Magic the Gathering - Multiplayer Rules

8/10/2019 Magic the Gathering - Multiplayer Rules

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The following text is adapted from material found in theBattle Royalegiftbox booklet.

BASICMULTIPLAYERRULES

For the most part,Magicrules and spells work the same in multiplayer games as

they do in a one-on-one game. To play a two-on-two game, start with the

following basic multiplayer rules:

1.Everybody sits around a single table, with team partners sitting across

from each other. After the first player takes his or her first turn, play

moves around the table to theleft.

2.A players creatures can attack only the opponent to his or her right.If

that player is eliminated, they can then attack the remaining opponent.3.If a player is eliminated, all his or her permanents are removed from

the game. The game continues until both players on one team are

eliminated.

4.Table talk is not allowed. You cant tell your partner whats in your

hand, what your next move is going to be, or what you want him or her

to do. This makes the game more interesting, because you have to pay

attention and make educated guesses about what you think will help

your partner and harm your opponents. It also prevents one partner

from running a partnership, leaving the other partner out of the

picture.

MULTIPLAYERVARIANTS

This section describes several multiplayerMagicvariants. Dont worry if the

variant descriptions mention rules or terms youve never heard of; those are

explained in the next section.

DCI Two-on-Two

Four players Two teams

Although this format isnt actually sanctioned by the DCI players

organization, the DCI does recommend it as an interesting variant. In this format,

you and your partner sit next to each other, across from your two opponents. The

left player of one team takes the first turn, and then play passes to the left, so one


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team will have the first and fourth turns while the other team will go second and

third. You may attack only the player across from you; if that player is eliminated,

you may then attack your remaining opponent.Moving creaturesis allowed (see

Moving Creatures for how this works), and moved creatures attack the player

across from your partner. Spell range is unlimited, table talk isnt allowed, andlife totals arent shared.

Typically you and your partner will want to gang up on whichever of your

opponents is more vulnerable. Once that player is eliminated, the two of you will

have a big advantage against your remaining opponent. Because table talk isnt

allowed, you need to think about which opponent to beat on first, then play

accordingly (possibly by removing that players creatures first). This strategy cuts

both ways, however. If the other team gangs up on your partner, you need to rush

to the defense, using creature destruction on the creatures that are dealing the

most damage to your partner and using cards like Fog and Healing Salve to keep

your partner in the game as long as possible.

Two-Headed Giant

Four players Two teams

Two-Headed Giant is a variant of DCI Two-on-Two or basic two-on-two

multiplayerMagic. In Two-Headed Giant each team represents two heads of a

giant. The giant has an initial life total of 40, and damage dealt to either player is

deducted from the giants total. Your creatures can attack any opponent, so

moving creatures isnt allowed. You win by reducing the opposing giants life

total to 0.

Emperor

Six or ten players Two teams

An Emperor game is a contest between two teams. Each team has one emperor

(seated in the middle) and two generals (seated one on each side of the emperor).

The left-hand general of one team takes the first turn, and then play passes to the

left, balancing the advantage of going first with having all the opposing team

members take their turns next. Thespell rangeis limited to onethat is, yourspells and abilities can affect only you and the players sitting one seat to your left

or right (the two players right next to you). You can attack only players on your

immediate left or right. Because of this, until a general is knocked out, neither

emperor can be attacked. Moving creatures is allowed. Each player starts with 20

life; life totals arent shared. If a general is eliminated, the remaining players on


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that team continue to play normally. When an emperor is eliminated, that team

loses.

You can also play Emperor with four generals per team, sitting two on each side

of the emperor. Spell range is still limited to one.

Free-for-All

Best for three to six players No teams

The Free-for-All format is exactly that: youre on your own against the world.

Your creatures can attack any other player, and spell range is unlimited. The last

player left standing wins!

Melee

Best with six to ten players No teams

If you try to play Free-for-All with six or more players, youll quickly realize that

it isnt practical. There are too many permanent effects to keep track of and too

many choices of whom to attack. Melee is a structured Free-for-All with rules to

address these problems. You can attack only the player to your left, and spell

range is usually limited to one, though you can also try it as two. The object is to

knock out the players to your left. Whenever the player to your left is knocked

out, you get 1 point, even if someone else eliminated that player. You also get 2

points if youre the last one in the game. In the end, the player with the most

points wins, even if he or she isnt the last remaining player.

Grand Melee

Fifteen or more players No teams

A Melee game with fifteen or more players graduates to Grand Melee status and

requires some complicated arrangements to keep the game from bogging down.

Though anyone can enjoy playing in a Grand Melee, we recommend that you

dont try to run one until youve played a few regular Melee games and are ready

for a challenge. If complex logistics dont appeal to you, skip ahead to the next

format.

The main difference between Melee and Grand Melee is that you need to have

two or more players take their turns at the same time; otherwise the game takes

far too long. To decide how many turns should happen at the same time, divide

the total number of players by one plus the number of players within spell range.

(If you use a spell range of two, for example, the number of players within spell


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range would be five: you, the two players on your right, and the two players on

your left.) Round down. Space the turns out evenly among all players.

