  In this paper we consider the long time behavior of solutions to the modified
Korteweg-de Vries equation on R. For sufficiently small, smooth, decaying data
we prove global existence and derive modified asymptotics without relying on
complete integrability. We also consider the asymptotic completeness problem.
Our result uses the method of testing by wave packets, developed in the work of
Ifrim and Tataru on the 1d cubic nonlinear Schr\"odinger and 2d water wave
equations.
