I have been updating this post intermittently since 2013. There is so much old school content out there now that it is very difficult to list it all here. Think of this as an introduction to the format, and if you have questions, feel free to come join us on Discord and ask away!
This format originally started in Sweden and gained popularity because of the blog maintained by Magnus de Laval. Now that same blog's Banned/Restricted page does an excellent job of not only laying out the Swedish version (which is the most restrictive version of the format), but it also summarizes the most popular local rules variants as well. While I do still have part of it copied and pasted below I'm also going to link to it. Go there, read it.
I first happened across this blog in 2012 or so and I fell in love with the idea of playing with the cards I remember when I first learned to play MTG. In short, this is a format that only allows cards from the original sets released in 1993 and 1994 with a focus on those cards that have always been harder to obtain. Newer printings of cards are generally discouraged, and in some cases not allowed (more details further down).
Aesthetics are a huge part of this, the decks look beautiful, and trigger all those great feelings of nostalgia. I originally started this thread back in 2013 to see if other people had explored this format, and what I've found is that it is not only played in other places, but it has become a global community.
Due to the fact that this is an organically grown casual format, there is some fragmentation on banned/restricted lists as different regions adopted it and added their own rules. To get started you could try to find a group or event near you and check with the organizer to see what format is being played. For the most part these events are intended to be casual and fun events (These are usually not DCI sanctioned events), and unless you plan on playing in Sweden, most communities now allow various reprints that use the original art & original border. In many communities this even includes Collector's Edition and Time Shifted cards. You could also join the discord or one of the many Facebook groups and try to get games via webcam.
Ok, so now you know there are people out there playing this format, and it's designed around the original sets, but what exactly is the difference between rulesets? Many groups in Europe follow the Swedish banned list (though as I said before some groups such as those in Italy and the UK allow non-foil old border reprints). In the US the Eternal Central rules are quite popular. The Atlantic and Pacific Rules rules try to merge/bridge the EC and SWE rules and helped develop playable errata for the card Falling Star. If you play this format, feel free to adjust these rules to fit your local group. The chart below provides a nice visual reference of some of the main differences.
Deck construction rules:
Legal sets:
Alpha
Beta
Unlimited
Summer Magic (Edgar)
Arabian Nights
Antiquities
Legends
The Dark
Only English versions are allowed in 93/94 Constructed.
Tempest Efreet (as of May 2019 Tempest Efreet is also restricted in Ante events)
Errata: Chaos Orb
Artifact
1, Tap: Choose a permanent on the battlefield. If Chaos Orb is on the battlefield, flip Chaos Orb onto the battlefield from a height of at least one foot. If Chaos Orb turns over completely at least once during the flip, and touches the chosen permanent, destroy that permanent. Then destroy Chaos Orb.
Falling Star (2R)
Sorcery
Choose any number of non-overlapping creatures on the battlefield. Flip Falling Star from a height of at least one foot. If Falling Star turns over completely at least 360 degrees during the flip, it deals 3 damage to each chosen creature it lands on. Any creatures damaged by Falling Star that are not destroyed become tapped.
Note: For both dexterity cards, you are allowed a "fair flip"; i.e. you may move the card(s) you're choosing to a different position on the playing area to get a good flip. If you are Forking a Falling Star, please note that the copy should not be disrupting the game state. Do not use a bowl of soup to represent the copy and flip over your opponents cards. Be reasonable.
(1st of February 2012 Chaos Orb was unbanned and restricted. We use the errata in order to avoid people spreading out their cards too much).
Even with this limited card pool, there are lots of ways to approach deck building and all colors are viable and fun to play. For a good introduction on how to build a deck on a budget check out this document written by Dave Firth Bard, and check out episode 13 of the podcast All Tings Considered.
Here are some additional links and resources
Places that have their own variants on the rules and actually host tournaments:
My original post from 2013:
I happened across a blog a while back that was discussing a format called 93/94. Basically it uses only the original sets for the game. Newer versions of cards aren't allowed or are deemed as proxies. The decks look beautiful, and I've been thinking it would be fun ever since seeing it, but I'm wondering does anyone play this format? I mean anyone other than the guys running the blog... Does anyone have any ideas that are 'budget' friendly? I'm thinking something with Kird Apes as Red Green Aggro/Burn with Unlimited cards wouldn't be too bad, or maybe Red/White Control/Burn with Land Tax and Land's Edge since I already have the Land Taxes and Alpha/Beta mana base (As well as Chain Lightnings and I'm working on Alpha/Beta Lightning Bolts). Any thoughts or ideas?
Archived links to specific things on Eternal Central:
We play '94 magic with these restrictions:
No cards with newer than '94 dates on them (Alpha through Fallen Empires + Book promos).
