Premodern Chronicles

Rootwater Thief

Creature — Merfolk Rogue · Nemesis

Rootwater Thief (Premodern, Nemesis)

Rootwater Thief is a blue card, legal in Premodern, shown in its old-frame Nemesis printing.

Price and printings: Cardmarket (€2.29) · TCGplayer ($2.4) · Scryfall

How often Rootwater Thief is played

Rootwater Thief is maindecked in 1 of 39 tournament decks in this archive (3%), averaging 3.0 copies.

Counting only the 17 decks that can cast blue cards, 1 of them play it (6%).

See how it compares on the Premodern staples list.

Tournament decks with Rootwater Thief

Premodern Chronicles, Magic: The Gathering Premodern tournament results, decklists & metagame

Anno MMXXVI · Estd. 1995–2003

The Premodern Almanac
of Tournament Results

A curated chronicle of notable Premodern decks: winning lists gathered from tournaments around the world.

❧  Fresh from the tables  ❧
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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
Fourth Edition
Ice Age
Chronicles
Homelands
Alliances
Mirage
Visions
Fifth Edition
Weatherlight
Tempest
Stronghold
Exodus
Urza's Saga
Urza's Legacy
Sixth Edition
Urza's Destiny
Mercadian Masques
Nemesis
Prophecy
Invasion
Planeshift
Seventh Edition
Apocalypse
Odyssey
Torment
Judgment
Onslaught
Legions
Scourge

To keep the format diverse and interactive, these cards are banned, including the classic ante cards.

Current Banlist

Banlist is maintained by the Premodern format committee, check premodernmagic.com for official updates.

Learn more

Official format home: premodernmagic.com · Community & events: playpremodern.com

Spicy Brews

Spicy Brews

Unusual, rarely-seen Premodern decks: the spicy lists you won't find on a Top 8 photo.

Budget Premodern Decks

Competitive Premodern without the Reserved List price tag: the cheapest proven archetypes, each with a step-by-step upgrade path from its full deck guide.

Premodern Card List

Every card from the tournament decks, spicy brews and archetype guides we track, each with its printing, price and the decks that play it.

Premodern Staples

The most played cards across the tournament decks and archetypes we track. Maindecks and sideboards are counted separately: a card in half the sideboards is a hate card, not a format staple.

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Premodern Tier List