Deck Construction Rules
1. Players must choose a legendary creature as the "Commander" for their deck. - Code:
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Players may choose any legendary creature as their Commander, although some choices may be met with disapproval by other players. Two players in the same game may choose the same Commander, and other players may include that card in their Deck even if it's not their Commander. Commanders are subject to the Legend rule just like any other legendary creature; multiple copies of the same creature (whether Commander and non-Commander) will all be put into the graveyard (or command zone) as a state based effect.
The Commander is the principle around which an EDH deck is built. It is more easily available than other cards in the deck, and EDH decks will ususally want to leverage their Commander's strengths in their plans. It is not, however, guarenteed to be available at every point in the game so EDH decks should be able to function without it for a time.
2.
A card's colour identity is its colour plus the colour of any mana symbols in the card's rules text. The Commander's colour identity restricts what cards may appear in the deck. Details
* Cards in a deck may not have any colours in their identity which are not shared with the commander of the deck. (The identity of each card in the deck must be a subset of the General's)
* Lands whose type includes swamp, island, plains, forest and/or mountain (e.g.: basic lands, shocklands, dual lands, Shadowmoor special-basics, etc) DO contain the corresponding mana symbol(s) as per CR 305.6. As such, while they are "colourless" they do have a colour identity and may not appear in a deck unless the Commander is of the appropriate identity.
* While hybrid mana symbols may be played with either colour mana, they contribute both colours to the card's colour identity. Therefore they may only be played with a Commander whose identity includes ALL of the hybrid symbols' colours.
* Basic land words (swamp, forest, etc) in the text box of a card do NOT represent a coloured mana symbol. They are not restricted to Commander of the same colour identity.
* Reminder text is not included in the colour identity of a card.
An Example of what cards are/aren't allowed in a three colour deck.
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A deck with Phelddagrif (Casting cost 1UWG) as the Commander may not contain any cards whose colour identity includes red or black.
* These cards would all be illegal in a Phelddagrif deck:
o Goblin Piker (Its mana cost contains a red mana symbol)
o Elves of Deep Shadow (Its ability contains a black mana symbol)
o Talisman of Dominance (All sorts of verbotten mana symbols)
o Life//Death (Three shall be the number of the colours)
o Degavolver (... right out)
* Our Phelddagrif couldn't use any of these lands:
o Underground River (Obvious, see above)
o Godless Shrine
o Badlands
o Leechridden Swamp, etc)
* Phelddagrif may not call upon Boros Guildmage for help
* Phelddagrif IS allowed to use:
o Esper Panorama
o Shard Convergence
3. A deck may not generate mana outside its colours. If an effect would generate mana of an illegal colour, it generates colourless mana instead. 4. An EDH deck must contain exactly 100 cards, including the Commander.
6. With the exception of basic lands, no two cards in the deck may have the same english name.
7. EDH is played with vintage legal cards, with two exceptions: * cards are legal as of their set's prerelease
* Shahrazad is legal for play in EDH
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Optional rules for EDH
1. EDH Sideboards
Rather than filling every deck with banal responses, it is preferable to allow some flexibility in the composition of a deck.
* Players may bring a 10 card sideboard in addition to their 99 cards and 1 Commander.
* After Commanders are announced, players have 3 minutes to make 1-for-1 substitutions to their deck.
* Any cards not played as part of the deck may be retrieved by "wishes".
Reasoning:
Highly tuned threats piloted by skilled opponents mandate efficient answers. The minimum number of response cards required to ensure they are available in the early turns can easily overwhelm the majority of an EDH deck's building space.
Sideboards allow players to respond to the "best" strategies in a timely fashion . They should be strongly considered as a necessary defense against brokenness and degeneracy in an EDH environment where no gentlemans agreement on style of play exists.
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2. Victory Points
Instead of a "last man standing" win condition, organizers are encouraged to use additional or alternate ways to win. Prizes can be awarded for things like:
* most combat damage dealt in a single turn
* biggest mana pool
* Commander Damage kills
* Most mana paid for a Commander
* etc
By encouraging players to play for disparate, interesting goals everyone has a more rewarding, social experience.
An extensive example can be found here
3. Democratic Victory
An organizer who desires a tournament which better approximates normal EDH games should reward players for some balance of winning and social play. One way to achieve this is
1. When the game is over, each player votes for an opponent whose play they enjoyed most.
2. Award two points for being the last player alive, and one point for each vote
3. Prizes can be given out by points awarded.
In addition, some commonly used but more fun-oriented optional rules are presented here for players to consider.
4. The League Rule
An EDH "League" consists of a regular group of players who frequently play together using the same decks. No two players in a league game may have the same Commander. Within a given league, Commander are allocated first-come, first-serve and are preserved between meetings/games. No player may have, in his or her deck, the Commander of any other player in the game; it should be replaced with some other card before the game begins.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Commander is designed to promote social interaction.
It is founded (and dependant) on a social contract, otherwise known as a gentleman's agreement. Unsporting conduct (whether extreme or simply "being a jerk") should not be tolerated by players. Refusing to play with antisocial persons is the fastest way to better EDH community.
However, because players have varied opinions of what constitutes fair and/or fun play, a recommended banned list is maintained to help guide players towards a good social experience. House rules or "fair play" exceptions are always encouraged if they result in more fun for the local community.
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If you want to enjoy the type of games you've heard associated with EDH, avoid cards like these:
* Ancestral Recall
* Balance
* Biorhythm
* Black Lotus
* Coalition Victory
* Channel
* Emrakul, the Aeons Torn *NEW*
* Fastbond
* Gifts Ungiven
* Kokusho, the Evening Star
* Karakas
* Library of Alexandria
* Limited Resources
* Lion's Eye Diamond
* Metalworker
* Mox Sapphire, Ruby, Pearl, Emerald and Jet
* Painter's Servant
* Panoptic Mirror
* Protean Hulk
* Recurring Nightmare
* Staff of Domination
* Sway of the Stars
* Time Vault
* Time Walk
* Tinker
* Tolarian Academy
* Upheaval
* Worldgorger Dragon
* Yawgmoth's Bargain
Additionally the following legends should not be used as a Commander:
* Braids, Cabal Minion
* Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
Subject: Rules for EDH for those too lazy to look 
Sat Feb 26, 2011 7:34 pm
