Central Deck

Rules

This variant it is recommended to have 4 or more players. For this variant there is only one deck, the main library, consisting of 300 or more cards. It is recommended that you have at least 100 cards for every player. To start this game, shuffle the deck thoroughly and deal out 21 cards to each player. Each player then discards 14 cards to his own graveyard. Then the game proceeds normally with only two additional rules.

1. At the Draw Phase, the player who is drawing will draw 3 cards from the Main Library and then discard 2 cards from their hand. These 2 cards may be any 2 cards from his hand, not necessarily 2 of the 3 that he drew. Please note that you may not do anything between drawing and discarding this way.
2. One player’s library is the graveyard of the other player. In multiplayer, your graveyard is the library of the player on your left.

Explanation of the second rule: You draw 3 cards from the Main Library only, and never from your library. Whenever a card refers to your library, your library is the graveyard of the other player. Remember that you start the game with both players having 14 cards in their graveyards; therefore they are both alive since their libraries are not empty. As an example, if a card says to take a card that you want from your library, then you will take one card of your choice from the graveyard of your opponent (your library). If a card says to draw a card from your library then you would draw the top card from your opponent’s graveyard (your library). With this rule, it is very unlikely to face death from emptying your library (your opponent always has to put 2 cards in his graveyard during his or her turn). This rule defines the player's libraries when otherwise (due to the Main Library) they would not exist, and it is a clever way to have access to the cards that your opponent discarded. Cards referring to your graveyard (or any graveyard) would naturally refer to your graveyard (which just happens to be an opponent's library).

 Deck Construction

Decks for Central Deck games typically use all five colors, but you can build a deck using fewer colors if you want. Avoid using spells that require two mana of the same color in their mana or activation costs; that way each player will have a better chance of being able to play the cards he draws. You should also reduce the number of one- and two-mana spells. Such cards are usually good only in the early game, and it may take a while to get even one land of a particular color.

Banned & Restricted List

When playing this variant it is usually decided what Type you will be playing. So, if you are playing Type 1, Type 1.5, Type 2, or Extended Central Deck then, follow that format’s Banned and Restricted List.

Mulligan Rules

You may not take a mulligan in this Variant. If you don’t get a good hand out of 21 cards then you deserve to have a bad hand!

History

Paul Nomikos created this variant.