New Format Alert: Restriction Rainbow

Simple Disclaimer About EDH's Newest and Trendiest way to Battle:

If you don't like LeVar Burton telling you what you can and can't do, I'm sorry to say this ain't the format for you, friend-o.

The Restriction Rainbow is another subset of EDH designed by both Grandpa Growth and yours truly with the pure intention of challenging the pure Commander players at heart by creating an environment stripped of disruption most people dislike, thereby returning to the very roots of Magic. Pun Definitely Intended.

LeVar from Roots. Yeah, pun's got layers.

The name Restriction Rainbow is the genius that is Grandpa Growth. Credit is all his.


The inspiration however, comes from an article by Adam Styborski on DailyMTG a while ago about a format people were playing called "StrangleCage," in which a normal EDH game was played with the cards Stranglehold and Grafdigger's Cage sitting in an unremovable zone on the board state.


GG and I, being the EDH extremists we are, decided to take this concept to the next level. I thought it would be cool to expand this to each color, including our colorless artifact friends.



So here are the cards we picked.

Stranglehold should come as no surprise, considering that it was in the original carnation Adam Styborski created.

It is important to note that GG and I didn't just surrender the position immediately to Stranglehold. Some other cards were considered for this position, and after we'd put the other cards into position, we returned to this card as the perfect slot to fit between the mechanics we were trying to restrict.

This is the perfect first card to talk about because you can already see the level of encroachment we are going for.

By itself, Stranglehold takes away many of the annoying things people like to do in EDH- Tutor, Ramp, and Take Extra Turns.

Leyline of the Void was pretty much an auto include. We needed to hate graveyards out so that the game would be played in the lone singleton way it was intended.

One thing to note is that both of these cards target opponents.

It's important to know that under Styborski's rules modifications in the original article, each opponent is considered to have copies of the same enchantments in their own unremovable zone, establishing an even effect on each player.

Since we decided to add Leyline of the Void, this also means Grafdigger's is basically useless. So we added an artifact that would help improve gameplay.

One of the biggest problems we foresaw in game design was that we might have problems in topdeck mode. Since GG and I both hate having no cards in hand, we thought this handy card was the perfect balance of power for the Rainbow. Since we all have copies of it, we can't squander each other's resources by using it in response or whatever.

Also, Fool's Tome is better than say a Howling Mine, or Temple Bell in the card draw department. Personally, I'm particularly most excited about this card in the Restriction, because we could've gone with something like Amulet of Vigor or gone further into the hate theme with Damping Engine, but once we had a good idea of what the other cards might be, this one fell right into place. Kudos to GG for his all-knowing card knowledge.

From what I recall, Leyline of the Lifeforce got the invite to the party over all the other green enchantments, mostly by default.

There was no other enchantment that GG and I thought really stuck out as something that could be both inhibiting and not completely absurd on power level.

Greater Good, Rites of Flourishing, Concordant Crossroads, Mirri's Guile, and other Sylvan-Library-Level cards felt like too much.


This Leyline also provided an interesting dynamic to the game, requiring board sweeps and removal to be much more valuable and frequent, considering that you can only use those cards once due to Leyline of the Void.

Which leads us to how Leyline of Singularity got the nod. Aside from having very lackluster blue enchantments to pick from, and our desire to shut down token Rhys the Redeemed decks, this card is also pretty sweet for its interactions with the Green Leyline.

From an economic standpoint, there's added incentive to play more creatures than ever before, because if they don't turn sideways and attack, they become uncounterable removal if they happen to be something you know your opponent plays.

This is one of the ways that effectively circumvents the shroud/hexproof problem too.

So blue Leyline adds strategy and takes away a big, dumb busted strategy that's become a huge part of EDH. 

Which leads us to our last enchantment. Of all the white enchantments, GG and I picked perhaps the one that deals with one of the most taboo parts of EDH. Land Destruction.

We did it cause it seemed pretty crucial in a format where you physically have to make land drops, and you have no way to search and catch up or slow down.

There are still some creative ways around it, with sacrifice effects, and Control Magic effects to remove effectiveness- but that's exactly what we want. Creativity and many avenues of interaction.

Terra Eternal, admittedly is one of our least favorite, but it worked, and so, it's here.

Hold On! We Aren't Done Yet!

Boromir's right. There's some other important tidbits.

The first is that there is NO BANLIST. YET. Obviously, this is because certain cards will naturally be less powerful and ineffective. Also, this is a new format, so there will be ways to break it wide open. The only thing that really comes to my mind though is Maelstrom Wanderer, as far as banning is concerned.

As a result, going into battle with just a typical EDH deck can be pretty dangerous, cause it's bound to have cards that either break these Rainbow rules, or do redundant things that the Rainbow already does.

You have to commit to playing, and so does your playgroup. Decks must be built or rebuilt depending on how you want to handle it.

Some Generals will also be better than others. I mentioned Rhys being pretty poor, but so are other over used generals like Glissa, The Traitor, while Maelstrom Wanderer will probably still be pretty bananas.

Stay tuned to TGZ. Though I can't create a printout of the cards due to copyright, I will be constructing a Restriction Rainbow you can bring to the kitchen table nearest you.

Look for it soon.


So there's the Restriction Rainbow, in all its shiny new glory. Bet you can't break it.

Pass Turn.

-UL