Big Deck - Rules, Banned List, and Other Provisions

Big Deck
Rules and Format

Overview: Big Deck is a casual Magic format for playing duels or multiplayer games. Each deck must contain a minimum of 250 cards, and the deck must comply to Highlander (Singleton) rules (no two cards may have the same name outside of basic lands). As in 5-Color (Prismatic), there must be at least 20 cards of each color. Multi-colored cards may count for any color in their mana cost (an example would be Bloodbraid Elf, which could count towards green or red, but not both).

There are no sideboards. All players start with 20 life; normal Magic rules for game-loss states apply. No proxies are allowed. One silver-bordered card is permitted if one so chooses, however it must be sensible, and it may be banned if deemed necessary. Use discretion (no fractions, exorbitant die rolls/coin flips, or anything really annoying).

Chaos Multiplayer: Any player may affect any other player, in any way, at any time. Go go politics!

Respawn: A player may join or reenter the game (“respawn”) at any time. That player resolves any mulligans and immediately takes three turns. During those three turns, the player is in a "new player bubble"— basically, a separate solitaire game of Magic. Nothing that player does inside the bubble affects players outside the bubble (or in a different bubble), and vice versa. That player fully enters the game when he starts their fourth turn in regular turn order.*

Scoring for Respawn is as follows: a player is awarded 1 point for killing another player, and loses 1 point when they are killed. If a player voluntarily leaves the game, they lose 1 point; the last player to damage that player, if any, gains 1 point. The winner is the player with the most points at the end of the night.

*More turns may be allotted to a respawned player depending on the game state, at the other players’ discretion.

Ante: Ante is optional during games. If ante is not being played, then all ante cards have the following errata – (0), Exile this card: Draw a card.

Mulligans: A player may make one 7-card mulligan for any reason. Any subsequent mulligans are handled normally, with one fewer card each time.

Pre-searching: Pre-searching is recommended to increase play speed when using tutors and land search (an example would be playing a Rocky Tar Pit tapped, sacrificing it, then searching for Bayou and putting it into play tapped before your next turn, or paying 6 mana to cast Fabricate, ending your turn, then putting Sword of Ice and Fire into play once it is found). Pre-searching plays must be properly announced first, and any consolidated plays can be responded to as usual.

Banned List: As of June 7, 2010, up for debate and revision.

Detritivore
Invincible Hymn
Battle of Wits
Shahrazad
Phyrexian Portal
Time Vault
Limited Resources
Timetwister
Time Walk
Ancestral Recall
Mox Pearl
Mox Sapphire
Mox Jet
Mox Ruby
Mox Emerald
Black Lotus
Burning Wish
Cunning Wish
Death Wish
Glittering Wish
Golden Wish
Living Wish
Ring of Ma’rûf
Research/Development
Spawnsire of Ulamog


If you have any questions, please feel free to visit the Big Deck discussion thread!

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