Breaking into Modern
Modern forum
Posted on Nov. 25, 2015, 5:45 p.m. by Araganor
Hey all! Like the title says, I'm trying to make the leap into Modern, on a budget. Ideally, I'd like a deck that can start out at a reasonably low price range (~$200 or less), but could be improved over time. Something that has a bit of build variety to it would be nice, so that I can change things up without completely scrapping the deck. Mono-colored would also be nice, just because I would be able to save a good amount of money on the mana-base. Some of the decks I am considering are mono-red storm, affinity (without the Mox Opals or Ravagers it's not too bad), or possibly a white-weenie deck. If anyone has some other suggestions, that would be great!
@ChiefBell That was my thought as well. Maybe a Tempered Steel or Ensoul Artifact build initially, but morph it into a competitive build as I get the pieces. Do you have any other ideas?
November 25, 2015 6 p.m.
Harashiohorn says... #4
Well there's also Mono-U tron in the single color deck realm and it can be turned into RG tron later on. Burn can be mono-red, though its pretty linear to play. B/W tokens is really cheap and easy to get into, and has a lot of cards for more expensive decks. Merfolk can also be built on a budget, as well as elves (both also mono-colored). Honestly right now there a lot of decks (of albeit variable power level) that are decent. Pick whatever deck you would like to play most and you could get a decent start on it with $200, except of course GBx.
November 25, 2015 6:06 p.m.
@Harashiohorn: I hadn't considered Tron, I'll look into some budget builds for that. B/W tokens or Merfolk also sound interesting. Thanks for the suggestions!
November 25, 2015 6:09 p.m.
omnipotato says... #6
Merfolk! You can skimp on Cavern of Souls and Cursecatcher and play Cosi's Trickster instead. You'd need a playset of AEther Vial though.
Also, look at decks that you have some of the cards for from standard or elsewhere. Like when I got into Merfolk I already had a playset of Mutavaults and Master of Waves from standard.
November 25, 2015 6:19 p.m.
omnipotato says... #7
Also make sure the deck you first invest in can be improved into a tier 1 deck. B/W tokens is tier 2, so is Mono U Tron. G/R tron is quite a bit different. Mono Red Burn will be cheap to make but the Naya version will require a serious investment in the mana base, it'll almost be like buying a new deck.
November 25, 2015 6:24 p.m.
@omnipotato: Great advice, thanks! So, right now it's a tossup between storm, affinity, merfolk, and tron. I'm going to steer clear of burn, I don't find that deck to be particularly interesting or fun to play (no hate to those who do play it, just not my cup of tea).
November 25, 2015 6:35 p.m.
Definitely look at Mono-Green infect. Eventually upgrade to UG.
November 25, 2015 6:44 p.m.
Wizard_of_the_Broke says... #11
I think the best budget build in Modern right now (assuming it's intended for later upgrading) is budget UR Delver Tempo.
Delver of Secrets Flip is cheap. Young Pyromancer is cheap. Monastery Swiftspear is cheap. And may favorite budget addition, Abbot of Keral Keep is cheap, for now. Even Remand is cheap these days (though Serum Visions is still ridiculously priced for a common). The only significant things the deck loses to the truly competitive build (besides the optional black package) are Snapcaster Mage and Scalding Tarn, and maybe Blood Moon and Spellskite on the sideboard.
The deck can be done fairly well around $200 and can be upgraded as gradually as you like. Most of the key parts are likely to maintain or increase in value, and are portable to lots of other decks (Burn, Twin, Grixis Control or Midrange, etc.) - that's not true of Affinity and Tron. The deck is really fun, not that linear, hard to master, very customizable, and it has few impossible matchups.
This is my list: No-Snapper (Budget UR Delver <$200). Note that some choices are very meta-specific. I also run Steam Vents in real life, but wanted to present the deck as a playable sub-$200 deck (which it is, as listed).
November 25, 2015 7:14 p.m.
@Wizard_of_the_Broke: Wow, that's actually pretty impressive. I just assumed that a decent U/R deck would be out of my price range, though I secretly would really enjoy playing it. I already have a few Steam Vents, Shivan Reef, and Sulfur Falls sitting in my binder, so I could potentially get this going for less than 150. The only other things on your list that hurt are the Serum Visions and Abbot of Keral Keep, but those are pretty manageable. I will keep this list in mind, thank you for sharing!
