Standard
Constructed · Rotating
Standard is the friendliest doorway into competitive constructed: 60 card decks built from the last few years of sets. The small, rotating pool keeps power in check and keeps everyone on current cards.
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.
- The card pool rotates. Roughly the last three years of premier sets are legal, and when rotation hits, the oldest sets leave together. The official Standard page always lists exactly what’s in.
Deck Makeup
- A typical list runs around 24 lands, four copies of its best cards, and a sideboard aimed at the decks it expects across the table.
- Legality is by set. A card is Standard legal while at least one of its printings comes from a current Standard set.
- Think of the sideboard as 15 answers, not 15 extra threats. Cheap interaction earns its slot far more often than a fifth copy of your plan.
Tips
If rotation is close, the oldest sets are on their way out. Buying into them a month early is the classic trap, and now you know to skip it.
Starting from a published decklist is completely normal. You’ll learn the format faster piloting a tuned list than brewing blind.
Watch Out For
A card can come from a Standard legal set and still be banned. Legality is two checks: the set and the banned list.
The sideboard only comes in between games of a match. Game one is always your main 60.
Banned Cards
Standard’s legal sets and banned list both shift over time, so a quick look at the official list before an event is always worth it. We don’t list banned cards here on purpose: banlists change, and a stale list is worse than none.
Official Banned & Restricted List