Magic: The Gathering(R)Sanctioned Team-Play Tournament Instructions In many instances, the rules and guidelines for team play mirror those for individual competition. Please consult the DCI™ Standard Floor Rules or the DCI Tournament Coordinator Handbook for any questions extending beyond the scope of this document. I. General Rules A. Number of Teams per Tournament In order for a sanctioned team event to be included in the DCI ratings and rankings, it must have at least four teams participate. B. Number of Players per Team Teams may consist of two, three or five players, but all teams in an event must be the same size. As the tournament organizer, you must announce before tournament registration begins and in any event advertising how many players each team will need for your event. The DCI recommends that each team have an odd number of players in order to cut down on the use of tiebreakers within an event. C. Player Registration--Seeding Players within Teams When teams register for an event, the team members must identify how they wish to seed themselves within their teams. The team captain will be listed first as Player A. All other team memebers will be identified as Player B through Player E, depending on how many players each team is allowed to have. Players are paired each round of the entire tournament based on their seedings. D. Pairings 1. Team Pairings Pair one team of players against another for each round. The method you use for pairing teams each round depends on the tournament structure you choose: Swiss, single elimination, or another of your choice. The DCI recommends Swiss-style pairings and single-elimination tournaments. For more information on how to run these types of events, please see the appropriate section of the Tournament Coordinator Handbook, under "Tournament Operating Procedures." 2. Pairing Team Members for Match Play Once teams are paired for round competition, identically seeded players are paired against one another for match play. Individuals only play one match per round. Example: The team captain, Player A, only competes against the captain of other teams, Player B only competes against Player B of other teams, and so on. E. Determining the Outcome of a Round Players are awarded match points for their performance in team competition just as they are in singles. A player earns 3 points for a match win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss. In team competition, team members' points are added together and compared against the combined match points of the opposing team. The team with the most points wins the round. Example: Team Alpha 　Team Beta Player A wins his match (3 match Player A loses her match (0 match points) 　points) Player B loses her match (0 match Player B wins his match (3 match points) 　points) Player C wins his match (3 match Player C loses her match (0 match points) 　points) 6 combined match points 　3 combined match points Team Alpha wins the match, earning 3 round points. If the two competing teams' combined match points are identical, use the following tiebreakers in order to determine a round winner: 1. Count up each team's duel points for the round and compare. 2. If the duel points are identical, select one random player from each team involved in a tie. These two players face off in a duel to determine which team wins the round. If this extra duel ends in a tie, the round ends in a draw. Note: Report only round wins, losses, and draws to the DCI. These are the results that count toward a team's worldwide rating and ranking. F. Round Points Round points are awarded to the team as a whole and determine how the team advances through the rest of the tournament--just as match points do in individual competition. You do not need to report round points to the DCI. Round points are issued in the following manner: Round win: 3 points Round draw: 1 point Round loss: 0 points II. Format-Specific Rules A. Constructed Team Events You can run team events in any of the DCI-approved Constructed tournament formats: Classic, Classic Restricted, Extended, and Standard. Two variants exist for each of these formats: * Regular team events--see Section II.A.1 below; and * Unified team events--see Section II.A.2 below Regardless of the format or variant used, all Constructed tournaments are combined into one DCI Team Constructed rating. The only difference between the two Constructed variants is how card restrictions such as the four-card limit affect teams. Before each team tournament, the organizer must announce which variant will be used, and this information must be included in any event advertising. 1. Card Restrictions for Regular Team Events All restrictions on card use apply to each team member individually. Example: Each player on Team Alpha in a Classic Regular tournament can have four Incinerates and one Fork in his or her deck. 2. Card Restrictions for Unified Team Events Card restrictions apply to all team members' decks combined. Example: A total of four Incinerates are allowed in all of Team Alpha's decks combined in a Classic Unified tournament, and only one Team Alpha member can have a Fork (restricted in Classic) in his or her deck. B. Limited Team Events Tournament results from all formats of Limited play (Sealed Deck and all draft events) are combined into one DCI Team Limited rating. 1. Sealed Deck Events Beyond what is stated below, team Sealed Deck events must follow the appropriate sections of the DCI Standard Floor Rules. Issue one deck and one booster pack to each player. Team members then pool their cards together to build a deck for each player. The remaining cards are divided into sideboards for each team member. Once cards become a player's sideboard, they cannot be used by other team members. Each card must be assigned to a team member. 2. Draft Events (Rochester or Booster) Beyond what is stated below, team draft events must follow the appropriate sections of the DCI Standard Floor Rules. From the list below, choose which method you will use to pod players. You must announce the method you choose in any tournament advertising and before event registration begins. When placing players in pods for drafting, divide the players as evenly as possible and as close to eight players as possible. a. Place one member from each team in each pod. Team members build decks and sideboards from the pool of cards drawn by the entire team. If this option is selected, each card a team drafts must be assigned to a member of the team. Beyond this point, follow the DCI Standard Floor Rules for Booster Draft (Section 3.4) or Rochester Draft (Section 3.5), depending on what format is selected for the event. b. Place one member of each team in each pod. Team members build decks using only the cards they draft individually. Beyond this point, follow the DCI Standard Floor Rules for Booster Draft (Section 3.4) or Rochester Draft (Section 3.5), depending on what format is selected for the event. c. Place all members of a team in the same pod with all members from other teams. You may have two or more teams in the same drafting pod, depending on the total number of participants. Separate the team members in the pod so no two players from the same team draft next to one another. Team members must play only with the cards they draft individually. Beyond this point, follow the DCI Standard Floor Rules for Booster Draft (Section 3.4) or Rochester Draft (Section 3.5), depending on what format is selected for the event. Magic: The Gathering and DCI are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. (C)1998 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.