Just a bit curious what most peoples' favorite Standard blocks were - which combination of sets.
The absolute most fun I ever had playing Magic was the Innistrad/Return to Ravnica block. Loved the creature-based gameplay of Innistrad (along with the art and theme), and RtR was very clear to me and my primitive deckbuilding brain about what cards were supposed to work well together. Building decks felt very clear and natural.
Tempest Standard (Mirage & Tempest blocks) - My favorite set of all time is Mirage, and my favorite deck of all time is Prosperous Bloom, so this standard holds a sentimental spot. The White Weenie deck from this standard is also spectacular. I still occasionally watch the '98 US Nationals VHS tape I got at the Urza's Saga pre-release. It never gets old seeing Mike Long get Abeyanced by Matt Linde.
Gut reaction are basically all the mistake blocks. I love Kamigawa - the aesthetic is so cool, it felt most fantastic than any generic fantasy plane could. I am a huge fan of Lorwyn - again I loved the story book feel (Guay doing a lot of the art helps), I really liked the surprise turn of Shadowmoor and devotion 1.0. I obviously loved OG Rav (the only non mistake on this list), the world was awesome and a focus on 2 colors was new to me, it taught me how to build more diverse decks. And I have to say I really liked Timespiral block - I didn't like the arsthetic there, but the seemingly endless complexity did something for my johnny brain very few sets do.
From those it is hard to pick a favorite - Kamigawa likely wins though. I can say one of my least favorite blocks was Scars of Mirrodin - I hate ruining a plane, and Phyrexia winning does exactly that. Similarly I am not a fan of Khans of Tarkir - Khan's side is fine, but timeline rewrite is dumb.
This will not be a popular answer, but I loved Shadowmoor, especially limited. Maybe because the first time I drafted it I ended up in "mono white" with an insanely powerful deck. Maybe because I am a mark for hybrid. Whatever the reason, it will always be my favorite.
This will not be a popular answer, but I loved Shadowmoor, especially limited. Maybe because the first time I drafted it I ended up in "mono white" with an insanely powerful deck. Maybe because I am a mark for hybrid. Whatever the reason, it will always be my favorite.
I'm actually with you. I adore Shadowmoor and Eventide with all my heart. Interesting hybrid cards, strange effects, and -1/-1 counters abounded and it was beautiful.
My favorite block is Khans of Tarkir, for the cool pan-Asian setting, fun mechanics and cool cards, great gameplay, and the neat time travel arc involving Sarkhan and Ugin. Sarkhan is one of my favorite planeswalkers besides Ajani and my #1 favorite Tezzeret. And I really like the music in the KTK teaser and full-length trailer.
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EDH/Commander
UBR Sedris RG Omnath, Locus of Rage UB The Scarab God RUG Maelstrom Wanderer WU Dragonlord Ojutai
this era is hard to find standard footage tho. Thanks Mark Rosewater for the brokeness of mirrodin (that almost killed the standard part of the game aside of destroying the format)
For favorites blocks: Mirrodin (broken shet that was not healty for the game, but i didn't touched standard until after scars (ye like 10 years after) so i didn't minded i bought alot as a kid ), Kamigawa (there were alot of good cards and cool cards that we used to play, tribal stuff, arcane non sense, ninjutsu. Also the set has some really powerfull cards(that still see commander, modern, and legacy play today...) ), Lorwyn and Shadowmoor (i still buy products of this era, mostly intro packs to collect and sometimes play with friends, cause they have some power level and fun gameplay)(also i really dig the story and the plane), maybe alara, Inistrad (both blocks), and Amonkhet (i liked the theme and conclusion).
Hmm. I mean, probably the favorite was Theros? I guess? It's hard to say. I don't really play blocks so much, but I go to prereleases sometimes and I vaguely recall enjoying the Theros prerelease? It's been a while though.
My favorite was the original 9th edition, Ravnica, Cold Snap, Time Spiral. Such a fun standard. Probably biased because that was when I came back to Magic and was going to a ton of local tournies every week.
Urza Block. It was the pinnacle and finale of Magic’s golden age.
Tempest + Urza Standard = UNLIMITED POWER!
Yessss! I loved this time a lot.
I would say there's 3 times in Magic that I liked the best. One was right before Ice Age came out. Magic felt so innocent at the time. Another time was during this very time - Tempest and Urza's. The power level was through the roof! This was the first time I saw an over 60% win rate in Magic and that felt damn GOOD! The final one was Lorwyn. I liked both Lorwyn Standards and literally was not ready for the rotation of Lorwyn. Usually I am done with a Standard rotation and when it comes, I am more than ready to move on. Lorwyn was NOT one of them. I played Faeries and Merfolk most of the time, but would have loved to play 5 Color Control, Elves, Reveillark, and other decks way more. I just didn't have the time.
