Premodern Unchained
"A high-octane variant of Premodern where the most powerful banned cards are set free. Experience the format with Brainstorm, Gush, and Necropotence defining the landscape."
The Format
Premodern Unchained emerged from community experiments at LobsterCon, where players sought to explore the 'highest ceiling' of the 1995–2003 card pool. By unbanning iconic consistency tools like Brainstorm and powerful engines like Necropotence, Unchained offers a gameplay experience closer to early 2000s Extended or current Vintage. It has become a popular side-event at major championships, testing the skills of pilots in a high-velocity, high-consequence environment.
Rules & Legality
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Standard Premodern legal sets (4th Edition - Scourge).
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Current Magic rules apply.
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A custom ban list that unbans key consistency and power cards.
Banned in Standard
Unchained modifies the standard Premodern ban list. To understand which cards are being set free or restricted, first familiarize yourself with the canonical list.
View Standard Ban ListUnchained Events
Real tournaments played under the Unchained ban list. Their results live in their own lane and never count toward the standard Premodern metagame.
Metagame Snapshot
Known as the 'Turn 3 Format,' Unchained rewards extreme consistency and rapid combo execution. Blue decks gain immense power from 4x Brainstorm and 4x Gush, while Black decks utilize Necropotence and Vampiric Tutor to find silver bullets. Expect a metagame where interaction is required as early as turn one, and players must navigate complex stacks of 'free' spells.