Welcome to the MTG Old Frame League!

If you are a nostalgic Magic the Gathering player and remember the thrill of competition during the first 10 years of life of our favourite game, you will remember a time in which artifacts were coloured brown; the rarest cards were exactly that, rare; planeswalkers were more of a lore concept than an actual thing and the very few foil cards you had seen were easy to recognise thanks to a shooting star in all of them.

Friendly competition in that environment that finished with the release of Eight Edition in 2003 is exactly what you can expect by joining the online MTG Old Frame League.

How/When Did the MTG Old Frame League Start?

The starting point for the MTG Old Frame project, and thus its league too would be July 10, 2018. The collectible boom of Magic the Gathering cards was still in much earlier stages than we saw in the past few years, but there was clearly a need to share nostalgia and pimp those beautiful foreign language cards, mint condition releases with more than 20 years of age and shiny shooting stars. So the MTG Old Frame Facebook group was created.

Of course, deep down, we are not collectors, we are mostly players. And the rise of formats like Old School and Premodern proved that we really wanted to use those cool Vintage cards without the power creep that Magic: The Gathering has seen in the last two decades.

The first MTG Old Frame League would be arranged by the Facebook group users and played during the end of June and most of July 2020. The rest, three years already of dual lands, Moxen, counterspells, Storm, Goblins, graveyard interaction and tons of brown artifacts.

Growatog - John Longo - First Place
Growatog – John Longo’s deck to win the first MTG Old Frame League.

How Is the MTG Old Frame League Played

Our League is played online bimonthly. Every two months registration starts and after a few days, a round-robin tournament of two-three groups is arranged. Players will agree on the right time for them to play this tournament online via video call, with actual cards. That’s the whole point, to forego the digital products and feel the cards in your hands again!

Of course, not everyone can afford a full-on competitive Old Frame deck, thus any number of proxies is allowed. Print your Power Nine away!

After the round-robin portion of the MTG Old Frame League is played, the top four players will fight for a place in the finals, which will see the winner of the league.

Not only do we fight for the pleasure of enjoying old frame Magic the Gathering, but for the past few Leagues, the winner has enjoyed beautiful sealed products, like this Korean Visions booster pack that was sent to the winner of the XI MTG Old Frame League.

Magic The Gathering Korean Visions Booster Pack.

And lately, we have been giving altered foil versions of old staples of the format, like this Mystical Tutor.

Altered Mystical Tutor card, given as a prize to the winner of the XII MTG Old Frame League.
Altered Mystical Tutor card, given as a prize to the winner of the XII MTG Old Frame League.

As the game and the interest of people increases, we are also delving into different Old Frame formats, and for the eleventh edition, we moved from the classical Old Frame Vintage format to a Commander Format that was very exciting and fun to play!

Expect even more formats to be played in the future, and remember you can have your saying on the Facebook Group.

The Hall of Fame of the MTG Old Frame League

Let’s take this opportunity to recap previous editions of the MTG Old Frame League with the following table that showcases the winners and runner-ups of each one of the leagues we have had so far. Will your name be written here too?

EditionFormatDateWinnerWinning DeckRunner-Up
I MTGOF LeagueOld Frame VintageJune-July 2020John LongoGrowatogSimon Schoofs
II MTGOF LeagueOld Frame VintageSeptember-October 2020John LongoStiflenoughtOscar Canedo
III MTGOF LeagueOld Frame VintageNovember-December 2020Karl AkbariTPSJohn Longo
IV MTGOF LeagueOld Frame VintageJanuary-February 2021Felipe GuzmanTPSVedast Sanxis
V MTGOF LeagueOld Frame VintageMarch 2021James WhitehouseDoomsdayFelipe Guzman
VI MTGOF LeagueOld Frame VintageApril 2021Vedast SanxisTools and TubbiesJoe Martin-Knoll
VII MTGOF LeagueOld Frame VintageJune-July 2021Felipe GuzmanBear Deck WinsFabio Zanasi
VIII MTGOF LeagueOld Frame VintageSeptember-October 2021David KaplanTPSKarl Akbari
IX MTGOF LeagueOld Frame VintageNovember-December 2021David Kaplan4-Color StiflenoughtKarl Akbari
X MTGOF LeagueOld Frame VintageJanuary-February 2022David KaplanGhoulnoughtPhil Thorson
XI MTGOF LeagueOld Frame CommanderMarch-April 2022Vedast SanxisSliver QueenKarl Akbari
XII MTGOF LeagueOld Frame VintageMay-July 2022Karl AkbariThe ShiningPhil Thorson
XIII MTGOF LeagueOld Frame VintageAugust-October 2022David KaplanTPSKarl Akbari
XIV MTGOF LeagueOld Frame VintageOctober 2022-February 2023David AparicioLandstillAttilio Bragantini
XV MTGOF LeagueOld Frame LegacyMarch 2023-May 2023Michael ArnoldGoblinsVinícius Braga
XVI MTGOF LeagueOld Frame VintageMay 2023-July 2023Nicholas BoltucPitch LongVíctor Martínez
XVII MTGOF LeagueOld Frame VintageJuly 2023-September 2023Juan EspadasTPSNicholas Boltuc
XVIII MTGOF LeagueOld Frame VintageOctober 2023-December 2023Karl AkbariHulk SmashNicholas Boltuc
XIX MTGOF LeagueApocalypse StandardDecember 2023-February 2024Michael ArnoldNether GoDavid Daniel

Let us take now the opportunity to look at the best performers of our league so far with the following table that gives an idea of who has been red hot in the past couple of years.

PlayerVictoriesSecond Places
David Kaplan40
Karl Akbari34
John Longo21
Felipe Guzman21
Vedast Sanxis21
Michael Arnold20
James Whitehouse10
David Aparicio10
Nicholas Boltuc12
Juan Espadas10
Phil Thorson02
Simon Schoofs01
Oscar Canedo01
Joe Martin-Knoll01
Fabio Zanasi01
Attilio Bragantini01
Vinícius Braga01
Víctor Martínez01

Join Us in the Next MTG Old Frame League!

Don’t be shy or lazy and do your best to have your name up there in the Hall of Fame. Join us in the next MTG Old Frame league by looking for the next round of inscriptions in our Facebook Group or our Discord Server. Remember, you don’t even need to own any cards, you can simply print some proxies.

But, of course, if you have some beautiful Old Frame cards, make sure you share them with all of us on a post! We love to see the bling!