The Rules of Engagement for ONE Limited MTG

Phyrexia: All Will Be One has been one of the most poorly received formats in its first week of existence by the MTG Limited community that I can remember since starting Lords of Limited. Is the format really that bad? I think that rather than the format being bad, it is just grossly misunderstood. I’d argue that the format is good, and if you’re not willing to accept that premise, then I’d argue that ONE draft is at least totally fine. So why is it getting a bad reputation right off the bat? In my opinion, I believe people are drafting the format without either understanding or following some of its fundamental rules of engagement.

If you’re not familiar with rules of engagement, they are a list of things that most typical decks need to try to do in order to win in a given format. For example, drafting removal was very important in some formats such as The Brothers’ War, while it was significantly less important in a format like Neon Dynasty, which was all about accruing as many built in two-for-ones as you could. Each format has its own quirks, and some formats have very strict rules while others have mere suggestions. 

We’ve all had that teacher or professor who has clear expectations for how to behave in their classroom and enforces their rules without hesitation. On the other hand, we’ve also all had that teacher whose classroom is generally chaotic and students can mostly do whatever they want, whenever they want. Unfortunately for free spirits out there everywhere, Phyrexia: All Will Be One has some Professor Umbridge levels of rules enforcement. If you don’t follow the rules of ONE during the draft, you’ll be losing before you even shuffle up, and then there are more rules to follow once you start to play the games.

In no particular order, here are the things you need to during the draft in order to have a chance of winning once you start to play the games: