About Old School Magic

This post is going to be very similar to the one I have over on MTGSalvation, but I've re-worded it for Deckbox and tried to shorten it. 

The format 93/94 has been a growing trend over the past couple of years.  The goal is to bring back the feeling of playing with the cards from the early days of Magic.  This is mostly a casual format, but decks are often expensive, and the cards are hard to track down.  I thought it might be useful to have a group on Deckbox for those seeking these great relics of the past.

This format was first organized by a group in Sweden, who created a nice blog to share it with the world.  They developed a ban list and set up the framework for the format which has been adopted by others.  Now there is some fragmentation on legality lists and sets allowed as different regions adopt the format and add their own rules.  Generally speaking though, all groups allow the sets Alpha-Unlimited, Arabian Nights, Antiquities, Legends, and The Dark.  Most groups now also allow Revised or newer printings of legal cards, and some groups have added Fallen Empires and Collector's Edition.  If you find an old school event, you should check with the tournament organizer to know exactly which sets are legal and which restricted list they are following.  The general idea is the same everywhere though.  This format is about reliving the experience of playing with the cards from the very beginning of the game. 

For the most part these events are intended to be casual and fun events.  Events are generally not DCI sanctioned, and tend to have trophies that are low in monetary value.  Recently though Channel Fireball adopted the format by posting their own deck construction rules and ban list.  Many in the US are following the more relaxed deck building restrictions as laid out by Eternal Central (as opposed to the list created by the Swedish group where the format originated).  Many places in Europe seem to be allowing FBB cards.  There's also a difference in ban list as the Eternal Central list allows 4x Strip Mine whereas other areas have this card restricted.  If you play this format, feel free to adjust these rules to fit your local group.

The website Eternal Central has started hosting an annual Old School Event, which coincides with Eternal Weekend (a regular Vintage event) their rules are more inclusive of allowed sets. In fact they will allow any printing of a card provided it has the original artwork and is in the old frame.  This includes Collector's edition.  They also play with a modified banned and restricted list which notably allows for decks with 4x Strip Mine.  Other things to note about Eternal Central events: They play with Mana Burn, and they allow Fallen Empires.

Even with this limited card pool, there are lots of ways to approach deck building and all colors are viable and fun to play.  Below are a list of links (copied from my thread on MTG Salvation)