TLR Core Philosophy - Update
The Philosophy of Tiny Leaders: Reborn
At its heart, Tiny Leaders: Reborn (TLR) is built on what we call The Rule of 3, the idea that every card you play must have a mana value (MV) of three or less.
At the format’s inception, The Rule of 3 applied not only to mana value but also to color identity, meaning your deck’s commander and all cards had to share a restricted three-color identity or less. With the advent of Tiny Leaders: Reborn, we retired the color identity restriction but kept the MV limitation as the format’s core identity.
Over the years, Magic’s card designs have grown increasingly complex. Split cards, adventures, MDFCs, and other multi-part cards pushed us to clarify what we really mean by “every card has MV ≤ 3.”
So we asked ourselves:
Should TLR legality be based purely on WotC’s official MV definitions, or should we take a stricter approach where each face, half, or option must independently meet the MV ≤ 3 requirement?
This led to two competing philosophies:
Canonical Philosophy (Old Approach - Mostly)
Statement: Each nonland card must have a MV ≤ 3 as defined by WotC’s official rules.
This was the approach historically used by TLR: if WotC says a card’s MV is ≤ 3, it’s legal, even if another part of the card would normally exceed the limit.
Discrete Philosophy (New Approach)
Statement: Each unique spell on each face of a card must have a MV ≤ 3.
This stricter approach evaluates each face/half/spell separately. If any part of the card has MV > 3, it’s not legal in TLR.
The difference might seem small, but it matters, especially for cards like split cards, adventures, and MDFCs. And as Magic continues to create new mechanics, the philosophy we choose will determine what stays legal in TLR.
What follows is a deep dive into how we got here, a look back at TLR’s history with these card types, the debates we had as a committee, and why we ultimately chose the Discrete Philosophy as TLR’s guiding principle.
The Journey to the Discrete Philosophy
Magic: The Gathering has been a game of constant evolution over the past 30 years. New card types and mechanics appear regularly, and the rules often adapt so those designs can function properly.
Tiny Leaders: Reborn (TLR) is a unique format whose defining feature is its strict mana value (MV) restriction. From its inception, it has had to wrestle with how to interpret MV for unusual card types like split cards, adventures, and MDFCs.
Originally, before Amonkhet, a split card’s MV could vary depending on which zone it was in. When Tiny Leaders launched, split cards were legal if each half had an MV of three or less. Over time, players discovered ways to abuse the complicated MV rules for split cards to sneak higher-costed spells onto the stack. Wizards of the Coast (WotC) eventually solved this by ruling that the MV of a split card is always the sum of its halves, except while on the stack. This change meant that most split cards suddenly had MV greater than 3 and became illegal in Tiny Leaders.
Fast forward to 2019 and updates to the original Tiny Leaders had been dormant for a while, but TLR was active when WotC introduced adventures. Like split cards, adventures feature two cards on one piece of cardboard, but in this case, always a creature plus an attached spell. WotC’s rules state that the MV of an adventure card is just the MV of its creature half, not the sum of both.
Weird — but fine.
The Tiny Leaders Committee (TLC) followed WotC’s interpretation and allowed creatures with adventures as long as their MV was three or less, regardless of the MV of the adventure half. If WotC said the card’s MV was ≤ 3, it was legal.
Then MDFCs arrived. Like split cards and adventures, they put two cards on one piece of cardboard, but this time with one on the front and one on the back. WotC ruled that the MV of an MDFC is based solely on its front face. Some MDFCs were thus technically legal despite having a back face with MV > 3.
But this time, the TLC made a different choice: MDFCs were only legal if both faces had MV ≤ 3. This created an inconsistency in how the format handled multi-part cards.
The current TLC set out to fix that. After months of debate, it became clear that the problem wasn’t just a rules technicality, it was a deeper question of TLR’s core philosophy. What does it really mean to say “Tiny Leaders is the format where every card has MV ≤ 3”?
Revisiting Our Philosophy
Two competing schools of thought emerged:
Discrete Philosophy
Philosophy Statement: In TL:R, every set of characteristics on a card must have a mana value ≤ 3. If a card has multiple sets of characteristics (name, mana cost, type line, rules text) that may be chosen for casting, each set must independently meet this limit.
Philosophy Intent: From a design perspective, cards with more than one set of characteristics are multiple cards sharing one piece of cardboard. In keeping with this design philosophy and format intent, every card must have a mana value ≤ 3 as determined by each distinct set of characteristics.
Pros:
Future-proof: Any new multi-card mechanics automatically fall under the “distinct card” rule.
Consistency with TLR’s intent: Keeps the format strictly within a ≤3 MV world for every playable option.
Clarity for deckbuilding: Players know every card face/option is independently evaluated, which avoids loopholes.
Format identity: Emphasizes TLR as its own distinct format.
Cons:
Potential conflicts with WotC rules: Some cards legal under official MV calculations could be banned once rules logic is applied to them.
Extra complexity: Players need to evaluate multi-part cards carefully to see if each part is ≤3 MV.
Learning curve: Newcomers may be confused why certain legal Magic cards are banned in TLR.
Canonical Philosophy
Philosophy Statement: In Tiny Leaders: Reborn, every nonland card must have a mana value of three or less, as defined by Wizards of the Coast’s existing rules.
Philosophy Intent: Every nonland card must have a mana value ≤ 3 as defined by WotC’s rules. Additional costs or abilities do not create new cards.
Pros:
Simple to enforce: Just check WotC’s official MV calculations; no reinterpretation needed.
Consistency with Magic rules: Avoids confusion between official Magic rulings and TLR legality.
Lower barrier to entry: New players can rely on standard rules without learning a TLR-specific definition of “card.”
Cons:
Less strict: Some cards may include powerful options that exceed the spirit of the ≤3 MV philosophy.
Future mechanics risk: If WotC introduces new multi-part cards with unusual MV calculations, some may bypass the intended 3-MV limit.
Problematic interactions: TLR may start to encounter issues with cards that plague other formats.
To make these philosophies easier to discuss, we gave them nicknames: Team Bobblehead (Discrete Philosophy, named for Perception Bobblehead) and Team Inquisition (Canonical Philosophy, named for Inquisition of Kozilek).
Team Bobblehead argues that every card in your deck should be playable under effects like Perception Bobblehead, which reference MV ≤ 3. Team Inquisition argues that every card should at least be interactable by effects like Inquisition of Kozilek, which also reference MV ≤ 3.
Over two months of discussion, including consultation with the creator of Tiny Leaders, culminated in a three-stage vote.
Consultants & LPO: Voted 4–3 for Team Bobblehead (including a returning Consultant from Russia).
Advisors: 2–0 for Team Bobblehead.
Core Members: Final deciding vote: 2–1 for Team Bobblehead.
With this result, TLR officially adopts the Discrete Philosophy as its guiding principle. Our Rules Manager is now updating the rules for split cards, adventures, and MDFCs to bring them in line with this philosophy.
Updates to these rules will be announced later this week.
As always, we encourage players to experiment with deckbuilding under this clarified philosophy and share their experiences. Your feedback helps us refine the format and ensure TLR remains fun, challenging, and true to its identity as the format defined by The Rule of 3.
We look forward to seeing what creative decks you bring to the table under this new era of Tiny Leaders: Reborn!
As always, Stay Tiny,
-The Tiny Leaders Committee