeders to better understand lighting techniques and recommended products. The key to remember here is that you shouldn’t use overhead lighting — instead bounce the light off another surface to help diffuse it evenly over your playmat.

Etiquette

When playing via webcam it’s polite after shuffling your deck to split the pile into three and then offering your opponent the choice of which order to stack the piles back. You can indicate the piles by using your fingers or dice. The splitting of piles is most often done before drawing a hand at the beginning of a game but can also be done throughout the game as well though often players will shortcut the rest of the game if agreed upon (e.g., “You may put the middle pile on top for the rest of the game”). For some examples of field of play camera positioning, the Hispanoesfera league has a document (in Spanish, but you can see the images).

When you don’t need to view the cards in your hand, it’s polite to spread them out on the playmat so your opponent knows how many cards you have in hand, but it’s not necessary.

It’s always better to be gracious and lenient with players as it can be harder to keep track of the boardstate via webcam. Make sure you’re explaining clearly what you’re doing, what your cards do, and don’t be afraid to ask questions yourself!

Content Creators [To Be Updated]

YouTube

Twitch

Twitter

SoundCloud

Podcasts

Podcast Name

Description

Premodcast

Hosted by Mike Harris, Andrew Walker, and Jared Doucette, this is the main podcast covering the Premodern format with a few episodes typically released each month. Listen in for discussions about brews, events, and the state of the format.

All Tings Considered

Hosted by Bryan Manolakos, this podcast covers both Old School and Premodern. Guests will join each week to provide their perspective on specific decks and events.

Monster of the Week

Hosted by Seb Celia and Mikael Åland Johansson, this podcast covers both Old School and Premodern. The Premodern episodes often feature Anton Glans as they discuss the format.

Spike Colony

Lanny Huang and Mike Flores keep you up to date on the latest news, interviews, and theory behind Premodern.

I’ve Got ?????’s

William Hirst sits down to chat with various innovators, goofballs, and personalities from around the Premodern world.

Hardcast

The Duress Crew has a rotating cast of hosts to discuss Premodern and more.

Shared Discovery

Gabe, Steve, and Travis discuss less than Tier 1 archetypes in Premodern.

2 Cabal Therapists

Ivan Von Lennep and Philipp Altmann delve into the world of Premodern.

Premodern Bros

Hosted by Tom Metelsky and Evan Pollinger, this podcast focuses exclusively on Premodern decks and the meta. Episodes are released on an irregular basis.

Blogs and Newsletters

Blog Name

Description

Premodern Homepage

The official blog of the Premodern format, check here for format updates as well as deck techs.

BANDING

Email newsletter written by Phil Nguyen capturing the latest on the Premodern format

CoolStuffInc

Michael Flores, author of the legendary “Who's The Beatdown?” article, writes about his adventures through Premodern

Premodern Never Give Up

Spanish language blog covering Premodern

Before Jace

Blog capturing the process of brewing decks

Special Online Events

Name

Description

Premodern Showdown Series

Organized by Michael James Heup and Flint Espil, the PSS is one of the marquee online showcases for Premodern. Each season features eight competitors who battle in a round robin format. Each competitor selects three decks at the beginning of the season and each week is allowed to ban one of their opponent’s decks. They will have one of their decks banned as well and then chooses one of the remaining two to play for that week.

Decklists

Season 1: Videos

Season 2: Videos

Season 3: Videos
Season 4: Videos

Season 5: Videos

Season 6: Videos

Super Gauntlet

Organized by Michael Arnold, the Super Gauntlet features 64 unique decks competing in a single elimination bracket. Players draft which decks they will pilot at the beginning of the competition and viewers can follow along by making predictions before the event kicks off.

2020: Decklists Bracket

2021: Decklists Bracket

2022 (Europe): Decklists Bracket Videos

2022 (North America) Decklists Bracket Videos

European Premodern Invitational Challenge

Organized by Anton Glans, Nils Håkon Delphin, Jens Jaeger and Wak-Wak, E.P.I.C. featured 10 players split into two pods that compete in a round robin format. Similar to the PSS, each competitor selects three decks at the beginning of the season and each week is allowed to ban one of their opponent’s decks. They will have one of their decks banned as well and then chooses one of the remaining two to play for that week. One key difference with the PSS is that this event utilized unified rules, meaning among the player’s deck choices, there could not be more than four copies of a card (aside from basic lands) across their three decks.

Season 1: Decklists Videos

The Banned Series

Organized by Michael Arnold, the Banned Series featured several decks built using one card from Premodern’s banned list paired up against a gauntlet of existing top-tier Premodern decks. In this way viewers could see what a theoretical Premodern format could look like if a card was unbanned.

Videos