r/mtg: rules, karma requirements and posting culture
The general Magic: The Gathering room. Lightly moderated, heavy on Commander, rules questions and new players, with a ban on AI art and a gate for new accounts.
Magic: The Gathering · Open on Reddit
- Members
- 458k
- Created
- 2008
- New posts a day
- 145.2
- Comments on a typical post
- 10
- New posts removed
- 9%
The short answer
r/mtg removes posts from accounts with negative karma and from accounts that fall under minimums it does not publish: total karma, comment karma inside the subreddit, account age and Reddit's contributor score. Comments are open to everyone and are the stated way to qualify. Past that gate it is permissive: about 91% of posts stay up, every post gets a flair, and almost anything related to Magic is allowed. Expect a busy room of about 145 posts a day where beginners are answered patiently.
Who posts here
The moderators describe the subreddit as an entry point and AutoModerator greets new players with a getting started guide. Someone asking which format to start with, or whether a card shop is friendly to newcomers, gets real answers. Rules questions get precise replies that cite the rulebook, so the people answering know the game well, but nothing is pitched above a newcomer.
- New and returning players working out formats, first decks and what things cost.
- Commander players sharing decklists and asking what to cut or upgrade.
- Players checking how two cards interact before it comes up at the table.
- Collectors asking about prices, foils, print quality and where to find sealed product.
- Hobbyists showing custom cards, alters, memes and the odd piece of content they made.
Karma and account requirements
What it takes to get a post through in r/mtg.
| Karma | Negative total karma gets a post removed. There are also minimums for total karma and for comment karma earned in r/mtg. The numbers are not published.Mods' wording: “if your total karma is negative your post (but not comments) will be removed” |
|---|---|
| Account age | A few days at least. The exact figure is not published.Mods' wording: “you need to wait at least a few days from your account's creation” |
| Post flair | Every recent post carries one. AutoModerator will change it for you if your title looks like a Commander post or a rules question.Mods' wording: “Your post Flair was changed to” |
| AI content | Not allowed, including work that is heavily AI assisted. Official card art is exempt.Mods' wording: “AI-generated illustrations or content is not allowed on this subreddit.” |
| Low effort posts | Is this card real, and look what I pulled, are held for manual approval and pointed to dedicated subreddits.Mods' wording: “posts about the authenticity of a card are considered Low Effort” |
| Reports | A bot removes posts that collect enough user reports, then a moderator reviews the removal.Mods' wording: “The bot will remove posts with a number of reports.” |
What AutoModerator says
The moderators' bot leaves these messages on posts. They are the closest thing to an official statement of the thresholds.
Don't worry! Your post has not been deleted! If you are a *new player* and you are looking for advice on how to get into the game please read the linked article! If you're looking for help with your card's authenticity check out r/RealOrNotTCG (card verification, edition info, condition check, scams, tampering, fakes, etc)! If you suspect your card is a misprint go check out r/mtgmisprints for more info! If you're looking for pricing help check out Mana Pool, Card Kingdom, CardTrader and TCGplayer for North American markets and Cardmarket for European markets. Ebay and Amazon are not reliable sources for pricing info. If you're looking for something else you may disregard this message!
Don't worry, your post has not been deleted! You're more than welcome to post your Commander (EDH) related content here! Here are some additional resources that may interest you: - The main Commander-focused subreddit: r/EDH. It's *the* hotspot when it comes to Commander! - Some other subreddits that may be of interest to you: r/CompetitiveEDH (bracket 5 *only*), r/BudgetBrews, r/PauperEDH, r/jankEDH - Other sites: EDHREC (aggregate card recommendation and analysis site), CommanderSpellbook (a database of known combos) - Various Discord servers: the EDH Discord proper, the Competitive EDH Discord, the Commander Staple Discord (former Rules Committee), the Commander Library Discord which provides links to other Discords (regional, Commander-specific, etc... servers) - For free-to-play community Discords we recommend the Tolarian Community College Discord
Don't worry! Your post has not been deleted! Here are some resources for faster replies to Rules Questions! Often the answer to your question is found under the "Rulings" section. On Scryfall it's found at the bottom of the card's page. Scroll down! Card search and rulings: - Scryfall - The user friendly card search (rulings and legality) - Gatherer - The official card search (rulings and legality) Card interactions and rules help: - r/mtgrules - Real-time rules chat - IRC based chat at Libera.Chat network
Heads up! Your post Flair was changed to "Commander / EDH" based on some keywords found in the title. If this was not actually a post about Commander / EDH you can change the flair back by clicking on the three dots in the top right corner and click "Change post flair" to (re-)assign another flair that describes your post better.
