Hey Zoners, Grandpa here. Today's post is a continuation from last week, where I talked about a variant for casual Commander play called Commander Fantasy League. Check out the post here to get up to date: Part 1. Today, I am going to be talking about some supplemental rules that can be used to add spice to any Commander League!
Prizes - The main draw of playing in a Commander League is the advanced level of competition and structure. As far as competition is concerned, things can always be taken to a new level when you have something to play for. Personally, I am always trying to win every game and striving to make the best possible play for a situation, but some people just aren't that motivated. To get them more involved you must use the carrot, since the stick isn't exactly available for casual use. But that is certainly no obstacle! There are plenty of great things to play for above and beyond bragging rights. Using entree fees to fund a prize pool is a great idea, as long as the entry fee can be kept low. Sixteen people putting up $5 each will leave you plenty of money to pay for expenses and flaunt a sweet card for achieving ultimate victory like a Liliana of the Veil. I would recommend these guidelines for the value of prizes. First place should receive AT LEAST 500% the cost of entry. If you are using the prize to try and attract additional players, the expected value of that prize must be significant. As a matter of practice, I also advise that second place receive something as well. A good rule of thumb would be 100-200% of the cost of entry.
Team Play - If you have a ton of interested players, but don't have the time or space to hold dozens of individual matches each week for months on end, then team play is a great alternative to shrink the schedule. Depending on how many participants you have, Two-Headed Giant, or 3v3 Emperor could both be viable team structures. I am not going to lay out the specifics of how to play these game types within this article. The available resources on the subject are adequate for you to "get where I am going with this" and make the logistical decisions for yourself. This will work out better if you are able to assemble the teams from among friends or players of similar skill, but there must also be a mechanism for matching up loners to round out a team. This should go without saying, but I can't endorse any Free-for-all style league matches, any game format that allows for odd numbers of players in a game, or uneven teams.
"Keeper" Draft - Something fun that you can do in a league where you have very few new entrants and a large contingent of returning members. You can select a small number of cards, I'd recommend three or fewer, that you get to keep after a season. These cards will stay on your team for next season. They can't be drafted by anyone else and you still end up with the same number of cards for your 'team'. If you choose to keep a card then you simply forfeit draft picks beginning in round one. If you choose to utilize all three of your keeps, it is just like you are picking those three cards in the first three rounds of the draft, except no one else is allowed a crack at them. In general, I think keeper leagues should hold to these two rules: First, no keeping your general. It is less fun if one guy is always hogging the commander that you want to play with. Secondly, set some arbitrary limit on how many seasons you can keep a card. This should definitely scale to the number of players in you league (larger leagues should allow fewer keeps), but for simplicity's sake I think the line can be drawn at one. So you draft a card, keep it for next season, then you have to release it back into the pool for next season. That doesn't stop you from drafting it, but it does give other people a chance to play with it if they are willing to pick it highly, which you obviously would have been , given that you were willing to burn a first round pick to keep it.
"Bye Weeks" - When I say bye weeks, I mean for the cards on your fantasy team, not the players in your league. This is a wonky optional rule so stay with me. Each week, cards of a particular converted mana cost are banned! They cannot be played in any deck. It doesn't matter if you drafted the card to your team or if it was a 'free agent', if one drops are on a bye this week, you can't play your Thoughtseize. There are two ways you can assign what is number is on bye each week. Either just use the number of the week, i.e. no 1 drops during week one - no two drops in week two - etc. Alternatively, use a random number (probably restricted from 1-8 or 1-10 since only a certain range of converted mana costs are relevant in Magic) to choose what is on bye. Either way, you need to assign these byes before the draft and make sure they are noted on the schedule. Participants need to be aware that they must update their decks and they should be given this information in advance so that they have time to prepare. Publishing this information before the draft lets them strategize at a deeper level and draft a deck that can change easily.
Well, that was a fun little detour. If this short series inspires you to start a Commander League in your playgroup, make sure you send us some feedback on your experience. I am sure you will have some excellent stories to tell. Coming next week we will have full coverage of Journey into Nyx! Following that, we will be back to our regular posting schedule.
No comments:
Post a Comment