Getting into Modern
Modern forum
Posted on Aug. 12, 2014, 1:28 a.m. by Zicca21
I'm relatively young to magic, I started at Return to Ravnica and am about to go through my first big change of a ton of my cards going out of standard. So I look to modern and it's crazy money necessities.
I have mostly B/U/G color deck stuff when it comes to lands and mostly B/G good cards. I don't have many Innistrad cards and very few good ones. Where should I start?
Rock would be sweet but I don't have money for it so I'm curious what other decks I could potentially build without taking a loan and selling my wife. I've seen pretty cheap infect decks and I think that would be fun but I come to you, users and avid gatherers around magic, to ask my question. How should I get into Modern?
Thanks
Unforgivn_II says... #3
Well, assuming you've been playing GB, you'll hopefully have Abrupt Decay s. Just because you can't play the sexiest Rock deck out there doesn't mean that you can't play it at all. Abrupt Decay alone is a good enough reason to play. Plus, since Thoughtseize is in Standard, as well as Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth , you have a decent start.
From there, just build as you obtain cards. Remember the good ol' days when you started, and were adding cards as you received them to your only deck? Its kind of like that all over again. Try to find some budget powerhouses so that you can play a decent game against the good decks right away. Then look to trade other cards you have for better ones. I doubt you'll find traders willing to dump their Goyfs and Bobs, but I'll bet you can find your set of Maelstrom Pulse s and Overgrown Tomb s, which may not be a ton of money, but its less than you'd have to spend originally.
If you're looking to netdeck a cheap deck, Infect seems good. Although if you aren't typically an aggro player, I can see you getting bored of it quickly (I've heard my share of stories about people who trick themselves into playing a style that they don't enjoy).
Just know, you don't have to have a top tier deck to win games, and most importantly, gain experience. Obviously, good decks are good, so I can't say that you'll be smoking the competition right away. That's where experience comes in. Once you've played in your meta for long enough, you'll know what you've got to do to beat the decks around you, and you can adjust and build accordingly.
August 12, 2014 1:55 a.m.
As someone who, myself, has relatively recently moved into Modern, my advice to you is to find a deck that you think looks fun to play, that fits your play style, and build towards it gradually. I kept my Standard deck intact as best I could, and played with it in the interim. It took me about 6-7 months, but I eventually got to a deck that I now love playing. What you should do, is try to reach a point where you have a budget version of that deck that still stays as true to the end goal as possible, and play with that. Build as you go, and improve the deck as you can. But keep in mind, the best way to get into Modern is simply to play lots of Modern. Even if your deck isn't the best, the experience will serve you well. You could easily rip a $2000 deck off the web, and lose every game. Modern is a very nuanced format. So, play, play, and play some more. The great thing about eternal, non-rotating formats is that there is no hurry.
August 12, 2014 2:12 a.m.
InconspicuousPotato says... #5
Basically what the others said, choose a deck you like. Go to mtgtop8.com and look at the meta, and netdeck the hell out of it. As long as it's not rock with Tarmogoyf and Dark Confidant it should be relatively easy to trade and buy up to over time. Once you're familiar with the format then you can start homebrewing.
August 12, 2014 2:20 a.m.
Playing what you love is probably the best thing to do in eternal formats. Given that there are already a plethora of kinds of decks in Modern to choose from, it's rather fun to explore your options first before taking a dive. Making and playing a deck you enjoy to pilot is probably the best thing to do; I have made the mistake of playing something strong but don't necessarily view as "my style," and ending up needing to take that deck apart and trade its parts away, losing some value in the process.
Also remember, the Tier 1 archetypes are strong (and really expensive), but most of them are built with each other in mind; their sideboards are usually aimed at each other, not at Tier 2/more obscure decks. There's still room to brew in the format.
August 12, 2014 2:24 a.m.
You can build budget rock with things like Garruk (4 and 5 drop versions), and Creakwood Liege
August 12, 2014 6:06 a.m.
ApocryphalSaint - horrid lack of new cards? Ignoring Anger of the Gods , Courser of Kruphix , Abrupt Decay and various others I've probably forgotten that literally came from the last 2 sets.
