Premodern The Solution Deck Guide (2026)

Premodern The Solution is a white-blue aggro-control deck, mostly with red, built around Meddling Mage, Mother of Runes and Lightning Angel. The name goes back to Zvi Mowshowitz's Pro Tour Tokyo 2001 deck. It has become rare, with 37 lists on MTGTop8 since April and three since September. Two of those three are the white-blue build without red: Emil Sarauw won Århus Onslaught (41 players) with it on 3 October, and a second copy made the top eight. This guide follows the red build, which most lists since April play.

How the deck wins

Meddling Mage is a 2/2 for two that also stops the opponent from casting the card they need most, though not a copy already on the battlefield, and each turn they spend looking for an answer to the Mage is another attack for you.
Lightning Angel is the main threat, since it attacks the turn it comes down. Mother of Runes protects it from targeted removal and from blockers of one color once she has been under your control since your most recent turn began; colorless sources such as Cursed Scroll and Masticore, edicts and Wrath of God get around her.
Against aggro decks Exalted Angel matters most, since the 4/5 flier gains you life whenever it deals damage. Turning it face up does not use the stack, so it cannot be answered in response.
About two in five lists since April play no red: the white-blue build keeps Meddling Mage, Mother of Runes, Exalted Angel and Swords to Plowshares and adds Standstill, Armageddon, Wasteland and Mishra's Factory, with Weathered Wayfarer, Silver Knight or Whipcorder as extra creatures and Memory Lapse among the counters. A few players splash green instead of playing counters, with Call of the Herd and Wild Mongrel, or Birds of Paradise and Mox Diamond: Andy Habermehl finished second at the Peach Ball (59 players) on 22 August, and Fuzzy reached the top four of a Liga Paulista stage on 12 September.

Core cards

Key cards

Lightning Angel: It is a 3/4 flier for four that attacks the turn it comes down thanks to haste and still blocks thanks to vigilance. Its four toughness survives Pyroclasm and Fire, though not Wrath of God or a Pernicious Deed for four, and since it is blue, red and white, both kinds of Blasts destroy it.
Meddling Mage: You choose a nonland card name as it enters, and from then on spells with that name cannot be cast, even while you are tapped out. It does not stop activated abilities such as cycling, cards already on the battlefield or cards put onto the battlefield without being cast, and it stops working once the Mage leaves the battlefield or loses its abilities to Humility.
Mother of Runes: She is in about nine of ten lists, mostly as three copies. Tap her to give one of your creatures, herself included, protection from a color until end of turn, which stops targeted removal and blockers of that color. She cannot use it on the turn she arrives or during the opponent's next turn.
Swords to Plowshares: Exiles any creature for one mana, though its controller gains life equal to its power. It answers Phyrexian Dreadnought, a face-up Exalted Angel or a reanimated Akroma, and it is cheap enough to cast alongside another spell in the same turn.
Lightning Bolt: Kills Birds of Paradise, Goblin Lackey or Priest of Titania for one mana early on, and later deals the last 3 damage to the opponent. Wild Mongrel survives it if they discard two cards.
Fire // Ice: Fire deals 2 damage divided between one or two targets, so it kills two X/1s from Goblins or Elves at once. Ice taps a blocker, or a key land such as Serra's Sanctum in their upkeep, and draws a card.
Exalted Angel: Cast it face down for {3} on turn three and turn it face up for {2}{W}{W} on turn four. It is a 4/5 flier that gains you life whenever it deals damage, so each attack swings the race by 8, unless Sulfuric Vortex is out or Stifle counters the trigger. Face down it is a colorless 2/2 with mana value 0, which Smother kills.
Fact or Fiction: Reveal the top five cards, the opponent splits them into two piles, and you put the pile you choose into your hand. Cast it at the end of the opponent's turn when you held up a counter you did not need.

