Based on feedback and further playtesting, I present the 2nd version of the single player Magic the Gathering format: Lucky Lavarunner.

Introduction

Lucky Lavarunner is a single player Magic the Gathering format I have created, which is played using the preconstructed deck to defeat an opposing planeswalker in 1-3 turns. Link to decklist. The player must find the right card sequencing, think tactically, and gamble a little, to come out on top.

The deck is constructed with the goal of no card being able to win on its own. All cards have different synergies with eachother which can be utilized to defeat the opposing planeswalker. Powerful cards were intentionally not put in the decklist to make the games more challenging and to create interesting game states. Additionally, the decklist doesn’t include cards which use counters or can create tokens.

Format Rules

A game of Lucky Lavarunner is set up by placing 2 plains, 2 mountains, & 3 islands on the battlefield untapped. A dice representing the opposing planeswalker’s loyalty counters is placed above your battlefield. The preconstructed deck is shuffled and a hand of 3 cards is drawn. The player has a staring life of 2, and the opposing planeswalker starts at 2 loyalty counters. The player takes the first turn and does not draw a card.

The opposing planeswalker is both a colorless card and a player in the game rules. It has one static ability and one +1 ability. The static ability is “All damage dealt and all life gained is reduced to 1”. So cards like Lucky Offering will only gain you 1 life, and Ghitu Lavarunner can only deal 1 combat damage. The +1 ability is “Deal 1 damage to each opponent”, and it is activated once during the opposing planeswalker’s turn as their only action. The game ends when either the player reaches 0 life or the opposing planeswalker has 0 loyalty counters.

When all this comes together it creates a game where the player each turn either must deal damage to the opposing planeswalker from several sources or find a way to gain life so they can continue to fight another turn.