There’s plenty of talk of how Modern is becoming inaccessible and expensive thanks to the release of Modern Horizons 2, but not every deck needs a set of Ragavan, Nible Pilferer in order to become successful.
One viable starting point into the Modern format is Affinity. Even with the banning of
Mox Opal
Mox Opal
Metalcraft — {T}: Add one mana of any color. Activate only if you control three or more artifacts.
, the artifact aggressive strategy now uses inexpensive cards from Modern Horizons 2 to play powerful artifacts ahead of curve. For players new to Modern, Affinity teaches combat, mana efficiency, and offers straightforward options for you to get to grips with the format. It’s an affordable starting point where some of the cards can be port into Pioneer and Pauper if you want to extend those purchases further.
It’s worth noting that budget can vary from person to person, but this budget list is kept as low as possible to help more players get into Modern.
What is Modern Neoform Affinity?
Affinity has been a long-standing feature of the Modern format, it uses cheap artifacts and creatures to offer an aggressive start. Combined with cards such as
Cranial Plating
Cranial Plating
Equipped creature gets +1/+0 for each artifact you control.
{B}{B}: Attach this Equipment to target creature you control.
Equip {1}
you can kill your opponent as early as turn two if they are unable to interact with you. The archetype fell out of favor when
Mox Opal
Mox Opal
Metalcraft — {T}: Add one mana of any color. Activate only if you control three or more artifacts.
became banned in January 2020, but it’s now back and resilient as ever with various win conditions. In the current Modern metagame, you may see a couple of variations of Affinity with the
Neoform
Neoform
As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice a creature.
Search your library for a creature card with mana value equal to 1 plus the sacrificed creature's mana value, put that card onto the battlefield with an additional +1/+1 counter on it, then shuffle.
variant being the most popular at present.
Neoform Affinity plays similarly to traditional Affinity, however with the addition of
Thought Monitor
Thought Monitor
Affinity for artifacts (This spell costs {1} less to cast for each artifact you control.)
Flying
When this creature enters, draw two cards.
and
Sojourner’s Companion
Sojourner’s Companion
Affinity for artifacts
Artifact landcycling {2} ({2}, Discard this card: Search your library for an artifact land card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.)
, it allows you to use
Neoform
Neoform
As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice a creature.
Search your library for a creature card with mana value equal to 1 plus the sacrificed creature's mana value, put that card onto the battlefield with an additional +1/+1 counter on it, then shuffle.
to find
Craterhoof Behemoth
Craterhoof Behemoth
Haste
When this creature enters, creatures you control gain trample and get +X/+X until end of turn, where X is the number of creatures you control.
for the win. You deploy a strong board early on with
Memnite
Memnite
and
Ornithopter
Ornithopter
Flying
, then use
Springleaf Drum
Springleaf Drum
{T}, Tap an untapped creature you control: Add one mana of any color.
to get ahead on mana.
Your
Neoform
Neoform
As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice a creature.
Search your library for a creature card with mana value equal to 1 plus the sacrificed creature's mana value, put that card onto the battlefield with an additional +1/+1 counter on it, then shuffle.
targets aren’t limited to just
Craterhoof Behemoth
Craterhoof Behemoth
Haste
When this creature enters, creatures you control gain trample and get +X/+X until end of turn, where X is the number of creatures you control.
either, you can find
Griselbrand
Griselbrand
Flying, lifelink
Pay 7 life: Draw seven cards.
to draw a bunch of cards, or
Magus of the Future
Magus of the Future
Play with the top card of your library revealed.
You may play lands and cast spells from the top of your library.
to cast cards from the top of your library. There’s a diverse amount of threats to get you there if you are unable to overwhelm your opponents through traditional means.
Read More: Ten Most Expensive MTG Cards in Modern
Budget Modern Neoform Affinity
However,
Craterhoof Behemoth
Craterhoof Behemoth
Haste
When this creature enters, creatures you control gain trample and get +X/+X until end of turn, where X is the number of creatures you control.
is pricey thanks to their evergreen presence in Commander, so there are alternatives available. As you can see from the list above, Neoform Affinity runs a dedicated
Urza’s Saga
Urza’s Saga
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)
I — This Saga gains "{T}: Add {C}."
II — This Saga gains "{2}, {T}: Create a 0/0 colorless Construct artifact creature token with 'This token gets +1/+1 for each artifact you control.'"
III — Search your library for an artifact card with mana cost {0} or {1}, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle.
toolbox which is expensive to acquire if you are new to Modern. However, you can still play Neoform Affinity without these expensive cards but lose some of the raw power you get with these cards.