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
4th Edition /Chronicles
Fallen Empires
Ice Age
Homelands
Alliances
Really loved the art of those sets. And aesthetically, for me, no game in the world beats that era of Magic The Gathering. The game was quite a mess back there, with several banned and restricted cards. However the cool decks were really cool.
And I still like some of the design conventions of the time and wish then to return. Non-creature permanents (Enchantments/Artifacts) were way bigger part of the game back then, to the point Disenchant was played main deck. In contrast War of the Spark is the set that plays with the idea of MTG virtually not having those and using combat-interactive versions of them. Also white had a much stronger color identity back then because of circle of protection. Currently white game play has little to do with it's philosophy.
Aside from this, Innistrad-Ravnica 2.0 and Ravnica 2.0 - Theros were both amazing.
i'm an Ice Age and Mirage person too, that was an era where I loved the art and the naive, fairly arcane approach people had to card design. all the cards about having a headache in Ice Age/Alliances really resonate with me too! the art for each card felt distinct to my naive mind and it was before the idea of art consistency really kicked in so you weren't seeing, eg., Gerrard and Crovax, or Chandra and Jace all over the cards. i'm a bit of a Rebecca Guay, Margaret Organ-Kean, Quinton Hoover, Melissa Benson person and loved the soft side of card art. I didn't hear about the game until Revised and didn't own any of the cards 'til 4th Ed so by around Mirage I had finally arrived at a dim understanding of the relative power of cards; I noticed that Visions and Weatherlight were sets full of fairly powerful, fairly diverse cards, way more fluent and useful than Ice Age was, and I finally had coherent deck ideas. From then on I kept up with the game, not always buying but always checking spoilers and tournament reports, playing weekly against a few friends until all that went away..
more recently I adore Lorwyn, Innistrad and Amonkhet and enjoy the art of Omar Rayyan and Anthony Palumbo and Nils Hamm and many more. (just that in an era of complete information, sites that automatically suggest what should go in yr commander deck, a card with Notch's name on it, clearly pushed mythics and removal, and SCG or Channel Fireball branding all over everything, it feels really hard to relate to the modern game or discover anything about it for myself.)
If Shadowmoor without Lorwyn counts, Shadowmoor. If it doesn't, Amonkhet.
Shadowmoor is a grimdark setting with a lot of silliness and weirdness that I can really appreciate. It's a set with a lot of grotesque eerieness, my primary interest in art. The art direction for the terrain makes for the best lands in Magic in my opinion. And of some reason I'm really attracted to hybrid and -1/-1 counters, which are happenstance part of that block.
Other than that, yea, Amonkhet. Its obsession with death and particular architecture in the art are both really drawing to me, and Hour of Devastation is my favorite set ever since it's the closest we get to apocalyptic Abrahamic fantasy, which I adore. (WotC have been on record and said that they won't ever directly make a set based on a living religion, and Bible stuff must be the most difficult thing for them to riff on due to Murican politics.) I've found out that mechanically it's my favorite degree of complexity. Also I have a sentimental connection; I played the weekly League and somehow got a pool with Liliana, Bontu and f'in Attrition. Combine that with some Doomed Dissenters and a bunch of other grindy stuff and I had an absolutely cruel limited deck that must have been so unfun to play against. And it inspired me for a lot of my future deck builds.
The absolute most fun I ever had playing Magic was the Innistrad/Return to Ravnica block. Loved the creature-based gameplay of Innistrad (along with the art and theme), and RtR was very clear to me and my primitive deckbuilding brain about what cards were supposed to work well together. Building decks felt very clear and natural.
From those it is hard to pick a favorite - Kamigawa likely wins though. I can say one of my least favorite blocks was Scars of Mirrodin - I hate ruining a plane, and Phyrexia winning does exactly that. Similarly I am not a fan of Khans of Tarkir - Khan's side is fine, but timeline rewrite is dumb.
Tempest + Urza Standard = UNLIMITED POWER!
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
UBR Sedris
RG Omnath, Locus of Rage
UB The Scarab God
RUG Maelstrom Wanderer
WU Dragonlord Ojutai
runner up is actually going to be invasion block.
-Champions of Kamigawa block - until - Time Spiral block. (both Kamigawa rav , and Rav time spiral)
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-online/throwback-standard-gauntlet-5-ravnica-2017-08-08
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/magic-fundamentals/magic-general/791891-deck-list-of-the-kamigawa-ravinca-standard
]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPiveet1P1o
this era is hard to find standard footage tho. Thanks Mark Rosewater for the brokeness of mirrodin (that almost killed the standard part of the game aside of destroying the format)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTEfmiklgwY (game play)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scH8jkIN6Vo (game play)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi6e0d9Rt2E (game play)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vanq_Wu1GKc (althoug it contradicts some of my other fav standards xD)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xu6F4pEcSMU (i guess there is another one, see on video, but i wasn't even counting to 100 at this time i think)
-(a bit of the Lorwyn block standard and the tribal decks)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWHfYmb8YXM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yfb0O51mOOw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4f1uo5SywY
http://tcdecks.net/deck.php?id=3585
-A bit of what was Shadowmoor block and Alara block standard.
