Archon (format)

For other uses, see Archon (disambiguation).

Archon
DCI Sanctioned
Paper
Magic Online
Magic Arena
Rules
Type	Constructed
Multiplayer
Add. rules	Commander 20 life points Singleton deck: At least 100 cards No commander damage

Archon is a democratically managed, 1v1 Commander-variant format for Magic: the Gathering. It is focused on competitive play and all changes to the format are made transparently and with the approval of the community.

Description

The format was formed in 2019 and is managed by the "Archon Council", a group of five people who are elected for one year. They are responsible for the proposal of all sorts of new changes to the format, as well as for providing the community with detailed explanations whenever a proposal is put up to a vote. For a change to be approved, it needs to have the approval of, at least, half of the community.

While being a casual format Archon is aimed at players who are interested in playing a commander variant in a competitive setting.

Rules

1. Archon is a variant of the official Commander format by Wizards of the Coast. Archon games use the normal rules for the Commander variant as described in the Magic: The Gathering Comprehensive Rules under rule 903 with the following modifications.
2. An Archon game is a two-player game.
3. In an Archon game, each player’s starting life total is 20.
4. Archon games do not use the state-based action described in rule 704.5.v of the Comprehensive Rules, which causes a player to lose the game if they’ve been dealt 21 or more combat damage by a commander.
5. Archon decks are not subject to the deck construction rule 903.5a. Instead, each deck must contain at least 100 cards, including its commander(s). In other words, the minimum deck size is 100 and there is no maximum deck size.
6. Archon uses a sideboard as described in Rule 100.4 of the Comprehensive Rules with the following modifications.

   (a) You may only have up to one card within your sideboard if it is your Companion.

   (b) This card may not enter the game unless it is through its Companion ability.

7. In a tournament, players must designate their primary commander(s) and are not allowed to designate other cards as their commanders(s) for the first game of each match. If decklists are used, the primary commander(s) should be highlighted. Players are, however, allowed to change their commander(s) at the beginning of every other game of a match. The new commander(s) must be chosen from the deck, be legal, and have the same color identity as the primary commander(s). Players may keep those cards face down as they’re chosen, but each player must indicate which face-down card they are choosing.

Card legality

Players may only use cards as specified in rule 3.3 of the Magic: The Gathering Tournament Rules. However, gold- and square-bordered cards are also allowed in Archon tournaments as long as they are not distinguishable from the rest of your deck. This can be achieved by using opaque sleeves, for example. The following cards may not be used in Archon:

• Silver-bordered cards.
• Conspiracy cards.
• Oversized and other miscellaneous cards such as Planechase Planes, Archenemy Schemes, Vanguard cards, Helvault cards, etc.
• Cards removed from constructed formats by Wizards for being racially or culturally offensive.
• Cards that reference "playing for ante".
• Cards that require some sort of physical skill, such as Chaos Orb and Falling Star.
• Cards that create subgames

Banned in Archon

The following cards are banned in Archon (as of March 2024. Please refer to the official Archon website for the official banlist):

• Ancestral Recall
• Black Lotus
• Channel
• Chrome Mox
• Deadly Rollick
• Deflecting Swat
• Dig Through Time
• Fastbond
• Fierce Guardianship
• Gaea’s cradle
• Hermit Druid
• Imperial Seal
• Jeweled Lotus
• Karakas
• Library of Alexandria
• Mana Crypt
• Mana Drain
• Mana Vault
• Mishra’s Workshop
• Mox Diamond
• Mox Emerald
• Mox Jet
• Mox Pearl
• Mox Ruby
• Mox Sapphire
• Mystical Tutor
• Oath of Druids
• Price of Progress
• Protean Hulk
• Sol Ring
• Strip Mine
• Thassa’s Oracle
• The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
• Time Vault
• Time Walk
• Tinker
• Tolarian Academy
• Treasure Cruise
• Vampiric Tutor

Banned as a commander

The following cards can not be played as commanders, but they are still legal otherwise:

• Baral, Chief of Compliance
• Derevi, Empyrial Tactician
• Edgar Markov
• Emry, Lurker of the Loch
• Najeela, the Blade-Blossom
• Oloro, Ageless Ascetic
• Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath
• Urza, Lord High Artificer
• Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow

Banned as a partner

The following partner cards can only be played as a commander on their own, but they are still legal otherwise:

• Bruse Tarl, Boorish Herder
• Jeska, Thrice Reborn
• Keleth, Sunmane Familiar
• Vial Smasher the Fierce

Banned as a companion

The following companion cards can not be your companion, but they are still legal otherwise:

• Lutri, the Spellchaser

Voting

Members of the community can vote on the official Archon Discord server. The voting process follows these rules:

• Four of the five Archons will need to be in favor of a change for it to be put to the vote.
• The threshold for a change to be approved by the community is more than half of all votes.
• There are three options in a regular vote. Against, in favor, and blank. Any vote that does not reach either more than half of the positive votes or more than half of the negative votes will be automatically held again two months after the day when the results are released, this time without the option of a blank vote.
• There is a mandatory six-month delay between votes on the same issue, excepting votes that are held again automatically as the result of an inconclusive result. Revotes have to be approved by a simple majority of the Community Mods before they are presented to the community.

External links

• Official Archon Website

See also

• Commander
• Tiny Leaders
• Duel Commander