With this $140 list, it gives you a great starting point to Modern without a significant investment nor does it need a complicated land base to function. Plus, most of the cards are commons and uncommon from recent or reprint sets, making these readily accessible. If you want to go aggressively budget, you can remove the
Mishra’s Bauble
Mishra’s Bauble
{T}, Sacrifice this artifact: Look at the top card of target player's library. Draw a card at the beginning of the next turn's upkeep.
for a couple of
Gingerbrute
Gingerbrute
Haste (This creature can attack and {T} as soon as it comes under your control.)
{1}: This creature can't be blocked this turn except by creatures with haste.
{2}, {T}, Sacrifice this creature: You gain 3 life.
and
Welding Jar
Welding Jar
Sacrifice this artifact: Regenerate target artifact.
to keep the artifact count high.
Your gameplan is the same as with an optimised version of the list instead, you are looking to use
End-Raze Forerunners
End-Raze Forerunners
Vigilance, trample, haste
When this creature enters, other creatures you control get +2/+2 and gain vigilance and trample until end of turn.
in replacement of
Craterhoof Behemoth
Craterhoof Behemoth
Haste
When this creature enters, creatures you control gain trample and get +X/+X until end of turn, where X is the number of creatures you control.
. While not as powerful, the Boar can be enough to go over given how wide you can go in Affinity. Either way, it’s a decent placeholder until you can acquire the card.
Read More: How to Beat Mono-Green Tron in Modern in 2021
Upgrading Budget Modern Neoform Affinity
With the omission of
Urza’s Saga
Urza’s Saga
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)
I — This Saga gains "{T}: Add {C}."
II — This Saga gains "{2}, {T}: Create a 0/0 colorless Construct artifact creature token with 'This token gets +1/+1 for each artifact you control.'"
III — Search your library for an artifact card with mana cost {0} or {1}, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle.
, we’re replacing these with
Spire of Industry
Spire of Industry
{T}: Add {C}.
{T}, Pay 1 life: Add one mana of any color. Activate only if you control an artifact.
,
Razortide Bridge
Razortide Bridge
This land enters tapped.
Indestructible
{T}: Add {W} or {U}.
, and an Island until you can grab the rare from Modern Horizons 2. There are a couple of extra copies of
Welding Jar
Welding Jar
Sacrifice this artifact: Regenerate target artifact.
to ensure you can keep your threats alive, and helps pay for various Affinity costs.
To begin with, it’s worth picking up a copy of
Shadowspear
Shadowspear
Equipped creature gets +1/+1 and has trample and lifelink.
{1}: Permanents your opponents control lose hexproof and indestructible until end of turn.
Equip {2}
as this is one of the best equipment to run in Affinity. It’s in low mana value, can be found off an
Urza’s Saga
Urza’s Saga
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)
I — This Saga gains "{T}: Add {C}."
II — This Saga gains "{2}, {T}: Create a 0/0 colorless Construct artifact creature token with 'This token gets +1/+1 for each artifact you control.'"
III — Search your library for an artifact card with mana cost {0} or {1}, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle.
and offers trample which is important. A lot of your creatures don’t come with any keywords but they’re big in terms of power, so
Shadowspear
Shadowspear
Equipped creature gets +1/+1 and has trample and lifelink.
{1}: Permanents your opponents control lose hexproof and indestructible until end of turn.
Equip {2}
allows you to connect with the opponent.
The sideboard can be upgraded over time too, primarily you’ll want
Etched Champion
Etched Champion
Metalcraft — This creature has protection from each color as long as you control three or more artifacts.
and
Ethersworn Canonist
Ethersworn Canonist
Each player who has cast a nonartifact spell this turn can't cast additional nonartifact spells.
to offer resilience in games two and three. Sideboards often vary depending on the local metagame, but these two cards in particular are so good in Affinity they’re worth running either way. Then, you’ll want to pad out the rest of your sideboard with countermagic and removal. If you do acquire
Urza’s Saga
Urza’s Saga
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)
I — This Saga gains "{T}: Add {C}."
II — This Saga gains "{2}, {T}: Create a 0/0 colorless Construct artifact creature token with 'This token gets +1/+1 for each artifact you control.'"
III — Search your library for an artifact card with mana cost {0} or {1}, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle.
, picking up
Soul-Guide Lantern
Soul-Guide Lantern
When this artifact enters, exile target card from a graveyard.
{T}, Sacrifice this artifact: Exile each opponent's graveyard.
{1}, {T}, Sacrifice this artifact: Draw a card.
and
Pithing Needle
Pithing Needle
As this artifact enters, choose a card name.
Activated abilities of sources with the chosen name can't be activated unless they're mana abilities.
would be the next step as these are excellent targets for the Enchantment Land.
Even without
Mox Opal
Mox Opal
Metalcraft — {T}: Add one mana of any color. Activate only if you control three or more artifacts.
, Affinity is back and better than ever, plus it’s cheap and easy to pick up if you are looking to jump in Modern!
Read More: 10 Best Modern Cards from MTG’s Innistrad: Midnight Hunt