100 General

Rules by topic

The opening subsection of the comprehensive rules. Covers the absolute basics that almost never come up in casual play but matter in tournaments and rules disputes:

• What a Magic game needs: two or more players, a deck each, and a way to track tokens, counters and life totals.
• Deck size minimums: 60 cards in constructed play, 40 in limited. Commander's own deck rules are in 903.
• What a sideboard is and how it works in constructed and limited play.
• The pointer to the Magic: The Gathering Tournament Rules, which add rules for tournament play.
• Cards made for casual play that these rules don't fully cover, such as silver-bordered Un-set cards and acorn cards.

For our table, the most relevant pieces are:

• 100.1 -- the rules apply to multiplayer games too.
• 100.4 -- sideboards. Commander doesn't use them (903.5e); the nearest thing is a companion, which starts the game outside it (702.139).
• 100.5 -- there's no maximum deck size, except in Commander, where 903.5a sets the minimum and the maximum both at 100.