This is more an idle thought than anything else, but here's an itch that the existing formats of magic haven't quite scratched.
So I love EDH, it's my favorite constructed format by far. I like big, epic games that last a long time and involve lots of back and forth and politicking and whatnot. I like it when magic feels like a real, protracted war, with each player being like a country vying for world domination. But here's where things sort of fall flat:
1 - games frequently end in infinite combos or big blowouts with craterhoof behemoths or whatever, rather than a series of tactical plays, which is sort of anticlimactic and not very war-like.
2 - having a huge field is generally sort of a bad idea since it's so easy to blow up the board. Of course there's nukes in real life but they aren't getting dropped onto armies every 3rd turn, plus armies are generally spread out across many fronts, which isn't really possible in magic since there's only one battlefield.
3 - I may think of more later, whatever, it's late at night and I'm just brainstorming.
Anyway, so there are other formats that use the "sphere of influence" concept, but I was thinking it might be interesting to leverage it in a new and exciting way, to really recreate the feeling of nations at war. Between players there could be a front, or maybe even multiple fronts. Basically there would be a number of stages between the two players, and you'd only be able to affect a certain stage. For example, if you had an entrenched front between you and the enemy and you used a wrath of god, instead of blowing up everything everywhere, it would only blow up the creatures on your foremost stage and your enemies' foremost stage. You'd be able to move creatures between stages you control, and once you force the enemy out of a stage (I guess each stage would have its own life total) you'd be able to move in to occupy it, and thereby ladder your way from front to front until you got to the enemy stronghold and defeated it. Of course you could also ally with another player and force them into wars on multiple fronts so they'd divide their forces, etc.
I'm thinking targeted stuff would only be able to target the stuff on the closest front to you, although that might have implications with cards like consecrated sphinx that would just get out of control if they sat on the back lines and couldn't be targeted until you got all the way to them. Effects like sheoldred, whispering one could maybe only force them to sacrifice a creature from the front next to sheoldred...maybe each front could have a different grave? Not sure how mill would work. And of course there's still player-targeted stuff that doesn't really make sense unless you're all the way to the stronghold - maybe that's best, for preventing stuff like infinite tendrils kills? but it sure makes certain cards worthless. I dunno, I'm just spouting off ideas at this point and it's probably better if I just get to sleep. But if anyone wants to chip in on this concept and figure out a way to make it work, it seems like a cool concept.
I've had a little more time to think about it, and here's how I think it would be the coolest:
-it's played on a risk board or something. I guess if you want to wuss out you could just make it a grid or something but I like the risk board idea.
-instead of each player getting a turn, each country gets a turn. Countries can be occupied by any number of players - if there's more than one player at a country, they each take a turn in order. When taking a turn for a country, everything outside that country is considered phased out (both yours and your opponents). Cards drawn in that country can only be cast in that country. Lands can only be played in that country, and you can only use mana from that country. Opponents can only be targeted, or considered in any way, if they occupy that same country. So hymn to tourach can only target opponents who occupy the country in which you've drawn it, and will only affect their hands at that country. consecrated sphinx only triggers off draws taken at that country, and adds those draws to your hand at that country. jin gitaxias, core augur only restricts enemies' hands at that country. etc. Hopefully there aren't any corner cases I'm forgetting.
-basically, hands and graveyards are local to that country. Neither of those things are destroyed when you're routed, but you can't use them until you occupy again.
-if no one occupies a country, then nothing happens and you just move on.
-if your life total is reduced to 0 at a country, you're routed. You must move all creatures you control out of that country, and all your lands there are destroyed.
-as a special move, you can choose to move creatures out of the country. To do this, you tap them and put them on the border of the country you wish them to move to. This is a sorcery-speed action but doesn't use the stack. On the next turn for the target country, at the beginning of the first main, the creature "phases in" in the new country. It will still be tapped. I'm thinking maybe there's a dice roll where moving creatures might be sacrificed, to impose a limit on moving. You also can't move from a contested country (one an opponent also occupies) to a country you don't already occupy. So you'll have to rout them if you want to advance your forward line.
-when moving to a new country, you don't get any starting hand, but you'll start drawing 1 card per turn in that country. So it's in your best interests to occupy as many countries as possible so you're drawing as many cards as possible. But keep in mind a strong enemy force will easily be able to rout many undefended countries.
