Two packs, one deck, no deckbuilding
Jumpstart is a format shipped as a product. Each pack is twenty cards on a single theme with its lands already in it, and a deck is two packs shuffled together. There is no deckbuilding step, no sideboard and nothing to cut, which makes it the fastest route from a sealed wrapper to a game of Magic that exists.
Forty-six themes, several with more than one version, so two packs of the same theme are not necessarily the same twenty cards. The combinations are the appeal: the product is designed so that any two packs make a deck that functions, and the odd pairings are the ones worth playing.
Thirty-seven cards in it were new, and they are not Standard-, Pioneer- or Modern-legal. That is deliberate rather than an oversight, and it is the same treatment Commander products get: print for the eternal formats and leave the rotating ones alone.
Where You Can Play It
Jumpstart's new cards skipped the rotating formats entirely. The reprints in it are a separate question: a reprint doesn't change legality, so each of those is legal wherever that card already was.
Standard was never in play for this set, so no rotation has ever touched it. Nothing here leaves Modern, Legacy, Vintage or Commander either. Commons from any set are Pauper-legal; that isn't listed per set here.
Limited
There are no draft archetypes, because there is no draft. What there is instead is a set of rules the product follows so that any two packs work, and those are worth knowing before you open one.
Two packs, forty cards
The whole deckbuilding step
Shuffle two twenty-card packs together and that is your deck. No cuts, no additions, no sideboard. Games start within a minute of opening the wrappers.
The lands are in the pack
Why it works
Each pack carries its own lands, so two packs give a mana base that supports both halves without anyone doing arithmetic. It is the single design decision the product rests on.
Themes repeat with variants
Why two of the same is fine
Several themes have multiple versions with different cards, so opening two of a theme does not mean opening the same twenty cards twice. It also means doubling down on one theme is a legitimate way to play.
The new cards are eternal-only
What to check before building
Thirty-seven cards debuted here and are legal in Commander, Legacy and Vintage but not in Standard, Pioneer or Modern. If you are pulling singles out for a Constructed deck, that is the line to check.
FAQ
Each pack is twenty cards on a single theme with its lands already in it. Shuffle two packs together and that is your deck: no cuts, no additions, no sideboard. It is the fastest route from a sealed wrapper to a game of Magic that exists.
No. The thirty-seven cards that debuted in Jumpstart are legal in Commander, Legacy and Vintage but not in Standard, Pioneer or Modern. The reprints are a separate question: a reprint does not change legality, so each is legal wherever that card already was.
Forty-six, and several have more than one version with different cards. Opening two packs of the same theme does not necessarily mean opening the same twenty cards twice.
No. Each pack carries its own lands, so two packs give a mana base that supports both halves. That single decision is what the whole product rests on.
It is close to the best on-ramp Magic has, because it removes deckbuilding entirely while still producing a deck that does something. Unsanctioned had used the same shuffle-two structure five months earlier, though that one is legal nowhere.
All card names, art, and mechanics belong to Wizards of the Coast. Jumpstart released on Jul 17, 2020; details reflect the set as published. Sources: Wizards of the Coast set pages and release notes, Draftsim, Untapped.gg.
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