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Can I mix older Magic the Gathering cards with cards from Magic 2015? If I have mainly Magic 2015 cards can I play my friends who mainly have older decks?

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  • You can of course play with whatever cards you want with your friends - seems like the real question is whether it'll be fun to play. Depending on what kind of older decks they have, there could be some power level mismatch.
    – Cascabel
    Sep 12, 2014 at 6:01

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It depends on what format you want to play.

Casual

You can use whatever cards you want, as long as your friends are alright with it. This is informally known as "kitchen table magic", at least in my area. Some casual formats are are so popular that they have their own rules, such as Commander. See the link at the bottom for more information.

Standard

Prior to 2016, you could only use cards from the latest two expansion blocks and any core set(s) directly succeeding them. Starting in the Spring of 2016, you can only use cards from the latest three expansion blocks. For those unaware, a "block" is a set of expansions that are released sequentially and revolve around a single story or plane. More details on this format here.

Modern

You may use cards from any set since 8th Ed. Some cards are banned.

Legacy

You may use cards from any set. Some cards are banned.

Vintage

You may use cards from any set. Some cards are banned. Others are restricted to one copy per deck.

All Constructed Formats

The following rules apply Standard, Modern, Legacy, and Vintage.

  • Deck must contain at least sixty cards
  • With the exception of basic lands, decks may not exceed four of any card
  • Cards with a silver or gold border only are illegal
  • Decks containing a mixture of Alpha and non-Alpha cards must be played with opaque sleeves
  • A card from an older set is legal if a card with the same name was printed in an otherwise legal set

You can learn more about these formats, as well as some that I did not cover (such as Commander), by visiting Wizards of the Coast's website.

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  • Might want to mention "floor rules 102", about mixing alpha and non-alpha cards. Even in casual play, though of course you can do anything you want, you would want to sleeve your cards with opaque sleeves if your deck mixes alpha and non-alpha.
    – GendoIkari
    Sep 12, 2014 at 3:52
  • @Gendolkari I Googled floor rules 102 and got something about Unhinged and Unglued (which I promptly tacked on to the bottom of the answer). I'm pretty sure I didn't get what you are talking about. Feel free to edit it in.
    – Rainbolt
    Sep 12, 2014 at 3:58
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    Also, cards from sets not allowed in a format are allowed when they are reprinted in the format. For example, a Nightmare from Alpha is still legal in Standard because it is reprinted in M15
    – Ivo
    Sep 12, 2014 at 6:31
  • Commander/EDH may be worth mentioning, although the card pool is "Vintage minus some additional banned cards"; it's the deck construction that really makes it different.
    – Brian S
    Sep 12, 2014 at 14:51
  • @BrianS Added a reference to Commander under Casual (since it's technically a casual format).
    – Rainbolt
    Sep 12, 2014 at 14:59

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