No more than 4 cards from the current vintage restricted list (too many is abusive).
We break out decks in between matches for fun. We even had a mini tournament once (that's how we came up with the 4-of restriction).
I think the format is as much about showing your nice cards than playing. Decks would cost $2000 to make even if mono-color and all unlimited. I saw somewhere that white border cards were frowned upon.
I think the format is as much about showing your nice cards than playing. Decks would cost $2000 to make even if mono-color and all unlimited. I saw somewhere that white border cards were frowned upon.
That's not necessarily true. Yes it is about nice cards, but you can make a deck on a budget. Unlimited Dark rituals are not that expensive, so black is definitely an option. My friend is making a land destruction deck full of Sinkholes and Stone Rains. I'm currently building a stompy // burn style deck with Kird Apes and Lightning Bolts. To me the format is as much about nostalgia as it is about pretty cards. We are definitely using some Unlimited edition cards. My deck is still incomplete because I'm trying to get the pieces I need through trading. They are all in my cart on a one site though and the cart total is only $36. So I could complete this deck for less than $40 (and that's with Betas). I could do it for less than $20 with Unlimited. The whole list is more than that, but mostly because of the chain lightnings, and I already owned those.
We play '94 magic with these restrictions:
No cards with newer than '94 dates on them (Alpha through Fallen Empires + Book promos).
No more than 4 cards from the current vintage restricted list (too many is abusive).
We break out decks in between matches for fun. We even had a mini tournament once (that's how we came up with the 4-of restriction).
-Frog
That cube is awesome, and the date restriction is definitely easier than listing out the sets allowed every time you tell someone about the format.
Now it worked semi well, but not quite good enough. Are there any suggestions, or cards i overlooked that would work well in this deck?
I like Immolation as another cheap removal spell for mono red. It can also pump your high-toughness beaters (dragons) in a pinch for extra damage. I would consider running it instead of Giant Strength.
Also, since you've already got Blood Moon, how about Goblins of the Flarg? They can mountainwalk over your opponents Blood-Mooned mountains.
My '94 mono-red is a goblin deck with Goblin King, Goblins of the Flarg, etc with the burn and Ball Lightning's you have here.
Update, I've played my first few games against my friend who was able to build Red Black Land Destruction. This is what I was able to scrounge together. Here is my current decklist:
It ran pretty well winning me two of our three games. The decklist I played with was just a little different as I was running an Ornithopter and Clay Statue to pad it out to 60 cards, but I replaced those with Storm Seeker and Ghazban Ogre. Most of what I had in it was relevant. I was even able to use Scavenger Folk to kill a Black Vise. I'd like to have a Wheel of Fortune and some Blood Lusts. I'll be doing more trading with this in mind.
I really like the idea of this format, but I think players should be allowed to use any printing of the cards as long as they appeared in ABU/Arabian Nights/Antiquities/Legends/Dark/Fallen Empires.
You'd attract more players that way.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
These days, some wizards are finding they have a little too much deck left at the end of their $$$.
MTG finance guy- follow me on Twitter@RichArschmann or RichardArschmann on Reddit
I really like the idea of this format, but I think players should be allowed to use any printing of the cards as long as they appeared in ABU/Arabian Nights/Antiquities/Legends/Dark/Fallen Empires.
You'd attract more players that way.
I guess that depends on who you're playing with. The guy I play with uses 2-4 FBB cards, and 50% of his lands are still revised. We consider them proxies until he can get the real ones. As a casual format it is really up to you and whomever you can convince to play. Personally I think the real draw is the nostalgia of the cards as much as the appeal of the game play of the early sets. Playing with a 7th edition Scavenger Folk just isn't the same as playing with the guy who's got your arm... (Or maybe that's your Juggernaut's arm?)
Also most of the cards from The Dark and Unlimited are not all that expensive, and it gives you something to do with cards that would otherwise just sit in binders. I just picked up a Beta Channel for my deck, and I've been playing with Storm Seeker and Craw Wurm. These cards are not that expensive, but they wouldn't be playable in another format, even in a normal Vintage deck Channel just isn't that heavily played these days.
Hey, i got interested in this format a bit ago thanks to a thread made by frogczar. Gotta say i really dig the format and currently run 2 decks. My main is a cheap black aggro/discard deck
need to fill 4 slots since i want to take out Disrupting scepter, any ideas?
As per the rule about it must be the og printing, i just go for the older version i can find or afford. I don't think it needs to be a hard and fast rule. Certainly the old printing has a better feel to the deck and the overall experience but sometimes it can't be helped.