November 25, 2015 7:25 p.m.
jackanukealty says... #13
You could build Living End with a budget manabase, or with less Fulminator Mage
November 25, 2015 7:28 p.m.
@jackanukealty: That's certainly an option, but it doesn't give me much room for build variety. Although a budget version could be built very cheaply. Thanks for the suggestion!
November 25, 2015 7:45 p.m.
Wizard_of_the_Broke says... #15
Araganor. No Problem - glad you like the list. There are definitely a few similar builds on T/O you might look at as well. If you already have the land base, most of the cards in here are definitely worth having in your binder anyway. And yes, Serum Visions hurts, but it will probably always be playable (though a future Modern Masters reprint might kill it's value). Abbot of Keral Keep is a different story - I'm speculating that it will go up, because Patrick Chapin keeps trying to make him work: Patrick Chapin's Temur Prowess , and I think he'll succeed, so I doubt Abbot will completely tank in price in any case. Some budget builds are less aggro than mine, and run no Abbots, and way more counterspells - that shaves a little bit off the price, and is better in some matchups and metas. But again, I think Abbot makes the deck better all around, and is worth speculating on. Best of luck with whatever deck you go with!
November 25, 2015 7:45 p.m.
SeekerofSecrets says... #16
i'm in the same boat that your in, and i've put together a list that is still competitive at budget level, and is extremely fun to pilot. Delving on a Budget if you like tempo delver, its a fun list and a great shell to get into modern with
November 25, 2015 9:07 p.m.
BlueMageBrandon says... #17
When I was looking for a budget deck to get into Modern, some options I considered were Hexproof Auras or Soul Sisters.
November 25, 2015 9:19 p.m.
Wizard_of_the_Broke says... #18
509carlisle's list is also pretty awesome, and under $300. There's a lot you can do with the basic core of those decks.
November 25, 2015 9:50 p.m.
SeekerofSecrets says... #19
Wizard_of_the_Broke thanks! i plan to put it together and then slowly put together a non budget version as funds come available
November 25, 2015 9:53 p.m.
@509carlisle: Your list looks pretty sweet also!
@Mtg_mill: I've considered Soul Sisters, but it seems pretty meta dependent. Worth considering for sure.
November 25, 2015 10:06 p.m.
Making the Leap: Delving Into Modern on a Budget
Modern
SCORE: 5 | 10 COMMENTS | 597 VIEWS
Shameless deck advertising, but I put together this list and I've been testing it for people just like you! This deck runs for around $150, and that contains many modern staples. This deck is consistent, aggressive, and very proactive in its plan. Plus, the upgrade path is very good and can easily build into any other form of delver, any form of twin, or even grixis/uwr control!
November 25, 2015 11:26 p.m.
KillDatBUG says... #22
The closest you'll get is probably this at $335. I don't know how good it actually is, but making the top 8 of GP Pittsburgh has to count for something.
November 26, 2015 12:08 a.m.
DarkDeathclaw says... #23
Like everyone has been saying, Affinity, Bogles, Delver, Tron, Soul Sisters and etc are all good starts. My friend made a competitive Tempered Steel deck for just about $50. Now that's budget Modern if anything is. Blue Tron is certainly a more budget R/G Tron deck. I'm making G/R Tron myself. It's cost me a pretty penny so far, but I chose it for two reasons. One, because it not so mainstream like Delver or Twin and nowhere near as expensive as decks Jund. Two, it just seemed the most quirky. Blue Tron locks someone out with Mindslaver or other hijinks, its fun to say the least. Anyway you go about this, it's gonna be easy to find a budget build of nearly any of these. If you want too I can try to recreate the decklist from that Tempered Steel deck.
November 26, 2015 4:20 a.m.
U Tron is pretty budget. I started off spending $150 on it and was able to play at my local card shop. Recently I invested a couple hundred more (Snapcaster Mage, Oblivion Stone, Ugin, the Spirit Dragon, good but not necessary) and took the deck to an SCG invitational going 3-3-1 (should've been 5-2 but I screwed up a couple times unfortunately). Now I'm trying to build RG Tron. In only a few months I went from a fun semi-competitive budget modern deck to a tier 1 modern deck. RG Tron is also a ton of fun to play. I'm currently building it without Grove of the Burnwillows (Karplusan Forest instead) so it's only approximately $300 more for me.
Let's recap: $150 to start off. $200 to play a little more competitively. $300 more to get to tier 1.
