Non-rotating 60-card format from 8th Edition forward
Magic: The Gathering Modern — The eternal 60-card battlefield
Modern is Magic: The Gathering's flagship non-rotating 60-card format. Born in 2011, it covers all cards printed from 8th Edition (2003) forward, plus modern-frame products like Modern Horizons sets. Tournaments run 60-card main, 15-card sideboard, with 20 life and best-of-three matches. Modern's appeal: the card pool is huge but curated (Reserved List cards aren't legal), the meta moves slower than Standard, and the format consistently produces deep, varied tournaments. Top decks in 2026 include Death's Shadow, Murktide Regent variants, Tron, Living End, Burn, and the latest Modern Horizons enabled archetypes.
Quick reference
- Deck size
- 60
- Starting life
- 20
- MTG Arena
- No
- MTGO
- Yes
Key rules
- 01
Decks are 60+ cards main, 15 cards sideboard.
- 02
Card pool: 8th Edition (2003) and forward + Modern Horizons sets, no Reserved List.
- 03
No singleton restriction. Up to 4 copies of any non-basic card.
- 04
20 life, best-of-three matches with sideboard.
- 05
Wizards publishes a banned list updated approximately every 3 months.
Strategy and feel
Modern rewards format mastery. The card pool is too deep to "tech against everything", so deck selection matters more than card-by-card optimization. Common archetypes: aggro (Burn, Prowess), combo (Living End, Tron), midrange (Death's Shadow), control (Murktide, UWx control).
Official B&R list
Wizards maintains the official banned and restricted list. Updated periodically — check the official source before any tournament:
https://magic.wizards.com/en/banned-restricted-list#modernReady to build a Modern deck?
Build a Modern deck with automatic format validation, import from Moxfield/Arena, and play online with friends when it's ready.