The recent Wizards of the Coast announcement on the phasing out of Extended, and its replacement with a new format known as Modern, has certainly gotten the Magic: the Gathering community buzzing.

For those who were stuck in a Time Warp, the new format makes all cards from the 8th Edition Core Set and the very first Mirrodin block legal.

There’s a ban list too though, which IMHO makes the format a little more balanced as a number of the cards do break the format a little. Yes Stoneforge Mystic, we’re talking about your kind.

Now, as expected, the Modern announcement certainly had an effect on the secondary marketplaces. In online card stores and eBay.com for example, the Ravnica rare “shocklands” have appreciated a fair bit, as players race to stock up on them.

A number of the format’s “star” players, such as the almighty Tarmogoyf, which many still consider as Green’s most efficient creature, remain insanely priced. Unless you consider US$100 per copy, a very sane price of course!

Now, these are early days in the Modern format, as players everywhere continue to figure out what are the best and most competitive decks.

Where does that leave the casual players like me? To be honest, getting the powerhouse cards of the format would be way over my gaming budget, so I’d actually aim to have fun with some of the affordable alternatives.

I do have some of the Ravnica shocklands, but not all. The more affordable but equally decent alternatives would be the Ninth or Tenth Edition Core Set “painlands” – more costly in terms of life loss over time, but good value for money IMHO.

If you can splash the cash, do consider the cycle of rare lands from Shadowmoor – you need the colored mana to make net the two mana, but something easily doable I’d say. These are more expensive than the painlands for sure, but is definitely easier to the wallet compared to the Ravnica ones (which many would consider premium).

In terms of efficient and budget-friendly deck styles, a weenie rush complemented by some mass kill would work very well too.

You could run Roc Eggs and Rukh Eggs, and then mass kill (Day of Judgment anyone?) them for Rukh and Roc tokens, before dropping some Lhurgoyfs for the win condition.

Or, how about some old-fashioned swarming? Loam Lions, Wild Nacatls and Kird Apes are begging to go in the same deck. Throw in some quick removal a la Lightning Bolts and Path to Exiles and you’ve got yourself a fast deck. Now look for more uberefficient weenies that aren’t Tarmogoyfs and you’ve got yourself a solid weenie-burn deck!

So what do you guys think? Do tweet me at www.twitter.com/arcturus_mengsk or leave me feedback below!