What Should I Play
Modern forum
Posted on March 8, 2016, 8:38 a.m. by ModernMage
I have been trying to get into modern by looking at decks online but I am not sure exactly I should play. I want a competitive deck for $300 or less. I prefer to play midrange to control decks. What should I play (for fun)?
JohnnyBaggins says... #3
I'll be 100% honest here: If you want to play modern competitively, you can't spend 300 dollars. It just doesn't exist. Modern competitiveness requires you to play some 8-12 fetch lands, all of which amount to at least 200 bucks alone, significantly more if you're in colours that aren't supported twice by Khans of Tarkir. Midrange will include either Tarmogoyf, Liliana of the Veil or Dark Confidant, quite possibly more than one of those, all of which easily will break your 300 dollars. You can build Boros/Naya Burn, neither Midrange nor fun, and will end up at around 700 dollars, more recent Blue-White Control builds will tick in at 600 dollars, thanks to the fairly cheap mana base which "only" runs four Flooded Strand, three to four Celestial Colonnade and 2-3 Hallowed Fountain, but 600 still is a lot more than 300.
Lastly, generally be aware that "competetive" and "budget" are contradictory in many areas of Magic.
March 8, 2016 9:01 a.m. Edited.
Tier 2 can be competitive and cheap. Don't be that guy that draws an arbitrary line in competitiveness. I've absolutely creamed $2000 decks with $300 deck on multiple occasions. Not as consistently as I would with a tier 1 but often enough to end up with a positive and prize receiving record. Skred, for example, is cheap depending on the build.
March 8, 2016 9:21 a.m.
The only competitive deck that comes to my mind when talking about modern, and 300 or less is Soul Sisters. Soul sisters usually costs about 300 depending on the landbase. It is not control or midrange , but it is what I like to call "pseudo aggro". Its aggro, but you dont completely trash your opponent in 3-4 turns always. If you are interested in a list, i have a pretty solid build that I have seen alot of success with. It costs 386 at TCG mid, but without Flagstones of Trokair, you can save about a hundred bucks:
March 8, 2016 9:23 a.m.
Servo_Token says... #6
I will agree that skred is the deck for you if you want control on a budget. If you really want to go budget, you don't even need to play the card Skred and can just use normal basic mountains. But the deck is quite good, and an excellent first modern deck.
March 8, 2016 9:26 a.m.
Yea, skred is definitely a solid deck. Here is a example decklist:
March 8, 2016 9:27 a.m.
Skred is a mono-red midrange/control deck that uses a mixture of Snow-Covered Mountains and the card Skred to deal huge damage to the opponents creatures. It also plays Boros Reckoner so that it can use its own Skreds to hit the reckoner and bounce large amounts of damage to the opponents face.
I'm also thinking a budget dimir Tezzeret control might be possible. MAYBE.
This would be a blue/black deck that uses things like Executioner's Capsule, Aether Spellbomb, Dimir Signet, Talisman of Dominance along with Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas to control the board and then kill the opponent. This one will be very tricky to do on a budget but will be possible. The advantage here is that if you do eventually decide to spend $$$ on things like Inquisition of Kozilek they'll be relevant cards in ALL decks you decide to play in modern that include black. So the path to upgrading Tezz Control will naturally lead you, over time, to other decks. You can ignore these cards at first and use things like Duress so it is doable on a budget, but difficult.
March 8, 2016 9:36 a.m. Edited.
Doom_of_Valyria says... #9
SaffronOlive on mtggoldfish has a very interesting Budget Magic series he does on a weekly basis. There are quite a few Modern decks as well, with the most recent being B/W tokens. Not exactly midrange, but he has a ton of fun options on there that would come closer to your budget.
March 8, 2016 10:50 a.m.
Player3.14 says... #10
You could try a small naya zoo list. The large expense for this type of deck is the fetchlands, but it works quite well off of 4 Windswept Heath and 4 Wooded Foothills. You'll also want 2 of each relevant shockland: 2 Temple Garden, 2 Stomping Ground and 2 Sacred Foundry. The creates and spells in the deck are all under ten dollars if you cut Goblin Guide. Small zoo isn't midrange or control, but it is an inexpensive yet competative deck.
March 8, 2016 12:36 p.m.
lemmingllama says... #11
U/W Emeria Control is about $350, and has put up some solid results. You can also build the base deck very cheaply and then can slowly upgrade. I'd recommend checking it out
March 8, 2016 1:27 p.m.
I was going to say exactly what lemmingllama said. I have it along with Naya Burn (still 3 Arid Mesa away) and it is a fun deck that is not highly powered but requires tight play to win. If you get good with it you can put up some very nice results.
March 8, 2016 2:59 p.m.
JexInfinite says... #13
Sergal Soul Sisters is about $500 for a competitive version. Auriok Champions and Archangel of Thunes do cost quite a bit.
March 8, 2016 5:10 p.m.
JexInfinite, auriok champion is not 100% a requirement though. Depending on how you make your build, it can be replaced with Suture Priest easily. My sisters deck plays extremely well with a 3/1 win loss ratio on average, and I don't use auriok champion.
March 8, 2016 5:18 p.m.
JexInfinite says... #15
Sergal 2 Champions is required. Suture Priest sucks. If you're not using Champions, your deck is strictly worse than otherwise, which probably means it is less competitive, or not competitive.
March 8, 2016 5:46 p.m.
Less competitive does not mean not competitive.
Sometimes "strictly worse" is necessary when you have to make budgetary constraints.
As the long as the deck comes out with a positive record it's worth playing.
March 8, 2016 5:58 p.m.
ModernMage says... #17
Chief Bell, sorry for the misunderstanding. I like both control and midrange decks
March 8, 2016 11:25 p.m.
Slippery Bogle, my friend. Well, don't just play him, play the whole Aura Hexproof package. You can get it for pretty cheap, assuming no Horizon Canopy or 4x Kor Spiritdancer I bought mine for about 200 w/o SB, and it is very competitive. Brushland has spiked in price recently up like $6 so it may not be the wisest time to buy but still, it is a great deck.
You can check my profile if you would like to see the deck archetype. G/W Bogles.
ChiefBell says... #2
Do you mean to say that you prefer midrange and dislike control? Or that you like midrange AND control? I can't quite understand.
Are you looking for something that is both competitive but also fun at the same time?
March 8, 2016 8:53 a.m.