You’ll Can Now Play One of MTG’s “Most Highly Requested” Formats Online

Last updated on December 10, 2025

Squee, Goblin Nabob | Illustration by Greg Staples

Premodern is coming to Magic Online!

MTGO announced yesterday two debuts rolled into one. They'll launch a sort of rotating “Format Laboratory” called Contraption, where they'll showcase different niche formats and custom rules…

… and the very first experiment is Premodern, one of Magic's most popular player-run formats.

Contraptions: MTGO’s Rotating Format Lab

Contraption explanation card

Daybreak Games, the company that runs MTGO, announced Contraption as a kind of rotating sandbox.

“One of the great parts about the game of Magic: The Gathering is the ability to have new metagame puzzles to solve every time new cards are released or banned lists are changed,” Daybreak's announcement says. “Now imagine a sandbox where whole formats can drift in and out over time – a new puzzle to solve every time. That’s the idea behind our new Contraption format!”

From the announcement, they play to run each Contraption format for about 3–6 weeks. Each Contraption starts with casual rooms and a Friendly League, then moves to regular leagues, and if there’s enough interest, it caps off with Trials and Challenge 32 events.

The first Contraption will be Premodern, and the schedule looks like this:

• Until December 17, 2025 – Premodern Friendly League (same parameters as the Modern Friendly League).
  
• December 17–January 2 – Premodern Holiday League during MTGO’s All-Access period.
  
• January 2–20 – Regular Premodern League.
  
• Scheduled Events sprinkled around the schedule during the Holidays (specific dates not yet announced)

And the best part for Premodern fans: According to MTGO, Premodern generates the most player requests and has the biggest existing audience, and if there's enough player interest during the Contraption cycle they could potentially give Premodern its own room around late February.

Wait… What is Premodern, Exactly?

Stifle | Illustration by Eric Fortune

Premodern is a community-run constructed format that uses cards from Fourth Edition through Scourge. 

“Premodern was created in the early 2010s by Martin Berlin, who was seeking a play experience to bridge the gap between Old School and Modern as a more casual format,” Daybreak's announcement says. “Martin continues to oversee the format and curates its banned list, and the Magic Online team is pleased to partner with him in expanding Premodern’s reach in the Magic community.”

You can use reprints, as long as the card was originally printed in that window. So if you want to use a Bird of Paradise cosplaying as a Paradise Chocobo, or use painlands from Edge of Eternities Commander, you totally can. 

Another important detail: Premodern uses the current Magic rules. This is important because although MTG rules were pretty different back in those times, Premodern uses whatever the most recent rules are.

“MTG rules have evolved constantly during the 25+ years of the game’s existence, based on trial-and-error, feedback and collective experience,” writes Martin Berlin, the format’s creator. “By and large, the rules of today are more logical and concise than back in the days. Aspects of the rules which often led to confusion, while at the same time not making the game more interesting per se, have been obsoleted.”

In short: Except for which sets are legals and a short ban list, Premodern plays like any other 60-card format.

What Cards Are Legal?

Premodern's goal is to be “a home for iconic and fun cards that don't see play in other formats,” Martin writes. “In line with this idea, some cards that are dominant in other formats are banned in Premodern (e.g. Brainstorm and Force of Will) in order to leave room for other cards to prosper, and to make the format distinct from others.”

And best of all: Premodern has a very varied metagame! All three major archetypes are represented in a nearly-perfect three-way split: 35% of the metagame is aggro decks according to MTGTop8, 37% is control decks, and 29% is combo decks. And no deck has more than an 8% share in the last couple of months:

Source: MTGTop8

Should I Play Premodern?

Serra Angel – Illustration by Jodie Muir

That's of course entirely up to you! Contraption looks like a wonderful tool for MTGO to try a lot of niche formats and custom rules, similar to how MTGA has Midweek Magic. And Daybreak literally says that Premodern is the format that gets requested the most, so there seems to be a player base eager to try it out!