The years 2004 to 2007 were a highpoint in Magic design and a golden era for Standard. Kamigawa, Ravnica and Timespiral blocks, along with Coldsnap and Ninth Edition, gave players two years of environments that were diverse, balanced and fun.

Kamigawa-Ravnica-Time Spiral Cube (henceforth KRT) relives this halcyon era: the dawn of the modern border, before braindead planeswalkers, jarring Secret Lairs and endless commander products. There are many nostalgia cubes out there, but none revisit this period of elegant design, rewarding interactions, and interesting gameplay in full. Whether you're a boomer who misses the good old days and wants to relive former glories, or someone who wasn't playing Magic then but would love to see what it was all about, KRT is for you!

As the name suggests, KRT only has cards from those three original blocks, alongside two other standalone Standard sets from 2004-2007 as a hard rule. By excluding cards from outside this period, however complimentary or flavourful they might be (Silver-Fur Master from 2022 for example) KRT feels like a time capsule, or a museum! Even the printings we use are original!

Here are the sets:

• Champions of Kamigawa

• Betrayers of Kamigawa

• Saviours of Kamigawa

• Ravnica: City of Guilds

• Guildpact

• Dissension

• Time Spiral

• Planar Chaos

• Future Sight

• Ninth Edition

• Coldsnap

The last two sets play supporting roles. Ninth provides format staples like Mana Leak, Wrath of God and Wildfire, while Coldsnap, released in 2006 as the bookend to Ice Age block, brought Mishra's Bauble and Ohran Viper.

KRT tries to balance all this nostalgia with interesting gameplay. That means recreating the 'feel' of the Standard formats of 2004-2007 by pushing some of the archetypes and important cards from that time as best possible, while accepting that a traditional 360-card singleton cube will necessarily preclude some iconic cards and decks like Korlash, Heir to Blackblade, Howling Mine and Dragonstorm.

We've been playing KRT for a few years now. Its first iteration, an ungainly 540 pieces, meant power level between cards was too great, bombs dominated, and a profusion of efficient midrange 'goodstuff' decks crowded out aggro and combo. After considerable reworking, KRT is now a slick 360, making space for aggro and some more ambitious and rewarding interactions (like Madness, Arcane and Enduring Ideal).

This is a five-colour cube, with colours and guilds represented evenly. Mono-coloured decks are possible but not actively supported.

Two-colour decks are more common than three-colour but not by much. Four and five colour decks happen but are uncommon.

There are 10 of each of bounceland, shock and painland, the five-piece Future Sight allied cycle, and five of each enemy-coloured signet.

Below are some suggestions for the ten colour pairs, but they aren't prescriptive. There are plenty of other quirky interactions in RKT. The below should be a guide to help you first grasp of the format, particularly if you weren't playing in '07! Have fun!

Selesnya Tokens

Selesnya creates virtual card advantage against other colours by generating a steady stream of tokens which line up well against removal. There are strong aggro options in Isamaru, Hound of Konda, Watchwolf and Vinelasher Kudzu, but most versions lean on the inevitability of the grindier Glare of Subdual or Vitu-Ghazi, the City-Tree.

Boros Aggro

While some of these creatures look average today's standards, Boros can punish slow draws. The red removal is excellent and will be taken by other drafters, so prioritise high-quality red burn. White-heavy builds can finish with Celestial Crusader and Crovax, Ascendant Hero.

The other path for Boros is a midrange Wildfire/Restore Balance deck that relies on signets into sweepers.

Dimir Midrange

Dimir eschews synergy for the strongest individual card quality. Early creatures like Riptide Pilferer and Nezumi Shortfang threaten to empty an opponent's hand, and are backed up by premium removal and counterspells like Rend Flesh and Mana Leak.

Golgari Graveyard

Golgari's dredge mechanic should be seen as a midrange card advantage engine rather than the flip-your-deck glass cannon it is in Modern and Legacy. After ramping with cards like Elves of Deep Shadow and Llanowar Mentor, Golgari can recur threats like Verdant Force or Kokusho, the Evening Star. Gaea's Blessing and Loaming Shaman stop you from decking yourself if things go long.

Izzet Splice, Storm

Izzet can stick to traditional counter-burn good stuff or lean into the wackier splice mechanic with cards like Glacial ray and Consuming Vortex with alternate win-condition Dampen Thought.

Storm is there for the more ambitious, either through a quick Erayo, Soratami Ascendant flip, or Empty the Warrens, Ignite Memories or Volcanic Awakening.

Izzet also has one of KRT's only two-card kills: Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind+ Ophidian Eye.

Orzhov Spirits

Classic 'spirts-matter' theme to drain an opponent out, supported by cards like Long-Forgotten Gohei, Celestial Kirin, and He Who Hungers

Gruul Ponza Aggro

In 2007 blowing up your opponent's lands for was fair game. Enter Ponza: Gruul can ramp into LD like Creeping Mold to keep greedier decks off balance while midrange threats like Rumbling Slum close things out.

Simic Ramp, flash

Simic has strong ETB creatures which generate card advantage when flickered. The deck can play draw-go after the early turns, while Peel from Reality and Venser, Shaper Savant can steal tempo after ramping with cards like Yavimaya Dryad.

Rakdos Madness

A time-tested favourite, madness featured in Timespiral block and while it didn't see much play in Standard back then, is supported in Boomer. Discard outlets like Jaya Ballard, Task Mage and Nihilistic Glee can set up blowouts with Reckless Wurm or grind your opponent out.

Azorius Control

Traditional Azorius control, supported by KRT's signets, card advantage, strong removal, and sweepers, often using cards with suspend like Ith, High Arcanist.

Five-colour Honden

Enduring Ideal is a nod to the Standard build, but the namesake sorcery, however good for style points, is optional. There are only five hondens, one of each colour, and they slot in other decks so take them early.

Thank you, dear reader, for coming this far. After years tinkering with KRT, I can finally call it finished. I could never imagine how satisfying this humble paean would be to design and play. I hope you enjoy it too.

Finally, thank you to the SGM team on the Central Coast, Australia, for their patience, generosity, and suggestions over the past few years. KRT would not be the experience it is without your contributions.

George Kaplan
Bangalore, 2024