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Middle School is a casual Magic The Gathering ("MTG") format created and managed by the Eternal Central community and includes the sets between Fourth Edition (4ED) and Scourge (SCG), before the redesign of cards frames that were introduced with Midorrin block and Eighth Edition (8ED).
The format is eternal and limited, legal expansions do not rotate, which means that no new cards created by Wizards of the Coast ("WotC") enter to the format, and only modifications to the Ban List can generate changes in the card pool, and this generates certain characteristics:
Both the staples of the format and the archetypes are maintained over time.
There are archetypes from the past from formats like Legacy or Extended, adapted with the Middle School card pool, but there are also new archetypes that were created by these card pool.
There is a strong incidence of cards from the Reserved List, such as Survival of the Fittest, Mox Diamond, Replenish, among others.
So far it will appear that the format is identical to Premodern, but there are substantial differences in the legal sets, ban list, and the rules. Below you will find all the information about Middle School:
Legal Sets
Legal Sets
Middle School decks may consist of cards from the sets printed in 1995-2003:
Fourth Edition (April 1995)
Ice Age (June 1995)
Chronicles (July 1995)
Renaissance & Rinascimento (August 1995)
Homelands (October 1995)
Alliances (May 1996)
Mirage (October 1996)
Visions (February 1997)
Fifth Edition (March 1997)
Weatherlight (June 1997)
Portal (June 1997)
Tempest (October 1997)
Stronghold (March 1998)
Exodus (June 1998)
Portal Second Age (June 1998)
Urza’s Saga (October 1998)
Urza’s Legacy (February 1999)
Sixth Edition (April 1999)
Urza’s Destiny (June 1999)
Portal Three Kingdoms (June 1999)
Starter 1999 (July 1999)
Mercadian Masques (October 1999)
Nemesis (February 2000)
Prophecy (June 2000)
Starter 2000 (July 2000)
Invasion (October 2000)
Planeshift (February 2001)
Seventh Edition (April 2001)
Apocalypse (June 2001)
Odyssey (September 2001)
Torment (February 2002)
Judgment (May 2002)
Onslaught (October 2002)
Legions (January 2003)
Scourge (May 2003)
Additional Sets and Cards Allowed
As you can see, the Portal, Portal: Second Age, Portal Three Kingdoms are part of the Middle School card pool.
In addition, unlike Premodern, cards printed in the following box sets and special printings made by WotC during that era are also accepted: Pro Tour Collector Set Inaugural Edition (May 1996), Anthologies (November 1998), Battle Royal Box Set (November 1999), Beatdown Box Set (December 2000), Deckmasters: Garfield vs. Finkel (September 2001) and World Championship Decks 1997-2003.
Ban List
Ban List
[Updated as of 01/20/2024]
As of today there are 32 cards on the ban list that you can find below. All cards with the "ante" mechanic are on the ban list, and then we find powerful cards in their own like Balance and Strip Mine; and others that could generate abusive combos such as Mind's Desire, as some examples.
As you can see, there are big changes compared to the Premodern's Ban List, where Dark Ritual is added, in favor of not restricting the use of Entomb, Necropotence, and Tendrils of Agony. Also, to keep abusive combos in check, Force of Will is legal.
Rules & Legal cards
Rules & Legal cards
The rules applied in Middle School are equivalent to the modern WotC rules, except for the following rules from the past, which the Eternal Central community has established to make the game experience similar to that era and which were taken into account when the cards have been designed:
1) Mana Burn Happens: as in, players lose 1 point of life for each unused mana in the mana pool at the end of each phase.
2) The Judgment Wish Cycle Works as Originally Designed, Pre-M10 Rules Change: (as in, Cunning Wish, Burning Wish, Living Wish, Death Wish, and Golden Wish were originally able to find an appropriate card that had either been removed from the game, or was located in your sideboard. The Wish cycle functionality has been restored to allow this.
3) Damage Uses the Stack; as it did with Sixth Edition rules for example, so combat tricks such as Morphling, Triskelion, and Mogg Fanatic work.
Quoting the page above in detail:
C.1.Ruling.3 — The combat phase can be mapped in a longer form like this:
1. Triggers on “beginning of combat,” then chance for instants and abilities.
2. Declare attackers.
3. Triggers on attack declaration, then chance for instants and abilities.
4. Declare blockers.
5. Triggers on block declaration, then chance for instants and abilities.
6. Assign combat damage (but don’t deal it yet)
7. Chance for instants and abilities.
8. Deal combat damage.
9. Triggers on damage being dealt, then chance for instants and abilities.
10. Triggers on “end of combat,” then chance for instants and abilities.
As Eternal Central said in the format rules webpage, We strongly feel that these specific older rules make for significantly better and more compelling game play, with more strategic depth. Everything else in Middle School works the same as modern Magic rules (current London Mulligan, etc.).
Resources and link of interest
Resources and link of interest
Nowadays, anyone who has internet can find a lot of information and content about Middle School through search engines or social networks, however, below you will find the links to access the most important social networks, as well a deck's gallery;
Official webpage of Eternal Central community: https://www.eternalcentral.com/
Official webpage of the format rules: https://www.eternalcentral.com/middleschool/
Official webpage of Romancing the Stones (community that holds tournaments both IRL and webcam, you will find tournament reports, decks pics, among other things): https://stonesmtg.com/
Invitation to the Discord of Romancing the Stones: https://discord.gg/4zGr83kN
Romancing the Stones Twitch (where you can find videos of past tournaments): https://www.twitch.tv/romancingthestones
Deck´s gallery (curtosy of Romancing The Stones):
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