Format Variants
Standard Premodern
The Canonical Format
The primary format curated by the community. It features a carefully maintained ban list designed to preserve the "middle age" feel of Magic while preventing degenerate combos from dominating.
Premodern Unchained
High Power
What if the format's most iconic banned cards were set free? Unchained is a high-octane variant where Brainstorm, Gush, and Necropotence define the landscape.
VDH (Vintage Dragon Highlander)
The Ultimate Ceiling
Vintage power in a Premodern shell. VDH allows restricted copies of Magic's most legendary artifacts and spells, bridging the gap to the 'Old School' era.
10-Point Singleton
Deckbuilding Puzzle
A competitive European variant that uses a 'Point Buy' system to balance the highest-powered cards in the pool.
Pre-DH
2011 Commander
A 100-card singleton multiplayer variant recreates the Elder Dragon Highlander experience as it existed before official Commander products (pre-2011).
Premodern Highlander
Singleton
Singleton Premodern: one copy of any card except basic lands, drawn from the 4th Edition–Scourge pool. Rewards toolbox builds and deep pool knowledge over four-of redundancy.
Webcam League
Play Online
Not a deckbuilding variant but the medium where most organized Premodern now happens: real cards over SpellTable with voice on Discord, same pool and ban list as paper. The monthly Webcam League runs on Gatherling.
Comparison Matrix
| Feature | Standard | Unchained | VDH | 10-Point | Pre-DH |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philosophy | Interactive & Balanced | Explore the Format's Ceiling | Old-Frame Multiplayer Social | Singleton Deckbuilding Puzzle | Pre-2011 Commander / Power Creep Response |
| Card Pool | 4th Ed – Scourge (1995–2003) | 4th Ed – Scourge (1995–2003) | Alpha – Scourge (1993–2003) | 4th Ed – Scourge (1995–2003) | Alpha – New Phyrexia (2011) |
| Format Type | 60-card Constructed | 60-card Constructed | 100-card Commander | 60+ card Singleton | 100-card Commander |
| Singleton | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Player Count | 1v1 | 1v1 | Multiplayer (typically 4) | 1v1 | Multiplayer (typically 4) |
| Starting Life | 20 | 20 | 40 | 20 | 40 |
| Power Nine | No | No | Partially (Recall/Walk banned) | No | Legal |
| Dual Lands | No | No | Yes | No | Legal |
| Mana Burn | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Chaos Orb | No | No | Legal (Physical Flip) | No | No |
| Consistency | Moderate | Higher (Restricted Engines) | High (Commander) | Moderate (Singleton) | High (EDH Staples) |
| Avg Turn Win | Turn 4–6 | Turn 2–4 | Turn 5–8 | Turn 4–6 | Turn 7–12 |