By Andrew Webb

For those who are involved with the Romancing the Stones group in Austin I am likely known as the group’s biggest Middle School enthusiast. I love to see players trying out the format and wanted to create something to give new players a starting point to understand Middle School so they can give it a try. So here we go.

What is Middle School?

Broadly, Middle School is a format that captures an era of Magic from 1994-2003. This fills a very specific place in Magic’s history, as it it encompasses the sets falling between the “Old School” format(s) and the Modern.  It also represents a period of evolution of the game as the creators of the game had feedback of what worked and what was broken, and so is when competitive Magic really began.  It also has the classic Magic aesthetic of all old frame sets. (It is worth mentioning Premodern is a very similar format that captures the same era of Magic. I have a section at the end comparing these formats.)

The rules and banned list can be found on the Lords Of The Pit’s site.

Middle School modifies contemporary rules in a few ways to make the gameplay feel more authentic for the time period in which the cards are made. You can find more context on that in the comparison to Premodern below.

What is the appeal of Middle School?

Nostalgia: This is a big part of it for me. I grew to love Magic during this time, but everyone has their own experience.  For some it is the art or frames.  For others, specific cards they remember playing at their kitchen table or at their local store. People who didn’t play during this era may have nostalgia for a long lost Legacy deck due to bans or power creep, or simply a love for unearthing the history of the game. You surely know if nostalgia is a part of why you are even reading this.

Diverse and interesting gameplay with room to explore: I will write about this in much more detail below, but suffice it to say I can easily name over 20 viable decks in this format.   Additionally, we don’t have thousands of matches being played on MTGO or professional teams testing.  Part of the beauty in the format is trying to “solve” it, tuning your deck or simply exploring the wide variety of strategies you can use.

Community: This is a big part of Magic for me. Not unlike other time capsule formats, Middle School is very much about community.  Middle School has great in-person groups in the hubs where it is played (mostly Cleveland, Chicago, Austin, Nashville & Japan) and virtual play has built some great bridges between these groups. I would say if the gameplay or nostalgia appeal to you even a little, it’s worth giving it a shot because the community is great.

Accessibility: Most of the groups that play this format are full proxy friendly. Outside of proxies the format is a mixed bag of cheap cards unplayable in other formats with some expensive reserve list cards mixed in.  You can absolutely build a cheap competitive deck.

What does the format look like?

As I hinted above there are tons of decks that get played – in part because there are simply a lot of viable strategies, and in part because at its core this is a casual format and people will play things that appeal to them regardless of how competitive they are.

Some broad themes:

The mana is bad. There is a very real cost to playing more than 2 colors, and even 2 color decks are going to pay some price to have good mana. The good news is this prevents decks from collapsing into a single 3-4 color deck; the bad news is it may be very difficult to squeeze all your favorite cards into one deck.

Powerful Enchantments are a centerpiece of the format. Survival of the Fittest, Oath of Druids, Land Tax, and Standstill are major contenders in the format. Don’t leave your Naturalizes and Seal of Cleansings at home.

Creatures are not nearly what they are in modern Magic. While there are some insane creatures like Goblin Lackey, Wirewood Symbiote, or Phyrexian Dreadnought, there are just not many efficient beaters so you are likely relying on synergies, a mix of spells and creatures, or perhaps forgoing the combat step altogether.

Combo Decks are a thing. For a while Magic got away from combo, but this era encompasses the dawn of what we think of as combo today and there are a lot of ways to go about it in the format. As a result of this Cabal Therapy, Duress, Meddling Mage, Counterspells and Disenchants are all key cards in the format to combat these strategies.

The format is very broad – It’s hard to prepare for everything and until you have played it quite a bit, it may be hard to identify what your opponent is up to. Just enjoy the variety.

Show me the decks!

There is a 90% chance you skipped straight here, so let’s look at some decks. I have tried to select decks that are popular and/or competitive and also capture some of the breadth of the format.

Landstill

Control is possibly the cleanest and easiest category to discuss in this format, as the clear favorite (and generally considered best) control deck in the format is Landstill. Here is a sample list that won one of our leagues:

Deck photo courtesy of Patrick Vincent

Landstill’s strength rests on the combination of Standstill with man-lands, paired with efficient counterspells and removal.  There is flexibility with a lot of the slots and especially the sideboard to gear the deck to beat different decks. The deck’s suite of answers is pretty versatile and it has game against almost anything. How you use some of those slots will shift percentages in different matchups. The deck’s reliance on non-basic lands and its difficulty ending the game quickly are the two main ways other decks attack it.

