Personal Premodern Retrospective 2024
PLUS: Premodern crew directory, Big Apple Highlander's charity and webcam events
As I did in 2022, I’m going to use the last issue of BANDING this year to recap my Premodern (and Premodern adjacent) personal highlights for 2024. Not sure what happened in 2023, I assume I was tilted due to twin toddlers. Before we jump into it, a huge thank you to the millions of readers of this newsletter! Besides the obscene amount of money and fame I generate from this endeavor, your support is the thing that keeps me working on this… so lots of gratitude and here’s to a wonderful 2025 in Premodern.
Phil’s 2024 in Premodern
This isn’t your typical year-end review of the format with insights into the meta or breakout decks. This is purely a self-centered chronicle of my own exploits and a scrapbook of cardboard photos. January will see the return of the Premodern roundtable (2024, 2023) in this newsletter and you can get smart takes from people who actually have won a playoff match in a webcam monthly (I’m 0-9 in lifetime Top 16 playoff matches, that’s gotta be a record, right?).
January
I played Maestros Radiating Tog Combo (Taylor’s Version) in the webcam monthly. Yes, I was trying out the contemporary deck naming convention of “Color Group + Key Card(s) + Archetype”. No, I don’t think I’ll stop. Psychatog is one of my favorite decks in the format and the first Premodern deck I blinged out in Japanese foil several years ago (except for those pesky Polluted Deltas). I had learned about this amazing combo some time ago that utilized an end of turn Ice and Radiate to tap every permanent and draw a card for each tapped permanent. You would draw into a Psychatog, cast it on your turn, discard and flashback Reckless Charge, and then swing in while your opponent’s defenses were completely shut down.
I played UB Vampiric Reanimator in the Combo Winter Premodern league that let each player play with up to four copies of a single banned card. Most Reanimator decks would opt for Entomb but I wanted to try to see if Vampiric Tutor could be a more flexible tool, letting you bin creatures alongside Careful Study and Hapless Researcher while also having the option to grab reanimation spells/Show and Tell or high impact sideboard cards like Null Rod. I remember losing one game with my opponent at one life after failing to attack with a Hapless Researcher. Every life point counts!
February
I kept up the Premodern variants streak in February, first playing my 100% foiled Psychatog deck in the Odyssey Type 2 league, exactly card for card of Carlos Romāo’s Worlds 2002 list. I tried to get Japanese foil Odyssey lands in time for the event but couldn’t source the number I needed. For more information on the Type 2 leagues, head to Facebook or Discord.
I tried out the Premodern Tribal Wars league organized through the Beard Brothers Open Discord, which required at least 20 creatures of the same type in your deck at all times. I made the playoffs with my Birds Aren’t Real deck utilizing the Trix combo. Just a super fun deck and I’ll take any excuse to play Predict.
March
Back to vanilla Premodern, I built UG TerraOath… including Predict, which as I said, I will try to force in any deck. Went 2-4 with this one, though honestly the deck felt pretty competitive and it’s on my list to keep working on (an Oath-less version, if you can believe it). This was during peak Terravore mania with the red and white splashes making waves so I wanted to try making a different flavor that utilized Gush to protect my lands, alongside a cheeky main deck Teferi’s Response. Yes, I did beat the traditional TerraOath deck I faced in my pod.
April
I created Turbo Upheaval Lands as somewhat of a joke to play in the Spring Fling event. I had put up a poll on the Premodern Facebook group to suggest what deck I play and the winner was Turbo Upheaval, a meme deck that utilized Upheaval plus Zombie Infestation. I put my own spin on the concept, combining it with Turbo Lands to build this beauty. The goal is to generate huge amounts of card advantage with the Exploration and Horn of Greed duo while punishing the opponent for utilizing the symmetrical nature of Horn of Greed with Black Vise. The game-ending play would be to play Upheaval while floating enough mana to also play Black Vise (like I said, Psychatog is one of my favorite strategies and players will no doubt see the similarity). I went 2-2 with the deck before having the drop from the event, but the deck did attract somewhat of a following with others trying it out.
May
Still on a high with main deck Black Vise, for the May monthly I built Tolaria Vise (going 3-3), which aimed to provide alternate win conditions alongside Standstill than your traditional Decree of Justice: Black Vise and Zombie Infestation. My plan was to jam T1 Black Vise into T2 Standstill, forcing my opponent to act somewhat quickly instead of giving them time to sculpt their hand. I liked that you could break Standstill aggressively or cast Arcane Denial and make up for some of the downside with Black Vise. Arcane Laboratory was another card that could pair well with Black Vise and potentially set up a lock with Forbid.
For the first two weeks of Spice Paradise, I played my classic Griffin Canyon deck, exactly as it was during my appearance in the Premodern Showdown Series, season two. I played against a Mogg Convenant deck and the Count Chocula combo deck (Forbidden Crypt and Donate).
