Retro-Modern Magic

Who doesn't love a little mono-black zombie aggression? This deck does one thing and one thing only, put cheap zombies on the board, pump them with Lord of the Undead, Undead Warchief, and Bad Moon, and hammer your opponent before they get a chance to build a defense. The Side Board is still a work in progress and you may want to add Duress or Blackmail for some additional disruption. Vicious Hunger or Soul Feast for some life gain to keep you in the game and counteract some of the draining cards. Enjoy! // Retro-Modern Zombies // 60 Maindeck // 24 Creature 4 Withered Wretch 2 Bog Raiders 4 Undead Warchief 4 Lord of the Undead 4 Festering Goblin 2 Severed Legion 2 Crypt Creeper 2 Maggot Carrier // 10 Enchantment 4 Bad Moon 2 Grave Pact 2 Phyrexian Arena 2 Zombie Infestation // 24 Land 24 Swamp // 2 Sorcery 2 Midnight Ritual // 14 Sideboard // 1 Artifact SB: 1 Tormod's Crypt // 2 Enchantment SB: 1 Larceny SB: 1 Mortal Combat // 5 Instant...

Old Frame Modern Winner! The Old Frame Community in Japan is awesome and they have some very cool decks! One of their most recent winners was 茶葉 (@_onakasuitan) , who took home the victory with this Black/Red thumper:  // Old Frame Modern GP4 Winner // Source: https://twitter.com/_onakasuitan/status/1041267053414367233 // 37 Maindeck // 7 Artifact 3 Fellwar Stone 4 Mind Stone // 15 Creature 4 Siege-Gang Commander 3 Nekrataal 2 Avalanche Riders 3 Gravedigger 3 Twisted Abomination // 2 Enchantment 2 Phyrexian Arena // 7 Instant 4 Lightning Bolt 3 Terminate // 6 Sorcery 1 Cruel Edict 2 Void 3 Wildfire Land Base and Sideboard is up to you! **See more here**

Just as the name implies, this deck is designed to disrupt your opponent with discard and destroy most any threat that hits the board. Terminate is the most efficient removal card in the format and has some pretty sweet flavor as well (if you aren't familiar with Darigaaz, you check out some of his cards here ). Grim Lavamancer and lots of instants/sorceries help you ping your opponent or control the board. Hypnotic Specter usually hits for 2 plus a random discard, using your removal to keep the skies clear. Faceless Butcher and Soul Collector remove additional threats then swing away with Rathi Dragon or Nantuko Shade. Did I mention Rathi fuels the Lavamancer? It does. Browbeat gives you cards or takes big chunks of life... hard not to like that. The sideboard has a saucy mix of disruption and hate. Nothing like dropping a mid/late game Mutilate or Void then play Haunting Echos to wipe out their threats. All around, this deck is fast or grindy and offers lots of a...

What a Revelation! This morning I woke up to a spike in visits to the blog from... Japan of all places! Intrigued, by the activity overseas I investigated further to find there is a whole community of enthusiasts for Old Frames Modern . I was thrilled to find this MTG format cousin to Retro-Modern and even more excited that their community is thriving!  The one difference between Retro-Modern and Old Frames Modern is that Old Flames does not allow cards that first appeared after 8th Edition: Dark Confident, Noble Hierarch, Crucible of Worlds, Sword of Feast and Famine, Sword of Fire and Ice, Sword of Light and Shadow. This was a major point of contention when Retro-Modern was formalized. Ultimately, the idea that allowing these cards would diversify the meta and allow for a more rapid expansion of the card pool won out... that being said, I LIKE Old Frames Modern! To date, they have hosted several tournaments and have  great posts about their local meta  and to...

Modern Tron is pretty obnoxious, but Retro-Modern Tron is pretty fun! Assembling the Tron lands can only be done by drawing or with Weathered Wayfarer, so you have to play your early hand carefully. There is extra support and life gain in the Starlight invoker and Wall of Essence. If need be you have some mid-range white to keep the board even until you get drop your Colossi. Voltaic Key keeps things fluid and Chromatic Sphere, Mind Stone, Howling Mine, and Bandage help you dig for whatever you need. The sideboard is a work in progress but should help give you some ideas. What do you think of Retro-Modern Tron? // Retro-Modern Mono-White Tron // 62 Maindeck // 12 Artifact 4 Chromatic Sphere 4 Voltaic Key 2 Howling Mine 2 Mind Stone // 19 Creature 1 Colossus of Sardia 4 Phyrexian Colossus 4 Weathered Wayfarer 1 Ancestor's Chosen 1 Phyrexian Hulk 1 Blinding Angel 1 Serra Angel 4 Wall of Essence 2 Starlight Invoker // 12 Instant 4 Bandage 4 Holy Day 4 R...

