Omniscience Draft

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Omniscience Draft
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Emblem Omniscience.png}}|250px]]
DCI Sanctioned
Paper {Cross}
Magic Online {Cross}
Magic Arena {Tick}
Rules
Type Limited
Multiplayer {Cross}

Omniscience Draft is a Magic Arena-specific limited format for Magic: The Gathering.[1]

Description

In this format, featured in Magic: The Gathering Arena events, each player drafts a 40-card deck and begins the game with an Omniscience emblem that has the following abilities:

Omniscience Emblem

You may cast spells from your hand without paying their mana costs.
{0}: Add {W}{U}{B}{R}{G}. Activate this ability only once each turn.

Originally, each player's starting hand size was three, but the most recent variant from 04/02/2024 features hand sizes of seven. Other than that, the usual rules for Booster Draft apply:

  • Minimum of 40 cards in the main deck (there is no maximum size for main decks)
  • All cards from your Limited pool that are not in your main deck are considered part of your sideboard. Note that without a real need for lands, decks are usually 38-40 spells, so knowing the "real drafting rules" are important.
  • A Limited deck may contain as many duplicates of a card as were included with the draft

Due to the odd nature of the draft, the games are played best-of-one, and the drafts are done with bots (i.e. Quick Draft layout; payout and cost follows as the same). The bots do not change their pick orders from normal drafts, making it easier to draft under the new rules.

Variants

  • January 2021 featured an event which could be described as "Preconstructed Omniscience" where a player is granted a 150-card deck, and plays out the games with the above gameplay rules.
  • Another fast-playing draft variation is Turbo Draft, where all spells cost {5} less to cast, or more accurately both players have an emblem to that effect. The event follows all Quick Draft rules as normal; seven bots, draft a deck of forty, starting hand of seven.

References

  1. Wizards of the Coast (October 18, 2019). "MTG Arena Formats". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.