Reality Fracture Format Legality
FRA, FRC, and Special Guests — what you can put in Standard, Commander, and Limited.
Wizards published a clean split in Collecting Reality Fracture. Repeat it until it sticks.
- Reality Fracture (FRA) is legal in all formats that take the new Standard set, including Standard, Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Vintage, and Commander.
- Reality Fracture Commander (FRC) and Special Guests (SPG) are Commander-, Legacy-, and Vintage-legal. Individual cards are also legal where they already existed in other formats.
- Play Boosters can contain FRA and SPG cards. Those cards are playable in Reality Fracture Draft and Sealed when you open them from Play Boosters.
That last bullet is the Limited footnote people miss: a Special Guest in your Sealed pool is legal for that Sealed event even if it would be illegal in Standard tomorrow.
Standard
Register FRA cards. Do not register FRC-only cards. Darksteel Angel is the example. Multiverse Reforged as a 100-card pile is not a Standard deck. If a reprint in the precon also exists as an FRA card, use the FRA printing’s legality, which is Standard. When in doubt, Scryfall’s format line wins over memory.
Arena Standard follows the same FRA file on September 29. Historic / Brawl have their own inclusion rules; check the client. Arena guide.
Commander
Everything FRA is in. Everything FRC is in. SPG cards follow their printing. Color identity still applies: the Theorist is blue, Chill of Compliance is blue, Veiled Butcher is black. Echoed pairs do not share identity just because they shared a pack.
The precon’s 18 new cards are why Commander players buy FRC. Rankings and the Darksteel Angel note: Commander.
Limited
If it came out of your Play Boosters (or Prerelease Pack) for that event, you may play it in that event, including SPG. You may not add Collector-only cards you did not open. Tokens from the pack are legal. The foil prerelease promo is legal in that Sealed pool.
Draft Night’s Collector Booster is a prize, not extra cards for the 40 unless your playgroup house-rules it. Official play does not feed Collector cards into the draft deck.
Pioneer, Modern, and older
FRA cards enter those formats according to the usual new-set rules (Pioneer and Modern take Standard-legal new cards). FRC-only cards do not enter Pioneer or Modern unless they are reprints of cards already there. Do not assume a new angel is Modern-legal because you opened it next to a Play Booster.
How this wiki will label cards
Spoiler pages will mark FRC in the name line. Early rankings put Darksteel Angel in a Commander-only grade. If a later SPG name is a famous extra-legal bomb, Limited articles will say “legal in the sealed pool, not in Standard.”
Confirm oracle and legality on Gatherer or Scryfall before an RCQ. This page is a map, not a tournament organizer. Official policy links sit on official resources.
If you remember one rule: FRA is the Standard set, FRC is the Commander set, SPG can crash your Limited pool. Mix those three up and you either get a game-loss or you leave a bomb in the sideboard box at registration.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to the most common questions.
Is every card in a Play Booster Standard legal?
FRA cards are. SPG cards in that booster are legal for that Limited event but not automatically Standard.
Can I play Darksteel Angel in Standard?
No. It is FRC. See the Commander page.
Are echoed pairs a separate legality?
No. Each half is a normal FRA card with its own color identity and format line.
Does Arena follow this split?
Arena adds the FRA file on September 29. FRC precon cards are not a Standard Arena deck. Arena.