REPOST: 8/2/94 Convocation rules
Tom Wylie
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
8/2/94 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 the Ages
Time Twister
Time Walk
Underworld Dreams
Wheel of Fortune
In addition, any "Summon Legend" or "Summon Elder Dragon Legend" card
is restricted to one each, as are each of the Legendary Lands for 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
Tempest Efreet
Time Vault
The first five cards in the 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.