Formats

When initially released, Magic had one format: build a 60-card deck, start with 20 life, and the first to reduce their opponent to 0 life won. A deck could contain no more than 4 copies of any given card (that wasn't a basic land). As they released expansions and the game matured, however, some problems arose:
- new players felt daunted by the sheer number of cards, and at a disadvantage because they didn't have access to older releases (which are incredibly expensive to obtain)
- older players didn't want their collections to become worthless, so the older releases needed to stay relevant
- some players had only 1 copy of a given card. It was expensive to get more, and often playing only 1 isn't conducive to effective deck construction; in effect, they were useless cards

Formats were thus created to keep the game fresh, include new players without alienating the veterans, and give players a ways to use their collections. Some formats were officially created by Wizards of the Coast; others started as home-grown efforts until they became so popular that Wizards sanctioned them and made those official, too. Over the years, so many variants arose- and have evolved over time- that I won't cover them exhaustively here; I'll pick the most common or my personal favorites to summarize. The official site lists more.

 In a nutshell, Magic formats vary based on:
  1. the way you construct your deck (constructed or limited)
  2. cards eligible for inclusion in your deck (standard, modern, and more)
  3. whether or not Commanders are used (and, related, the number of copies of the same card allowed in your deck)
Though the core of the game (like turn structure) is the same regardless of format, these different ways to play can produce remarkably different experiences.  They are described more below.

(1) Constructed and Limited

In a Constructed game, you build a 60-card deck before you arrive at a competition, using cards legal for the format (see point 2).

In a Limited game, you show up to an event with no cards. You get cards and build your deck on the spot, adding basic lands (provided at the event) after you have your cards.  There are two types of Limited games: sealed and draft.
  • Sealed: you have six packs and build a 40-card deck out of those cards (adding basic lands).
  • Draft: you have three packs. Everyone opens their first, takes a card, and passes the rest to the player on their left.  Everyone takes another card from the ones they've just received, and continues passing and picking until all cards are taken.  Do the same with the second pack (passing right), and third (passing left). Voila, you have 45 cards, hopefully with some degree of synergy between them.  You build a 40-card deck out of those cards (adding basic lands).

(2) Eligible Cards

Since its inception in 1993, Magic has produced over 100 expansions and 20,000 cards.  How do you possibly know where to start?  The easiest way to make Magic accessible is by limiting the card pool.  In most cases, the card pool is limited by expansion.  Here are a few common card pools:
  • Standard: the most common, it is a 'rotating' format where the card pool is limited to the most recent (5-9) expansions.  Once a year, older sets rotate out of standard based on a known and published schedule (this article explains that more and gives examples); as Magic produces three 'normal' expansions per year, that means Standard contains cards from the last 1-2 years.  This rotation welcomes new players and keeps existing ones excited by changing the possibilities.
  • Modern: the eligible card pool is any expansion from 2003 (Mirrodin expansion) to present.  In that year, they changed the card frame, and any cards with the new frame are legal for modern decks (unless the card has been banned).  This is a non-rotating format: it keeps growing as years progress.  To date, it includes 67 expansions!
  • Pioneer: the eligible card pool is any expansion from 2012 (Return to Ravnica expansion) to present.  This is a non-rotating format that will keep growing.  To date, it includes ~30 expansions.
  • Block:  Magic expansions used to be released in blocks, meaning 2-3 sets that had similar themes, mechanics, and flavor would be released in a row.  The Innistrad block, for example, had three sets with a gothic horror theme; the Lorwyn block had two with a fairy tale focus.  If you limit card pool by block, you're focusing on specific releases with a given theme.  This used to be a sanctioned format, but isn't any longer- blocks are a thing of the past.
  • Casual: as the name implies, this format is 'anything goes'- any card, any expansion, etc.  It's my most-played format at home.
  • Pauper: in the other formats, all card rarities (common, uncommon, rare, mythic rare) are allowed for inclusion in your deck. But in pauper, only common cards are allowed.  This gives players the chance to build competitive decks on a tight budget. Pauper is casual by default, meaning common cards from any expansion are allowed.
As you'd expect, as the card pool gets wider, the decks get more powerful (meaning they win faster) and expensive.

For this section, deck sizes are based on whether the event is Constructed (60-cards) or Limited (40-card decks). So you can have a Constructed Standard event, for example, which means you build a 60-card deck ahead of time, using cards of all rarities but only from sets legal in Standard at the time.

(3) Commanders

A normal Magic deck can include up to 4 copies of any unique cards (that's not a basic land- you can have as many of those as you want).  All formats discussed in the above sections have this attribute.  But what if you were allowed only 1 copy of any unique card (again, except for basic lands)?  That would change things considerably.  The concept is called 'singleton,' and is incorporated into two Magic formats that also have another unique attribute: a commander.

Commanders are legendary creatures whose color identity determines what colors you can use in your deck. (I will discuss color identity later.)  Commanders are set aside before a game begins, in the Command Zone, and can be cast any time you have the mana to pay for them.  If they're defeated, they return to the Command Zone and can be cast again later- but for 2 more mana each time (this stacks).  A good commander will have a benefit that helps your squad tremendously when they're on the field.  Two Magic formats have commanders: Commander and Brawl.
  • In Commander, you have a commander + 99 other cards (singleton- just one copy of each).  You start with 40 life (instead of the normal 20).
  • In Brawl, you have a commander + 59 other cards (singleton). You start with 25 life (if playing 1-on-1) or 30 life (if playing multiplayer).
Why these singleton formats?  Because people wanted to use all of their cards.  Sometimes, you get a card you love but don't have enough copies of it (or of cards that synergize with it) to make a decent constructed deck. Commander format began life as a grassroots movement called "Elder Dragon Highlander" (EDH- some people still call it this).  It became so popular that in 2011, Wizards of the Coast made it an official format, called it Commander, and recently (2019) created its little brother, Brawl.  These formats are fun because:
- it levels the playing field; players are more likely to have one copy of a card than four
- the commander component adds an interesting twist to the game
- the increased starting life can make games go longer

Both of these formats are constructed (you build your deck ahead of time).

Other Formats

There are many other twists that can produce fun variants of this game. I cover some other formats in subsequent posts. These include . . .

Constructed formats that introduce external elements:

Different ways to draft:

A twist on Commander:

A closer look at the pauper format:

Conclusion

The below table summarizes constructed formats.  Limited formats are almost always standard or expansion/block-based, due to their nature, and have 40-card decks.


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