Other blue control decks such as UB Tog, Mono-blue, and UR are also playable, but usually considered a tier down from Landstill.  Each of those control decks may still have strengths in specific matchups over Landstill and are perfectly reasonable decks to play.

Elves

This is one of the best decks in the format, though there is not total agreement on the best way to build it.  Most players have gravitated toward mono-color with Survival, but others have splashed Armageddon or Opposition or just played mono-color without Survivals. Here is a deck that won a league:

Deck photo courtesy of Andrew Webb

Elves can generate a ton of mana very quickly, and while it generally wins with the combat step it can feel like a combo deck. Elves always has the Symbiote engine, usually has the Survival/Squee engine, and sometimes has Anger to end the game quickly with Hermit. Many versions of the deck use either Tangle Wire or Armageddon to close the door on your opponent. The deck’s primary weakness is generally considered red decks that can just kill all of the early elves and apply pressure, but Engineered Plagues are usually found in black sideboards and are another challenge for the deck.

Sligh

Red aggro decks have been a mainstay in almost every format and this one is no exception. It is usually called Sligh in this era (although people will debate the appropriate term). Here is a list that was top 4 in one of our leagues:

Deck photo courtesy of Stuart Ziarnik

Like many decks in this format, there is no consensus build. An interesting feature of this deck in contrast to mono-red in other formats is it is not always the beat down. While the Lightning Bolts will often be pointed at an opponent’s face, this deck can easily pivot to play the control role taking out every elf and goblin it sees and slowly taking down the opponent’s life and using repeated damage sources like Cursed Scroll and Grim Lavamancer. The list above is heavy on mana denial and skips the most aggressive cards like Ball Lightning and Flame Rift, but many players will take the opposite approach. You can build Sligh to suite your own style.

Sligh has 3 major downsides – dying to fast combo, difficulty removing creatures with toughness 4+, and getting housed by backbreaking sideboard cards like CoP: Red.

Stiflenought

Phyrexian Dreadnought + Stifle is a combo that has seen play in many formats and it is a pillar in this one. Sometimes people joke that you can take any deck and make it a Stiflenought deck because there are so many shells in which people play Stiflenought.

Here is a common approach that got 2nd in a league – dedicated UW Stiflenought:

Deck photo courtesy of Phillip Collier

The plan is pretty straightforward: make a 12/12, then protect it over the finish line with free or cheap spells. The deck does something very powerful and has cards to protect it and is undoubtedly a top deck. The deck’s main weakness is it is all-in on an artifact creature and basically everyone can interact with that in some way, so you generally need the combo with protection, but it can be difficult to have multiple pieces of protection after using 2 spells to make your threat so decks with access to lots of answers can be a challenge.

There are similar decks that are mono-blue or UB, each of which has different advantages. White gives access to Meddling Mage, which can both protect Dreadnought or combat opposing combo. Black gives Duress to clear the way and Lim-Dul’s Vault as a tutor for either half. Mono U gives clean mana and the most efficient Daze/Gush/FOW shell. It is also worth mentioning other decks use Stiflenought as just one of its plans, such as paired with Hermit Druid combo, within a Survival deck, or even in a Tax-Rack shell.

Enchantress

Enchantress is certainly a contender, but there are a variety of ways to build it. Here is one that made top 8 of one of the leagues:

Deck photo courtesy of Ty Thomason

Enchantress has a powerful draw engine, enchantments that provide some protection and usually a game ending combo. Most Enchantress decks in Middle School take advantage of Earthcraft combos to end the game – either with Squirrel’s Nest or Sacred Mesa + auras. The deck can’t interact with the opponent’s hand or the stack, but it does have tools to protect itself such as Solitary Confinement, Elephant Grass, and Seal of Cleansing and has a combo that can race most decks.

