Scarlet Plays Magic: What Format Should I Play? · 2:43pm Oct 4th, 2016
My previous Scarlet Plays Magic blog, which can be found here if you haven't read it, was mostly a rebuttal to a popular Magic: The Gathering youtuber's flawed review of the new Planeswalker decks released by Wizards of the Coast. Short summary: I felt like his approach to rating the deck was skewed due to his inability to accurately understand the needs and goals of new players just entering Magic. Which led to me speculating about the best ways to get people into the game, and also reminded me that - somehow - I have a fair number of either lapsed or non-Magic-player readers who still show up when I post one of these blogs. So this is for you guys: if you were into Magic years ago and don't have any idea what's going on now, or you've never played before and might want to start someday, here's a short list of-
Oh wait, excuse me. I have a more popular intro to rip off. Ahem.
Many Magic: The Gathering players ask the question: "What is the best format for a new player?" Today I'll explain the various existing formats, their level of support from Wizards of the Coast, and indicate the ones I think are best for returning and new players!
Let's Discuss!
Magic's 2000+ and growing pool of cards means there are a lot of cards to choose from. Picking a format in Magic means deliberately choosing a subset of those cards to focus on collecting, playing with, and getting attached to. So what even are these formats?
Broadly, there are three major types of format in Magic:
1) Rotating
Rotating formats are so called because, rather than having a strict list of banned cards, cards "rotate" into and out of them over time. This keeps the power level in rotating formats relatively stable, since problem cards are only a problem for so long and eventually just go away on their own. Of course, that also means your other cards will eventually be unplayable as well. Cards generally rotate into and out of formats like this with each new set released. Currently, only Standard exists as a rotating format, though previously there was a second one called Extended.
2) Limited
Limited formats like Sealed and Draft present players with booster packs, and then encourage them to build a deck using only cards opened from that small pool - hence the term "Limited" as opposed to "constructed". Limited decks are smaller than Constructed decks, and are typically built using different parameters. The nice thing about Limited is that you don't need a large collection to build a deck for a Limited event. If you can afford to pay for the boosters, you're in.
3) Eternal
Eternal formats never rotate cards out, and instead keep power in check through the use of an official banlist managed by Wizards of the Coast. Since Eternal formats span the entire history of the game, give or take, decks tend to be more expensive and more powerful, and Eternal is typically a faster gameplay environment.
With that out of the way, here's my ranking of each specific format along with its pros and cons, specifically for new players.
Limited: Draft or Sealed
As I've explained already, one of the advantages of Limited is it doesn't require a large investment to play. If you can afford four to six booster packs, you can play a draft or sealed game against friends, or just sign up for an event at a local game store (which will probably be holding them if it does Magic at all). Limited events are also a great way to meet other players, and get a feel for how cards work in a vacuum, which is an important skill for playing Magic in general. The two major forms of Limited are Draft, in which a pool of cards are passed around between players and you choose one card at a time before passing the pile on until all cards have been taken and then build your deck from the cards chosen, and Sealed, in which you simply open six booster packs and build using them.
Pros: No prior investment required, teaches some basic Magic skills, Great way to get into a new set, probably has support at your local game store.
Cons: Drafting and sealed deckbuilding are very skill intensive. If you don't already have a mastery of the basic rules of the game, these might be a bit daunting. Limited decks are also functionally obsolete once the event is over. Unless multiple players agree to keep the decks you build in a limited event around for the purpose of playing against each other, your cards are now going to sit around uselessly until you either build them into a Constructed-format deck or trade them away. Each new Limited event also costs you more money - it may cost more to build a Standard deck, but the entry fee after that point is nominal.
Overall Grade for New Players - B-. I've heard older players recommending Sealed as a good starting point, but this is not where I'd have wanted to begin playing. If you have a friend or two willing to teach you to play, you're probably better off buying the Planeswalker Decks or a similar preconstructed product and messing around with them until you get a sense of the game than just jumping straight into Draft.
Overall Grade for Returning Players: A. If you already know the basics of how Magic works, deckbuilding in a limited environment will help polish all your faded skills up again and gives you a look at what the game's doing right now. Just make sure to bone up on the rules before you start cracking packs, since there may have been some changes since you last stepped in. Enjoy the free scry on every mulligan!
Standard
Standard is the most popular major format of Magic. It receives official support from Wizards of the Coast, most major tournament events have a Standard component, and since it only includes cards from the last five sets released you don't have to worry about learning the card pool from twenty years ago. Standard also includes cards released in preconstructed products like the Planeswalker decks, meaning if you so choose you can use them as a starting point to build for it. Since Standard is popular, you're very likely to find local event support for it or fellow players, and if you're playing online it's guaranteed you'll find a match any time of day. Standard also shifts radically with each new set released, so it's a fun way to learn the intricacies of deckbuilding and how new cards can change the way the game is played competitively. It's also possible to build a Standard deck for as little as $20.00-$45.00 dollars if you're just starting out, and the price cap on competitive decks is usually between $100.00-$500.00, which sounds like a lot but - well, I'll get to that.
Pros: Good place to break into competitive magic if you're interested, your deck doesn't immediately devalue after the conclusion of an event meaning you can tune it up over time, relatively low cost of entry, focuses exclusively on recent sets meaning you don't need to know every card in the game to learn the field, allows you to use preconstructed products as a starting point.
Cons: Rotation is an issue. While it's a necessary evil to keep the overall power level of the environment in check for competitive players, investing in Standard is always going to be temporary. Each time Wizards releases a new main set you will have to adjust your deck. Since eventually every card in it will rotate out, this can lead to your cards being slowly devalued. Your investment is not likely to be long-term.
Overall Grade for New (and returning) Players: B+. If you want to build your own deck for the first time, this is one of the formats I'd strongly consider. Just bear in mind that investing in a fully-souped-up competitive build is probably not a good investment unless you actually intend to start hitting up Grand Prix events or have an invite to the Pro Tour. I don't care what prizes your local game store is offering for Friday Night Magic standard, they probably aren't worth a five hundred dollar investment that will eventually devalue.
Modern
Modern is the most popular of the Eternal formats - although it technically isn't Eternal. While there are no rotations in Modern, it does only extend back to a specific set block (I believe it begins with the original Mirrodin, feel free to correct me). Since Modern never rotates cards out, a deck you build for Modern is - bar key cards being banned - a deck you have for life. It's also the home of some of the coolest and most interesting decks in Magic due to the wide cardpool, including Naya Burn, Modern Jund, and the amusingly-named Soul Sisters. Modern tournaments aren't as common as Standard or Limited events, but they happen semi-frequently all the same.
Pros: Your deck is never devalued - you keep it for life. Fast and fun gameplay - or so I hear. High-profile tournament play exists, and it's likely to have local game store support.
Cons: Holy shit that pricetag.
The pricetag of a Modern deck is $100.00 - $150.00 for a budget build. Do you want to go to a major event? You may have to spring for a fully-outfitted deck, which can often cost upwards of $500 - $1,027 dollars. Some Modern decks can cost $2000.00 or more! It's worth noting that a large part of the cost of these decks is actually from their mana bases, which play powerful dual lands in order to cast all their spells efficiently and without getting screwed out of one of your key colors - which means that once you have one Modern deck, any deck sharing a mana base with it becomes substantially cheaper to get your hands on.
If the pricetag wasn't too high for you, it's also worth noting that Modern is a very combo-heavy format. The competitive decks in the format typically play extremely quick aggro and try to burn out the opponent by turn five or faster, play a combo that can kill the opponent in one move once all the pieces are in your hand, or in the case of Modern Jund or Abzan Midrange play a suite of powerful effects designed to trade cards with the opponent on a 1-for-1 or 1-for-2 basis in the knowledge that your individual spells and creatures are just stronger than theirs if you can keep the opponent from getting their game plan set up. This adds up to the format being extremely skill intensive and demanding.
Grade for New Players: D. Do not start with Modern unless you are independently wealthy and masochistic.
Grade for Returning Players: C-. If you already own a Modern deck or most of the pieces for one, this is a good format to invest in once you get the hang of playing again, but otherwise think of this as something you invest in a piece or two at a time instead of a jumping off point.
Legacy
Legacy is a competitive Eternal format spanning the entire history of the game. Like Modern, it modulates power through the use of a banlist rather than through rotations, so any decks bought with Legacy are bought for life. The existence of cards from Magic's earliest sets means Legacy has access to a number of powerful control, draw, and counter cards not available in other formats. Decks tend to be combo intensive or use a control shell based on powerful blue counterspells such as Force of Will, or on Permission-style White cards such as Thalia, Guardian of Thraben.
Pros: Eternal decks are yours forever. Great format if you like the idea of telling your opponent they are not allowed to play Magic today. Lets you use the oldest cards in the game.
