by Xavi Esteve
on September 17, 2026
(12 minute read)
I started playing MTG back in the mid 90s when it was released. I was a kid back then and we played low budget beaten up cards without too much thought. Decks were built based on the low budget we had, deciding if we’d spend our weekly spend on candies or cards was a tough decision.
And these decks would laughably suck by today’s standards. Yet it was so much fun, the simplicity of it, the casual games we had just for fun… I have a very good memory of those times. We grew up, cards were stored somewhere in our parents basement and that was it. Years passed, we became adults.
Discovering Commander
Fast fprward 30 years later, while reminiscing on the past, one of my colleagues commented on how he plays Magic The Gathering “Commander“. No idea what that was and he explained it briefly: a 4 vs 4 and 100 cards each, super fun and social game he occasionally plays (bracket 2 if you were wondering). Something burned inside me thinking I could relive those great moments when I was a kid, so I built myself a Commander deck that an LLM created: “Give me ideas for fun MTG Commander decks (Bracket 2)“.
And so I shortlisted a couple decks I imported into Forged Deck Editor and started playing Commander.
Hmmm… That wasn’t how I remembered… So many things to track, so many new abilities and special scenarios, so many combos, counters, effects and complex mechanics stacking over and over… So I built other Commander decks focusing on simplicity. Still nothing, games were too cumbersome to play, I wasn’t having a good time having to think, research and remember so many details.
Maybe the reason was Commander being way too slow of a game format? Yeah, probably. But still, all these new cards were way overpowered. These new mechanics that overreached and controlled the game completely while making the other player’s life miserable…
And all these new editions? Ninja Turtles, Spider-Man, Star Trek, Avatar… These don’t belong to the MTG world in my opinion, they just break the magical world of wizards, middle age, etc. I can understand the Hobbit edition, but the others are too forced.
Discovering Pauper
So just when I was about to give up, I saw this video:
MTG Pauper! Wow, that helps quite a lot in reducing this overpowered and over controlling feeling while playing, way more fun than this modern Magic. And then I saw there’s quite a few other formats more tailored to my “age”: Vintage, Legacy, Old School, Premodern…
Magic The Gathering playing formats
To give you a quick summary on the current playing formats:
Constructed
You build a deck beforehand.
- Standard – Only cards from the last 2 years.
- Pioneer – Cards from 2012 onward.
- Modern – Cards from 2003 onward.
- Legacy – Almost every card ever printed, some cards are banned.
- Vintage – Every card legal, but powerful cards restricted to 1 copy.
- Pauper – Only common-rarity cards allowed, from any set.
- Premodern – Cards printed between 1994 and 2003.
- Old School – Only cards from 1993 to 1994.
Limited
You build a deck from cards opened on the spot.
- Draft – Players open booster packs and pass them around, picking one card at a time, then build a deck from what they picked.
- Sealed – Each player opens six booster packs and builds a deck from those cards alone.
Multiplayer / Casual
- Commander (EDH) – 100-card decks with a legendary creature; 4 players free-for-all. Very popular.
- Oathbreaker – Like Commander but with a planeswalker.
- Brawl – Like Commander but 60 cards and using only Standard or Historic cards.
- Planechase – “Plane” cards that change the rules of the game as you play.
- Archenemy – 1 vs many players.
- Two-Headed Giant – 2 vs 2.
Discovering Premodern
After looking into all of the different formats, I focused on the formats that reminded me of the “golden age” of Magic, the “authentic” MTG which were shortlisted as:
- Vintage: no overpowering, but still has forced dynamics and mechanics
- Pauper: similar to Vintage, still too modern and distant from the OG Magic The Gathering
- Old School: this is the era I started playing Magic, but it is limited and not balanced
- Premoderm: this is the game I played mid-late era
Premodern has the golden age feeling and gameplay of Magic, how it was originally intended, without the initial unbalances of the game. It also has a ton of cards which make the game varied and resourceful. The community is also huge, I searched for “Premodern games in my city” and I could find a few so that’s a huge plus if I ever have the time and motivation to attend one of these in person.
Setting everything up
A Battlebox is a collection of cards/decks you can carry around and provide players with everything you need to play a few games and have a few hours of fun.