Hey, i got interested in this format a bit ago thanks to a thread made by frogczar. Gotta say i really dig the format and currently run 2 decks. My main is a cheap black aggro/discard deck
need to fill 4 slots since i want to take out Disrupting scepter, any ideas?
As per the rule about it must be the og printing, i just go for the older version i can find or afford. I don't think it needs to be a hard and fast rule. Certainly the old printing has a better feel to the deck and the overall experience but sometimes it can't be helped.
I've got a similar deck built. One if the things we've decided is that Paralyze is a much better option for cheap removal for black. I'd consider taking out Terror and replacing it with Paralyze or adding a few of each. Plain old Weakness isn't out of the question either. Especially with those witches to finish off 2 toughness stuff.
No Mindstab Thrull in a 94 discard deck? It's not great but discarding three cards is a lot when it hits. Otherwise I might just say put in 3 more Sengir Vampires. Black has a lot of good options.
I've got a similar deck built. One if the things we've decided is that Paralyze is a much better option for cheap removal for black. I'd consider taking out Terror and replacing it with Paralyze or adding a few of each. Plain old Weakness isn't out of the question either. Especially with those witches to finish off 2 toughness stuff.
No Mindstab Thrull in a 94 discard deck? It's not great but discarding three cards is a lot when it hits. Otherwise I might just say put in 3 more Sengir Vampires. Black has a lot of good options.
I have to say that Paralyze is a fantastic card, and I've started picking Betas up for my next deck. It's even more effective if you can afford some sinkholes or run other land destruction.
I've got a similar deck built. One if the things we've decided is that Paralyze is a much better option for cheap removal for black. I'd consider taking out Terror and replacing it with Paralyze or adding a few of each. Plain old Weakness isn't out of the question either. Especially with those witches to finish off 2 toughness stuff.
No Mindstab Thrull in a 94 discard deck? It's not great but discarding three cards is a lot when it hits. Otherwise I might just say put in 3 more Sengir Vampires. Black has a lot of good options.
I have to say that Paralyze is a fantastic card, and I've started picking Betas up for my next deck. It's even more effective if you can afford some sinkholes or run other land destruction.
Played some '94 Magic with a friend in between rounds at a Legacy tournament the weekend before last. We had a lot of excited observers interested in the little homebrew format. When discussing Paralyze, my friend mentioned he has 8 beta copies and someone asked why? He simply said because they were 'cool' and he wanted them for multiple decks.
Hopefully people who looked on get excited enough to build some decks and spread the joy.
I also love the format. I still have the red green deck I put together above (with only minor changes), but I've been collecting Antiquities. I'm now slowly working on my second 93/94 deck. I'm building tron. My focus will be robot beat down with a splash of control magic. I have a turbo powered Rocket Launcher as my alternate win, Tawnos's Coffin acts as colorless removal and lets me recharge the batteries in Triskelion. Seriously Triskelion is awesome.
I don't think it's super competitive even in this format, but it's really fun to play. I still need most of the creatures and mana rocks, but I have most of the other spells already. Playing and untaping Colossus using MANA is amazingly hilarious. I had a couple Power Sink in the deck but traded them out for Control Magic. This format also has some of the best hate cards though, so I expect that Energy Flux will show up at some point to ruin my fun, but at least my lands aren't artifacts.
1 or 2 Hurkyl's Recall in the sideboard/main is a good card to save your artifacts from an Energy Flux/Shatterstorm. You can also get double use out your mana stones and Triskelion/Tetravus with it by bouncing them back to hand.
Copy Artifact would be busted in your deck! Maybe 1 or 2.
Look into getting a playset of Mishra's Factory and shoehorn them into your deck somehow. They're so good. The Antiquities Spring Factories are about 9-10$ a pop.
Yeah I'm brainstorming ideas for my second deck it's a BUG Djinn/Efreet beatown deck, It's a slow... but steady process acquiring the cards.
If you're ever in the NY area message me. Would love to play.
1 or 2 Hurkyl's Recall in the sideboard/main is a good card to save your artifacts from an Energy Flux/Shatterstorm. You can also get double use out your mana stones and Triskelion/Tetravus with it by bouncing them back to hand.
Copy Artifact would be busted in your deck! Maybe 1 or 2.
Look into getting a playset of Mishra's Factory and shoehorn them into your deck somehow. They're so good. The Antiquities Spring Factories are about 9-10$ a pop.
Yeah I'm brainstorming ideas for my second deck it's a BUG Djinn/Efreet beatown deck, It's a slow... but steady process acquiring the cards.
If you're ever in the NY area message me. Would love to play.
