Emerald City Trolls: Seattle Old School MtG

Event Rules
emerald city

Nightmare '99

An Old School(-ish) Magic Format

Rules Publication Date: February 19, 2020


June 5, 4PM-11PM

Location: Optimism Brewing

1158 Broadway, Seattle, WA 98122

Want a quick event overview? Check out the Cliff's Notes video.


Nightmare '99 Rules

Nightmare '99 (or just "Nightmare") is a one-on-one Magic format, harkening back to an era that never was, but could have been, if Wizards simply printed cards and watched the destruction they unleashed unfold. It has minimal deck construction requirements, and most notably, no banned & restricted list, meaning horribly powerful decks can be built.

Important Note on Brokenness

This format is obviously broken and turn one kills will abound. Some decks might be capable of deterministic turn one kills, even against the best-possible opposing hands (e.g., even vs. 3-4 Force of Will). The point of the format is not to go out and buy a bunch of cards to have a deterministic turn one kill so you can spike a tournament. The point is that, if you have some broken cards or multiples of restricted cards, you can play them together here. And if you happen to have access to cards that let you build a reliable turn one kill deck, go for it -- for fun. Nightmare should not be played for significant prizes because die rolls will be very important to determining the tournament winner.

Deck Construction Rules

Players construct decks of 60 or more cards.

Players may optionally construct a sideboard containing exactly 15 cards.

Players may not include more than four of copies of a card (other than basic land) in their combined deck and sideboard EXCEPT that players may include more than four copies of a card if all copies beyond the fourth were won via ante. Cards are considered to be copies of the same card if they have the same English name. The intent of this rule is to allow you to take advantage of cards won via ante, not to provide you a pile of cards to swap around every match. You either add a won card to your deck when you win it, or you don't (unless you later need to replace other cards you lost to ante). Angle shoot the intent of this rule and expect to be chastised mercilessly.

Legal Sets

Cards printed in the following sets are legal:

Players are encouraged to use original-frame versions of these cards, though any version of a card printed by Wizards of the Coast is allowed. This includes modern-frame reprints, foils, Collector's Edition/International Collector's Edition, and World Championship deck cards (gold borders).

Proxies are not allowed in general. However, if due to extenuating circumstances you are not in possession of cards you can prove you own (e.g., you ordered them but they are still in the mail, or you have sent them to a friend or an alterist), high-quality proxies (not counterfeit cards) may be allowed by the TO.

Because "Fake Ante" is used, players may include all ante cards in their decks (Contract from Below, Demonic Attorney, Rebirth, etc.).

Gameplay

Except as described below, gameplay follows Fifth Edition rules. As a note, under these, rules, batches are used instead of the stack, interrupts and instants are separate kinds of spells, tapped artifacts cease having an effect, tapped blockers deal no damage, etc. See a scan of the Fifth Edition rulebook here; this rulebook is the governing set of rules for Nightmare.

"Fake Ante" is used in every game. Full details are described below.

Errata & Rules Interpretation

Unless otherwise noted on this page, no errata is used. English cards are played as written in the specific version of the card a player is using at the time. Non-English cards are played using the current Gatherer errata text.

If players disagree about the interpretation of a card or about the outcome of a particular game state, they are expected to come to a mutually acceptable interpretation. If they cannot come to such an interpretation, both players are expected to mutually agree on a neutral third-party to decide the interpretation or outcome. If they further cannot come to mutual agreement on a third-party, both players lose the match and are eliminated from the tournament for being dicks.

Tournament Play

All Nightmare tournaments are straight Swiss brackets, with matches being best two-of-three. Rounds are 40 minutes and proceed to final-five-turns at the 40 minute mark. Games use the Paris mulligan: you may mulligan any opening hand, and you draw one fewer card in your new hand.

No Draws

Match draws are not allowed. After the five-final-turns period, if a player is clearly in a losing position (in their sole discretion), and losing the current game would result in them losing the match, they are expected to offer a "Gentleman/woman's Surrender" to their opponent. Otherwise, the players are expected to mutually agree to a third-party to decide the winner of the match. If the players cannot come to mutual agreement on a third-party, both players lose the match and are eliminated from the tournament for being dicks.

Guidelines for a third-party charged with deciding a match are: first, if one of the players has a clear winning position in the game, and winning the game would win them the match, that player should win the match (i.e., that player probably should have offered a Gentleman/woman's Surrender -- though this is not a judgement on that player, because "clear winning position" is subjective); then, second, the player whose deck was weaker (i.e., the underdog) should win the match.

