The term “sanctioned” refers to formats that the DCI<\/a> allows to be run at official events.[3]<\/a><\/sup> Many of the deck construction rules are shared across both sanctioned and casual formats. The following is a non-exhaustive summary of some of the major formats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Constructed formats, as opposed to Limited formats, allow players to build decks from the entirety of the legal cards available in the specified format. The formats differ based on the card pool allowed, which affects each format’s accessibility, power level, and complexity.[1]<\/a><\/sup> In Constructed format tournaments, players build their deck in advance of the tournament. Of the constructed formats, the most popular are Standard<\/a>, Modern<\/a>, Legacy<\/a>, Vintage<\/a>, and Pauper<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The following rules apply to most sanctioned Constructed formats:[4]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Pauper is a Magic variant in which card legality is based on printed rarity.[6]<\/a><\/sup> In Pauper, only common cards are legal, or rather any card printed at common rarity, by deck construction rules. It is largely known as a Magic Online<\/a><\/em> format, although paper Pauper events have been run using the MTGO legality list. It was added as an official format on Magic Online<\/a><\/em> December 1, 2008. [7]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Standard format is continually one of the most popular formats in the constructed deck tournament scene. It is the format most commonly found at Friday Night Magic<\/a> tournaments, played weekly at many hobby shops. Standard’s former name was “Type 2”. This format generally consists of the most recent three or four “Block” releases. The release of the first set of a new Block in Autumn (usually the first Friday in October) triggers a rotation; the new Block becomes Standard legal, and the oldest two blocks rotate out. (The previous rule was using two recent “Block” releases plus any core sets released between the older set of the block and the first set that would make that block rotated out). The current Standard set includes the Ixalan<\/a><\/em>block, Dominaria<\/a><\/em>, Guilds of Ravnica<\/a><\/em> and Core Set 2019<\/strong>. [8]<\/a><\/sup> Additionally, cards appeared in Welcome Deck 2017<\/em> and cards from Global Series: Jiang Yanggu & Mu Yanling<\/em> (only applied to events inside People’s Republic of China<\/a>) are also legal in current Standard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For a list of which sets were legal in the past, or notable deck archetypes, see Timeline of Magic: the Gathering Standard (Type II)<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Modern is a constructed format created by Wizards of the Coast in the Spring of 2011 as a response to the increasing popularity of the Legacy<\/a> format which, although popular, proved difficult to access due to the high price of staple cards, as well as dissatisfaction with the Extended format of the time.[9]<\/a><\/sup>[10]<\/a><\/sup> Wizards of the Coast is unwilling to reprint some of these cards due to the Reserved List,[11]<\/a><\/sup> a list of cards Wizards promised never to reprint in order to protect card prices.[9]<\/a><\/sup> Therefore, Modern was designed as a new format that would exclude all cards on the Reserved List, allowing the format to be more accessible than Legacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Modern allows cards from all core sets beginning with the 8th Edition<\/a> core set and all expansions printed afterwards.[12]<\/a><\/sup> The 8th Edition<\/a> core set was when Magic cards began to be printed in modern card frames, and this is where the name for the format is derived.[13]<\/a><\/sup> Wizards believed this cutoff would have the advantage of giving a visual cue as to which cards are legal in the Modern format.[9]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n The format maintains its own banned list.[12]<\/a><\/sup> Cards are banned on the basis of their power level, as in all constructed formats outside Vintage<\/a>.[9]<\/a><\/sup> The first official tournament to be held using the format was Pro Tour Philadelphia<\/a> in September 2011.[14]<\/a><\/sup> The first Grand Prix to use the format was Grand Prix Lincoln in February 2012.[15]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Legacy allows cards from all sets (known as an “Eternal” format). It maintains a ban list based on power level reasons. The format evolved from Type 1.5, which allowed cards from all sets and maintained a banned list corresponding to Vintage: all cards banned or restricted in the old Type 1 were banned in Type 1.5.[16]<\/a><\/sup> The modern Legacy format began in 2004, as the DCI separated Legacy’s banned list from Vintage and banned many new cards to reduce the power level of the format.[16]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Wizards has supported the format with Grand Prix events[17]<\/a><\/sup> and the release of preconstructed Legacy decks on Magic Online<\/a><\/em> in November 2010.[18]<\/a><\/sup> The first Legacy Grand Prix<\/a> was Grand Prix Philadelphia<\/a> in 2005.[19]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Vintage format, formerly known as Type 1, is another Eternal constructed format. Vintage maintains a small banned list and a larger restricted list. Unlike in the other formats, the DCI does not ban cards in Vintage for power level reasons. Rather, cards banned in Vintage are those that either involve ante<\/a>, manual dexterity (Falling Star<\/a>, Chaos Orb<\/a>), or could hinder event rundown (Shahrazad<\/a> and Conspiracy cards). Cards that raise power level concerns are instead restricted to a maximum of one copy per deck.