Which mtg format to play

Well, assuming nothing gets banned. Legacy gives you access to all of the cards from the entire history of Magic: The Gathering, aside from the list of banned cards.

The cards banned on this list include many cards banned for power reasons in an attempt to make it more accessible to newer players. This is probably the most expensive format around. It lets you play every card from MTG history but has a smaller banned list than Legacy. On top of that, instead of banning cards outright, cards tend to simply get restricted, which means that you can only have one of them instead of the usual four. Another format that can include any card ever printed, but with a far more unique twist.

In Pauper, you can only use cards that have been printed at common rarity. While these formats can be played competitively, they tend to be more focused on having matches with your friends. Each of these two have you choosing a legendary creature card as your commander, and then building a deck using their colour identity.

So you'll want to read up on what the different Magic: The Gathering mana colours mean. That means that if you have a commander who is red, you can only use red cards, whereas a commander with three colours gets access to all three of those colours. On top of that, you can have a maximum of one copy of any named card within them. Possibly the most popular format in all of Magic: The Gathering, Commander or EDH has players build a deck with one commander at the helm and a deck consisting of 99 cards.

The joy of this format is that the power level of the decks can vary wildly. You only need to have 40 cards in a Limited deck. Drafting has a pod of eight ideally players each starting off with three packs of cards. If you just want to play MTG for the love of playing a great game or you want to play the game with a different perspective, then some of the casual formats may be interesting to you.

What makes it unique is that it allows you to play with up to five uncommons in your deck. Existing in both Standard and Historic forms, Artisan is an MTG Arena-only format that lets you play exclusively with commons and uncommons.

Singleton is a format where only one copy of each card in a deck, other than basic lands, is allowed. Free for All is a multiplayer format where players take turns, but they can interact or be interacted with by any other player in the game. Players can make alliances or temporary deals as they see fit. Assassin is a multiplayer format where players are randomly given a marker card and a target card. Each marker has a reciprocal target card somewhere on the table.

In the event where a player is dealt a target card that matches their marker, that play gets to be a rogue who can attack any other player. You score points for defeating your target and you take on their target card as your new target when you do. You also score points for being the last player alive in a game. The player with the most points at the end wins.

The Emperor always sits in between the other players on their team. Players can only attack a player that is next to them. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery. Otherwise, Emperor is played like any other MTG format. A team wins when all opposing Emperors are eliminated. The Canadian Highlander format has been a mainstay in Magic since its explosion outside of Canada.

It has some of the most unique gameplay within the whole of MTG. When it comes to MTG formats, Commander is way more popular than any other format. This also means that players can start to get bored and look for new ventures to spice things up. You still have a command zone and a color identity based on your oathbreaker, same as Commander, but there are two differences that significantly impact the game.

Your deck also consists of 60 cards instead of , so big guns are drawn much faster. Skymarch Bloodletter Illustration by Tomasz Jedruszek. MTGO has annual Cube events that are widely loved by the community. Back Draft sees players try to draft a terrible deck which are then randomly distributed among the drafters.

You get points for each time you win a game and each time the deck you drafted loses a game. Rochester Draft is a version of Draft where one pack is laid out face up on a table. All players then take turns picking a card from the pack. This is repeated for the rest of the packs being used.

The knowledge of what each player is drafting and how that influences the draft gives this format its own strategy and charm. Elemental Masterpiece Illustration by Marta Nael. Winston Draft, developed by Dr. Richard Garfield, is a version of Draft where players get to choose between variable stacks of unknown cards.

All the cards being used in the draft are shuffled into one large stack and three one card piles. The starting player looks at the first pile and decides whether or not to take it. They then repeat this for the second and third pile.

If they choose not to take the third pile, then they have to take the top card of the main stack. Once a choice is made, the turn passes. Players must decide between card quality or card quantity as the draft progresses.

With recent sets like Commander Legends , you can now build a Commander deck while drafting. You select a legendary creature from the pool and then build your deck around it following the same rules as a regular Commander deck. After that, you play with up to 4 players and the winner is decided based on votes rather than on who wins.

The winner is given a point by default, though. Or, you can play Cube with your Commander cards without buying anything new. Commander Cube is a delicious combination of limited and constructed — that go together like peanut butter and chocolate.

If you like cracking packs and have some time to spare, all you need is a friend and a booster each. All you do is add three lands of each color to your booster and play following normal MTG rules. Another way to play Pack Wars is to have your entire booster as a hand and add a land once a turn. Players play without libraries.

If you like visuals and animations, then Arena offers you a lot of those and also gives you a free-to-play option that heavily rewards you for being good at the game. The only limitation is that not all of the sanctioned formats are supported, but with the continued addition of new remastered and anthology sets, the card pool will start to look more and more like MTGO.

As far as paper Magic goes, the options are limitless. You can always craft the way you want to play it. All rights reserved. The copyright for Magic: the Gathering and all associated card names and card images is held by Wizards of the Coast. Our Privacy Policy. Table of Contents. Spencer is a winemaker who finds joy in making things and solving puzzles. He's primarily a limited player, but will happily play any format -- and has been around since Revised!

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