The Good Old Days brings modern cube design sensibilities to the early years of Magic. It opposes nostalgia with the realities of how the game was played in 2003. The goal is to showcase the design decisions, intentional and unintentional, that shaped play: mana was worse and lands were destroyed, cards that created advantages often created lock states, creatures were pound for pound smaller (with bizarre exceptions), card advantage engines were few and far between. We accept variance into our hearts and stone rains into our decks.

The Classic Frame Experience tries to outline what was special about Magic before 2003 while soberly acknowledging its failings. This design leans into the poor mana fixing and wide power band of the old school and premodern card pools while eschewing its major outliers, and highlights a variety of constructed strategies that were viable during Magic’s first decade.

Supported archetypes:

• White Weenie
• Goblins
• Burn
• Mono-black mid-range
• Force: Secret or not so secret
• Control
• Deadguy Ale
• Threshgeddon
• Reanimator
• Counterburn
• Madness/Opposition
• Blazing Spectre
• The Rock
• Ponza
• Tax-Rack Control
• Anachronistic decks