Formats Overview

One really interesting thing about Magic is the variety of ways to play it. This can be a double edged sword in some ways. On the plus side, it is really cool to be able to play these different formats, they each have their own different card pools and rules. Additionally, you can find the right competitive level from casual to competitive. You obviously don't have to learn to play them all and many people only focus on a few. On the downside, each of them has their own unique things that have to be learned, from which cards are legal, to the rules of the game. Each of them also requires different skills. This is an overview of the formats that I actually play.

Standard is perhaps the format it is easiest to get into if you investigate online. This is how I first got started. I downloaded Arena and started messing around with it and started playing that way. Standard is only the most recent sets. The rules have changed a bit but I believe the current situation is sets from the last three years. This is the main distinguishing feature of this format. So what that means is that roughly every year the format "rotates" which means that the older sets are no longer legal and new sets will be coming in. What this means in practical terms is that if you mainly play standard then eventually some of your cards will no longer be usable. And the pile of unusable cards will grow as time goes on. The main benefit of this system is that it keeps the format fresh and changing so new brews with new cards can grow up and develop. Because the card pool is limited compared to other "constructed" formats (meaning you build your deck before playing with whatever cards you own that are legal and bring it to play as opposed to building a deck from a much smaller pool of card at the actual event called "limited") the power level is generally much lower. In some ways though, Standard has been dying in terms of real world in-person play. It used to be very popular (before I started playing) but has been usurped particularly by Commander. On Arena (the flashier newer version of online Magic), standard is the main format. And Wizards of the Coast has tried to bring Standard back from the grave (for in person play) although I am not sure how much success they have had. I used to play standard (only on Arena though) but don't anymore. My favorite standard youtuber is Sloth because he plays interesting brews and I like his personality in the commentary.

Fortunately there are formats where most of the cards stay legal indefinitely (unless they are banned). The one I like the best is Pioneer. This is a relatively recent format and includes fewer cards than some of the older formats like Modern, Legacy, or Vintage. I like Pioneer because the cards I have bought are mostly legal in Pioneer even though many of them are no longer legal in Standard. This is because I didn't start playing that long ago so when I have bought cards to play events like pre-releases, those cards are automatically legal in Pioneer. I also like that there is a wide variety of viable strategies, but that the power level is less than in those older formats so you don't have to worry so much about someone getting the cards they want at the beginning and doing something crazy very early in the game. There are some downsides to Pioneer though. It is often described as a forgotten format meaning that Wizards of the Coast don't really organize competitive events for it nor does it get much attention. So there are fewer players. Even on Arena, although they say they have Pioneer, many cards are missing. These missing cards are considered less useful but could still be fun to brew with. On the other hand the lack of attention to the format means that Wizards of the Coast have mostly left it alone. For example, Modern is much more heavily supported but Wizards has released some very powerful sets just for it that have radically altered the format. Many people who play Pioneer are thankful that Wizards hasn't done that to Pioneer (Yet!). As opposed to all the other formats there aren't very many content creators who focus on Pioneer but I do like Nick Button but there are a few other small time people.

Commander is an eternal format meaning that almost all the cards ever printed for Magic are legal in it. Commander is a multiplayer format with usually four people playing although you can have more or less. Commander was a fan created format that really took off in popularity in part because it is generally treated as more of a social and casual type of game rather than being serious and competitive. This has changed a little bit with the rise of Competitive commander but still the way most average people play it is as a fun not too serious format. I mostly played commander with the twins although I also did play somewhat at Growlife in Taipei. I think this format works best when you have a group of people that you share expectations with. Because the card pool is so large, it is possible to build decks that are really kind of just for fun, or to build decks that are very lethal and which can be oppressive to the other players. So when you play with strangers there are a lot of ways in which expectations about how the game should be played can fail to mesh. Online forums are rife with stories of these kinds of mismatches. This also has two sides, on the one hand, you can be the victim of someone who is playing a cruel deck, but you also have to be quite careful to not build decks that are considered "unfun" by the other people you play with. The people I played with at growlife were very nice and friendly and helpful, but at the same time, they were serious and had access to lots of cards and liked to brew. It can be challenging to play with them because they are constantly playing cards that do weird and strange things so it can be very difficult to even keep track of what is going on let alone know how to play agains them. So commander worked very well for playing with the twins because we had three people who wanted to play, a limited set of decks that we played with a lot, and we all knew what they did. There were no concerns about people's expectations being violated. I did brew up a deck that had some stuff in it that is generally considered oppressive, but I felt free to discuss it with them, and they said it was ok. My deck was a homebrew though and not some super optimized deck from a pro online.