Cons: Remember that Modern pricetag? Yeah let's just casually double or triple the price of some decks. While Legacy won't usually exceed $3000 for a single deck, putting together something as simple as the format-staple Death and Taxes is going to require at least a thousand dollars of disposable income if you didn't already own some of the pieces for it.
Grade for New Players: F. Unless someone is lending you a deck every week, not worth going out of your way to get into. Do not buy into this format until you have significant experience with the game and/or you have just won several lotteries.
Grade for Returning Players: D. Unless you already own most of the pieces for a Legacy deck, my advice for Modern holds up here. Except this format has Strip Mines.
Commander
Commander, also known as EDH, is primarily a casual format with a small competitive scene. You can often find casual side-events focused on it at larger Magic events such as Grand Prixs, and stores may have regular Commander nights. Commander is an Eternal format but the price of entry is generally much smaller than Legacy or Modern due to the unique nature of deck construction. Commander decks are built using one hundred cards rather than sixty, and all cards other than basic lands must be run at one copy. Typically the game is played between four players rather than two, and all players begin with 40 life. The other major difference is the existence of your Commander, a legendary creatures who you can cast from the Command Zone outside the game and who returns there whenever an effect would remove it from the battlefield (however, each time it returns from the command zone you must pay an extra two mana to cast it). Dealing 21 points of damage with an attacking commander to any one player causes them to lose regardless of life total. The final major change from normal magic is that Commander decks can only play cards that match the color identity of their commander- i.e., cards which share a color with any of the mana symbols in that Commander's casting cost or activated abilities.
Commander is a slower format than either of the two big eternal formats, and is played casually as a general rule rather than competitively, making it a more relaxed format. While investing in a 100-card deck from scratch may seem daunting for new players, Wizards of the Coast has released several preconstructed Commander decks, some of which are actually quite powerful right out of the box and which include unique legendary creatures unavailable elsewhere.
Pros: A Commander deck built once is a deck built for life. There are strong preconstructed options to get into the format for about the same investment as you might pay for a budget Standard deck. The 100-card-singleton nature of decks leads to high variance and interesting gameplay. The game is meant to be played multiplayer, so it's a good choice for playgroups who enjoy socializing.
Cons: The format is meant to be played multiplayer, meaning you need more people available to play a good game of Commander. Games also go very, very long with four hours being pretty normal. Additionally as an Eternal format, new players are very prone to being hit by cards they may not have ever seen and know nothing about. Since the power level of cards Commander scales differently than other formats and construction is so skewed by the unique rules, it's also functionally impossible to convert a Commander deck into something playable in Standard, Modern, or Legacy the way you can sometimes flip a strong Standard build into a budget Modern deck, meaning if you start in Commander you're probably planning to stay in Commander for some time.
Grade for New Players: C+. The strong preconstructed support means it's an easy format to get into, but Magic is hard enough to learn one on one. I don't know that multiplayer casual singleton formats with a number of unique rules not present in normal Magic is a great place to start with.
Grade for Returning Players: B. If you're already reasonably familiar with the game and you like theme decks and casual play, this might be the format for you. Just make sure you're willing to clear out time for it.
Vintage
No.
Pauper
Pauper is a unique format played largely online, although some game stores do offer regular Magic events for it. Pauper is an eternal format with no rotation with a small banlist. However, it has an additional restriction - only cards printed at Common may be played in your deck. If a card has been printed as a common even once in its history, it can be played regardless of the rarity of later or earlier printings, no matter which set it was printed in. For instance the release of Eternal Masters 2015 recently caused a major shift in the format by downshifting the rarity of Nimble Mongoose and Peregrine Drake among others. The high amount of online play in the format vs. traditional sit-down play means it's probably easier to get into if you're already playing on MTGO to begin with.
Pros: Decks in Pauper do not rotate, but because all cards are at common the average price of a deck is far cheaper than it is in other Eternal formats. Pauper deck prices for physical decks range from $20.00 - $80.00, with most being comfortably between $20-$40 USD. However prices online are often significantly cheaper due to the relatively reduced price of digital commons vs. physical cards, meaning decks can be built for as cheap as $3.00-$25.00.
Cons: The lack of store support may be a deal breaker if you don't plan on ever playing online. Additionally, like all Eternal formats, Pauper has a massive cardpool compared to Standard and learning the format may be difficult if it's your first time playing.
