Since finding my old MtG cards I’ve spent my share of time getting back into the game via playing matches with my kids and on Magic Arena. Things sure have changed in the way that MtG feels since I played all those many years ago. Before I touch on a few things that jumped out at me around the changes that I’ve observed, let me show off the first deck that I’ve drafted since about 1998.

Ravnica Allegiance ain’t old school, but then again I never went 3–1 back then either.

Last weekend I went to a local shop and joined a Ravnica Allegiance booster draft event with 7 other folks, most of whom were around my skill level. I had a ton of fun and had a “click” moment in how powerful Planeswalkers are. That said, a few things really jumped out at me regarding the vast differences between new school and old school:

Drawing cards is a piece of cake — back in the mid 90s it was really difficult to gain card advantage. One of the best ways to get more cards was the Jayemdae Tome which cost 4 to cast and 4 to draw 1-card! In new school so many cards allow you to draw and/or filter card often for very cheap casting costs. The funny thing is that there’s a card in the current Type II that’s nearly identical to a Jayemdae Tome but no one plays it at all!

Arcane Encyclopedia, circa 1994

Creatures are so cheap — back in 1994, most creatures were over-costed, under-powered, or even both at the same time. However, today you can cast a 6/6 flier with trample and an incredibly useful card filtering mechanism for 5 cmc. An equivalent creature in 1994 cost more and had a massive downside as its ancillary effect.

Doom Whisperer, circa 1994

Everything does at least 2 things — Back in 1994 there were cards that were creatures, and there were cards that did things, and sometimes there were cards that did something when it entered the battlefield or left or maybe had a tap effect. Today, nearly everything does something besides what it does. Indeed, seeing a card with an empty description box provokes derision. If playing a creature doesn’t draw you a card and provide tempo and fly then it’s underpowered.

This took 3+ cards to build a similar effect in 1994

Mana is abundant and ever-flowing — Off the top of my head I can probably only recall a couple mana-dorks from back when I played and they were both elves. MtG today has dozens creatures with mana-flowing from every orifice. Want to cast a dragon with BBBRRR? No problem! Here’s a crap-ton of mana! Need to run a 5-color deck on 17 lands? No problem, there are 5 different cards that let you go grab some lands. Need to cast a spell to let you take infinite turns? Sure thing! Here’s a 4cmc uncommon enchantment that let’s you do just that!

What the what!?!

I don’t mean to slander the current game — as I said I had a great time. There are a few things that I liked very much and would have flipped over 20+ years ago.

Planeswalkers are amazing — There was nothing like planeswalkers back in the day. Indeed, the introduction of them added a new dimension to the way the game is played and this layer of depth added has made for a rich strategic environment.

The MtG Blue Man Group

Split cards are a blast — There are some cool cards that I saw played that provide two separate effects for two separate costs that seemed like a lot of fun. These cards add a lot of tactical flexibility to the game, something that I don’t recall from back in the day.

Either sides of this card would’ve been amazing in 1994

That’s all I’ve got for now. I may or may not attend another draft night in the future, but regardless of what happens next I’m glad that I did at least once. In hindsight, I wouldn’t change a thing, but it does sting a little bit that I could’ve used the money to get a Petra Sphinx instead…

Ah well.