Magic Online

Magic Online (abbreviated MOL, previously Magic: The Gathering Online, MTGO, or MODO) is the official means of playing Magic: The Gathering over the Internet. Wizards of the Coast launched it in 2002 with the release of Invasion and has since added each new set to its server as well. This causes Magic Online to have slightly different formats than paper Magic.

Magic Online requires digital cards. They are sold in booster packs just like in stores.

MTGO booster

The existence of online magic has resulted in several new types of formats like the Pauper Deck Challenge.

Online-only

Sets

• Commander Theme Decks
• Masters Edition
• Masters Edition II
• Masters Edition III
• Masters Edition IV
• Vintage Masters

Card

• Gleemox

A Magic Online-only promo card that was given away with the announcement of the Gleemax project. They were distributed on Magic Online by Gleemax. The card only exists on Magic Online. It doesn't show up in gatherer because it's not a real-world card.

DCI-Sanctioned Tournaments

Freeform

Freeform is a casual Magic Online format that allows all sets and cards. Regular deckbuilding rules are relaxed; decks can contain any number of copies of a card; multiple Vanguard cards may be included. The only restriction is a 40-card minimum deck.

There are no cards banned in Freeform.

Classic

Classic is a casual Magic Online format format that allows all sets and promotional cards.

Normal deckbuilding rules do apply: decks must be a minimum of 60 cards and contain no more than 4 copies of any card, excluding basic lands, Relentless Rats, and Shadowborn Apostle.

The following cards are restricted in Classic Online tournaments:

• Flash
• Vampiric Tutor

The following cards are banned in Classic Online tournaments:

• Gleemax

Prismatic

Prismatic is a casual Magic Online format for fans of big, fun, five-color decks.

Prismatic has special deck construction rules and a special mulligan rule.

Big deck: Your deck must be at least 250 cards,

Five colors: Your deck must contain at least 20 cards of each color (multicolor and split cards count as one of their colors),

Prismatic is based on the Classic format. All sets and Promotional cards are allowed.

Prismatic banned list: Your deck cannot contain any of the following cards (banned in Prismatic):

• Battle of Wits
• Brainspoil
• Bribery
• Bringer of the Black Dawn
• Buried Alive
• Burning Wish
• Clutch of the Undercity
• Congregation at Dawn
• Cunning Wish
• Demonic Collusion
• Detritivore
• Diabolic Intent
• Diabolic Tutor
• Dimir House Guard
• Dimir Infiltrator
• Dimir Machinations
• Dizzy Spell
• Drift of Phantasms
• Eladamri's Call
• Enduring Ideal
• Enlightened Tutor
• Entomb
• Ethereal Usher
• Fabricate
• Flash
• Gifts Ungiven
• Glittering Wish
• Grozoth
• Insidious Dreams
• Living Wish
• Merchant Scroll
• Muddle the Mixture
• Mystical Teachings
• Mystical Tutor
• Netherborn Phalanx
• Perplex
• Quiet Speculation
• Rude Awakening
• Shred Memory
• Skullclamp
• Sterling Grove
• Sundering Titan
• Summoner's Pact
• Supply // Demand
• Tolaria West
• Tooth and Nail
• Upheaval
• Vampiric Tutor
• Wild Research
• Worldly Tutor

Special mulligan rule: If your starting hand has 0, 1, 6 or 7 lands in it, you can take a "big deck mulligan" for free; that is, you can get back a fresh hand of seven cards. After that, you may mulligan as normal if you don't like your hand. Note that if you take a "big deck mulligan," your opponent has the opportunity to take one too, for "free." Same goes for you if your opponent takes a "big deck mulligan."

Singleton

Singleton is a casual Magic Online format in which every card is effectively restricted; with the exception of basic land cards, a player’s combined deck and sideboard may not contain more than one of any individual card.

Constructed decks must contain a minimum of sixty cards. If a player wishes to use a sideboard, it must contain exactly fifteen cards. All cards named Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, and Forest are basic.

Singleton is based on the Classic format. All sets and Promotional cards are allowed.

The following cards are banned in Singleton games:

• Skullclamp
• Flash (Effective December 19, 2007)
• Umezawa's Jitte (Effective December 19, 2007)
• Upheaval (Effective December 19, 2007)

Tribal Wars Classic

Tribal Wars is a casual Magic Online format that emphasizes creature combat: one-third of every deck must be of a single creature type.

