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[Marlow]

Salutations Readers,

Magic the Gathering has quite a few different formats and each of them has different cards that are not allowed in decks. While this information is all on the Wizards site I am linking it here for easy reference to our players.

Last updated - 18 SJune 2010
changed added -
http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/95b

Basic Deck Building Rules
Constructed decks must contain a minimum of sixty cards. There is no maximum deck size; however, you must be able to shuffle your deck with no assistance. If a player wishes to use a sideboard, it must contain exactly fifteen cards.

With the exception of basic land cards, a player’s combined deck and sideboard may not contain more than four of any individual card, counted by its English card title equivalent. All cards named Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, and Forest are basic. (The five Ice Age snow-covered lands -- Snow-Covered Plains, Snow-Covered Island, Snow-Covered Swamp, Snow-Covered Mountain, and Snow-Covered Forest -- are also basic lands. Note that snow-covered lands are permitted only in formats that allow the Ice Age set to be used.)

Banned Card: A card that is banned by the DCI can not be used when playing in that format at all.

Restricted Card: A card that is limited by the DCI to one per deck in the indicated format. For example, the card Black Lotus is restricted in DCI-sanctioned Vintage Magic tournaments. This means that only one Black Lotus is allowed per deck, including sideboard, in the Vintage format.

Unified Deck Construction rule: With the exception of basic land cards, a team's combined decks may not contain more than four of any individual card, counted by its English card title. (For example, if one player is using four Naturalizes in a Multiplayer Constructed event, no other player on that team may have a Naturalize in his or her deck.)

Highlander Rule: Highlander is a casual Magic Format in which every card is effectively restricted; with the exception of basic land cards, a player’s deck may not contain more than one of any individual card.
_________________
Ne cede melia,

Marlow.

[Marlow]

Constructed formats

Standard
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/TCG/Resources.aspx?x=judge/resources/sfrstandard
The following card sets are permitted in Standard tournaments:
* Shards of Alara (unitl October 1, 2010)
* Conflux (unitl October 1, 2010)
* Alara Reborn (unitl October 1, 2010)
* Magic 2010 (unitl October 1, 2010)
* Zendikar
* Worldwake
* Rise of the Eldrazi
* Magic 2011 (effective July 16, 2010)
* Scars of Mirrodin (effective October 1, 2010)

There are currently no banned cards in Standard tournaments.


Extended Deck Construction
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/TCG/Resources.aspx?x=judge/resources/sfrextended
The following card sets are permitted in Extended tournaments:
The following card sets are permitted in Extended tournaments:

Time Spiral (until October 1, 2010)
Planar Chaos (until October 1, 2010)
Future Sight (until October 1, 2010)
Tenth Edition (until October 1, 2010)
Lorwyn
Morningtide
Shadowmoor
Eventide
Shards of Alara
Conflux
Alara Reborn
Magic 2010
Zendikar
Worldwake
Rise of the Eldrazi
Magic 2011 (effective July 16, 2010)
Scars of Mirrodin (effective October 1, 2010)

The following cards are banned in Extended tournaments:
Hypergenesis
Sword of the Meek

Block Format Deck Construction
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/TCG/Resources.aspx?x=judge/resources/sfrblock
The cards allowed in Block constructed vary by the Block being played. For example Alara Block allows only Shards of Alara, Conflux & Alara Reborn to please check the link for the Block you want to play.

[Marlow]

Eternal formats

Legacy
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/TCG/Resources.aspx?x=judge/resources/sfrlegacy