Still not sure how to best set up the board. Also not sure how mill would work. Maybe just don't do it, mill is stupid anyway.
So I love EDH, it's my favorite constructed format by far. I like big, epic games that last a long time and involve lots of back and forth and politicking and whatnot. I like it when magic feels like a real, protracted war, with each player being like a country vying for world domination. But here's where things sort of fall flat:
1 - games frequently end in infinite combos or big blowouts with craterhoof behemoths or whatever, rather than a series of tactical plays, which is sort of anticlimactic and not very war-like.
2 - having a huge field is generally sort of a bad idea since it's so easy to blow up the board. Of course there's nukes in real life but they aren't getting dropped onto armies every 3rd turn, plus armies are generally spread out across many fronts, which isn't really possible in magic since there's only one battlefield.
3 - I may think of more later, whatever, it's late at night and I'm just brainstorming.
Anyway, so there are other formats that use the "sphere of influence" concept, but I was thinking it might be interesting to leverage it in a new and exciting way, to really recreate the feeling of nations at war. Between players there could be a front, or maybe even multiple fronts. Basically there would be a number of stages between the two players, and you'd only be able to affect a certain stage. For example, if you had an entrenched front between you and the enemy and you used a wrath of god, instead of blowing up everything everywhere, it would only blow up the creatures on your foremost stage and your enemies' foremost stage. You'd be able to move creatures between stages you control, and once you force the enemy out of a stage (I guess each stage would have its own life total) you'd be able to move in to occupy it, and thereby ladder your way from front to front until you got to the enemy stronghold and defeated it. Of course you could also ally with another player and force them into wars on multiple fronts so they'd divide their forces, etc.
I'm thinking targeted stuff would only be able to target the stuff on the closest front to you, although that might have implications with cards like consecrated sphinx that would just get out of control if they sat on the back lines and couldn't be targeted until you got all the way to them. Effects like sheoldred, whispering one could maybe only force them to sacrifice a creature from the front next to sheoldred...maybe each front could have a different grave? Not sure how mill would work. And of course there's still player-targeted stuff that doesn't really make sense unless you're all the way to the stronghold - maybe that's best, for preventing stuff like infinite tendrils kills? but it sure makes certain cards worthless. I dunno, I'm just spouting off ideas at this point and it's probably better if I just get to sleep. But if anyone wants to chip in on this concept and figure out a way to make it work, it seems like a cool concept.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
-it's played on a risk board or something. I guess if you want to wuss out you could just make it a grid or something but I like the risk board idea.
-instead of each player getting a turn, each country gets a turn. Countries can be occupied by any number of players - if there's more than one player at a country, they each take a turn in order. When taking a turn for a country, everything outside that country is considered phased out (both yours and your opponents). Cards drawn in that country can only be cast in that country. Lands can only be played in that country, and you can only use mana from that country. Opponents can only be targeted, or considered in any way, if they occupy that same country. So hymn to tourach can only target opponents who occupy the country in which you've drawn it, and will only affect their hands at that country. consecrated sphinx only triggers off draws taken at that country, and adds those draws to your hand at that country. jin gitaxias, core augur only restricts enemies' hands at that country. etc. Hopefully there aren't any corner cases I'm forgetting.
-basically, hands and graveyards are local to that country. Neither of those things are destroyed when you're routed, but you can't use them until you occupy again.
-if no one occupies a country, then nothing happens and you just move on.
-if your life total is reduced to 0 at a country, you're routed. You must move all creatures you control out of that country, and all your lands there are destroyed.
-as a special move, you can choose to move creatures out of the country. To do this, you tap them and put them on the border of the country you wish them to move to. This is a sorcery-speed action but doesn't use the stack. On the next turn for the target country, at the beginning of the first main, the creature "phases in" in the new country. It will still be tapped. I'm thinking maybe there's a dice roll where moving creatures might be sacrificed, to impose a limit on moving. You also can't move from a contested country (one an opponent also occupies) to a country you don't already occupy. So you'll have to rout them if you want to advance your forward line.
-when moving to a new country, you don't get any starting hand, but you'll start drawing 1 card per turn in that country. So it's in your best interests to occupy as many countries as possible so you're drawing as many cards as possible. But keep in mind a strong enemy force will easily be able to rout many undefended countries.
Still not sure how to best set up the board. Also not sure how mill would work. Maybe just don't do it, mill is stupid anyway.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6