Premodern Metagame Report: September 2026
Burn is now the most played deck, Terrageddon won Czech Nationals and Elves slipped. The Premodern metagame in September 2026, with our updated tier list, data from 2,733 decklists, the month's biggest tournaments and the cards that moved in price.
September reshuffled the Premodern metagame behind its top deck. Stiflenought is still the deck to beat, but the order behind it changed: Burn overtook Goblins as the most played deck, and Terrageddon turned the best numbers of any top deck into a national title. Here is what changed, what it means for our Premodern tier list, and which results and prices tell the story.
September 2026 at a glance
- Stiflenought stays #1: 8.7% of the metagame, a 53% win rate, the win at Bogardan War II and two top 4 finishes at Czech Nationals.
- Burn is the most played Premodern deck at 9.3% and moves up to #2 on our tier list as Sligh, ahead of Goblins.
- Terrageddon is the deck of the month: up 1.4 points to 5.9%, a 56% win rate, the best conversion of any top-ten deck and the Czech Nationals title. It jumps from #8 to #5.
- Oath of Druids climbs from #11 to #8 after an Oath build won Buckeye Brawl II. Elves drops from #7 to #12.
- No banlist change. The last one is still Parallax Tide, banned on 18 January 2026.
The Premodern tier list for September 2026
Our tier list is an editorial read of tournament results and league play, checked every month against the metagame data from MTGDecks. The top twelve after the September review:
| # | Deck | Change | Share | Win rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stiflenought | = | 8.7% | 53% |
| 2 | Sligh (Burn) | ▲ from 3 | 9.3% | 50% |
| 3 | Goblins | ▼ from 2 | 6.7% | 48% |
| 4 | Enchantress | = | 6.8% | 54% |
| 5 | Terrageddon | ▲ from 8 | 5.9% | 56% |
| 6 | Replenish | = | 4.2% | 58% |
| 7 | Landstill | ▼ from 5 | 5.2% | 52% |
| 8 | Oath of Druids | ▲ from 11 | 4.1% | 58% |
| 9 | Full English Breakfast | = | 2.5% | 57% |
| 10 | Mono Black | = | 4.0% | 45% |
| 11 | Stasis | ▲ from 12 | 2.6% | 61% |
| 12 | Elves | ▼ from 7 | 2.4% | 50% |
Meta share and win rate: MTGDecks, last 30 days to 30 September 2026, 2,733 decklists. Oath of Druids is listed there as "Oath Ponza". The full list of all 25 archetypes, each with a deck guide, is on our Premodern tier list.
What moved, and why
Burn passes Goblins
Burn made up 9.3% of all Premodern decklists in the last 30 days, more than any other deck, and its share is still growing (up 0.9 points). At major events it is even more present at 10.5%, and it converts there: Burn reached the top 25% of those events 1.23 times as often as its share of the field would predict. Goblins went the other way, down 0.8 points to 6.7%, with a conversion below expectation both overall (0.91x) and at major events (0.85x).
Goblins is far from gone. It finished second at Czech Nationals and won MTGO Premodern Online on 28 September. That is why it stays in the top three. Both decks are also among the cheapest at the top of the format: about $240 for Burn and $290 for Goblins on TCGplayer, which makes them the natural entry points (see our budget Premodern decks).
Terrageddon is the deck of the month
No top deck had a better September than Terrageddon. Its share rose 1.4 points to 5.9%, it won 56% of its matches, and it converted into top finishes better than any other deck in the top ten (1.34x). On 26 September it won the Czech Premodern Nationals in Prague, with 191 players one of the biggest events of the month. The plan is simple and brutal: build a board, destroy every land with Armageddon effects, and let Terravore grow on the rubble. It is also the most expensive deck in the top ten, at around $5,600.
Oath of Druids and Stasis climb
Oath of Druids won 58% of its matches at 4.1% of the field, with a 1.30x conversion, and an Oath build won Buckeye Brawl II in Columbus, Ohio (125 players): Oath Spec, with four Oath of Druids, Terravore and Cataclysm. It moves from #11 to #8.
Stasis posted the highest win rate of any deck with at least 2% of the metagame: 61%. It moves up one spot to #11. A small share keeps it from going higher.
Replenish keeps overperforming
Replenish won 58% of its matches and converted at 1.29x overall. At major events its conversion was 1.89x, the highest of the most played decks. It holds #6 rather than climbing because its share fell 0.8 points to 4.2%.
Elves and Landstill slip
Elves sits at 2.4% with a conversion of 0.92x overall and only 0.51x at major events, so it drops from #7 to #12. Landstill is steady at 5.2% with a 52% win rate, but its 0.95x conversion now trails Terrageddon and Replenish, so it moves from #5 to #7.
