What is Kitchen Table Old School?

I have been thinking a lot recently about what I want this blog to be about.

I think it will not only be about my journey through Old School Magic but also have a main focus on non-tournament events.  What I mean by that is I want this blog to be for those who aren't necessarily interested in Deck Tech or tournament reports. 

I really enjoy the game but I am not a "Spike" and I am more interested in the gameplay and in alternate forms of game play besides one-on-one competitive tournament play.

I remember fondly of when I was in junior high and high school and I played Magic with my friends around a kitchen table or dining room table or even on the floor.  Most of the games I played were multiplayer.  I remember one game at a friend's house where the game had 8 people and it was just total chaos, anyone could target anyone and the game lasted the whole afternoon.  I also distinctly remember my friend's mom bringing out a plate of homemade cookies for us at one point.

These memories are why I am interested in Old School.  Playing with the cards that got me into the game in the first place is really why I am into this format. 

I want this blog to be about multiplayer and alternate ways of playing magic, from Two-Headed Giant to Emperor to custom Battle Boxes and custom Cubes even to a Solitaire variant I remember reading about in an old Duelist (or maybe it was Inquest) magazine.

With the above being said I have three projects I am working on.

I will make a post for each of these in the future but here are the basics:

- Old School 95 Cube: I have assembled a cube which I will post the list of in a future blog post.  I will also be evolving the cube as it gets played.  This weekend may be the first time I get to try it out!

- The Brothers War Vanguard Battle Box: I am in the process of assembling 5 mono-colored decks with an emphasis on Artifacts and the Antiquities Expansion.  This will include a specific Vanguard card for each deck.

- Scryings Expansion Cube: I will assemble the Scryings Expansion that Magnus has put together and create a custom Cube with the contents of the Scryings expansion. 


I will probably have a blog post about the OS 95 Cube after I test it out this weekend, supposing all goes according to plan.

A journey back to the 90s.......

A few months ago a friend of mine casually mentioned that some of his Magic cards had recently gone up in value.  These were Collector's Edition cards.  He mentioned that there was a new format that people were playing called 93/94 which was the reason for the increase in prices.

I hadn't played Magic in years but something about the format intrigued me.

I started searching online and finding websites and blogs (most of them are linked here on my blog).  I also started watching YouTube videos about 93/94 (also known as Old School Magic).

Playing with a limited set of cards, especially the sets that I originally played with in the 90s was too enticing to pass up.  I looked into the rules for the format and found that there were several different varieties.

The two main rules standards are as follows:

- 93/94, which originated in Sweden and includes cards from Alpha, Beta, Unlimited, Arabian Nights, Antiquities, Legends and The Dark.  No reprints from newer sets are allowed.

- Eternal Central, which is an American format that includes not only the cards from the above format but also allows cards from Fallen Empires and reprints so long as the borders and the art are the original and also no foils.  The reprint policy allows Revised, 4th, 5th and Chronicles cards to be played with.

Both of the above formats have their own Banned and Restricted lists.

There is also a 95 Old School format that I haven't yet decided to get into but I am sure at some point I will.

I have decided to use the Eternal Central rules to build decks for several reasons.  One reason is that I started playing in the Fall of 1994.  The first cards I owned were Revised cards.  I have a great nostalgia for Revised.  I also remember that The Dark had just been released and that it was difficult to get a hold of.  Fallen Empires was the first expansion I bought and I have many fond memories of playing with Necrites and Thallids.

The other reason I chose Eternal Central was the fact that it was the more accessible format.  It was cheaper to get into it.  I would also be able to buy a lot of cards and build up a large pool to build decks from because of how inexpensive it would be compared to 93/94.

Since starting down the Old School road almost 2 months ago I have acquired a number of cards.  I have been in the process of organizing them and I have built several decks and refined them as well.

In the coming posts I will share some of the cards I have acquired and also go over the decks I have assembled.

I have always played MTG on a kitchen or dining room table among friends.  I've never been much for tournaments and I like 4+ player games the best.  I will explore not only 1v1 Magic but also multiplayer Magic.

I hope that this blog will serve as both a journal of my collecting but also as an inspiration to others who choose to take the Old School path.

Until then....