MTG @mtgzone.com counterspell @mtgzone.com 1y ago

Design a really cheap MTG format

Heirloom Format

Inspired by the MTGO budget format Heirloom but with paper price limits
Minimum deck size: 60 cards
No more than 4 copies of any card, except basic lands
Cards can be of any rarity
The legal card pool rotates a month after each Standard set release based on card price thresholds checked on Scryfall with the following search:

f:vintage ((rarity:c and eur<=0.1) or (rarity:u and eur<=0.2) or ((rarity:r or rarity:m) and eur<=1)) and tix<=0.05

Common cards under 0.1 EUR/0.05 tix
Uncommon cards under 0.2 EUR/0.1 tix
Rare cards under 0.3 EUR/0.2 tix
Mythic cards under 0.6 EUR/0.5 tix
Very low barrier to entry with decks costing less than $10, unlike Pauper where some "budget" decks still cost $60+
If the format was popular enough to influence card prices, rotations would ban the most used cards, preventing the metagame from becoming stagnant
Lets you play with cards that are bad in other formats but become viable here
Encourages creativity in deckbuilding with quirky card choices
Games decided by wits and luck rather than coin

I'm excited to hear your ideas for cheap MTG formats!

8 comments

@counterspell another idea to shake it up a bit: the price limit is for cards with that name in you deck: one copy if it is 50c, two copies if it is 25c, etc.

Could even allow for going over 4 cookies for truely chaff cards
This is great, I just want to throw out that MTG Online has "Penny Dreadful" as a format:

Penny Dreadful is an unofficial Magic Online budget format where the legality rules include only cards that cost 0.02 ticket - roughly one penny.

I like your idea a lot! I would certainly play this a ton.
- Penny Dreadful is such a fun format. Never have time to play mtgo anymore but that is by far my most played format on there
My LGS used to have a giant tub of 10-cent cards, mostly commons of course, but occasionally you could find an uncommon or rare. I would stand in front of it for half an hour picking out the ones I liked. I probably was not actually getting a good deal, but who cares?

I wish they still had it. I would love to just scoop an armful of cards out of that bin and draft them.
- I think a draft event like this would be really fun actually. I would make the trip into my LGS to do this if they offered it lol. I just like how level the playing field is and how fun those games would get. You'd play with cards never even considered before and have to make them work somehow.
Dollar Store Beejlander!!
Ideas to shake up the meta:

Rotate the legal card list monthly instead of after each regular set release.

Each rotation, ban the top 1% most played cards for a number of rotations. Or a random number of rotations for each card so they don't all become legal again simultaneously.

Set a limit on the max number of copies allowed of each card. The limit could be randomized each rotation.

Limit the number of rares/mythics allowed per deck.

Require a minimum number of cards from the latest sets.

Have occasional flashback weekends using previous cardpool rotations.

Sometimes change to a different base cardpool like a block format or a format other than vintage.
A Flashback Draft is a limited-time event on Magic Online where players can draft and play with sets from the past. The sets available for Flashback Drafts change regularly, and Wizards of the Coast does not publish a schedule for them. However, players can stay up to date on upcoming Flashback Drafts by checking the Magic Online website or following Magic Online's social media accounts. Flashback Drafts are a popular way for players to experience sets that they may have missed or to revisit sets that they enjoyed in the past. The entry fee for Flashback Drafts varies depending on the set and the type of draft league, but players can typically use event tickets or play points to enter.

Flashback Format

Inspired by the MTGO Flashback Drafts, but for constructed play

Minimum deck size: 60 cards

No more than 4 copies of any card, except basic lands

Cards can be of any rarity

The legal card pool changes every month, based on a randomly selected block from Magic's history

You can only use cards from the chosen block, and only from the sets that were released at that point in time

For example, if the block is Innistrad, you can use cards from Innistrad, Dark Ascension, and Avacyn Restored, but not from Shadows over Innistrad or Eldritch Moon

Additionally, you can only use cards that cost less than $1 according to Scryfall's market price

This format lets you revisit old sets and experience different eras of Magic with a budget-friendly twist

It challenges you to adapt to changing metagames and discover new synergies with limited card choices

8 comments