Legacy
Constructed · Eternal
Legacy welcomes cards from every Magic set ever printed, kept in line by a long banned list. Decades old staples define the format. So, fair warning, does its price of entry.
The Rules
- 60 card minimum. There’s no maximum, but nearly everyone plays exactly 60 so their best cards show up more often. (CR 100.2a)
- Up to 4 copies of any one card, except basic lands, which have no limit. (CR 100.2a)
- 20 starting life. (CR 103.4)
- 15 card sideboard in tournament play. The 4 copy limit counts deck and sideboard together. (CR 100.4a)
- Matches are usually best of three. Between games you can swap cards with your sideboard, as long as the deck stays legal.
- Everything is in the pool except the banned list. Cards from 1993 sit next to cards from this year.
Deck Makeup
- Legacy decks lean on the most efficient spells in the game’s history: one mana answers, free interaction, and mana bases full of original dual lands.
- Games are fast and interactive. Expect a fight over every spell from turn one.
Tips
Some of Legacy’s core cards sit on the Reserved List and cost more than the rest of the deck combined. Lots of casual Legacy tables welcome playtest proxies so people can actually play the format. Just ask the table or the store first. Sanctioned events don’t allow them.
Legacy punishes unfamiliarity harder than most formats. A few matches of the top decks on video will show you what the format really fights over.
Watch Out For
The cards Vintage merely restricts, Legacy tends to ban outright. A Vintage deck is rarely one swap away from Legacy legal.
Some of the most famous cards ever printed are banned here. Check every card against the current list.
Banned Cards
Legacy’s banned list is long and includes many of the game’s most famous cards. Check everything. We don’t list banned cards here on purpose: banlists change, and a stale list is worse than none.
Official Banned & Restricted List