The One True Format

Overview

Add a quick overview of the Pack Wars format here — what it is, how it plays, and what makes it fun.

Setup

Pack Selection

Each player brings one unopened booster pack of their choice. All packs are opened simultaneously at the start of the game. Players may not look at their pack contents before the game begins.

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Can players agree to use the same set? Yes — if the group agrees beforehand, everyone can use packs from the same set. Otherwise any pack goes.

Lands

Land Drops

Because there are no basic lands in players' decks, whenever a player could play a land they may instead super-exile a card from their hand to put a basic land of their choice directly into play.

Super-exile is a permanent exile — absolutely no effects, abilities, or spells can interact with or retrieve cards in super-exile.

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Do I have to pitch a card to play a land? No — it's optional, just like playing a land normally. You may pitch one card per turn in place of a land drop.

The Big 3

Attack Left

Players may only attack the player directly to their left with creatures. However, spells and abilities may target any creature or player in the game.

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Can I use a spell to deal damage to a player on the other side of the table? Yes — the Attack Left rule only restricts creature attacks. Spells and abilities can target anyone.

Global Effects

Any effect that uses the words "any," "all," or similar broad language only affects you and the players immediately to your left and right — not the full table.

This prevents mechanics like Extort from becoming overwhelming and stops Wrath effects from completely stalling the game across all players.

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Does a Wrath of God destroy creatures controlled by players across the table? No — it only destroys creatures controlled by you and the players directly to your left and right.

Go With It

Some cards and sets simply aren't Pack Wars friendly. If a card doesn't fit the format or completely breaks it (such as cards that care about the number of lands in your graveyard), it should be an easy choice to use that card as your land pitch instead of playing it.

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Who decides if a card breaks the format? The group does — if the table agrees a card is too disruptive, pitch it for a land. When in doubt, Go With It.

Winning

Priority

As a reminder: the active player starts with priority, which is then passed clockwise to each player. This is important for timing interactions such as sniping kills during combat.

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Can I cast an instant to finish off a player during someone else's combat? Yes — once priority reaches you, you can cast instants or activate abilities, including ones that deal damage to players.

Other Core Rules

The "You Have One New Card" Rule

Players must keep the game moving quickly — much faster than a standard game of Magic. Use the time between your turns to plan your strategies so play doesn't stall when your turn arrives.

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Is there a time limit per turn? No hard limit — but the spirit of the rule is to keep things moving. If someone is consistently slow, the table should remind them.

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Pack Wars Etiquette

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