Tiny Leaders is the name for an exciting new variant format for Magic: the Gathering with a focus on a competitive versus play. The following information should help you get started into the format and ensure that there is a consistent guideline amongst groups worldwide so that a player can know what to expect.
Format Philosophy
Tiny Leaders came forth from a deck building challenge. Can a smaller, tiny version, of commander exist and would it be different? The answer was an astounding yes. The aggressive curve combined with an indirect power cap created something familiar but so different. The decision was made shortly after to start a competitive deckbuilding challenge centered on this idea.
Deck Construction
1) Players must choose a Legendary Creature with a converted mana cost of three(3) or less to be their Leader, or a pair of "Partner" Legendary Creatures who, combined, have no more than three (3) colours in their colour identity.
2) A Leader’s colour identity determines what colours are available for inclusion within a deck. Only colourless cards and cards that share the Leaders colour identity may be included within a Tiny Leader’s deck.
3) A Tiny Leaders deck is fifty(50) cards including the Leader(s).
4) This is a highlander format. That means that with the exception of basic lands, no two(2) cards may have the same English name.
5) Tiny Leaders is played with the Vintage legal cards excluding those on the Tiny Leaders Banned List. Cards are legal as of their printed release date.
6) Being a Tiny Leader is a property of the card and as such may not be copied.
7) Tiny Leaders uses a variant of the Vancouver Mulligan: Players start with an opening hand of eight (8) minus the number of cards in their Command Zone (usually one). If you do not like your opening hand you may shuffle it back into your deck and draw one card fewer. This process can be repeated in turn order until no more mulligans are taken. After players have decided to keep their starting hand, any player whose current hand size is fewer than their starting hand size may scry 1 in first player-second player order.
8) While a Leader is in the Command zone it may be cast using the normal timing restrictions for a creature. It costs an additional {2} to cast for every time a Leader was previously cast from the Command zone.
If a Leader would be put into a graveyard or exile from anywhere, its controller may choose to put it into the Command zone. This is a replacement effect.
9) Players begin the game with 25 life.
10) There is a sideboard of 10 cards allowed. Cards that reference cards from outside the game may only find cards within your sideboard.
11) A game of Tiny Leaders is won when a player is reduced to zero(0) life, is forced to draw a card and is unable to, or receives ten(10) poison counters.
Authors: Mike Dansereau, Steven Hamonic