Overall Grade for New Players: B+. If you're going to jump into the game with an Eternal format, this is the one to start with. I recommend playing either a midrange, Dredge, or White/Black control build as your first deck as these are often relatively cheap to build and focus on either relatively straightforward combos or reactive removal plays, which are great ways to start learning how to interact with an opponent. Just be warned that as an Eternal format, sometimes you just won't be able to predict how a deck is going to kill you until you lose to it. There are infinite combo decks in Pauper.
Overall Grade for Returning Players: A. If you're already playing online you can invest in Pauper on the cheap and get some really great games out of it. There are even a few strong tribal and theme decks. Hope you like Elves!
Freeform Casual
Freeform Casual Magic is not a format. It is a non-format. It's basically just grabbing whatever cards you have around the house and playing against a friend.
Pros: Can literally use whatever. Relaxed rules enforcement and houserules. No major investment required beyond what's cheap and available in your area.
Cons: Have fun playing that same friend or two over and over. No event support.
Overall Grade for New and Returning Players: A+. Grabbing a couple of precons or borrowing a friend's teaching deck is the best way to learn the basics of Magic if you aren't going to download Magic Duels. Once you've mastered the basics, though, I highly recommend transitioning into one of the established formats so you can start grabbing games against other people.
if at some point my too-many-words about this game convinces you to come join me in throwing your free time and spare change at Wizards of the Coast, I hope this blog helps. And as always, I'm ever available to play against if you want to watch me fail to sequence my plays properly in Jeskai Rebirth.
Modern also includes Eighth Edition; it's every card that was printed in an expansion or core set with the new frames (or the new new frames.) Well, unless it's only been reprinted in an Eternal Masters or Conspiracy set.
I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment. Playing among friends for fun is by far the best way to learn. It's how I picked up the game beyond collecting the cards. From the same guy who introduced me to D&D, now that I think about it.
4239698 Aaahhh, thank you. I'm always confused about the order of older sets.
(Hopefully my Vintage assessment got a smile).
4239708
And a laugh, yes.
And for what it's worth, I still haven't fully wrapped my head around the new set rotation model for Standard. Not that I play most Constructed formats, but still.
All I remember was that we used to play with basically Zemdikar on--everything from then on was valid. But we didn't really move that line as new sets came out. Just free form.
EDH was pretty popular. Looked fun but never got into it.
Oh come on, Vintage Dredge is a perfectly viable budget option.
I really need to finally open MTGO again and play with you, I feel like it'll be a great time.
4239873 Seriously why haven't you.
4239741
That actually sounds like a super fun format.
Fun fact: Zendikar was the first block designed under the principle of New World Order, when Wizards began deliberately watching the amount of complex mechanics available at the common level in order to make the game easier to learn and play. So a lot of the cards from Zendikar forward have really elegant design quality. One of my favorite cards in Magic, Kor Skyfisher, is from that block.
4239987
Mostly because I think I've opened MTGO like once in the last four months. I use Linux as my primary operating system, and booting into Windows is haaaaard...
4240008 staaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreee
card gaaaames
4239987 I had noticed that actually. I used Kor and Mir-themed decks mostly, so I had some sky fishers. The hook master was one of my favorites. I would hold them back until opportune moments to buy time. Hooks, pacifys, and exiling until my armament master could bulk the horde enough for some beat downs. When it worked it was frustrating as hell, because you would waste mana only for a deadweight creature
4240036 White control is super fun like that. It's been a pretty consistent archetype on/off through Magic's history too.
I use Skyfishers in my Pauper Jeskai deck because I play a ton of cards that draw when they enter the battlefield, so bouncing them with a Skyfisher is another draw.
4240052 Nothing beats the insane glee of dropping a Myr Battlesphere on top of several other myrs and galvanizers and just having this intant ramen noodle style army of implaccable automatons.
Smells like victory.
4240103 I should probably not mention that Servo Tokens are totally a thing in the new set and I'm deeply hoping the next one will have a Servo lord for exactly this reason.
4240021
*sighs deeply, begins setting up the 'ol virtual-machine-specifically-for-playing-mtgo*
I'll try and be online more.
4240021 I've been watching to much anime cuz I totally read that as Jiiiiiiiiiiiii >.<
4240851 That's kinda what it was, so you're not wrong!
4240943 Huzzah! My weeabooness finally found a real use.
4241614 Ehe. Clearly you are not alone!