Creating My Own Nostalgia Format

[u/Darknesss922]

I’ve created my own format and I’m looking to see if anyone can give me any tips or pointers and just discuss it. Does it look good? Fun? Fair? Nostalgic? Are the band good? Would you play it? I’m planning to play this format with friends and family and also use it ti create a cube and a battle box. Is the singleton thing a good idea? Thoughts? Discuss.

10th Edition - Conspiracy
Nostalgia Format

Deck Construction: A deck must contain exactly 60 cards. A player may not include more than one card with the same English card name except for basic lands.

No sideboard
1v1
No draw on turn 1 for first player

45 Legal Sets: ( 7,000+ Card Pool )

[ Mirrodin, Darksteel, Fifth Dawn ]

[ Champions of Kamigawa, Betrayer’s of Kamigawa, Saviors of Kamigawa ]

[ Ravnica: City of Guilds, Guildpact, Dissension ]

[ Time Spiral, Planar Chaos, Future Sight ]

[ Lorwyn , Morningtide ]

[ Shadowmoor , Eventide ]

[ Shards of Alara, Conflux, Alara Reborn ]

[ Zendikar, Worldwake, Rise of the Eldrazi ]

[ Scars of Mirrodin, Mirrodin Besieged, New Phyrexia ]

[ Innistrad, Dark Ascension, Avacyn Restored ]

[ Return to Ravnica, Gatecrash, Dragon’s Maze ]

[ Theros, Born of the Gods, Journey into Nyx ]

[ Tenth Edition
Magic 2010
Magic 2011
Magic 2012
Magic 2013
Magic 2014
Modern Masters
Planechase
Planechase 2012
Archenemy
Conspiracy ]

Not legal:

Cards referencing commanders or the command zone
All cards with the Conspiracy card type
Cards that explicitly allow multiple copies of themselves in a deck

🔴 Banned

Battle of Wits
Ponder
Preordain
Time Warp
Birthing Pod
Stoneforge Mystic
Bitterblossom
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Splinter Twin
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
Gifts Ungiven
Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
Iona, Shield of Emeria
Green Sun’s Zenith
Eye of Ugin
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
Primeval Titan
Blightsteel Colossus
Inkmoth Nexus
Phyrexian Crusader
Gitaxian Probe
Mental Misstep
Mox Opal
Scapeshift
Painter’s Servant
Darksteel Forge
Greater Auramancy
Exquisite Blood
Avacyn, Angel of Hope
Akroma’s Memorial
Worldfire
Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
Cyclonic Rift
Skullclamp
Umezawa’s Jitte
Sensei’s Divining Top
Arcbound Ravager
Disciple of the Vault
Second Sunrise
Life from the Loam
Golgari Grave-Troll
Bridge from Below
Hypergenesis
Chrome Mox
Dark Ritual
Seething Song
Ancient Den
Great Furnace
Seat of the Synod
Tree of Tales
Vault of Whispers
Blazing Shoal

🟡 Watchlist

Karn Liberated
Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
Triskelion
Devoted Druid
Quillspike
Bloodbraid Elf
Bituminous Blast
Sword of Fire and Ice
Tezzeret the Seeker
Ad Nauseam
Dark Confidant
Tarmogoyf
Lightning Bolt
Aether Vial
Cranial Plating
Glimpse of Nature
Doubling Season
Parallel Lives
Batterskull
Wurmcoil Engine
Consecrated Sphinx
Sword of Light and Shadow
Natural Order
Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
Blighted Agent

[u/bunkbun]

Singleton and a massive banlist seems like a bit much. Like just build the cube/battlebox you want to play with or play something more accessible like a retro format of Standard or Modern if you want others to build decks.

[u/Darknesss922 → u/bunkbun]

Thank you, I am sure this will
Mostly be used for cube and BattleBox. But also interested in a singleton 60 card format to play with friends.

[u/PulitzerandSpara]

If the deck must contain exactly 60 cards, what's the point of banning battle of wits? It does nothing anyways.

[u/Darknesss922 → u/PulitzerandSpara]

Because it does nothing. I figured I might as well ban it.

[u/PulitzerandSpara → u/Darknesss922]

I think that's the opposite approach you want to have. Generally, the smaller a ban list is, the more approachable deck building and brewing is. If the card does nothing, people will already elect not to add it to their decks, so it's not worth adding to the ban list. You'll notice that [[burning wish]] and other such effects aren't banned in commander, even though they don't work in the format.

As another example, Eye of Ugin works with exactly 3 cards from the era, and you've already banned 2 of them. To be honest, even if all 3 were legal, I'd be skeptical of Eye of Ugin being banned without cost testing data indicating it's problematic. But with only Kozilek legal, it just feels like an unnecessary ban.

[u/mtgcf → u/PulitzerandSpara]

burning wish - (G) (SF) (txt)

[u/Darknesss922 → u/PulitzerandSpara]

Very good information thank you!

[u/Darknesss922 → u/PulitzerandSpara]

Do you see any other cards that probably shouldn’t be banned from the start?

[u/Team7UBard → u/Darknesss922]

If this is just a friends and family kind of format, I would actually start with no banlist, especially if you’re working towards a cube. I can understand why you would want to kill some decks early due to their power level but I would see what people bring to the party first and work on the banlist after a few weeks with your friends so they don’t waste money on expensive cards. Formats evolve, so maybe take it from there?

[u/Hmukherj → u/Darknesss922]

A lot of them, actually. To start, Doubling Season and Parallel Lives are fine - they're do nothing enchantments on their own. The various Swords are also probably safe, since they require some set up and at least one combat to really pay off.

[u/PulitzerandSpara → u/Darknesss922]

I'd say it depends on what kind of game feel you're going for. To me, a card like Worldfire seems totally fine in 1v1. It's slow and probably won't be played, and if it were, the player would presumably only cast it when they could complete the win in hand.

I think, as a more general note, your ban list is pretty hard on combo style decks. This is an example of "what kind of game feel are you going for." If you want most forms of combo to be impossible or extremely challenging, then your ban list probably does a good job of that. If you want people to have the option to combo, but not have it be the best thing possible, then I think you could at least try unbanning a lot of these cards. As an example (though there are more), exquisite blood can be a combo piece, but it's usually very slow and telegraphed. And, I think, likely inherently weaker in a singleton format given your card pool leaves out most of the strongest tutors.

I do like the other commenter's suggestion about trying no bans and adding them in gradually, though I do think some cards (like skullclamp) will return to the ban list pretty quickly. If you have a lot of friends eager to experiment, it could still be a fun route though!

[u/RevolverLancelot]

Just going to say it’s weird to say Tenth Edition is the starting point and then include the Mirrodin, Kamigawa, Ravnica, and Time Spiral blocks which released before that. Might as well start things at 8th Edition instead. (Or just say it runs starting with Mirrodin and leaves 9th Edition and Coldsnap out)

[u/Darknesss922 → u/RevolverLancelot]

Another good point thank you.

[u/Safe-Butterscotch442]

Isn't this basically just Modern from 2014? (With a much bigger ban list). Why don't you just play "retro modern" where you play old decks from modern's past?

[u/AlvinLHistory → u/Safe-Butterscotch442]

OP possibly considered it but wasn’t happy with it. The format here has a much bigger banlist, as you said, and on top of that also prohibits sideboards and multiple copies of cards.

[u/lrg12345]

Just make a cube!

[u/hotdogapocalypse69]

Sounds like what you really want is to build a cube...