Unfortunately, due to being busier and long distance from my good bud and blog partner in crime MGR, the Mistform Monday articles are going to be rather short as I can not meet with him to test different formats as often as I'd like. I'll still try to get a game in when I can but most of my articles will probably be on my thoughts of new formats I've learned about and want to try.
 |
| It's sort of the same. You do all get to ride a tank together while playing. |
Today I'll talk about one of the more popular casual formats: Pack Wars. Well, there may be competitive pack wars players out there and maybe I'll join their ranks one day. GP Vegas had a single elim pack wars wherein you added an additional pack each time you won a game and kept going up the ladder until you were the last man (or woman!) standing with a bunch of Modern Masters packs and presumably a 300 card deck. It sounded like great fun for all involved. It was free so that was even better. Alas, I wasn't able to make the trip but I'm hoping this is a tradition that continues with GPs in the future. (Edit: just learned from MGR that GP Sacramento's site is up: http://www.gpsacramento.com/. Check it out! It features a nice Friday pack wars event for those who can make it.)
I'm not the best rules writer out there so here is the info copied directly from the MTG website:
---------
Mini-Master (also known as Pack Wars)
You and your friends have just bought some booster packs. You're going to open them to get to the good stuff inside. But wait—why not play some Magic as you're opening your packs?
Setting up for Mini-Master is very simple. Each player needs a single booster pack of Magic cards. Without looking at the contents, each player opens his or her pack and adds in three of each basic land (Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, and Forest). They then shuffle up and play a game of Magic just like normal. Because players don't know what cards are in their decks, Mini-Master offers up the same surprises players get when they open a fresh new pack of Magic cards. Is the rare you're hoping to open going to help you beat your opponent? Or will you lose the game but still walk away happy with the cards you managed to crack? Mini-Master is great for letting you play with new cards while still keeping the excitement of opening a new booster!
Many Mini-Master variants exist. A different way to do it is for each player to open a booster and have that entire booster become his or her opening hand! During each player's turn, that player may choose a basic land from outside the game and put it into play. Players play without libraries; effects that say to draw a card have no effect, and there is no penalty for being unable to draw.
------------
Seems pretty simple, right? Setup just involves 2 booster packs and 30 basic lands. I've been a big fan of this format ever since I've heard of it as you get to open that sweet booster for a hopefully sweet reward but also turn it from a solo booster opening experience (with maybe a friend or two viewing and cheering you on) into a cooperative expeirence with the friend that makes all those probably tossed away commons and uncommons (and the occasional Meletis Charlatan) usable! And sometimes, winning with the jank rare vs your opponent's foil Thoughtseize is worth having opened a junk rare to begin with.
I strongly recommend this format if you find yourself planning to pick up some packs or have just won some packs. It definitely beats going 1-2 in Swiss draft and thinking, "sweet I won a pack!" and then getting home and being welcomed home by this friendly sight:
 |
| You should have stayed in the shadows, man. But good to see you too. |
I'll end this article by saying I've never seen a rare table a draft table so often and I may finally have a rare I can collect to fill one of those Ultra Pro binders. So far I've got a playset. Only 356 more to go!
Oh yes, random creature type of the week: Dragon.
 |
| Big mana! Doing devotion style permanent checks before it was cool. |
 |
| He eagerly awaits his fated fight against Trained Orgg. |
 |
| The last one non-modernized! |
The second story was when FTV: Dragons was released. I stopped by the store late in the day to try and pick one up and it was then I found out how limited these things were. To give the store credit (Games of Berkeley FTW!), they handled it very well and held a raffle to pick who could buy it at MSRP. I think this is probably the fairest way to do things. Fortunately, all was not lost as many ears later, MGR gave me this other beauty:
 |
| Because sometimes you hit 16 mana in momir and want a guaranteed flier to desperately stop your opponent’s storm crow from dealing lethal. |
*A decision I don't entirely agree with. I'd rather they put them in when they fit and when they've got a good design. Like Stormbreath Dragon being Typhon was something I never knew but was super cool to learn about.
**Yes, Vizzerdrix fans, I apologize for the comment. I'm sure Duel Decks: Dragons v Vizzerdrix will happen soon. Just keep on dreaming!
Every time I've done pack war it's been 2 of each basic land per 1 booster pack so you get a 1:2 land:spell ratio, and it's usually worked out okay. In my mind going 1:1 land:spell gives you a strong chance at mana flood. Anyway, in the old days of pack wars, you'd open up 2 packs each and shuffle in your lands, winner gets one of the rares out of the losers 2 packs (loser gets to pick).
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, for those who don't have basic lands on them, there is a mode called "centurion". I don't know what it's called now, but essentially you'd open 2 or 3 packs without looking, and each card you had, you could put face down in your land pile and it counted as a basic land of every type instead. It played very similar to duel masters/kaijudo, and is just yet another variant of pack wars.