Don't worry, your post has not been deleted! Did you know there are more subreddits dedicated to Magic: the Gathering related humour? Try visiting r/MTGmemes, r/magicthecirclejerking or r/edhcirclejerk for more!
What you can post
| Post type | Subreddit setting | Share of recent posts |
|---|---|---|
| Text | Allowed | 45% |
| Link | Allowed | 10% |
| Image | Allowed | 42% |
| Video | Allowed | 3% |
| Poll | Allowed | 0% |
Post flairs in use
- I Have a Question / I need Help 30%
- Discussion 26%
- Commander / EDH 17%
- Rules Question 11%
- Meme 5%
- Custom Card / Alter 5%
- Apparel / Products 3%
- Content Creator 3%
- Looooong Text Post <1%
- MOD POST <1%
What happens to a new post
Where the most recent posts ended up. Sample size: 400.
- Stayed up91%
- Removed by Reddit's filters1%
- Held by AutoModerator6%
- Removed by moderators2%
- Deleted by the author<1%
Reddit counts a removal by the subreddit's own AutoModerator rules as a moderator removal, so that share is not all human. Held by AutoModerator means the post is waiting in the mod queue.
What happened when we posted here
We have posted here ourselves. This is how our own posts and comments fared.
- Stayed up
- 100%
- Removed by Reddit's filters
- 0%
- Removed by moderators
- 0%
- Period
- June 2026 to July 2026
The rules, in the mods' words
- 1
We hope you keep it cool
Keep the sub open and welcoming to all members!
- 2
No AI-generated content
AI-generated illustrations or content is not allowed on this subreddit. Heavily AI-assisted content will also be subject to removal. Official artwork by WotC is exempt from this rule.
- 3
Don't hate
People from all backgrounds should feel welcomed - please keep hate speech away!
- 4
No offtopic
Your post must be at least tangentially related to Magic: the Gathering.
These are the rules as archived in January 2025. Rules change. Check the sidebar before you post.
The culture
r/mtg is the catch-all Magic subreddit. Its own guidelines say it is for anyone and everyone, from people who started today to people who have collected since the beginning, and that the feed should not look curated. Readers who want a tighter feed are pointed to r/magicTCG. The result is a busy, loose room: around 145 posts a day, a median of 10 comments each.
Text and image posts split the feed almost evenly. The largest flairs are a general help flair at about 30%, Discussion at 26%, Commander at 17% and Rules Question at 11%. A typical post is short, around 55 words, often a photo of a card or two with a question underneath. AutoModerator replies to a lot of them with links to other subreddits and reference sites, and says up front that the post has not been deleted.
The running complaints are about the publisher, not each other: too many releases, crossover sets, stock delays, scalpers and prices above retail. Commander power levels and proxies come up often too. The tone stays friendly, and the guidelines say bans are a last resort.
What lands
- A photo of two or three cards with a precise question about how they interact.
- A decklist link with a clear ask: what to cut, how to get it legal, how to upgrade a preconstructed deck.
- Light opinion questions anyone can answer, such as whether you leave good cards out of a deck because you dislike the art.
- Newcomer posts that give context, like which other card games you have played and what you want from a format.
- Memes and custom cards under their own flairs.
What gets removed or ignored
- Posts from accounts with negative karma, or below the unpublished karma, age and contributor score minimums.
- Card authenticity checks and pack opening showcases, which wait for manual approval and are sent to other subreddits.
- Selling posts. A post advertising singles on a marketplace account was removed in our sample.
- AI generated art or content.
- Anything that picks up enough reports. The threshold runs from 5 on a low visibility post to 15 on a popular one.
The unwritten rules
- If AutoModerator comments on your post, read it before you panic. Most of its messages are pointers to other subreddits, not removals.