The following cards are banned in Legacy tournaments:
* Ante Cards - Amulet of Quoz, Bronze Tablet, Contract from Below, Darkpact, Demonic Attorney, Jeweled Bird, Rebirth, Tempest Efreet, Timmerian Fiends
* Power 9 - Black Lotus, Ancestral Recall, Time Walk, Timetwister, Mox Sapphire, Ruby, Pearl, Emerald & Jet
* Balance
* Bazaar of Baghdad
* Black Vise
* Channel
* Chaos Orb
* Demonic Consultation
* Demonic Tutor
* Earthcraft
* Falling Star
* Fastbond
* Flash
* Frantic Search
* Goblin Recruiter
* Gush
* Hermit Druid
* Imperial Seal
* Land Tax
* Library of Alexandria
* Mana Crypt
* Mana Drain
* Mana Vault
* Memory Jar
* Mind Twist
* Mind's Desire
* Mishra's Workshop
* Mystical Tutor
* Necropotence
* Oath of Druids
* Shahrazad
* Skullclamp
* Sol Ring
* Strip Mine
* Time Spiral
* Time Vault
* Tinker
* Tolarian Academy
* Vampiric Tutor
* Wheel of Fortune
* Windfall
* Worldgorger Dragon
* Yawgmoth's Bargain
* Yawgmoth's Will

Vintage
The following cards are banned in Vintage tournaments:
* Ante Cards - Amulet of Quoz, Bronze Tablet, Contract from Below, Darkpact, Demonic Attorney, Jeweled Bird, Rebirth, Tempest Efreet, Timmerian Fiends
* Chaos Orb, Falling Star, Shahrazad

The following cards are restricted in Vintage tournaments
* Power 9 - Black Lotus, Ancestral Recall, Time Walk, Timetwister, Mox Sapphire, Ruby, Pearl, Emerald & Jet
* Balance
* Brainstorm
* Burning Wish
* Channel
* Crop Rotation (unrestricted, effective July 1, 2009)
* Demonic Consultation
* Demonic Tutor
* Enlightened Tutor (unrestricted, effective July 1, 2009)
* Entomb (unrestricted, effective July 1, 2009)
* Fact or Fiction
* Fastbond
* Flash
* Frantic Search
* Gifts Ungiven
* Grim Monolith (unrestricted, effective July 1, 2009)
* Gush
* Imperial Seal
* Library of Alexandria
* Lion’s Eye Diamond
* Lotus Petal
* Mana Crypt
* Mana Vault
* Memory Jar
* Merchant Scroll
* Mind’s Desire
* Mystical Tutor
* Necropotence
* Ponder
* Regrowth
* Sol Ring
* Strip Mine
* Thirst for Knowledge (effective July 1, 2009)
* Time Vault
* Tinker
* Tolarian Academy
* Trinisphere
* Vampiric Tutor
* Wheel of Fortune
* Windfall
* Yawgmoth’s Bargain
* Yawgmoth’s Will

[Marlow]

Rules for Multi-Player Magic
Section 8 of the "Magic: The Gathering Comprehensive Rules" offers some standards for Multiplayer Magic. Most multiplayer games also allow -
* Players to take a Free Mulligan (Rule 103.4b)
* The first player to draw a card (not in 2HG Variant).

800. General
When a player leaves the game, all objects owned by that player leave the game, all spells and abilities controlled by that player on the stack cease to exist, and any change-of-control effects which give that player control of any objects end. Then, if there are any objects still controlled by that player, those objects are exiled. This is not a state-based action. It happens as soon as the player leaves the game. If the player who left the game had priority at the time he or she left, priority passes to the next player in turn order who’s still in the game.

801. Limited Range of Influence Option
A player’s range of influence is the maximum distance from that player, measured in player seats, that they can affect. Players within that many seats of the player are within that player’s range of influence. Objects controlled by players within a player’s range of influence are also within that player’s range of influence. Range of influence covers spells, abilities, effects, damage dealing, attacking, making choices, and winning the game. Objects and players outside a player’s range of influence can’t be the targets of spells or abilities that player controls.

For Example: In a six-player game in which each player has range of influence 1, Alex casts Pyroclasm, it deals 2 damage to each creature controlled by Alex, the player to Alex’s left, and the player to Alex’s right. No other creatures are dealt damage.