I’ve purchased:
- Card protectors (one color for each deck: red, blue, green, yellow)
- 10x 6-sided dice to use as tokens
- Several multi-sided dice for other counters and conditions
- Will use a mobile/tablet App for HP counting
- Total cost: (4 x 3.50) + 2.50 + 2.50 = 19.00
Then asked a few LLMs to generate 4 starting decks (as a starting point, may add more in the future) with the clear objective that maximize fun:
I want to play Magic The Gathering Premodern with friends. I will be playing with proxies so there's unlimited budget. I want to build 4 decks (60-65 cards, less is better, no sideboard). Decks must be balanced so no one has clear advantage. Decks need to be mono or dual colors so there's a clear personality between them. Decks must have different gameplays/archetypes amongst them so games are varied and fun. Don't use abusive archetypes so all games are enjoyable, games are fair and everyone has a chance to have fun and win. Do not use banned cards. The objective is to have fun so don't make decks that make the game boring or too competitive, aim for casual-intermediate level. I will be importing them in Forge Deck Editor so provide a clean text output, use the oldest card versions possible but consider aesthetics. Ask any question you may have before starting work.
The idea here is that games are fun. One way to find out is that I don’t get bored playing with the AI, that no deck is unbeatable. Any time I win the AI with a deck, I give that deck to the AI and try to beat it with another deck, if I can’t then I ask the LLM to rebalance it.
Another factor I consider is that games must end with everyone having had their close win, you usually have more fun losing a game 3-0 than winning one at 17-0.
Premodern Battlebox, 4 Balanced Decks
Four decks designed for casual-to-intermediate play in Magic: The Gathering Premodern, each with a distinct gameplay identity. No two decks share the same exact color pair, and matchups are intended to be competitive without any single deck dominating.
Set codes next to each card are chosen for Forge aesthetics and consistency, not always the absolute oldest printing.
These decks aim to stay close to 60 cards each, but they do not need to be exactly 60 if a small increase improves balance, gameplay, or mana consistency.
Deck 1: Mono Red Goblins
Colors: Red
Playstyle: Fast aggro. Swarm the board with cheap goblins, use tribal synergies (Warchief gives haste, Piledriver grows huge), and finish with burn. The deck is explosive and rewards committing to the board early. Goblin Matron and Ringleader provide surprisingly good card advantage for an aggro deck.
How it wins: Overwhelm the opponent before they stabilize. Lackey cheats creatures into play; Piledriver hits like a truck; burn closes out the game.
Creatures (26)
| Qty | Card | Set |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Goblin Lackey | USG |
| 4 | Mogg Fanatic | TMP |
| 4 | Goblin Piledriver | ONS |
| 4 | Goblin Warchief | SCG |
| 3 | Goblin Matron | 7ED |
| 3 | Goblin Ringleader | APC |
| 2 | Siege-Gang Commander | SCG |
| 2 | Gempalm Incinerator | LGN |
Spells (12)
| Qty | Card | Set |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Lightning Bolt | 4ED |
| 4 | Seal of Fire | NEM |
| 2 | Fireblast | VIS |
| 2 | Flame Rift | NEM |
Lands (22)
| Qty | Card | Set |
|---|---|---|
| 22 | Mountain | 4ED |
Total: 60 cards
Deck 2: UG Madness
Colors: Blue / Green
Playstyle: Tempo. Discard cards to Wild Mongrel and Aquamoeba for value (triggering madness costs on Rootwalla, Arrogant Wurm, and Circular Logic). Careful Study fuels the engine. Daze and Aether Burst buy time while efficient threats apply pressure. Wonder in the graveyard makes everything fly.
How it wins: Curve out with undercosted threats, protect them with free or cheap countermagic, and race. The deck rewards sequencing and hand management.
Creatures (20)
| Qty | Card | Set |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Basking Rootwalla | TOR |
| 4 | Wild Mongrel | ODY |
| 4 | Arrogant Wurm | TOR |
| 3 | Aquamoeba | TOR |
| 3 | Werebear | ODY |
| 2 | Wonder | JUD |
Spells (16)
| Qty | Card | Set |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Careful Study | ODY |
| 4 | Circular Logic | TOR |
| 2 | Deep Analysis | TOR |
| 2 | Roar of the Wurm | ODY |
| 2 | Daze | NEM |
| 2 | Aether Burst | ODY |
Lands (24)
| Qty | Card | Set |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Yavimaya Coast | APC |
| 2 | City of Brass | 5ED |
| 9 | Island | 4ED |
| 9 | Forest | 4ED |
Total: 60 cards
Deck 3: WB Midrange
Colors: White / Black
Playstyle: Disruption and removal. Scout and strip key cards with Duress, remove threats with Swords to Plowshares, Vindicate, and Chainer’s Edict, then grind them out with card advantage from Phyrexian Arena. The deck still has access to Dark Ritual starts, but leans on consistent interaction and flexible answers. Coffin Purge provides surgical graveyard hate against flashback and madness strategies. Exalted Angel as a morph can close games fast while gaining life.