Thanks for the feedback. I'm trying to collect all of Antiquities so Factories and Hurkly's Recall have been on my radar for a while. That Winter Factory is going to hurt my wallet lol. Also I feel like this deck needs to hit UU though and that's hard with 16 colorless lands (including factories) and no on color rocks. Hurkyl's also spiked up in price not too long ago due to some use in modern or something, but you're right it would save me from a Shatterstorm, but it's still bad tempo. Right now I get double use with the sage, by sacrificing the extra monoliths to draw into more cards. It's also possible to untap them when Su-chi dies and carry over mana that would have been lost in the combat step.
edit: a local store was advertising copy artifact for really cheap, but they've bumped them up to $4.25 (unlimited edition). I may still pick them up though.
Yeah I feel you on the money thing, it's not a cheap format. A playset of Arabian Night's City of Brass is on my radar right now at 50$ a pop, I'm picking them up 1 at a time over the next few month's. These are the kind of decks you want to hold onto forever once completed.
I've traded in many of my (modern/edh) junk rares and a few good ones that I've had forever, for store credit at local game shop's to get most of my cards. It helps a lot. Ebay is a beautiful thing to.
I'll post a pic or 2 of my Erhnamgeddon deck when I get the chance.:)
I hear you. I'm holding out for Beta Control Magic, and possibly going beta on the Monoliths. It's not cheap, but the cards don't really lose any value ever, so that's nice. I have some of the cheaper AQ cards in a saved shopping cart (about $10 worth but only $8 on my PayPal), and once I grab those I'll only be 14 cards away from this deck. (Mana Vault, Sol Ring, 4 Monoliths, 2 Control magics, 4 Triskelions, Braingeyser, and 1 Power Artifact). Those will have to be picked up 1 at a time. Copy Artifact could stand in for control magic though, and might be better vs some decks.
Probably going to go budget on the Sol Ring, Mana Vault and Braingeyser though and just get Unlimited edition.
Budget is perfectly fine. Hell, dip into revised/chronicles in the mean time (my cities are chronicles and my Birds of Paradise are revised right now til' I get the real deal)(I know it's not the same), but your deck will be assembled faster and playable with your friends. Then swap em' out for the real deal over time.
The Swedes are really hardcore about it (having spent years on their decks), but the guys at Eudogames NorCal got it right I think, being much more realistic about attracting newer players to the format.
Yeah, one of my friends runs FBB Demonic Tutor and Sol Ring. Not really any cheaper than Unlimited, but he already owned them so he didn't have to buy or trade for anything. You could do it the same way that QL magic does their lists. For every card not in the original allowed sets, your sideboard max decreases by one. This lets more people play, while still encouraging you to get the original version.
For now while I'm collecting the cards I've found uses for them in other casual decks. Su-chi went into a deck with Metal Worker, Transmute Artifact and Phyrexian Processor, Coffin and Power artifact went into EDH and Urza lands are powering out Myr. This way I'm still using the cards I'm collecting, but when I get the full 60 I'm going to have to make some major deck changes lol. I really wish I owned more than 3 transmute artifact though, I want to play that card in so many decks.
edit: The more I think about it, the more I think you are correct. Copy Artifact is pretty busted, particularly since I can combo it with coffin to do some weird things like get +1/+1 counters on copy artifact... It makes me want to run 2 and possibly add something like Primal Clay or Juggernaut or something that would be cooler with counters on it. When I play this deck people get confused already lol. It's also easier to cast the the UU required for countermagic or control magic.
Update:
So looks like they put up the results of that NorCal event and the third and fourth place decks there look really similar to what I'm trying to build. (Triskelion, Tetravus, Transmute Artifacts, Su-Chi and Coffin...
I was considering Psionic Blast, Mana Drain and Counterspell, but I am afraid of getting too heavy into blue while trying to run Urza lands. I have picked up a Triskelion for my deck and a bunch of the cheaper things as well as an Alpha Unsummon and Steal Artifact that I may have to work in. I also got a couple Beta Fireballs for my old RG one (because Unlimited is lame lol). So while I'm now only 13 cards away from the list above, I'm now thinking of revising it more.
edit: also didn't catch it before, but Power Artifact is restricted. Which means at least I don't have to worry about picking up a second one, but now I have another spot to fill.
