Magic: The Gathering has over 40 formats when one considers both officially-supported ways to play the game, sanctioned game modes that have been approved by Wizards of the Coast, online-exclusive forms of play, and more. This makes perfect sense considering the over 30 years of history the game has under its belt, and the fact that it's ever-evolving and willing to reinvent itself based on which formats are popular is proof of that. There are very cheap formats in the game, like Pauper, where the average cost of a full deck is a little over $50-60, but MTG formats like Vintage and Legacy take prices to entirely new heights.

Magic: The Gathering's OG dual lands are a big reason why formats like Vintage and Legacy are the most expensive in the entire game, though Vintage takes things even further with the addition of Power Nine cards and other expensive staples. The average deck cost for Vintage is usually above $10,000 and up to $20,000 or more, which can be prohibitive for most fans, whereas Legacy is more "restrained" at an average of $4,000-6,000. As such, it can be quite an impressive feat to win a massive tournament with a deck that costs less than $50, and yet, that's exactly what happened with a Mono Red Burn deck.

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One of Magic: The Gathering's Best Final Fantasy Decks Costs $800

Magic: The Gathering has a borderline-broken deck dominating one of its formats thanks to the Final Fantasy set, but it costs around $800.

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Magic: The Gathering's Legacy Meta Explained

One of the US Midwest's biggest tournament series for MTG, NRG Series, announced on September 15 that the $2,500 Legacy Trial winner was Simon Kamerow with a Mono Red Burn deck, which took the internet by storm. It's not common to see Mono Red Burn place very high in Legacy tournaments, whereas the Mono Red Stompy variant has a much higher meta share. So, the news that this particular Legacy deck in MTG won was interesting, and the fact that the decklist totals $49, not counting the sideboard, makes this Mono Red Burn deck all the more exceptional.

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MTG's Standard Mono Red Aggro is finding a lot of success in its format, and this Mono Red Burn deck also shares some similarities with its Modern counterpart.

Currently, the most played decks in Legacy are the following:

  • Dimir Reanimator, over 19% meta share (estimated cost of $4,500-5,000)
  • Red Stompy, over 7% meta share (estimated cost of $3,000-3,5000)
  • Mystic Forge Combo, around 6% meta share (estimated cost of $4,500-5,000)
  • Dimir Tempo, around 6% meta share (estimated cost of $4,800-5,300)
  • Izzet Delver, around 6% meta share (estimated cost of $3,400-3,900)

Instead, Simon Kamerow's Mono Red Burn deck has a total value of just around $49-54, increased only by its sideboard due to Mindbreak Trap's value of around $8.50 for each of the four copies there. MTG cards' value spikes relatively often, so things are subject to change. The list is as follows:

  • Creatures
    • 2x Eidolon of the Great Revel ($1.60-1.90 each)
    • 4x Goblin Guide ($1.20-1.60 each)
    • 4x Monastery Swiftspear ($0.25-0.40 each)

  • Sorceries
    • 4x Boltwave ($2.50-2.80 each)
    • 4x Chain Lightning ($0.30-0.40 each)
    • 4x Lava Spike ($0.75-1.30 each)
    • 4x Rift Bolt ($0.15-0.30 each)
    • 4x Skewer the Critics ($0.15-0.30 each)

  • Instants
    • 4x Fireblast ($0.50-0.80 each)
    • 4x Lightning Bolt ($0.90-1.70 each)
    • 4x Price of Progress ($5-7 each)

  • Lands
    • 18x Mountains ($0.02-0.05 each)

  • Sideboard
    • 3x Faerie Macabre ($4.50-5.50 each)
    • 3x Mindbreak Trap ($8-9 each)
    • 1x Pyroblast ($5-6)
    • 1x Red Elemental Blast ($3-4)
    • 2x Searing Blaze ($0.45-0.85 each)
    • 3x Smash to Smithereens ($0.30-0.50 each)
    • 2x Surgical Extraction ($0.80-1.10 each)

Why MTG's New $49 Legacy Burn Deck is a Welcome One

What follows is that, even in a predominantly expensive format like Legacy, there can be breakout decks that annihilate the meta on a budget. Admittedly, a Mono Red Burn deck had been played in Legacy before, but it has been quite some time since this archetype did so well on such a budget. Notably, with how expensive MTG land cards can be, especially in Legacy, the fact that Kamerow's version uses just 18 basic Mountains is a much-needed breath of fresh air for the format.

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magic the gathering
Magic: The Gathering
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Original Release Date
August 5, 1993
Designer
Richard Garfield
Player Count
2+
Age Recommendation
13+
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