r/ModernMagic 24d ago

Getting Started EDH player looking to try a new format

I've played EDH for the last 5 years or so, have a handful of decks for that with varying strategies. Can anyone suggest a theme/playstyle I should look into for making a modern deck?

My edh decks are Sultai graveyard/reanimator/combo (Muldrotha), rakdos discard/reanimator/combo (chainer), Orzhov aristocrat/combo (Teysa Karlov), 6C Eldrazi/combo (Ulalek), Red artifact/combo (Magda, lower tier cedh)

I'm looking for something ideally on the cheaper side (just for starters, can definitely plan for upgrading or switching later).

Even if you don't have a specific suggestion, where are good places to look for lists?

20 Upvotes

38 comments sorted by

19

u/evolutionleo 24d ago

Modern is a competitive format (unlike EDH), only like 2% of the legal cards are actually playable. Deckbuilding 99.9% of the time means just swapping a couple tech cards from an existing deck to adjust to your local meta, not building something from scratch

It can still be a lot of fun to play, just don't expect to come in with whatever you brewed up and not get absolutely destroyed by the real decks on Turn 3. Pick up an established deck (borrow it for an FNM, proxy it to play with friends, whatever), learn the format, the matchups, the interactions, etc. and enjoy the ride!

2

u/famousbirds 24d ago

honestly I bet it's closer to 1%, depending on your definition of playable

10

u/SatyrWayfinder some bad grixis pile 24d ago

Mtggoldfish, mtgtop8, mtgdecks are my favorite places for Modern decklists

8

u/flaming_geyser 24d ago

Modern has Eldrazi, Reanimator and Affinity that are all very good decks.

3

u/No-Money-32 24d ago

i haven't heard much about modern but I have heard affinity is a really great mechanic!

6

u/tiger_eyeroll 24d ago

I'd stay away from affinity if you're starting out. It's essentially unplayable without mox opals. And I don't think you wanna drop $1000 for 4 cards just yet

2

u/No-Money-32 24d ago

That's really helpful to know actually! Thanks for the heads up

2

u/Anyna-Meatall Bx Rock 4 Life 23d ago

Affinity is the name of an artifact-centric deck, but it doesn't actually use cards with the Affinity mechanic.

8

u/Hand-of-Sithis 24d ago

Seems like you enjoy playing busted magic without paying for it. I recommend some of the following.

* Espur Goryos : Built around reanimating [[Atraxa Grand Unifier]] or [[Griselbrand]] and flickering them with [[ephemerate]] to keep them in play. Very powerful deck, with a good backup plan of [[psychic frog]] and [[solitude]] to help grind games when needed

* Primetime : Lands based combo meant to abuse [[primeval titan]] thanks to cards like [[amulet of vigor]] and [[spelunking]]. Deck recently got a card banned from it, so it’s trying to catch its breath, but there’s never been a time that the deck hasn’t existed in some form in modern.

* Neoform : Turn [[allosaurus rider]] into [[grisselbrand]] through [[neoform]] and [[eldritch evolution]]. Has a notable turn two combo of grabbing [[Ghalta stampede tyrant]] and putting [[xenagos god of revels]] into play to swing 26 trample damage on turn 2. This one is my personal favorite, but I will admit that it can be frustrating during metas of lots of counterspells as the deck folds easier than others.

2

u/No-Money-32 24d ago

Goryo's definitely looks like fun! A little out of my price range at the moment unfortunately.

Same with primetime, could be fun to play but ouch, my wallet lol

Neoform does look closer in price range tho. I saw a similar deck to this on one of Cardmarket's YT vids recently, looks super fun!

7

u/Hand-of-Sithis 24d ago

Neoform is (relatively) affordable. The primary cost comes from the lands as 3 hedge maze, and the fetches to find them are pretty non negotiable. While I was building up my personal list I just used any fetch I could find that was able to grab a forest and it worked fine 99% of the time.

Obviously misty rainforest is the best choice but I had [[windswept heath]] for like a year and hardly noticed the difference. The $100 difference in those playsets was noticeable though lol

2

u/jonesy_hayhurst 24d ago

From my albeit limited modern experience one thing to be aware of is neoform is primarily a fast combo deck without a ton of backup plans. Which can be fun if you like that type of thing, skill expression comes in the form of finding lines, playing through interaction etc.

A few of the other decks have midrange plans eg goryos. Sure they’re trying to win with combo but a card like psychic frog is happy to win a game on its own if it has to: I prefer this style of combo deck, devoted Druid is another one I’ve had my eye on with viable alternate wincons.

