MTG Salvation

X Card Blind (XCB) is a weekly Magic tournament, run entirely within this forum. To compete, entrants submit decks containing X cards which are played against each other. Scoring assumes optimal play, without randomness or concealed information.

1. A deck must contain exactly X cards.
2. A deck may contain any number of copies of any Vintage-legal card, but can't contain any cards on the XCB Banned List.
3. A player's deck must not enable that player to win the game before each player has completed a specified number of turns.
4. A player's deck must not enable that player to force an opponent to lose more than a specified number of cards in his or her hand before each player has completed a specified number of turns.
5. A player's deck must enable that player to win the game.

6. An entrant submits his or her deck to the XCB moderator by private message (pm).

7. Entrants don't actually play their decks, because game results can be determined theoretically.
8. Each player starts the game with the cards in his or her deck in his or her hand.
9. A player doesn't lose the game as a result of being unable to draw a card.
10. A random effect resolves in favor of the opponent of the owner of that effect.
11. Players know all information that would normally be concealed from them.
12. Each player plays one two-game match against each other player, and each player is the starting player once per match.

13. The entrant with the most points is the winner. For each match, an entrant earns 3 points per game win and 1 point per drawn game. However, an entrant earns only 2 points for a split match (each player wins a game).

14. Some optional rules may be used; see Optional Rules.
15. The Basic Rules don't cover every issue. For in-depth rules, see Comprehensive Rules.

1.1a. 'ABT' can be ABT or nothing. ABT indicates that a round (see Rule 2.1a) is part of an All-Blind Tournament (see Rule 2.6a).

1.1b. X is a number.

1.1c. 'Land Rule' can be LR, ELR, ALR, or nothing. LR indicates that the basic land rule is in effect, ELR indicates that the expanded land rule is in effect, and ALR indicates that the alternative land rule is in effect (see Rule 1.7).

1.1d. 'Sanctioned Magic Format' can be the name of a sanctioned Magic constructed format or nothing. The name of a format indicates that only cards contained in sets legal in that format may be submitted. This is an exception to rule 2.3c.

1.1e. 'Special Format' can be the name of at least one special format or nothing. The name of a special format indicates that the special format in effect (see Rule 1.8).

1.1f. 'Bonus' can be (Bonus) or nothing. (Bonus) modifies the preceding special format, indicating that an entrant must not follow the rules of that format, but that entrant will earn a specified number of bonus points if he or she does (see Rule 2.4f).

1.1g. 'Counter Rule' can be C or nothing. C indicates that the counter rule is in effect (see Rule 1.9).

1.1h. 'Life Rule' can be LF, AL, or nothing. LF indicates that the life rule is in effect and AL indicates that the alternative life rule is in effect (see Rule 1.10).

1.3a. Ignore any part of an instruction that isn't covered by these rules or the rules of Magic.

1.3b. Rules that would take effect during the prerelease for a set take effect during the first round for which cards from that set may be submitted instead (see Rule 2.3d).

1.4a. A player's opening hand contains the cards in his or her deck.

1.4b. Players don't draw hands or mulligan.

1.4c. Players don't have sideboards.

1.5a. A player doesn't lose the game as a result of being unable to draw a card.

1.7a. This is the basic land rule (LR). Any player may play a basic land or basic snow land of the subtype of his or her choice from outside the game any time he or she could normally play a land.

1.7b. This is the expanded land rule (ELR). Any player may play a basic land or basic snow land of the subtype of his or her choice from outside the game any time he or she could normally play a land. Any player may play an additional land on each of his or her turns from his or her hand.

1.7c. This is the alternative land rule (ALR). If a player would draw a card from an empty library, that player puts a basic land or basic snow land card of the subtype of his or her choice from outside the game into his or her hand instead. The starting player doesn't skip the draw step of his or her first turn.

1.8a. Some special formats cause an emblem to be put into the command zone. Abilities of those emblems can't be countered by spells or abilities, except as modified by a special format.

1.8b. Some special formats cause players to draw hands. The drawn cards become part of that player's opening hand.

1.8c. Some special formats generate continuous effects. Continuous effects generated by special formats are applied in the order those formats are listed in the XCB version name, before any other effects that could be applied in a layer.

