The Modern Brewer's Bible Part 1: Getting Into The Format & Overview
Modern forum
Posted on April 12, 2017, 7:41 p.m. by Sargeras
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to Modern! For anyone who does not know, Modern is one of Magic's non-rotating formats. This means that the cards in the format will not rotate out like Standard and as more sets come out they are added to the Modern cardbase; which extends from 8th edition onward. Modern was born when it's predecessor, a format known as Extended, was destroyed. Modern decks have a base minimum of 60 cards in the mainboard with a 15 card sideboard, with no more then 4 copies of any card besides basic lands across both boards.
The Modern Brewer's Bible is my personal down-to-earth guide to the Modern Format. It's goal is to create the most comprehensive guide to the format that I can for the Magic community. It is currently being written during my free time and it's chapters will be posted here as they are created. If you want to keep updated, make sure to hit the add as friend button on my profile so you can stay updated on when they come out.
WHAT SHOULD I PLAY?
I've gotten this question from a lot of people who are trying to get into Modern, and particularly from players who want to play on a budget. The answer to this question of course is based on many different factors. For example, I've met players who want to build janky decks that rely on silly combos and interactions in hopes of pulling off ridiculous things with their decks. I've met players who focus on being competitive, and choose to either replicate a tiered archetype, or find a deck that is good against the other decks played at their LGS. In addition to this, your specific play style also comes into play here, as I've known people who distaste control, and love to play Aggressive decks, and vice-versa. The final part to this is your own budget; because that is usually the leading factor in deckbuilding that I see. There will be a separate article based entirely on this.
WHERE SHOULD I LOOK IF I WANT TO FIND GOOD DECKS ONLINE?
Although there are many players in the Magic community who despise it, looking online for decklists is not a bad thing. If you are looking to find some of the best decks in the format, you could just Google "Good Modern decks" and it'd probably take you to something like MTGGoldfish's Modern Metagame. In addition to finding tiered archetypes, there are TONS of primers for Modern archetypes online. Primers are basically a cheat sheet for what is typically played in a certain deck, what options are available, and some example decklists. TappedOut is also a great resource for deckbuilding ideas, as there are tons of users buzzing around the site.
IS MODERN A BREWABLE FORMAT?
Absolutely! With such a large cardbase, it is more then possible to build rogue decks in modern. Decks like Lantern Control were made when someone recognized the interactions between cards like Lantern of Insight and Codex Shredder. Building competitive brews isn't the easiest thing to accomplish, but it is more then possible.
SUGGESTIONS AND CRITICISM
This is a critical thing that should happen before you choose to buy a deck, as it's importance is key to being successful. This area in particular can be a difficult spot for some people, as this is where deck ideas get torn apart, and brewing often is poured down the toilet. However, it is likely the most useful thing you can do once you think you have a decklist made. While the use of this might seem obvious, putting out decklists for others to view means that you are getting another set of eyes to look at the same work; thus creating viable conversation on a deck. Try to not take criticism of deck ideas personally, and acknowledge faults.
PLAYTESTING!
This is the final step that should happen BEFORE you buy your deck. This is also one of more fun steps to Modern Deckbuilding, as it involves what you hope to accomplish, which is PLAYING YOUR OWN DECK! This step often comes into play when people are making decks for the competitive scene, as they want to make sure that their deck is viable. This step is also crucial to learning the strengths and weaknesses of your deck, as well as acknowledging cards that should be replaced and the construction of the sideboard. This will be continued in a later article.
Next Article The Modern Brewer's Bible Part 2: Building On a Budget
TheAnnihilator says... #3
Random Person: Modern is not an "eternal format".
Me: Shut up, nobody cares about that.
April 13, 2017 9:19 a.m.
Thanks for catching that, changes have been made to the article.
clayperce says... #2
Sargeras,
Nice, very nice!
If you're not already planning on it for an upcoming article, I'd REALLY like to recommend a piece on competitive budget Modern decks that are upgradable over time. With Standard turning a bunch of folks off and prices (relatively) low due to MM17, I've lost count of how many times I've recommended folks check out this thread on reddit ... it'd be great to have content like that on T/O!
I also really like THE Modern Format Primer, by ChiefBell and rothgar13 ... if they're not already working with you, you might want to reach out to them too.
April 12, 2017 8:06 p.m. Edited.