The back of a Magic: the Gathering card,

Vintage is a Constructed Magic: the Gathering format that lets players play with cards printed from every black and white bordered set in Magic's history.

One may find casual games of Vintage at any of the places to play Magic in Boston, however tournaments are a little less frequent.  It is reccomended that one join the New England Vintage Facebook group in addition to regularly checking the Tournament Announcement Forum of The Mana Drain for events to compete in.

While Vintage may have a much higher entry barrier for players new to the format, once all the necesary competitive cards have been obtained, playing Vintage can actually cheaper than it's Extended and Standard cousins.  That's becuase only the most powerfull cards see play.  While many cards in newer sets become quite expensive becuase they may be necesary to play in Standard, there are generally only a handfull of cards from each new set that impacts decks in Vintage. 

There are only a few cards banned from tournament play in Vintage, not becuase of their power level but due to the fact that they either reference playing for ante or becuase of the logistics of using the card in a tournament setting prove to be too much strain on judges.  They are:

Amulet of Quoz
Bronze Tablet
Chaos Orb
Contract from Below
Darkpact
Demonic Attorney
Falling Star
Jeweled Bird
Rebirth
Shahrazad
Tempest Efreet
Timmerian Fiends

Several cards are "restricted" due to power reasons.

The updated list can be found here on the Wizard's website.

For more information on Vintage: Visit the official Vintage web forum or The Mana Drain

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