MTG Best Formats (2024)

One of the greatest strengths Magic: the Gathering lauds over the other TCGs is the customization it offers to players. Typically, most TCGs only have a few ways to play the game outside of a casual setting. MTG, however, has countless different formats which offer unique and interesting experiences to players.The question remains, however, which MTG format is the best?

While the myriad formats available in MTG are undoubtedly a major strength, they do present a rather large problem. Namely, for new players, all the formats can be rather hard to digest and pick between. Thankfully, if you’re struggling with this very problem, we’re here to help.

Throughout this article, we’ll be running through the pros and cons of MTG’s most popular and interesting formats. With simple instructions and an overlook of the format, this will hopefully help you find the perfect format for you! So, without any further ado, let’s jump right into the list! After a brief caveat first…

As a quick note before we start; throughout this article, we’ll be presuming you know the basic rules of two-player MTG games. Subsequently, we’ll also be going over the major rule changes for formats that don’t follow the typical rules seen in Standard.

EDH/Commander

On paper, Commander is currently believed to be the most popular MTG format to play. Somewhat remarkably, however, the Commander format also has a lot of stark differences compared to other MTG formats. Boasting a casual focus, unique deck construction rules, and a diverse metagame, Commander is definitely unique.

Through these differences, Commander players typically build their decks around fun, rather than pure function. This mindset is often bolstered by the existence of Rule Zero, which allows players to implement their own casual rules. Prioritizing the game experience over trying to win, Commander is undeniably a unique format.

Beyond just being unique, Commander is also one of the most approachable formats in MTG. This is partly thanks to the format’s sheer popularity, which makes finding games and new-player-friendly tables a breeze. Alongside this, Preconstructed Commander decks make it incredibly easy for anyone to just pick up a deck and play with friends.

How Commander Differs From the Standard Ruleset

While Commander undoubtedly has a lot of strengths, as we mentioned, it is a unique format. So much so, in fact, that if you’re looking to get into it, you may need a rundown of its rules and eccentricities. Thankfully, if this is you, we’re here to help, as below is a refresher on Commander’s rules and differences compared to 60-card constructed formats.

In terms of rules, Commander has a multitude of unique factors. Firstly, players start at 40 life instead of the traditional 20 – which creates longer games allowing players to set up wacky strategies. Secondly, Commander is a four-player game that introduces a lot of table politics and changes the effectiveness of many strong cards in competitive formats.

The crowning point in Commander’s uniqueness is the rules around deck construction. Commander decks must have exactly 100 cards between the main deck and the Commander(s) being played. Players cannot have more than one copy of each card in their deck, with the exception of Basic Lands. Each Commander deck must be helmed by a Commander which sits in your Command Zone. This card can be cast from the Command Zone at any legal time for its mana value (you cannot cast a creature spell without Flash as though it did, for example, unless something else allows you to do that).

Whenever that card changes zones (changing control does not count), players have the choice to return the Commander to the Command Zone instead. They can then recast their Commander, but doing so will cost an additional two mana for each time it has been returned to the Command Zone this way. The rules have been a tad bit simplified in this explanation.

Finally, in an effort to support aggressive strategies, any player who takes 21 combat damage from a single Commander will lose the game on the spot. Also, the color identity of each card in your deck must stay within the color identity of your Commander. If you have a mono-white Commander, for example, you cannot include Blue, Black, Red, or Green cards in your deck. There is also a competitive version of Commander called cEDH.

Pros

Great format to play with a friend group.
Can be relatively cheap to start playing.
Casual play can allow players to be quite creative.
The play experience is very customizable with the right group.
Slower games allow for some crazy scenarios and high exploration.
New cards are constantly being released for the format, allowing for an endless amount of possibilities.
By far the easiest format to get a group together and play.
Everything outside the ban list (and cards illegal for sanctioned play) is legal in Commander, giving it a massive card pool.

Cons

Game states can be very difficult to keep up with and understand, even for experienced players.
High-powered Commander decks are very expensive.
Some players do not like the political aspects of Commander.
The absence of a Rule Zero conversation can create very lopsided play experiences.
Games can be very long.
New cards are constantly being released for the format, making it difficult to keep up.

Dual Commander

Should you want to try Commander in a more competitive environment, and with only two players, Dual Commander might be for you. With its own separate banlist that gets rid of high-variance cards that are a bigger issue in two-player formats like Sol Ring, Dual Commander is a rather unique experience compared to the main format. Like Commander, Dual Commander has its own separate council that overlooks the health of the format. They actively make changes to ensure that the format remains healthy.

Standard

Considered the flagship format of Magic’s two-player offerings, Standard uses the newest cards added to MTG. Currently, following a recent change, Standard now operates on a three-year rotation cycle. As a result of this change, Standard did not go through its normal rotation in 2023. Instead, the next time Standard will rotate is in 2024.

Aimed at revitalizing the ailing format, the rotation change hasn’t been without controversy. Lamented for prolonging the stagnant state of the metagame, many players aren’t happy about Wizards. Thankfully, while this was initially a problem, recent sets have shaken up the meta, keeping things interesting once again.