1.8d. Some special formats require an entrant to make some number of decisions in addition to or instead of submitting a deck. An entrant's submission is that entrant's deck and any decisions that entrant makes. An entrant's submission must not violate rule 2.3 if all instances of the word 'deck' in that rule are replaced with 'submission'.

1.8e. Some special formats require entrants to make decisions "before the start of each game". For these decisions, follow the "Active Player, Nonactive Player order" rule, replacing "active player" with "starting player".

1.8f. Some special formats refer to decks that obtain or could obtain results. Saying that a deck obtains or could obtain a result means that the player of that deck obtains or could obtain that result in a game or match against another player (see Rule 1.11). If a deck obtains or could obtain a result against another deck, then the player of that deck obtains or could obtain that result against the player of the other deck.

1.9a. This is the counter rule (C). Until each player has completed two turns, each player ignores any part of an effect of a source an opponent owns that would counter a spell that player controls.

1.10a. This is the life rule (LF). If neither player would win otherwise, then the player who maintains the higher life total wins the game. Determine whether a deck enables the player of that deck to win a match as though this rule didn't exist (see Rule 2.3b).

1.10b. This is the alternative life rule (AL). If neither player would win otherwise, then the player who maintains the higher life total wins the game.

1.11a. Each match has two games.

1.11b. Each player is the starting player for one game in each match.

1.11c. Games are played with perfect information; players know the identities of face-down cards and cards in hidden zones, and players know which decisions have been made by other players.

1.11d. Games are played optimally. The best outcome for a player is to win the game and the worst outcome is to lose the game.

1.11e. If a loop containing at least one optional action would be repeated indefinitely during a turn, then any player may propose a number of times for that loop to repeat instead. If a player does, then each other player may propose a different number and the loop is repeated for the greatest number of times proposed instead. No player is required to make a choice that would end a loop that crosses multiple turns.

1.11f. If a game would continue indefinitely, then the game is a draw.

2.1a. The shortest type of competition is a round. Typically, each round lasts one week.

2.1b. A competition that consists of multiple rounds is a tournament.

2.2a. An entrant submits his or her deck by private message (pm).

2.2b. An entrant may submit multiple decks, but only the most recently submitted deck is counted.

2.2c. An illegal deck is not counted. At the moderator's discretion, an illegal deck may be replaced by a similar deck – in which any cards causing that deck to be illegal have been removed or replaced. The removal of an illegal deck doesn't affect deck distribution (see Rule 2.5).

2.2d. The moderator determines the result of each match. Entrants may challenge results, but not after the results of the first round of a new tournament have been posted (see Rule 2.6), except at the moderator's discretion.

2.2e. An entrant may name his or her deck. If an entrant doesn't, then the moderator may name it.

2.3a. An entrant may not submit a deck that could enable the player of that deck to win the game or force more than a specified number of cards in an opponent's hand to change zones before a specified turn or until each player has completed a specified number of turns. A card is forced to change zones if the owner of that card could make no sequence of decisions that would not result in either that card changing zones or that player losing the game before the specified turn. By default, an entrant may not submit a deck that could enable the player of that deck to cause either result to occur before an opponent's second turn. Ignore this rule in the following cases:

i. All cards in an opponent's hand in excess of the specified number of cards that would be forced to change zones would not be cast by that opponent and would enter the battlefield under that opponent's control. For example, a 4CB deck with two copies of Black Lotus could contain Stronghold Gambit but could not contain Wild Evocation.

ii. All cards in an opponent's hand in excess of the specified number of cards that weren't there as a result of a cost or effect that opponent controlled that would be forced to change zones during the resolution of a spell or ability would be in that opponent's hand after that spell or ability resolved. For example, a 3CB deck could contain Timetwister and Black Lotus but an 8CB deck could not.

iii. All cards in excess of the specified number of cards in an opponent's hand would be forced to change zones only if cards in that opponent's hand that started outside the game would cause that opponent's maximum hand size at the start of the game to be exceeded. For example, a 3CB LR deck could contain two copies of Ancestral Recall.

iv. The rule would be violated only in a game that existed as a result of an effect that resolved not before the specified turn or until each player had completed the specified number of turns that restarted the game or created a subgame. For example, a 2CB LR deck could contain Karn Liberated.

v. The rule wouldn't be violated if opponents' cards had no rules text. For example, a 2CB deck could contain Plains and Eager Cadet if a special format read "Each player gets an emblem with 'You control your opponents during your turn'" and an opponent's deck could contain Dryad Arbor and Pact of Negation.