Mulligan guide

Keep

Two or three lands producing at least two of your three colors plus a one- or two-mana play. Flooded Strand counts as a white or a blue source, since it finds a basic Plains or Island, but not as a red one.
Any hand with Meddling Mage plus interaction is close to an automatic keep.
Two-landers with Portent or Impulse to find the third.

Ship

One-landers always, and five-landers with no early play.
Color-screwed hands that cannot make white and blue by turn two, since Swords and Mage are your on-curve interaction.
Hands with only counters and removal and no creature, since the deck loses long games.

In most games you are the one attacking, so a hand that cannot put a creature on the battlefield by turn four is usually a mulligan, even if it holds good cards.

Play tips and sequencing

Name the card that would beat you with Meddling Mage: Wrath of God against Landstill, BW Control and Tron, Phyrexian Dreadnought against Stiflenought, Solitary Confinement or Parallax Wave against Enchantress, Survival of the Fittest against Elves and Pernicious Deed against The Rock. Against Reanimator, naming Exhume still leaves Reanimate and Animate Dead, so keep Tormod's Crypt and counters ready as well.
Activate Mother of Runes on your own turn only to get an attacker past a blocker, since she then stays tapped until your next untap step. Otherwise keep her untapped for their removal spell and respond to it, choosing the color then.
Once the opponent is at 8 life or less with Lightning Angel on the battlefield, an attack plus Lightning Bolt and Fire is lethal, so keep the burn in hand rather than spending it on a 2/2.
Tap out for Lightning Angel on turn four against anything slower than you: the haste damage is worth more than a held counterspell. Hold counters only when you are already ahead or against combo.
Most lists play Mana Leak and Counterspell; Miscalculation, which cycles for two when it is dead, is the third choice.
Your painlands and Shivan Reef deal 1 damage only when tapped for colored mana, City of Brass every time it is tapped, and Gemstone Mine is sacrificed after its third use, so fetch basics with Flooded Strand when you can and tap painlands for colorless mana whenever a spell allows it, above all against Sligh.

