Premodern: A Format Staples Guide!

The Premodern format offers a unique opportunity to revisit the classic era of Magic: The Gathering, spanning cards released between 1995 and 2003—before the frame change in Eighth Edition. Since last year, this format has gained more and more fans with each new major event, establishing another community-created format as extremely appealing to new and returning players.

In this guide, we’ll explore the main staples of Premodern, cards that are essential and have a high presence in tournament and competitive play for any player looking to jump into the format and build their own collection.

Lands

Just like in every format where they are legal, Fetch Lands are staples in Premodern, but without the same glamour that they have in Legacy or Modern as the format doesn't have duals or Shock Lands, or any other land with a typing that is found by them, not to mention that Brainstorm is banned in Premodern, reducing the shuffle potential.

The best way to see Fetch Lands in Premodern is as duals that enter untapped and that can interact with Threshold or spells that exile cards from the graveyard, which already guarantees that they deserve slots in several decks in the format.

Pain Lands are the second cycle of untapped duals from Premodern and with a wider color diversity than Fetch Lands, fortunately for a much cheaper price too, making them an excellent initial investment for your collection.

Multicolored lands don't show up in all lists and do not even appear in all three-color decks of the format, usually present in combo lists that need to access several cards of different colors and with speed that makes their drawbacks negligible.

Mana disruption is essential in Premodern. One of the factors that limits multicolored decks is the constant presence of Wasteland in several lists, making it the most played land in the format and an essential staple.

Rishadan Port is not far behind in effectiveness and forces many players to respect it, appearing more frequently in monocolored and aggressive lists that can take advantage of the tempo play that taking an opponent's land every turn offers.

Dust Bowl appears in fewer lists, as it requires a more specific setup to work.

Other utility lands occasionally show up in the format, especially manlands like Mishra’s Factory and Faerie Conclave in Standstill decks or Treetop Village in some green midrange lists like The Rock, or Barbarian Ring in Burn.

Running the original Sol Lands may seem tempting, but they usually show up in specific archetypes. Furthermore, City of Traitors is part of the Reserved List and its monetary cost is better invested initially in Fetch Lands and other staples.

Gaea’s Cradle fits the same pattern. Unless you really want to play Elves and/or want to use it in a list with plenty of cheap creatures, the amount of money investing in one copy of it would be better off purchasing some Fetch Lands and other staples that will be used and/or converted into more decks.

White

Swords to Plowshares is the best removal in the format, and Wrath of God is the best white sweeper. There is no reason to have less than four copies in your collection, and almost every list with will use a set of Swords to Plowshares.

Artifacts and Enchantments are very common in Premodern, so cards like Disenchant or Seal of Cleansing are essential for both the sideboard and the maindeck in some archetypes.

Exalted Angel is the most common finisher in decks like BW Control, Landstill, and other slower lists in the format with , but Eternal Dragon and Decree of Justice tend to show up with some frequency as complementary threats and/or win conditions in slower decks.

On the aggressive spectrum, Mother of Runes and Silver Knight are staples in almost every aggressive list with in Premodern, especially for the built-in protection against Sligh, but also because the format's power level makes a 2/2 for two mana with abilities more attractive.

Worship commonly accompanies these cards as a copy in the maindeck or sideboard, again because the Sligh matchup makes it impossible for the opponent to win if we complete the enchantment combo with Silver Knight.

Enlightened Tutor is a very versatile card that appears quite frequently in lists with Parallax Wave or even in Terrageddon variants with Oath of Druids. No list uses four copies today, but it is still an important staple.

Lists with Standstill and even some variants of The Solution run Humility to establish board parity. As part of the Reserved List, this is a card that is only worth investing in if your deck interacts positively with turning creatures into 1/1s.

Armageddon sees play primarily in the deck named after it and its interaction with Terravore. Other lists may appear that take advantage of this card, but most of them will be accompanied by Mox Diamond.

