Formats

When I started to play, way back when, there were no formats in Magic. All you had was the pile of cards you owned. There were no sideboards, no meta game. About the only thing was that we all played with lands on the top and creatures at the bottom. Dual lands were valued at about $5, and Moxes went for $25-$75 depending. (outrageous!)

After a few years though, Type I (1), and Type II (2) emerged. Type 1 was all the old stuff with restrictions, it is now called Vintage. Type 2 was all the newer stuff only, whatever was current for a bit of time and would rotate as new sets came in. You now know of it as As time went, people still liked some of the middle range stuff, so Type 1.5 was made. It banned all the one of restrictions of Type 1, and thus Legacy was born.

I was out of the game when they came up with Modern, which I guess was another attempt to push away from broken things in Legacy, which was a push away from ALL the broken things in Vintage.


When I got back in, I gravitated towards Legacy. The friends I play with like the format as well. Most of them have a fairly large investment in the game, and like playing broken things. However, I stay with it because of one simple reason that helped drive me out the first time- the pyramid scheme of Magic. This mostly applies to Standard, and some to Modern- to stay competitive, you need to keep buying the latest material. Either singles, packs, boxes, etc. Yes, I know Pauper is a thing, and for the price of two Chipotle dinners you could get a new deck- I don't want to know all the random commons anymore. I don't have time, I don't have the energy, and I don't want to go that route.

With that in mind- I keep tabs on new Legacy trends mostly. I currently have 9 different Legacy decks built and ready to go. I've gravitated towards Death and Taxes, and Sneak and Show as formats that appeal. I could build two more decks, but don't have the sleeves to do it. Ha!  Currently I am running Berserk Infect, and have killed on turn 2. Toughest match-ups for it- oddly Lands, and Death and Taxes. The key to locking it out- kill its Tropical Islands. Seriously.