Matchups

Stiflenought (even): Meddling Mage names Phyrexian Dreadnought, and Swords to Plowshares or Disenchant answers it if it lands, but Daze and Stifle slow your three-color mana, and Powder Keg, main deck in most of their lists, destroys Mother of Runes, Meddling Mage or a face-down Exalted Angel. After boarding their Hydroblast and Blue Elemental Blast destroy Lightning Angel, which is red, and your Seal of Cleansing destroys the Dreadnought, or Annul counters it in the lists that play it. Limited data: 50 percent over 14 matches.
Goblins (even): After boarding, Pyroclasm sweeps their board, and Circle of Protection: Red, Warmth and Hydroblast come in as well, but a turn-one Goblin Lackey still steals games while your painlands and City of Brass cost you life. Limited data: 42 percent over 12 matches.
Sligh (even): Your fetchlands hand them some free damage, but Lightning Angel survives Lightning Bolt, Mother of Runes protects your creatures from red, Meddling Mage can name Fireblast, and Exalted Angel gains you life whenever it deals damage, unless Sulfuric Vortex is out. Circle of Protection: Red and Warmth come in after boarding. Limited data: 60 percent over 10 matches.
Enchantress (even): You must be the aggressor and name a lock piece correctly. Argothian Enchantress has shroud against Lightning Bolt and Fire // Ice, and a resolved Solitary Confinement blanks your deck. Very limited data.
Landstill (even): You are the aggressor, and Mother of Runes protects your creatures from their Swords to Plowshares, but Wrath of God, counters, Powder Keg and Mishra's Factory hold you off once they stabilize, and a resolved Standstill draws them three cards for the first spell you cast into it. Humility, main deck in about half their lists, makes every creature a 1/1 without abilities, so your Angels lose flying, Mother of Runes stops working and the card your Meddling Mage named can be cast again. Name Wrath of God with Meddling Mage, and expect Hydroblast, Blue Elemental Blast and Circle of Protection: Red after boarding. Very limited data: 0 percent over 6 matches.
Elves (even): Pyroclasm after boarding kills most of their mana creatures, and Hibernation, in a few sideboards, returns their whole green board to their hand after they overcommit. An unanswered Survival of the Fittest finds Masticore, whose colorless damage kills Mother of Runes and Meddling Mage through her protection, so name Survival with Meddling Mage. No match data.
Mono Black (even): Diabolic Edict goes around Mother of Runes, and Cursed Scroll is colorless, so her protection does not stop it either. After boarding, Engineered Plague naming Cleric kills Mother, Gloom makes your white spells cost three more, though a face-down Exalted Angel is colorless and is not taxed, and Dystopia makes you sacrifice a white permanent in each of your upkeeps. Your fliers outclass their ground creatures, and Meddling Mage names Hypnotic Specter or Cursed Scroll. No match data.
UG Madness (even): Lightning Bolt, Fire // Ice and Swords to Plowshares trade efficiently with their creatures, and Meddling Mage naming Arrogant Wurm or Circular Logic stops it even through madness. Roar of the Wurm tokens outclass your ground creatures, and Wonder in their graveyard gives their team flying, so only your Angels and, in some of your lists, an animated Faerie Conclave can still block. No match data.
The Rock (unfavorable): Pernicious Deed for two sweeps Mother of Runes, Meddling Mage and a face-down Exalted Angel unless you turn it face up in response for {2}{W}{W}, and only a face-up Exalted Angel survives a Deed for four; edicts ignore Mother of Runes, and Recurring Nightmare wins most long games. Naming Deed is close to mandatory. No match data.
Reanimator (favorable): Tormod's Crypt, counters on the reanimation spell and Swords to Plowshares on the creature are separate answers, but Meddling Mage stops only one spell, and they play Reanimate, Exhume and, in most lists, Animate Dead. Akroma has protection from red, so Lightning Bolt cannot target it and Lightning Angel cannot block it, and Exhume also returns a creature from your graveyard. After boarding Iridescent Angel and Ihsan's Shade cannot be targeted by Swords, and Oath of Druids, in most of their sideboards, gets around your graveyard hate as long as you control more creatures. No match data.
Tron (favorable): Your clock is faster than theirs, and Meddling Mage can name Wrath of God, though it cannot stop Decree of Justice being cycled, since cycling is an ability. Masticore, in most of their lists, kills Mother of Runes and Meddling Mage with colorless damage that Mother cannot prevent, Powder Keg in some lists destroys one of them, and Mana Leak, Prohibit and Miscalculation fight your threats. After boarding expect Circle of Protection: Red and Hydroblast for Lightning Angel. No match data.