Opalescence and its interaction with Parallax Wave and Parallax Tide are one of the strongest decks in Premodern. However, it is also a strategy that uses a significant amount of cards from the Reserved List, so only consider investing in it if you are focusing on this specific archetype.

Among the Sideboard staples, we have Circle of Protection: Red and Warmth against Sligh and Goblins, Aura of Silence against enchantment decks, in addition to Sacred Ground to deal with Ponza and Orim’s Chant, which can stall a crucial turn for the opponent.

Blue

Counterspell is a staple in (almost) every format where it is legal, and it would be no different in Premodern: every deck with blue will use between three and four copies of it, and some lists will even more heavily splash just to cover the cost of the card.

On the other hand, some three-color lists or those that already overextend themselves to another color can't always afford consistently, and in these cases, they opt for Mana Leak as an efficient replacement.

Daze, Foil and Misdirection are often present in the same decks and with the same interactions. In this case, we're talking about Tempo archetypes that rely heavily on mana efficiency to function, such as Stiflenaught or Gro-A-Tog.

On the card selection side, Impulse is a staple for Control decks and/or for blue Tempo lists that need to find key cards easily, occasionally being complemented by another cheap cantrip like Portent.

Other lists, with higher mana value and/or interactions with the graveyard, rely on Fact or Fiction to generate card advantage, and lists more focused on Tempo (usually with Daze and Foil) rely on Gush to achieve the same result.

Opt and Flash of Insight don't appear as frequently, but they are cheap cards that are occasionally played in some lists.

Chain of Vapor is the most played Bounce spell in the format, being the most flexible in terms of cost-benefit. Boomerang sees play in some Stiflenought lists, usually as a one-of or two-of. Both also show up with some frequency in the Sideboards.

Intuition fits into several archetypes that seek a specific combination of cards and/or that want to benefit from a toolbox effect, but its high-cost due to being part of the Reserved List makes it an expensive staple.

Standstill has its own archetype in Premodern, but some more aggressive or Stiflenought lists also use the enchantment to pressure the opponent by having a favorable board position.

Stifle and Vision Charm are the enablers of combos with Phyrexian Dreadnought. There are some occasional uses for both cards, but it's hard to see them in lists that don't have the combo, since it's easy to insert a colorless creature into any list with blue.

Parallax Tide has a deck with Opalescence, but it also shows up in some Stasis lists, Mono Blue Control and even in Standstill variants to hold up some of the opponent's turns.

The “Madness” cards are usually in the same archetype that bears its name, but cards like Wonder, Circular Logic, Deep Analysis and Accumulated Knowledge are also common staples of Psychatog decks.

In the Sideboard, Hydroblast, Blue Elemental Blast and Chill are the best options available against red decks while Annul is a mandatory staple for holding several artifacts and enchantments, especially Phyrexian Dreadnought - a card that makes some lists run Waterfront Bouncer in the maindeck to “lock” the combo.

Teferi’s Response and Hibernation are more Metagame-specific cards, but there are a few tricks with Response that make it a suitable option in matchups against Rishadan Port or Wasteland.

Black

Dark Ritual appears frequently in Storm lists and in some versions of Deadguy Ale or BW Control, where it speeds up the casting of an Exalted Angel or acts as fodder for Nantuko Shade. It is also a common inclusion in Mono Black Aggro.

The discard package ensures that black archetypes have a good proactive play in the early turns. Duress and Cabal Therapy are the main spells in this category in Premodern, with both commonly appearing in the maindeck. Mesmeric Fiend is more specific to some lists, especially those that use a toolbox with Survival of the Fittest.

Smother is the most played black removal in the format, followed by Diabolic Edict which usually appears in both the maindeck and sideboard. Snuff Out is an option for more aggressive lists, but it is not a staple in many different decks.

In the card advantage package, Skeletal Scrying and Phyrexian Arena dictate this category in Midrange lists, while Graveborn Muse appears more frequently in Zombie lists, or in some versions of Machine Head ( Midrange).

