Also because the LoadingReadyRun Pre-Prerelease is happening today (11 am PST, 2 pm EST) (again because of worlds), so there's a good chance most of the commons and uncommons would be spoiled on that stream anyway.
So with Sylvan library you look at the top 9 cards, put one from each set of three in your hand and the other six in your graveyard, then pay 8 life. Since with this card you never draw a card, you can't put any back. Am I reading that right?
I play in a play group that plays a few times a month, and we almost always play multiplayer magic - even if we are drafting, or playing standard, or EDH, or whatever.
We usually play using Secret Partners. So you have a few lands, and cards that match the colors of the lands, you specifically match them up for whatever number we have. So if we have 3 people, we might have an Island, Forest, and Plains, and a Blue Card, Green Card, and White Card. They are dealt out randomly, and the people who are dealt the lands reveal them, the other people don't. You win with your team (The Island Player and the Blue Card Player win when either of them win, or when there are no other players). The players with the colored spells are not allowed to reveal who they are.
We learned about this from watching the Command Zone, and it works really well to get people who know who its safe to attack (you have specific enemies) but also adds some intrigue into who to help or hurt if you can figure out the clues from your secret partner. For odd numbers of players we deal out one extra colored spell, and that player is on their own team (but is incentivized to try to convince other people they are on their team...)
For a long time, I've wanted to expand this basic idea into a tiny deck of cards that are slightly more interesting to allow for more set-ups. A game that has a mechanic that I wanted to try and emulate was Shadow Hunters since it has, basically, secret teams with hidden roles. One of the mechanics of the roles has players revealing at certain points to gain an advantage in the game - and I always thought that was interesting.
Then comes Battlebond. There are a lot of really neat multiplayer cards, and specifically, team cards that seem really fun. However - due to the mechanics of secret partners - even though you're on a team, you aren't revealed as on a team at any point. So the design of the special set-up cards all of the sudden sounded like a great idea! If there are conditions in which the face down player can reveal, then from then on you'd be a team (and, specifically, NOT opponents anymore - which has a LOT of mechanical relevance).
So I came up with a few ideas for these set-up cards and was hoping to get some feedback - and hear some ideas - and share what I've been working on. Once I've gotten a set I'm happy with, I'll be making some graphic designed set-up sheets that can be printed.
The Reveal Cards:
After these cards are dealt to the players, these players will reveal their cards at the beginning of the game and gain the benefit:
Plains: Your creatures gain +0/+1
Forest: At the beginning of your pre-combat main phase, gain 1
Island: On the beginning of your first turn, draw a card. Your hand limit is increased by one.
Mountain: Your creatures gain +1/+0
Swamp: Whenever a player sacrifices a creature, gain 1 life.
The Hidden Cards:
These cards are dealt to the players, and will remain hidden until the player meets the conditions and chooses to reveal:
White: You may reveal when your partner is being attacked by 3 or more creatures, or has lost the game. Exile target attacking creature.
White: You may reveal when your partner is attacking with 3 or more creatures, or has lost the game. Attacking creatures gain +1/+1 until end of turn.
Green: You may reveal when your partner is targeted by an artifact or enchantment, or has lost the game. Destroy target artifact or enchantment.
Green: You may reveal when your partner controls a creature with power 4 or greater, or has lost the game. Target creature gains +2/+2 and trample until end of turn.
Blue: You may reveal when your partner has discarded a card, or has lost the game. Target player draws 2 cards.
Blue: You may reveal when your partner has two spells on the stack, or has lost the game. Copy target spell, you may choose new targets for the copy.
Red: You may reveal when a land controlled by your opponent has been destroyed, or they have lost the game. Destroy target land.
Red: You may reveal when your partner deals non-combat damage, or has lost the game. Target player takes damage equal to the amount of non-combat damage they've taken this turn.
Black: You may reveal when a spell controlled by your partner is countered this turn, or they have lost the game. Target player may cast cards from their graveyard this turn, until the end of the turn if a card would be put into their graveyard, remove it from the game instead.
Black: You may reveal when your partner has sacrificed two or more creatures this turn, or has lost the game. Return all creature cards put into target players graveyard this turn to their hand.
Colorless: You may reveal when you would lose the game. Instead of losing, you don't. Gain 10 life and draw 1 card for each opponent still in the game.
My hope is that the revealed cards offer a decent advantage vs their difficulty to reveal. You can't plan around who your partner is, or what deck they are playing, so hopefully the reveal clauses are common enough that in most games you'd be able to flip (your group could simply not include cards that couldn't be triggered when they do the set-up).
If you have 5 players, for example - you would choose 2 lands, and 2 color cards (that match the lands), and then one additional color card (or the colorless card).