EXAMPLE:If youre playing with twenty-eight players and a spell range of two,

youll start the game with four turns happening simultaneously (1 + 5 players

within spell range = 6, and 28 players 6 = 4.66, rounded down = 4).Below is a number of starting turns chart for up to forty players using a spell

range of two:

Number ofPlayers

Number ofTurns

36 to 40 6

30 to 35 5

24 to 29 4

18 to 23 3

12 to 17 2

11 or fewer 1

Players spheres of influencethe spheres around each player created by the spell

range on both sides of that playerare never allowed to overlap. After a player

finishes his or her turn, the player to that players left cant start his or her turn if

doing so would put a player into two spheres of influence at the same time. The

player whose turn it would be waits until he or she could start a turn without the

spheres overlapping.

As players are eliminated, youll eventually need to reduce the number of

simultaneous turns in the game or else the game will grind to a halt. Youreforced to do this when the number of turns multiplied by the number of players

within spell range is greater than the number of players in the game. You

probably should reduce the number of simultaneous turns before youre forced

to, thoughotherwise, the game will slow down because of spheres of influence

bumping into each other. Its best to reduce the number of turns as soon as the

number of players still in the game would give you one less turn using the

starting game formula.

EXAMPLE:If youre playing with twenty-eight players and a spell range of two

as in the last example, youll have to move from four simultaneous turns to threewhen there are nineteen players left in the game (4 turns x 5 players within spell

range > 19 players in the game). However, youd be better off eliminating a turn

when there are twenty-three players left (1 + 5 players within spell range = 6, and

23 players 6 = 3.83, rounded down = 3).


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Theres no absolutely fair way to eliminate a turn. When the number of turns

needs to be reduced, the turn in the spell range of the last person eliminated is

removed instead of being passed at the end of the current players turn. This will

often result in a player receiving one less turn than the other players nearby.

EXAMPLE:In a game with twenty-four players and four simultaneous turns,

the next person to be eliminated will reduce the turns to three. The turn in that

players spell range will disappear after the player currently using it completes his

or her turn.

When a player is eliminated, that player immediately removes all cards he or she

owns from the game. (This may affect players in other spell ranges.) All cards that

player controls but doesnt own are put into their owners graveyards. For

purposes of calculating spell range, the eliminated player still counts as

occupying a position. For purposes of creatures attacks, that player doesnt.

However, you can never attack a player outside of your spell range.

EXAMPLE:Bob is to your left and Susan two to your left. Ted is three to your

left, which is outside of your spell range. During your main phase you eliminated

Bob with direct damage. Now during your combat phase you may attack Susan

with your creatures. If youd also eliminated Susan with direct damage, you still

couldnt attack Ted, because hes outside of your spell range.

When a turn passes in the spell range of an eliminated player, that players

position is removed.

EXAMPLE:To continue the last example, after eliminating Bob and attacking

Susan with your creatures but not eliminating her, the turn would pass to Susan.

Then, Bobs position would be removed, and Susan would become the player to

your immediate left. Ted would then be in your spell range.

Two-Color Star

Five players No teams; two opponents

If you want to try something a bit out of the ordinary, you might play Two-Color

Star, a variant for five players. First, assign each player two friendly colors; the

five friendly-color pairs are white-blue, blue-black, black-red, red-green, and

green-white. Then each of you should build a deck using only cards that are ofyour assigned colorsplus lands, of course! Both of your friendly colors should

be reasonably well represented in your deck. You cant use artifacts or cards of

the other three colors in your deck.

Next, figure out which is your enemy color. If youre playing white-blue, your

enemy color is red; for blue-black, its green; for black-red, white; for red-green,


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teammate. You move creatures as part of declaring your attack; to move a

creature, simply place it in the territory to which youre moving it. Moving a

creature counts as that creatures attack for that turn and follows the same

restrictions; if a creature cant attack, you cant move it either. Moving a creature

doesnt tap it, though.

Your moved creatures remain under your controlthat is, you decide whether

they attack or block, when to use their abilities, and whom they attack during

your turn. But they can block attacks only for the player whose territory they

occupy; they cant block for you. Your moved creatures can attack only the

players next to the player whose territory they occupy, not the players your

creatures can normally attack. However, your moved creatures still attack during

your combat phase, not your teammates, so your moved creatures and your

teammates creatures cant attack together.

Spell Range

In some multiplayer games, your spells can affect only players sitting close to

you; this is stated as a spell range and is typically one or two. For instance, if the

rules for a game say that the spell range is one, a Wrath of God will destroy only

creatures controlled by you and by the players sitting one seat away on either

side (the players right next to you); other players creatures are unaffected.

Similarly, if you control a Howling Mine in that game, only you and the two

players sitting next to you get to draw an extra card every turn. Furthermore,

your target choices are limited to you, the players sitting next to you, and the

permanents in front of each of you, no matter who controls them.

When spell range is unlimited, you can choose any legal target for your spells,

and untargeted spells affect every players territory.

Player Elimination

In multiplayer variants, whenever a player is eliminated, all permanents he or she

owns are removed from the game (unless stated otherwise in the rules for that

variant). Permanents controlled by the eliminated player but owned by someoneelse are put in their owners graveyards. Creatures that have been moved to the

eliminated players territory but are controlled by other players are moved to

their controllers territories.

Magic the Gathering - Multiplayer Rules

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