Team games
Asked by manchini22 8 years ago
Ok, so i was playing a team game last night with some friends and i have a few questions on the rules of it. 1st is when you are sharing a life total do cards like (player discards top of deck until XXX is found) apply to one of the teammates or does it apply to both? I used a Trepanation Blade attacking, and we ruled it that game as whoever was attacking can pick the player to discard. 2nd when you cast an enchantment can you pass it to your teammate? Not an aura card but basic enchantment, also does that enchantment work for the person who cast that card or does it work for both players on the same team? Ex. one of my opponents cast Frontier Siege and was going to pass it to his teammate for one of the effects.
Thanks so much,manchini22
manchini22 says... #2
And they don't share the effect correct? Unless started otherwise all players/creatures etc use it?
June 13, 2015 2:05 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #3
To be clear:
- Unless you're playing with explicitly modified rules, teams share only life totals and turns, nothing else. They don't share control of permanents or effects.
- Effects that target a player still target only one player. Effects that care about a defending player will use the player the effect's controller is attacking (you attack players, not teams).
- "You" in the text of an object refers only to that object's controller. Because control is not shared amongst members of a team, "you" effects still apply only to the singular player who controls them.
June 13, 2015 2:47 p.m.
As an additional something to what Epochalyptik said - there's a very important exception to that rule for Two-Headed Giant that I had overlooked for the longest time, being:
810.8a. Players win and lose the game only as a team, not as individuals. If either player on a team loses the game, the team loses the game. If either player on a team wins the game, the entire team wins the game. If an effect would prevent a player from winning the game, that players team cant win the game. If an effect would prevent a player from losing the game, that players team cant lose the game.
That means if you cast, for example, Angel's Grace, both players on the team can't lose the game this turn instead of only the one.
This is the only non-intuitive exception, but you may want to review the entire 810.8
June 14, 2015 4:56 a.m.
@ Epochalyptik Your first point is incorrect, here are the relevant rules:
810.7. The Two-Headed Giant variant uses different combat rules than other multiplayer variants.
810.7a Each teams creatures attack the other team as a group. During the combat phase, the active team is the attacking team and each player on the active team is an attacking player. Likewise, the nonactive team is the defending team and each player on the nonactive team is a defending player.
810.7b Any one-shot effect that refers to the defending player refers to one specific defending player, not to both of the defending players. The controller of the effect chooses which one the spell or ability refers to at the time the effect is applied. The same is true for any one-shot effectthat refers to the attacking player.
Any characteristic-defining ability that refers to the defending player refers to one specific defending player, not to both of the defending players. The controller of the object with the characteristic-defining ability chooses which one the ability refers to at the time the nonactive players become defending players.
All other cases in which the defending player is referred to actually refer to both defending players. If the reference involves a positive comparison (such as asking whether the defendingplayer controls an Island) or a relative comparison (such as asking whether you control more creatures than the defending player), it gets only one answer. This answer is yes if either defending player in the comparison would return a yes answer if compared individually. If thereference involves a negative comparison (such as asking whether the defending player controls no black permanents), it also gets only one answer. This answer is yes if performing the analogous positive comparison would return a no answer. The same is true for all other casesthat refer to the attacking player.
810.7c As the declare attackers step begins, the active team declares attackers. If an effect of an object controlled by a defending player prohibits a creature from attacking him or her, that creature cant attack the defending team. The active team has one combined attack, and that set of attacking creatures must be legal as a whole. See rule 508.1.
Example: One player in a Two-Headed Giant game controls Teferis Moat, which says As Teferis Moat enters the battlefield, choose a color. and Creatures of the chosen color without flying cant attack you. Creatures of the chosen color without flying cant attack that players team.
810.7d As the declare blockers step begins, the defending team declares blockers. Creatures controlled by the defending players can block any attacking creatures. The defending team has one combined block, and that set of blocking creatures must be legal as a whole. See rule 509.1.
Example: If an attacking creature has forestwalk and either player on the defending team controls a Forest, the creature cant be blocked.
810.7e Once blockers have been declared, for each attacking creature thats become blocked by multiple creatures, the active team announces the damage assignment order among the blocking creatures. Then, for each creature thats blocking multiple creatures, the defending team announces the damage assignment order among the attacking creatures.
810.7f As the combat damage step begins, the active team announces how each attacking creature will assign its combat damage. If an attacking creature would assign combat damage to the defending team, the active team chooses only one of the defending players for that creature to assign its combat damage to. Then the defending team announces how each blocking creature will assign its combat damage. See rule 510.1.
@manchini22, I would suggest just reading over the comp rules for Two-Headed Giant, because there are a lot of non-intuitive cases. (For instance, If I Exsanguinate for X = 3, the opposing team loses 6 life, and my team gains 6 life. This is part of the reason I don't like Two-Headed Giant.)
June 14, 2015 10:14 p.m.
Edit: Sorry, meant to say Epoch's second point was incorrect (partly at least).
billpasdmf says... Accepted answer #1
You're correct on the first point. The player that controls either the spell or ability that causes an effect controls whichever player to target. Which is to say, if you're playing two headed giant (2v2) you pick one of your two opponents.
On the second point, no. You can't just "pass" any permanent you control or cast to your teammate. Whenever there's an effect that you control puts a permanent onto the battlefield, unless it specifies that you can or do put it under someone else's control, it goes under your control.
June 13, 2015 1:16 p.m.