802 & 803. Attack Multiple Players, Attack Left and Attack Right Options
Exactly one of the attack left, attack right, and attack multiple players options should be used. If the attack left option is used, a player can attack only an opponent seated immediately to his or her left. If a player’s nearest opponent to the left is more than one seat away, the player can’t attack. Attack Right works the same (expect for players to the right) and attack multiple players allows for attacking any players within the sphere of influence.

804. Deploy Creatures Option
Used in the Emperor variant this allows players to move creatures between different players on a team. Each creature has the ability “{T}: Target teammate gains control of this creature. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.”

[Marlow]

Variant MTG formats

Free-for-All Variant
In Free-for-All multiplayer games, a group of players compete as individuals against each other. Game is played until all opponents are eliminated, or until the first player is eliminated. The players are randomly seated around the table. Exactly one of the attack left, attack right, and attack multiple players options must be used.

Grand Melee Variant
The Grand Melee variant is a modification of the Free-for-All variant, in which a group of players compete against each other as individuals. Grand Melee is normally used only in games begun with ten or more players. The Grand Melee variant allows multiple players to take turns at the same time. Moving turn markers keep track of which players are currently taking turns. Each turn marker represents an active player’s turn. There is one turn marker for each full four players in the game. If a player leaves the game and that player leaving the game would reduce the number of turn markers in the game, a turn marker is removed.

Two-Headed Giant Variant
Two-Headed Giant games are played with two teams of two players each. With the exception of life total, a team’s resources (cards in hand, mana, and so on) are not shared in the Two-Headed Giant variant. Teammates may review each other’s hands and discuss strategies at any time. Teammates can’t manipulate each other’s cards or permanents. Teams have priority, not individual players.

The Two-Headed Giant variant has two unique features.
* Each team has a shared life total, which starts at 30 life.
* Each team takes turns rather than each player.

Two-Headed Giant Constructed Format Deck Construction
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/TCG/Resources.aspx?x=judge/resources/sfr2hg
* Two-Headed Giant uses the Unified Deck Construction rules.
* Sideboards are not allowed in Constructed Multiplayer tournaments.

If a card is restricted in a particular format, no more than one of that card may be used by the team. No players may use cards that are banned in a particular format. In addition to the above rules, the following card is banned in Constructed Two-Headed Giant tournaments:
* Erayo, Soratami Ascendant

Elder Dragon Highlander Variant
AKA Commander for Online Magic
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/TCG/Resources.aspx?x=magic/rules/100cardsingleton-commander
Elder Dragon Highlander is a Magic: The Gathering variant which provides a way of encouraging casual, interactive games with a low barrier to entry while still requiring good deck building skills. It can be played 1-on-1 but is usually multiplayer. In EDH/Commander rules, each player has a starting life total of 40 rather than the usual 20. A player chooses a legendary creature, called a General/Commander, and builds a deck including his or her commander. Only colorless cards and cards of the commander's color(s) may be included in the deck. Note that split cards and hybrid cards count as all of their colors. Aside from these deckbuilding restrictions, your commander works differently from other cards in-game as identified below.

Players' decks must contain exactly 100 cards in the main deck following the Highlander rule, and and an optional sideboard must contain exactly 15 cards if used.

Before the game begins, each player removes his or her commander from the game. If a player’s commander would go to the graveyard from anywhere, he or she may choose to remove it from the game instead. A player may play his or her commander from the removed from the game zone for its normal costs plus an additional 2 Mana for each previous time it has been played this way. If a player would add mana to his or her mana pool that’s a color his or her commander is not, colorless mana is added instead. In addition to the normal Magic loss conditions, if a player is dealt 21 points of combat damage from a single commander over the course of the game, that player loses the game.