The threat package varies depending on the deck's proposal. Midranges tend to prefer creatures that generate an efficient clock and/or have other properties besides attacking. Hypnotic Specter, Withered Wretch and Nantuko Shade are the most common cards in this category for Deadguy Ale and some versions of BW Control adopt a few copies of one of them.

In Aggro decks, low-cost, high-power creatures dictate the deck's direction, which include Carnophage and Sarcomancy as efficient one-drops and Phyrexian Negator as a powerful clock on an empty board.

Recurring Nightmare is a staple of the reserved list and an essential piece of RecSur, one of the most famous decks in the format. It is commonly accompanied by Bone Shredder and some versions still venture with Spirit of the Night.

In the sideboard, is the best color for dealing with small creatures and/or having cheap and more specific sweepers against green or white creatures, and it's also the only color that has a definitive answer against graveyards that isn't an one-shot effect.

Red

Lightning Bolt is the main reason to play red in Premodern and all its effectiveness and versatility in other formats applies here with the bonus of Sligh being one of the best decks in the format, complemented by Incinerate, Fireblast and Sulfuric Vortex as more specific cards for this archetype.

A smaller number of other Burn spells will be found in most Sligh lists, with the most common being Shock, followed by Seal of Fire, Lava Dart, and finally Firebolt, which tends to find more space in midrange lists that reach five mana.

Slight is also a great motivator to have some red creatures in your collection, such as Grim Lavamancer, which is one of the most versatile cards in the format, and other more linear threats like Jackal Pup and Ball Lightning.

Goblins are another very popular archetype in Premodern, and any player interested in building them will need approximately one set of most of the cards above. It is worth noting that Goblin Sharpshooter also appears in Survival of the Fittest lists.

Price of Progress tends to appear more in the Sideboard than in the Maindeck, but depending on the Metagame, some lists use two copies of it to punish greedy opponents in Game 1. Stone Rain is less played in Mono Red lists, but there are some Gruul Ponza variants that like to have twelve LD effects in their lists.

Red's sideboard is relatively linear, with Pyroblast and Red Elemental Blast to deal with blue decks, Anarchy as a sweeper that deals with White Weenie and especially Silver Knight, but also resolves Opalescence and other troublesome white permanents.

Against small creatures, Pyrokinesis and Pyroclasm are the best answers available in the format, while Mogg Salvage and Overload deal with artifacts and Flaring Pain helps against protection spells.

Green

Like Disenchant, Naturalize is a Premodern staple due to the high amount of artifacts and enchantments present in many lists, making it a maindeck card.

Sylvan Library shows up in Terrageddon variants and some other green Midranges. Since four life is a high cost in a Metagame where Sligh is a popular deck, it is not as good in Premodern as it once was in Legacy.

Survival of the Fittest is the most troublesome card in green. It is undeniably a staple, but it is also part of the Reserved List. Decks like RecSur don't exist without it, Madness gets better with it, Elves become much more viable with four copies of Survival, and several other toolbox strategies have already emerged or may emerge around this enchantment - so it's worth the investment, but don't expect it to be cheap.

Speaking of Survival of the Fittest, these are some cards that often play alongside it. Some The Rock lists use the wall package and Deranged Hermit as attrition, but they're more common in RecSur lists.

If you’re an Elves fan, these are the cards you need to build a deck. Keep in mind that, while it’s possible to play it without cards from the Reserved List, Elves are much better with a set of Gaea’s Cradle and Survival of the Fittest.

In The Rock, it's common for Ravenous Baloth and Call of the Herd to team up with Birds of Paradise and Yavimaya Elder to speed up Spiritmonger and/or Pernicious Deed. Spike Feeder appears in these lists, but it's common to find it in the Sideboard of most decks with green and Survival of the Fittest as well.

Terravore has a deck focused around it and the green land disruption package, combined with Armageddon and Mox Diamond. More recently, this archetype has been using Oath of Druids as extra copies of Terravore. The enchantment also shows up in other combo lists, where it draws cards like Phantom Nishoba.

