My exposure to magic begin near the release of Mercadian Masques with simple starter decks with friends, playing with whatever cards we had and whatever seemed cool. At the time I was really drawn in by the setting and the way that the cards gave us a small glimpse into the world. I ended up reading the Torment block of novels and got more drawn into the world. By the time Odyssey was released I was playing at my LGS and was exposed to more polished decks with synergy and strategy. My only deck and my pride and joy at this time was a Blue/Black control list helmed by Morphling, and a suite of counter-magic like Rewind and Force of Will and discard in the form of Duress, Hymn to Tourach, Hypnotic Specter.

I phased out of magic near the end of Middle School, near the release of 8th Edition, and by the time I returned to the game years later it felt different that what I remembered. Multi colored decks were possible and no longer existed in "Magic Christmas Land" trying to play Legacy Weapon, creatures were more powerful and had ETB effects, and planeswalkers were their own card time, mana burn didn't exist, and damage no longer went on the stack! I enjoy the game as it is now and as it has matured over the years, with the variety of strategies and formats and ways for people to interact with the game. This cube is my attempt at capturing the nostalgia and the feel of the game when I first started playing, and playing with cards and mechanics that no longer have a home in constructed formats. It is an homage to classic cards and a cube that may have existed if it was a thing at this time.

I have a soft limit of not including cards past 8ED. I have made the concession of completing the cycle of fetchlands. I also have some cards under consideration that are slightly out of my range if they fit the feel of magic of this era.