Schools of Magic: The History of Vintage – The Best (and Worst) Vintage Formats of All Time

Richard Sponholz and James Easteppe are joined by a very special guest, a founding member of New England Old School scene and prolific Old School tournament organizer, Dave Firth Bard. We talk about his history with the game, the growth and cultivation of the New England Old School scene, and most importantly in 2020, webcam […]

The crew is back with a new episode after a long hiatus, and this is a long one! Join Richard Sponholz and James Easteppe on another cavalcade of buffoonery, as they discuss “current” events in MTG, and embody what the kids these days call “paper boomers.”

In episode 48, Geoff Moes (@ThallidTosser on Twitter) and Nat Moes (@GrandpaBelcher) talk with Joe Dyer (@volrathxp) about the effect of modal double-face cards in combo decks. Joe is THE Vintage and Legacy correspondent to follow, with great weekly strategy and format articles at MTGGoldfish.

My summer romance with Alpha Constructed League has affirmed and deepened a conviction which I’ve long held, albeit tenuously: that Magic is the greatest game ever created. Granted, I haven’t played every game ever made, so this is a conviction of faith more than fact. It is one based, nonetheless, on an appreciation of the […]

The Hacks (Richard Sponholz and James Easteppe), joined by Ryan “Rusty” Hobbs, verbally shitpost, discuss some webcam Magic, and goof off for an hour and a half. Big ups to James for finishing this episode, despite losing the master and starting over 3 times.

Recently (like the last four years) I’ve been a little bored with the Vintage format. There’s still the same fun community that keeps me interested, and has me playing every few months, but the format itself seems to settle into the same patterns. There’s a tempo blue control deck based around Preordain, a combo deck […]

Some friends and acquaintances of mine have had a fraught relationship to Magic during the pandemic. While many players rushed to Magic Online in the first weeks of the pandemic, frustrations with the Companion mechanic and other over-powered printings in recent years, combined with turmoil in the community, soured interest and a dismal atmosphere pervaded. […]

As Banned and Restricted List debates are a perennial topic of discussion, I decided a few years ago to limit my commentary under this header to a once-a-year article, released sometime mid-year, spelling out my criteria for restriction, and my preferences for managing the formats I play, namely Vintage and Old School formats. Here are […]

For episode 47, Geoff Moes (@ThallidTosser on Twitter), Nat Moes (@GrandpaBelcher), and Josh Chapple (@joshchapple) talk with Jerry Yang. Jerry is a longtime Team Serious member and a big influence on many teammates’ love of fun Magic and incredible food. If you want credible, he also has multiple StarCityGames Power 9 Top 8 appearances to […]

On Wednesday June 10, 2020, Wizards of the Coast announced an unprecedented action, in the banning of seven cards from all sanctioned events – not for play-related reasons, but cards which were deemed harmful relics of Magic’s past. There is no place for racism in our game, nor anywhere else. For Magic, our first step […]

Introduction For a format regarded as “Eternal,” the ordinary Magic player may be surprised to learn how quickly and how often the Vintage format can change. Perhaps no period better illustrates that than 2019 and 2020, in which multiple new sets have repeatedly triggered metagame convulsions, introduced new powerful decks, long-desired and status-quo upending tactics, […]

The following changes outlined below are being made to Eternal Central’s recommended Banned and Restricted Lists for the Middle School format. All changes are going in to effect immediately as of this announcement (Friday, May 5, 2020), for all Eternal Central events moving forward.