Formats

The list of cards that cannot be played in a given format because they warp the environment. Banned and Restricted announcements from Wizards of the Coast update these lists.

A ban can instantly change which decks are viable in a format.

A Commander-style format built from Standard-legal cards, with a designated Commander and singleton deck construction.

Brawl gives Commander players a way to use the current Standard card pool.

Competitive Elder Dragon Highlander: an optimized, high-power subset of the Commander format built around fast, resilient combos and efficient interaction, played with the explicit goal of winning rather than casual multiplayer fun. The Commander Format Panel defines cEDH within its Bracket System.

A special zone where Commanders start the game and can be cast from. If a Commander would go to another zone, its owner may put it back in the command zone.

Your Commander is always available to recast from the command zone, at a cost.

A singleton, 100-card multiplayer format built around one legendary creature (or planeswalker) that defines the deck's color identity and sits in a dedicated 'command zone.' The most-played way to enjoy Magic casually as of 2026, and the main format Wizards designs precon products around.

A system from Wizards of the Coast that groups Commander decks into numbered power-level brackets to help players find well-matched games. Bracket rules can change, so check the official announcement for the current version.

Telling your table which bracket your deck is in speeds up Rule 0.

A player who has been dealt 21 or more combat damage by the same Commander loses the game, regardless of life total.

Commander damage gives aggressive Commanders a second way to win.

Each time you cast your Commander from the command zone, it costs {2} more for each time you have previously cast it from the command zone this game.

Casting your Commander a third time costs {4} more than its normal mana cost.

A Limited format where players open booster packs, pick one card at a time, and pass the rest, then build a deck from what they picked.

Drafting rewards reading which colors are flowing from the players passing to you.

An eternal Constructed format that allows almost every Magic card with a banned list, making it one of the most powerful and expensive formats.

Legacy decks lean on powerful older cards that are not legal in Modern.

Formats where players build a deck on the spot from a fixed pool of cards opened at the table, either by drafting packs pick-by-pick or opening sealed product. Tests raw card evaluation and deckbuilding skill more than a prebuilt constructed deck.

A nonrotating constructed format that includes every card printed from the Eighth Edition/Mirrodin era onward, giving it a much deeper and more stable card pool than Standard. Games are one-on-one, with a main deck of at least 60 cards and a sideboard of up to 15 cards. Apart from basic lands, the combined deck and sideboard can include no more than four copies of an individual card.

A Modern player with four copies of a nonbasic card in the main deck cannot add a fifth copy to the sideboard, because the combined deck and sideboard may not hold more than four of any individual card.

A format restricted to cards that have been printed at common rarity in paper or on Magic Online, popular for its low cost and strong interaction.

Pauper is a budget-friendly way to play a Constructed format.

A non-rotating Constructed format that allows sets from Return to Ravnica (2012) onward, with its own banned list.

Pioneer sits between Standard and Modern in card pool size.

A preconstructed deck sold ready to play, most commonly Commander decks released alongside sets: five Foundations Commander decks came out with Reality Fracture on October 2, 2026. Players often upgrade precons with better cards.

A precon is a good first Commander deck that you can improve over time.

The periodic process by which older sets stop being legal in Standard as new sets release. Non-rotating formats such as Modern and Pioneer are not affected.

Cards that are about to rotate often drop in price.

The Commander convention that pregame discussion is part of the rules: players agree on expectations for power level, combos, and banned cards before playing.

Rule 0 conversations prevent a mismatched power level at the table.

A Limited format where each player builds a deck from a fixed number of opened booster packs without drafting.

Prerelease events are usually Sealed.

A set of extra cards, usually 15 in Constructed tournament play, that players can swap in between games of a match to adjust to their opponent.

Sideboard cards like graveyard hate are only useful in specific matchups.

The rotating constructed format that only allows cards from a defined recent window of sets (roughly the last two to three years), refreshed as new sets enter and older ones rotate out. The primary format Wizards designs new Standard-legal sets to support. A main deck needs a minimum of 60 cards and may use a sideboard of up to 15 cards. Once per year, after the first premier set Prerelease of the year, the six oldest sets in Standard rotate out.

A Standard player brings a 60-card main deck and a 15-card sideboard to a best-of-three match.

The most permissive Constructed format, allowing nearly every card. Instead of banning many powerful cards, it uses a restricted list limiting them to one copy.

Vintage is where the most powerful and expensive cards in Magic's history are played.