2001)

Peasant Format Rules! When I title this article “Peasant Format rules,” that phrase has three possible meanings (how fun, it’s a three-way pun!).

First, what I don’t mean: the phrase “Peasant Format rules” could mean that the format is dominant, the ruling format, or somehow in charge. I don’t mean to say that the format is the ruler. Besides, it would be an oxymoron to state that the Peasants are in charge since Peasants are, almost by definition, not the rulers of the place they live (unless you’re in a post-revolution communist country, I guess). Obviously, we’re not talking about Peasant players or the format being a ruler since Peasant format is really a fledgling format, although quickly growing and establishing a following.

Second, I could be saying “Peasant Format Rules!” in the way that Bill and Ted (Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure) would mean it: the format is awesome, fun and exciting. While its true that the Peasant Format is an awesome format, this article is not merely boosterism for the Format. (Although that’s always part of the purpose of my articles, aren’t they?)

Third, “Peasant Format Rules!” can be an exclamation of interesting or novel magic rules and rulings that almost no one except those who follow the Peasant Format would know or care about. Thus, this article will discuss rules and rulings that only us Peasants care about.

This article will be dividing into two parts:

A. Individual Card Rulings – this section will discuss past rulings on individual Peasant-Format-legal cards that only Peasant care about.

B. What Rarity Am I? - this section will discuss what rarity various cards would be in Peasant format.

* * *

A) Individual Card Rulings

Q: Can you both Desert and Maze of Ith a single creature?

When will you find a creature lost in a Desert Maze? When you use both Maze of Ith and Desert to target the same creature. You’re not likely to care about this ruling in any other format because Desert has always been banned from Extended tournaments and it’s not often used in Type I, where power cards rule the day. However, in Peasant Format, these two Common lands are powerful creature control elements that can go into any deck.

The Cards:

Maze of Ith
(The Dark, Common)
Tap: Target attacking creature becomes untapped. This creature neither deals nor receives damage as a result of combat.

Desert
(Arabian Nights, Common)
Tap to add 1 colorless mana to your mana pool OR do 1 damage to an attacking creature after it deals its damage.

The Rulings:

As errata, Maze of Ith should read ´´{Tap}: Untap target attacking creature. That creature neither deals nor receives combat damage this turn.´´ [Encyclopedia, Page 171] The creature is still considered to have attacked, and is even still part of the attack. It just deals and receives no damage. Don't infer something from the fact that it becomes untapped.

As errata, Desert should read ´´{Tap}: Add one colorless mana to your mana pool. {Tap}: Desert deals 1 damage to target attacking creature at end of combat.´´ [Encyclopedia, Page 124] Similarly, Desert will do damage even if Fog is played since Fog only prevents creatures from damaging each other. [Aahz 03/08/95]

The Discussion:

Many Players mistakenly assume that Maze of Ith removes a creature from combat because it neither deals nor receives combat damage, but the ruling makes clear that the creature is considered to have attacked and to be part of the attack. Since the Maze’d creature is still part of combat, Desert can deal one damage to it after combat. The original text of desert implied the creature would need to deal its damage because it read “do 1 damage to an attacking creature after it deals its damage.”

These two rulings combined means you should be able to target a Goblin Patrol with Maze to prevent it from dealing damage to you and then also target it with Desert to deal one damage to the Goblin Patrol to kill it. You won’t take any damage from the 1-toughness creature that attacked and you get to deal lethal damage to the creature.

Q: If you have two Library’s, can you draw two cards at the same time?

The only other format where Library of Alexandria is legal is Type I, but it’s restricted in that format, so you’re probably never going to see more than one Library Alexandria in play under one player’s control. Thus, why would anyone care about a ruling regarding activating two Library’s at once? Because Library of Alexandria is an Arabian Nights Uncommon, it’s legal as an Uncommon in Peasant format. Thus you can play four Library of Alexandria if you’re willing to use up four of the five slots in Peasant Format’s 5-total-Uncommons-in-your-deck rule. Any common or uncommon that is restricted in Type I is worth trying to abuse in Peasant Format and the massive card-drawing possible with Library of Alexandria is definitely at the top of the “try to abuse me” list.