Dromar Control (even): Dromar Control is the white-blue-black version of the same deck. You have the faster clock and the burn; they have Vindicate, Duress, Diabolic Edict, Shadowmage Infiltrator for card advantage and their own Meddling Mage and Exalted Angel, while Wrath of God is only in some of their lists. After boarding, Engineered Plague naming Cleric kills Mother of Runes and Hydroblast destroys Lightning Angel. No match data.
Clerics (slightly favorable): Their creatures are small and stay on the ground, so Fire // Ice, Lightning Bolt and, after boarding, Pyroclasm kill them while Lightning Angel flies over. With Rotlung Reanimator on the battlefield, though, every Cleric that dies, Rotlung itself and your Mother of Runes included, gives them a 2/2 Zombie, so exile Rotlung with Swords to Plowshares when you can. Duress and Cabal Therapy take your counters, and Gloom, in many of their sideboards, taxes your white spells. Name Dark Supplicant with Meddling Mage, and respect Cabal Archon's drain. No match data.
Deadguy Ale (even): Meddling Mage naming Swords to Plowshares or Vindicate takes away one of their answers, and Mother of Runes protects your creatures, so they try to kill Mother before she can use her ability. Their own Exalted Angel blocks Lightning Angel, so keep Swords for it, and expect Circle of Protection: Red and Warmth after boarding. After boarding Engineered Plague naming Cleric, in almost every one of their sideboards, kills Mother of Runes, and Dystopia, in a few, makes you sacrifice a white permanent in each of your upkeeps; Mother cannot stop either. No match data.
Aluren (even): Meddling Mage, Mother of Runes, Counterspell, Swords and Disenchant are all live, and a Mage naming Aluren is close to game over, except that Show and Tell, in some of their sideboards, goes around it. Man-o'-War and Chain of Vapor answer the Mage. Meddling Mage can also be cast through their own Aluren, so they will start the combo the moment it resolves. No meaningful match data.
Terrageddon (even): Meddling Mage can name Armageddon or Terravore, Exalted Angel and, in the red lists, Lightning Angel fly over their board, and Mother of Runes protects your creatures from Swords. Their Wasteland and Armageddon hit your three-color mana base hard, and burn cannot target Nimble Mongoose. Very limited data.
MUD (slightly favorable): No recent match data. Lightning Angel behind Mother of Runes is a fast clock, Meddling Mage names Tinker, Disenchant and Seal of Cleansing break the lock, and sideboard Pyroblast and Red Elemental Blast counter Tinker. Their answers are Tangle Wire, Triskelion and Pyroclasm.
Full English Breakfast (even): Meddling Mage can name Survival of the Fittest, Volrath's Shapeshifter, Hermit Druid or Unearth, and Swords to Plowshares, counters and sideboard graveyard hate answer the rest, though Lightning Bolt and Fire cannot target Akroma, which has protection from red. Their Triskelion deals colorless damage that Mother of Runes cannot prevent. They switch plans when the Mage names their main line, and after boarding they bring Swords, Ghitu Slinger and Pyroclasm for your creatures and Duress and Xantid Swarm against your counters. Only two recorded matches.
Stasis (slightly unfavorable): Meddling Mage naming Stasis stops the lock, and Lightning Angel has vigilance, so it attacks every turn under Stasis. Bring Pyroblast, Red Elemental Blast and Annul. Their Fire kills Mage, and Mother of Runes while she is tapped or still summoning sick, and Chill taxes your red spells. Very limited data.
Replenish (even): Counterspell, Mana Leak and Meddling Mage naming Replenish fight the setup, Exalted Angel and Lightning Angel, which has haste, are the clock, and your burn kills small animated enchantments, though not Parallax Wave, which is a 4/4 under Opalescence. After boarding Cleansing Meditation destroys every enchantment at once, but their next Replenish returns them unless Tormod's Crypt has emptied their graveyard. Their Abeyance, Defense Grid and Meddling Mage are the cards to answer. No match data.
Oath of Druids (even): Counters and Meddling Mage naming Oath of Druids keep the enchantment off the battlefield, Disenchant and Seal of Cleansing destroy it once it is there, and Swords to Plowshares answers the Terravore it finds, but your own creatures switch Oath on. Wasteland, Rishadan Port, Winter's Grasp and Thermokarst attack your painlands, Shivan Reef and Gemstone Mine; a fetch land can be sacrificed in response to Wasteland. Sphere of Resistance makes your spells cost one more. After boarding Cursed Totem stops Mother of Runes, and Pyroclasm, in about a third of their sideboards, kills her and Meddling Mage. No match data.
Psychatog (even): Lightning Angel flies over Psychatog, and you hold Swords to Plowshares and counters, but Gush and Accumulated Knowledge give them more cards. Smother and Sickening Dreams kill Mother of Runes and Meddling Mage, and Duress takes your counters and burn. Cast Swords on the Tog in response to a pump activation, since the cards they paid for it are already gone. After boarding they bring Hydroblast for Lightning Angel. No match data.
