Guess what guys, it's another new format...
The Kitchen Table forum
Posted on Aug. 24, 2015, 9:01 p.m. by HolyFalcon
...and it's called Time of Need.
It's a 1v1 game meant for short time frames (like 10 minutes). It uses 40 card singleton decks. It uses the Modern legality rules (Eighth Edition onwards) and uses the Modern banned list, and all creatures with converted mana cost one or less are banned. Here's the catch: the format doesn't use life. To win, you have to attack with five non-token creatures at once, and have them deal combat damage to the defending player.
All suggestions appreciated!
silverwolf5o says... #4
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/time-of-need-rakdos/
hows this?
August 25, 2015 12:19 a.m.
What about alternate win conditions? Can I mill the opponent? Can I Biovisionary + Rite of Replication ?
August 25, 2015 2:38 a.m.
Having to get 5 guys on board seems hard and just knocks a lot of decks out of the format also the five attacker rule seems to counter the idea of having short games
August 25, 2015 3:15 a.m.
Triforce-Finder says... #7
That sounds to me like a game of chicken with occasional unblockables dying to removal or board wipes. But it's your format, so I'll just point out a few issues in the mechanics.
Banning creatures with CMC1 conflicts with the goal of creating short games. It makes the first turn moot and bans almost every useful mana dork.
There are certain cards you would have to ban in order to make the format work properly. Silent Arbiter for example.
The win condition is not only slow to achieve and easy to prevent, but also poorly worded. For example, what about attacking with more than 5 creatures and getting one blocked or removed? Then not all of them would deal damage, no win. And what about exchanging a Spincrusher for a Mistblade Shinobi? The one that deals damage has not been declared as attacker and therefore not attacked (yes, it enters attacking, but hasn't attacked. weird, huh?).
I won't even start trying to fix all that, but rather propose something different that will make the games a whole lot faster and more inclusive:
No CMC Bans. Each player starts with 5 live points. If more than one point of damage would be dealt to a player, it is reduced to one. Double strike works. Bolt to the head works. Everything works. That includes a lot more deck types and makes the games pretty fast.
Also, for fast games you want the decks to perform stable even more than usual. You could grant 3 free mulligans for each player. Or you could reduce the deck size to 30 cards. Whatever works and is fun.
gandalfthewizard says... #2
So they need to deal "damage" during the damage step to trigger a win? Seems interesting.
August 24, 2015 9:40 p.m.