The Ruling:

You may tap multiples of these in the same instant because the requirement for 7 cards is checked only at the time of tapping and not at the time of drawing. Only targeted effects are checked at both declaration and resolution. [Aahz 06/22/94]

The Discussion:

I don’t know if this ruling has to be revised under the new “stack” system, but it seems still valid since it simply says that the 7 cards requirement is checked only at the time of tapping.

You might be saying to yourself: Gee, if you have seven cards in hand and you’re about to draw an eighth, why are you so greedy that you care if you can draw a ninth (or tenth) card too? Don’t you just have to play out those cards or discard at the end of the turn down to seven anyway?

Well, this ruling actually is relevant to a Peasant Format deck I was testing which used multiple Library of Alexandria’s to fill up your hand, then gained a ton of life with Scent of Jasmine. If you can draw into nine or ten white cards at once, you can gain more life from the Scent of Jasmine.

Mishra’s Factory Rulings

Most people probably know by now that Mishra’s Factory can become a 3/3 blocker under 7th Edition rules by blocking, then taping to target itself for +1/+1. However, how many people can tell you whether tokens affecting a creature’s power/toughness put on the Assembly Worker remain after it reverts to being a land card?

The Card:

Text(4th+errata): {Tap}: Add one colorless mana to your mana pool. ; {1}: Until end of turn, this land is a 2/2 artifact creature named Assembly Worker. (This creature still counts as a land.) ; {Tap}: Target Assembly Worker gets +1/+1 until end of turn. [Oracle 07/01/98]

The Ruling:

Any counters on the Assembly Worker remain even if the counters stop being meaningful when it de-animates. See Rule K.5.8. (Serrated Arrows counters will stay on it.)

The Discussion:

Not many others will care about whether counters remain on Mishra’s Factory, but Peasants will care because Serrated Arrows (Common) is one of the most powerful creature control cards in the format.

B) What Rarity Am I?

The Peasant Format Rarity Rule

Although not on the same level as “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?,” the new game in town is asking “What Rarity Am I?” about all those cards out of old sets like Antiquities and Arabian Knights that have subsequently been reprinted as Rares and Uncommons.

According to Peasant Format originator Rob Baronowski, the rule for the rarity of a card is that “if a card has been Common in any expansion, it counts as a common; if a card has never been Common and has been Uncommon in any expansion, it’s Uncommon.”

There are a number of extremely powerful Common and Uncommon cards that were not widely used in the first Peasant Format tournament at Gen Con. This is largely because people were unsure beforehand what would count as Common or Uncommon. However, now that we have this definition, we can “discover” the most powerful tools of the format.

As a cautionary note, I want to point out that my assessments of the rarity of the cards are based on the databases sources I have referenced (Apprentice, Magic Suitcase, and Crystalkeep). As you can see in the listings below, although you can usually tell if a card was once Common or Uncommon using Apprentice, Apprentice does not display more subtle nuances, such as the C# and U# designations in Antiquities and Arabian Knights, for example. By contrast, Magic Suitcase is helpful in that it lists older cards as “U3” or “C2” to give more precise rarity demarcations for the older cards. My understanding is that the number indicates how many of those cards were printed on each sheet of cards, so the lower the number, the more rare the card is. Thus, although some sets technically do not have “rares,” some people consider cards that are “U1” as essentially a Rare card and C1’s as essentially Uncommon.

The debate has been raging on the Peasant Format Listserve and naturally there are those who want to call U1’s Uncommon (more inclusive camp), while others prefer that they be considered Rares (more restrictive camp). Given the way the Peasant Format Rarity Rule was stated above, it seems to me that given Rob’s Rarity Rule above, the spirit of Peasant Format is to be as inclusive as possible with regard to what counts as Common or Uncommon. Marc Anderson also has asserted that “Any card on the common sheet (even C1) is a common and any card on the uncommon sheet (even Juzam Djinn) is uncommon.”

Therefore, I am treating U1’s and Uncommon and C1’s as Commons for the purposes of this article. I am also treating as Common any card that had one picture/art be printed as a Common.

