Stained Glass Sparks 2.2 © 2020
This format is to re-celebrate the set War of the Spark and to try to foster a new five-color format.
Deck size is 100 cards. All cards must be sleeved.
This is Highlander format. There are no Commanders or Generals.
Up to 1 card of each color may be proxied, and up to 5 colorless cards.
All proxies must be full color and approximately the size of a standard Magic card.
All cards fall into one of two categories, Robust or Fragile
ROBUST CARDS – Robust cards go to the graveyard when countered or destroyed, but are removed from game when exiled. They act as you would expect Magic cards to act. (Robust cards with Fade counters still get Fade counters, and die.) All lands are robust.
Robust card categories:
Any card of Mythic rarity.
Any Planeswalker.
Any Legendary permanent card or Legendary spell card.
Any creature with Persist or Undying.
Any card with multiple colors of mana in its casting cost, including hybrid mana symbols.
This does NOT include mana symbols in kicker, reminder, or other text.
FRAGILE CARDS – Fragile cards are exiled when countered, destroyed, completed, or exiled.
Fragile permanents come into play with a number of Fade counters on them equal to their CMC (except for Fragile permanents that already have the Fade keyword, which use their original number of Fade counters). Each controller’s upkeep, remove a Fade counter from them. When they have no more Fade counters, exile them.
Fragile non-permanent spells are exiled when cast unless they have buyback and the buyback cost was paid. Even Fragile flashback spells are immediately exiled.
Deck Construction
You must include at least 10 cards of each of the 5 colors (WUBRG) in your deck.
Each card with multiple colors in its casting cost can count towards only ONE of its colors.
In the 10 cards mentioned above, in each color, you must have at least:
1 Planeswalker and 1 Legendary Creature (from War of the Spark set), and
1 other Legendary creature (from any set), and
1 other Planeswalker (from any set).
LANDS are all robust. Legal land cards include:
All basic lands, but each basic land must feature different artwork!
All non-basic lands which have been printed at common or uncommon rarity.
You must include at least 5 of each basic land type (Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, Forest) in your deck. Remember, different art on every basic land!
Extra Card – Spark Emblem
Each player will receive a double-sided Spark Emblem.
You will start the game with it on its DARK side. That side reads, “At the end of your turn, lose 1 life. If you would lose the game, instead, your life total becomes 7, then randomly shuffle: 1/4 your exiled cards (round down) and ½ your graveyard cards (round down, exiling the rest) into your library, then you gain protection from everything until the beginning of your next turn, then flip this emblem.”
The LIGHT side reads, “At the beginning of your upkeep, gain 1 life. Your Fragile items lose Fragility. If a player with a LIGHT emblem dies or goes DARK, sacrifice a land, flip this emblem, and your Fragile permanents regain Fragility.”
Mill, Discard, and Exile effect changes
When any effect causes a player with a DARK Spark emblem to mill or discard, each card goes to exile or graveyard zone, depending on Fragile/Robust status of the particular card.
Players with LIGHT Spark emblems have all such cards go to their graveyards.
True exile effects still send any cards to exile, no matter your Spark emblem status.
Game Play
Life total is 50.
Each player starts with 1 of each basic land in their hand (see below for style points), and shuffles the rest of their deck. Then each player draws 7 cards, up to 12. Then each player selects 5 cards and put those at the bottom of their library in any order.
When all players have their starting hand, the starting player lays down their Spark emblem (DARK side up), and play begins. (First player does draw a card on the first turn.) All players start their first turn by playing their Spark emblem, DARK side up.
Style Points
To reward players who were ambassadors for the game and who were wise enough to keep the cards, before play begins and after all players have selected their starting hands, each player may reveal any number of (non-proxied) Guru basic lands in their hands. Each player who does so receives 3 banked Fade counters for later use for each land so revealed. Similarly, (non-proxied) APAC or EURO lands give 1 Fade counter each.
Special Spark flip rule
On any turn, at the beginning of their first main phase, if a player has 1 (or more) of each basic land type in play, and 1 (or more) of a (non-Bolas) permanent of each color in play (multicolored permanents count towards only ONE of their colors), and 1 (or more) (non-Bolas) Planeswalker(s) in play, they may choose to flip their Spark emblem from DARK to LIGHT, no matter their life total. All their exiled cards remain exiled. They may CHOOSE 1/4 (round down) of the cards in their graveyard to shuffle into their library (the rest remain in their graveyard).
