I do miss the days of cheap removal, but it does make for a better Limited environment. Overly powerful cards at common can wreck Limited, although I don't think removal does that; creatures can. Ever play Onslaught limited, with Sparksmith and Timberwatch Elf at common? Not fun.
If I discard Bloodhall Priest to Tormenting Voice, paying the madness cost on the Priest to cast it, and I have no other cards in my hand, will I get the 2-damage hellbent trigger from the Priest, since the Priest resolves before I draw the cards from the Voice?
I'm building an Old School Deck. General is Bartel Runeaxe (I will be seriously impressed at anyone who knows what Bartel does without clicking the link.)
All cards in the deck are from Unlimited, Revised, or early expansions up through Alliances (also including Chronicles in this list).
I have a decent collection of old cards but nothing spectacular.
Biggest problem is mana fixing, and the fact that creatures of that vintage mostly weren't very good. I own a Taiga, and a Nature's Lore (which can fetch it).
Only mana rocks are Fellwar Stone and (sorta) Astrolabe.
It's a lot of fun, though; it feels like building a deck when I was a new player, where it was just "throw all the cool cards of the colors you want to play in your deck".
Haven't finished the deck yet.
In looking through those old expansions, it seems that Alliances might have been the strongest overall. Legends had some incredible cards but most of the good ones all cost megabucks these days.
I don't think it's going to be a powerhouse but I'm guessing for this old-school player (off and on since Revised) it will be a fun trip down memory lane.
I have only eight of the original duals (missing Tundra and Underground Sea), around 20 of the Ravnica shocks, and one each of all the fetchlands I try not to spend a lot of money on singles, so most of the duals I've gotten I've acquired from trades or store credit. I'm strictly casual/EDH so I don't need full playsets of anything. I've thought about getting into Modern, so obviously I'd need to pick up more fetches and Ravnica duals.
I've only ever done paper drafts, and only 2 or 3 per set, but I'd note that my ratings would change for part of the block vs. full block.
For example, I'd give triple-Champions of Kamigawa 8.5/10 - superb format, with lots of fun archetypes. Full Kamigawa block gets maybe a 5/10 because Saviors sucked so much.
I liked Theros block more than most people. I'd give triple-Theros 6/10, and full block 7/10. BTT was pretty terrible, though.
RtR was pretty solid, but Gatecrash was so fast it wasn't fun to play with or against. 3/10 for Gatecrash.
I love all 3 Tarkir formats. 9/10 to triple-Khans, my favorite of the three.
Triple Shadowmoor was a little unbalanced (black was really weak) but Shad/Eventide was a lot of fun. Certainly better than Lor/Mor. 7/10 for Shadowmoor/Eventide.
My first-ever sealed was the Invasion prerelease and my first draft was IPA, which was really fun even though I'm sure I drafted terribly.
Favorite overall: full original Ravnica block, or Rav/Rav/Guildpact. 10/10 to both of those.
Didn't draft enough of the M10-15 sets to get a sense for how they played. Liked M12 (whichever set had bloodthirst; I think that was m12?) the best, and M15 the least.
2nd match win was in game 3 when I came back from 20-3. Harbinger of the Hunt *crushed it* that game. After untapping with it in play, I played Epic Confrontation to kill my opponent's flyer, then activated the red ability to kill her 3/1 dude, then proceeded to take over the game from there.
I hadn't done well my last few drafts, so it was nice to do well for a change. Last match was a draw because game 3 went to time. Opponent had drafted a $60++ deck with both Narset and Dragonlord Ojutai, among others.
Hard to argue with Brainstorm, but Priest of Titania and Lotus Petal are strong contenders. (You know how insane Black Lotus is when a card 1/3 as powerful also gets the banhammer.)
The problem is there aren't many multicolored generals in Kamigawa block.
You could cheat and pick, say, an two-color general, and you could then build a pretty good spirits-and-arcane (would recommend either BG or RW if you're going that route) or samurai (RW, or maybe straight W with one of the samurai legends. Both of the red and white Kirins are pretty good in a spirits-and-arcane deck, and splice is better than you might think (secret tech: Candles' Glow spliced onto Glacial Ray or vice versa)
I didn't maindeck enchantment removal. There are enough strong enchantments (Pacifism, most notably, as well as Teachings) that I think it's at least worth considering.