White Weenie (slightly unfavorable): Lightning Bolt and Fire cannot touch Silver Knight or Soltari Priest, which have protection from red (Ice can still tap them), and their curve is lower than yours. Lightning Angel and Mother of Runes, which protects your creatures from their Swords, are your best cards, and Worship from your sideboard keeps your life from dropping below 1 while you control a creature. Very limited data: 20 percent over 5 matches.
BW Control (even): Meddling Mage naming Wrath of God or Vindicate and Mother of Runes protecting Lightning Angel are your best cards; naming Decree of Justice does not stop it being cycled, since cycling is an ability. Wrath does not target, so Mother cannot save a board, and Infest, in some of their sideboards, kills Mage and Mother together. Their Exalted Angel, usually cast face down, and Eternal Dragon block Lightning Angel, so counter Wrath of God and the face-down Angel, and let the cheap discard resolve. After boarding expect Circle of Protection: Red and Warmth. No meaningful match data.
Gro-a-Tog (even): Both decks play Meddling Mage, Swords to Plowshares, Fire // Ice and counters. Lightning Angel outsizes Quirion Dryad until it grows, and Mother of Runes protects your creatures from their removal; their best cards are Meddling Mage naming Lightning Angel and Armageddon, which is in the main deck of about two thirds of their lists. After boarding expect Hydroblast for Lightning Angel and Pyroclasm for Mother of Runes and Meddling Mage. No meaningful match data.
Pit Rack (slightly unfavorable): Duress takes your counters, Cabal Therapy can name Lightning Angel, and Gloom after boarding makes Swords to Plowshares, Mother of Runes, Meddling Mage and Lightning Angel cost three more, though a face-down Exalted Angel is colorless and is not taxed. Dystopia, also after boarding, makes you sacrifice a white permanent in each of your upkeeps. Mother of Runes protects your creatures from Smother and Funeral Charm once her summoning sickness wears off, though not from Diabolic Edict or from Cursed Scroll, which is colorless, and Meddling Mage can name The Rack. Very limited data.
Rebels (even): Lightning Bolt and Fire // Ice kill their searchers before they tap, unless their own Mother of Runes protects them, and Lightning Angel races them in the air. Meddling Mage does not stop a Rebel that is searched onto the battlefield, so name Swords to Plowshares instead of Lin Sivvi, or a counterspell against the white-blue lists. Expect Circle of Protection: Red, Absolute Law and Hydroblast after boarding. No match data.
Contamination (slightly unfavorable): Counter Contamination or name it with Meddling Mage: once it resolves, your lands make only black mana, so Lightning Angel, Swords to Plowshares, Lightning Bolt, Fire // Ice and your counters cannot be cast; only a face-down Exalted Angel still can, and it cannot be turned face up. Duress and Cabal Therapy take your counters first, and Innocent Blood and Powder Keg go around Mother of Runes. No match data.
Turbo Lands (slightly unfavorable): Glacial Chasm, in some of their lists, prevents all damage to them, Lightning Angel's and Lightning Bolt's alike, and you cannot remove a land, so fight their engine with Meddling Mage and counters: name Seismic Assault, in the lists that play it, before they cast it, and counter Exploration and Horn of Greed. Mother of Runes protects the Mage from Seismic Assault and from the Pyroblast they bring in, since both are red. No match data.
Fluctuator (slightly favorable): Meddling Mage naming Fluctuator before they cast it keeps every cycle at {2}, naming Songs of the Damned still leaves Haunting Misery, and Counterspell and Mana Leak back it up. Their Expunge kills Meddling Mage or Lightning Angel, so keep a second Mage or a counter. After boarding, Annul, Disenchant and Tormod's Crypt help, and Red Elemental Blast counters a Misdirection. No match data.
RG Zoo (even): Zoo's burn kills Mother of Runes and Meddling Mage, but Lightning Angel survives Lightning Bolt and blocks their ground attackers, and Swords to Plowshares answers a grown Quirion Dryad. Circle of Protection: Red and Warmth only cover the red half, since Elephant tokens and Treetop Village are green, and Pyroclasm after boarding kills their one-drops, unless they pump Basking Rootwalla, and a Dryad with fewer than two counters, though not the Elephants, and your own Mother of Runes and Meddling Mage too. Expect Pyroblast and Red Elemental Blast, which destroy Lightning Angel because it is blue. No meaningful match data.
Zombies (slightly favorable): Lightning Bolt and Fire // Ice kill their 2/2s and Lord of the Undead, and Lightning Angel and Exalted Angel fly over a board that cannot block them, so race in the air with Mother of Runes protecting the Angel. Shepherd of Rot and Gempalm Polluter make you lose life past your blockers, and Worship does not stop that, because it only changes damage, so count your fetchland and painland life too. After boarding, Pyroclasm, in the lists that board it, sweeps their board, and their Gloom taxes Swords to Plowshares and all your white creatures: counter it or name it with Meddling Mage. Expect Dystopia too. No match data.