2.3b. An entrant may not submit a deck that wouldn't enable the player of that deck to win a match (see Rule 2.4d) against the player of at least one deck satisfying all rules.

2.3c. A deck may contain any number of copies of any card legal in Vintage (Type 1). Except as modified by a special format, all cards used in a game must be legal in Vintage.

2.3d. A deck may contain any number of copies of any card that will become legal in Vintage upon release of a set that's been revealed fully and officially since the start of the round.

2.3e. A deck may not contain any cards on the XCB Banned List (see Rule 1.1b), unless that deck it is part of an All-Blind Tournament.

2.3f. A deck that is part of an All-Blind Tournament may not contain any cards on the ABT Banned List.

2.4a. Entrants are ranked – first to last – in order of decreasing number of points.

2.4b. For each match, an entrant earns 3 points per game win and 1 point per drawn game.

2.4c. The combined result of both games in a match is called a match result. Possible match results are: 6 – two wins, 4 – a win and a draw, 3 or 2 or S – a win and a loss, 2 – two draws, 1 – a draw and a loss, and 0 – two losses.

2.4d. Some match results are also denoted by names: two wins – match win, a win and a loss – split match, two draws – draw, and two losses – match loss. An entrant wins the match if he or she wins both games, splits the match if he or she wins a game and loses a game, draws a match if he or she draws both games, and loses the match if he or she loses both games.

2.4e. An entrant earns only 2 points for a split match. This is an exception to rule 2.4b.

2.4f. An entrant may earn a number of bonus points defined by a special format. An entrant earns these points in addition to any other points.

2.4g. A table of match results is posted at the end of each round. Its rows represent entrants and its columns represent those entrants' opponents. An entrant's total number of points is listed at the end of his or her row.

2.5a. There are n heats, where n is the number of entrants in the round divided by ten, rounded down. Entrants are divided into these heats as evenly as possible. For example, twenty-five entrants are divided into heats of twelve and thirteen entrants.

2.5b. An entrant competes against other entrants in his or her heat.

2.5c. The top four ranked entrants from each heat are grouped into a final heat. An entrant's rank and tournament points (See Rule 2.6d) are determined by his or her match results in this heat.

2.5d. Tiebreakers for advancement to the final heat are as follows: number of match wins, number of game wins, points scored against higher-scoring decks. If a tie is unresolved, then the tied decks advance.

2.6a. The All-Blind Tournament (ABT) is a four-round tournament.

2.6b. The Player of the Month tournament (POTM) is a month-long tournament. A month contains all rounds for which deck submissions are due during that month.

2.6c. The entrant with the most tournament points (see Rule 2.6d) over the course of a tournament is the tournament winner. The winner of the Player of the Month tournament is the Player of the Month.

2.6d. Each round, an entrant receives tournament points equal to his or her average match result for that round multiplied by 100, rounded to the nearest integer or some number of decimal places chosen at the moderator's discretion. For example, an entrant scoring 6-6-6-6-X-0-0-0 in a round with 8 entrants receives 340 tournament points ((6 + 6 + 6 + 6) / (8 - 1) x 100).

2.6e. If two or more entrants would win an ABT, then each of those entrants competes in additional rounds specified by the moderator, until only one entrant has the most tournament points. Each additional round contains only the entrants who have the most tournament points. The moderator may specify a limit to the number of additional rounds.

2.6f. Each round, 50 tournament points may be awarded to the entrant who submitted the most creative deck, as determined by the moderator or by poll.

2.6g. Each round, for one week after the submitted decks have been posted, 50 tournament points may be awarded to the first entrant to post a deck that wins the match against each submitted deck.

2.6h. The moderator may issue a challenge. An entrant who completes a challenge earns a number of tournament points specified by the moderator.