November 26, 2015 7:25 a.m.
Programmer_112 says... #25
Honestly, I would recommend that you stay away from Affinity. To have a truly competitive deck, you're going to need Mox Opals and Arcbound Ravagers, and those are $30-$45 apiece. If you expect that you will be on a budget for a while, Affinity isn't a great place to start.
November 26, 2015 11:56 a.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #26
I vote Infect or Delver. Those are both solid starts.
November 26, 2015 2:41 p.m.
SeekerofSecrets says... #27
yea being the johnney that i am i actually brewed a sliver list to break into modern with, Collecting Slivers without the side it was around 300, but if i wanted a tier one i'd have to invest in another list and i felt like i would get bored with zoo, so that's why i switched to delver, its such a versatile base that could be taken so many ways, like i'm working on a delver/twin hybrid to turn my budget delver into. also delver is a great learning curve for modern, its a easy concept to grasp, but it has some pretty complex plays in it
November 26, 2015 4:20 p.m.
Harashiohorn says... #28
Infect is also an option, I would be wary of delver though. Delver WAS a really good deck, but since the banning of Treasure Cruise, and to a lesser extent Dig Through Time it's just not the same. It's still a good starting point if you really want to end up with twin or grixis, but there is also the issue of general U/R tempo hate because of the success of Twin and the like. With Storm, Merfolk, and Tron you will be fine against a certain portion of the meta, and should be good for FNMs and the like. With affinity people will be packing hate, but the deck can fairly consistently outrace the hate when running at optimal performance, a budget build will present more of a challenge. With delver your really going to want to make sure your meta isn't hardened against such decks, If everyone is running around with Choke, Boil, and to a lesser extent Rending Volley you are going to face a really steep learning curve, and are going to put in a lot of hard positions.
November 27, 2015 12:40 p.m.
SeekerofSecrets says... #29
Harashiohorn wich is exactly why I chose grixis delver for my budget deck, it runs allot of staples and is a great spot to start with, I can go grixis twin, control or even a non buget delver. Personally I think grixis delver is in a great spot to be competitive
November 27, 2015 12:49 p.m.
Wizard_of_the_Broke says... #30
Delver/Temnpo does have weaknesses, but a good list shouldn't care about Rending Volley that much, almost nobody runs Boil, and few run Choke (you're right that those cards are problematic, though). I'll grant that Storm (which I love), Infect, and Tron have more easy wins, and have very decent budget versions, but they also have more downright unwinnable matchups - both of those things are mostly true because those decks just aren't very flexible. There's pretty much just always going to be a ceiling for them. Delver is very flexible. You can go make a very aggressive version, or a very control-heavy version. You can incorporate a third color or go downright midrange-y. It's also more likely to be able to adjust to new cards, e.g. Abbot of Keral Keep, which makes my budget list playable. Point being- I think Delver's success is way more player-dependent and less meta-dependent. At least when I'm trying to learn the format, I'd rather have a deck that can put up a reasonable fight in most matches, rather than one that's either very favored or very unfavored in most games. I just think that's more fun, and more conducive to learning. Granted, Affinity and Merfolk are great decks - but budget versions are missing really critical pieces (and both are also very susceptible to meta hate).
November 27, 2015 1:19 p.m.
pumpkinwavy says... #31
The biggest problems for ur delver is Tarmogoyf and Lightning Bolt into Pia and Kiran Nalaar and then flooding out, not as much narrow hate cards. Many other modern decks can easily out grind or overpower a delver deck, and that grindy cards that help you fight that are Snapcaster Mages and Jace, Vryn's Prodigy Flip, which cost ten million dollars. Even a non budget ur delver deck is going to be a bit underpowered, grixis is the only way to go and thats very expensive. I would suggest infect, affinity or storm because they can all be built cheaply and slowly upgraded and they reward knowing the deck well.
November 28, 2015 8:47 a.m.
SeekerofSecrets says... #32
Honestly it comes down to preference, if you want to play aggro then you can play budget affinity or infect, if you like tempo like I do then you can run budget delver. Im building budget grixis delver, because I know I'll enjoy playing it more then aggro. Build what you enjoy, don't build something because you know its more competitive, your not gonna win any tournaments on a budget anyway. But I would choose a build that you can take to a tier one if you wanted
ChiefBell says... #2
I guess cheap affinity can be upgraded into the full thing, which is a great deck.
November 25, 2015 5:49 p.m.