Magical War

A Shared-Deck Multi-Player variant of "Magic: the Gathering"

By Donald Tsang, tsang@austin.ibm.com

This variation on the standard M:tG rules attempts to fold some of the concepts from Flying Buffalo's "Nuclear War" card game into a fun multiplayer version of Magic.

Number of players: 2 to 8 (or more, but 8 seems like a reasonable maximum).

Setup:

Shuffle together at least 1 deck (60 cards) per player, to make one large deck. Determine starting player by some fair means (owner of the cards goes first, for example). Play goes clockwise from there.

Each player starts with nine cards (hand size: 9) and 20 life.

In the initial starting round, each player may play out, in turn, as many non-land 0-casting-cost cards as desired, and draw another card to replace each one. No other spells or effects may be used in the initial round. If the center stock of cards runs out, shuffle the discard (graveyard) pile to make a new stock.

After this initial round, each player must place two cards (pipeline size: 2) face-down on the playing surface. These are considered part of the player's hand, and represent the first two cards the player will get to play.

Play:

Untap phase: as per standard Magic

Upkeep phase: as per standard Magic

Draw phase:

draw enough cards to make the total cards in your hand and pipeline one greater than your "hand size" (normally, hand size is 9, so 10 total)

Main phase:

Place a new card at the end of your pipeline, and then turn up the first. If it is a land, put it into play as in standard Magic. If it is a spell, and you have enough mana available to cast it, you may do so. Otherwise, the card is discarded to the [common] graveyard without effect. This entire subphase can be done before or after the attack phase, at your convenience.

Discard phase: as per standard Magic (but see card changes, below)

Instants and Interrupts can be cast directly from your hand, just like in normal Magic. So can zero-cost spells. All other cards (land, creatures, artifacts, enchantments) must be cycled through the pipeline to be put into play.

New rule:

when a player loses, he picks up his pipeline, and immediately gets to use any Instants, Sorceries, and Interrupts he has, with whatever mana is available to him (he may not, however, lay down more land or use other slow effects). He may also make one attack with all of his untapped creatures.



Magical War

Cards whose meanings have changed:

Black Vise and The Rack:

Size of an opponent's pipeline (normally 2) is increased by one while this card is in play untapped. Controller may choose different opponent in his upkeep phase. New pipeline size is resolved during opponent's upkeep phase.

Contract from Below (now an Instant):

Discard your hand and pipeline, draw a new hand, put a new pipeline into place, and then tap all of your lands and empty your mana pool (without mana burn effects).

Cursed Rack:

Size of an opponent's hand is reduced by one. Retarget during upkeep. Size may never be smaller than zero, obviously.

Darkpact (now an Instant):

Steal a random card from an opponent's hand into yours.

Demonic Tutor:

Change your pipeline. Pick up the cards into your hand, and put (possibly new) cards back.

Demonic Attorney:

Selected opponent loses a turn.

Fastbond

You may play lands directly from your hand during your main phase, outside of combat. Fastbond does one point of damage to you for each card you play in this manner.

Glasses of Urza:

Look at either cards in an opponent's hand, or pipeline, but not both.

Howling Mine:

Players must take an extra pipeline subphase during their main phase.

Island Sanctuary:

If you don't draw, you don't have to advance the pipeline, either, but you can.

Ivory Tower:

Size of an your pipeline is decreased by one. If your pipeline size is zero or less, you play cards directly from your hand, like in normal Magic.

Jeweled Bird: (now an interrupt; new cost: 0)

Substitute Jeweled Bird for card about to be stolen.

Kudzu:

The "controller" of this enchantment is the last person to target the enchantment on a land.

When Kudzu destroys a land, control immediately goes to the controller of the just-destroyed land, who must decide where Kudzu goes next. The restrictions:

• If control was just transferred from another player, cannot play on land controlled by that player.
• If control was just transferred from another player, Kudzu may only be played on land controlled by self or neighboring opponent.
• If control was transferred from self, may target any (enchantable) land in play.
• If no land is available to target, or if the Kudzu'd land is destroyed by anything other than Kudzu, Kudzu is destroyed.

Library of Leng:

Size of controller's hand is increased by one. This replaces the old effect of the 'Library.

Millstone:

Target immediately takes an extra pipeline subphase, but discards face-up card to graveyard instead of playing it.

Nether Shadow:

Loses recall ability in this variation.

Regrowth:

May only search top 3*N cards on the graveyard, where N is the current number of players in the game.

Timetwister:

This card affects the players' pipelines.

Verduran Enchantress:

Controller gains 1 life every time any enchantment is successfully cast. This replaces the old special power.

Wheel of Fortune:

This card does not affect the players' pipelines.

Word of Command:

Look at opponent's hand and pipeline. Swap the location of up to two cards.