1.1 What is PDC and why play it?
Pauper Deck Challenge (PDC) is an unofficial Magic Online (MTGO) format as well as the community of players who play it. The main idea of PDC is to play Constructed on MTGO but only with commons. This is less restrictive than it may sound at first and PDC players get to test their deck-building and playing skill in a competitive and fun environment at a fraction of the regular cost.
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1.2 How do I start playing?
First, you need to be familiar with MTGO. The Magic Online FAQ should have everything you need. The official PDC chat room online can be joined by typing the command "/join pdc" on MTGO. This is where you can find other players with which to play a pickup game or discuss the latest event and deck tech. The are also PDC events which are usually open for all.
See Section 3 for details on events.
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1.3 Where do I get more information about PDC?
Besides this page, the best way to get information about PDC is to visit PDCMagic.com. There, you will find information on upcoming events, an archive of PDC strategy articles, recent updates on the metagame, and some useful links, as well as the PDCMagic.com Forums.

The next best source of information is the the Magic Online Player Run Events (PRE) subforum on the Wizards boards. This is the place to get more detailed information about recent and upcoming PDC events. Note that the information concerning events is usually more accurate and detailed on the PRE forum than on the PoP forum so it should be used as a primary source. Also, some PDC events are more loosely affiliated with the PDC community and the PRE forum is the only way to learn about those, making it an even more important source of information.

I will end this subsection in noting that Alex Ullman (known on MTGO as SpikeBoyM) has written an introductory article on PDC which, despite being a dated, is still a very good source of information and served as inspiration for this document.
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Section 2: PDC formats

2.1 What are the PDC formats?
The three most often used formats for PDC games and events are Classic, which is appreciated by veterans for its wide card pool, Standard which is usually easier for new players to get into and is kept fresh by rotations and Future Extended which is somewhere in between. However, PDC games and events are being played in almost every Constructed format, from Block to Prismatic Singleton including more exotic formats you may not even have heard of.
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2.2 How do I tell which cards are legal in a specific PDC format?

The PDC Legality Rule: A card is legal in a PDC format if it is a common in that format.

For example, the PDC Standard card pool consists of cards that are common in a Standard set (at the moment : Tenth Edition, Coldsnap, Time Spiral Block and Lorwyn Block). This means that Nantuko Husk is not PDC Standard legal even though it is Standard legal (being in Tenth Edition) and is a common in Onslaught, since it only appears as an uncommon in Standard.

Applied to the Classic format, this rule implies that the Classic PDC format consists of all the cards that appear as commons online.

Note that, as in all Magic formats, proxies are allowed in PDC. This means that if a card is legal, any version of that card is legal.
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2.3 What about Time Spiral timeshifted (purple) cards, Masters Edition cards and Ice Age/Alliance cards from Preconstructed decks?
Common Masters Edition and Ice Age/Alliance cards are legal in formats where those sets are legal.

Timeshifted(purple) cards are rares for PDC purposes (since that is their equivalent rarity, from a frequency point of view) and so are not legal.

Note, again, that proxies are allowed, so, for example, a Time Spiral timeshifted (purple) Disenchant cannot be played in a Standard PDC deck, since since Disenchant is not a common in a Standard set, but it can used as a proxy in PDC Classic, since Disenchant is a common in Classic sets (Seventh Edition, Ice Age and Mirage).
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2.4 Is there a banned or a restricted list in PDC?
Yes. Cranial Plating is banned and Artifact Lands (Ancient Den, Great Furnace, Seat of the Synod, Tree of Tales, Vault of Whispers, Darksteel Citadel) are restricted to one of each.
This is to weaken artifact Affinity decks, which are metagame-warping according to some, while allowing one of each Artifact Land to be used by decks that can find a use of them.
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2.5 Aren't a small number of uncommons allowed in Pauper decks?
No. There is sometimes confusion with Peasant Magic, mainly a paper Magic format, which allows for a certain number of uncommons.
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Section 3: PDC events

3.1 What are PDC events and why play in them?
PDC event are player-run events, usually hosted on a weekly schedule. Like most MTGO events, they usually consist of Swiss system tournament (usually 3-5 rounds) followed by a single elimination for the leaders (usually top 4 or top 8). The events are free but donations for prizes are welcome. Apart from end of season championship events, they are usually open to everyone. Just like regular tournaments, they allow player to have fun while testing their skills in a more structured and competitive environment than casual games. There is also the chance of winning prizes and earning points towards participation in end of season championships.
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3.2 How do I find out what PDC events are there ?
Here are the currently running main PDC events and the format they usually use:
MPDC (Monday PDC) Monday at 3:00 PM GMT (Standard).
TPDC (Tuesday PDC) Tuesday at 8:30 PM EST (Classic).
XPDC (Extended PDC) Wednesday at 8:30 PM EST (Future Extended).
SPDC (Standard PDC) Thursday at 8:30 PM EST (Standard).
Classic PDC Saturday at 10:30 AM EST (Classic).
UPDC Sunday at 2:00 PM EST (Future Extended).

