Introduction to Old School (93-94) WRITTEN BY Erik Hallqvist

It hasn't been quite a quarter of a century, but it's getting awfully close now; calling Magic an "old" modern game is becoming somewhat reasonable, as it predates even a classic-turned-mainstream such as Settlers of Catan. As with any hobby that has been around long enough, inevitably, there's always a subset of its practitioners who take on a bit of a "purist" attitude as well. There are people who only listen to vinyl, people who only watch film noir, people who only drink beer made with a specific strain of yeast, and those who only play the 1974 version of Dungeons and Dragons.



GumgodMTG’s Minty Fresh Beta Serra Angel

That brings us to the purpose of this article: Introducing the format commonly known as Old School, or 93/94. Born in Gothenburg, Sweden in 2007, the format in its original form only allows cards printed in 1993 and 1994. On top of that, Revised and Fallen Empires are out as well to make it tougher to build decks. This is a throwback to late 1994/early 1995 when Fallen Empires and sometimes Revised was all you could get in Sweden. Everybody hungered for the older sets, but you had to go to great lengths to find them. While this may be seen as exclusive, snobby, and perhaps dumb because it greatly restricts access to players, the reality is that it was a format created for a group of players who weren't concerned about growing the format at all. The chase for old cards and not always being able to use the best cards possible was just as important as the game itself, as was a casual atmosphere where having fun is slightly more important than winning.

Two of my favorite interactions in my Mono-Red ConTroll. Work in progress.

As it turns out, this concept appealed to more and more people, especially those of us with memories from dirty school basement tournaments in the 90's, and who maybe even had partial collections sitting gathering dust in a closet somewhere with cards that just had no place in Legacy or Vintage. It spread.

Sindbad is an incredibly versatile card. Can you think of other cards he interacts well with?

For me personally, it only started about a year ago with a Facebook post from a friend who still moves in the circles of our generation's role-playing nerds. He posted a picture of a couple of guys I recognized from the 90's (but with less hair), and they were playing cards like Beta and Unlimited Icy Manipulator and Serra Angel... while drinking beer. It pulled me in, and I had to know more. I was pointed to their blog (http://oldschool-mtg.blogspot.com/), and I became obsessed. I simply had to start brewing.

Xeodus’ BW Preach It! Note the beautiful interaction with Preacher and City of Shadows.

Creatures

4x Juggernaut

4x Hypnotic Specter

2x Serra Angel

4x Preacher

1x Demonic Hordes

1x Tetravus



Spells

4x Dark Ritual

4x Terror

4x Disenchant

1x Mind Twist

1x Fellwar Stone

3x Swords to Plowshares

1x Chaos Orb

1x Jayemdae Tome

1x Sol Ring

1x Demonic Tutor

Lands

4x Mishra's Factory

1x Maze of Ith

6x Swamp

6x Plains

1x Maze of Shadows

1x City of Brass

4x Scrubland

Here in North America, the format is a bit more flexible. Within Eternal Central's 93-94 rules, Fallen Empires is okay, as are any cards with original frame and original art. This means you can play your Fifth Edition Animate Dead, but not Ankh of Mishra. Furthermore, Collector's Edition and International Collector's Edition are both legal, so you can play black-bordered (with gold on the back) dual lands and power for fairly cheap. Many people work hard on slowly "upgrading" their cards from the cheapest versions, to Revised, to "Sweden-legal" Unlimited, and then finally Alpha or Beta.

GumgodMTG’s Yawgmoth Demon deck

Creatures

4x Sengir Vampire

4x Su-Chi

1x Shimian Night Stalker

4x Yawgmoth Demon

3x Tetravus

1x Royal Assassin

1x Nettling Imp

Spells

2x Jalum Tome

1x Demonic Tutor

1x Mind Twist

1x Black Vise

1x Tawnos's Coffin

4x Sinkhole

2x Mana Vault

2x Basalt Monolith

1x Mox Jet

1x Mox Emerald

1x Mox Pearl

1x Sol Ring

Lands

1x Strip Mine

1x Maze of Ith

17x Swamp

4x Mishra's Factory

1x Urborg

The format is a challenge for anybody on a tight budget, but the small community I've interacted with so far is extremely friendly, laid-back, and very encouraging about brewing, exploring new interactions, and helping track down the cheapest possible-yet-playable copies of older cards. The chase for improving your deck is real, and whether you have power, duals, or neither, there’s a way to still have fun by exploiting weird synergies or taking advantage of your opponent’s power by using Control Magic and Spirit Link on their [[Juzám Djinn]]. On top of that, there are also modified versions of the format like Old School 95, where you suddenly have access to Pyroclasm, Brainstorm, and Necropotence.

Curious? We have a small group of enthusiasts hanging out on PucaTrade's discord in #oldschool.