The Madness package inevitably goes through all the green enablers and payoffs that exist in the format. It's worth noting that Madness, while it can use Survival of the Fittest, has good results without any cards from the Reserved List and is a great gateway to Premodern.

Quirion Dryad will usually be accompanied by Psychatog and most of the Tempo cards mentioned in blue: Daze, Gush, Foil and Misdirection are common choices in this archetype.

Green's sideboard is basically composed of more ways to deal with artifacts or enchantments, in addition to some less used pieces that aim to punish or players.

Multicolor

Gerrard’s Verdict and Vindicate are staples of BW Midrange and Deadguy Ale, commonly played together and, often, as a 4-of.

Meddling Mage sees play in several decks: some White Weenie lists use a splash to include this card and Waterfront Bouncer, The Solution runs four copies of it, there are Stiflenought variants with a splash for more efficient interaction and Meddling Mage for protection, and a few other archetypes that can include it in the maindeck or sideboard.

Phantom Nishoba is the main target for reanimation effects that aren't geared towards a combo like Sutured Ghoul. It's common to have a copy of it in RecSur to bring back with Recurring Nightmare after discarding it with Survival of the Fittest, and some versions of Terrageddon with Oath of Druids use a copy of it in the Sideboard for games against Sligh.

Psychatog has its own deck, similar to the list that Carlos Romão played to win the World Championship in 2002, but its most successful lists are with Quirion Dryad in Gro-A-Tog, where low-cost spells and/or free spells are used to feed the graveyard while Quirion Dryad grows quickly. These decks usually run Mox Diamond.

Hull Breach is an occasional Sideboard piece that appears in some lists, or that even make some Goblin variants or other archetypes adopt a splash to gain access to this card and Naturalize.

Spiritmonger and Pernicious Deed are the heart of The Rock in Premodern in all variants that don't use Survival of the Fittest, but don't show up in any other deck besides this one, even with Pernicious Deed's high versatility in dealing with all kinds of permanents.

Artifacts

The Reserved List cards. All of the above pieces are essential and/or define archetypes in some way.

Phyrexian Dreadnought has a deck around its combo with Stifle and Vision Charm to have a 12/12 on the board as early as turn two. This is generally considered the best deck in the format.

Mox Diamond is a staple in every Terrageddon list, and this deck becomes much worse without Moxes. Other archetypes, such as Gro-A-Tog, also benefit from the mana acceleration this artifact provides.

Cursed Scroll is Sligh's main attrition tool, one of the main cards the deck can use to have a source of damage every turn.

Masticore appears in many different decks as a flexible, colorless threat, usually as a one-of. Given that it is relatively cheap thanks to a From The Vault reprint last decade, it is a great addition as it can be used in different archetypes.

Phyrexian Furnace and Powder Keg are efficient answers that often show up in the maindeck. Furnace is an artifact that deals with specific cards in a graveyard while drawing a card, while Powder Keg is the primary means for some archetypes to deal with artifacts.

Urza’s Bauble occasionally show up in Sligh lists as another means of feeding the Threshold of Barbarian Ring and Grim Lavamancer, which earns it a spot in Threshold lists as well.

Tormod’s Crypt and Cursed Totem are essential sideboard staples for many decks against specific archetypes.

The Stax package is also relatively present in the format, with Sphere of Resistance being the main one in Terrageddon, while Tangle Wire appears in lists with Stasis or other means of locking down the opponent’s resources.

Winter Orb and Tsabo’s Web are less common, with Tsabo’s Web appearing more frequently in the sideboard to punish decks with Rishadan Port or Mishra’s Factory.

Bottle Gnomes is interestingly a Premodern staple because its body blocks Sligh creatures well, and it can always be sacrificed to gain three life, so several archetypes that have no other means of dealing with more aggressive lists run it as a response.

Defense Grid is common in combo lists to block the opponent’s Counterspell, but it is not a staple in many lists.

Nevinyrral’s Disk, Null Rod and Ensnaring Bridge are cards more geared towards more specific matchups.

That’s all for today!

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!