I wanted to share a project I've been working on for the last year-- a new multiplayer format. Like many people, I've been playing Magic on and off for many years starting with Standard at FNMs back in the day. I love that multiplayer Magic is thriving, but wish that there was more format variety, particularly something that could incorporate more elements of 60-card playstyles. Unable to shake this thought, I've made a kitchen table format that tackles this challenge; I call it Coalition. I've put together a collection of explainer docs here, but I'll introduce it in this post too.
Coalition is a 4-player eternal format hybridizing high-power 60 card deck playstyles into multiplayer Magic. Players play a match of 3 games using decks that bring together a creature type and its allies (aka a "coalition" of that type).
To build a Coalition deck, choose a legendary creature "leader" then choose a creature type "affiliated" with it to unite the other cards in the deck. Affiliation is a new term, similar to color identity but for creature types, that describes the creature types a card is associated with. Decks represent coalitions of the chosen creature type, so all cards in a deck must be affiliated with the chosen coalition type. As an example, Kaalia of the Vast might be chosen to lead a Dragon coalition-- all cards in the deck must then either be Dragon type or have the Dragon type printed on them. In a Dragon coalition, cards like Invasion of Tarkir, Spit Flame, Ancient Silver Dragon, and Dragonmaster Outcast could be included. Cards that are not any creature type and do not reference any creature type are "unaffiliated" and not subject to restrictions... so Lightning Bolt is still a safe choice for any deck.
Because Coalition is a creature-focused format, it has an unusual deck structure. Decks are 60-cards with a 15 card sideboard, but they aren't quite highlander or 4x. Creatures and non-basic lands may be included up to 4x times, but other spells are limited to 1x. This structure keeps an emphasis on the creature coalition, and provides a unique deckbuilding challenge. There are also *no other legendary cards allowed* other than the deck's coalition leader; this keeps the leader special as well as keeping power levels in check.
Speaking of leaders-- they start in your sideboard, and act like a fusion of companions and commanders. Once on each of your turns as a sorcery, you can place the leader into your hand. There's no tax or payment, and if it transitions zones you can move it back to your sideboard (similar to commanders and the command zone). Repeatable free access to a legendary creature card is an extremely powerful tool for decks, but don't worry too much-- the high power here is intentional and considered, and it's important that games be faster than battlecruiser formats.
There’s one final mechanic: victory points. Coalition is played as a three game match. This structure is historically a difficult challenge for multiplayer, as traditional best-of-3 would take too many games. Coalition solves this with "victory points" which are earned by players during each game from combat damage to their opponents. Players can earn up to 21 victory points per game, and win the game at 21. As a way of keeping other game ending strategies viable, winning the game guarantees the winner 21 victory points no matter how the game was won and what points they were at when the game ended.
At the end of each game, all players add the victory points they held to their ranking. This ranking is really important: losing a game won't matter very much if you still got a lot of victory points by the end of the game. The winner of the match is the player with the most cumulative victory points across all three games. No matter the strategy, decks will need to be consistent about gaining victory points over every game— not just winning or performing well in one game.
I've been playtesting this on and off with a few groups for about 10 months now. It's undergone plenty of changes, but it's in a good place. Some players new to the format express concerns over power levels, but it intentionally encourages deck archetypes run in other high-power formats: go ahead and build that Murktide Regent delve deck, Atraxa reanimator deck, or Skirk Prospector Goblin combo deck. There's enough consistent power across three opponents to be able to deal with threats, and each game will play out pretty differently. And three opponents being able to sideboard keeps a lot of overpowered strategies in check, especially if one player gets into archenemy territory.
I know there's a lot here, but I don't think it's too much more complex than any other way of playing Magic. If you’ve played Commander and just about any 60 card format, the inspirations should be pretty clear and it should be easy to hit the ground running. I've done my homework on the technicalities, too; there's a comprehensive rules modification draft you can check for more details. The official docs page also lists out a few more specifics that I skipped over here, sample decks, plenty of FAQs, and importantly a banlist. Lastly, this specification is still a draft; we’ve tried to break it over and over again, thought about many potential issues (check the concession rules!), and reconfigured or removed things that weren’t working. It’s been pretty stable lately but refinement will continue, so expect that the docs site will get updated and changed with more playtesting and time.
For those who've read this, thanks a lot and I hope it "sparks" some interest.