Sideboard guide

vs Stiflenought, Stasis and Turbo Lands: Pyroblast, Red Elemental Blast, Seal of Cleansing. These plans use Kim Grymer's 75 from the budget section. Next to the core it plays four Lightning Bolt, three Fire // Ice, three Portent and two each of Counterspell, Mana Leak, Miscalculation, Impulse and Fact or Fiction; the sideboard is three Tormod's Crypt, two Seal of Cleansing, two Pyroclasm, two Phyrexian Furnace, Worship, Warmth, Pyroblast, Red Elemental Blast, Hydroblast and Blue Elemental Blast. Meddling Mage, Mother of Runes, both Angels, Swords to Plowshares and the lands always stay. Against all three, in: Pyroblast, Red Elemental Blast and both Seal of Cleansing; out: all four Lightning Bolt, which have no good target here: Phyrexian Dreadnought is too big, Stasis plays no creatures and Chill makes red spells cost two more, and Glacial Chasm prevents the damage to a Turbo Lands player. The Blasts counter Stifle, Counterspell, Stasis or Time Warp, and Seal of Cleansing destroys the Dreadnought, Powder Keg, Stasis, Black Vise, Cursed Totem, Exploration or Horn of Greed, though Stifle can counter its activation.
vs Landstill, Tron, Aluren and MUD: Pyroblast, Red Elemental Blast, Seal of Cleansing. Against Landstill, Tron and Aluren, in: Pyroblast, Red Elemental Blast and both Seal of Cleansing; out: two Lightning Bolt and two Portent. Against MUD, in: the same four cards; out: two Portent and both Impulse, since Lightning Bolt kills Goblin Welder. The Blasts counter Counterspell, Mana Leak, Fact or Fiction, Intuition or Tinker, and against Aluren also Cavern Harpy, Raven Familiar and Man-o'-War, which are still spells when Aluren lets them be cast for free. Seal of Cleansing destroys Humility, Powder Keg or Standstill, Circle of Protection: Red, Tangle Wire, Aluren itself, or Masticore unless they pay {2} to regenerate it. Put Seal on the battlefield before Standstill: activating it is not a spell, so it destroys Standstill without giving them three cards.
vs Psychatog, Dromar Control, Gro-a-Tog and UG Madness: Pyroblast, Red Elemental Blast, Tormod's Crypt. Against all four, in: Pyroblast and Red Elemental Blast; out: two Portent. The Blasts counter Counterspell, Gush, Circular Logic or Fact or Fiction and destroy Psychatog, Shadowmage Infiltrator, Meddling Mage, Aquamoeba or Waterfront Bouncer, which are all blue. Against Psychatog also two Tormod's Crypt for two Lightning Bolt, which rarely kill a Tog that can grow in response: exile their graveyard in response to a pump or to Accumulated Knowledge.
vs Replenish and Fluctuator: Tormod's Crypt, Seal of Cleansing, Pyroblast, Red Elemental Blast. Against both, in: all three Tormod's Crypt, both Seal of Cleansing, Pyroblast and Red Elemental Blast; out: all four Lightning Bolt and the three Portent. Exile their graveyard with Tormod's Crypt in response to Replenish or to Songs of the Damned, and keep another Crypt for their next attempt. Seal of Cleansing destroys Opalescence, Parallax Wave or Fluctuator, and the Blasts counter Attunement, Intuition, Frantic Search, Decree of Silence or Misdirection.
vs Enchantress and Oath of Druids: Seal of Cleansing. Against both, in: both Seal of Cleansing; out: two Lightning Bolt, which cannot target Argothian Enchantress and do not kill a grown Terravore. Seal of Cleansing destroys Solitary Confinement, Opalescence or Sylvan Library, or Oath of Druids, Sphere of Resistance or Cursed Totem, which would stop Mother of Runes.
vs Deadguy Ale, Mono Black and Pit Rack: Seal of Cleansing, Worship. Against all three, in: both Seal of Cleansing; out: both Miscalculation. Against Mono Black and Pit Rack also Worship for a Portent: they have no main-deck answer to an enchantment, so while you control a creature their attacks, Cursed Scroll and The Rack cannot take you below 1 life, though their edicts can take the creature. Seal of Cleansing destroys Phyrexian Arena, Engineered Plague, Gloom, Dystopia, The Rack, Bottomless Pit or Cursed Scroll; under Gloom its activation costs three more.