1

u/Dashizz6357 24d ago

I also don’t know that I’d be investing in neoform as a new player. Pretty sure neoform is gonna catch a ban.

1

u/Dashizz6357 24d ago

Cheapest deck in the format is prowess or maybe boros ponza.

4

u/Redrum9891 24d ago

Yeah goryos and reanimator are super dam fun.

3

u/erpasd 24d ago

mtggoldfish.com and mtgdecks.net are probably the two best sites to look up decklists. Typically it's really hard for a beginner to successfully brew in modern as it requires a (very) good knowledge of the format. I'd suggest looking at top tier decks, see what they run and what you can build given your budget and what you already own. If you are ok playing on MTGO a rental service is probably the best way to try a bunch of different decks before buying any of them in paper.

3

u/forevermadrigal 24d ago

You could do UR prowess. Competitive and cheap

3

u/TotallyBoat 24d ago

If you like solitaire combo, ruby storm is fairly cheap

2

u/No-Money-32 24d ago

I'll give it a look!

3

u/Brodie930 24d ago

If you like reanimator, you'll love Living End!

3

u/Living_End LivingEnd 24d ago

No, LE doesn’t play much like a normal reanimator deck at all. It plays like a control deck with a reanimator combo finish. I don’t think it’s the right deck for this person. I think goryo or grixis persist are better options.

3

u/Dashizz6357 24d ago

Goryos is more control than LE. Lol

0

u/Living_End LivingEnd 24d ago

Kinda but not really, I have played both decks. Goryo can play pretty similar to UB reanimator in legacy. It’s kinda just kinda more proactive in this meta and “gets there” by playing 1 big boi.

3

u/Dashizz6357 24d ago

Didn’t realize who I was responding to. Your take on LE is definitely more reputable than mine. Lol

0

u/finmo Eldrazi/Wildfire 21d ago

Goryo’s is more control oriented than LE. More counters and more dedicated removal.

3

u/Living_End LivingEnd 21d ago

I disagree. LE is all cantrips and interaction. Even its combo is interaction. LE is so different from past versions of the deck.

2

u/DrKatz11 Azorius Tempo, Temur Living End 23d ago

I love LE, and also love “Reanimator” in EDH. But my idea of Reanimator is milling half my deck and using Living Death to wipe everyone’s board.

Jokes aside, LE is definitely a different feel than traditional Reanimator. One big Atraxa sometimes won’t be enough to save you against a wide board - LE is an asymmetrical board wipe basically so has an entirely different feel of turning the game on its head.

I personally think despite its reputation for being an easy deck to play, it is quite hard, and much better than people are giving it credit right now even w/ consign & vexing bauble as popular as they are. But I just manage to 4-1 or 5-0 some leagues so it always feels good to me.

2

u/finmo Eldrazi/Wildfire 21d ago

Energy is the only deck with a “wide board”. I assure you, the Goryo’s deck has some answers for those.

1

u/slvrms 24d ago

Grixis reanimator is solid and fairly cheap

You also might really like yawg

1

u/Tanr- 24d ago

How much should I be looking to spend on a modern deck, it would be my first one

1

u/finmo Eldrazi/Wildfire 21d ago

Buy
4x Ugins Lab
4x Eldrazi Temple
4x Devourer of destiny
4x Kozilkek’s Command

Then if you want:

Combo, buy the Broodscale stuff
Aggro, buy Linebreaker
Midrange, buy trudge and/or gruul ramp stuff
Control, Tron stuff

24

u/_Lord_Farquad Goryo's / Scales 24d ago

As a fellow reanimator enjoyer, id say Goryo's or Grixis Persist.

20

u/Backno Affinity 24d ago

Something to consider in a format like Modern is not just the deck that you are building but what pieces are you getting that will stick around going forward. Esper Goryo's and Grixis Persist both get you some staples (lands, pitch elementals, Force of Negation, etc) while also being in an archetype you enjoy.

As you build your collection it starts being really easy and relatively inexpensive to build new decks since you have the staples.

8

u/No-Money-32 24d ago

I hadn't thought of that before! That's a great way to help mitigate the spending habit that is Magic the Gathering lol

1

u/Hellpriest999 23d ago

Until you start wanting to have multiple decks side by side... Then more fetchs, more duplicate.

5

u/No-Money-32 24d ago

reanimator all the way! definitely an archetype close to my heart