Duelists’ Convocation
WOTC’s Official Deckmaster Games Organization
P.O. Box 707 Renton WA 98057-0707
Magic: the Gathering official tournament rules
Includes Magic: the Gathering, Arabian Nights, Antiquities, Legends
8/1/94 Version
Deck Construction Rules:
1. The tournament deck must contain a minimum of 60 (sixty)
cards, total, of all lands, creatures, spells, and artifacts. In addition
to the tournament deck, players may construct a Sideboard of exactly
15 (fifteen) additional cards. Players are not required to use a
Sideboard, but if they do it must always contain exactly 15 (fifteen)
cards. The use of the Sideboard will be further explained under
Floor Rules (rule #5).
2. There may be no more than 4 (four) of any individual card
in the tournament deck (including sideboard), with the exception of
the five basic land types (Plains, Forest, Mountain, Island, Swamp).
3. The Restricted List : No more than 1 (one) of each of the
cards on the Restricted List are allowed in the tournament deck. If
more than 1 (one) of any individual card from the Restricted List are
found in a player’s deck, that will be interpreted by the Judge as a
Declaration of Forfeiture. The Restricted List may be modified by the
Director of the Duelists’ Convocation as necessary. The Restricted List
is as follows :
Ali from Cairo
Ancestral Recall
Berserk
Black Lotus
Brain Geyser
Candleabra of Tawnos
Channel
Chaos Orb
Copy Artifact
Demonic Tutor
Falling Star
Feldon’s Cane
Ivory Tower
Library of Alexandria
Mind Twist
Mirror Universe
Mishra’s Workshop
Mox Pearl
Mox Emerald
Mox Ruby
Mox Sapphire
Mox Jet
Recall
Regrowth
Sol Ring
Sword of Ages
Time Twister
Time Walk
Underworld Dreams
Wheel of Fortune
In addition, any “Summon Legend” card is restricted to one
each, as are each of the Legendary Lands from the Legends
expansion.
4. The following cards are banned from official tournament
decks :
Bronze Tablet
Contract from Below
Darkpact
Demonic Attorney
Divine Intervention
Jeweled Bird
Rebirth
Shahrazad
Time Vault
Tempest Efreet
Several of the cards on the banned list are not allowed because
they clearly state to remove them from your deck if not playing for
ante, and ante is not required to be wagered in an official
tournament (see Floor Rules, rule #6). Any future cards that make
the same statement will subsequently be banned. This list may be
modified by the Director of the Duelists’ Convocation as necessary.
5. Decks may be constructed from Magic cards from the
Limited (black border) series, the Unlimited (white border) series,
Revised Edition, or any Magic expansion (unless expressly disallowed
by the Judge prior to the event). All cards in the tournament deck
must have identical card back design. Under no circumstances will
cards from the Collector’s Edition factory sets be permitted in
tournament decks. They are easily distinguished from legal play
cards by their square corners and gold borders. Use of Collector’s
Edition factory set cards, or any other cards not expressly permitted,
in a tournament deck will be interpreted by the Judge as a
Declaration of Forfeiture (see Floor Rules, #12).
Floor Rules :
1. Tournaments may use a standard, single elimination ladder
bracket system, or other approved tournament form. When using a
ladder bracket system, a ladder chart should be prepared with
players’ names and Duelists’ Convocation membership numbers
clearly printed in their ladder positions. The players should be
allowed to view the chart at any time between their matches, at their
request.
2. The number of players in an official tournament should
ideally be a factor of two (i.e., 16, 32, 64, 128…etc.). In the event
that the number of players are not a factor of two, byes may be
assigned randomly during the first round only, and should be done in
such a fashion so that the number of players in the second round is a
factor of two. Players will not receive ranking points for a round in
which they received a bye.
3. Tournaments will be presided over by a Judge, who may be
assisted by as many Assistant Referees as they may need. A Judge
may be required to interpret rules, to terminate an excessively long
match, to interpret a Declaration of Forfeiture, or make any other
adjudication as necessary during the tournament.The Judge is also
responsible for maintaining the ladder chart, and only the Judge is
permitted to write on the chart (i.e., listing advancing players on the
bracket). Assistant Referees will aid by answering rules questions on
the floor and being available to the Judge for any other assistance
they may require. In necessary cases, the Judge may overrule any
decision made by an Assistant Referee. The decision of the Judge is
always final.