How it wins: Dismantle the opponent’s plan through discard and removal, then win with resilient threats. The deck rewards reading the opponent and sequencing disruption correctly.
Creatures (16)
| Qty | Card | Set |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Hypnotic Specter | 4ED |
| 4 | Nantuko Shade | TOR |
| 4 | Spectral Lynx | APC |
| 2 | Phyrexian Rager | APC |
| 2 | Exalted Angel | ONS |
Spells (20)
| Qty | Card | Set |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Dark Ritual | 4ED |
| 4 | Swords to Plowshares | 4ED |
| 4 | Vindicate | APC |
| 3 | Chainer’s Edict | TOR |
| 4 | Duress | USG |
| 2 | Phyrexian Arena | APC |
| 1 | Coffin Purge | ODY |
Lands (25)
| Qty | Card | Set |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Caves of Koilos | APC |
| 3 | City of Brass | 5ED |
| 9 | Swamp | 4ED |
| 9 | Plains | 4ED |
Total: 61 cards
Deck 4: RG Fires
Colors: Red / Green
Playstyle: Ramp into big hasty threats. Llanowar Elves and Birds of Paradise accelerate into Fires of Yavimaya (which gives all your creatures haste), then slam undercosted fatties. Blastoderm is untargetable and hits for 5; Flametongue Kavu kills a creature on arrival; Shivan Wurm bounces your FTK to kill another one. Call of the Herd provides two bodies from one card.
How it wins: Mana dork into Fires into hasty fatties. The deck generates raw board presence and card advantage through efficient creatures. FTK doubles as removal.
Creatures (23)
| Qty | Card | Set |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Llanowar Elves | 4ED |
| 4 | Birds of Paradise | 5ED |
| 4 | Blastoderm | NEM |
| 4 | Flametongue Kavu | PLS |
| 3 | Kavu Titan | INV |
| 3 | Shivan Wurm | PLS |
| 1 | Thornscape Battlemage | PLS |
Spells (13)
| Qty | Card | Set |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Fires of Yavimaya | INV |
| 4 | Call of the Herd | ODY |
| 1 | Beast Attack | ODY |
| 2 | Violent Eruption | TOR |
| 2 | Reckless Charge | ODY |
Lands (25)
| Qty | Card | Set |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Karplusan Forest | ICE |
| 3 | City of Brass | 5ED |
| 10 | Forest | 4ED |
| 8 | Mountain | 4ED |
Total: 61 cards
Matchup Balance Overview
The four decks are intended to form a roughly balanced ecosystem:
- Goblins vs UG Madness: Goblins are faster, but Madness has Circular Logic and bigger blockers. Close race.
- Goblins vs WB Midrange: WB has targeted removal and Exalted Angel lifegain, but Goblins can go under if WB stumbles on mana or draws the wrong mix of answers.
- Goblins vs RG Fires: Goblins go wide; Fires goes big. Flametongue Kavu picks off key goblins, but Piledriver can still punch through. Tight.
- UG Madness vs WB Midrange: WB’s Duress picks apart UG’s key spells, and Chainer’s Edict bypasses shroud from Mongrel’s color-shifting. Coffin Purge can exile Wonder or Roar of the Wurm at instant speed. UG still has Daze to punish tap-out plays. More interactive now.
- UG Madness vs RG Fires: Daze and bounce slow Fires down; Fires’ creatures outclass UG’s in combat. Tempo versus raw power.
- WB Midrange vs RG Fires: Vindicate hits Fires of Yavimaya; Duress can strip it preemptively. But if Fires resolves and the creatures come down in sequence, WB still needs Swords quickly.
No deck should have a dominant matchup against all others. Each game should feel different based on draw quality, sequencing, and player decisions.
Tips for Players
- Goblins: Be aggressive. Don’t hold back creatures. Use Matron to find Piledriver or Siege-Gang depending on the board state.
- UG Madness: Don’t discard cards randomly; sequence your madness triggers carefully. Keep Wonder in hand early, then discard it later through Mongrel or Aquamoeba. Hold up Daze when possible.
- WB Midrange: Lead with Duress to scout and clear the way for your threats. Use Dark Ritual for strong tempo openings when the hand supports it. Against UG Madness, prioritize Chainer’s Edict and Coffin Purge over Hypnotic Specter; making them discard can backfire against madness cards.
- RG Fires: Protect your mana dorks because they are your engine. Fires of Yavimaya can also be sacrificed to push extra damage or save combat math in key turns.
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