So this is the deck that I'm working with ATM. It's super cool and fun, however, also super budget. Most of my cards are Revised. However, I've recently acquired more money so I'm open to card suggestions that are under $20. So far, my entire group is 'Bolt Aggro, so I'm totally willing to turn this into a deck that is good against their Sligh-ish decks.
or perhaps move the Dandâns out if they have trouble attacking. Getting those Juggernauts down early seems important. I feel like getting up to dragon mana for this deck will be hard without this type of acceleration. You're looking really aggressive in the early turns, you don't need a dragon in your hand then. You want to draw him when the game goes long. 2-3 seems right, but only if you can make sure you have 6 mana available. Fireball as a 1 or 2 of might not be bad either as it is a very flexible burn spell. I love Psionic Blasts, but when I build with them I often cut back to 3. The 2 damage can be painful after a while, but I can see why your deck wants them.
or perhaps move the Dandâns out if they have trouble attacking. Getting those Juggernauts down early seems important. I feel like getting up to dragon mana for this deck will be hard without this type of acceleration. You're looking really aggressive in the early turns, you don't need a dragon in your hand then. You want to draw him when the game goes long. 2-3 seems right, but only if you can make sure you have 6 mana available. Fireball as a 1 or 2 of might not be bad either as it is a very flexible burn spell. I love Psionic Blasts, but when I build with them I often cut back to 3. The 2 damage can be painful after a while, but I can see why your deck wants them.
I would just swap in 2 more Flying Men for those Dandan. How about Immolation? That card can do double duty as removal and pump in a pinch.
I have been updating this post intermittently since 2013. There is so much old school content out there now that it is very difficult to list it all here. Think of this as an introduction to the format, and if you have questions, feel free to come join us on Discord and ask away!
This format originally started in Sweden and gained popularity because of the blog maintained by Magnus de Laval. Now that same blog's Banned/Restricted page does an excellent job of not only laying out the Swedish version (which is the most restrictive version of the format), but it also summarizes the most popular local rules variants as well. While I do still have part of it copied and pasted below I'm also going to link to it. Go there, read it.
Banned and Restricted, some popular variations and errata.
I first happened across this blog in 2012 or so and I fell in love with the idea of playing with the cards I remember when I first learned to play MTG. In short, this is a format that only allows cards from the original sets released in 1993 and 1994 with a focus on those cards that have always been harder to obtain. Newer printings of cards are generally discouraged, and in some cases not allowed (more details further down).
Aesthetics are a huge part of this, the decks look beautiful, and trigger all those great feelings of nostalgia. I originally started this thread back in 2013 to see if other people had explored this format, and what I've found is that it is not only played in other places, but it has become a global community.
Due to the fact that this is an organically grown casual format, there is some fragmentation on banned/restricted lists as different regions adopted it and added their own rules. To get started you could try to find a group or event near you and check with the organizer to see what format is being played. For the most part these events are intended to be casual and fun events (These are usually not DCI sanctioned events), and unless you plan on playing in Sweden, most communities now allow various reprints that use the original art & original border. In many communities this even includes Collector's Edition and Time Shifted cards. You could also join the discord or one of the many Facebook groups and try to get games via webcam.
Ok, so now you know there are people out there playing this format, and it's designed around the original sets, but what exactly is the difference between rulesets? Many groups in Europe follow the Swedish banned list (though as I said before some groups such as those in Italy and the UK allow non-foil old border reprints). In the US the Eternal Central rules are quite popular. The Atlantic and Pacific Rules rules try to merge/bridge the EC and SWE rules and helped develop playable errata for the card Falling Star. If you play this format, feel free to adjust these rules to fit your local group. The chart below provides a nice visual reference of some of the main differences.
Even with this limited card pool, there are lots of ways to approach deck building and all colors are viable and fun to play. For a good introduction on how to build a deck on a budget check out this document written by Dave Firth Bard, and check out episode 13 of the podcast All Tings Considered.
Here are some additional links and resources
Places that have their own variants on the rules and actually host tournaments:
Old school variants with a slightly newer/larger card pool
Media and Related content:
Podcasts:
Flippin' Orbs
YouTube Channels:All Tings Considered
Buy and sell Old School on Facebook
My original post from 2013:
I happened across a blog a while back that was discussing a format called 93/94. Basically it uses only the original sets for the game. Newer versions of cards aren't allowed or are deemed as proxies. The decks look beautiful, and I've been thinking it would be fun ever since seeing it, but I'm wondering does anyone play this format? I mean anyone other than the guys running the blog... Does anyone have any ideas that are 'budget' friendly? I'm thinking something with Kird Apes as Red Green Aggro/Burn with Unlimited cards wouldn't be too bad, or maybe Red/White Control/Burn with Land Tax and Land's Edge since I already have the Land Taxes and Alpha/Beta mana base (As well as Chain Lightnings and I'm working on Alpha/Beta Lightning Bolts). Any thoughts or ideas?
Archived links to specific things on Eternal Central:
Discussion on the "So Many Insane Plays" Podcast.
Here's my '94 cube:
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=427963&referrerid=63635
We play '94 magic with these restrictions:
No cards with newer than '94 dates on them (Alpha through Fallen Empires + Book promos).
No more than 4 cards from the current vintage restricted list (too many is abusive).