Goblins

One of magic’s favorite tribes claim one of the cards on the banned list (Goblin Recruiter), but still boast an incredibly powerful suite of creatures headlined by Goblin Lackey. Here is a list that won one of the leagues:

Deck photo courtesy of Lorien Elleman

Goblins are probably most often built mono-red, but may also be Rg (gaining access to Naturalize in the sb) or Rb (gaining discard and blowout spells like Living Death or Patriarch’s Bidding). The deck can end the game very quickly off the back of Lackey and/or Piledriver, but also grind incredibly well with Matrons and Ringleaders. It can be pretty vulnerable to sideboard cards like Engineered Plague or Pyroclasm.

The Rock (and other BG decks)

The Rock defined the midrange archetype and is a product of this era. Duress, Cabal Therapy and Pernicious Deed are all appealing reasons to play BG, but there are many ways to build with that core. I share two decks below to highlight some of the range that exists here.

BG Necro / Nether Spirit Control:

Deck photo courtesy of Brian Tweedy

This deck sports a black-heavy mana base to enable the use of Necropotence. It has Entomb primarily to get Nether Spirit, but can also get Therapy, Roar of the Wurm or even Undead Gladiator. Unlike many Necro decks of the past it cannot gain much life, so it’s really planning to use Necro to reload and then Deed it away or use those resources to close out the game.

Here is a more classic style Rock deck: Deck photo courtesy of Robert Foflygen

This version is attacking the opponent’s hand and deploying some efficient threats with Recurring Nightmare or Skeletal Scrying as a means of grinding a long game.

The Rock has tons of flexibility. I have seen it with Survival of the Fittest; more aggressive takes with Rancor and/or Wild mongrel; utilizing Veteran Explorer; or using Living Wish. Definitely a fun archetype to iterate on with access to the tools to fight any deck in the format.

Tax-Rack

These decks are often titled Parfait, but there is a huge breadth of decks that utilize the powerful engine that is Land Tax, Scroll Rack and Mox Diamond. I am sharing 2 versions here to highlight some of the range.

UWb Drake-Tax:

Deck photo courtesy of Andrew Webb

This deck can apply quick pressure with Sea Drake and Meddling Mage, backing that up with counter magic and a powerful card advantage engine. Psychatog is also quickly lethal with an active Land Tax.

GWx Parfait:

Deck photo courtesy of Kai Schafroth

This deck leans heavily into the Tax-Rack plan and leverages 4 Enlightened Tutors to either set it up or find a variety of silver bullets. It also has Oath of Druids to punish any creature-based decks. This version plays like a control deck.

This is far from an exhaustive list of Tax-Rack decks. I have seenTax rack as the backbone of RW Prison, RW Aggro, Slivers, Lightning Rift, Stiflenought, Uwx Control, and more. Each build has its own strengths and weaknesses.

Replenish

Replenish is just one of a wide variety of combo decks. Here is a list that won one of our leagues:

Deck photo courtesy of Masayuki Higashi

This deck is a judge call incarnate. There are a lot of weird interactions that it uses to do some pretty disgusting things. The core plan is to filter cards into the graveyard with Frantic Search, Attunement and Strategic Planning, then bring them back with Replenish effectively ending the game. One of the tricks this deck can use is having Opalescence in play with Parallax Wave, which allows you to target a creature with Wave, then before that ability resolves, target the Parallax Wave with itself. When the ability resolves targeting itself, it blinks and the trigger exiling the creature will permanently exile the creature. Add a Parallax Tide with the Wave and you can permanently exile their lands. A simpler version of this trick can be done by using a Seal of Cleansing on your own Parallax Tide with the exile triggers on the stack.

The deck is very powerful but is susceptible to counter magic, graveyard hate (although it can reasonably just cast its spells directly), and some specific hate cards like Aura of Silence. Like many combo decks, success with the deck hinges on being able to effectively navigate opposing hate without getting blown out.

There are so many combo decks on a similar power level, but I just cannot dive deep into all of them. I will list a few here if you want to go looking on your own: Alluren, Dragon combo, Reanimator, Angry Ghoul (or Noughty ghoul), Devourer combo, Dream Halls, Trix and more.

Other Inspiration

Alongside some of the decks I highlighted above I mentioned other decks that may fit a similar archetype or strategy, but there are plenty more beyond those including Oath decks, Necro Control, Full English Breakfast (and a variety of other Survival decks), Terrageddon, Balancing Tings, Stasis, MUD, White Weenie, Counter Rebels, and more.

