Hello everyone!
I would like to present for your consideration, a new 60 card competitive format containing cards from Core Set 2019 to War of the Spark.
Name: Outland? Still WIP, suggestion welcome. Possible names include, Renegade, Outskirts, Outlander, Outpost, lol just kidding. Outcast.. OK, OK, I'll stop lol.
Octagon? (because there are eight sets contained)
Format rules.
Sixty card decklists + 15 card sideboards. Gameplay is either Bo1 or Bo3 depending on preference.
List of sets: (game:paper) (set:rna OR set:grn OR set:dom OR set:rix OR set:xln OR set:m20 OR set:m19 OR set:war)
Banlist:
Veil of Summer
Agent of Treachery
Nexus of Fate
Wilderness Reclamation
Growth Spiral
Field of the Dead
Teferi Time Raveler
Rampaging Ferocidon
Each card on the list had been banned by Wizards at some point, and I heartily agree with their outlook on these cards.
Left unchecked, they would immediately warp the meta around themselves in a negative way. I believe Temur reclamation, Nexus Turbofog, T3feri, Field of the Dead are far too powerful for this particular format. (and many others)
Background and brief overview:
So, the reason behind this format is my desire to create a format with a very specific power level and environment. I believe that despite some egregious mistakes, M19 to WAR had some fantastic gameplay and was a excellent Standard environment. This format aims to recreate the feeling of that Standard, while using a proactive banlist to rectify the biggest flaws of that environment.
Most notably, the scourge of that time, the reviled T3feri is banned straight out of the gate, in contrast to how the card was allowed to stay in Standard until just before it rotated out naturally.
Hopefully, several archetypes will flourish in order to produce a diverse metagame.
Expected decks to emerge:
Mono-red aggro, with cards such as Experimental Frenzy, Light Up the Stage, Runaway Steam-Kin, and Lightning Strike.
Mono- blue tempo with cards such as Siren Stormtamer, Curious Obsession, Dive Down, and Tempest Djinn
Mono-white aggro with cards such as Benalish Marshal, Legion's Landing // Adanto, the First Fort, Adanto Vanguard, and Venerated Loxodon.
Mono-green aggro/gruul aggro with cards such as Llanowar Elves, Steel Leaf Champion, Growth-Chamber Guardian, and Vivien, Arkbow Ranger.
Izzet Phoenixes/Drakes with cards such as: Arclight Phoenix, Crackling Drake, Radical Idea, and Finale of Promise.
Golgari/Sultai Midrange with cards such as: Wildgrowth Walker, Jadelight Ranger, Hydroid Krasis, Command the Dreadhorde, and Nissa, Who Shakes the World.
Jeskai/Azorius/Esper Control with cards such as Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, Settle the Wreckage, Search for Azcanta // Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin, and Kaya's Wrath.
Orzhov Vampires, with cards such as Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, Legion Lieutenant, Champion of Dusk, Knight of the Ebon Legion, and Skymarcher Aspirant.
And hopefully many more, including perhaps some spicy decks such as Kethis combo.
I suspect that many players have access to these cards on MTG Arena, so this would probably be primarily an Arena format, but if you had the physical cards you could play in paper as well.
To play just get someone's Arena username and direct challenge with a deck containing cards from the above sets, using Scryfall or Arena's engine to filter when deckbuilding.
Have fun!
I hope to post my own decks and experiment a bunch while I try to get the word out. Thanks for reading. If there are any questions, please feel free to PM me or reply to this post, I'd be happy to respond.
Outland
Follow up post, partly to bump, partly to share some more info.
Notable cards by role:
Hand disruption: I would argue that the strongest hand disruption spell in the format is probably Thought Erasure. Followed by Duress, which will likely be a sideboard card for control matchups.
Single-target removal: Lots of powerful (for this format) options, Tyrant's Scorn, Assassin's Trophy, Cast Down, Despark, Lightning Strike, etc etc.
Board wipes: Settle the Wreckage, Kaya's Wrath, Find // Finality, Fiery Cannonade, Cry of the Carnarium.
Counterspells: Lookout's Dispersal, Spell Pierce, Sinister Sabotage, Absorb, Quench, Negate, Essence Capture/Essence Scatter.
Card draw: Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, Hydroid Krasis, Champion of Dusk, Curious Obsession, etc etc.
Win cons: Nissa, Who Shakes the World, Bolas's Citadel, Venerated Loxodon, Crackling Drake.
Engine Pieces: Jadelight Ranger, Light Up the Stage, Risen Reef, Oath of Kaya, Knight of the Ebon Legion.
Notable cards by role:
Hand disruption: I would argue that the strongest hand disruption spell in the format is probably Thought Erasure. Followed by Duress, which will likely be a sideboard card for control matchups.
Single-target removal: Lots of powerful (for this format) options, Tyrant's Scorn, Assassin's Trophy, Cast Down, Despark, Lightning Strike, etc etc.
Board wipes: Settle the Wreckage, Kaya's Wrath, Find // Finality, Fiery Cannonade, Cry of the Carnarium.
Counterspells: Lookout's Dispersal, Spell Pierce, Sinister Sabotage, Absorb, Quench, Negate, Essence Capture/Essence Scatter.
Card draw: Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, Hydroid Krasis, Champion of Dusk, Curious Obsession, etc etc.
Win cons: Nissa, Who Shakes the World, Bolas's Citadel, Venerated Loxodon, Crackling Drake.
Engine Pieces: Jadelight Ranger, Light Up the Stage, Risen Reef, Oath of Kaya, Knight of the Ebon Legion.