vs BW Control and The Rock: Seal of Cleansing, Phyrexian Furnace. Against both, in: both Seal of Cleansing and both Phyrexian Furnace; out: two Lightning Bolt and two Portent, since Exalted Angel, Eternal Dragon and most of The Rock's creatures survive a Bolt. Seal of Cleansing destroys Circle of Protection: Red or Engineered Plague against BW Control, and Recurring Nightmare or Pernicious Deed against The Rock, though they can activate the Deed in response. Phyrexian Furnace exiles Eternal Dragon from their graveyard before it returns, or the creature that Recurring Nightmare targets.
vs Reanimator, Full English Breakfast, Clerics and Contamination: Tormod's Crypt, Phyrexian Furnace, Pyroclasm, Seal of Cleansing. Against Reanimator, in: all three Tormod's Crypt and both Phyrexian Furnace; out: three Lightning Bolt, which cannot target Akroma, and two Portent. Against Full English Breakfast, in: the same five cards; out: the three Portent and both Impulse, since Lightning Bolt kills Birds of Paradise and Hermit Druid. Exile their graveyard with Tormod's Crypt in response to Reanimate, Exhume or Animate Dead, or after a Hermit Druid activation, and use Furnace on the one creature they want back. Against Clerics, in: both Pyroclasm and two Tormod's Crypt; out: both Miscalculation and two Portent. Cast Pyroclasm once Rotlung Reanimator is gone, or every Cleric it kills, your Mother of Runes included, gives them a 2/2 Zombie, and keep the Crypts for Unearth and Living Death. Against Contamination, in: both Seal of Cleansing and two Tormod's Crypt; out: both Miscalculation and two Portent. Seal needs no mana to activate, so a Seal already on the battlefield destroys Contamination, and a Crypt stops Nether Spirit from returning.
vs Sligh, Goblins and RG Zoo: Hydroblast, Blue Elemental Blast, Warmth, Worship, Pyroclasm. Against Sligh and Goblins, in: Hydroblast, Blue Elemental Blast, Warmth, Worship and both Pyroclasm; out: both Miscalculation, both Fact or Fiction and two Portent. Against RG Zoo, the same without Worship, since most of their lists play Naturalize in the main deck, and one Portent stays. The Blasts counter a burn spell or destroy a red creature for one mana, Warmth gains you 2 life for every red spell they cast, and Pyroclasm kills every creature with toughness 2 or less, yours included, so keep Mother of Runes untapped to protect one. While you control a creature, Worship keeps their damage from taking you below 1 life. Anarchy, in about half of the Goblins and Sligh sideboards, destroys Warmth, Worship and every white creature at once.
vs Elves, White Weenie, Zombies, Rebels and Terrageddon: Pyroclasm, Seal of Cleansing, Worship. Against all five, in: both Pyroclasm; out: both Miscalculation, or two Portent against Terrageddon, where the counters are your answer to Armageddon. Pyroclasm kills mana creatures, the Rebel searchers, Zombies once Lord of the Undead is gone, and Nimble Mongoose before threshold, since shroud does not stop damage that does not target; it does not hurt Silver Knight or Soltari Priest, which have protection from red. Against Elves also both Seal of Cleansing for two Portent: Seal destroys Survival of the Fittest, or Masticore unless they pay {2} to regenerate it. Against White Weenie and Zombies also Worship for a Portent; it stops their damage from taking you below 1 life, though not the life loss from Shepherd of Rot or Gempalm Polluter.
vs Other red builds and the white-blue build: Annul, Disenchant, Circle of Protection: Red, Cleansing Meditation, Hibernation, Hydroblast, Pyroblast, Pyroclasm. The newest red list on MTGTop8, Magicecs83's (top four of 12 at an Eternal League event in Italy, 1 October), plays two Disenchant in the main deck and boards four Galina's Knight, three Annul, three Hydroblast, two Pyroblast, two Pyroclasm and a third Disenchant. Annul, in almost half the red sideboards since April, counters Phyrexian Dreadnought, Stasis, Aluren, Opalescence, Oath of Druids or Fluctuator and can take Seal of Cleansing's place in the plans above; Galina's Knight, a 2/2 with protection from red, comes in against Sligh, Goblins and RG Zoo. Circle of Protection: Red, in about two of five red sideboards, joins the plan against the red decks, Cleansing Meditation, in about half, the plan against Enchantress and Replenish, and a few lists bring Hibernation against Elves. The white-blue build has no red cards and boards Annul, Tormod's Crypt, Worship, Wrath of God, Hydroblast and Blue Elemental Blast instead.

