Magic Formats Explained: Commander, Standard, Draft, Sealed & Your First Deck
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A Magic format tells you how to build a deck and which cards you may use. Decide that before buying cards. Two products can share a setting or release date while supplying cards for different formats, and a complete Commander deck is not a legal Standard deck simply because it is sold beside the newest expansion.
Choose the people and experience first: two-player teaching games, multiplayer Commander, a local competitive event, or a session where everyone builds from newly opened packs. This reference explains the practical differences. Consult the linked official format pages and banned lists before an event; a static list of sets can become outdated.
Choose your route
| You want… | Start by considering | What you need |
|---|---|---|
| To learn with one other person | A teaching product or agreed casual decks | Two suitable decks and a patient first game |
| A social multiplayer table | Commander | A legal 100-card deck, commander, and a conversation about expectations |
| One-on-one games using a rotating pool | Standard | A deck built from currently legal cards |
| To build during the session | Draft or Sealed | The correct event packs, basic lands, and deck-building time |
| A deeper nonrotating constructed pool | Pioneer or Modern | A legal list and opponents who play that format |
| Constructed play centered on commons | Pauper | Cards with an eligible common printing, subject to its banned list |
Before settling on a format, ask your store what actually runs there and at what level. A format can be excellent in principle and still be the wrong purchase if nobody in your regular group plays it.
Constructed, Limited, and casual are different ideas
In Constructed, you build a deck before playing, using the format’s card pool and deck rules. Standard, Commander, Pioneer, Modern, and Pauper are examples. In Limited, the cards available during that event determine your pool: you draft cards or open a Sealed pool, then add basic lands and build.
“Casual” describes an approach, not one universal deck-construction rule. A kitchen-table group might use 60-card decks from any era, a budget cap, or themed restrictions. Agree on those choices. A store event labeled Standard will still expect Standard legality even if the atmosphere is friendly.
Commander: build around a leader and a table
Ordinary Commander uses exactly 100 cards including the commander or commanders, with singleton construction except basic lands and cards that specifically permit otherwise. Your commander normally is an eligible legendary creature; other cards and paired commanders require rules that allow them. The deck must fit the commander’s color identity.
Players normally start at 40 life, and the format is commonly played as a four-player free-for-all. A commander starts in the command zone. Recasting it from there costs an additional two generic mana for each previous time you cast that particular commander from the command zone. Taking 21 combat damage from the same commander causes a player to lose, independently of ordinary life totals.
It is a good route if your friends already play multiplayer and will teach you. It also creates more simultaneous information than a two-player beginner game. Discuss upgraded precons, fast combinations, extra turns, and the expected experience before shuffling. A deck being legal does not make it a good fit for every table.
Standard: current cards and scheduled rotation
Standard is a one-on-one Constructed format with at least 60 cards in the main deck and up to 15 in the sideboard. The normal four-copy limit applies across main deck and sideboard, except basic lands and cards with relevant exceptions. Its allowed set pool changes as releases enter and older sets rotate out.
Use the official Standard page for the current legal pool and the banned list for exceptions. A reprint can make an older printing of the same card usable, but appearance in a new product is not itself proof of Standard legality. Bonus-sheet, Commander, or special-guest cards need their own checks.
For a first Standard purchase, begin with a complete legal deck list and price that list. Buying a box from a Standard release gives you a random pool, not a predictable working deck. Standard is most attractive when you enjoy tuning a list for one-on-one opponents and accept that the environment changes.
Draft and Sealed: the packs are part of the game
In a traditional Booster Draft, players choose cards from packs and pass the remainder around the table. After drafting, they build decks of at least 40 cards using their picks and permitted basic lands. The usual pattern uses three packs per player, but product-specific variants and special events may change the procedure.
Sealed normally starts with six appropriate boosters per player, from which each builds a deck of at least 40 cards. Prereleases commonly use Sealed, with the exact event product determining the pool. You do not need an existing competitive collection, but you do need the basic rules and enough time to read unfamiliar cards.
Check the advertised pack type. Play and older Draft Boosters support their intended Limited environments; Collector Boosters are not a substitute just because they contain more shiny cards. Jumpstart is another distinct experience: combine themed packets as instructed rather than drafting them like ordinary packs.
Pioneer, Modern, and Pauper
Pioneer draws from an eligible pool starting with Return to Ravnica onward, with its own banned list. Modern has a broader pool beginning with the Eighth Edition/Mirrodin era, plus sets specifically added to Modern. Neither description means every supplemental card released after that date is allowed.
Pauper uses cards with an eligible common printing in paper Magic or Magic Online, subject to bans. A card’s current physical copy does not have to show a common symbol if another eligible printing qualifies it. Check the card, not just the color of the symbol on the copy in your binder.
These formats can reward learning a deck over time. “Nonrotating” does not mean unchanged: new cards, bans, and opponents’ choices still affect play. Avoid buying an expensive list based only on an old article or a claim that the deck will last forever.
Arena, Magic Online, and paper are platforms
MTG Arena and Magic Online are digital ways to play, not interchangeable names for a single format. Arena includes digital formats and card availability that differ from tabletop Magic. Brawl is not simply another name for paper Commander, and an Arena collection does not become a physical card collection.
Use digital tutorials to practice sequencing, but check the exact queue and format before copying a list into paper. An automated client can enforce rules while concealing why a response window opened or why a trigger resolved. Ask yourself to explain those moments when learning.
A five-minute legality and event check
- Read the event listing and confirm the format and match structure.
- Check main-deck size, sideboard rules, and copy limits.
- Check every card against the format’s legal pool and current banned list.
- For Commander, check color identity and the eligibility of commanders or pairings.
- Ask about registration, supplies, accommodations, and casual-table expectations before arriving.
Keep these questions separate: “Is this card authentic?”, “Is this printing permitted?”, “Is this card legal in the format?”, and “Does this deck suit the table?” Each has a different answer. Correctly identifying a set or buying an official sealed product settles none of the others automatically.
Official sources & further reading
Rules and product details checked against Wizards of the Coast resources. Examples and learning recommendations are B3’s own.
- Official formats directory
- Commander
- Standard and current legal sets
- Booster Draft
- Sealed Deck
- Pioneer
- Modern
- Pauper
- Banned and restricted lists