Limited
Unlike with Constructed, in Limited players don't have to bring their own cards but instead receive unopened booster packs to build their decks. Limited generally means Sealed Deck for a tournament's Swiss rounds and Booster Draft for the Top 8 playoffs.
While success in Limited may depend on the cards opened, there's no advantage for players who own a large collection. It is popular with beginning players for that very reason and with seasoned veterans because every deck and every game is different. As every player enters the tournament with exactly equal chances to get a strong pool of cards, Limited is the ultimate test of one's skill!
Rules specific to Sealed Deck
- Before the first round, players receive six booster packs.
- From the cards so acquired and a supply of basic lands, players build decks with a minimum of 40 cards. More than four copies of a card can be included in this deck.
- All cards not part of a player's deck make up that player's sideboard.
- A registration of all cards is usually required prior to deckbuilding, as well as a registration of the actual deck afterward.
Rules specific to Booster Draft
- Before the quarterfinals, players are randomly seated at a table and are given three booster packs.
- Players then draft. That is, everyone opens their first booster pack, secretly selects a card, takes possession of it by setting it down on the table face down, then passes the remaining cards to his left neighbor. This process is repeated until all cards from the players' first boosters have been put into the players' own face-down piles. The same is done with the cards in the second booster, only this time remaining cards are passed to the right. Finally, the same is done with the cards in the third booster, but remaining cards are again passed to the left.
- From the cards so acquired and a supply of basic lands, players build decks with a minimum of 40 cards. More than four copies of a card can be included in this deck.
- All cards not part of a player's deck make up that player's sideboard.
- A registration of all cards is usually required prior to deckbuilding, as well as a registration of the actual deck afterward.