We break out decks in between matches for fun. We even had a mini tournament once (that's how we came up with the 4-of restriction).
-Frog
My Kamigawa cube.
My Mirage Cube
That's not necessarily true. Yes it is about nice cards, but you can make a deck on a budget. Unlimited Dark rituals are not that expensive, so black is definitely an option. My friend is making a land destruction deck full of Sinkholes and Stone Rains. I'm currently building a stompy // burn style deck with Kird Apes and Lightning Bolts. To me the format is as much about nostalgia as it is about pretty cards. We are definitely using some Unlimited edition cards. My deck is still incomplete because I'm trying to get the pieces I need through trading. They are all in my cart on a one site though and the cart total is only $36. So I could complete this deck for less than $40 (and that's with Betas). I could do it for less than $20 with Unlimited. The whole list is more than that, but mostly because of the chain lightnings, and I already owned those.
That cube is awesome, and the date restriction is definitely easier than listing out the sets allowed every time you tell someone about the format.
I like Immolation as another cheap removal spell for mono red. It can also pump your high-toughness beaters (dragons) in a pinch for extra damage. I would consider running it instead of Giant Strength.
Also, since you've already got Blood Moon, how about Goblins of the Flarg? They can mountainwalk over your opponents Blood-Mooned mountains.
My '94 mono-red is a goblin deck with Goblin King, Goblins of the Flarg, etc with the burn and Ball Lightning's you have here.
My Kamigawa cube.
My Mirage Cube
1 Ghazbán Ogre
4 Kird Ape
4 Llanowar Elves
1 Scavenger Folk
1 Whirling Dervish
1 Ball Lightning
1 Floral Spuzzem
1 Thicket Basilisk
1 Craw Wurm
1 Craw Giant
4 Chain Lightning
2 Disintegrate
1 Fireball
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Storm Seeker
Other Utility:
4 Giant Growth
1 Winds of Change
1 Ice Storm
1 Shatterstorm
1 Fissure
1 Mox Ruby
1 Fellwar Stone
1 Gaea's Touch
Land:
10 Forest
10 Mountain
1 Strip Mine
It ran pretty well winning me two of our three games. The decklist I played with was just a little different as I was running an Ornithopter and Clay Statue to pad it out to 60 cards, but I replaced those with Storm Seeker and Ghazban Ogre. Most of what I had in it was relevant. I was even able to use Scavenger Folk to kill a Black Vise. I'd like to have a Wheel of Fortune and some Blood Lusts. I'll be doing more trading with this in mind.
You'd attract more players that way.
MTG finance guy- follow me on Twitter@RichArschmann or RichardArschmann on Reddit
I guess that depends on who you're playing with. The guy I play with uses 2-4 FBB cards, and 50% of his lands are still revised. We consider them proxies until he can get the real ones. As a casual format it is really up to you and whomever you can convince to play. Personally I think the real draw is the nostalgia of the cards as much as the appeal of the game play of the early sets. Playing with a 7th edition Scavenger Folk just isn't the same as playing with the guy who's got your arm... (Or maybe that's your Juggernaut's arm?)
Also most of the cards from The Dark and Unlimited are not all that expensive, and it gives you something to do with cards that would otherwise just sit in binders. I just picked up a Beta Channel for my deck, and I've been playing with Storm Seeker and Craw Wurm. These cards are not that expensive, but they wouldn't be playable in another format, even in a normal Vintage deck Channel just isn't that heavily played these days.
Creatures
4 Drud
4 Cuombajj Witches
4 Oder of the Ebon hand
4 Hypnotic Spectar
1 Sengir Vampire
4 Dark Ritual
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Terror
2 Oubliette
1 Greed
1 Mind Twist
2 The Rack
1 Nevinrral's Disk
1 Disrupting Scepter
20 Swamp
need to fill 4 slots since i want to take out Disrupting scepter, any ideas?
As per the rule about it must be the og printing, i just go for the older version i can find or afford. I don't think it needs to be a hard and fast rule. Certainly the old printing has a better feel to the deck and the overall experience but sometimes it can't be helped.
Currently Playing
1994 Magic The Rack
Type 1: B/W Zombies
Modern: Kuldotha Red
Legacy: Pox, Oath
Vintag: 10 Proxy Merfolk
Pauper: Pestilence, UG Threshold
EDH: Karn, Roon, Sliver Queen, Xiahou Dun, Arcanus
I've got a similar deck built. One if the things we've decided is that Paralyze is a much better option for cheap removal for black. I'd consider taking out Terror and replacing it with Paralyze or adding a few of each. Plain old Weakness isn't out of the question either. Especially with those witches to finish off 2 toughness stuff.
