Pentad is a way to play quick, interesting games of Magic without lands.
Here's how it works:
Give each player a facedown Magic card and a penny.
Players use a single central library. (More about the contents of this library in a second.) Deal out three cards to each player.
Choose the starting player. That player draws on their first turn, however drawing works differently than normal. The first time a player draws a card on their turn, he or she instead looks at the top three cards of the deck, puts one into their hand, removes one from the game (completely) and puts the last into the opponent's hand. (This all counts as a single card draw for in-game effects.) Any other cards drawn are done like normal, off the top of the deck.
At the start of a player's first main phase, that player chooses a color on the back of their Magic card to cover with their penny. Players, at all times, have infinite mana of whatever color their penny is covering. The starting player has a restriction on their first turn that he or she may cast only a single spell.
At the start of each player's future first main phases, that player may move their penny to cover an allied color or leave it where it is.
Each player has their own graveyard.
Those are the rules. Here's the sort of stuff that should be in the library.
The library should have no lands and otherwise be a bunch of mono-colored spells of every color plus colorless (and hybrid) cards. Avoid cards that break this mana system. I've found that commons and uncommons with a cmc of 2-5 work well, even together.
An incomplete list of things to leave out:
Cards that care about lands
Cards with alternate casting costs (like spectacle or improvise)
Cards with repeatable activated abilities (like Biogenic Ooze or "firebreathing")
Cards with expensive activated abilities (like monstrosity or morph)
I think there could be ways to expand the pool of cards that could work in this format - particularly multicolor - but right now I'm finding the pool large enough to make this an interesting and quick way to play a streamlined version of Magic.
The mana system, in particular, seems quite neat as it makes the players make a difficult choice every turn, despite providing infinite mana. The modified card draw is also important as it puts cards into the opponent's hand that force them to consider making the slow trek around the color wheel to take advantage of the resources they've received.
Here's how it works:
Give each player a facedown Magic card and a penny.
Players use a single central library. (More about the contents of this library in a second.) Deal out three cards to each player.
Choose the starting player. That player draws on their first turn, however drawing works differently than normal. The first time a player draws a card on their turn, he or she instead looks at the top three cards of the deck, puts one into their hand, removes one from the game (completely) and puts the last into the opponent's hand. (This all counts as a single card draw for in-game effects.) Any other cards drawn are done like normal, off the top of the deck.
At the start of a player's first main phase, that player chooses a color on the back of their Magic card to cover with their penny. Players, at all times, have infinite mana of whatever color their penny is covering. The starting player has a restriction on their first turn that he or she may cast only a single spell.
At the start of each player's future first main phases, that player may move their penny to cover an allied color or leave it where it is.
Each player has their own graveyard.
Those are the rules. Here's the sort of stuff that should be in the library.
The library should have no lands and otherwise be a bunch of mono-colored spells of every color plus colorless (and hybrid) cards. Avoid cards that break this mana system. I've found that commons and uncommons with a cmc of 2-5 work well, even together.
An incomplete list of things to leave out:
- Cards that care about lands
- Cards with alternate casting costs (like spectacle or improvise)
- Cards with repeatable activated abilities (like Biogenic Ooze or "firebreathing")
- Cards with expensive activated abilities (like monstrosity or morph)
I think there could be ways to expand the pool of cards that could work in this format - particularly multicolor - but right now I'm finding the pool large enough to make this an interesting and quick way to play a streamlined version of Magic.The mana system, in particular, seems quite neat as it makes the players make a difficult choice every turn, despite providing infinite mana. The modified card draw is also important as it puts cards into the opponent's hand that force them to consider making the slow trek around the color wheel to take advantage of the resources they've received.
Bishop's Soldier
Dub
Take Vengeance
Legion's Judgment
Roc Charger
Inspiring Cleric
Territorial Hammerskull
Intrusive Packbeast
Blade Instructor
Aven Sentry
Glorifier of Dusk
Inspired Charge
Gallant Cavalry
Sunhome Stalwart
Adamant Will
Knight of Sorrows
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/other-formats/homebrew-and-variant-formats/596580-zeddemore-draft-while-you-play
If you liked Zeddemore, this is worth a try. I think it does better at creating a quality vs. quantity drafting aspect.
I don't have the list for that deck, but the individual card choices don't matter too much. Here's some guidelines I've found to work well.
- 27-28% land
- Somewhat lower and wider curve than a typical draft deck (one-drops fit in well as do expensive spells)
- Discard outlets
- Variety of effects and power level
But like with Zeddemore, lots of stuff works.Thanks for taking a look at this and a very belated thanks for looking at Zeddemore way back when.
I've got a format I've really been enjoying recently. Here's a video showing how it works. Thoughts?