As I mentioned last week, as you're reading this, I'll be headed for Austin to Head Judge the Grand Prix. While I'm there, here are two new formats submitted for your approval, the first one with a contest.

The first format comes from the fertile minds of two of the players in my local group, Brian Ponzar and Todd Hughson. It's meant to gather the flavor of D&D and put it into a Magic format. The rules are simple, and since some of them are flavor-suggested, your group might have to get together and agree on what fits.

All creatures and spells should be found in a typical vanilla D&D setting (by all means, don't let some yahoo bring Spelljammer in). This is a flavor-related limitation and a little tricky to adjudicate. Some things are obvious. Goblins, Gorgons, and Knights are fine, but Vedalkens, Slivers, and Atogs are not. Lightning Bolt, Flight, and Fireball are good, but Tel-Jilad Justice, Kirtar's Wrath, and Blinkmoth Infusion are not. In fact, if a creature or spell has a reference to any of the Magic backstory planes, it shouldn't be used. Equipment is good (great even), but the Stations are not. Anything that's too high-tech should be left out (which Mark Rosewater will appreciate). Basic lands, the original dual lands, and some few non-basics are fine, but you'll find that many non-basic lands are "named," like Maze of Ith, Karplusan Forest, and Balduvian Trading Post.

Here's the tricky part: in order to play non-creature spells, you must have a Spellcaster in play of the color of the spell that you want to play. Multicolor spells require Spellcasters of all the colors of the spell. You can play artifacts so long as you have any Spellcaster in play.

A Spellcaster is a creature of one of the following types: Cleric, Druid, Enchantress, Mage, Priest, Shaman, Sorceress, Witch, or Wizard. Once you announce a spell with said Spellcaster in play, removing the Spellcaster won't counter the spell.

Originally, Brian and Todd said that decks must be at least forty cards, but I think a normal 60-card constructed minimum should probably apply. I can see several degenerate combos already, especially with Goblins and the Enchantresses.

The Contest: Simple enough, build a 60-card deck in this format and send me your entry at juggernt@charter.net. After I come back from Austin, I'll post the results. $20 in Star City credit will go to the winner. I'll be looking for a good, playable deck in the format, but consistency with theme and flavor is what will determine a winner.

The second isn't actually all that new. We decided we wanted to do some sort of ongoing Limited league. Not needing to reinvent from the ground up, we lifted some ideas from Abe Sargent's similar format and changed to fit our needs. It then occurred to me that I frequently bring back product from Limited Pro Tours. You see, for Limited PTs, the product is stamped to discourage players from adding to their card pools. Because the stamps are unique to every Pro Tour, the product is no longer usable. If there's any left, the judges get to take it home. I figured I could just donate that product to the league. Since I already had a bunch of it laying around, it became our starting product.

A driving factor is that we didn't want the league to cost lots of money, which is why there are repacks of commons available. I have boxes and boxes of commons laying around; we might as well get some use out of them. This seems to be a cost-efficient (in both real and virtual monies) way to increase player's card pools.

What follows is an excerpt from the league rules. I cut some bits that need to be in the rules, but are the sort of assumed stuff that you don't really need to read about (like for example the fact that matches are best-of-three).

Normal league play will occur either at scheduled league nights or when two or more players agree to meet and play. All league play will be for ante and ratings points, but only play at scheduled league nights will be for virtual money. The results of matches not played on league nights will be reported to the League Secretary, who will add them to the next league report.

Occasionally, the league will schedule League Tournaments, which will be played under DCI-Sanctioned tournament rules, with additional prizes (agreed upon by league members) available in addition to the normally-available antes and virtual monies. League Tournaments may be either Swiss style, Round Robin, or single-elimination.

All rules of DCI-Sanctioned Limited play will apply.

Cards lost in ante must be replaced to bring the main deck back up to the 40 card minimum.

Unlike a DCI-sanctioned tournament, players may start each match with the main deck configuration of their choice, unless league play for a particular session is designated a League Tournament (see above).

Each player will start with one Mirrodin starter without basic lands, one Mirrodin Booster, three Darksteel Boosters, and three Fifth Dawn Boosters of stamped Pro Tour Product, which does not include basic land. Each player will receive ten of each basic land. Some stamped product will be held aside for new players who wish to join the league.

1. Players may cash in virtual monies (see below) to buy new cards for their card pools from the League Library (see below). Price of card packs from the League Library do not correspond to real product prices.
2. Players will gain and lose cards in ante (see below).
3. The first time a player reaches a new level (and only the first time; if they subsequently lose the level and regain it, they do not again receive this bonus), they will be awarded one booster pack of their choice from the League Library.
4. When new Pro Tour product is introduced into the League Library, each player will receive one of each of whatever is introduced. For example, if the League Library gets Champions of Kamigawa booster packs, each player will receive one. If the League Library gets both starters and boosters, players will receive one of each.
5. There will be occasional "prize" ante" events for booster packs drawn from the league library. The must be a quorum of League members present (defined as more than half the current players in the league) for prize ante events.

Each player will earn virtual money for each match played. For a match loss, they will receive $1. For a match win, they will receive $2, plus $1 for every level which their opponent is higher than they are. They will use this virtual money to purchase product from the League Library (see below). The League Secretary will maintain each player's balance and provide a report at each league night.

Players start with 100 ratings points. There is no minimum or maximum rating. For purposes of ratings comparisons, ratings are calculated at the start of each match. The League Secretary will maintain each player's rating and provide a report at each league night, to include informing players when they advance in level. Levels are dynamic and may be gained and lost.

For a match loss, a player will lose 1 point, plus one for every level which their opponent is lower than they are. For a match win, they will gain one point, plus 1 for every level which their opponent is higher than they are. When players are of unequal level, the higher player cannot win and the lower player cannot lose more than 1 point.

LEVEL 0: 0 points

LEVEL 1: 80 points

LEVEL 2: 110 points

LEVEL 3: 120 points

LEVEL 4: 130 points

LEVEL 5: 140 points

LEVEL 6: 150 points

LEVEL 7: 160 points

LEVEL 8: 170 points

LEVEL 9: 180 points

LEVEL 10: 190 points

(and so on, if neccessary)

Before the first game, players will randomly ante a card or cards (which cannot be basic land) from their main decks. The ante card will be revealed, recorded, and then shuffled back into the deck; the player will player will play with the anted card in that game, but will then surrender the lost card(s) at the end of the match.

Players of a higher level must ante one additional card for each level of difference between themselves and their opponents.

After the initial contributions, the League Library will be funded equally by all members of the League and will be maintained by the League Secretary. New product will be added to the library by either stamped product being returned from the Pro Tour or by unanimous agreement of league members. Players are free to donate whatever product they wish to the League Library, subject to unanimous agreement of the membership.

The League Secretary will provide to participants at each league night the current balance of product in the League Library.

Product may only be purchased from the League Library at the beginning or end of any league night. Each participant, in turn, in ascending order of rating points, will be able to purchase one item at a time from the library. This process will be repeated until all participants have selected as much as they wish. This is done in this fashion to prevent a single player from cornering the market on any particular product.

Should a player drop to Level 0, League Library prices on booster packs and repacks are discounted $1 and starter decks are discounted $3 until they regain Level 1.

Current Standard and Extend-legal booster packs: $7

Other booster packs: $15

Starter decks with basic land (6 of each): $25

Starter decks without basic land: $22

Repacks of 10 random commons, random mixed sets: $3

Repacks of 10 random commons, single (player-selected) set: $4

Basic land, set of one of each: $2

I hope you enjoy both of these formats. If you have ideas or comments, send them to me. Otherwise, I'll see you next week.