Index	Table of Contents	Terms
	Universal Tournament Rules

Note: This version of the Universal Tournament Rules is edited specifically for the Magic Online game. For a full version of the Universal Tournament Rules, go to the DCI website.

• The tournament organizer of record;
• Players currently suspended by the DCI;
• Wizards of the Coast corporate employees;
• Former Wizards of the Coast® corporate employees (until thirty days after their last day of employment at Wizards of the Coast);
• Wizards of the Coast (including The Game Keeper®) retail store employees may play in non-Premier events;
• Employees of Wizards of the Coast Strategic Partners may not participate in DCI-sanctioned play (for example, Hobby Japan, Amigo Spiel, Devir, and so on);
• Playtesters and reviewers of a card set used in an event may not play in that event unless the event takes place at least eighteen days after the Prerelease tournament that featured that card set;
• Other players specifically prohibited from participation by DCI or Wizards of the Coast policy (for example, already qualified players may not participate in Magic: The Gathering Online Qualifier tournaments);
• Players who do not meet specific requirements for tournaments that have additional criteria regarding player eligibility.

Wizards of the Coast reserves the right to publish penalty and suspension information.

You can download these from the DCI website.

11. Event-Knowledge Responsibilities
Competitors and organizers involved in DCI-sanctioned tournaments are responsible for knowing and following the most current version of the Universal Tournament Rules, the DCI Floor Rules for the appropriate game, and any other applicable regulatory documents, including the game rules for the appropriate game.

13. Player Responsibilities
Players must follow the rules interpretations and guidelines for play set forth by the DCI. Players are expected to behave in a respectful and sporting manner at all times. Players who argue with the moderators may be subject to the appropriate provisions of the DCI Penalty Guidelines. Players are still subject to the appropriate penalties even if a moderator was not present at the match at which the infraction occurred. Players are not permitted to waive penalties on behalf of their opponents. Moderators must ensure that the appropriate penalty, if any, is imposed.

Players are responsible for maintaining an accurate rating. If an anomaly occurs in a player's rating, he or she should contact the DCI immediately.

14. Spectator and Press Responsibilities
Spectators are not permitted to communicate with players in any way while matches are in progress. Players have the right to request that a spectator not observe their matches. All such requests must be made through a moderator.

Spectators and members of the press who believe that they have observed rules violations should inform a moderator, but they must not interfere with the match.

25. Conceding Games or Matches
Players may concede a game or match at any time within the following guidelines. The conceded game or match is recorded as a loss for the conceding player. If a player refuses to play, it is assumed that he or she concedes the match.

The following actions are prohibited:
• Offering or accepting a bribe in exchange for the concession, drop, or draw of a match.
• Attempting to determine the winner of a game or match by a random method, such as a coin flip or die roll.

Players who engage in these actions will be subject to the appropriate provisions of the DCI Penalty Guidelines.

Players in the final of a Top 8 single-elimination tournament have the option not to play their match. If both players of the final match agree not to play, one of them must agree to drop from the event.

26. Withdrawing from an Event
Players choosing to withdraw from an event must do so before the pairings for the next round are generated. Players leaving the tournament after the next round begins receive a match loss in the upcoming round and will be removed from the event after that round. Special rules apply to Limited events. (See section 64.)

27. Intentional Draw
Players may mutually agree to accept an intentional draw at any time before the match result of a Swiss round is submitted. This agreement should not be regarded as a violation of section 41. If an offer to intentionally draw is declined, the match must continue as normal. A player may only offer a draw two times during any Magic Online event match. Declaring an intentional draw has the same results for competitors as playing to a draw. For example, if two players choose to draw during the Swiss rounds of a Magic tournament, each would receive 1 match point. See the DCI Floor Rules for additional game-specific information.

41. Cheating
Cheating will not be tolerated. The moderators review all cheating allegations, and if they determine that a player cheated, the moderators or Administrator will issue the appropriate penalty based on the DCI Penalty Guidelines. All disqualifications are subject to later DCI review and further penalties may be assessed.

Cheating includes, but is not limited to, the following intentional activities:
• Collusion to alter the results of a game or match (see section 25).

42. Unsporting Conduct
Unsporting conduct is unacceptable and will not tolerated at any time. Players, spectators, and moderators must behave in a polite, respectable, and sporting manner. In addition, players who use profanity, argue, act belligerently toward moderators or one another, or harass spectators, moderators, or opponents will be subject to the appropriate provisions of the DCI Penalty Guidelines and will be subject to further DCI review.

64. Early Departure
Once a player in a Limited tournament has received sealed product, he or she may not withdraw from the event prior to the first match. Violation of this rule results in the offending participant receiving a loss for the match on the official tournament record (the opponent receives a win for the match) and being dropped from the tournament.