Pauper is the only format on this page that I haven't actually played. But it is pretty easy to understand. Like Commander it is an eternal format. But only common cards are allowed. Basically magic cards are printed in four different rarities: common, uncommon, rare, and mythic rare. Rarity is indicated by the color of the set symbol on the card. So commons are obviously the cheapest cards. So that is a major attraction. I also like that the cards are easy to collect and that there is a wide variety of deck styles. Arena doesn't have this format, so one must play on Magic Online (a much older and more intimidating online platform) or find ways to play in person. People in Taipei didn't play this but there does seem to be a scene in Louisville so hopefully I can try this sometime.

Sealed is a limited format. This means that you don't bring a deck to the event. You are sold six packs from the same set as everyone else (usually the set that is just about to be released) and you are given about an hour to look through them and make the best deck you can out of them. In some ways this can be a bit more "fair" in a way, because everybody is in the same boat with respect to how they are getting the cards. Of course you can get lucky with the cards you open, but you aren't able to just go out and buy all the most expensive cards and jam them together. So, this is also a bit more pure because you can't just go online and find a deck brewed by a pro or near pro and then just build it. You are stuck with the cards you open and your own deckbuilding skills. This format is almost always played at prereleases (at least in person). Even online it is usually limited to a short time period after the set releases. So pre-releases are an opportunity for games stores to draw people in before the latest set drops online because as is said, these events take place in person at games stores the weekend before the official release. So I like them because they are usually pretty casual, but they are also genuinely a more competitive format. What I mean by this is that they are casual because they are just taking place at local game stores, they are not big tournaments. But at the same time, they are organized like a genuine tournament so you have matches and your record is kept track of officially. I played a bunch of these in Taipei particularly because it is usually possible to get in two or three of these on a weekend if you want to. But I also skipped a lot of them because I was doing other stuff. Obviously the best players usually win because they have the skills to optimize. But even though I usually didn't do very well I still enjoyed the process and have fond memories of playing them. I have yet to play one in Louisville but hopefully I will get around to it.

Draft is the last format I will discuss here. This is another "limited" format. But you need 8 people playing. Everyone is given three packs. What happens is that everyone opens the first pack, picks one card and then passes the remaining cards to the person next to them. Then everyone picks a card from that pile and then passes, and so on until all the cards from that pack have been picked and then the process is repeated with the second pack (passing the opposite way). And then finally with the third pack. This is interesting because you have a lot more control about what cards you end up with this way. But on the other hand, the cards that other people are picking influence what cards are left in the pack. For this reason it can be important to figure out what other people are doing so that you can aim for cards in colors that are "open". But generally draft can have a lot of variety in terms of what cards you play with because there are many different styles using packs from all kinds of sets, and cube drafts have packs that are built from a preselected array of cards that can have various themes to them. This is the format that I have by far the least experience with because they didn't really do drafts at Growlife just because not enough people were interested. It is definitely possible to play online, but there are two issues. Firstly, this feels like a more skill intensive type of format because it is very possible to end up with a pile of trash in your hand. Secondly, if you want to play online you have to pay to play. Basically there are "events" (but you can join and play at any time) and you have to pay an entry fee. But you aren't even guaranteed a set number of games because you are eliminated after losing two matches. So for this reason although I am interested and want to play I find it more intimidating than the other formats. Perhaps it will be easier to play here in Louisville. There are a couple of people who I have watched on draft. The main one is dafore. He also posts on youtube but I have watched him mostly on twitch. He is interesting because he drafts an extreme amount and has also made it to the professional level at competitive events. (Meaning not just making a living as a streamer). Unfortunately he is not super talkative about his thought process.