Budget and upgrades

Typical cost: $500–$1,220. The reference list (Kim Grymer, top four of 11 players at Kappa Bar in Copenhagen, 9 August) costs about $1,220 with its sideboard at the Premodern-era printings tracked here. Four Flooded Strand are about $480 of that and four Meddling Mage about $140; two Reflecting Pool, three Shivan Reef and a City of Brass add about $210, and three Tormod's Crypt about $90. Lightning Angel costs about $5. The green build with four Mox Diamond runs past $6,000.

Keep the core: Lightning Angel (about $5), Meddling Mage (about $35), Mother of Runes (about $12), Exalted Angel (about $33), Swords to Plowshares, Lightning Bolt, Fire // Ice and the counters.
Cut the four Flooded Strand for basics and another painland: Adarkar Wastes and Battlefield Forge cost about $5 and $10. That alone is the biggest saving.
Play Grand Coliseum (about $7) instead of Reflecting Pool (about $47), City of Brass and Shivan Reef.
Build the sideboard from Blasts, Pyroclasm, Seal of Cleansing, Circle of Protection: Red and Phyrexian Furnace before Tormod's Crypt.
That build costs about $500 with sideboard.

Every deck that costs under $500 with reprints is on our budget decks page, priced from a real tournament list.

Premodern The Solution Deck Guide (2026)

How the deck wins

Core cards

Key cards

Mulligan guide

Keep

Ship

Play tips and sequencing

Matchups

Sideboard guide

Budget and upgrades

The Premodern Chronicles

Fresh from the tables

The card index

Spicy Brews

Premodern Decks

What is Premodern?

How it plays

Legal Sets

Current Banlist

Premodern Banlist

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