No Horizons sets
No set that skips Standard joins the pool.
Single cards can come in one at a time: to correct the format, or by earning a place in a monthly test event. Not every card in those sets is a problem. Taking a whole set at once is.
Canonic
No Universes Beyond. Just Magic.
Est. 2003 · From 8th Edition onward
Modern was built on a simple promise: an eternal format shaped by Magic's normal sets, where power grew gradually and new cards entered only after passing through Standard.
That promise changed.
Since 2019, Modern has received sets designed to bypass Standard entirely, introducing cards calibrated directly for an eternal format. Since 2025, it has also received cards from outside the Magic multiverse.
Canonic restores the original idea.
Behind it is a group of friends who wanted one thing: to play canonical Magic, without wondering whether a 10/10 Shrek with menace was about to join the format.
Every rule we go by is written down here, including which Horizons cards can come in — that one is our judgment, published with the reason next to it. Yours stays yours: at your own table you play what you want.
Only the Magic multiverse
No Universes Beyond, even when those cards are Standard-legal.
No external properties and no crossovers, D&D included.
No rotation
From 8th Edition to the latest eligible set.
The pool only grows, at the pace Magic has always grown.
Where to start
Already play Modern?
Paste your deck into the validator. It checks every card and says what falls outside the Canonic pool, and why.
Most Modern decks lose a few pieces and keep working. The ones that fall apart were leaning on cards that never passed through Standard.
Starting from nothing?
Browse the deck lists. Every list is audited against the Canonic card pool and grouped by what the deck does at the table: aggro, midrange, control, or combo. The rules are one page: what makes a card legal, plus the list of sets that qualify.