Your most nostalgic block

[materpillar]

I started playing around Apocalypse. First rare I ever opened was Lightning Angel. I have a lot of nostalgia for that and Urza's. That being said I was really young and really bad. I took a break and started again at Zendikar but started getting good at Scars of Morrodin. I think that might actually be my most nostalgic. I get warm fuzzies thinking about murdering people with Untamed Might and Plague Stinger. The utter bomb that was Hoard-Smelter Dragon. The Praetor cycle was soooooo awesome (even if that draft format sucked). I'm getting happy tingles with the one of praetors showing up in the recent sets. Where's my babe Sheoldred, Whispering One. I don't hate infect like everyone else on the internet because I've played with it so much.

[RxPhantom]

Great topic! I really like learning about how other people interpret different aspects of the game. I've got a few that rev my nostalgia engine:

• Ice Age. I started with this set, and it's still pretty cool to me. I remember pulling a Jester's Cap. I later traded that Cap for a pile of cards that included a Volcanic Island that I still have today.
• Mirage. This set came out and really amped up my enthusiasm for Magic. The art was terrific, the lore was cool, and I still really like flanking. The conclusion of Mirage block enabled me to complete the first deck that could be considered close to good: a Boros flanking knights deck.
• Mirrodin. I returned to Magic briefly, but enthusiastically with this set. My friends were sitting around in the restaurant we all worked in, and I happened to say that I used to play Magic. Then the other three said they did too. And we all still had our old cards. That kicked off many late nights of Magic after working at the restaurant, and I look back at those times fondly.
• Innistrad. This set marked my second, most enduring, and current return to Magic. I played a lot of Limited, discovered Commander, played some unforgettable games, and made a lot of friends during that time. It also marked the only time that I had a sustained interest in Standard, as I played some variant of Humans the entire time Innistrad block was legal. In addition to that, the set was one of the greats. Flavor and gameplay were firing on all cylinders, and there's a reason that so many remember it so fondly.

[PrimevalCommander]

My first set was Planar Chaos (Time Spiral Block), but I didn't have my bearings for the game until Lorwyn block. That is my vote. Also my single most favorite standard deck was actually a block deck called " Kitchen Toast" and later "Fulimator Toast" 5 color control deck.

Though any time in the Lorwyn - Alara - Zendikar blocks I was heavy into the game and have a lot of love for.

The very first "Expeditions" were in Zendikar boxes and they placed older cards from Urza's Saga back to Revised in the standard packs. I bought 1 box of Zendikar and pulled a Plateau in a standard booster pack! Good times.

[Lifeless]

I learned how to play shortly after Revised. About a year later I saw my first card from another set - Dark Heart of the Wood from the Dark. It so thoroughly blew my mind that I can remember the exact moment. So based on that alone I've got to say the Dark. Nothing special about the set really, but I feel like it was uniquely responsible for broadening my horizons in a way that no other MtG set would ever be able to.

[Ulka]

I'm in the odd case where i have two set that are equal and man they are in very different eras of the game but I started playing when young with our own rules and then picked up Magic in high school. For my younger years it was Odyssey which was very fun when we were making our own rules like kids do but Scars of Mirrodin block is when I started back and man that standard era is honestly one of my favorite times to have been playing magic and each card just brings me back.

[capitacommunist]

For me Ravnica and Onslaught. Onslaught was where I started playing and I have fond memories playing casual then. And Ravnica with the new guilds was amazing fun and very new.

[Lifeless]

I'm in the odd case where i have two set that are equal and man they are in very different eras of the game but I started playing when young with our own rules and then picked up Magic in high school. For my younger years it was Odyssey which was very fun when we were making our own rules like kids do but Scars of Mirrodin block is when I started back and man that standard era is honestly one of my favorite times to have been playing magic and each card just brings me back.

Odyssey block was the peak of my in-store play days. I ran events, FNM, taught kids the game, and participated in every large local even for a few years. It will always hold a special place in my heart.

[Hermes_]

Odyssey block was the peak of my in-store play days. I ran events, FNM, taught kids the game, and participated in every large local even for a few years. It will always hold a special place in my heart.

That was Zendirkar for me.

