Friday, July 23, 2010

Other Formats and Variants Playable

Now you may be wondering, vergil didn't you discuss a article on drafting and standard yesterday, well yes i did indeed discuss one, this time though we will be delving into the wide world of the other formats that wizards of the coast so offers for magic the gathering, most of them being very expensive for new players and the like, so let's get this on.


Extended - The first is of course type 1.5 aka extended, note there is a banned list for this format which means any and all cards listed on this banned list are not allowed in any format it's banned under that format which can be found here Extended Banned List wizards will usually update that list once every 3 months normally, removing some cards, adding cards and the like, the old extended format was always 7 years worth of sets, not anymore, it's now the last 4 years worth of sets, meaning from Time Spiral to Current Standard sets including the latest core set M11, now the decks most will be playing are variants of decks that were recently seen on the pro tour aka 5 color control, Fog 2.0 with sculptor and of course soon to be Jund, however most will wonder, how much does it cost to go into this variant of MTG, i'll tell you, usually a good 1000 to 1500 just to get started unless of course you have all the cards from prior sets, then of course your set and all that, then your laughing, however most would agree extended is not more of a casual format played at most standard stores, more of a tournament type setting so be prepared if you wanna play extended your gonna have to roll with the big boys.


Legacy - This is perhaps my all time favorite format, you have access to everything ever printed when playing this nasty little piece of work, though it's not cheap most starter legacy decks can sometimes run a good 2000-3000 depending on the style and how it runs, as well as the fact you have everything from Alpha hell even Beta in this format, so again the playstyle you like plus the fact there are some bombs out there ahem Jace TMS and of course Tarmogoyf that can still run you a good chunk for a playset, who knows we may see  a legacy deck that isn't black, red or green one of these days, i personally cannot wait to see the next generation of legacy, with the added mixture of this year's latest block, Zendikar/Worldwake/Rise of the Eldrazi, we may see a eldrazi legacy featuring every single eldrazi in existence, the sky is the limit with this format and most end up paying a good chunk of change for cards for a deck, again all these decks can be 80 cards but recommend 60 with a 15 card sideboard.


EDH - otherwise known as Elder Dragon Highlander is perhaps the most intensive format ever made, this is a singleton format which only allows 1 of each card, but it's like legacy, so you have a unlimited amount of sets to choose from, but the deck size has to be 100 cards, there is also another stipulation, you must have a general for the deck, a general being a legendary creature from any of those sets that are in current extended formats, so for example you can choose a legendary creature that suits your deck archetype, aka your strategy, you want stompy, so give it a good old fashioned green stompy legendary such as Kaysa or of course Mayael The Anima the list is endless pretty much for this format and as always there is another draw back you can only have 1 of each art style for lands, but as many lands as you want, including legendary lands, so it's up to you how you build a deck based on the general of your choice, this format is actually the cheapest of the 3 listed thus far you usually only pay a good 500-600 for a deck since it's 1 of each card you need and not a full playset, this is actually a fun multiplayer magic variant.


Well that about covers the 3 most popular formats for MTG, as well as the costs and that for each one of these and the rules can always be found here for these three formats at the link below


Rules and Regulations till next time folks, enjoy and have fun playing magic, i'll see you next article.

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