See the Directory of Events for more information. There are also newer events being established and sporadic events being run. Each such event has a thread in the PRE subforum on the Wizards boards and should be consulted before participating in an event to learn about the rules for the event or any last minute changes.

Note that some weeks, some events may use alternate formats, be rescheduled, etc... This will be announced and explained in the event thread so be sure to read it.
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3.3 How do I play in a PDC event?
These are usually the necessary steps:
A.Read the event thread on the PRE forum and make sure you understand the rules.
B.Have a deck ready that satisfies the deck-building constraints for the event.
C.Near the starting time, join the MTGO chat room for this event, which is listed in the thread. For example, to play in TPDC, you must type "/join tpdc".
D.At some point, the host will ask players who intend in participating to say so, by saying "register".
E.The host will explain the rules. You will be asked to join a separate chat room for match result posting, "/join tpdc_results" for example.
F.Each round, the host will announce pairing in the event chat room. Matches are played in the Anything Goes room and must be timed, watchable and labelled.
G.At the end of each match, players must post their result in the result chat room, "WIN 2-1" for example.

IMPORTANT: A player who wishes to drop from the tournament must notify the host. Posting "Drop" in the results room is the most common way.

If you have questions or problems, contact the host, who will help you. Remember that hosts run these events voluntarily so respect them and try not to make their job harder unnecessarily. Also, proper behaviour is expected from all participants in PDC events. PDC players pride themselves on having a great community and players who abuse it will not be tolerated. Hosts have final say on any process as without them, there is no event.
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3.4 Can I win prizes in PDC events?
Some events will award prizes to top finishers. This is usually announced in the event thread and the host is in charge of this. Prizes are donated by players to the host. Everyone is encouraged to donate, just contact any event host if you are interested.
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3.5 What do season points mean?
Regular PDC events are divided into seasons of sixteen weeks. Players accumulate season points for a particular event series (TPDC, for example) by partipating and performing in events of that series throughout the season. At the end of the season, the players with most season points for that event are invited to a championship for that event series.

Note that event series calculate season points separatly. For example, participating in a TPDC event earns you season points for the TPDC championship, but not for the Classic PDC championship.
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Section 4: PDC cards

4.1 How do I find cheap commons?
This section tells you how to maximize the number of commons you can purchase with your event tickets.

To get the most out of your tix:

    * Trading event tickets to bots in exchange for commons is one of the easiest and quickest ways to start a collection.
    * Though MTGO caps trades at 32 cards, bots that exchange tix for more than 32 cards will allow you to re-enter the trade and continue taking cards.
    * Type /addbuddy ". amulet_5" to add this bot to your Buddy List. This bot is part of the SuperBot group and trades 96 commons for 1 ticket. Any leftover credit is saved in a SuperBot account and may be applied to any bot in that group. Here are some more bots with which you should familiarize yourself:
          o ". amulet_4" - SuperBot, 64 commons for 1 ticket (64:1)
          o ". amulet_3" - SuperBot, 56:1
          o ". amulet_2" - SuperBot, 48:1
          o ". amulet_1" - SuperBot, 20:1
          o cardhoarder.bot - "smart" bot; prices vary by card
          o cardhoarder.bot2 - "smart" bot; prices vary by card
          o MTGOTradersBot - "smart" bot; prices vary by card
          o FreeTibet - 1 common for 1 common
          o CardBot - "smart" bot; prices vary by card; big selection
    * Start with the most "generous" bots (128:1 or better; some have found commons bots for as many as 200:1 before). 200 cards for $1.00? Only in Pauper Magic! You could feasibly build a deck for less than a dollar if you exercise discretion in trading.
    * If you're looking for specific cards but can't find them, you'll need to visit the more stingy bots. A 128:1 bot will carry many cards, but a 24:1 bot will typically have a better selection. (Though, be sure to check the cheaper bots first!)
    * Quantity is more important than quality, especially when you're first building a collection. Build a few cheap decks, start playing Pauper, mingle with the community, and you'll learn some of the tricks of the trade.
    * Don't be hasty! Cautious trading will make your tix go farther.

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4.2 Which cards will I need?
(This section is under construction.)
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