You can browse prior Romancing the Stones league decklists on our site, and you can also look for inspiration from Premodern or even Extended between 1999 and 2003.

How does Middle school compare to Premodern?

Premodern legality and rules can be found at Premodern Magic.

The goals and appeal of both formats are very similar.  Some people have strong feelings about one or the other, but personally I enjoy both for largely the same reasons. I primarily play Middle School because of my local community. I like that both exist to see how different ban lists lead to differences in what people play and what is successful. I would suggest you see if your local community has a Premodern or Middle School scene, or if you are up for webcam Magic, you might just try both out.

Rule differences:

Premodern uses the latest Magic rules for all gameplay.  This allows game play on MTGO and ease of transition for interested players who may not have played a lot during the era.  It also makes rulings fairly easy to get.

Middle School changes 3 rules back to a way they worked during the time these sets were released: Mana Burn exists, combat damage goes on the stack, and Wishes can retrieve cards from the sideboard OR exile. Otherwise, modern rules are used. These rule changes bring back the feel and power level of cards during the time in which they were originally played.  This is important to some people for nostalgia, and makes some cards a bit more viable than with modern rules.

Portal sets are legal in Middle School, but not Premodern.  While this adds a lot of cards, here are a few noteworthy ones: Imperial Recruiter, Loyal Retainers, Sea Drake, and Strategic planning.

Supplemental decks and sets printed during the time period (such as Anthologies) are legal in Middle School, but not Premodern.  Most of these are reprints of already legal cards, but a couple of noteworthy additions: Hymn to Tourach, Goblin Grenade.

Banned in Middle school, but legal in Premodern:

  • Dark ritual

Banned in Premodern, but legal in Middle School:

  • Earthcraft
  • Entomb
  • Force of Will
  • Grim Monolith
  • Land Tax
  • Mystical Tutor
  • Necropotence
  • Tendrils of Agony
  • Time Spiral
  • Worldgorger Dragon

The rules differences are important to some for nostalgia reasons, but in my opinion have relatively little impact on the game play and decks.  Yes, there is some impact (and I will not begrudge anyone their Mogg Fanatic blowouts) but at the end of the day this is probably important to you or not for the feeling more than the impact on the format.

The ban list differences, and to a lesser extent the legal sets, lead to very real differences.  Despite those differences there is significant overlap in the formats. A few categories I would call out:

Decks not impacted by differences:  Goblins, Elves and Sligh are some examples that are all essentially the same between Premodern and Middle School, and I would consider them top tier decks in both.

Decks that are very similar: Landstill and Stiflenought for example are almost the same, but may choose to play Force of Will in Middle school.

Decks played in both, but feel very different:  Enchantress has Earthcraft in MS; MUD and Devourer have Grim Monolith in MS; Reanimator has Entomb, but not Ritual in MS; Alluren has Imperial Recruiter in MS; Black aggro has Dark Ritual in Premodern.

Decks unique to MS: Parfait (or any Tax-Rack deck), Worldgorger Dragon combo, Necro-based decks, dedicated Earthcraft combo

I think that the decision to include Dark Ritual or not is a fun stylistic difference, and I love getting to see it both ways.  Banning Dark Ritual allows for Necro, Entomb, and Tendrils in the format, creating a bunch of decks.  Don’t ban it, and you get to relive classic plays like Ritual-Hippie and have better aggressive black decks. Although this sounds like a pretty big difference I wouldn’t consider these black decks in either format to be dominant, and in fact many of the decks enabled by these cards in both formats are decidedly tier 2+.

Premodern doesn’t have Force of Will and as a consequence it takes a pretty conservative approach with combo decks. My personal experience is that the cards legal in MS and not in PM do not require your opponent to have Force of Will. The decks enabled by them have other angles on which you can attack them and are not so fast that they will often kill you before you can play interactive spells. I don’t believe these differences cause either format to be dominated by any deck or have unpleasant play patterns. You of course can judge for yourself.

Wrapping up

I am not a writer, so the fact that this exists is evidence of my love of the format. I have had a great time over the past 4 years brewing decks, playing games, collecting old cards and making new friends thanks to Middle School. My hope is that you will join us and we can keep this lovely format going and see new faces and new deck ideas coming into it.

Romancing the stones hosts monthly in person events in Austin and usually 3 webcam leagues per year. Join our discord and join the next one!