Greetings!

As I've done after the last couple Pro Tours, today we'll be doing a quick breakdown of how much it would cost to enter Modern, assuming that once you were done with the deck after an event or season, you were planning to buylist off the pieces.

Of course, since Modern is a non-rotating format, there's one little thing that will be different: we'll be ignoring card depreciation as described in the aforelinked article. Modern cards aren't subject to rotation, so although card values fluctuate wildly, we can't with confidence say by how much over how long. Additionally, more often than not, the fluctuations are the cards gaining value, not losing it. But since this is all much less predictable than Standard card values over time, we're just going to assume your deck value will stay roughly the same. 

Six decks each put more than ten players through to Day 2 at Pro Tour Fate Reforged. We'll assume these six decks make up the new pillars of the format, at least until metagaming thrusts new decks into the limelight. Also, we're going to go with maindecks only today, because there are a ton of sideboard options for this format, and sideboards really are best constructed with a particular event and metagame in mind.

You Call This Format Diverse?

With 28.3 percent of the Day 2 field, Abzan completely dominated the Constructed portion of this event, never mind that it didn't actually win. Unlike the Jund decks of two or three years ago, however, these lists varied a little more from each other than one might expect.

Let's go with Eric Froehlich's list, which earned him a Top 8 slot and some real discussion as a potential Hall of Fame candidate.

Holy expensive deck, Batman! Coming in at over $1800 retail, this deck has a whole lot of pricey staples. It buylists for around $1200, however, so you could rent this deck for an indeterminate amount of time for about $600, which hurts a lot less if you're grinding with it quite a bit.

But really, who should play this deck? First of all: boring people who want to contribute to horrible mirror matches and a stale metagame. Second of all: people who already have a lot of these cards.

Why go out and buy Noble Hierarchs, Tarmogoyfs, and Zendikar fetch lands when that $1000 could be cut significantly by Modern Masters 2015? We know a Liliana of the Veil reprinting is on the way through the new PTQ system, so that's not an attractive purchase at the moment, either. There's even a bunch of cards that are likely inflated in part from Standard, like Siege Rhino and Tasigur, the Golden Fang.

It just doesn't make any sense to buy into Abzan at the moment, but if you already have most of the big stuff, this is the big bad wolf of the format right now. Fans of Modern coverage, however, request that you do not play the deck. Thanks.

Some Dudes Just Want to Watch the Multiverse Burn

Seth Manfield provided quite a story over the weekend, winning 12 straight rounds and and then nearly missing Top 8 after losing rounds 13 through 15. He played Burn, which is financially the opposite end of the spectrum from Abzan.

Here we have a $600 deck that will buylist out for roughly $425. If you're looking to pick up a deck for just a few events, this is a nice budget version. All the fetchlands are basically interchangeable with any red fetches you already have (meaning you can play Mires over Tarns), and the main card at risk from Modern Masters 2015 is the $20 Goblin Guide.

Except for the red mages among us, both spectators and your opponents will dislike you playing this deck, so it's perfect not just for budget players, but for trolls. This description fit 12.4 percent of the Day 2 Pro Tour field.

Every Infect Creature Has its Pump Spell

Nobody made Top 8 with Infect, but 7.4 percent of the day-two field was running the deck, and Jon Finkel himself managed a tenth-place finish with it.

This is basically another budget deck, coming in at around $530, or only $180 after buylisting, which means this is another good one-event or one-season deck. Noble Hierarch keeps this from being a true budget build, but I wouldn't recommend playing the deck without a playset of the dork; the ramp plus incidental pump on your infect creatures is crucial to the deck's game plan.

We've seen Infect drift in and out of the metagame before, and if Lingering Souls continues to be a major player in the format (it saw play in a lot of Abzan decks last weekend), poison might not be a viable win condition for long.

In any case, it's interesting to see Become Immense as a four-of. I assumed it was a two- or three-of when I saw it in play last weekend, but I guess this deck feels confident in its ability to fill the graveyard. Perhaps foils of the uncommon are a good pickup?

I <3 Artifacts

Affinity continues to put up results, with 6.6 percent of the Day 2 field running the deck. Nobody made the Top 8 with the deck, but Frank Karsten was in the running for much of the event.

