The Guide to Community-Driven Eternal MTG Formats
A plethora of community-driven eternal formats have blossomed in response to Wizards of the Coast's (WotC) continued failure to effectively curate Legacy amidst the overwhelming influx of new cards at an unsustainable pace. Some of those formats are fixed-card-pool formats, while others still allow for new cards.
This is your guide to each of them and how to join those communities.
{Eternal Flame} by Mark Poole
Fixed-Card-Pool Formats
Peak Legacy
Peak Legacy spans Alpha through Eldritch Moon, capturing the Legacy format as it stood before Conspiracy: Take the Crown. It is colloquially thought of as 2016 Legacy.
{Deathrite Shaman}, {Gitaxian Probe}, and {Sensei's Divining Top} are legal.
PeakLegacy.net Peak Legacy Discord
Classic Legacy
Classic Legacy spans Alpha through Rise of the Eldrazi, capturing the Legacy format as it stood before the Innistrad block overhauled much of the format's composition. It is colloquially thought of as 2010 Legacy.
Classic Legacy differs from the original era in that {Survival of the Fittest} is legal, but {Vengevine} is banned.
{Land Tax}, not unbanned until 2012, is legal.
{Black Vise}, not unbanned until 2015, is legal.
ClassicLegacyMTG.com Classic Legacy Discord
Premodern
Premodern spans Fourth Edition through Scourge — a format that never existed previously in this form.
Notably, only allied fetchlands are legal, and there are no Alpha, Beta, or Revised dual lands legal (read: fetchlands can only tutor basics).
{Survival of the Fittest}, {Oath of Druids}, {Tinker}, and {Gush} are legal.
PremodernMagic.com Premodern Discord
PreWar
PreWar spans Alpha through Ravnica Allegiance, capturing the Legacy format as it stood before War of the Spark introduced F.I.R.E. design and its subsequent power creep.
PreWarMagic.com PreWar Discord
PreFIRE
PreFIRE is to the Modern format as PreWar is to the Legacy format. PreFIRE spans from the inception of Modern via 8th Edition to Ravnica Allegiance — before F.I.R.E. design and its subsequent power creep were introduced via War of the Spark.
PreFIRE's banlist differs from its original era in several ways:
{Sensei's Divining Top} is legal, but {Counterbalance} is banned.
{Creeping Chill} is banned.
{Preordain}, {Glimpse of Nature}, {Dread Return}, {Punishing Fire}, {Green Sun's Zenith}, and {Seething Song} are legal.
PreFIREMagic.com PreFire Discord
Living Formats
Value Vintage
Value Vintage adheres to the Vintage banlist but caps the cost of a deck (mainboard and sideboard) at $30 total. Any card is valued at its least-expensive version.
For example, an Alpha {Regrowth} costs $164.99, but a Revised {Regrowth} costs $1.12. The Alpha {Regrowth} would only contribute $1.12 toward the $30 cap.
Players must ensure their decks are within the $30 cap before any given event, since the secondary market and reprints can affect cards' costs.
There is one addition to the Value Vintage banned & restricted list that differs from Vintage: {Nadu, Winged Wisdom} is banned.
VVMTG.com Value Vintage Discord
Heritage
Heritage pays homage to Magic's history for 1v1 gameplay by only allowing In-Universe expansions that went through Standard:
Supplemental products for Commander and expansions that did not go through Standard (e.g., Modern Horizons) are not legal.
Likewise, Universes Beyond expansions are not legal, regardless of whether they went through Standard.
MTGHeritage.com Heritage Discord
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Featured image: {Spring of Eternal Peace} by Wang Yuqun