# General Rules - Format Conventions

Each standard constructed game of Grand Archive is played between two players, each with their own main deck and material decks. The same is true for draft formats, including sealed draft or traditional draft.

#### General Rules

1. Card names, costs, and their elements must exactly match a corresponding card in the Grand Archive Index to be considered legal for deck building.
2. Tournament formats, which include structured matches, sideboarding rules, round time limits, etc., are not covered in the GA comprehensive rules and are discussed in a [separate document](https://trg.gatcg.com).
3. In non-sanctioned matches, a card whose information (such as name, cost, element...) is modified to that of another card may be treated as if it were the card the modified card would represent (if such a card exists within the Index).
4. The effects of a given card will behave based on the listed rules and effects of the corresponding card in the Index, regardless of the text box of the card or any modifications therein.

#### Standard Constructed Rules

1. Main decks can have a minimum of 60 cards and a maximum of four copies of a card with the same name.
2. Material decks can have a maximum of 12 cards and a maximum of one copy of a card with the same name.
3. Material decks must contain a Level 0 champion at minimum.
4. Sideboards contain a maximum of 15 cards. Sideboards use a 15 point system where cards in the [Main Deck](/game-mechanics/game-mechanics-game-zones/game-zones-main-deck.md) are worth 1 point and [Regalia](/general-rules/general-rules-card-types/card-types-supertypes.md)/[Champion](/general-rules/general-rules-card-types/card-types-champion.md) cards are worth 3 points. Sideboards can consist of any combination of Main Deck cards and Regalia/Champion cards that does not exceed 15 points or 15 cards for the Sideboard.

#### Draft Rules

1. Main decks can have a minimum 30-count main deck. Maximum limits on copies of cards are draft format-specific.
2. Material decks are limited to a deck size of 10 and must contain at least one Level 0 champion.
3. Your sideboard consists of all cards in your pool.

#### Pantheon Rules

1. Main decks must consist of, at minimum, 60 cards of which there can be no more than one copy of each card.
2. Material decks must consist of 12 cards of which there is at least one Level 0 Champion Card.
3. Players must each present two Boons face down at the start of the game: one Lesser Boon and one Greater Boon.
4. There is no sideboard for Pantheon.


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://rules.gatcg.com/general-rules/general-rules-format-conventions.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.
