Do you find yourself wishing to escape those gloomy slums of Pauper but unable to even dream of the decadent excesses of Vintage, Legacy, or even Modern? Well, then, have we got a format for you!
Middle Class Magic (MCM, or MCMTG for those who like to rhyme) is a 1v1 a 60-card, 20-life format that aims to foster a unique Magic: the Gathering experience built upon cards that too often go neglected and forgotten! A card is legal in this format if:
1) It was originally printed as an uncommon in boosters usable for Limited format play, AND
Note that you CAN play rare/mythic/special printings of legal cards, assuming that rare/mythic printings have only ever been available in special sets (like Secret Lair, Mystical Archives, Masterpiece Series, or Commander Precons)! So, for example, any printing of Tezzeret’s Gambit is legal, since it was originally uncommon in NPH and has only been rare in Mystical Archives and New Capenna Commander.
2) It has NEVER been printed as a rare or mythic in boosters usable for Limited play, AND
3) It is not on the Reserved List.
#1) By restricting legality to only Magic products usable in Limited, we get to see only cards that are deemed safe to appear somewhat frequently in the relatively low-power games of Limited formats. Rarity doesn’t actually mean anything in preconstructed decks and collections – like Commander decks, Signature Spellbooks, or Secret Lairs – because the odds of pulling any given card are 100%. Thus, we ignore those sets for the purposes of determining the legality of a card.
#2) By eliminating cards that have been upshifted in rarity in Limited packs, we will see (and have seen) occasional natural corrections via reprinted cards. Cards deemed too powerful for the uncommon slot in drafts will leave forever if reprinted at rare or mythic (farewell, Aether Vial and Sensei’s Divining Top). Rarity shifts confined to special subsets outside an expansion’s main set contents, such as the Masterpiece Series and the Mystical Archives, are ignored, since they have nontraditional rarity distributions in Limited.
#3) By eliminating the Reserved List, it’s theoretically possible for all format staples to be affordable, in the long-term.
We’re left with cards generally a cut above the bread-and-butter of Limited formats: adding a dash of spice without dominating the meal like a powerful rare or mythic would. *chef’s kiss* (except Chef’s Kiss is not legal)
They say the middle class is shrinking, but here in the multiverse, we’re just getting started. Why not get brewing?
Good luck; have fun!
THE BANLIST
What cards can’t I play? Y u do dis? :'(
Decklists, Staples, & Observations
In case you want a headstart on deckbuilding.
Searchable Card Database
Looking for a particular card? This is a good place to do that.
Event Finder
Where can I play?
“Cyborgs, as the philosopher Donna Haraway established, are not reverent. They do not remember the cosmos.”
This was a pretty crazy quote from a default WordPress theme. Enjoy it while it’s still here. In what sense do WE remember the cosmos but cyborgs do not? And is reverence really tied in some causal manner to a memory of the cosmos, whatever that means? Is Donna Haraway a real person, or a fictional one from a science fiction work? Will I ever just use Google to answer these and perhaps other questions? One might never know.
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