What a letdown! No new cards from War of the Spark. "But what did you expect from a Plainswalker focus set!" I hear you say... So true, no idea why we were expecting a reprint of a formerly non-modern card in a set that has the new school levels cranked to 11. The Modern Horizons on the way it makes sense that WotC would want to keep the new school new and the old school saved for their next money maker. Good things come to those who wait.

Modern Horizons is going to be an interesting set for Magic and particularly  Retro-Modern . It promises a large number of reprints that are new to the Modern format. That means cards predating 8th Edition, which would now be Retro-Modern legal, as well as cards from Commander, Battlebond, Conspiracy, and other recent specialty sets could all now see the light at the end of the Modern tunnel. When predicting which cards they will actually reprint, there are a few considerations that I think WotC has to keep in mind: Card Supply - How many of these newly legal reprints are already in the wild? Modern is a huge format and available inventory of cards is going to be important to prohibit massive spikes in card prices. Modern Horizons will have a significant print run, but WotC has to be realistic about introducing high-demand cards with limited supply. I am generally looking at cards that have been printed at least twice before, preferably in a relatively recent set. Card Price...

Retro-Modern has all the best elements of Magic the Gathering: balance, power, nostalgia, board development, strategy, collectibility, expansion and it is just plain old fun! Retro Magic is a little different than other nostalgic formats ( Old School , QL Magic , etc.) in that the card pool and meta continue to expand and shift. Cards either become legal in one of two ways: A reprint in a Modern legal set from a set that predates 8th Edition (July 28th, 2003) A Modern legal card is printed on the old style frames; generally some sort of promo card.  Sets released in the last few years usually have at least one reprinted card that is new to Modern. Sometimes the cards are powerful, sometimes they change the meta, and other times they simply boost the card pool and add some new tricks to existing decks.  Dominaria was a set which had many reprints and some very powerful, meta-shifting cards. Goblin Warchief being very significant for Goblin Tribal.  Rep...

This seemingly odd smattering of cards ends up being a fairly potent force if harnessed correctly. Essentially, it is a lock deck where you assemble tron, then use your extensive amounts of mana and draw to be able to go a full cycle with Magistrate's Scepter every turn using Voltaic Keys. At that point, you can beat down your opponent or pick them apart by reloading Triskelion with Dragon Blood. Weathered Wayfarer helps you find tron pieces as needed and the rest of the deck is designed to control and outlast your opponent or draw cards. Glorious Anthem pumps your weenies and keeps Mindless Automation on the board after you have drained it for a draw. If you end up with too many Howling Mines you can turn them off with Icy Manipulator or use the excess draw to pump Mindless Automation if you need the beats. With tron and a Key on the board Dragon Blood actually can swing the board. Wall of Essence and Wrath of God are big sideboard pieces if y...

Well, this is exciting! WotC just announced a new set for magic call Modern Horizons, which will skip standard. The intention of the set is to send the cards straight to Modern to augment the Modern meta with new cards that would otherwise be too powerful for Standard. Best of all the 254 card set will be made up of new cards and reprints of cards that have not previously been modern legal! That means a lot of new cards will be pumped into the Retro-Modern card pool! This was exactly the type of thing we were hoping for when we formalized the format last year. Spoilers so far have only revealed new cards but more are coming, so stay tuned!

Retro-Modern Retro-Modern Magic is a balanced, exciting and evolving casual constructed format of Magic the Gathering. As the power level of Magic cards has crept upwards and new types of cards have emerged the "feel" and intention of the game has changed. Retro-Modern recaptures the balance and nostalgia of the game with a fun and creative format. The format permits any modern legal card originally printed prior to 8th Edition or that has been printed on the classic, old style, card frames. Modern rules and current errata apply, that's it. Any printing of a modern legal card is allowed, but it is encouraged to use classic printings. The card pool expands with every new Modern legal set and there is a possibility for new promos, a reprint heavy or another Timeshifted set to further expand the format. Note that the format includes any card printed with the classic frames, which means there is a handful of promo-cards light Crucible of Worlds, Sword of Fire and...