Currently, while the rotation change has allowed players to invest in and use their cards for longer, Standard is still a very expensive format. With many decks costing upwards of $500 and beyond, Standard isn’t cheap, by any means. Technically, MTG Arena can offer a cheap way to play, however, that game’s economy is still troubled for new players.

Beyond concerns about pricing, Standard also suffers from a lack of in-person events. Due to its fading popularity, playing this once-great format on paper can be surprisingly difficult. Thankfully, Wizards of the Coast is aware of this issue and is doing what they can to fix things. With improved availability for casual and competitive events, hopefully, Standard will see a major revival.

Thankfully, while playing Standard can be difficult, the metagame is currently very interesting. Following the recent release of The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, players have seen a dramatic shake-up of the competitive order. Thanks to this, it’s currently a great time to get into Standard, since so many archetypes are interesting and viable.

Pros

Very easy access with MTG Arena.
Get to play with the game’s newest cards.
Rewards deep decision-making.
Cheaper than a majority of other formats to buy-in.
Lots of support from Wizards of the Coast.
While decision-making can be complicated, board states are somewhat easy to understand.

Cons

If you do not like Midrange strategies, you may be out of luck.
All of the best decks play a lot of the same cards.
Not very popular in paper.
Because Standard is a rotating format, it ultimately is the most expensive format in all of MTG over more extended periods of time since you will eventually need to build a new deck.

Wizards of the Coast are aware of the weaker points of Standard at the moment and are trying to change the direction that the format is heading. As a result, Standard may be in for a sort of Renaissance in the coming months.

Pioneer

Pioneer is the two-player non-rotating format with the smallest card pool officially supported by Wizards of the Coast. All core sets released after Return to Ravnica are fair game in this format. Pioneer is not currently available on MTG Arena, but they instead have the Explorer format, which aspires to become Pioneer eventually. Unfortunately, there are some major disparities between the two formats at the moment, which distance them from one another.

With the exception of Pauper (and potentially Commander), none of MTG’s formats are really budget-friendly. That said, Pioneer is much cheaper than many of the other non-rotating formats the game has to offer, but a smaller card pool does mean that newer cards will have a stronger impact on the format. This creates change, which is good, but it also means that new strategies may cause more spending.

Otherwise, players are currently pretty split on the play experience of the format. Many powerful strategies support different archetypes (Aggro, Combo, Control, and Midrange), but gameplay can be surprisingly uninteractive. This means that decision-making has a smaller impact as long as you know all of the breakpoints in your strategy.

For the record, Pioneer and Commander are my personal formats of choice, but players who want decision-making to have a strong, fairly consistent impact on your game at the format’s top levels may be frustrated with the current state of Pioneer. There will be a higher number of games you lose no matter what in comparison to many other formats.

Pros

Cheaper buy-in than older formats (best decks still cost hundreds of dollars, which is better than older formats).
A lot of different competitive choices to play.
Some strategies aren’t too hard to learn.
Not too difficult to find people to play with.

Cons

Uninteractive gameplay means you will be losing (and winning) a lot of games regardless of what you do.
Play/draw disparity is really bad.
Near impossible to have a good matchup against all the best decks.
Not currently available in its full form on MTG Arena.

Modern

On Paper, Modern is currently believed to be the most popular format outside of Commander. Allowing most cards to be used post-Eighth Edition, this non-rotating format has a huge card pool to brew and build within. That being said, however, due to the high power level, the format is incredibly competitive and worryingly expensive.

With decks costing upwards of $1500, the format certainly isn’t easy to get into. Thankfully, however, this investment is usually rather sound, as rotation rarely happens. Outside of direct-to-Modern sets like Modern Horizons, the format remains compellingly consistent, with minimal changes in the meta.

While the lack of rotation may sound rather dull, it allows the competitive nature of the format to excel. Valuing impactful decision-making and intricate deck construction, you’ll have to bring your A-game to each Modern match. Thankfully, to compliment the competitive nature, Modern also has a great deal of variety, even supporting niche breakout decks.

Ultimately, while Modern does have a great many strengths, it does come with some controversy too. This is largely thanks to the aforementioned direct-to-Modern sets, which effectively implement a forced rotation. Diving up prices and frustrating players en masse, unfortunately, the next direct-to-Modern set has already been announced. Hopefully, it won’t be as bad as before, but we won’t know for sure until it releases.

Pros

Modern is very popular. Not too hard to find someone to play with.
Meta is very diverse. There’s a powerful strategy for almost anyone’s playstyle.
Lots of room for innovation.
Large card pool which allows you to use many of your old cards.
Gameplay rewards positive decision-making.

Cons

Very expensive.
The looming threat of artificial rotation means there is potential for the format to be expensive to keep up with.
Effectively required to play many of the same cards can make the format feel repetitive to some.
Some card interactions are unintuitive and need to be learned.
Not the easiest format to pick up and learn.

Legacy

Legacy allows players to play any MTG card legal for sanctioned play in a two-player environment. This makes the gameplay incredibly fast, meaning turn-one kills are not only realistic but somewhat common. Many MTG players who have been around for a long time absolutely adore the format. The introduction of cards like Orcish Bowmasters