No Mindstab Thrull in a 94 discard deck? It's not great but discarding three cards is a lot when it hits. Otherwise I might just say put in 3 more Sengir Vampires. Black has a lot of good options.
My Kamigawa cube.
My Mirage Cube
I have to say that Paralyze is a fantastic card, and I've started picking Betas up for my next deck. It's even more effective if you can afford some sinkholes or run other land destruction.
Played some '94 Magic with a friend in between rounds at a Legacy tournament the weekend before last. We had a lot of excited observers interested in the little homebrew format. When discussing Paralyze, my friend mentioned he has 8 beta copies and someone asked why? He simply said because they were 'cool' and he wanted them for multiple decks.
Hopefully people who looked on get excited enough to build some decks and spread the joy.
My Kamigawa cube.
My Mirage Cube
LINKS:
http://oldschool-mtg.blogspot.com/p/historik.html
http://fabiensanglard.net/mtg_93-94_Toronto/index.php
http://www.eudogames.com/magic/norcal-old-school-magic
Pauper EDH: ~ Rhox War Monk ~ Scornful Aether-Lich ~ Ashenmoor Gouger ~ Ascended Lawmage ~ Nightscape Battlemage ~ Warden of the Eye ~ Hedge Troll ~ Dinrova Horror ~ Renata
Pauper 60: ~ Caw Blade ~ MonoU Delver ~ MonoW Monk Fish ~
Standard: ~ Boros Knights ~ RDW ~
Pioneer: ~ U BControl ~
Modern: ~ UB Control ~
Legacy/Vintage: ~ MonoU Delver ~
93/94: ~ Erhnamgeddon ~
So far my deck looks like this:
11 Island
4 Urza's Mine
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Tower
Ramp:
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
2 Fellwar Stone
4 Basalt Monolith
1 Reconstruction
1 Braingeyser
2 Power Artifact
3 Transmute Artifact
2 Control Magic
2 Rocket Launcher
1 Tawnos's Coffin
4 Sage of Lat-Nam
4 Su-Chi
3 Tetravus
4 Triskelion
2 Colossus of Sardia
I don't think it's super competitive even in this format, but it's really fun to play. I still need most of the creatures and mana rocks, but I have most of the other spells already. Playing and untaping Colossus using MANA is amazingly hilarious. I had a couple Power Sink in the deck but traded them out for Control Magic. This format also has some of the best hate cards though, so I expect that Energy Flux will show up at some point to ruin my fun, but at least my lands aren't artifacts.
1 or 2 Hurkyl's Recall in the sideboard/main is a good card to save your artifacts from an Energy Flux/Shatterstorm. You can also get double use out your mana stones and Triskelion/Tetravus with it by bouncing them back to hand.
Copy Artifact would be busted in your deck! Maybe 1 or 2.
Look into getting a playset of Mishra's Factory and shoehorn them into your deck somehow. They're so good. The Antiquities Spring Factories are about 9-10$ a pop.
Yeah I'm brainstorming ideas for my second deck it's a BUG Djinn/Efreet beatown deck, It's a slow... but steady process acquiring the cards.
If you're ever in the NY area message me. Would love to play.
Pauper EDH: ~ Rhox War Monk ~ Scornful Aether-Lich ~ Ashenmoor Gouger ~ Ascended Lawmage ~ Nightscape Battlemage ~ Warden of the Eye ~ Hedge Troll ~ Dinrova Horror ~ Renata
Pauper 60: ~ Caw Blade ~ MonoU Delver ~ MonoW Monk Fish ~
Standard: ~ Boros Knights ~ RDW ~
Pioneer: ~ U BControl ~
Modern: ~ UB Control ~
Legacy/Vintage: ~ MonoU Delver ~
93/94: ~ Erhnamgeddon ~
Thanks for the feedback. I'm trying to collect all of Antiquities so Factories and Hurkly's Recall have been on my radar for a while. That Winter Factory is going to hurt my wallet lol. Also I feel like this deck needs to hit UU though and that's hard with 16 colorless lands (including factories) and no on color rocks. Hurkyl's also spiked up in price not too long ago due to some use in modern or something, but you're right it would save me from a Shatterstorm, but it's still bad tempo. Right now I get double use with the sage, by sacrificing the extra monoliths to draw into more cards. It's also possible to untap them when Su-chi dies and carry over mana that would have been lost in the combat step.
edit: a local store was advertising copy artifact for really cheap, but they've bumped them up to $4.25 (unlimited edition). I may still pick them up though.
Efreets and Djinns are so good! But watch out for King Suleiman.
I've traded in many of my (modern/edh) junk rares and a few good ones that I've had forever, for store credit at local game shop's to get most of my cards. It helps a lot. Ebay is a beautiful thing to.