The biggest Premodern tournaments in September 2026
Czech Premodern Nationals 2026 (Prague, 191 players)
Terrageddon took the title. Goblins finished second and two Stiflenought decks reached the top four. The top eight also included Enchantress and a Clerics deck that finished seventh. Full results: MTGDecks.
Bogardan War II (139 players)
A mono-blue Stiflenought list won Bogardan War II on 27 September, ahead of a Storm deck in second. Goblins and Burn filled the rest of the top four, and The Rock and Replenish made the top eight. Full results: MTGDecks.
Buckeye Brawl II (Columbus, Ohio, 125 players)
The Oath Spec deck that won on 12 September pairs Oath of Druids with Terravore, Cataclysm and Armageddon: a mix of the two biggest climbers on our tier list.
Magic Online
Goblins won MTGO Premodern Online on 28 September (40 players). In the Premodern MTGO Challenges, The Rock finished third and UWB Control fifth.
More September results
UBG Madness won Lega Roma (28 players). In Apeldoorn, Beefcake won Bolt the Bird (40 players) with Burn in third. Storm had a good month for a deck outside the tier list: second at Bogardan War II and third at Semanal Premodern in São Paulo. Every decklist is in our archive of Premodern tournament decks.
Premodern card prices in September
We record the price of the old-frame printing of 720 Premodern cards every day, on TCGplayer (USD) and Cardmarket (EUR). These are the biggest moves from 1 to 30 September among cards above $10, counting only cards where both markets moved in the same direction.
| Card | 1 Sep | 30 Sep | USD | EUR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Undead Warchief | $12.39 | $15.40 | +24.3% | +15.8% |
| Goblin Warchief | $9.96 | $11.79 | +18.4% | +49.1% |
| Dust Bowl | $37.84 | $41.43 | +9.5% | +6.4% |
| Volrath's Stronghold | $124.58 | $134.91 | +8.3% | +8.2% |
| Altar of Bone | $11.07 | $11.81 | +6.7% | +15.9% |
| Reanimate | $14.68 | $15.54 | +5.9% | +7.5% |
| Morphling | $49.94 | $42.25 | -15.4% | -16.5% |
| Parallax Tide | $16.98 | $15.00 | -11.7% | -16.3% |
| Phyrexian Furnace | $12.07 | $10.75 | -10.9% | -11.4% |
Prices: our daily tracking of the old-frame printing, TCGplayer market price in USD and Cardmarket in EUR. City of Brass is left out on purpose: we switched its tracked printing to Seventh Edition on 6 September, so its chart shows a step, not a market move.
Goblin Warchief is a four-of in the Goblins list that won MTGO Premodern Online. Dust Bowl, played in Landstill and The Rock, and Volrath's Stronghold, a key card in The Rock, rose between 6 and 10% on both markets. Parallax Tide keeps sliding more than eight months after its ban. Every card's full price history is on its card page, and the daily risers and fallers are in our Premodern card list.
Banlist: no changes in September
The Premodern banlist still has 33 cards. The last change was on 18 January 2026, when Parallax Tide was banned. Our banlist page explains why each card is banned and lists every change since 2018. Official updates are announced on premodernmagic.com.
What we are watching in October
Three questions for the next report. Can Terrageddon hold its share after the Czech title? Does Burn stay ahead of Goblins? And does Replenish keep converting at major events? Looking further ahead, Premodern Against Cancer in Turin on 29 November is on our list of upcoming Premodern tournaments.
How this report is made
The metagame numbers come from MTGDecks: meta share, win rate and conversion for the 30 days to 30 September 2026 (2,733 decklists), and the same figures for major events over 60 days (873 decklists). Conversion compares a deck's share among the top 25% finishers of each event with its share of the whole field: 1.00x is exactly as expected, above that the deck overperforms. Results and decklists come from our own archive of Premodern tournament decks, and prices from our daily price tracking. The tier list itself is our editorial judgment of all of this, not a formula.
Questions
What is the best deck in Premodern right now?
Stiflenought. It tops our tier list for September 2026 with 8.7% of the metagame, a 53% win rate and the win at Bogardan War II, ahead of Burn (Sligh) and Goblins.
What is the most played Premodern deck?
Burn. It made up 9.3% of the 2,733 Premodern decklists recorded by MTGDecks in the 30 days to 30 September 2026, just ahead of Stiflenought at 8.7%.
Which Premodern deck has the highest win rate?
Stasis, at 61% over the last 30 days, among decks with at least 2% of the metagame. Replenish and Oath of Druids follow at 58%.
Did the Premodern banlist change in September 2026?
No. The banlist still has 33 cards. The last change was on 18 January 2026, when Parallax Tide was banned.
