Modern
Constructed · Nonrotating
Modern is the big nonrotating format: core and expansion sets from Eighth Edition and Mirrodin (2003) onward, plus sets printed straight into the format like Modern Horizons. Two decades of cards make it fast, powerful, and wonderfully deep.
The Rules
- 60 card minimum. There’s no maximum, but nearly everyone plays exactly 60 so their best cards show up more often. (CR 100.2a)
- Up to 4 copies of any one card, except basic lands, which have no limit. (CR 100.2a)
- 20 starting life. (CR 103.4)
- 15 card sideboard in tournament play. The 4 copy limit counts deck and sideboard together. (CR 100.4a)
- Matches are usually best of three. Between games you can swap cards with your sideboard, as long as the deck stays legal.
- Nothing rotates. Every Standard legal set from Eighth Edition forward is in, plus straight to Modern sets, minus the banned list.
Deck Makeup
- Modern decks are lean and proactive: plenty aim to win or lock the game by turn four, on mana bases full of fetch and shock lands.
- Sideboards do heavy lifting. In a metagame this wide, 15 targeted answers often swing more matches than the main deck does.
- Reprints count here too. Older cards join the format when reprinted into a Modern legal set.
Tips
Modern rewards reps. Learning your own deck’s lines against the top archetypes beats hopping decks every month, and it’s cheaper too.
The Modern Horizons sets drop cards directly into the format without touching Standard, and they’ve reshaped it every time. Expect the pool to run stronger than its Standard history suggests.
Watch Out For
Cards from before Eighth Edition, or only printed in supplemental products, aren’t Modern legal unless reprinted into a Modern legal set.
The pools overlap, but the banned lists differ. Check every card against Modern’s own list.
Banned Cards
Modern’s banned list is long and actively managed, so check every card, especially the famous ones. We don’t list banned cards here on purpose: banlists change, and a stale list is worse than none.
Official Banned & Restricted List