I'll post a pic or 2 of my Erhnamgeddon deck when I get the chance.:)
Pauper EDH: ~ Rhox War Monk ~ Scornful Aether-Lich ~ Ashenmoor Gouger ~ Ascended Lawmage ~ Nightscape Battlemage ~ Warden of the Eye ~ Hedge Troll ~ Dinrova Horror ~ Renata
Pauper 60: ~ Caw Blade ~ MonoU Delver ~ MonoW Monk Fish ~
Standard: ~ Boros Knights ~ RDW ~
Pioneer: ~ U BControl ~
Modern: ~ UB Control ~
Legacy/Vintage: ~ MonoU Delver ~
93/94: ~ Erhnamgeddon ~
Probably going to go budget on the Sol Ring, Mana Vault and Braingeyser though and just get Unlimited edition.
Also I'd love to see pics.
The Swedes are really hardcore about it (having spent years on their decks), but the guys at Eudogames NorCal got it right I think, being much more realistic about attracting newer players to the format.
Pauper EDH: ~ Rhox War Monk ~ Scornful Aether-Lich ~ Ashenmoor Gouger ~ Ascended Lawmage ~ Nightscape Battlemage ~ Warden of the Eye ~ Hedge Troll ~ Dinrova Horror ~ Renata
Pauper 60: ~ Caw Blade ~ MonoU Delver ~ MonoW Monk Fish ~
Standard: ~ Boros Knights ~ RDW ~
Pioneer: ~ U BControl ~
Modern: ~ UB Control ~
Legacy/Vintage: ~ MonoU Delver ~
93/94: ~ Erhnamgeddon ~
For now while I'm collecting the cards I've found uses for them in other casual decks. Su-chi went into a deck with Metal Worker, Transmute Artifact and Phyrexian Processor, Coffin and Power artifact went into EDH and Urza lands are powering out Myr. This way I'm still using the cards I'm collecting, but when I get the full 60 I'm going to have to make some major deck changes lol. I really wish I owned more than 3 transmute artifact though, I want to play that card in so many decks.
edit: The more I think about it, the more I think you are correct. Copy Artifact is pretty busted, particularly since I can combo it with coffin to do some weird things like get +1/+1 counters on copy artifact... It makes me want to run 2 and possibly add something like Primal Clay or Juggernaut or something that would be cooler with counters on it. When I play this deck people get confused already lol. It's also easier to cast the the UU required for countermagic or control magic.
So looks like they put up the results of that NorCal event and the third and fourth place decks there look really similar to what I'm trying to build. (Triskelion, Tetravus, Transmute Artifacts, Su-Chi and Coffin...
http://oldschool-mtg.blogspot.no/p/blog-page_21.html
I was considering Psionic Blast, Mana Drain and Counterspell, but I am afraid of getting too heavy into blue while trying to run Urza lands. I have picked up a Triskelion for my deck and a bunch of the cheaper things as well as an Alpha Unsummon and Steal Artifact that I may have to work in. I also got a couple Beta Fireballs for my old RG one (because Unlimited is lame lol). So while I'm now only 13 cards away from the list above, I'm now thinking of revising it more.
edit: also didn't catch it before, but Power Artifact is restricted. Which means at least I don't have to worry about picking up a second one, but now I have another spot to fill.
4 Serendib Efreet
4 Juggernaut
2 Flying Men
2 Dandan
3 Shivan Dragon
3 Chain Lightning
4 Unstable Mutation
4 Psionic Blast
1 Braingeyser
14 Mountain
My lame attempt at humor...
Why does everyone in Bant hate the Lord of Riots? 'Cause they're all, Rakdos-intolerant! Awwww, yeah...
-1 Shivan Dragon
-1 Psionic Blast
+1 Sol Ring
+1 Mana Vault
or perhaps move the Dandâns out if they have trouble attacking. Getting those Juggernauts down early seems important. I feel like getting up to dragon mana for this deck will be hard without this type of acceleration. You're looking really aggressive in the early turns, you don't need a dragon in your hand then. You want to draw him when the game goes long. 2-3 seems right, but only if you can make sure you have 6 mana available. Fireball as a 1 or 2 of might not be bad either as it is a very flexible burn spell. I love Psionic Blasts, but when I build with them I often cut back to 3. The 2 damage can be painful after a while, but I can see why your deck wants them.
I would just swap in 2 more Flying Men for those Dandan. How about Immolation? That card can do double duty as removal and pump in a pinch.
My Kamigawa cube.
My Mirage Cube
My lame attempt at humor...
Why does everyone in Bant hate the Lord of Riots? 'Cause they're all, Rakdos-intolerant! Awwww, yeah...