I used to play a lot of modern and standard back in the day but then Commander got popular and everyone I played with switched to that. So I've been focused commander these past few years. I recently tried to get back into modern but it's so expensive now! I looked at getting a deck or 2 and all the really good ones are in the $500 - $1000 range. Even Standard is up there. It's wild to me that commander has become a more affordable format (not including cEDH). From what I've read, the only format cheaper than Commander is Pauper. I can see why the more casual players all switched to playing virtual instead of paper.

The culture also seems to have changed. Everyone seems to be so focused on this "meta" that all the decks seem the same. People all go for the same cards (which is probably what's driving up the prices) and I seldom encounter any fun or creatively themed decks anymore. I got some budget modern decks but none of them stack up to this "Meta" gameplay. Maybe I'm missing something, maybe I'm just old and poor, or maybe the old saying is true. "The most powerful card in Magic is the credit card".

I've been considering starting to play limited formats like draft more, just to give my wallet a break. though, I figure paying $15 every week would eventually add up. On top of that, everyone knows what cards come in draft boosters and know exactly what to pull, which is more studying than I'd like in a card game. Maybe I should just stick with Commander. It seems like a more balanced and affordable format... I kind of wish more people played Oathbreaker. That one's my favorite. Thanks for reading my rant. I still love this game, it's just a very expensive hobby (I have too many of those these days lol).

TL;DR:

Modern and standard are so expensive now, why? The culture has really changed it seems. All the good decks seem the same. Is limited really more affordable than constructed formats when that $15 a week eventually adds up? Why don't more people play Oathbreaker?