Constructed decks must contain a minimum of sixty cards. All cards named Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, and Forest are basic.

Tribal Wars is based on the Classic format, so all sets in Magic Online, including promo cards, are legal.

The following cards are banned in Tribal Wars games:

• Circle of Solace
• Endemic Plague
• Engineered Plague
• Gleemax
• Peer Pressure
• Skullclamp
• Tsabo's Decree
• Umezawa's Jitte
• Unnatural Selection

Tribal Wars Standard

Tribal Wars - Standard is a casual Magic Online format that emphasizes creature combat: one-third of every deck must be of a single creature type.

Constructed decks must contain a minimum of sixty cards. All cards named Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, and Forest are basic.

Tribal Wars - Standard is based on the Standard format.

Momir Basic

Momir Basic is a casual Magic Online format that is based on the “Momir Vig” Vanguard avatar.

Momir Basic decks consist of the following:

• exactly 60 Basic Lands (Swamp, Island, Forest, Mountain, Plains).
• exactly 1 “Momir Vig” Vanguard card.

Community Cup

The Magic Online Community Cup as a yearly invitation-only tournament, first held in 2009, in which a group of Wizards of the Coast compete against a group of eight or twelve Magic players selected via a voting system in Magic Online. The tournament is held at the WOTC offices in Renton, Washington, but played by using the Magic Online software. The participants of the Community team are flown in. The tournament is held using a variety of differing and often strange formats such as Cube draft, Unified Ravnica Constructed (allowing all cards from both Ravnica block and Return to Ravnica block).

In lieu of physical prices, each user account on Magic Online which was active during the Community Cup will be gifted a special promo card after the tournament concludes. Should the Community team win, the card will be a very sought after and powerful card. Should the Wizards team, each active account will still be gifted a card, bit it will be a very low quality card such as Sorrow's Path or Darksteel Relic.

Community teams often consist of Pro players as well as content creatures for Magic websites such as video streamers, podcast hosts and authors of strategy articles.

Community Cup results

Year	Community team	Result	Prize awarded
2009	Thomas Baird, Alex Ullman, Mike Linton, Walter Kolcynski, Pete Jahn, Sam McCarl, John Baichtal, Erik Friborg	398-341 for the Community Team
2010	Brad Nelson, Gavin Verhey, Victor Bloodgood, Joseph Hill, Marin Baraba, Callum Milne, Evan Erwin, Ed Grabianowski, Bill Stark Joshua Claytor was unable to attend.	398-341 for the Community Team	One Mirrodin block draft set
2011	Chris Kuehl, Joe Dillard, Michelle Roberson, George Efelis, Luis Scott-Vargas, Josef Kronbichler, Bing Luke, Marshall Sutcliffe, Graham Stark	243-147 for the Community Team	Invitation to a special four round tournament with additional prizes (at least one Magic 2011 booster for participation)
2012	Jonathan Loucks, Jackie Lee, Neale Talbot, Jessie Smith, Conley Woods, Heath Newton, Walter Kolcynski, James Turner	268-228 for the Wizards Team	Sorrow's Path
2013	Melissa DeTora, Reid Duke, Kenji Egashira, Matthew Watkins, Tom Delia, Jan van der Vegt, Michael Jacob, Keya Saleh	233-201 for the Community Team	Sliver Queen and Rakdos Cackler
2014	Sean Plott, Tom Ross, Scott MacCallum, Björn Andreasson, Dalibor Trnka, Mariah Pagliocco, Frank Lepore, Paul Cheon

Issues and controversies

Invasion block shortage

As Invasion block was one of the first sets released on Magic Online, cards of the block are in short supply as the user base was very small at the time.

Judgment spoiler

Due to a mistake, the entirety of Judgment was spoiled via Magic Online when the set was released in the Software too early. This has led to the release of Sets on Magic Online to be several weeks after the release of the physical product.

Instability and removal of premier events

In November of 2013, after suffering a tournament loss by experiencing technical issues on Magic Online, Magic Pro Tour Hall of Fame member Brian Kibler aired his frustration in an article on StarCityGames entitled "The Magic Online Championship Series should not exist". As this server instability and the inability to restore Magic Online Tournaments to certain states have been a longstanding issue, this led to the suspension several types of high profile types of events which have been slowly phased back in since. In July, 2014, a new client was launched.

External Links

• Magic Online Official Site