The Formats

There’s little to no sense in re-inventing the wheel, so our community mainly plays existing old school formats, possibly with a few tweaks here or there. While we only listed a few of the formats out there, most of us are happy to put together a deck for everything and anything revolving around old cards.

In general, old school formats are mostly played with modern Magic: the Gathering rules, including the “new” mulligan. Something that may vary from tournament to tournament, however, is the inclusion of mana burn - so remember to check that out while playing :)

Premodern

93/94 isn’t your thing, or you miss the old Extended days? How about Premodern Magic? Armed with a ban list of its own to keep the metagame fun, PM focuses on all cards with the old frame printed between 1995 and 2003 (4th Edition to Scourge), which were standard legal at some point during this period.

Old Frame

Used to play Type I back in the day? Old Frame might be your thing! Possibly the least restricted format of Old School Magic, Old Frame sets the limits at almost everything and anything with the old frame design.

93/94

Possibly the most popular format in our community. As the name implies, 93/94 focuses on cards that were available in 1993-1994: Alpha, Beta, Unlimited, Arabian Nights, Antiquities, Legends, and The Dark. While our neighbors across the pond (Sweden) have a reputation for a strict reprint policy, we mainly opt for something more relaxed in order to keep the game and community as inclusive as possible.

Mostly our community follows the Swedish Old School rules, with some exceptions:

• All reprints with the original frame and artwork are allowed (e.g. Collectors’ Edition, International Edition, Renessaince, Rinascimento, Italian Legends, Chronicles, 4th edition…)

Alice

Block Constructed - it’s a thing in old school as well! Grab your favorites from Alliances and Ice Age, and let it snow. No cards except ante things banned or restricted.

Homebrew

It all begins with an idea. Back in the day, kitchen table Magic was the thing, and nothing is stopping you from creating The Best Format Ever - however, if you’re looking for people to play with, it’s often good to go with the usual suspects :)