- Link the decklist. Deck help without a list gets guesses.
- For a rules question, check the rulings on a card database first. The bot will tell you to anyway.
- Comments are short, around 17 words, and blunt about prices. Do not pay markups is standard advice.
- Showing off a pull or asking if a card is fake marks you as someone who has not read where those go.
Self-promotion
Our data shows no self-promotion rule for r/mtg. The rules cover civility, AI content, hate and staying on topic, and the guidelines say almost anything goes if it relates to Magic. There is a Content Creator flair, used on about 3% of posts, and a deck tutorial video and a browser app recommendation both stayed up in our sample. A post selling cards did not. So you can share something you made if you flair it honestly and it is about the game, but the audience for it is small, and the community's power to remove posts by reporting them means anything that reads as an ad is at the mercy of the readers.
How people write here
- Typical post length
- 56 words
- Typical title length
- 6 words
- Titles phrased as a question
- 31%
- Typical comment length
- 16 words
- Comments that include a link
- 8%
- Posts that carry a flair
- 100%
The regulars
The accounts that showed up most in our sample. Worth reading before you post: they set the tone, and they are usually the first to reply.
Most active posters
- u/Djfsihbone3 posts
- u/deusstultus413 posts
- u/TheSkelagon3 posts
Most active commenters
- u/mtgcf17 comments
- u/Key_Chest_24811 comments
- u/Djfsihbone6 comments
- u/Icy-Wealth41926 comments
- u/MustaKotka5 comments
Top keywords
The words and phrases that show up far more often here than in other communities, from recent posts in r/mtg.
- deck 120 posts
- commander 71 posts
- mtg 49 posts
- cards 111 posts
- decks 43 posts
- commander deck 23 posts
- reality fracture 22 posts
- play 65 posts
- magic 36 posts
- precon 21 posts
- card 68 posts
- mana 16 posts
- creature 21 posts
- playing 43 posts
- creatures 19 posts
- bracket 19 posts
- lgs 13 posts
- jace 10 posts
- edh 9 posts
- player 25 posts
- battlefield 12 posts
- game 37 posts
- art 24 posts
- hobbit 8 posts
- played 20 posts
- booster 15 posts
- play commander 7 posts
- multiverse 7 posts
- commander decks 7 posts
- packs 16 posts
- strixhaven 6 posts
- magic cards 6 posts
- foil 10 posts
- opponents 8 posts
- fun 22 posts
- boxes 15 posts
- counters 9 posts
- rules text 5 posts
- prerelease 5 posts
- playing magic 5 posts
Recurring topics: card, deck, commander deck, looking for, commander, cards, reality fracture, jace, mtg, precon.
Growth
- 20194.8k
- 202023k
- 202146k
- 202278k
- 2024247k
- 2025356k
- 2026458k
Related subreddits
- r/magicTCG
Common questions
How much karma do you need to post in r/mtg?
The only published figure is zero: accounts with negative total karma have posts removed. AutoModerator also lists unpublished minimums for total karma, comment karma inside r/mtg, account age and Reddit's Contributor Quality Score. You can still comment, and the removal message says that is the best way to qualify. You can also ask the moderators to approve a post by hand.
Can I promote my content or product in r/mtg?
There is no written self-promotion rule in what we collected. A Content Creator flair exists and creator posts do stay up, but they are a small share of the feed. Selling cards in a post was removed in our sample, and anything AI generated is banned.
Why is my r/mtg post awaiting manual approval?
Usually because it looks like a card authenticity check or a pack pull showcase. AutoModerator treats both as low effort, holds them for a moderator and points you to r/RealOrNotTCG or r/MagicCardPulls.
Is r/mtg good for beginners?
Yes. The moderators call it an entry point to Magic on Reddit, AutoModerator links a new player guide on help posts, and basic questions about formats, rules and first decks are answered without fuss. About 91% of posts stay up.
Data as of October 4, 2026. Numbers come from public Reddit data (the Arctic Shift archive and GummySearch) sampled on this date. Removal share counts posts taken down by moderators, AutoModerator or Reddit's own filters. Banner and icon belong to the community. Moderators change rules without notice, so treat the sidebar as the final word.