Winning the Tournament

The undefeated player after the Swiss is crowned champion, and the player they defeated in the final round of the tournament receives second place. Remaining places are determined according to standard tiebreakers (note: this means it's possible the X-1 player with the best tiebreakers may not win second place, if they were not the player who lost on the final table).

Players may sideboard after the first and second games in a match. They must exchange cards between their main deck and their sideboard on a one-for-one basis. Following the completion of the match, players must return their decks to their original configuration (subject to any required modifications due to loss of cards from Fake Ante; see below).

Fake Ante

All games are played with "Fake Ante." Fake Ante is intended to simulate the effects of ante during a tournament, but not result in the exchange of ownership of any cards.

Fake Ante follows these rules:

  1. Both players ante one card at the start of every game by revealing the top card of their deck after shuffling, prior to drawing their hand. The anted card is placed in the Ante Zone. If a player chooses to mulligan, they leave the anted card in the Ante Zone.
  2. If a player loses a game, the cards they anted are removed from their deck and placed into their binder or another container separate from their main deckbox. Those cards may not be used again for the rest of the tournament.
  3. When a player loses cards to ante, they write the lost card's name and edition on a Revised basic land, sign it, and give it to their opponent. Every player will be given a stack of Revised basic lands at the start of the tournament to facilitate this purpose.
  4. Immediately following a game, players may add any cards acquired by ante in that game (and ONLY from that game) to their deck or sideboard by swapping those cards into their deck on a 1-for-1 basis. If a player chooses not to swap a card acquired by ante into their deck following the game they aquired it, they lose the opportunity to swap it into their deck for the rest of the tournament, except as described in the next rule.
  5. Players must present a deck of at least 60 cards every game, despite previous losses to ante. After each game, if a player has lost cards due to ante, they must replace that same number of cards with other cards from their collection OR from cards they have previously won from opponents through ante. If a player loses sideboard cards to ante, they must replace them similarly. Players must also continue to follow the 4-of-maximum rule for the number of cards in their combined deck and sideboard with the same name when replacing cards lost to ante, EXCEPT that players may include more than four copies of a card if all copies beyond the fourth were won via ante.
  6. Once a card is placed into a player's deck or sideboard as a result of the previous two rules, it may not be removed for the rest of the tournament, except by swapping it for a newly acquired ante card per rule 4 or losing it to ante per rule 5. In other words, fake ante rules do not give you "free sideboard slots" in your main deck.
  7. If by chance a player loses a card they also previously won as ante, instead of putting it into their binder, they sign it an additional time and give it permanently to their opponent.
  8. Some cards may cause a player to place additional cards into the ante zone, or other interact with cards in the ante zone during the course of the game. These cards function normally, as they would in real ante games.
  9. Last and most importantly, players are expected to record modifications made to their deck as a result of ante EVERY GAME. This is to prevent unintentional errors and also provide a degree of auditing to prevent cheating. If you cheat in this event, expect to be banned from all future Emerald City Trolls events and to be shunned from the OS community at large. People will know your name as a cheater.

Tempest Efreet

Tempest Efreet's card text directly causes a change in ownership of cards in ante games, which is not desirable in Nightmare '99. Instead, Tempest Efreet is errata'd to use Fake Ante rules.

If you use Tempest Efreet's ability, if you would choose a card at random from your opponent's hand, you do so. But instead of gaining permanent ownership of that card, your opponent puts the card into their binder like any other card lost to ante. They then write the name and edition of the card onto a Revised basic, sign it, and give it to you. You also do the same, writing "Tempest Efreet" and the edition of the card on a Revised basic. Exchange these written-on cards with your opponent.

For the rest of the match, the exchanged cards are part of both you and your opponent's decks. This exchange of cards may allow you to exceed the 4-of maximum in your deck. After the match, you may continue to keep the exchanged card in your deck, provided any copies of the card beyond the fourth were acquired via ante or an effect like Tempest Efreet. Particularly, if you have acquired a fifth or more copy of a card via Tempest Efreet, you may leave five and more in your deck. Note that if, following winning a fifth or more copy of a card for your deck, you choose to remove that card before playing your next match, you may NOT later elect to add that card back to your deck if it would increase the number of copies of that card above four.


Rule Difference Notes

Because this event will use 5th Edition rules and plays all cards as written, there are some differences you might want to think about before the event. While it's up to you to explore the rules and the available tech yourself, here are a few examples of things to be aware of.

Mana Vault

Mana Vault has had several different wordings over the years. For example, here is the alpha wording:

Tap to add 3 colorless mana to your mana pool. Mana Vault doesn't untap normally during untap phase; to untap it, you must pay 4 mana. If Mana Vault remains tapped during upkeep it does 1 damage to you. Tapping this artifact can be played as an interrupt.

And here is Revised:

T: Add 3 colorless mana to your mana pool. Mana Vault doesn't untap normally during untap phase; to untap it, you must pay 4 mana during your upkeep. If Mana Vault remains tapped during upkeep it does 1 damage to you. Drawing mana from this artifact is played as an interrupt.

And finally here is the current Gatherer text, which appears on the Kaladesh Invention version for example:

Mana Vault doesn't untap during your untap step. At the beginning of your upkeep, you may pay 4. If you do, untap Mana Vault. At the beginning of your draw step, if Mana Vault is tapped, it deals 1 damage to you. Tap: Add {Colorless}{Colorless}{Colorless} to your mana pool.

These different wordings lead to four different ways Mana Vault works, depending on which one you use.

  1. Alpha, Beta, Unlimited, CE, ICE: any time during your untap step, you may pay 4 to untap Mana Vault.
  2. Revised, 4th Ed: any time during your upkeep step, you may pay 4 to untap Mana Vault.
  3. 5th Ed: any time during your upkeep step, you may pay 4. If you do, at the end of your upkeep, untap Mana Vault.
  4. Kaladesh/Ultimate Masters/all Non-English: at the beginning of your upkeep, you may untap Mana Vault if you pay 4.

All of those create subtle differences in play. For example, Power Artifact on Mana Vault will make infinite mana in your upkeep with Rev/4ED. It would also make infinite mana in your untap step in ABU/CE/ICE, except in 5th Edition rules you are not allowed to use any abilities during the untap step. The other Mana Vaults also have no ability to make infinite mana given their wording. Also, Rev/4ED will not damage you if Mana Vault was untapped at any point during your upkeep, since it did not "remain tapped during your upkeep." There are slight differences in how some of the other versions do damage too.

There is also a major difference in the Mana Vaults relating to when you can use them too, which is covered in the next section.

Permanents Which Generate Mana

You might have wondered why old permanents that make mana, like Llanowar Elves or Fellwar Stone, say you can use their ability "as an interrupt" or "as a mana source." The reason is because of how the timing of instants and interrupts worked in the original rule set.

Originally in 5th Edition, most spells went into something called a "batch." A batch could be started by casing a sorcery, summon, artifact, enchantment, or instant spell. Once the batch starts, players could continue adding instants to the batch. Once both players are done putting things into the batch, the batch resolves (last-in, first-out in 5th Edition rules), and the spells have their effects.

The one exception to how things got added to a batch was an interrupt spell, which -- naturally -- interrupts the creation of the batch. Once an interrupt is cast, no more instants may be added to the batch until both players stop adding interrupts, and then all the interrupts resolved. This is how counter spells work, for example, by taking spells out of the batch before any other slower actions can resolve. It's also why alpha Red Elemental Blast, which is misprinted as an instant instead of an interrupt, was much less useful than intended as printed. Interrupts are "faster" than instants basically (although both kinds of spells collectively are called "fast effects".)

In 5th Edition rules, once an interrupt is played, it creates its own separate batch of spells. This interrupt batch has to be resolved before we can return to resolving the main batch of spells. Once the batch of interrupts is resolved, players can add more spells or other allowed effects to the other main batch. But they cannot cast any instants once a batch of interrupts has been created.

Generally speaking, abilities on permanents are also fast effects, with the same properties as instants. This is relevant to mana producing permanents because, if they didn't include text that allowed you to play their abilities as interrupts, you couldn't use them when there were unresolved interrupts in play. For example, if Llanowar Elf didn't have the "as an interrupt" text, you would not be able to tap it in response to a Power Sink to try and pay for the cost. Also, incidentally, all lands were able to tap for mana as an interrupt, which is why they do not bear the rules text.

An important example for Power Sink is also that because of the timing rules, you have to resolve the Power Sink before you can cast any more instants. If you have only a single Mountain untapped, for example, and I cast Power Sink for 1 on a spell you have cast, Power Sink has to be resolved before you can use the Mountain to pay for casting a new Lightning Bolt spell. This is a material difference in the power level of Power Sink, making it more powerful in the 5th Edition rules.

