a Magic: The Gathering format

Classic is a constructed format where legal sets are Classic Sixth Edition and every following block that's been Standard-legal, sold in draftable boosters, with no copyrights other than Wizards of the Coast’s.

The format currently includes more than 100 legal sets, containing more than 20,000 playable cards, still growing.

“See your future, Magic player.

You can tap a pizza to play a hasty Peppa Pig that attacks for lethal alongside an 8/8 trample 1-mana drop from MH6. They get webbed by Spider-Man, but Captain America swoops in to save them — and you win the Modern RCQ.

Or you can play Classic — and keep the greatest card game in the world true to its history.”

• Why this format?

• Legal Sets

• Banned List

• Cards and Staples

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@classicformat

Any reference or content present on this website related to the game Magic: The Gathering is copyright Wizards of the Coast and is permitted on this site under their Fan Content Policy. Wizards of the Coast doesn't produce or endorse this website.

Why this format

What’s the need for a Classic Magic?

1. Slow down

In the past, to enter non-rotating formats, cards had to go through Standard, whose sets were usually three or four per year and well-balanced in power level.
The pace of new additions was therefore very slow, which led to stability, a core principle of non-rotating formats. You knew you could build a deck and play it for many years, making it possibile to truly master the deck and its matchups.With the creation of Horizon products and by nearly doubling the number of yearly releases thanks to Universes Beyond, Wizards broke that principle, causing non-rotating formats to be disrupted almost every year. Some players like it, others prefer stability, and they would like to return to the pace that it used to be.

2. Back to classic

As long as Wizards created special Magic sets based on characters from other brands or intellectual properties and limited their legality to eternal formats, most players considered it acceptable.

Now that Wizards requires these cards in Standard and Modern, many players no longer enjoy it and would like to go back to playing with cards that have a consistent identity and a more classic feel.

For the above reasons, the Classic format includes only sets that have been Standard-legal, sold in draftable boosters, with no copyrights other than Wizards of the Coast’s.

Why starting from Classic Sixth Edition?

1. Not after

If we had started from Eighth Edition, this format would have been perceived only as a “powered-down Modern.” Not very appealing.
Instead, we wanted to offer a different play experience, by including more powerful and iconic cards from Magic’s history (and by adopting a less restrictive banned list).

2. Not before

The block following Classic Sixth Edition, the Mercadian Masques block, was the first in which the Reserved List was no longer applied.
The List is a serious problem for many players, preventing them from entering competitive eternal formats or limiting their deckbuilding options. Not having to deal with it is a major advantage.

3. Names match

“The Classic format starts with Classic Sixth Edition”. The name alignment makes it easy to remember.

Purpose

In recent years, Magic has changed a lot, and the pace of change seems only to be increasing.
The goal of this format is not to reject change itself, but rather the speed of change seen today, as well as the aesthetic choice of mixing Magic with unrelated characters and worlds.The main purposes of Classic are thus to offer a non-rotating format that expands its card pool at a slow pace, providing a stable environment where players can invest time and money in acquiring skills and cards that remain relevant for a long time, and to preserve the identity of Magic: The Gathering.

• Legal Sets

Any reference or content present on this website related to the game Magic: The Gathering is copyright Wizards of the Coast and is permitted on this site under their Fan Content Policy. Wizards of the Coast doesn't produce or endorse this website.

Legal Sets

and every future Standard-legal set, sold in draftable boosters, with no copyrights other than Wizards of the Coast’s.

Scryfall query

• Banned List

Any reference or content present on this website related to the game Magic: The Gathering is copyright Wizards of the Coast and is permitted on this site under their Fan Content Policy. Wizards of the Coast doesn't produce or endorse this website.