[20]<\/a><\/sup> Vintage is currently the only format in which cards are restricted. Because of the expense in acquiring the old cards to play competitive Vintage, many Vintage tournaments are unsanctioned and permit players to use a certain number of proxy cards<\/a>. These are treated as stand-ins of existing cards and are not normally permitted in tournaments sanctioned by the DCI.[20]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Limited formats are so-called because they require players to build their decks from a more limited pool of cards than Constructed formats. Limited formats require players to open a specified number of Magic<\/em> products, they then must work exclusively with the cards that came from that product. Due to the nature of Limited formats, players cannot build their decks in advance of the tournament and must build their deck within the tournament itself.[1]<\/a><\/sup> There are currently three sanctioned Limited formats: Sealed Deck<\/a>, Booster Draft<\/a>, and Rochester Draft<\/a>. Though the latter was no longer used in current competitive-level events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The following rules apply to all current sanctioned Limited formats:[4]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n In Sealed Deck tournaments, each player receives six booster packs to build a deck.[4]<\/a><\/sup> Depending on which sets are to be used in a sealed deck event, the distribution of packs can vary greatly. For example, a Magic 2010<\/a><\/em> sealed deck event consists of six Magic 2010<\/em> boosters, but a sanctioned Shards of Alara<\/em> block sealed deck event consists of two Shards of Alara<\/a><\/em>, two Conflux<\/a><\/em>, and two Alara Reborn<\/a><\/em> booster packs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a booster draft, several players (usually eight) are seated around a table and each player is given three booster packs<\/a>.[1]<\/a><\/sup> Each player opens a pack, selects a card from it and passes the remaining cards to his or her left. Each player then selects one of the remaining cards from the pack that was just passed to him or her, and passes the remaining cards to the left again. This continues until all of the cards are depleted. The process is repeated with the second and third packs, except that the cards are passed to the right in the second pack.[1]<\/a><\/sup> Players then build decks out of any cards that they selected during the drafting and add as many basic lands as they choose. Each deck built this way must have a minimum of 40 cards, including basic lands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rochester Draft is a booster draft variant that was commonly used as a format in Pro Tour and Grand Prix. Although it is still a sanctioned format, it has not (as of 2019) been used as a Grand Prix\/Pro Tour format since Pro Tour Nagoya 2005<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The format differs from traditional booster draft in that packs are opened one at a time and are laid out for each player to see. Players openly pick one card from the pack in turn. Once each player has picked a card from the booster pack, the draft order reverses so that the last player to draft a card from the pack takes the next draft pick and then passes the pack back the way it came. Once each player has opened a booster and followed this process, the final player to open a booster opens their next booster and the draft pick order is reversed. The process is repeated until each player has opened three booster packs each and all the cards in those packs have been drafted.[21]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Traditionally, Magic is a game that is played between two players, however, it is also possible to play with multiple players. Despite the existence of numerous multiplayer formats, Two-Headed Giant is currently the only multiplayer format that has been officially sanctioned by the DCI<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two-Headed Giant (2HG) is a team game where pairs of players share turns and life totals.[1]<\/a><\/sup> Each player has their own separate deck and plays independently of their teammate, however, teammates share the goal of defeating the opposing team.[1]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Two-Headed Giant format can be used to play Constructed or Limited games.[1]<\/a><\/sup> In Constructed Two-Head Giant, no cards can be used by both members of the team, except basic land cards.[22]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n In June 2005, rules for handling multiplayer games were added to the official rulebook, and “Two-Headed Giant” team play became the first multiplayer format to be sanctioned by the DCI.[23]<\/a><\/sup> The first Two-Headed Giant Grand Prix<\/a> was Grand Prix Amsterdam<\/a> in 2007.[24]<\/a><\/sup> The first and thus far only Pro Tour<\/a> to be held under the Two-Headed Giant format was Pro Tour San Diego<\/a> in 2007.[25]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n On June 8, 2018, Battlebond<\/a> was release as the first Two-Headed Giant-focused booster set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Casual play groups and even Wizards of the Coast<\/a> have developed many alternative formats for playing the game. These formats are designed to accommodate larger numbers of players, to allow two or more players to work together as a team, or create specific requirements for deck construction. They are distinct from the officially sanctioned formats such as Legacy<\/strong>, Vintage<\/strong>, Modern<\/strong>, Standard<\/strong>, or Block Constructed<\/strong>, which are organized by the DCI<\/a> and merely define the available card pool, but don’t change the rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many of these variants are popular in tournament play, though not all have support from Wizards of the Coast. Several casual formats have been implemented in Magic: The Gathering Online<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As with sanctioned formats, most casual formats can be categorized into Constructed or Limited formats. Casual constructed formats include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n While in Pauper only common cards are legal, in Peasant a deck may contain up to 5 uncommon cards and the rest must be common. Peasant Magic was created by Rob Baranowski[26]<\/a><\/sup> who felt that players with limited access to cards should still have an opportunity for competitive play. Tournaments for this format have taken place at Gen Con<\/a> since 2001. However, the original banned list is considered to be outdated and most tournaments are played by the rules of the largest active Peasant community.