Learn the rules and how to play
Modern
These are one-on-one games with 60 card minimums for the main deck (up to 15 card sideboard). Modern games should last average length for a game (about 20 minutes).
With the exception of basic lands (Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, Forest, and Wastes), your combined deck and sideboard may not contain more than four of any individual card, counted by its English card title equivalent. This format includes powerful cards and strategies from the last two decades of Magic.
Commander
This format is for four players per game and deck sizes are 99 cards + 1 commander card. The game duration for this format should be about 20 minutes per player.
The Commander format is all about picking your hero and building a deck around them. In this casual, multiplayer format, you choose a legendary creature to serve as your commander and build the rest of your deck around their color identity and unique abilities. Players are only allowed one of each card in their deck, with the exception of basic lands, but they can use cards from throughout Magic's history.
Draft
A format for up to 8 players to open card packs, then play one-on-one games on the spot! Each deck should have at least 40 cards and should last an average length for a game (about 20 minutes).
How to draft: First, players sit around a table in a semi-circle. Each player then opens a booster pack and picks a single card without showing the other players.
Each player then passes the remaining cards to the left, and continues drafting from the new cards they get from the player on their right. This continues until all of the cards in those packs have been distributed (drafted). Then each player opens a second pack, but this time, pass the pack to the right. After all those cards are drafted, you do the same with the third pack, passing to the left again. At the end, each player will have about 45 cards (along with any number of basic lands) which they can use to build a 40-card deck.
Pioneer
This nonrotating format features sets from Return to Ravnica, forward. It aims to be more powerful than Standard but less powerful than Modern or Legacy. Constructed decks can have up to four of any card in their combined deck and sideboard. Basic lands are not included in this restriction.
Standard
Standard games are one-on-one with a 60-card minimum for the main deck (up to 15 card sideboard). Winner is determined either by best of one, or best of three games. These games should last standard length for a game (about 20 minutes on average).
Standard is a dynamic format where you build decks and play using cards in your collection from recently released Magic sets. Evolving gameplay and fresh strategies make it one of the most fun and popular ways to play Magic