August 12, 2014 6:11 a.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #9
@ChiefBell DRS counts, I think. Swan Song sees some play, Master of Waves is a wincon in Blue Moon. I've also cast Hunt the Hunter once or twice.
August 12, 2014 9:17 a.m.
ChiefWannaHacka says... #10
I'm gonna start by echoing what most have said, pick a deck you like and play/build towards that first. That being said, BUG and BGx are going to be relatively tough to build straight from established lists if budget is an issue. I got lucky and committed to BGx before some pieces jumped in price last December.
Now here's the fun part, what's your favorite playstyle? Rock plays pretty differently from Infect.
August 12, 2014 9:23 a.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #13
I recommend u play Zombiepox.
Liliana of the Veil is your expensive piece followed by Vengevine which is still cheaper than Bob & Goyf. U can run more removal like Abrupt Decay or more bodies like Putrid Leech or Glissa, the Traitor .depending on how competitive u want your deck to be. U don't need the fetches at all.
Here is my build
U could leave out the money cards and it probably can be built for a 3rd of the cost it's listed at. Bitterblossom , Sword of Fire and Ice and the Damnation s on the SB all are included based on personal preference and aren't usually included in other builds.
Also u may want to just browse the decks on my profile. I have tons of B/G decks & modern is my format of choice. I have a mono-green infect one there that can easily be built for dirt cheap if u leave out the Noble Hierarch though as others have stated, can become very boring and bland to play for a long period of time. On the plus side, T2 wins aren't uncommon.
August 12, 2014 11:38 a.m.
Wow. Tappedout community is fantastic. Thank you all.
I usually play more casual so I don't think I care to find myself a tier 1 deck to start. Infect interests me and so does attempting some sort of home brew that I could throw together and fine tune later.
Is mono green a thing?
August 12, 2014 2:21 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #15
Mono green devotion is sort of a thing. It's weak to disruption, but it's a blast to play.
Hint, hint
Spreading the Sickness Playtest
Modern
SCORE: 70 | 10 COMMENTS | 8612 VIEWSNo shame. Infect is fun.
August 12, 2014 2:33 p.m.
If you do manage to build up to it, I'd imagine you'd love The Rock like I do for a few very important reasons that you'll soon discover once you start playing the format more. One being that the deck has an insanely good cardpool, the other being that it can effectively fight almost any deck if built properly. Also even has a few different iterations if you will with things like Jund splashing red for Lightning Bolt and Junk splashing white for Path to Exile
August 13, 2014 5:37 a.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #17
Splashing white for Lingering Souls is really more common. Path to Exile is bad in Rock because it doesn't kill anything your other removal spells can't. You have your own Tarmogoyf s, and Kitchen Finks isn't a super huge deal.
August 13, 2014 9:37 a.m.
I was about to say the same thing. The splash is for l souls. It's most useful in the mirror - makes liliana useless.
August 13, 2014 10:18 a.m.
ChiefWannaHacka says... #19
Lingering Souls is also good against affinity and Pod, but Jund has been adapting and some lists now eschew some targeted removal to include Grim Lavamancer and Olivia Voldaren . I've also noticed, since making some changes myself, that those cards also shore up the affinity matchup for Jund, and help it retain the attrition advantage.
August 13, 2014 10:57 a.m.
So I've been looking at most of the cards I have right now, and then also at a few different decklists and I've made up a very early prototype to a deck that I think is fun to play. Closer to what I had with my few cards around Gatecrash. Here it is if you guys want to give feed back there and suggest cards! Thanks.
Kalonian Harvest and Recycle Playtest
Modern*
SCORE: 0 | 0 COMMENTS | 3 VIEWSAugust 13, 2014 11:21 a.m.
I concur with the "build a deck that suits you and is your style" idea here.
If you want to be a successful modern player, focus on enjoying your deck above all else. That means having fun with a deck strategy or brew that you jive with on a personal level. No matter how strong your deck is, you are still going to loose so if your personality don't jive with the deck you are running you're going to have a problem. To have fun you're going to want to win so everything works out. To say it in another way, Winning will always factor into having fun but having fun doesn't always factor into winning. Thus don't focus on winning first, because then you'll often end up with a deck that feels soulless and is a chore to play and you won't be able to run it effectively because your soul isn't in it.
