Pre-Exodus EDH
When starting to play again a few years ago I found out that some local guys played pre-Exodus EDH for some reason (as well as normal EDH…) The whole EDH format was new to me, but decided to dip my toe in. And it has been a good experience indeed, so good that I decided to spread the word…
So: every card set before Exodus and the color-coded set symbols is legal, with otherwise normal Commander Banned & Restricted list and 100 card piles: https://magic.wizards.com/en/banned-restricted-list
In addition to being easy to remember, this cutoff point hits quite sweet spot in terms of card pool power. The games are not over too fast, allowing big spells and continuous effects to shine. To give you an idea of the format, some Commanders I have tried out - all made for fun decks:
Vhati il-Dal: controlling board with black stuff, animate all lands and spread pestilence. Gain life from grim feasts in the Dark heart of the woods.
Asmira, holy Avenger: tokens, tokens and more tokens and then some. Kittens, pegasi, saprolings, squirrels, soldiers, townfolk and even trees all serve to grow Asmira until they overrun all opposition.
Halfdane: reanimate Krakens and other big beasts, copy their stats and recycle carcasses to diamond valleys or hominid spawning beds. If absolutely necessary, delve carefully into forbidden crypts and vaults.
Currently working on Vaevictis Asmadi: Ramp and reanimate big guys, kill somebody with berserking commander damage and/or Sword of the ages :-)
Other players have bought e.g. Xira Arien, Kaysa, Skeleton ship, Sol kanar and Ihsan’s shade to the table. We seem to have currently an infestation of (partially) black mages in the playgroup, which has it’s own effects on the meta. Happily in these times Wizards knew how to print those color hosers…