I admit these categorizations might be controversial, but I am doing it partly to incite some discussion (and perhaps confirmation) on exactly what we will consider to be common and uncommon in the format. I want to emphasize that I do not claim that everyone (including relevant authorities such as Wizards of the Coast or Rob Baronowski, Peasant Format Founder) will agree with my categorizations. Rather, the Peasant Format Community will need to ultimately decide how to resolve the rarity of these cards.

Cards You Didn’t Know Are Common/Uncommon

Mishra’s Factory (Antiquities, 4th Edition)
Apprentice: AQ, 4E Uncommon
Magic Suitcase: AQ Common(Art #1), AQ Uncommon (# 2, 3 and 4), 4E Uncommon
Crystalkeep.com: C1. [http://crystalkeep.com/magic/lists/files/list-aq.txt]
Discussion: According to Magic Suitcase and Crystalkeep.com, the Mishra’s Factory with art depicting spring time was C1 in Antiquities, so this card may be considered common. Mishra’s Factory both helps and hurts the Prospects for mono-blue control by giving it a land that doubles as a blocker/finisher, but it also provides opponents with an uncounterable threat.
Peasant Format Rarity: Common!

Strip Mine (Antiquities, 4th Edition )
Apprentice: AQ, 4E Uncommon
Magic Suitcase: AQ Common(Art #3), AQ Uncommon (#1, 2 and 4), 4E Uncommon
Crystalkeep.com: C1. [http://crystalkeep.com/magic/lists/files/list-aq.txt]
Discussion: Like Mishra’s Factory, the Magic Suitcase and Crystalkeep.com lists one of the pictures/art for this card, the one with “no horizon,” as a common. This is another Type I-restricted land card that you can play four copies in Peasant Format. This card may also be the number one argument for changing the “land mulligan” rule to the modern “paris mulligan” rule.
Peasant Format Rarity: Common!

[Editor’s note: I HATE WHEN EDITORS PUT COMMENTS IN OTHER PEOPLE’S ARTICLES! Having said that, I feel I need to make a statement that’s loud and clear. I AM WRONG. I have been fighting Johnny in email about the common status of Strip Mine and Mishra’s Factory. I followed his leads, and he was right! I even went so far as to dig out my old dusty “Magic: the Official Encyclopedia” that covered all of the cards from Alpha through Alliances. There it was – one copy of each card was on the common sheet. Therefore, the cards are common, Johnny was right, and I am wrong. Sometimes eating crow isn’t so bad. After a while – it tastes like chicken.]

Maze of Ith (The Dark)
Apprentice: Common
Magic Suitcase: C1
Crystalkeep: C1 [Source: http://crystalkeep.com/magic/lists/files/list-aq.pdf]
Discussion: The databases agree this is a common-1. Although restricted in Type I and banned in all other formats, as a common, you can play four Maze of Ith’s without hurting your Uncommon slot. It will help make control decks viable in Peasant Format.
Peasant Format Rarity: Common!

Library of Alexandria (Arabian Nights)
Apprentice: AN Uncommon
Magic Suitcase: AN U3
Crystalkeep.com: U3
Discussion: As an Uncommon, the Library will impact your 5-Uncommon limit, but it’s well worth the slot. When is uncounterable, re-usable card drawing not a good thing? See the serious abuse built into my Green deck using Mulch (below).
Peasant Format Rarity: Uncommon!

City of Brass (Arabian Nights, Chronicles, 5th, 6th, 7th Edition)
Apprentice: AN, CH-Uncommon, 5th, 6th, 7th Ed-Rare
Magic Suitcase: AN-Uncommon
Crystalkeep.com: AN U3
Discussion: As an Uncommon in Arabian Nights, City of Brass counts as an Uncommon. Given that almost all successful decks at the first Peasant Format Tournament were mono-colored, the realization that City of Brass is Uncommon may allow for the growth of decks with two-color or multi-color decks, especially with common support cards like Barbed Sextent, Lay of the Land, and Harrow.
Peasant Format Rarity: Uncommon!

Land Tax (Legends, 4th Edition)
Apprentice: Legends-Uncommon, 4th Ed-Rare
Magic Suitcase: [Unlisted]
Crystalkeep.com: U1
Discussion: Because Land Tax was Uncommon in Legends, it counts as Uncommon. Land Tax is restricted in Type I, but not in Peasant Format. A white-based multi-color deck may be viable if it’s built around Land Tax since it fetchs you “up to three basic land” during your upkeep if you have less land that your opponent. Note that this card combos with Library of Alexandria by bringing your hand back up to seven cards so you can activate the Library.
Peasant Format Rarity: Uncommon!

