New Magic format at Essential Magic

MTG Format: Secret Alliances

Secret Alliances is a casual multiplayer format that I sometimes play with friends. It’s a great change from competitive MTG environment that I usually play. I've always had a blast playing it and I hope that you guys will enjoy it as well.

I did not come up with this format and take no credit for the creation of this format.

Introduction

To begin, you will need 6 people. The 6 people will be divided into three groups of two people.  If you add people, it must be by increments of 2.

The object of the game is for you and your teammate to win a game of MTG by beating all other teams. However the twist to this is that you may not know who your teammate is! What I mean by this is that in every one of the three groups, there will be one person who knows who he or she is allied with, and one who doesn't. More to this later.

Assigning People to Teams

So how are teams assigned? Teams are assigned by each player choosing one of six different cards arranged prior to the start of the game. The six cards will be comprised of 3 face-up MTG basic land cards and 3 face-down mono-colored MTG cards.

Every face-down card is a different color from one another. The color of an individual face-down card must correspond to a color of mana produced by any one of the three basic lands.

Example:

Face-up cards:
Mountain (1)
Forest (1)
Island (1)

Face-down cards:
Lightning Bolt
Giant Growth
Ancestral Recall

Each one of the six players chooses one of the cards. A player who chooses a face-down card may look at his/her card but must not reveal it to anyone else. Once all the cards are chosen, all cards must be placed on the table in front of the player who chose the card. None of the cards chosen are part of the game (the player who chose the Forest (1) doesn't begin with a Forest in play). Face-down cards must be on the table face-down.

Playing The GameThe game is then played like any other multiplayer game format with a few key differences. First, the people who chose basic lands do NOT know who their partners are because the matching color cards are face-down. However, the people who chose a face-down card do know who they are allied with because the matching basic land is on the table for everyone to see while only they know the color of their face-down mono-colored MTG card.

Example:

Face-up cards and player who chose the card:
Mountain (1) - JoeForest (1) - KeithIsland (1) - John

Face-down cards and the player who chose the card:
Lightning Bolt- MarthaGiant Growth- BettyAncestral Recall- Susan

In this example, Joe is allied with Martha. Joe does not know Martha is his partner because Martha's Lightning Bolt is face-down. Martha knows Joe is her ally because the Mountain (1) is visible for everyone to see.

Second, a player who chose a basic land knows that all other players who chose a basic land is an enemy. Likewise a player who chose a face-down card knows that all other players with a face-down card are enemies. Therefore, most of the fighting will occur between players with the face-up basic land cards and between players with face-down cards.

However, fighting between players with face-down cards and players with face-up basic land cards cannot be all-out aggressive. A Face-down card player displaying aggression toward a basic land card player will risk revealing himself. A basic land card player displaying aggression toward a face-down card player may be targeting his/her ally.

Example:

Joe, Keith, and John all know they are enemies because they all chose face-up (the basic lands) cards. Martha, Betty, and Susan know they are all enemies because they all chose face-down cards. Though Joe will attack Keith without worry, he will be reluctant to attack Susan because Susan could be his ally as she has a face-down card.


Though face-down cards cannot be revealed, a face-down card player may choose to say who he or she is allied with. Note that declaring allies has benefits and down-sides. Martha can declare Joe her partner in order to convince Joe to help her. However, Susan can lie and also claim that she’s on Joe’s side. Susan’s lies may convince Joe to play a Wrath of God to wipe Betty's creatures if Betty is pressuring Susan. However Susan's lies might be so convincing that it causes John, her ally, to cast a Fireball for 17 damage directed at her.

Ending The Game

The game is won when only one or both members of one team remains. A player can kill off his or her teammate intentionally with no consequences. Face-down cards are not revealed until the game has ended.