XMage tournaments bring structure to multiplayer competition, automating pairings, round advancement, and scoring so you can focus on playing. Unlike casual tables that start as soon as seats are filled, a tournament waits for all participants to register before generating the first-round pairings. All bracket logic — single-elimination knockout rounds or Swiss points-based pairings — is handled server-side with no manual bookkeeping required.Documentation Index
Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/magefree/mage/llms.txt
Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
Tournaments support 2 to 16 players. Booster Draft tournaments specifically require 4 to 16 players to generate valid booster rotations. The server will not start a draft with fewer than 4 participants.
Tournaments vs. Casual Tables
| Feature | Casual Table | Tournament |
|---|---|---|
| Starts when | All seats filled | Host clicks Start (after min. players join) |
| Pairings | Manual (pick opponent) | Automatic (Elimination or Swiss) |
| Round tracking | None | Server-managed rounds |
| Sideboarding between rounds | No | Yes (timed sideboard phase) |
| Draft / Sealed pool generation | No | Yes |
| Player count | 2–10 (game type dependent) | 2–16 |
Supported Tournament Types
All tournament types below are registered in the server’sconfig.xml and are available from the New Tournament dialog.
Constructed
| Tournament Type | Pairings Format |
|---|---|
| Constructed Elimination | Single-elimination brackets; one loss ends your tournament |
| Constructed Swiss | Swiss-system rounds; all players play every round, ranked by points |
Booster Draft
Players receive booster packs, draft cards in a rotating pick order, then build 40-card decks. A draft bot fills empty seats automatically.| Tournament Type | Pairings | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Booster Draft Elimination | Elimination | Standard draft from a chosen set |
| Booster Draft Elimination (Cube) | Elimination | Draft from a selected cube list |
| Booster Draft Elimination (Random) | Elimination | Random set selection for each booster |
| Booster Draft Elimination (Reshuffled) | Elimination | All drafted cards are reshuffled and re-dealt |
| Booster Draft Elimination (Rich Man) | Elimination | Each player keeps the cards they don’t pick (inverse draft) |
| Booster Draft Elimination (Rich Man Cube) | Elimination | Rich Man variant using a cube |
| Booster Draft Swiss | Swiss | Standard draft, Swiss pairings |
| Booster Draft Swiss (Cube) | Swiss | Cube draft, Swiss pairings |
| Booster Draft Swiss (Random) | Swiss | Random boosters, Swiss pairings |
| Booster Draft Swiss (Reshuffled) | Swiss | Reshuffled draft, Swiss pairings |
| Booster Draft Swiss (Rich Man) | Swiss | Rich Man draft, Swiss pairings |
| Booster Draft Swiss (Rich Man Cube) | Swiss | Rich Man Cube draft, Swiss pairings |
Sealed
Players receive a fixed set of boosters and have a timed period to build a 40-card deck from the pool.| Tournament Type | Pairings | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sealed Elimination | Elimination | Standard sealed from a chosen set |
| Sealed Elimination (Cube) | Elimination | Sealed pool generated from a cube |
| Sealed Swiss | Swiss | Standard sealed, Swiss pairings |
| Sealed Swiss (Cube) | Swiss | Cube sealed, Swiss pairings |
Jumpstart
Players select Jumpstart packets (themed 20-card half-decks) and combine two to form a 40-card deck.| Tournament Type | Pairings | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Jumpstart Elimination | Elimination | Standard Jumpstart packet selection |
| Jumpstart Swiss | Swiss | Standard Jumpstart, Swiss pairings |
| Jumpstart Elimination (Custom) | Elimination | Use custom Jumpstart packets |
Available Draft Cubes
When creating a Cube Draft or Cube Sealed tournament, you choose a cube from the registered list. XMage ships with the following cubes:Official MTGO Cubes
| Cube Name | Description |
|---|---|
| MTGO Legacy Cube | The current MTGO Legacy Cube list |
| MTGO Vintage Cube | The current MTGO Vintage Cube list |
| MTGO Legendary Cube | The MTGO Legendary Cube |
| MTGO Legendary Cube April 2016 | April 2016 snapshot of the Legendary Cube |
| MTGO Modern Cube 2017 | The 2017 MTGO Modern Cube |
| MTGO Khans Expanded Cube | Khans of Tarkir expanded format cube |
| MTGO Cube March 2014 | March 2014 MTGO Cube snapshot |
| MTGA Cube 2020 April | MTG Arena April 2020 Cube |
Community Cubes
| Cube Name |
|---|
| SCG Con Cube 2018 December |
| The Peasant’s Toolbox |
| www.MTGCube.com |
| The Pauper Cube |
| Ben’s Cube |
| Cube Tutor 360 Pauper |
| Cube Tutor 720 |
| Eric Klug’s Pro Tour Cube |
| Guillaume Matignon’s Jenny’s/Johnny’s Cube |
| Jim Davis’s Cube |
| Joseph Vasoli’s Peasant Cube |
| Sam Black’s No Search Cube |
| Timothee Simonot’s Twisted Color Pie Cube |
| Mono Blue Cube |
Custom Cube
| Cube Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Cube From Deck | Load any .dck file as the cube pool. Design your own cube in the deck editor and use it directly in a tournament. |
Creating a Booster Draft Tournament
Open New Tournament
In the main lobby, click the New Tournament button (or find it under the Games menu). The tournament creation dialog opens.
Choose a tournament type
Under Tournament Type, select Booster Draft Swiss (for a relaxed session where everyone plays every round) or Booster Draft Elimination (for a knockout bracket).
Select the set or cube
Pick the Magic set to draft from the Set dropdown, or choose a cube from the Draft Cube dropdown if you selected a Cube variant. For a standard draft, pick a recently released set.
Configure player count and options
Set the Number of Players (4–16 for draft). Check Allow Spectators if you want others to watch. Set the number of Booster Packs per player (default: 3).
Set the deck type validator
Choose Limited as the deck type so the server validates the 40-card minimum after the draft phase.
Confirm and wait for players
Click OK to publish the tournament to the lobby. Other players see it in the Tournaments tab and can click Join. Draft bots fill any empty seats when the tournament starts.
Draft picks
Once the host clicks Start, each player receives a booster pack. Pick one card, then pass the pack to the next player (left for packs 1 and 3, right for pack 2). Repeat until all packs are exhausted.
Build your deck
The deck editor opens automatically with your drafted card pool. Build a minimum 40-card deck and click Submit Deck before the timer expires.
Joining an Existing Tournament
- Open the Tournaments tab in the main lobby.
- Find the tournament you want to enter — the listing shows the type, format, current player count, and status.
- Click Join (only available while the tournament is in the Waiting state — before the host starts it).
- If a deck is required before the tournament begins (Constructed), the deck editor opens so you can submit one.
The Draft Flow in Detail
Sideboarding Between Rounds
After each match in a tournament (except the last game of a series), a sideboard phase timer starts. Both players may swap cards between their main deck and sideboard without changing the deck size. The timer is enforced server-side; when it expires, the next game begins with whatever configuration each player has submitted.AI Opponents in Tournaments
Draft bots (Computer - draftbot) can fill empty seats in any draft tournament. They make picks using a built-in heuristic but do not play the games themselves — if a human player has no opponent, they receive a bye. The server configuration allows up to 15 AI opponents in regular games (maxAiOpponents=15), while draft bots are unlimited.