Conclusion

The rules I’ve discussed may not matter to those uninterested in the Peasant Revolution. However, learning the rules that will matter in Peasant Format will help make for smooth tournaments with minimal rules disputes and resolving the uncertain rules, such as those regarding the “rarity” of certain cards, will probably help define the character of this exciting new format. With such a bright future ahead, perhaps someday, Peasant Format will “Rule” by becoming one of the most dominant and prevalent formats for casual Magic players everywhere.

BONUS TRACK: Peasant Format Control Decklists

One of the arguments that I have forwarded to support the idea of being inclusive of these cards is that Maze of Ith will make control strategies more viable (although I admit Strip Mine will strengthen Beatdown decks). In any case, here are several control decks which take advantage of the use of multiple useful lands.

As you may know, Draw-go Control decks traditionally want to run land-heavy to ensure that it does not miss a land drop. Thus, it does not mine having a lot of lands in the deck, especially when the land can serve another purpose besides providing mana.

As you will see, these control decks center around certain staple control elements: Serrated Arrows, Desert, Maze of Ith, and Mishra’s Factory as creature control. Fountain of Youth provides reuseable life gain to avoid being burned out. This is because I started building these decks in response to Marc Anderson’s “Fog Machine” Deck, a green Millstone deck that used Fountain of Youth and lots of Fog effects.

U-G Fountain of Accumulated Arrows

4:Opt
4:Accumulated Knowledge
4:Impulse
4:Counterspell
4:Prohibit
2:Reclaim
2:Crop Rotation
4:Serrated Arrows
3:Fountain of Youth
1:Millstone (UNC)
1:Feldon's Cane
14:Island
6:Forest
4:Desert
2:Maze of Ith
1:Mishra's Factory

This is one of my early decks which used the best of Blue card drawing and Counterspells as well as Green’s broken land and graveyard tutors. I call 4 Accumulated Knowledge, 4 Impulse, 4 Opt the Blue Triumvirate of card drawing because you Opt into enough land to cast Impulse, then use Impulse to find your first two Accumulated Knowledges which net you increasing card advantage. You can use reclaim to re-use Impulse to find the next Accumulated Knowledge. Then, when you have three or four AK’s in the graveyard, you can reclaim an Accumulated Knowledge to draw another handful of cards. Notice it only has one uncommon because I built it when I was still unsure about the rarity of Maze of Ith and Mishra’s Factory and was treating them as Uncommons.

Mono-U Fountain of Accumulated Arrows

4:Mishra's Factory
3:Maze of Ith
4:Desert
16:Island
4:Serrated Arrows
3:Fountain of Youth
4:Accumulated Knowledge
4:Impulse
4:Opt
1:Feldon's Cane
4:Seal of Removal
4:Counterspell
4:Prohibit
1:Millstone

This deck makes greater use of the Common lands and sacrifices the green cards for the increased consistency of Mono-color. It’s more focused on getting the Opt/Impulse/AK card drawing engine to run smoothly.

Mono-G Cache of Arrows

4:Library of Alexandria (UNC)
4:Maze of Ith
4:Strip Mine
4:Mishra's Factory
4:Desert
12:Forest

4:Crop Rotation
3:Elven Cache
4:Reclaim
4:Phyrexian War Beast
4:Serrated Arrows
4:Fountain of Youth
4:Mulch
1:Feldon's Cane
1:Millstone (UNC)

After taking stock of the full panoply of powerful Common Lands, I realized that Mulch is a power card if you can fill your deck with powerful lands. In addition to the lands and Serrated Arrows, the Phyrexian War Beast can serve as a blocker or go into beatdown mode after their creatures have been shot down by Arrows. Also, since power-lands are the focus of this deck, running 4 Library of Alexandria combos well with Mulch in two ways: 1) Mulch can be used to find the Library and 2) Mulch helps to keep your hand full so that you can fulfill the 7-card triggering condition of the Library.

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