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What is Elder Dragon Highlander?

Elder Dragon Highlander is a Magic variant which provides a way of encouraging casual, interactive games with a low barrier to entry while still requiring good deck building skills. It can be played 1-on-1 but is usually multiplayer.

This page details the "official" rules common to most groups. Local groups often play with house rules but this consensus version exists so that players know what to expect if they join an EDH game outside their local play area. In particular, unsanctioned / evening EDH games at Magic Pro Tours and Grand Prix use these rules by consensus of a small group of regular PT judges who are involved in multiple other EDH playgroups.


Deck Construction Rules:

• Players choose a legendary creature as the "General" for their deck.
  
• A deck may not use cards that contain coloured mana symbols, other than those in the General's mana cost. (Example: If Phelddagrif is your General, your deck may not use any card that contains either red or black mana symbols. Boros Guildmage, Talisman of Dominance and Watery Grave are not allowed.)
  
• A deck may not generate mana outside it's general's mana cost. Anything which would generate mana of an illegal colour generates colourless mana instead.
  
• A deck must contain exactly 100 cards, including the General.
  
• Sideboards are not used.
  
• A deck may not contain two cards with the same English name, with the exception of basic lands.
  
• EDH is played with the vintage cardpool. Cards are legal as of a set's release.
  

Proposed Sideboard Rule:

• If the tournament organizer or game convener chooses to allow them, players may bring a 10 card sideboard with their EDH deck. After Generals are chosen and revealed, players may swap some cards in their deck for those in their sideboard. (Note: This rule is OPTIONAL. It has not yet been officially approved by the EDH Rules Committee and is subject to change.)

Banned as Generals:

[s]Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary[/s] (Unbanned March 20, 2009)

The following legendary creatures cannot be used as generals because they contain coloured mana symbols in their text box not found in the general's mana cost:

Bosh, Iron Golem
Daughter of Autumn
Memnarch
Rhys the Exiled
Thelon of Havenwood


Banned Cards:

Ancestral Recall
Balance
Biorhythm
Black Lotus
Coalition Victory
[s]Crucible of Worlds[/s] (Unbanned March 20, 2009)
Grindstone
Karakas
Kokosho, the Evening Star
Library of Alexandria
Limited Resources
Lion's Eye Diamond
Metalworker (Added March 20, 2009)
Mox Emerald
Mox Jet
Mox Pearl
Mox Ruby
Mox Sapphire
Panoptic Mirror
Protean Hulk
Recurring Nightmare
Riftsweeper
Sway of the Stars
Time Vault
Time Walk
Tinker (Added March 20, 2009)
Upheaval
Worldgorger Dragon
Yawgmoth's Bargain


Gameplay Rules:

• Generals are announced and removed from the game before shuffling at the start of the game. Being a General is not a characteristic of the card. It is a property of the card. "Generalness" cannot be copied or overwritten by continuous effects and does not change with control of the card.
  
• If a player suffers 21 points of combat damage from a single General, they lose. This is an additional state based effect separate and specific to each General and each player. This damage cannot be healed or undone, even if the General is temporarily removed from play. Damage done by a General under someone else's control is still counted towards the 21 point limit for that General and defender.
  
• Generals may be played from the removed from game zone. Players must pay as an additional cost for each time after the first that the general is played in this way.(Example: Phelddagrif will cost the first time it is played from the removed from game zone, the second time, the third time and so on.)
  
• If a General would be put into a graveyard from anywhere, its owner may remove it from the game instead. This is a replacement effect. If that General's owner chooses to apply this effect, then the General never goes to the graveyard and will not trigger abilities on going to the graveyard.
  
• Players begin the game with 40 life.
  
• The first time a player takes a mulligan, he or she draws a new hand of seven cards rather than six cards. Subsequent hands decrease by one card as normal.

League/Open Play:

• League Play - League Play EDH rules are used for organised EDH tournaments. Each player picks a General for the duration of the league. Generals are picked on a first-come, first-served basis and no two players may pick the same general. In addition, a player may not use the General of another player in his or her deck. If a deck contains the General of another player, it should be swapped out before the game.
  