[27]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Frontier is a format developed by Japanese stores Hareruya and BigMagic in 2016.[28]<\/a><\/sup> It is similar to Modern in its deck construction rules, but with a later start date; card sets are legal from Magic 2015<\/em> onwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the Singleton format, players are allowed to use only one of each card instead of the usual limit of four. This variation is also known as “Highlander” (named after the catchphrase “There can be only one”<\/a><\/em> of the movies), “Legendary” (in Magic<\/em>, before the Magic 2014 Core Set rule change, there could only be one of any legend card in the game), or “Restricted” (tournament formats with a restricted list insist that decks have no more than one of those cards) Magic. Some players of this format require that the decks have a minimum of 100 cards, ban sideboards, and institute a special rule for mulligans with hands having either too many or too few lands.[29]<\/a><\/sup>[30]<\/a><\/sup>[31]<\/a><\/sup>[32]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Tribal Wars is a constructed casual format in which one-third of every deck must be of a single creature type<\/a>.[2]<\/a><\/sup>[33]<\/a><\/sup> Common tribes in Magic include elves, goblins, and merfolk. Certain cards are banned in the Magic Online<\/em> variant of Tribal Wars that would be overly swingy against known enemy Tribal decks, such as Circle of Solace<\/a> or Engineered Plague<\/a>.[34]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Limited casual formats include all the sanctioned formats as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cube<\/a> Draft is a booster draft variant in which the pool of cards is a predetermined set of cards chosen for the purpose of drafting them. The pool of cards is known as a Cube and usually contains a minimum of 360 cards to accommodate an eight-player booster draft.[35]<\/a><\/sup> The cards used in a Cube are usually unique so that no card appears more than once in a draft. Typically, the card pool is an amalgamation of powerful cards from throughout the history of Magic, although the card pool can be whatever theme is desired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Cube Draft format has been sanctioned by Magic Online<\/a><\/em> in 2012, albeit for limited time runs.[36]<\/a><\/sup> Cube Draft was first used as a format at the 2012 Magic Players Championship<\/a>.[37]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Back Draft is a draft variant where each player tries to build the worst deck possible, because each player gives another player that deck to play in the tournament.[2]<\/a><\/sup> To avoid mana problems, players choose what lands to add in the deck after they are “backdrafted”. Scoring is usually done where a player gains a point each time the deck they play with wins and each time the deck they built loses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reject Rare Draft[38]<\/a><\/sup> is a format in which each player donates 45 rare cards (the same number as in 3 regular boosters) and then drafts as normal. The rares are “donated”, as everyone takes home the deck they draft and no attempt is made to return the rares to the original owners, as all the rares donated must be able to be categorized as an “unplayable” rare occasionally printed by MTG for any number of reasons. Hence “reject rare draft”. This variant was developed at Neutral Ground, a gaming store owned by Brian David-Marshall<\/a>, a columnist for Wizards and noted commentator in the Magic world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the Type 4 or Limited InfinityConstructed[edit<\/a>]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Pauper[edit<\/a>]<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Standard[edit<\/a>]<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Modern[edit<\/a>]<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Legacy[edit<\/a>]<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Vintage[edit<\/a>]<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Limited[edit<\/a>]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Sealed Deck[edit<\/a>]<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Booster Draft[edit<\/a>]<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Rochester Draft[edit<\/a>]<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Sanctioned Multiplayer[edit<\/a>]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Two-Headed Giant[edit<\/a>]<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Casual formats[edit<\/a>]<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Casual Constructed[edit<\/a>]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Peasant[edit<\/a>]<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Frontier[edit<\/a>]<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Singleton[edit<\/a>]<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Tribal Wars[edit<\/a>]<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Casual Limited[edit<\/a>]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Cube Draft[edit<\/a>]<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Back Draft[edit<\/a>]<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Reject Rare Draft[edit<\/a>]<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Type 4[edit<\/a>]<\/h4>\n\n\n\n