Necromancy. I'm a big fan of graveyard reanimation, and being able to steal anything out of any graveyard, and even do it temporarily at instant speed, for only 2B, is great.
5-color lands don't bother me as much.
All cards in the deck are from Unlimited, Revised, or early expansions up through Alliances (also including Chronicles in this list).
I have a decent collection of old cards but nothing spectacular.
Biggest problem is mana fixing, and the fact that creatures of that vintage mostly weren't very good. I own a Taiga, and a Nature's Lore (which can fetch it).
Only mana rocks are Fellwar Stone and (sorta) Astrolabe.
It's a lot of fun, though; it feels like building a deck when I was a new player, where it was just "throw all the cool cards of the colors you want to play in your deck".
Haven't finished the deck yet.
In looking through those old expansions, it seems that Alliances might have been the strongest overall. Legends had some incredible cards but most of the good ones all cost megabucks these days.
Other cards of note:
Rukh Egg
Helm of Obedience
Conquer (I'll have that Maze of Ith, thank you very much)
Skull Catapult (underrated)
Fallen Angel
Reincarnation (green graveyard return!)
Sengir Autocrat (serf's up! the serfs make good Angel snacks, or Catapult ammo)
Krovikan Horror, Death Spark (got to time 'em right so they end up in the right place in your graveyard)
Khabal Ghoul (note that it gets the counters at end of turn, so you can play it after setting off...
...Nevinyrral's Disk)
Among others.
I don't think it's going to be a powerhouse but I'm guessing for this old-school player (off and on since Revised) it will be a fun trip down memory lane.
I sort by commonality, then color. Extra commons get shoved off into a big box, which I eventually plan to donate, or give away.
I have a big box full of Cards to Sort which I need to get to one of these days.
Surprised no one's mentioned Flametongue Kavu, although Invasion block was a loooong time ago.
Reaching way back into the past, Cocoon is a huge flavor win and a completely unplayable piece of junk (like a lot of cards from Legends, actually...)
For Limited: Empyrial Armor
I'd completely forgotten about Hymn to Tourach, one of the most devastating turn 2 plays ever.
For example, I'd give triple-Champions of Kamigawa 8.5/10 - superb format, with lots of fun archetypes. Full Kamigawa block gets maybe a 5/10 because Saviors sucked so much.
I liked Theros block more than most people. I'd give triple-Theros 6/10, and full block 7/10. BTT was pretty terrible, though.
RtR was pretty solid, but Gatecrash was so fast it wasn't fun to play with or against. 3/10 for Gatecrash.
I love all 3 Tarkir formats. 9/10 to triple-Khans, my favorite of the three.
Triple Shadowmoor was a little unbalanced (black was really weak) but Shad/Eventide was a lot of fun. Certainly better than Lor/Mor. 7/10 for Shadowmoor/Eventide.
My first-ever sealed was the Invasion prerelease and my first draft was IPA, which was really fun even though I'm sure I drafted terribly.
Favorite overall: full original Ravnica block, or Rav/Rav/Guildpact. 10/10 to both of those.
Didn't draft enough of the M10-15 sets to get a sense for how they played. Liked M12 (whichever set had bloodthirst; I think that was m12?) the best, and M15 the least.
2nd match win was in game 3 when I came back from 20-3. Harbinger of the Hunt *crushed it* that game. After untapping with it in play, I played Epic Confrontation to kill my opponent's flyer, then activated the red ability to kill her 3/1 dude, then proceeded to take over the game from there.
I hadn't done well my last few drafts, so it was nice to do well for a change. Last match was a draw because game 3 went to time. Opponent had drafted a $60++ deck with both Narset and Dragonlord Ojutai, among others.
You could cheat and pick, say, an two-color general, and you could then build a pretty good spirits-and-arcane (would recommend either BG or RW if you're going that route) or samurai (RW, or maybe straight W with one of the samurai legends. Both of the red and white Kirins are pretty good in a spirits-and-arcane deck, and splice is better than you might think (secret tech: Candles' Glow spliced onto Glacial Ray or vice versa)
I didn't maindeck enchantment removal. There are enough strong enchantments (Pacifism, most notably, as well as Teachings) that I think it's at least worth considering.