Powder Keg

Artifact · Urza's Destiny

Powder Keg is legal in Premodern, shown in its old-frame Urza's Destiny printing.

Price and printings: Cardmarket (€59.13) · TCGplayer ($75.32) · Scryfall

How often Powder Keg is played

Powder Keg is maindecked in 6 of 39 tournament decks in this archive (15%), averaging 2.0 copies; kept in 5 sideboards (13%); used by 4 of 17 tracked archetypes.

See how it compares on the Premodern staples list.

Premodern archetypes that play Powder Keg

Landstill: A sweeper that never casts a spell on your own turn: tick it up under Standstill and clear every one- and two-drop at once. Quietly one of the best cards against Sligh and Goblins.

Tournament decks with Powder Keg

Mono B Control: 7th Place at Premodern & Hooters 8th Edition (2× mainboard)
Black Contamination: 3rd Place at PREM Brescia (3× mainboard)
Pox: 3rd Place at Liga Premodern Alicante 2026 9ª Jornada (2× main + sideboard)
UW Landstill: 1st Place at New England Summer Regional (1× mainboard)
Mono W Tron: 2nd Place at Premodern at the Port (2× mainboard)
Moneyball Black: 2nd Place at Liga Paulista de Premodern 2026 (2× sideboard)
Super Wayfarer: 1st Place at Premodern Online Monthly (3× mainboard)
Black Clerics: 2nd Place at Lega Milano 3/9 (1× sideboard)
Welder Survival: 1st Place at 1K @ SCG CON Washington (1× sideboard)
Mono R Ponza: 1st Place at Chile Premier League – May 2026 (1× sideboard)

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The Format

What is Premodern?

Premodern is a Magic: The Gathering format played with cards from Fourth Edition through Scourge (1995–2003), the game's golden era. It captures the feel of early competitive Magic: iconic old-border cards, meaningful decisions and a rich, interactive metagame, free of the power creep of later sets.

How it plays

Premodern is an eternal, non-rotating format. Games reward tight play, deckbuilding skill and knowledge of the metagame rather than raw speed. Combo, control, aggro and midrange all have a home, from Goblins and Stiflenought to Landstill, Replenish and The Rock.

Deck construction

Minimum 60-card main deck.
Up to a 15-card sideboard.
At most 4 copies of any single card (basic lands excepted).

A card is legal as long as its name appears in one of these sets. (Reprints in newer sets are legal too, but on Premodern Chronicles we always show the period-correct old-frame printing.)

Legal Sets