Part 65

New to MTG Arena's Historic format? Learn about its history, card legality, special anthologies, bonus sheets, and how it differs from Standard. Your friendly guide to Historic!

Hey there! So, you're diving into Magic: The Gathering Arena and wondering about all the different ways to play? Let's talk about the Historic format. Think of it as Arena's way of letting you play with a much wider range of cards than just the latest Standard sets. ## What is Historic? Historic is a constructed, non-rotating format specifically for _Magic: The Gathering Arena_. It was officially announced by Wizards of the Coast back in June 2019 and rolled out in November 2019. The cool thing about Historic is that it lets you use cards that have rotated out of Standard, giving your older cards a new lease on life. ### History Basically, Historic was created to give players a place to play with cards from sets that are no longer legal in Standard. It's a way to keep older cards relevant and offer a different metagame experience. ### Set Legality Unlike Standard, which rotates annually, Historic includes cards from almost all sets ever released on _Magic: The Gathering Arena_. This means a massive card pool to build from! ## Special Sets and Anthologies To beef up the Historic card pool, Wizards has released several special products: * Historic Anthologies: These are curated sets of cards specifically added to _Arena_ for the Historic format. They often include powerful staples or fan favorites. * Bonus Sheets: These are special card groups that get added to _Arena_ and are legal in Historic. Examples include: * Mystical Archive * Retro Artifacts * Shadows of the Past * Multiverse Legends * Enchanting Tales * The List and Special Guests * Breaking News * Modern Horizons 3 Reprints * Remastered Sets: Some popular sets that were originally Standard-legal get a 'remastered' version for _Arena_ and Historic. Think of sets like Amonkhet Remastered, Kaladesh Remastered, and Shadows over Innistrad Remastered. * Supplemental Full Sets: These are full sets designed with Historic in mind, or that were added to _Arena_ and became Historic-legal. Examples include Jumpstart: Historic Horizons, Alchemy Horizons: Baldur's Gate, The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, Khans of Tarkir, Modern Horizons 3, and Pioneer Masters. ## Subformats Historic also has a couple of related subformats you might run into: * Brawl: A fun multiplayer-style format (though often played 1v1 on _Arena_) where you build a 100-card singleton deck around a legendary creature or planeswalker. There's also a 100-card Historic Brawl variant. * Alchemy: This is a bit different. Alchemy formats use the same card pool as Standard or Historic but add special digital-only cards with unique mechanics that can only be played on _Arena_. It's a separate format from pure Historic. ## Suspensions and Banned Lists Just like any format, Historic has cards that get suspended or banned to keep the metagame healthy. Wizards will sometimes preemptively ban cards or adjust the banned list based on play data. You can usually find the current banned list on the official _Magic: The Gathering Arena_ website or within the game client itself. Keep an eye on this, as changes can significantly impact deckbuilding! ## Special Events Historic is often the format for special _Arena_ events, like: * Historic Shakeup: Events where the banned list is temporarily altered, often opening up new deck possibilities. * Mirror, Mirror: Events that bring back specific sets or mechanics for a limited time. So, that's the gist of Historic! It's a fantastic format for exploring _Magic_'s vast history on _Arena_ and building some truly unique decks. Don't be afraid to experiment – that's what Historic is all about!