June
Back again in the Beard Brother Open’s Premodern Tribal Wars league, I won the entire thing with Bouncy Drakes. The plan here was to utilize Shrieking Drake alongside Equilibrium to lock out opposing creatures, or using Gilded Drakes to steal creatures before returning them back to hand with Equilibrium or Snap.
The next two weeks of Spice Paradise I built a Guilty Oath deck (which I really should have named Racked with Guilt), defeating Opposition Orb and UR Control. I would end up working on this dec quite a bit; the challenges that black decks face in Premodern are well documented so I wanted to try a new spin on an old classic. You can learn more about the deck here, as it was going to be the deck that I brought to Lobstercon.
In the webcam monthly I played “Mid” Angry Hermit, my attempt to build a midrange plan into the Angry Hermit deck. Went 4-2 and almost made the playoffs, but lost my win-and-in by missing an amazing line in which I could have activated Hermit Druid with Planar Void out, in response to the exile trigger flashed back Krosan Reclamation for Lightning Bolt to finish off my opponent. This deck was frustrating at times but also amazingly fun. Not knowing what you’re going to Oath of Druids into was quite a thrill. I think this deck is also quite interesting and perhaps I’d work on it again soon.
July
For the next two weeks of Spice Paradise, I played RG Reap Combo and faced Welder Stax and BG Poison Enchantress. Reap is one of my favorite cards to brew around and has a bunch of convoluted combos you can utilize. This one aimed to give your opponent at least two black permanents through Distorting Lens, having a Lion’s Eye Diamond in play, then looping Reap to target a second Reap in the graveyard and a second LED, cracking the first LED in response, resulting in a net gain of one mana each time. Then you eventually have infinite mana and start looping Lightning Bolts or Lodestone Baubles instead of the LED to defeat your opponent. The deck also utilized Goblin Welder and Oath of Druids to fill up your graveyard with artifacts, a package I haven’t seen in Premodern but I’d be interested in exploring further.
For the last week of Spice Paradise’s regular season, I tried out a new False Cure brew, this time utilizing Oath of Druids to power Veteran Explorer (plus Cabal Therapy) and to fill my graveyard for Ill-Gotten Gains. The deck didn’t exactly pop off as I drew way too much land and didn’t have much in the way of card selection. Maybe it needs more main deck Sylvan Library instead of Infernal Contract. Ill-Gotten Gains is an angle for False Cure I definitely want to explore further.
Zac Clark of Eternal Durdles invited me on to discuss the pillars of Premodern and to rate his battlebox of decks. Zac is easily one of the hardest working and enthusiastic ambassadors of Magic, it’s always awesome to chat with him.
August
Continued working on my Guilty Oath deck in the Beard Brothers Open webcam league, going 2-2. I also made it to the playoffs of the Facebook webcam monthly, losing to Rich Shay’s Replenish deck.
Meanwhile, back in Spice Paradise, I lost my wildcard match to Evil Enchantress while playing a Orzhov Parallax Pit Tempo deck (I told you I was going to keep using these naming conventions). The deck’s goal here was to utilize the discard effect of Bottomless Pit (and Zombie Infestation) alongside Replenish. The deck was very fun to play and I could see myself playing it again in a casual meetup.
I completed my first Big Apple Highlander deck, Very Dimir, Very Mindful. This singleton format was created by the New York City crew and you can learn more about the rules here (tl;dr 60 card singleton, 15 card sideboard, Premodern sets but the only banned cards are the ante ones).
September
I was unable to attend Lobstercon this year due to a big family trip days afterward but I was invited to commentate for Round 4 and Round 5. Thanks to Andrew Walker and Will Hirst for organizing the stream!
We also wrapped up the first Spice Paradise webcam league, which I organized and saw 28 players participating with about 120 unique decks played. You can catch the wrap-up, deck photos, deck lists, and more here.
October
I played an update version of my Raging Glaciers list, throwing in a set of Call of the Herd in the sideboard, for the Fall Brawl. I went 7-1 but lost to Rich Shay in the quarterfinals in one of the most interesting matches in a long time. This deck, similar to Guilty Oath, has trended more and more green over time. Call of the Herd and Treetop Village helps address a lot of problems with the deck (adding a clock) while Naturalize helps clean up problematic enchantments whereas before Nevinyrral’s Disk was relied upon to do so.
I chatted with Anton Glans and Seb Celia on Monster of the Week about Spice Paradise and Big Apple Highlander! Two of the kindest people in Premodern, I just love talking about goofy cards with these guys.
November
We held the inaugural BAH Humbug charity event and raffle in New York City. This was, to my knowledge, the first Big Apple Highlander in-person tournament (more details later on). I played Maestros Karn Prison, which attempted to play the fun, busted cards alongside some nostalgic favorites.
December
Yet another Tribal Wars league with the Beard Brothers Open, this time playing Live Efreet or Die, going 3-2. This deck, more than anything, was about vibes and I loved looking at the artwork. I also played it unsleeved since the only cards I had for the deck that were a) already sleeved and b) worth a meaningful amount were the Lightning Bolts. I contemplated playing Incinerate from Mirage instead of Bolts just to keep as much from Mirage block as possible but chickened out in the end.