Special Nicol Bolas rule
If a player casts a Nicol Bolas creature or Planeswalker or spell, they lose 3 life, discard a card, and sacrifice 1 non-land permanent (to their graveyard). If their Spark emblem was LIGHT, they flip it to DARK, put Fragile counters on all their Fragile permanents, and this triggers the “When A Player Dies” rule below.
Special Planeswalker ability – when your emblem is DARK
DESPARK
-2: Pay WB, Pay 2 life; Exile target permanent with CMC 4 or greater.
Special Planeswalker ability – when your emblem is LIGHT
RESPARK
-2: Pay RG, Pay 2 life; Return target permanent card from your graveyard to the battlefield
OR
-2: Pay UG, Pay 2 life; Return target non-permanent card from your graveyard to your hand,
and add 2 mana of any 1 color to your mana pool.
When A Player Dies
When a player with a LIGHT Spark emblem dies, all players whose Spark emblems are LIGHT flip them to DARK, put Fragile counters on all their Fragile permanents, and sacrifice a land (to their graveyard). Players whose Spark emblem is already DARK do none of these things.
Other Death/Destruction Effects (not exile)
When your Planeswalker dies, proliferate OR gain 1 life.
When your Legendary Creature dies, proliferate OR put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control.
When your Legendary Enchantment is destroyed, proliferate OR gain 1 life.
(*Legendary Enchantment Creatures choose one mode or the other, not both.)
When your Legendary Artifact is destroyed, proliferate OR put a Treasure token into play.
When your Legendary Land is destroyed, proliferate OR put a Treasure token into play.
Banned List
Same as paper EDH/Commander at https://mtgcommander.net/index.php/banned-list/ plus:
Laboratory Maniac Platinum Angel Gideon of the Trials Elixir of Immortality
Lich's Mastery Nissa, Worldwaker all Companion cards all Judgment Wishes
Vraska the Unseen Vraska, Scheming Gorgon Vraska, Golgari Queen
Nicol Bolas, Dragon God Jace, the Living Guildpact Jace, Wielder of Mysteries
Jace, The Mind Sculptor Clear The Mind Revel in Riches
Any other card with “you cannot lose/your opponents cannot win/instant win or lose” language.
Any other card which references your starting life total or your library size.
FAQ
Q: Why Robust and Fragile? Fade counters will be a pain. This going to kill token strategies.
A: Not necessarily. But my impression of War of the Spark is that it is all of humanity (and Planeswalkers, which can arguably be construed as superhuman) against Nicol Bolas, in the latter’s quest to achieve Godhood. Mere mortals (i.e. non-legendary, mono-colored creatures, without persist or undying) should have some huge disadvantage, at least to start. Similarly, weaker spells. If you want token decks, play another format, or see the glaring loophole inherent in the rules..
Q: Why DARK vs LIGHT Spark theme?
A: To give a flavor of a Good Vs Evil trope, with the bad guys getting the upper hand at the beginning, then just when it looks darkest (i.e. you are about to die), salvation swoops in, and you get a respite (only 7 life, though!), and things start looking up for you. You even get a few troops back.
Q: Why the “Flip Yourself LIGHT” rule?
A: To reward players who build a balanced-color deck. I really want to see beautiful, colorful decks.
Q: Why only common and uncommon rarity lands?
A: Because it’s already a money race enough with Planeswakers and legends, don’t you think?
Q: Why the Bolas rule?
A: Because he’s supposed to be the enemy in this game. Although the players are fighting each other as in any multiplayer Magic game, there is supposed to be an unspoken common enemy, Bolas. If you choose to use a Bolas card in your deck, there should be a small penalty, with ripple effects. All the Bolas cards are arguably good cards.
Q: Why banlist additions?
A: I want this to avoid combo as much as possible. I want this to be a slugfest. That’s my impression of what the set was supposed to be about. Yes, I know, these games could run long.
Q: Why a Planeswalker of each color specifically from War of the Spark Set?
A: Because that’s the only way I will be able to afford that many Planeswalkers, quite literally. That’s where Planeswalkers really came into their own, affordability-wise, in my opinion.
Please help me refine the rules, and especially the banlist!
Any more questions, email me at [email protected], because I would love to discuss this with you.
