Formats & limitations
Manabrew is pre-release software built around an in-progress Rust port of the Forge rules engine. This page is the honest version of “what works”.
Formats
Section titled “Formats”The engine and client recognize: Commander, Standard, Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Pauper, Brawl, Oathbreaker, Draft, and Sealed. The format drives deck rules, starting life, and the editor’s legality badges.
For limited play, Booster Draft, Sealed, Winston Draft, and Cube are available, with boosters generated from real set and edition data.
Card coverage
Section titled “Card coverage”The card database parses Forge’s full library of 32,000+ card scripts, but the Manabrew engine does not implement every mechanic those scripts use yet. We work hard to bring more and more functionality to the Manabrew engine, but as of today, it remains experimental, with many mechanics still not working.
Web vs desktop
Section titled “Web vs desktop”| Web (play.manabrew.app) | Desktop (Tauri) | |
|---|---|---|
| Rules engine | Manabrew engine compiled to WASM | Same Manabrew engine, native |
| Forge games | Join rooms hosted by a self-hosted node | Same |
| Offline play | No | Engine runs locally, but card images still need internet |
| Install | None | .dmg / .exe from releases |
The web client additionally requires a cross-origin-isolated host (see hosting the web client) — this is handled for you on play.manabrew.app.
Reporting a gap
Section titled “Reporting a gap”If a card behaves differently than it would in paper, that’s exactly the bug report this project runs on — see the FAQ for what to include.