[cheonice]

I'm in the odd case where i have two set that are equal and man they are in very different eras of the game but I started playing when young with our own rules and then picked up Magic in high school. For my younger years it was Odyssey which was very fun when we were making our own rules like kids do but Scars of Mirrodin block is when I started back and man that standard era is honestly one of my favorite times to have been playing magic and each card just brings me back.

Same with me! I started playing at school, while Onslaught was on the shelves. I really liked Green and White, traded rares for big guys and clerics. After a hiatus I really started playing with Alara, my first EDH was Mayael the Anima the Anima[/card], which holds a special place in my heart.

[PrimevalCommander]

Noticing that the "Return" sets don't seem to be as nostalgic as the first experience at any given plane. Which makes sense. Though I assume there are plenty of members here that never experienced Ravnica 1.0, Mirrodin 1.0, or Zendikar 1.0, so the return sets would have more impact on their feelings for the plane in general. I myself missed Ravnica and Mirrodin block, but my inaugural block Time Spiral didn't have the same impact on me until I learned the finer points of the game and got a bit more skillful.

What it appears is that once one knows that a set is a "Return" set, it doesn't seem to hit players in the feels as much as something new and fresh. Kamigawa may hit different due to the large time between the sets, and the large shift in style. But being a 1-and-done set severely limits the time the players get to experience the cards and form a lasting appreciation for the plane. I've already about forgot it exists and it's only been in print for a month. Product fatigue is going to make it hard for anyone to have any real appreciation for the storytelling of the planes as they hop from one plane to another.

[duducrash]

My first good deck was from a legions theme deck, which i'm pretty sure it's onslaught block? it was a super fun deck and being able to better the deck was a nice experience.

Then I came back hard during Khans of Tarkir. I was playing before, but hit the ground running during khans. Love that block too, even though the power level didn't stand the test of time

[BaronCappuccino]

Avacyn Restored was the first set when my cafe decided to also be a game shop, but we still had to buy our boxes from a nearby shop and run casually. Gatecrash was the first set it was sanctioned for after moving. I'm torn. If I had to be sentimental for anything, it'd be that Innistrad/Ravnica era, and of that, M13 gave me Krenko, which got me into Commander because I was only collecting goblins back then. Probably M13. Smack dab in the middle of some of my favorite cards, and back then I still had that Magic naivete that creativity could pay off, and that fun cards could be good cards. Everyone I knew was pretty casual then too. I cast my vote for Return to Ravnica.

[Gentle Giant]

Although I started with much older cards, Mirrodin is when I became a more conscious/focused magic player (mainly by actually buying stuff). The nuts & bolts precon still heavily influences my playstyle preferences to this day: an extreme soft spot for durdling and trinkets. Myr Servitor is my spirit animal (with the spellbombs&Salvaging Station being close second).

[Jemolk]

I started really playing Magic with the RTR prerelease, and it's the oldest block that I have any real experience with as a cohesive unit. It also made for a fantastic Standard format while Innistrad was the other block it was working with. So, I really have to say RTR. I actually for the most part prefer far older cards, but RTR was the one that I actually can say I have nostalgia for, because things like Onslaught, or Ice Age, or Masques, despite having cards that are much more up my alley nowadays, are not things I ever experienced as sets or as blocks, so while I can say I love the older cards, it would be a tad disingenuous of me to say I love the older sets.

[Yatsufusa]

As a block, absolutely Kamigawa. Was marketed to Kamigawa, started out in its prerelease, fell in love with the lore and now whenever a OG Kamigawa foil pops up it does pull me back to the old days. I built a whole EDH deck around 3 of its Legends (Ryusei, Godo and Hidetsugu). Neon Dynasty did such a bang-up job paying proper homage to the original Kamigawa even if on the surface it did look like a completely different plane, I feel at home whenever I crack a pack of Neon Dynasty.

Funny if you asked me for a singular card, not a block's worth it would be Arcbound Ravager|DST because while I was big on the lore, online articles were mostly about competitive (standard) and Affinity was tearing the game apart, with Ravager as the poster child, so strangely Ravager (with the OG art) is singular strongest nostalgic card, even if I wasn't playing Standard back then. It was so powerful the only Modern deck I played back then was Affinity. But as a block any other Mirrodin card would have less pull than a Kamigawa one (heck I was so entrenched with Kamigawa as a whole I can't actually point out a single outstanding card with nostalgic pull, they all have the same effect).