• Open Play - Open Play EDH rules are used for games between opponents who do not routinely play together. Under Open Play rules, Generals are not subject to the "legend rule". If a General and a non-General creature with the same name are in play, only the non-General is put into the graveyard by state-based effects. If two or more players have the same General and both creatures are in play, neither creature is put into the graveyard.

Credits:

• Sheldon Menery is the man responsible for bringing EDH into the public eye, an influential voice in the development of the format's rules and the Godfather of the Pro Tour EDH League.
  
• Duncan McGregor's knowledge and expertise have, since the early days, been crucial to the format's stable development and its maturing into its modern form.
  
• David Phifer and Adam Staley were the progenitors of the original EDH format up in Alaska.
  
• Cari Foreman carried the rules torch and hosted the rules website during EDH's formative days.
  
• Alex Kenny and Toby Elliott have helped maintain the flavour and stability of the EDH rules for several years.
  
• Lee Sharpe did the programming to bring EDH to MTGO.

What's the official ruling on Akroma, Angel of Fury? Can you pay 3 mana to play it face down every time it's removed play?

As came up in the "I'd like to build a Zombie EDH deck" thread:

Haakon, Stromgald Scourge - Should you be allowed to play him from the RFG zone? This would seem like a sensible adjustment to account for EDH's special rules.

Joseph Greenway wrote:

What's the official ruling on Akroma, Angel of Fury? Can you pay 3 mana to play it face down every time it's removed play?

You can play Akroma face-down. However, every time that you have played Akroma from the RFG zone face-up or face-down, it doesn't matter, it is going to cost you an additional .

Example: The first time you play her from the removed from game zone, you can either pay to play her face-down or to play her face up. The second time you play her from the removed from game zone, you can either pay to play her face-down or to play her face up. The third time you play her from the removed from game zone, you can either pay to play her face-down or to play her face up and so on.

KingAlanI wrote:

As came up in the "I'd like to build a Zombie EDH deck" thread:

Haakon, Stromgald Scourge - Should you be allowed to play him from the RFG zone? This would seem like a sensible adjustment to account for EDH's special rules.

The basic rule of Magic is that Card Text > Game Rules. However, if you really want to use Haakon as your general, you only have to get your friends to agree to a house rule. EDH is a format where the emphasis is on fun and casual play.

As an aside, if you think EDH is unfair to Haakon, spare a thought for Daughter of Autumn. She cannot even be used as a general because she herself contains mana symbols () not contained in her mana cost.

Portalis wrote:

this sounds like fun. ok couple of questions then

since the rule is " Generals are announced and removed from the game before shuffling at the start of the game."

so does this mean you need certain cards to get your general back from outside the game or when the game starts your general is put back into your deck???

Before players shuffle up and decide who goes first, you both search out your libraries (it is handy if you keep your General at the top/bottom card after each game for this) and put the Generals face-up in the removed from game zone. You are allowed to play your General from this zone, so it doesn't really matter. Think of it as having an extra card in your hand.

Note: EDH rules allow players to play Generals from the RFG zone (with increasing penalties, players can also play a General from their hand normally if it gets Boomeranged and Generals can be Reanimated from the graveyard. Therefore, the best way of dealing with an opponent's General is to try and use some card that shuffles it into its controller's library.

Portalis wrote:

also if i use Reaper King as my general then i can use any color i want right?

Correct. Cards in your deck may contain any of the five coloured mana symbols. However, if you are doing this just to get access to the most powerful cards from each of the five colours, you may be accused of breaking the spirit of the format.

Portalis wrote:

and if i use Karn, Silver Golem i can only use artifacts in the deck right no other spells?

That's almost the case. You are prohibited from using any card with one of the five coloured mana symbols on it. While this means that your deck will probably only consist of artifacts and lands, you could technically still use regular creatures like Kobolds of Kher Keep, Crimson Kobolds and Crookshank Kobolds.

I was thinking of adding that. We could always come up with out own list of staples here.