Banned List

Updated every: Quarter first Monday
Last update: Monday, January 5, 2026
Next update: Monday, April 6, 2026

List by release date

List by name

Blazing Shoal
Chrome Mox
Cloudpost
Creeping Chill
Dark Depths
Dark Ritual
Dread Return
Entomb
Eye of Ugin
Flash
Gitaxian Probe
Goblin Recruiter
Gush
Hypergenesis
Mental Misstep
Mox Opal
Mycosynth Lattice
Oko, Thief of Crowns
Rite of Flame
Sensei’s Divining Top
Shuko
Simian Spirit Guide
Skullclamp
Summer Bloom
Tibalt’s Trickery
Treasure Cruise
Vampiric Tutor

Bans explained

Blazing Shoal
allows unpredictable infect kills without mana investment, as early as turn-2.Chrome Mox
is part of “cost 0 or 1 fast mana cards” this format avoids by design.Cloudpost
is Tron on steroids; allows an exponential mana growth; beats aggro decks too easily by gaining life with Glimmerpost.Creeping Chill
gives Dredge another free plan besides attacking; makes other aggressive decks like Burn and Prowess unable to counter-race it; allows Oops All Spells to consistently win on turn-3.Dark Depths
combined with Urborg and Vampire Hexmage allows a turn-2 indestructible 20/20 flyer that’s too fast to answer for most decks.Dark Ritual
is part of “cost 0 or 1 fast mana cards” this format avoids by design; allows a turn-1 Doomsday that most decks can’t beat.Dread Return
allows Dredge to reanimate huge creatures for no practical cost, giving it another line to win besides attacking; allows Cephalid and Oops All Spells to consistently win on turn-3.Entomb
allows Reanimator to save heavily on creature slots; allows to Goryo on turn-2 without revealing any information on turn-1; makes Reanimator too consistent since Mystical Tutor searches both for it and for Goryo.Eye of Ugin
allows playing any number of cmc-2 Eldrazi for free on turn-1, two cmc-3 on turn-2, two cmc-4 on turn-3.Flash
allows turn-2 kills with Protean Hulk.Gitaxian Probe
is free food for Prowess; cycles itself; gains information for free mana, allowing combos to go off faster.Goblin Recruiter
allows Food Chain Goblin to arbitrarily stack the entire deck, being both very powerful and very time-consuming.Gush
is absurdly strong in UR Prowess, UGx Beanstalk and many other decks.Hypergenesis
allows a (stronger) Show and Tell-like effect on turn-3 with Cascade cards.Mental Misstep
completely warps any format.Mox Opal
is part of “cost 0 or 1 fast mana cards” this format avoids by design.Mycosynth Lattice
makes Karn, the Great Creator a colorless one-card combo with almost no cost on deckbuilding.Oko, Thief of Crowns
is a design mistake Wizards admitted.Rite of Flame
is part of “cost 0 or 1 fast mana cards” this format avoids by design.Sensei’s Divining Top
causes serious delays in games because of its multiple activations; creates a lock with Counterbalance that’s very hard to interact with.Shuko
allows to mill the entire library on turn-2 with Cephalid Illusionist.Simian Spirit Guide
is part of “cost 0 or 1 fast mana cards” this format avoids by design.Skullclamp
is a design mistake Wizards admitted.Summer Bloom
allows turn-2 Primeval Titan with Amulet of Vigor and bouncelands.Tibalt’s Trickery
allows to consistently cast Emrakul, the Aeons Torn on turn-3 with Cascade cards.Treasure Cruise
costing only one blue and being that powerful, forces most decks to make a blue splash for the sole purpose of playing it.Vampiric Tutor
being non-type-specific, unlike all other 1-mana tutors, significantly improves the power and consistency of combos, especially those based on different card types (e.g., Chain of Smog).

• Cards and Staples

Any reference or content present on this website related to the game Magic: The Gathering is copyright Wizards of the Coast and is permitted on this site under their Fan Content Policy. Wizards of the Coast doesn't produce or endorse this website.

Cards and Staples

A sample list of some staples and synergies available in the format.

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Any reference or content present on this website related to the game Magic: The Gathering is copyright Wizards of the Coast and is permitted on this site under their Fan Content Policy. Wizards of the Coast doesn't produce or endorse this website.