Pacific Old School Rules

Rules Version1.1
Publication DateMarch 7, 2020

This page describes the official rules for all Old School 93/94 games, matches, and tournaments played under the Pacific ruleset.



Legal Sets

Pacific Rules Old School decks may consist of cards from these sets printed in 1993-94:
Alpha
Beta
Unlimited
Collector’s Edition (CE)
International Collector’s Edition (IE)
Arabian Nights
Antiquities
Revised
Legends
The Dark
Fallen Empires
Book promotional cards Arena, Sewers of Estark, and Nalathni Dragon



Reprint Policy

Any cards featuring the original art and frame (i.e., 4th Edition, Chronicles, Timeshifted, gold-border Champs decks, etc.) may also be used. As it was originally printed in 1994, the Revised Serendib Efreet may also be used.

Cards printed in any language may be used.

No foil cards may be used.

No proxies or fake cards may be used in a tournament setting.

Altered cards are allowed provided they are identifiable as the specific Magic card they were prior to altering, and are not noticeable within the deck or otherwise so altered as to be considered marked. This standard is this is more relaxed than that used by WotC, so for example card rules text, name, mana cost, power/toughness, or art may be substantially or completely altered or obscured, provided the card can still be identified as a specific original Magic card by a person reasonably familiar with Old School.

Artist proofs may be used and shall be played as the card on the non-blank side of the card, no matter what appears on the blank side of the card. Artist proofs which do not have distinctive art on their blank side must be played with the non-blank side visible.



Deck Construction

Constructed decks must contain a minimum of 60 cards (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 can contain up to 15 cards. With the exception of basic land cards (Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, Forest), a player’s combined deck and sideboard may not contain more than 4 of any individual card, counted by its English card title equivalent.

The following cards are banned by PAC in 93-94 tournaments:

  • Bronze Tablet
  • Contract from Below
  • Darkpact
  • Demonic Attorney
  • Jeweled Bird
  • Rebirth
  • Tempest Efreet

The following cards are restricted by PAC in 93-94 tournaments (maximum of 1 of each card per deck):

  • Ancestral Recall
  • Balance
  • Black Lotus
  • Braingeyser
  • Chaos Orb
  • Channel
  • Demonic Tutor
  • Library of Alexandria
  • Mana Drain
  • Mind Twist
  • Mox Emerald
  • Mox Jet
  • Mox Pearl
  • Mox Ruby
  • Mox Sapphire
  • Regrowth
  • Sol Ring
  • Time Vault
  • Time Walk
  • Timetwister
  • Wheel of Fortune

Note: Errata on Plague Rats allows any number Plague Rats to be included in a deck (see Errata below)



Gameplay & Rules

Except as described below in the “Rule Differences” section, PAC uses the modern Magic: the Gathering ruleset to govern gameplay.

Unless indicated below in the “Errata” section, all cards are interpreted according to their current Gatherer rules text.


Rule Differences

Mana Burn

“Mana Burn” occurs in PAC games. Specifically, at the end of each step and phase, a player loses one (1) life point for every unspent mana in their mana pool.

No Draws

A PAC match may not end in a draw, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

If a match is tied at the conclusion of a round, a tiebreaker shall be used to determine the winner for a match. Tournament Organizers may choose to use one of the two tiebreaker methods below for their tournament. The same method should be used throughout the tournament; players do not get to choose the method their prefer to resolve their match.

Chaos Orb Flips

A winner by sudden death may be determined by a Chaos Orb flipping contest. By mutual consent, players shall determine which of them shall flip first, or if such consent cannot be obtained, the first player to flip shall be determined randomly. Alternatively, by mutual consent, players may agree to flip simultaneously.

Players then begin performing Chaos Orb flips targeting a declared card of their choosing from their main deck or sideboard in a series of rounds. The first player who successfully completes a flip in the same round that their opponent fails their flip is declared the winner of the match.

In two-headed giant, each team nominates a single person to represent and perform Chaos Orb flips for their team.

A player may choose to use a substitute card in the event a Chaos Orb is not in the players deck or sideboard. This substitute card must be a card from the player’s deck (thus ensuring the card is a genuine Magic card of appropriate size and sleeved in the same manner as their other cards). By mutual consent, players may agree to flip unsleeved cards instead of sleeved cards. In this event, all spectators within arm’s reach of the players must give them high fives, and the players are strongly encouraged to high five each other.

Mana Clash Coin Flips

A winner by sudden death may be determined by repeated Mana Clash effects until one player is the winner. Players flip a coin simultaneously. Each player whose coin comes up tails is dealt one damage. Players may not perform any game actions throughout this process, and the damage may not be prevented. This coin flipping process is repeated until one player wins the game. If both players would lose the game at the same time, the coin flipping process is repeated until one player flips heads and the other flips tails. The player who flips heads wins the match. In two-headed giant, each team nominates a single person to represent and perform Mana Clash coin flips for their team.

Some additional notes:

  • Because you cannot take any game actions during this process, you may not cast Healing Salve to gain life or prevent the damage from a tails.
  • Additionally, because this damage may not be prevented, players may not use Circles of Protection or any other effect to avoid taking damage for a flip coming up tails.
  • If there are any active Shahrazad subgames when a match moves to Mana Clash, all such subgames immediately end in a draw, and no player loses life due to Shahrazad.
  • If a player has a Lich in play, they do not lose the game for having less than 0 life, but they must sacrifice a permanent for each damage they take. If Lich leaves the battlefield, that player loses.

Errata

The following cards are updated to have the following rules text, which supersedes their Gatherer rules text in PAC games:

Chaos Orb
2
Artifact
1, Tap: Choose a nontoken permanent on the battlefield. If Chaos Orb is on the battlefield, flip Chaos Orb onto the battlefield from a height of at least one foot. If Chaos Orb turns over completely at least 360 degrees during the flip, and lands resting on the chosen permanent, destroy that permanent. Then destroy Chaos Orb.
(Note: because of how Chaos Orb is worded, with it being destroyed after a flip, it can still be Disenchanted or Shattered in response to the activation, which will nullify the ability to flip, since it is no longer on the battlefield. This is consistent with the wording of Chaos Orb not being sacrificed upon activation, as it probably would with modern templating. Also note that Chaos Orb chooses, but does not target.)


Falling Star
2R
Sorcery
Choose any number of non-overlapping creatures on the battlefield. Flip Falling Star from at least a height of one foot. If Falling Star turns over completely at least 360 degrees during the flip, it deals 3 damage to each chosen creature it lands resting on. Any creatures damaged by Falling Star that are not destroyed become tapped.
(Note: Falling Star chooses upon resolution, but does not target.)


Ring of Ma’rûf
5
Artifact
5, Tap, Exile Ring of Ma’rûf: The next time you would draw a card this turn, instead choose a card you own from exile or from your sideboard, and put it into your hand.


Plague Rats
2B
Creature – Zombie Rat
Plague Rats’s power and toughness are each equal to the number of creatures named Plague Rats on the battlefield.
A deck can have any number of cards named Plague Rats.


Eternal Central has an excellent writeup with more information all errata except Plague Rats, which are standard in all major Old School formats: Updated Errata and Wording for Falling Star, Chaos Orb, and Ring of Ma’rûf here.



Format Difference Summary

The following table provides a summary of the differences among the major Old School 93/94 formats: