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Block Constructed
DCI Sanctioned
Paper {Cross}
Magic Online {Cross}
Magic Arena {Cross}
Rules
Type Constructed
Multiplayer {Cross}

Block Constructed (also known as Block) was a format that allows for cards of a chosen block to be played, save any banned cards.[1][2] The format was abandoned as a competitive format after 2014, and Wizards of the Coast no longer supports Block in general as the block system itself was discontinued in 2018.

Description[ | ]

Constructed decks must contain a minimum of 60 cards. There is no maximum deck size; however, you must be able to shuffle your deck with no assistance. If a player wishes to use a sideboard, it must contain exactly 15 cards.

With the exception of card named Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, and Forest, a player’s combined deck and sideboard may not contain more than four of any individual card, counted by its English card title equivalent. Snow-covered lands, despite being basic lands, are only permitted in formats that allow the Ice Age block to be used. This similarly applies to Wastes in Battle for Zendikar block.

The intention of Block was to give players a glimpse of the format after rotation, with the players working with the cards that would stay around. In practice, it tended to be a futile exercise: staples were printed with rotation in mind, hence some formats had core pieces missing that would never be missing in any Standard, a cycle of dual lands being missing epitomizing this issue. If the current block was too weak, the next block informs the Standard format and the decks shown are quaint; if the current block is too strong, the decks on display are going to be prevalent ad nauseum: neither were desirable and rarely was there middle ground.

According to Mark Rosewater, Block has proven over time to be an unpopular format almost exclusively played because Wizards of the Coast required it at Pro Tours and Pro Tour Qualifiers. He stated that it was being phased out because players almost never played it of their own volition.[3] The format itself was dropped on the same day Dominaria, the first set of Three-and-One Model (in which blocks are no longer used), released.

Block formats[ | ]

Blocks that were DCI sanctioned but never used in a Pro Tour and/or Grand Prix.

Blocks that had been used in at least one Pro Tour and/or Grand Prix.

Banned cards[ | ]

Innistrad block[ | ]

Mirrodin block[ | ]

Masques block[ | ]

Urza's block[ | ]

Tempest block[ | ]

Mirage block[ | ]

Ice Age block[ | ]

References[ | ]

External links[ | ]

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