If you have 7 players, you could have 3 teams of 2 and the colorless card, or 2 teams of 3 (2 face down players per team), and the colorless card.
Let me know what you think, and (especially) what doesn't look reasonable! I've got a lot more face down designs - but I think wrote enough to get the idea across.
Boros and Selesnya love this
We usually play using Secret Partners. So you have a few lands, and cards that match the colors of the lands, you specifically match them up for whatever number we have. So if we have 3 people, we might have an Island, Forest, and Plains, and a Blue Card, Green Card, and White Card. They are dealt out randomly, and the people who are dealt the lands reveal them, the other people don't. You win with your team (The Island Player and the Blue Card Player win when either of them win, or when there are no other players). The players with the colored spells are not allowed to reveal who they are.
We learned about this from watching the Command Zone, and it works really well to get people who know who its safe to attack (you have specific enemies) but also adds some intrigue into who to help or hurt if you can figure out the clues from your secret partner. For odd numbers of players we deal out one extra colored spell, and that player is on their own team (but is incentivized to try to convince other people they are on their team...)
For a long time, I've wanted to expand this basic idea into a tiny deck of cards that are slightly more interesting to allow for more set-ups. A game that has a mechanic that I wanted to try and emulate was Shadow Hunters since it has, basically, secret teams with hidden roles. One of the mechanics of the roles has players revealing at certain points to gain an advantage in the game - and I always thought that was interesting.
Then comes Battlebond. There are a lot of really neat multiplayer cards, and specifically, team cards that seem really fun. However - due to the mechanics of secret partners - even though you're on a team, you aren't revealed as on a team at any point. So the design of the special set-up cards all of the sudden sounded like a great idea! If there are conditions in which the face down player can reveal, then from then on you'd be a team (and, specifically, NOT opponents anymore - which has a LOT of mechanical relevance).
So I came up with a few ideas for these set-up cards and was hoping to get some feedback - and hear some ideas - and share what I've been working on. Once I've gotten a set I'm happy with, I'll be making some graphic designed set-up sheets that can be printed.
The Reveal Cards:
After these cards are dealt to the players, these players will reveal their cards at the beginning of the game and gain the benefit:
Plains: Your creatures gain +0/+1
Forest: At the beginning of your pre-combat main phase, gain 1
Island: On the beginning of your first turn, draw a card. Your hand limit is increased by one.
Mountain: Your creatures gain +1/+0
Swamp: Whenever a player sacrifices a creature, gain 1 life.
The Hidden Cards:
These cards are dealt to the players, and will remain hidden until the player meets the conditions and chooses to reveal:
White: You may reveal when your partner is being attacked by 3 or more creatures, or has lost the game. Exile target attacking creature.
White: You may reveal when your partner is attacking with 3 or more creatures, or has lost the game. Attacking creatures gain +1/+1 until end of turn.
Green: You may reveal when your partner is targeted by an artifact or enchantment, or has lost the game. Destroy target artifact or enchantment.
Green: You may reveal when your partner controls a creature with power 4 or greater, or has lost the game. Target creature gains +2/+2 and trample until end of turn.
Blue: You may reveal when your partner has discarded a card, or has lost the game. Target player draws 2 cards.
Blue: You may reveal when your partner has two spells on the stack, or has lost the game. Copy target spell, you may choose new targets for the copy.
Red: You may reveal when a land controlled by your opponent has been destroyed, or they have lost the game. Destroy target land.
Red: You may reveal when your partner deals non-combat damage, or has lost the game. Target player takes damage equal to the amount of non-combat damage they've taken this turn.
Black: You may reveal when a spell controlled by your partner is countered this turn, or they have lost the game. Target player may cast cards from their graveyard this turn, until the end of the turn if a card would be put into their graveyard, remove it from the game instead.
Black: You may reveal when your partner has sacrificed two or more creatures this turn, or has lost the game. Return all creature cards put into target players graveyard this turn to their hand.
Colorless: You may reveal when you would lose the game. Instead of losing, you don't. Gain 10 life and draw 1 card for each opponent still in the game.
My hope is that the revealed cards offer a decent advantage vs their difficulty to reveal. You can't plan around who your partner is, or what deck they are playing, so hopefully the reveal clauses are common enough that in most games you'd be able to flip (your group could simply not include cards that couldn't be triggered when they do the set-up).
If you have 5 players, for example - you would choose 2 lands, and 2 color cards (that match the lands), and then one additional color card (or the colorless card).
If you have 7 players, you could have 3 teams of 2 and the colorless card, or 2 teams of 3 (2 face down players per team), and the colorless card.
Let me know what you think, and (especially) what doesn't look reasonable! I've got a lot more face down designs - but I think wrote enough to get the idea across.
Edit:Nm read it backwards