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I wanted to share a project I've been working on for the last year-- a new multiplayer format. Like many people, I've been playing Magic on and off for many years starting with Standard at FNMs back in the day. I love that multiplayer Magic is thriving, but wish that there was more format variety, particularly something that could incorporate more elements of 60-card playstyles. Unable to shake this thought, I've made a kitchen table format that tackles this challenge; I call it Coalition. I've put together a collection of explainer docs here, but I'll introduce it in this post too.
Coalition is a 4-player eternal format hybridizing high-power 60 card deck playstyles into multiplayer Magic. Players play a match of 3 games using decks that bring together a creature type and its allies (aka a "coalition" of that type).
To build a Coalition deck, choose a legendary creature "leader" then choose a creature type "affiliated" with it to unite the other cards in the deck. Affiliation is a new term, similar to color identity but for creature types, that describes the creature types a card is associated with. Decks represent coalitions of the chosen creature type, so all cards in a deck must be affiliated with the chosen coalition type. As an example, Kaalia of the Vast might be chosen to lead a Dragon coalition-- all cards in the deck must then either be Dragon type or have the Dragon type printed on them. In a Dragon coalition, cards like Invasion of Tarkir, Spit Flame, Ancient Silver Dragon, and Dragonmaster Outcast could be included. Cards that are not any creature type and do not reference any creature type are "unaffiliated" and not subject to restrictions... so Lightning Bolt is still a safe choice for any deck.
Because Coalition is a creature-focused format, it has an unusual deck structure. Decks are 60-cards with a 15 card sideboard, but they aren't quite highlander or 4x. Creatures and non-basic lands may be included up to 4x times, but other spells are limited to 1x. This structure keeps an emphasis on the creature coalition, and provides a unique deckbuilding challenge. There are also *no other legendary cards allowed* other than the deck's coalition leader; this keeps the leader special as well as keeping power levels in check.
Speaking of leaders-- they start in your sideboard, and act like a fusion of companions and commanders. Once on each of your turns as a sorcery, you can place the leader into your hand. There's no tax or payment, and if it transitions zones you can move it back to your sideboard (similar to commanders and the command zone). Repeatable free access to a legendary creature card is an extremely powerful tool for decks, but don't worry too much-- the high power here is intentional and considered, and it's important that games be faster than battlecruiser formats.
There’s one final mechanic: victory points. Coalition is played as a three game match. This structure is historically a difficult challenge for multiplayer, as traditional best-of-3 would take too many games. Coalition solves this with "victory points" which are earned by players during each game from combat damage to their opponents. Players can earn up to 21 victory points per game, and win the game at 21. As a way of keeping other game ending strategies viable, winning the game guarantees the winner 21 victory points no matter how the game was won and what points they were at when the game ended.
At the end of each game, all players add the victory points they held to their ranking. This ranking is really important: losing a game won't matter very much if you still got a lot of victory points by the end of the game. The winner of the match is the player with the most cumulative victory points across all three games. No matter the strategy, decks will need to be consistent about gaining victory points over every game— not just winning or performing well in one game.
I've been playtesting this on and off with a few groups for about 10 months now. It's undergone plenty of changes, but it's in a good place. Some players new to the format express concerns over power levels, but it intentionally encourages deck archetypes run in other high-power formats: go ahead and build that Murktide Regent delve deck, Atraxa reanimator deck, or Skirk Prospector Goblin combo deck. There's enough consistent power across three opponents to be able to deal with threats, and each game will play out pretty differently. And three opponents being able to sideboard keeps a lot of overpowered strategies in check, especially if one player gets into archenemy territory.
I know there's a lot here, but I don't think it's too much more complex than any other way of playing Magic. If you’ve played Commander and just about any 60 card format, the inspirations should be pretty clear and it should be easy to hit the ground running. I've done my homework on the technicalities, too; there's a comprehensive rules modification draft you can check for more details. The official docs page also lists out a few more specifics that I skipped over here, sample decks, plenty of FAQs, and importantly a banlist. Lastly, this specification is still a draft; we’ve tried to break it over and over again, thought about many potential issues (check the concession rules!), and reconfigured or removed things that weren’t working. It’s been pretty stable lately but refinement will continue, so expect that the docs site will get updated and changed with more playtesting and time.
For those who've read this, thanks a lot and I hope it "sparks" some interest.