MTR 3.3 Authorized Cards - Rules Resources

Players may use any Authorized Game Cards from Magic: The Gathering expansions, core sets, special sets, supplements, and promotional printings. Authorized Game Cards are cards that, unaltered, meet the following conditions:

The card is genuine and published by Wizards of the Coast

It is important to remember that fake Magic cards exist. Usually, these cards can be identified as fake under scrutiny. If these cards are found to be in use in a tournament, they should not continue to be used. Also, the player using the card may not realize that they are using fake cards, so aside from alerting them that they are using fake cards and informing them that they must replace them, we, as judges, should not take further action unless we believe they knew and were using such cards intentionally. Also, Tournament Officials do not have the legal authority to confiscate fake cards and should not attempt to do so. Stopping their use in the event is sufficient.
The card has a standard Magic back or is a double-faced card, or is a card that is part of a meld pair.

Artist proofs are published by Wizards of the Coast, but do not have a standard Magic back. They are, therefore, not usable in tournament play. The same is true for the proxy cards Wizards sold for a $1000 to celebrate their 30th anniversary.
The card does not have squared corners.

Collectors’ Edition cards have black borders on the face, but square corners and a gold border on the back. These are not legal for tournament use. Also, uncut sheets of cards are sometimes cut for use. It is important that these cards have the same corners as all other cards.
The card is not a token card.

Tokens are used to represent objects that don’t exist as normal Magic cards. While some official tokens exist, it is not required that they be used during tournament play.
The card is not damaged or modified in a way that might make it marked.

Significantly creased cards can be distinguished from other cards in a deck, even sleeved. Also, altered cards may be thicker than the other cards in the deck, depending on the method used to alter the card. If any cards can be distinguished from the other cards in the deck without viewing its front face, then those cards are marked and not legal for tournament play.
The card is otherwise legal for the tournament as defined by the format.

The cards being played in the deck must be printed in a set that is legal in the format, even if the printing being used is from an otherwise illegal set. For example, it is okay to use the Stronghold printing of Mana Leak in Modern even though Stronghold is not a legal set for use in Modern.

The Head Judge of a tournament may issue a proxy (see section 3.4) for a card that has become worn or damaged during the tournament.

Further discussion of proxies may be found in MTR section 3.4, but it is important to note that a proxy may only be issued by the Head Judge of an event, and should only be issued for cards that are damaged during the course of the tournament, or from damaged or misprinted Limited product. The original, damaged card must be kept near the play area and will replace the proxy whenever that card is on the stack or the battlefield.

Any other cards that are not Authorized Game Cards are prohibited in all sanctioned tournaments.

Any card that does not meet the above criteria, including silver bordered cards and whatever “proxy” you bought off of Ebay, may not be used in a tournament that is sanctioned by a WPN store. While some events exist that allow proxies (usually for Vintage, Legacy and Commander events), those events must not be run as a sanctioned event with WER reporting software.

Players may use cards from the Alpha printing only if the deck is in opaque sleeves.

Cards from the Alpha printing have corners that are significantly more rounded than all cards from the Beta printing onward. They are easily distinguished from any other card in the deck if the sleeves can be seen through.

Silver-bordered cards and cards with an acorn-shaped security stamp or acorn-shaped symbol may only be used in casual events and only when the format explicitly permits them.

Previously un-cards were silver boarder. However in order to increase their perceived legitimacy in casual play, WoTC discontinued silver boards, and instead use an acorn symbol to indicate the cards nutty-ness. Occasionally WOTC will create exceptions for Silver Bordered events.

Dungeons are a special type of nontraditional card. Players are considered to have copies of Dungeon cards at all times, even if they are not currently in possession of the physical card. Any representation of the Dungeon card is acceptable, provided it does not cause disruption to the play area or tournament and does not misrepresent the correct progression of the Dungeon card. Multiple players may simultaneously make use of the same Dungeon as long as the representation of each player’s marker is clear.

Dungeon cards occupy a weird space. Technically they are formal game pieces, but they feel more like really complicated emblems, and the game just makes them like Shivan Dragon tokens from Garth One-Eye. As such, any representation is fine. If you want to make your favorite dungeon into your playmat, go for it. This rule is necessary for when gameplay events occur where a player who had no expectation of venturing into a dungeon must do so (like if they gain control of an opponents creature that allows for venturing into a dungeon)

Players may use otherwise-legal non-English and/or misprinted cards provided they are not using them to create an advantage by using misleading text or pictures. Official promotional textless spells are allowed in sanctioned Magic tournaments in which they would otherwise be legal.

It is not required that players play with cards that are printed in the native language of the area in which the tournament is being run. If a player needs to know what a card does, either because it is in a language they cannot read, or it is a textless printing, they may call for a judge and ask for the Oracle text.

There are some famous misprints whose art is from a different card. For example, the German-language printing of Revised had a Forest (Wald) with Plains art. These cards, while an interesting curiosity, create an ambiguous and confusing game state and should not be used in tournament play.

Artistic modifications are acceptable in sanctioned tournaments, provided that the modifications do not make the card art unrecognizable, contain substantial strategic advice, or contain offensive images. Artistic modifications also may not obstruct or change the mana cost or name of the card.

While the Head Judge of an event may decide to allow or disallow any given altered card, it is important to keep the above guidelines in mind. If the art is still recognizable, the name and mana cost are not obstructed, and the card is not distinguishable from any other card in the deck while in a hidden zone (like the paint made it noticeably thicker), then it should be allowed. The potential offensiveness of an alter is a more subjective area and should likely have a more conservative approach. Another thing to note, is that the alter cannot contain substantial strategic advice. This means it can have non-substantial strategic advice. An example of an acceptable non-substantial strategic alter is writing “play me pre-combat” on a creature with haste. That alter does technically contain strategic advise, but you can’t make an argument that that advice is substantial, because…what else do you want to do with a hasty boi? In fact, the opposite, outlining the reasons/conditions you would NOT want to play a haste creature in pre-combat main would probably qualify as substantial strategic advice.

The Head Judge is the final authority on acceptable cards for a tournament.

To ensure consistency within any given tournament, the Head Judge is the sole arbiter of the legality of a card. It is good practice for players using altered cards to get approval from the Head Judge prior to the start of the tournament.

If a player is required to replace a card in their deck and is unable to find a replacement, the player may replace the card with a card named Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, or Forest of their choice. This also applies to cards that are lost.

Never issue proxies for marked cards, unless it is a Limited format event and the cards were opened marked. Foils in humid environments are sometimes marked fresh out of the package. Note that lost sideboard cards are not required to be replaced with lands. The player may revert back to the original configuration if acceptable replacements are found later in the event. Please note that wastes and snow covered lands are not acceptable replacement lands!