Casual Magic

Looking for some ideas to spice up your MtG games? Well look no further! From 2 player variants to multiplayer epic battles there is no shortage of possibilities when it comes to everyone's favorite game. Click here for a full list of ideas for Casual MtG.


Limited MtG: Players build their decks from a small pool of cards (booster packs) and with the addition of only basic lands duke it out to see who comes out on top. 


Pack Wars / Mini Masters ~ You just picked up some booster packs. Rather than just open them and sort through them, don't look at the cards at all. Simply add 3 of each basic land type (Plains, Swamps, Forests, Mountains, and Islands), remove the token card (hint: it doesn't have a MtG back), shuffle and play. Each draw holds surprises as you play your way through your booster pack to see if yours is the rare that seals the deal, or leaves you for dead.

• Variant ~ your booster = your opening hand and each turn you can drop any 1 basic land from outside the game. You never draw a card and have no library so effects that allow you to draw a card have no effect just as there is no penalty for not being able to draw a card. 

Constructed MtG: Decks that are made before showing up for an event are considered constructed decks. Depending on the format- Casual, Standard, Modern... some cards or whole editions might be either banned or off limits but other than that, the sky is the limit. 60 card minimum decks with 15 card sideboards are the norm here- though there are formats where this changes a little. 

• Pauper ~ a Constructed format where only common cards are allowed in a deck. A good way to build on a budget or have fun with the stacks of commons most players collect, but seldom play with. Check out this great Puca Trade article, "Odds//Ends" on some fun Pauper decks. 
• Peasant Magic ~ a Constructed variant of Pauper which allows up to 5 uncommons in a player's deck. 
• Standard ~ A rotating Constructed format that only allows players to use cards in the two most recent story-based blocks + the newest Core Set. Starting in 2016, Core Sets will be discontinued and the pool of cards will change to blocks only. In addition story-based blocks will now only have 2 sets for each block rather than the usual 3. This format allows you to collect very recent cards that are easier to get your hands on and decks are constantly evolving as new sets are released, older sets rotate out, or new strategies develop. Currently, M15, Theros, Born of the Gods, Journey Into Nyx, and Khans of Tarkir are allowed in Standard. 
• Modern ~ A Constructed format that allows players to build decks using any card (- banned cards) from Eighth Edition (Core Set) and expansion sets on. Click on the link to see a list of all the sets that are considered Modern Legal. 

Multiplayer Variants 

Free-for-All ~ Most games of casual multiplayer MtG are Free-for-All games where each player is in it alone and can battle any other player at the table. Before the game begins, players decide how attacking occurs. "Attack Left/Right" only allows you to attack the player in that direction so you have to focus on that one player before getting a new target. In this version, you'll never be able to attack the player who is attacking you until all the other players are eliminated. Regardless of the direction of attack, a player can always target another player with a spell or ability (say a Lightning Bolt to a player or creature you normally couldn't attack with a creature). Another variant is the true free-for-all where you can attack multiple players anywhere in the circle of players during your attack step. Alliances can be forged and broken with any player, but each alliance has an expiration date as there can only be one champion. 

Two-Headed Giant ~ (2HG) 2 teams of 2 players play a single game of MtG with each team sitting on the same side of the game table. The player on the right in each team is the primary player while the player on the left is the secondary head... errr player. Each team starts with 30 life at the start of the game. You can look at your teammate's hand and discuss your strategy at any time. During a team's turn, both players take the turn at the exact same time. Click the links for specific rules. 

Tribal Wars ~ Ever wanted to recreate the Battle of Helms Deep with MtG cards? Orcs vs. Elves and Humans? Tribal Wars is for you then. Each player represents 1 tribe and builds a 60 card deck around that tribe to see once and for all which tribe dominates. At least 1/3 of your deck needs to include cards from your tribe. Major tribes include: Goblins, Demons, Dragons, Elves, Humans, Merfolk, Angels, Slivers, Zombies, Knights, and Soldiers to name some of the more popular tribes.

Star ~ Requires 5 players with each representing 1 of the 5 colors of Magic. Your deck can only consist of cards and lands of your color. Players sit in a star pattern exactly as it is shown on the back of every Magic card (White, Blue, Black, Red, and Green); the White player starts and play rotates around the color wheel to the left. A player wins when their 2 opposing (enemy) colors are eliminated regardless of who defeated them. Following the Free-for-All rules, players can attack anyone at the table, though those players to your left and right each share 1 enemy with you so it is in your best interest to ally with them if it suits your goals. As the White player, your foes are Red and Black and you when when both are eliminated; Your allied colors share one common foe but are each allied with one of your enemy colors- Green allies with Red, but shares Black as a foe while Blue allies with Black but has Red as a shared foe. Ready to see which color reigns supreme?

Commander ~ Elder Dragon Highlander (EDH) ~ Commander starts with the basic Free-for-All rules but has very different deck building rules that make it unique and uniquely fun. Except for basic lands, your deck must only have 1 card of a given name in it and must have exactly 100 cards. Each Commander deck is lead by its commander or general who must be a legendary creature or one of 5 planeswalkers from the new 2014 Commander Decks. (Review Here) Each player starts with 40 life and duels Free-for-All style with any player at the table until one is left standing. Thunderdome anyone?

To start, you need to choose your commander or general to lead your troops. Only cards of the commander's colors can be included in your deck. Artifacts can be included as long as they don't include color symbols outside of your commander's colors. Imagine you choose Kaalia of the Vast as your commander. You deck can ONLY contain White, Black, or Red cards or artifact cards with those same mana symbols. Spellskite, while an awesome artifact, contains a Blue mana symbol so it is off limits. Split cards and hybrid cards count as both colors, so while you could choose a Rakdos Cackler (black/red), a Dryad Militant (Green/White) would be off limits.

Your commander starts off to the side in the "Command Zone" and not in you deck. You can cast it from your Command Zone any time you can pay its casting cost. If your commander were to die and be placed in the graveyard or exiled, you can return it to your Command Zone to be recast again with 1 catch: you'll have to pay a 2 mana tax each time it is returned there. For example, casting Kaalia from you Command Zone the first time costs 4 mana (1 colorless, 1 white, 1 black, and 1 red). If she were later killed in combat and recast from the Command Zone later, her casting cost would now be 6 (3 colorless, 1 white, 1 black, and 1 red). Next time costs 8 mana and so on. Lastly, you commander is a potent fighter, when she deals 21 points of combat damage to 1 player over the course of the game, that player loses the game. Interested in learning more about EDH? Click here for more information.

Still interested in more Commander ideas? Check out these cool sites:

Big Guide to Building Your Commander Deck
(Deck building ideas and must include cards and other ideas)

EDH Generals List
(List of popular generals / commanders to help lead your troops to victory)

EDH Staples
(Additional deck building ideas for EDH)

EDH Primer
(List of commander help sorted by color)

Top 100 Cards for Multiplayer