Players have varied opinions of what constitutes fair and/or fun play so recommended cards to avoid for EDH are: http://www.dragonhighlander.net/rules.php
* Balance
* Biorhythm
* Braids, Cabal Minion
* Coalition Victory
* Gleemox (online Promo)
* Gifts Ungiven
* Grindstone
* Karakas
* Kokusho, the Evening Star
* Lion's Eye Diamond
* Panoptic Mirror
* Protean Hulk
* Riftsweeper
* Sway of the Stars
* Tinker
* Upheaval
* Worldgorger Dragon
* Limited Resources
* Riftsweeper
* Power 9 - Black Lotus, Ancestral Recall, Mox Sapphire, Ruby, Pearl, Emerald and Jet, Time Walk
* Library of Alexandria
* Yawgmoth's Bargain
* Recurring Nightmare
* Time Vault
* Metalworker
* Fastbond

Tribal Wars Variant
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/TCG/Resources.aspx?x=magic/rules/tribal
Tribal Wars is a casual Magic Online format that emphasizes creature combat: one-third of every deck must be of a single creature type. That is Twenty cards in a standard 60 card deck.

Tribal Wars is modified format, so this banned list is added to the banned list for whatever other format is being used e.g. "Legacy Tribal" or "Extended Tribal".

The following cards are banned in Tribal Wars games:
* Circle of Solace
* Demonic Tutor
* Endemic Plague
* Engineered Plague
* Gleemox (online Promo)
* Imperial Seal
* Mana Crypt
* Peer Pressure
* Skullclamp
* Tsabo's Decree
* Umezawa's Jitte
* Unnatural Selection
* Arboria
* Balance
* Channel
* Strip Mine
* The Abyss
* Tinker

Emperor Variant
The Emperor variant involves two or more teams of three players each. Each team sits together on one side of the table. Each team decides the order in which it’s seated. Each team has one emperor, who sits in the middle of the team. The remaining players on the team are generals whose job is to protect the emperor. Randomly determine which emperor goes first. Turn order goes to players’ left. A team loses the game if its emperor loses. In the Emperor variant, a team’s resources (cards in hand, mana, and so on) are not shared. Teammates may review each other’s hands and discuss strategies at any time. Teammates can’t manipulate each other’s cards or permanents.

Rules
* The range of influence is limited to 2 for Emperors and 1 for Generals.
* Emperor games use the deploy creatures option (see rule 804).
* A player can attack only an opponent seated ajacent to them.

Star Magic Variant
Star Magic is a five player varient. This varient works well if players have mono-coloured decks or decks that just splash the allied colours but can be played with any decks.

First, assign each player one color then sit in a circle as shown on the back of a magic card. By sitting this way your opponents are the two players sitting across from you and the players to your left and right are allied players. In Star Magic you may only attack your opponents but your spells may target anyone.

You win if you’re the first player to knock out both of your opponents. For example, if you’re playing green, you win if both the black and blue players are knocked out. Ties are possible if no one wins when the first two players are knocked out. For instance, if both the white and black players are out and the blue player is eliminated, the green and red players both win at the same time, making the game a tie.

Highest Life Variant
Use standard Magic: the Gathering rules with the following exception:
* Players may only attack or deal damage, to the player who has the highest life. If there is a tie in life totals they you may attack all the players with the tie in highest life.
* If you have the highest life you may attack anyone.
* You may still cast spells that target anyone, as long as they do not deal damage.

[Marlow]

Planechase MTG Variant

- Reserved for the new multiplayer format coming out next month -

Details about the next MTG Release - Planechase
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/51
_________________
Ne cede melia,

Marlow.

[Marlow]

MTG Cube Draft Variant

Simply, the Cube is a draft format where you get to play designer and developer. You get to choose your metagame. You choose all of the cards in it. You designate powerful strategies, archetypes, and you decide which ‘foils’ to those strategies you would like to include.

An eight player Cube consists of 360-400 cards spread across the diffferent colours and card types of Magic. Players are dealt 3x 15 Card "Boosters" and then proced to draft as normal. The main advantage of Cubing is you can get rid of the underpowered cards and make it so that players will want to use all the cards in there hand.

A cube consists of
* 60 Cards in each of the five colours
* 50 Multicolour Spells
* 50 Artifacts & Non-basic lands.



More details about MTG Cube Drafting -
http://www.cubedrafting.com/2009/03/20/how-to-begin-your-cube/
_________________
Ne cede melia,

Marlow.