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Everywhere I look has specific ban lists for Magic. I have heard that "all white border cards are banned in DCI sanctioned tournaments" But my 'Stream of Life' is white bordered and not listed on the modern banned list.
Are all white bordered cards banned in DCI events?
Yes, white bordered cards are legal.
From the Magic: The Gathering Tournament Rules (English version):
Players may use any Authorized Game Cards from Magic: The Gathering expansions, core sets, special sets, supplements, and promotional printings. Authorized Game Cards are cards that, unaltered, meet the following conditions:
The card is genuine and published by Wizards of the Coast
It is important to remember that fake Magic cards exist. Usually, these cards can be identified as fake under scrutiny. If these cards are found to be in use in a tournament, they should not continue to be used. Also, the player using the card may not realize that they are using fake cards, so aside from alerting them that they are using fake cards and informing them that they must replace them, we, as judges, should not take further action unless we believe they knew and were using such cards intentionally.
Also, Tournament Officials do not have the legal authority to confiscate fake cards and should not attempt to do so. Stopping their use in the event is sufficient.
The card has a standard Magic back or is a double-faced card, or is a card that is part of a meld pair.
Artist proofs are published by Wizards of the Coast, but do not have a standard Magic back. They are, therefore, not usable in tournament play.
The card does not have squared corners.
Collectors’ Edition cards have black borders on the face, but square corners and a gold border on the back. These are not legal for tournament use. Also, uncut sheets of cards are sometimes cut for use. It is important that these cards have the same corners as all other cards.
The card has non-silver borders.
Cards from Unglued and Unhinged have silver borders with a standard Magic back. These are not legal for play. Gold bordered cards also exist, though they do not have a standard Magic back.
The card is not a token card.
Tokens are used to represent objects that don’t exist as normal Magic cards. While some official tokens exist, it is not required that they be used during tournament play.
The card is not damaged or modified in a way that might make it marked.
Significantly creased cards can be distinguished from other cards in a deck, even sleeved. Also, altered cards may be thicker than the other cards in the deck, depending on the method used to alter the card. If any cards can be distinguished from the other cards in the deck without viewing its front face, then those cards are marked and not legal for tournament play.
The card is otherwise legal for the tournament as defined by the format.
The cards being played in the deck must be printed in a set that is legal in the format, even if the printing being used is from an otherwise illegal set. For example, it is okay to use the Stronghold printing of Mana Leak in Modern even though Stronghold is not a legal set for use in Modern.
White bordered card are legal.The only border color that is illegal for sanctioned play is silver, all other border colors aren't inherently illegal (gold bordered cards are also not legal, but that is because they have a non-standard back not because of the border color).
Also cards are banned based on the card's name, and not any other features of the card. So for example Shock is currently legal in Standard because it was printed in Aether Revolt, but I can play any version of it I want to like the 7th Edition version which has a white border (and the old card frame).
From the Magic Tournament Rules:
3.3 Authorized Cards
Players may use any Authorized Game Cards from Magic: The Gathering expansions, core sets, special sets, supplements, and promotional printings. Authorized Game Cards are cards that, unaltered, meet the following conditions:
- The card is genuine and published by Wizards of the Coast
- The card has a standard Magic back, is a double-faced card, or is a card that is part of a meld pair.
- The card does not have squared corners.
- The card has non-silver borders.
- The card is not a token card.
- The card is not damaged or modified in a way that might make it marked.
- The card is otherwise legal for the tournament as defined by the format.
White-bordered cards are completely legal. The criteria for determining whether a card is legal in tournament play are laid out in the Magic Tournament Rules section 3.3:
Players may use any Authorized Game Cards from Magic: The Gathering expansions, core sets, special sets, supplements, and promotional printings. Authorized Game Cards are cards that, unaltered, meet the following conditions:
- The card is genuine and published by Wizards of the Coast
- The card has a standard Magic back, is a double-faced card, or is a card that is part of a meld pair.
- The card does not have squared corners.
- The card has non-silver borders.
- The card is not a token card.
- The card is not damaged or modified in a way that might make it marked.
- The card is otherwise legal for the tournament as defined by the format.
