Library

The library is one of the six main zones in Magic. It is the pile from which you draw cards, either the opening hand at the beginning of the game, during your draw phase or because of an effect of a spell or abilty. Cards drawn are put into a player's hand, from which they can be played. Some effects return cards to the top or bottom of your library, or cause cards to be shuffled into your library. Other effects allow you to [tutor[search]] your library for a card.

Typically, whenevery a player has looked through the contents of his or her library, that player shuffles the library before resuming play. This is to preserve the random order of the cards to be drawn, and allow for luck to play a part in the game. In organized play, many judge policies concern preserving the randomness of the library when a player illicitly obtains knowledge of the order of a player's library.

The libray also serves as an alternative win condition by being a finite resource. Once all of the cards in a library are drawn or otherwise removed, a player will lose the game if an effect causes him or her to draw a card. While most decks try to win by reducing life points, some aim at reducing another player's libray to zero cards.

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