We wrapped up the regular season of the first Big Apple Highlander webcam league, which I organized and had 24 players participating (more on this below).
I played Premodern Homepage Elves in the December monthly, copying the exact 75 as seen on the Premodern mothership. I ended up 2-4 with some truly wild games and buckets of fun were had. My opponents and I discovered in real-time neat interactions (e.g., Steely Resolve naming Assembly-Worker) and perplexing nonbos (e.g., Quirion Ranger alongside Rofellos). Still, it was a great time and I plan to choose another deck list from the homepage in the future to jam for some laughs.
I joined Zac Clark of Eternal Durdles to discuss Lobstercon 2025 selling out within hours, the Premodern meta game, and more. Thanks as always for having me on to discuss the format!
Big Apple Highlander’s Big Moment
Earlier this year the New York crew was inspired by the singleton format coming out of Germany but we wanted to put our own spin on it, ultimately resulting in the creation of Big Apple Highlander. Since then, we’ve organized 1) an in-person charity event that we hope can be an annual occasion to giveback to the community and 2) a webcam league.
To celebrate the launch of Big Apple Highlander, I commissioned Premodern player and artist Joshua Nyer to paint a bird token of NYC’s favorite mascot; players from the two Big Apple Highlander events will receive a set of four (for Battle Screech). This is the third token in the series of limited edition tokens I’ve been creating by commissioning artists (the Soldier/Angel token was for NYC’s Sacred Torch Showdown and the Phyrexian Minion token was for Spice Paradise participants).
BAH Humbug 2024
We had 14 players attend the first BAH Humbug event, held at Finback Brewery in Brooklyn. Huge thanks to the my fellow organizers (Andy, Simon, Sunny, and Lanny), as well as to the players, raffle participants, brewery staff, and legendary artist Donato Giancola, who supported the prizing. We raised $3,200 for Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and The Chick Mission, a real testament to the generosity and spirit of the Premodern community. The event was won by Andy, playing a mean looking red deck featuring Goblin Goon. Here are a selection of a few of the decks:
Big Apple Highlander Webcam League
I also organized a Big Apple Highlander webcam league on Discord, featuring 24 brave brewers. We’re now in the Top 8 with the following rankings after pod play:
antonbglans - Replenish Control
Lannynyny - Storm
Scramble - BR Midrange
Samuel Leng - UR Artifacts
Brian L - Angel Stax
JarryGuy - White Weenie
MachineMan10K - UB Reanimator
Wanderlust (Conor A. Brown) - Worldgorger Dragon Combo
Premodern Crew Map
I was reminded recently by Schneidersan that we should put together a map of Premodern crews around the world to better help prospective players discover their local communities. The Sisters of the Flame, who are the Old School group out of NYC, have a map for the Old School community and perhaps we can maintain one too.
If you have a regular crew that plays Premodern, reply back to me with your group’s location, name, and how prospective players can get in touch with you. I’ll start organizing something that can go into the Premodern guide.
Content
⚔️🧑💻 Signups for the January Facebook webcam tournament are open
💀🎙️ The Duress Crew recaps the year on an episode of Hardcast, featuring a guest appearance by Nick Mayo
🤝🎙️ Shared Discovery talks Terravore and more with fan favorite Javi Lugo
🗓️🎙️ The Premodcast is joined by Tom Metelsky to discuss the 2024 state of the format
🍻🎙️ Spike Colony is back with another look at the state of the format and launch a brewer’s bounty for each month, rewarding players who win larger events playing brews, have a listen and try out some wacky stuff in 2025! An awesome initiative, and would you look at that, Lanny has already started…
🪣🧠 Sam Black writes about his GWR Enchantress deck on the Well of Knowledge
📈💚 Jake Murphy discusses his BEEFY Mono Green deck that Top 8’ed the recent Duress Crew Fall Regional on I’ve Got ?????’s with Will Hirst. Super enjoyable episode and I love the positivity and vibes of this one.
🍖⛓️ Crucible of Words published their first Premodern video featuring a GB Food Chain brew
🪨💚 A classic matchup between 10 Land Stompy and Blasto Rock courtesy of the Impulse Crew
⏳😡 A not-so-classic matchup between Amugaba Turns and UG Madness from Heavy Play… how do you pronounce “Amugaba” anyway?
🎷🦅 Fpawlusz takes A_Webb’s BUG Aluren list through an MTGO league
🧟♂️🎬 Lanny Huang tries out a new take on Zombies in an attempt to better understand Black’s position in the Premodern meta
🤍🌊 The Czech Premodern crew has a White Weenie vs. Tide Control match, people were discussing recently that maybe it’s time for White Weenie to shine…
🌊📜 Speaking of… Andy Levine released a primer on Tide Control, the deck he Top 8’ed Lobstercon with this year
🤍📜 Speaking of, again… Gary Roth updated his primer on White Weenie
🫥🎴 I Play Magic walks through a few underplayed cards in the format and you can view some of the suggestions from the Facebook group too