I myself tried a variety of "strong" modern decks before realizing all this.
So I changed up my style and made a modern Chromanticore deck to serve as my signature deck. It's relatively cheap. Most 5-color cards, even the best ones, are so hard to play there's a surplus of them on the market even if they haven't been printed in years. I still have a cheap RDW on the side that wins way more often than Chromanticore but I only pull it out every once in a while.
How is modern Chromanticore
working for me in you ask? Oh I lost.. Oh I lost... Oh I just enchanted a Worldspine Wurm
with Chromanticore
... Totally worth the losses.
I enjoy almost every game I play with this deck, even the ones I loose. The only times I don't enjoy playing is when I get mana screwed (no one likes that) or when my opponent draws like 7 sacrifice a creature cards in the first 5 turns, or any variation thereof where it's just not a fight. But those games are going to happen to you no matter what deck you're playing.
Anyway, a long ramble. That's my approach to the format.
August 14, 2014 12:50 p.m.
ChiefBell none of the cards from the last couple years have changed modern. DRS is the only that brought major plays to modern and it was banned. Nothing you listed has changed the top tier in a way that shifts the meta at least not here in portland with the exception of Abrupt Decay which is my bad for forgetting...especially since I run it in my competition deck. . Magic is different in every city. So yes. A horrid lack of new cards that have brought change too tier 1 and very few changes too 1.5.
If one or even two cards in the twoish years that are still modern legal is enough of a change then you must have an absurdly diverse modern meta. When I think of modern I think their one. Sure there have been a decent amount of cards played in modern that are new but they haven't changed much of what is run in GPs. Idk its just my opinion and fthats all it is.
Really I just want my all poweful stoneforge mystic back lol
August 16, 2014 1:24 a.m.
ChiefWannaHacka says... #23
@ApocryphalSaint So Courser Jund isn't a real deck? I'm pretty sure it was designed to combat Pod using the Theros block staples of Courser of Kruphix and Anger of the Gods . Just saying.
It even shifted the meta so that decks are including Lingering Souls again, and while it's true most Jund lists have again adapted to better fight against lingering souls, Courser Jund still exists.
August 17, 2014 9:11 p.m.
ChiefWannaHacka I guess I am failing at what I am trying to say.. there hasn't been a new deck type to show up in a long time. Adding a new card to an already popular deck type isn't changing anything in a way that is bringing life back. Its my opinion. Of all the past decks that have been popular in Modern only a handful are still able to be used in competition and no one runs the other ones because the cards in those decks have either been rendered non effective or they are just outdated with no outlook for making them viable again. I am tired of seeing Pod, Jund, Artifact, America and Rock all with VERY MINOR variations being like the only decks that win with maybe one or two others.Modern is dying. Also my opinion.
Again in case it wasn't clear...My opinion. the decks here in portland are almost entirely EDH now because its all Wizards pays attention too besides standard rotation.
August 17, 2014 11:06 p.m.
ChiefWannaHacka says... #25
Well that sucks. I feel real bad for you then, Florida has an amazing Modern meta. The last 2 PTQ's I've played in have seen me facing a different deck every round, save for 2 Pod matchups. Also as a side note, I'd venture to say that Courser Jund looks different than Bloodbraid Elf Jund.
And it may just be that Wizards is trying to tone down the power they release in standard. This would dilute the ability to create new archetypes in modern :(. Who knows, maybe the wedges will bring us some new powered spells akin to shards stuff or original Rav power.
Sainted says... #2
well. due to IMHO the horrid lack of new cards being introduced that could change the meta right now in modern its really only an initial investment and then the money winds down. there are staples for each color that are usually run. then the Lands, depending on how competitive you want to be really are what make up the big chunks of change for Modern, minus Tarmagoyfs and Liliana.
I would look through the things that are offered for deck choices. then decide how competitive you want to be. Why? because that is truly what is going to decide how expensive modern is for you.
Lots of cards have cheaper replacements you could run. Like you said Infect and I think...Death and Taxes? (modern version) are relatively inexpensive even in the more competitive environment they are both Tier 1.5 at best though. Just my opinion as I am not the be all end all on what Modern is all about.
August 12, 2014 1:43 a.m.