]
-The end of the Inistrad - Return to Ravnica standard (even with the bant control lists).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0M0jzZIEtA (good old Thragtust )
-i have to admit i liked the chaos of mono black devotion and mono u devotion Theros RtR standard (i played more in that era).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uz7yA_YhN00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ijo11KIXh2o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRNipvwFt9A (was looking for a protuor playing mono b, but didn't find any, soo first video of gameplay with mono b devotion :p)
-Theros Khans standard had some all colors good stuff going on as well as almost all 3 color decks, soo i liked it too (as i m liking the current standard with the gate decks )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUGpgSnOvWg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WBsJjbEZvU
Also it is worth looking at the Gauntlet series of mtgo for game play of old standard decks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwKHBrPTDrs
For favorites blocks: Mirrodin (broken shet that was not healty for the game, but i didn't touched standard until after scars (ye like 10 years after) so i didn't minded i bought alot as a kid ), Kamigawa (there were alot of good cards and cool cards that we used to play, tribal stuff, arcane non sense, ninjutsu. Also the set has some really powerfull cards(that still see commander, modern, and legacy play today...) ), Lorwyn and Shadowmoor (i still buy products of this era, mostly intro packs to collect and sometimes play with friends, cause they have some power level and fun gameplay)(also i really dig the story and the plane), maybe alara, Inistrad (both blocks), and Amonkhet (i liked the theme and conclusion).
Tempest. Many memories. Remember when Tradewind Rider was a big thing, and oh the slivers...and love Skyshroud Vampire.
Yessss! I loved this time a lot.
I would say there's 3 times in Magic that I liked the best. One was right before Ice Age came out. Magic felt so innocent at the time. Another time was during this very time - Tempest and Urza's. The power level was through the roof! This was the first time I saw an over 60% win rate in Magic and that felt damn GOOD! The final one was Lorwyn. I liked both Lorwyn Standards and literally was not ready for the rotation of Lorwyn. Usually I am done with a Standard rotation and when it comes, I am more than ready to move on. Lorwyn was NOT one of them. I played Faeries and Merfolk most of the time, but would have loved to play 5 Color Control, Elves, Reveillark, and other decks way more. I just didn't have the time.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)4th Edition /Chronicles
Fallen Empires
Ice Age
Homelands
Alliances
Really loved the art of those sets. And aesthetically, for me, no game in the world beats that era of Magic The Gathering. The game was quite a mess back there, with several banned and restricted cards. However the cool decks were really cool.
And I still like some of the design conventions of the time and wish then to return. Non-creature permanents (Enchantments/Artifacts) were way bigger part of the game back then, to the point Disenchant was played main deck. In contrast War of the Spark is the set that plays with the idea of MTG virtually not having those and using combat-interactive versions of them. Also white had a much stronger color identity back then because of circle of protection. Currently white game play has little to do with it's philosophy.
Aside from this, Innistrad-Ravnica 2.0 and Ravnica 2.0 - Theros were both amazing.
BGU Control
R Aggro
Standard - For Fun
BG Auras
more recently I adore Lorwyn, Innistrad and Amonkhet and enjoy the art of Omar Rayyan and Anthony Palumbo and Nils Hamm and many more. (just that in an era of complete information, sites that automatically suggest what should go in yr commander deck, a card with Notch's name on it, clearly pushed mythics and removal, and SCG or Channel Fireball branding all over everything, it feels really hard to relate to the modern game or discover anything about it for myself.)
Shadowmoor is a grimdark setting with a lot of silliness and weirdness that I can really appreciate. It's a set with a lot of grotesque eerieness, my primary interest in art. The art direction for the terrain makes for the best lands in Magic in my opinion. And of some reason I'm really attracted to hybrid and -1/-1 counters, which are happenstance part of that block.
Other than that, yea, Amonkhet. Its obsession with death and particular architecture in the art are both really drawing to me, and Hour of Devastation is my favorite set ever since it's the closest we get to apocalyptic Abrahamic fantasy, which I adore. (WotC have been on record and said that they won't ever directly make a set based on a living religion, and Bible stuff must be the most difficult thing for them to riff on due to Murican politics.) I've found out that mechanically it's my favorite degree of complexity. Also I have a sentimental connection; I played the weekly League and somehow got a pool with Liliana, Bontu and f'in Attrition. Combine that with some Doomed Dissenters and a bunch of other grindy stuff and I had an absolutely cruel limited deck that must have been so unfun to play against. And it inspired me for a lot of my future deck builds.