What happens when you have zero cards in MTG?

When a player has zero cards in their library and is required to draw a card, they lose the game. This is a fundamental rule in Magic: The Gathering (MTG), and it’s essential for players to understand the consequences of depleting their library to avoid losing the game unnecessarily.

Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions

1. What happens if you run out of cards in your library? If a player is required to draw more cards than are left in their library, they draw the remaining cards, and then lose the game the next time a player would receive priority.
2. Can you have no cards in your hand in MTG? Yes, it’s possible to have no cards in your hand, and in this case, at the beginning of each player’s upkeep, if that player has no cards in hand, they draw a card and lose 1 life.
3. What happens when your deck runs out of cards in MTG? When your deck runs out of cards, every attempt to draw another card will deal you 1 cumulative damage.

Game Rules

4. What is the rule 0 deck in Magic The Gathering? Essentially, Rule 0 decks are decks that break the normal rules of the game and require permission from the table to allow them.
5. What is the 75% rule in MTG? A 75% EDH deck is a deck that is built optimally, but purposely avoids being built for a 100% flawless game.
6. Should you always have 7 cards in MTG? Each player has a maximum hand size, which is normally seven cards, and a player may have any number of cards in their hand, but as part of their cleanup step, the player must discard excess cards down to the maximum hand size.

Card Ownership and Legality

7. Can MTG cards be fake? Yes, counterfeit Magic cards exist, and players sometimes call them proxies, which are used as stand-ins for the cards they already have but don’t want to wear out.
8. Is it illegal to print your own Magic cards? As long as you don’t play them in a sanctioned event, or try to sell them, nobody will care, but it’s essential to ask your friends if they allow you to print this deck out.

Deck Building

9. Is it bad to go over 60 cards MTG? While there’s no rule that restricts any deck to 60 cards, it’s generally optimal to run a 60-card deck for better chances of drawing what you need when you need it.
10. Is 80 cards too much for MTG? Having too many cards in your deck can lead to less consistency and less cool interactions from players’ decks.
11. How many Magic cards is too many? There is no maximum number of cards you can have, as long as you can randomize your deck in a reasonable amount of time.

Game Consequences

12. Do you lose if you have no cards in your library? You will only lose when you have to draw a card from an empty library, and just having an empty library doesn’t cause you to lose the game.
13. What happens if you deck out in Commander? Decking-Out is a slang term meaning to lose the game from having to draw from an empty library.
14. What happens if you mill with no cards in library? Remember, you don’t lose the game from having no cards left in your library — you lose the game if you go to draw a card and can’t.

Rules and Exceptions

15. What is Rule 119.8 MTG? Rule 119.8 states that if an effect says that a player can’t lose life, that player can’t make an exchange such that the player’s life total would become lower; in that case, the exchange won’t happen.