There's nothing new here, really. If you are already playing Affinity, you will likely continue to play Affinity unmolested. If you want to play Affinity, there shouldn't be much keeping you from doing so (financially), other than perhaps Mox Opals, but that is getting printed at mythic if at all in Modern Masters 2015, so it's not like the price will just crash altogether.

And seriously, these budget decks just keep getting cheaper, because this one retails for only $465. The "rental" fee after buylisting would only be $150, which is pretty good for a tried-and-true player in the format. It's kind of funny that the archetype that almost broke Magic back in the Mirrodin days largely flies under the radar in a format so prone to bannings.

Some Things Naya Change

Zoo was the next highest-represented deck, with 5.4 percent of the Day 2 metagame. Steven Rubin played a relatively stock list with one spicy piece to keep things interesting:

Again we see Become Immense, this time not even in Infect. The moral of the story here is that delve is a really, really powerful mechanic, and banning Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time has opened up slots for cards like Tasigur and Become Immense. Which other delve cards are potentially Constructed-playable?

This is a deck that might trick you into thinking it's a budget brew, until you notice that there are four Tarmogoyfs. Goblin Guides seem downright cheap in comparison. Sure, you could play the deck with Scavenging Ooze or Voice of Resurgence or something, but I'm not a fan of playing sub-optimal versions of decks.

Zoo is enough of a pet deck that I would assume you're playing it already if you were interested, but if you're thinking of getting into it, you might as well start picking up the pieces and keeping an eye on 'Goyf's status in Modern Masters 2015 and (especially) its print run. The deck will currently run you $1325, but you'd get about $935 back after buylisting.

This Deck (Deck (Deck (Deck (Deck)))) Won the Event

Splinter Twin is still around, and despite assumptions that it would be the new "best" deck, it only made up five percent of the Day 2 field. Antonio del Moral Leon won the event with this list:

Here's another one that breaks the $1000 mark, at about $1030, buylisting for about $700.

Thinking of playing this deck? Here are some things to consider:

• Given how we've seen Wizards treat Modern so far, Splinter Twin will almost assuredly be banned sooner or later. It just seems like the next likely scapegoat for Modern, especially if it wins a few GPs this year.
• Most of the expensive cards in this deck are likely to see a reprint in Modern Masters 2015 or elsewhere (namely, Scalding Tarn, Misty Rainforest, Vendilion Clique, Splinter Twin, Remand).
• Of course you want to play this deck, you get to play with Cryptic Command, Lightning Bolt, and Snapcaster Mage.

Have a Bonus Deck

I'm not going to skip out on Justin Cohen's Amulet Bloom deck, which almost won the event, just because it was less than two percent of the Day 2 metagame.

Despite Amulet of Vigor jumping a bit over the weekend, this really is a budget deck, coming in at around $425 and buylisting for $270. Given Cohen's and Sam Black's (his roommate) description of the deck as a puzzle, this seems like a great deck for anyone who enjoyed playing Eggs before Second Sunrise was banned.

Of course, given what happened to Eggs, this seems like a risky venture if you're planning for the long term. Still, you could rent the deck for a season for around $150, which isn't bad if you're going to be grinding a bit. Just make sure it's a deck you enjoy playing.

Closing Thoughts

I may be getting out of Modern for now, but I'm holding onto two major things: my fetchlands and my shocklands. Most of the decks above, as well as other decks in the format but not discussed here, require a few playsets of these lands. Shocklands are starting to gain after the Return to Ravnica block reprint, but they're still pretty cheap. Khans of Tarkir fetchlands are likely the lowest they will ever be, or close to it.

Only Zendikar fetchlands are risky acquisitions right now, but since everyone knows that, their prices have largely dropped in anticipation of a reprint. Even if picking them up isn't super attractive, there's certainly no reason to panic-sell them off.

Once you have your 40-sets of each of these two land types, Modern opens up to you in a big way. Many of these decks are very budget friendly—if you already have the lands. So if you're looking to get into Modern, that's where you should start. Otherwise, just keep an eye on how sweet Modern Masters 2015 looks.