MtG Party Mode: The Tower

The Kitchen Table forum

Posted on Aug. 10, 2018, 1:34 p.m. by Wild_Camilleon

Hey there! I have alot to cover but bare with me here, I think you might like this post idea. A while ago I was sitting around organizing my cards, given I am little over a year into the game, I had plenty to build with... but nothing “game changing.” Ixalan had released and Tribal was killing my two person play group, so we taught a few of our friends... or well we tried. Yet it was clear tribal was a mechanic that took a deeper understanding of the rules to truly play effectively. I wanted to be done with tribal for a bit, even if my Modern Merfolk was doing great. I wanted to teach the others the key basics of gameplay, threat assessment, and color combos. Well I had ALOT of white border old cards... and it hit me. A new idea, that probably has already had versions posted before I bet, and I called it “The Tower” I spent all night working on it and the next day during Study Hall.. four of us gathered around a table and I brought out two deck boxes stuffed with cards. The others looked confused given my recent wins with my Merfolk, but the confusion deepened when I told them I didn’t have a 60 card deck. I had 120 cards in one box, and 120 lands in the other. The game had begun, and suddenly we were having a blast. A land every turm, a new spell every turn, and quirky old cards that were simple and fun at heart. Well since then the tower has changed... it has become something... truly complex at heart. Not in how it is played, but how intense each match is. With a Modern set of 360 cards, and 160 lands... Tower is a game like no other. Any number of players, crazy combos, no game is ever the same, and over all just a fantastic game of Magic. Cards like Last Stand are the exact kinda crazy this game mode wants!! Even better is the game allows friends who cant afford a deck to play, all players have the same shot to win, and at no point can anyone pull off a turn 1 win. Oh did I mention the number 360 spells was chosen so a tower could also be a cube if you wanna draft? :)

What You’ll Need:

-360 Spells

—60 Red

—60 Blue

—60 Black

—60 White

—60 Green

—30 Colorless (Artifacts or Eldrazi)

—30 Multi-colored

-160 Lands

—30 Mountains

—30 Islands

—30 Swamps

—30 Plains

—30 Forests

—10 Searchlands (Like Terramorphic Expanse

-A few people, 2 - 8 players ideally but I’ve done 10.

-Storage Container (A Bundle Box container is perfect size un-sleeved! Sleeved is a monster of a whole other kind)

How to Play: -Each Player starts the game with 30 life.

-Separate the Spells from the Lands, stack them in center. (You will probably need two “stacks” for the spells, and again the Land stack should be separate)

-Determine who goes first. -Shuffle up

-Draw in a clock wise fashion starting with Player 1.

-Each Player draws 3 lands and 4 spells to start.

-NOBODY DRAWS ON THEIR FIRST TURN. This ensures everyturn you end with two in hand assuming you played a land. This helps us make sure you have the right number of cards in hand!

-Play Magic!!

Additional Rules We Have Added: -Before the game begins each player has 2 Perfect Mulligans for the spell stack, and 2 Perfect Mulligans for the land stack.

-During the game each player has 3 Perfect Mulligans for the spell stack, and 3 Perfect Mulligans for the land stack.

-When a player runs out of spells in hand, they draw 4 spell cards from the spell stack. This happens everytime.

-If a player is asked to discard a card from hand, they may NOT choose a land card. This is an easy choice, and messes with two lands in hand at end step. Ergo a player MUST discard a spell. The only time this is negated is if the card requires or ALLOWS the player to discard a land card. In which case, the player should have 1 land in hand at end step for the rest of the game. Or 0 of the end up discarding both land cards in hand.

-Max hand size is still 7, however your lands in hand do not count. In other words 2 lands and 6 spells is okay, but 2 lands and 8 spells is not.

-Everyone shares a graveyard, but if there is an aftermath or from yhe grave play, only the player who had summoned it may use that.

Cards to Avoid:

-Mass amounts of life gain, this keeps the game from ending practically.

-Blaze #turn21nuke

-Crappy commons.

-Tibalt.

Cards to Include:

-Massive mana drop spells.

-Crazy powerful spells.

-Legendary Creatures, Eldrazi Titans, and Planeswalkers.

-Five-color-non-sense

-Unset cards like Earl of Squirrel

-Classic commons like Cancel, Lightning Strike, or Raise Dead.

Well... that sums up everything I had to share with yins all!! I hope you try Tower out sometime!!