Oh, and one final note: if an interrupt is used to target a permanent, like say using a Blue Elemental Blast to destroy an Atog, that interrupt spell is handled as if it were an instant. So, you could cast Unsummon on your Atog to successfully return it to your hand.

Another final wrinkle: 5th Edition rules introduced the concept of a mana source ability. Mana sources are even faster than interrupts, and may be played any time a player could take an action. Nothing is allowed to happen in the game until a mana source is fully resolved. For example, Mirage Dark Rituals are typed as a mana source. This means they cannot be countered by a counter spell, because nothing is allowed to be triggered or played until a mana source has finished resolving. Note that since Nightmare '99 plays cards as written, this means Dark Rituals that are printed as mana sources are superior to those printed as interrupts or instants.

In practice, any cards from 5th Edition or earlier which generate mana will have rules text on them which allows you to use them as you'd expect. Modern versions or non-English versions (which use Gatherer text), however, lack the interrupt clause and thus can only be tapped at instant speed in Nightmare '99. So, if you can, you probably want to leave your Dominaria Llanowar Elves at home.

Resolving Multiple Spells

In modern rules, if you cast a spell and I cast Counterspell to counter it, you can respond by casting Ancestral Recall in an effort to find a counter of your own and save your spell. In 5th Edition, you can't. Here's why.

Once a batch starts resolving, no further spells can be cast in that batch. Since interrupts create a separate batch, and interrupts have to be resolved before any pending instants can begin resolving it's not possible to respond to them with an instant. So, when a player casts Counterspell, nothing can be added to whatever batch the Counterspell is attempting to interact with unless it's also an interrupt. You could cast Fork, for example, to copy Counterspell and counter the original Counterspell, but you could not cast Ancestral Recall in an effort to find Fork because Ancestral Recall is an instant. If it's still relevant to the game state, after Counterspell resolves you could then add Ancestral Recall to the original batch now that there is not an interrupt batch to resolve. But you cannot cast Ancestral Recall while there is a batch of unresolved interrupts to deal with.

Clear as mud? Now you can see why the stack as we know it was such a great simplification. But that's not what we are after in Nightmare '99. We are celebrating reliving the complicated rules of the early days.

Some Cards of Note

Since nothing was allowed to happen in the game while a mana source or played card was resolving in 5th Edition, several cards as printed may not behave the way you are used to or might expect when viewing them from a modern rules perspective. Here are a few examples.

Lion's Eye Diamond

Nowadays, Lion's Eye Diamond (LED) is useful in part because you can announce a spell, then take actions to pay costs associated with that spell. LED can be used after you have already announced a spell, making it a great way to get some fast mana for spells in many decks. However, as it originally functioned and how it functions in Nightmare '99, it's a mana source. That means that nothing can happen in the game until its ability is fully resolved. Further, all costs for spells must be paid before a spell or ability is announced in 5th Edition rules, so you can't use LED to pay for a spell after you have announced it. If you use LED in 5th Edition (and Nightmare '99 by extension), there is nothing you can do with that mana before you discard your hand.

Mox Diamond

Nothing is allowed to happen in the game during the resolution of a spell in 5th Edition (or Nightmare '99). Playing a Mox Diamond does not create a triggered sacrifice ability you can respond to by tapping the Mox. Instead, if you can't discard a land when it enters play, it goes to your graveyard before you can do anything with it. You have to be able to discard a land card for Mox Diamond to do anything -- it's not Lotus Petal in Nightmare '99.

Lotus Vale

Similarly, nothing is allowed to happen in the game while a Lotus Vale is entering the battlefield until it has completely finished entering the battlefield. this means you cannot play a Lotus Vale and tap it for mana before it goes to your graveyard. If you play a Lotus Vale and cannot sacrifice two untapped lands, it goes to your graveyard before you can use it. On the plus side, it also means that if you play a Lotus Vale with two lands untapped, your opponent cannot respond by Boomeranging one of your untapped lands and force you to destroy Vale. Of course, they can still Boomerang your Lotus Vale after it is on the battlefield, so get pwnt n00b.

In Depth Rules Differences

Stephen Menendian wrote an article which surveyed the rules evolution of Magic, which serves as a wonderful way to read up on the key differences between modern Magic rules and different historical rules sets. While you should read the rule book if you really want to understand everything, this article is a great place to start. Here it is if you'd like to check it out (note: there is absolutely no connection or endorsement between the Trolls and the storied for-profit site hosting that article. It's just a good article).


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