War for dominaria format idea
The Blind Eternities forum
Posted on Dec. 29, 2025, 7:19 p.m. by KermitWizard
I have one of those maps of Dominaria. Its cool to look at and has given me a format idea I am thinking about lately. Dipping into the old (I think revised?) rulebook also finds this quote, from Dr. Garfield: 'In Magic, players represent powerful wizards battling for control of a plane of Dominaria. The object of the game is to drive your opponent from the plane, leaving you in sole control.' p.3-4.
The idea is that instead of single-match games battling in abstraction, players could use a map of Dominaria, divided into regoins, and wage a series of battles, to win. Players can use a different deck, if they wish, for each battle, and they can sideboard modify decks, inbetween matches. But, the overall game is a series of battles, in a long war, not just one battle.
This adds strategic depth, by incentivising planning for a series of battles, with one or more decks, above and beyond planning a single match. This war format could be played with two players, each having access to multiple decks of their own design. This format could also hypothetically be played with teams of players, fighting simultaneous battles on multiple fronts, or in epic battles of multiple players battling for a signle region.
Players use pieces to represent themselves on the map, and start on opposite sides of the map. Movement on the map works in rounds, with players taking turns for movement on the map, each round. When a player takes initiative to move on the map to a region, the other player may (if their piece is adjacent to that region on the map) then choose to also move to that region, and engage in a battle, or they may instead choose to move to a different region. When a player takes initiative to move to a region, they can only move to an adject region, thus all regions behind them are secure, and a tide of war emerges, through the series of battles.
When a player wins a match, they move the defeated player out of the region, and back to an adjacent region. When a player is defeated in a battle and there are no more regions for them to move back to, they lose the war.
This is an all day/night type of format. Providing a trophy card for the winner, or the map itself, would be worth it.
Has anyone attempted a format like this before? Are ideas like this mentioned in other sources? What rules problems would/might arise in trying to implement this idea?
Map: https://jaredblando.com/magic-the-gatheringmaps/p/dominariadigitaldownload
KermitWizard says... #3
Risk is a good comparison. Its an area control game. Crossing an ocean could work the same as risk, too, with a dotted line. The design of the regions and dotted lines would require care, just like the way the risk map is designed, to create strategic choke points in designing which regions are adjacent.
Im thinking movement can work with an 'initiative' system, where the player or team who moves first changes each round, and when the first player moves, using their initiative, then all the other players move in response.
A player could conceivably be surrounded, depending on how the map regions are designed. I like that idea. Maybe that would be another way to win.
legendofa says... #2
So kind of Risk x M:tG?
How do ocean crossings work?
If you're playing with more than two people, you should have a way to let two people take turns at the same time. I can imagine a four-person game where Person 1 keeps trying to attack Person 2 (maybe to control an area, maybe just out of spite), leaving 3 and 4 just sitting and watching them go back and forth for literal hours.
If areas behind a player are secure, does that mean a player can't become surrounded?
December 29, 2025 11:59 p.m.