4. A duel is one complete game of Magic. A match is defined
as the best two out of three duels. A player may advance in the
tournament after successfully winning one match, and reporting this
victory to the Judge.
5. Players must use the same deck that they begin the
tournament with throughout the duration of the tournament. The
only deck alteration permitted is through the use of the Sideboard
(see Deck Constuction Rules, rule #1). If a player intends to use a
Sideboard during the course of a match, they must declare to their
opponent that they will be using the Sideboard prior to the beginning
of that match. Players may exchange cards from their deck for cards
from their Sideboard on a one-for-one basis at any time between
duels or matches. There are no restrictions on how many cards a
player may exchange in this way at any given time. Prior to the
beginning of any duel, each player must allow their opponent to
count, face down, the number of cards in their Sideboard. If a
player’s Sideboard does not total exactly 15 (fifteen) cards, the Judge
or an Assistant Referee must be consulted to evaluate the situation
before the duel can begin. If a player claims that they are not using
a Sideboard at the beginning of the match, ignore this counting
procedure for that player, but no deck alteration of any kind will be
permitted by the Judge for that player for the duration of that
match. Any violation of this rule may be interpreted by the Judge as
a Declaration of Forfeiture.
NOTE: The only deck alteration allowable while a duel is in
progress is with the use of a Ring of Ma’Ruf. The Ring of Ma’Ruf may
only be used to retrieve a card from the player’s sideboard. Cards
other than the tournament deck and sideboard should not be allowed
at the tournament. In the event that a player uses a Ring of Ma’Ruf
to retrieve a card from their sideboard, the Ring of Ma’ruf used is
placed into the player’s sideboard to take the place of the retrieved
card, thus maintaing exactly fifteen cards in the sideboard.
6. Players are not required to wager ante during the
tournament. Players may play for real ante, provided that both
participants in the match give their consent, though this agreement
does not allow the inclusion of the banned ante cards in the
tournament deck. Ante cards won in a tournament must be kept
seperate from the tournament deck and sideboard; they may not be
used in the tournament, and are not valid for use with a Ring of
Ma’Ruf. If loss of ante cards from a player’s deck reduces the deck
below 60 (sixty) cards, the player no longer has a legal tournament
deck, and will be removed from the tournament bracket.
7. If a player draws either (a.) no land or (b.) all land cards on
the initial draw of seven cards to begin a duel, they may restart the
duel. To do this, the player must show their opponent that they have
either no land or all land, reshuffle their deck, allow their opponent
to recut the deck, and draw seven new cards. The player’s opponent
has the option to do the same, even if their hand does not qualify for
this rule. For example, if player A draws no land and wishes to
reshuffle, player B may opt to also to try to improve the hand they
drew. A player may only use this rule once per duel.
8. The use of “proxy cards” in the tournament deck is not
allowed. A proxy card is one that has been placed into the deck to
represent another card that for one reason or another the player
doesn’t want to play with (i.e., using a Swamp with the word
“Nightmare” written on it, because the player doesn’t want to play
with their beta Nightmare). Magic: the Gathering is a card game; if
you don’t want to play with a card, then don’t play with it. If you
want to play with a card, you must put it in your deck…no proxies.
9. The use of plastic sleeves or other protective devices on
cards in the tournament deck is not allowed. These items do not
allow for proper shuffling of a deck, as the plastic tends to stick to
itself.
10. Players may not have any outside assistance (i.e.,
coaching) during a match. If a player is in violation, the Judge may
issue a warning to the player, or interpret the violation as a
Declaration of Forfeiture, at the Judge’s discretion.
11. Players must at all times keep the cards in their hand
above the level of the playing surface. If a player is in violation, the
Judge may issue a warning to the player, or interpret the violation as
a Declaration of Forfeiture, at the Judge’s discretion.
12. Failure to adhere to the above rules, or any other rules
specific to a particular tournament, may be interpreted by the Judge
as a Declaration of Forfeiture. Only the Judge may make an
interpretation of a Declaration of Forfeiture. This is a more pleasant
way of stating that if a player cheats, the Judge will remove them
from the tournament.
13. Rules note: The Director of the Duelists’ Convocation
reserves the exclusive right to add, delete, alter, transmute,
polymorph, switch, color-lace, sleight of mind, magical hack, or in any
other way change these rules, whole or in part, with or without
notice, at any time that it is deemed necessary or desirable. This
right is non-negotiable.
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