73. Deck Construction
Once drafting is complete, players have a limited amount of time to build decks from the cards they selected. These decks must meet the Limited deck-size requirements specified by the DCI Floor Rules.

74. Booster Draft Procedure
The player chooses one card from the booster pack, and the remaining cards are passed to the player on his or her left. The opened packs are passed around the drafting pod—with each player taking one card each before passing—until all cards are drafted. Once a player has removed a card from the pack, it is considered selected and may not be returned to the pack.

After each player's first pack is drafted, the next specified pack is opened and drafted in the same fashion, except that the direction of drafting is reversed. This process is repeated until all cards in all booster packs are drafted.

75. Rochester Draft Rules
Before the tournament begins, the organizer sets a drafting speed which determines how much time players have to make a draft choice. If a player fails to select a card in the time given, the player receives the "oldest" card still remaining from the booster pack (the card in the upper left corner of the table on the Draft screen).

During a Rochester Draft, a player's most recent card is displayed above his or her avatar.

76. Rochester Draft Table Preparation
Booster packs are divided into groups before the draft table is set, with the number of packs in each group equaling the number of players participating in the draft. If the draft consists of packs from multiple card sets, each group consists of packs from the same card set.

In preparation for each pack being drafted, the contents of the active player's pack is shown face up on the table (see section 77). Players are given 30 seconds to review the cards before drafting begins.

77. Rochester Draft—Active Player Rotation
The player drafting first from the cards presented on the table is called the active player. The first active player is the participant in the upper left seat on the Draft screen. All players in each drafting pod serve as the active player once for each booster pack group (see section 76), with the active player moving between players as follows:
• in a clockwise direction for the first booster pack group (beginning with the first active player);
• in a counterclockwise direction for the second booster pack group (starting with the last active player in the first group);
• and returning to a clockwise direction for the third booster pack group (beginning again with the first active player).

78. Rochester Draft Order
The draft order moves in a horseshoe pattern, beginning with the active player, continuing around the table to the last participant in the group who has not yet drafted a card. The last player in the group selects two cards, instead of one, before drafting continues in reverse order, moving back to the player who began the drafting (the first person who drafted from the pack). After all cards are drafted or each player has two cards from the current booster pack (whichever comes first), the next booster pack is opened and laid out.

Example #1
Eight players are seated around a table. They are numbered 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 in a clockwise order. The active player is Player 1. The first booster pack for Player 1 is opened and placed face up on the table. After the 30-second review period has expired, the draft order is as follows:

Player 1—card 1  Player 6—card 6  Player 6—card 11
Player 2—card 2  Player 7—card 7  Player 5—card 12
Player 3—card 3  Player 8—card 8  Player 4—card 13
Player 4—card 4  Player 8—card 9  Player 3—card 14
Player 5—card 5  Player 7—card 10  Player 2—card 15

The next pack to be opened would be Player 2's first booster.

Example #2
Seven players are seated around a table. They are numbered 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 in a clockwise order. The active player is Player 1. The first booster pack for Player 1 is opened and placed face up on the table. After the 30-second review period has expired, the draft order is as follows:

Player 1—card 1  Player 6—card 6  Player 4—card 11
Player 2—card 2  Player 7—card 7  Player 3—card 12
Player 3—card 3  Player 7—card 8  Player 2—card 13
Player 4—card 4  Player 6—card 9  Player 1—card 14
Player 5—card 5  Player 5—card 10

Card 15 is then removed from the draft because each player has two cards.

The next pack to be opened would be Player 2's first booster.

Elo Ratings System
The Elo player-rating system compares players' match records against their opponents' match records and determines the probability of the player winning the matchup. This probability factor determines how many points players' ratings go up or down based on the results of each match. When a player defeats an opponent with a higher rating, the player's rating goes up more than if he or she defeated a player with a lower rating (since players should defeat opponents who have lower ratings). All new players start out with a base rating of 1600. The DCI uses the following equation to determine a player's win probability in each match:

Win Probability = 1/10^((Opponent’s Rating–Player’s Rating)/400) + 1

This probability is then used to recalculate each player's rating after the match. In the equation below, players receive 1 point if they win the match, 0 if they lose, and 0.5 for a draw. Players' new ratings are determined as follows:

Player's New Rating = Player's Old Rating + (K-value * (Scoring Points–Player's Win Probability))

All players are rated beginning with the first sanctioned match in which they play. Further ratings are calculated chronologically from that first match.

The DCI ranks players in geographic regions (continent, country, state, city, and so on) based on their Elo ratings to determine the top players in each area.