Fun Times with Adam: Throne Magic, part 1 WRITTEN BY Adam M

Hello PucaTraders -- I am back again to discuss more fun times with you. Today, I am very excited to begin my two part series on what I consider the best way to enjoy multiplayer: Throne Magic.

The idea first came about on the now abandoned blog, Magic Lampoon, and even though I can no longer link to their original page, I hope this article ensures that their amazing idea lives on. Throne Magic borrows most of its gameplay from the popular party games Werewolf and Mafia. Each player is secretly assigned a role and as they play it, is their job to discover and eliminate their opponents as they vie for control of the Throne. In my first article, I will discuss the basic rules and roles of this five player game to give you an idea of how it works. In my second article, I will delve deeper with two expansions that allow you to play with more friends and explore new mechanics. But first, let's take a look at the Roles and Thrones you'll need to proxy if you want to play.

The Roles

The Thrones

The Game

To Begin - Players vote on which Throne they wish to play with. The game can only be played with one. Once a Throne has been selected, randomly and secretly assign each player a role. Do not reveal your role until you are eliminated, unless your role says otherwise. The game begins when the king reveals his/her role and takes control of the Throne. To Play - Once the game has begun, you play multiplayer Magic normally and there are no restrictions on who you are allowed to attack. The challenge of the game begins as you attempt to figure out who is on your team and who, according to your role, you have to eliminate. Because roles are hidden and players can easily lie about their role, this is harder than it sounds. To Win - A player wins the game when the conditions on his/her role card are met. For instance, the King wins when the Usurper, his Bannerman, and the Dragon are eliminated.

Special Rules

Thrones - The Throne is special permanent type that is not affected by spells or abilities. If you control the Throne, follow its instructions at the beginning of your upkeep. Only claimants are allowed to control the Throne, including the King, the King's Bannerman, the Usurper, and the Usurpers Bannerman.To take control of a Throne, you must deal at least 1 point of combat damage to it. You may block for the Throne, but only if it is under your control. If a non-claimant successfully deals combat damage to a Throne, it becomes uncontrolled in the middle of the table. Claimants may also choose to leave a successfully attacked Throne uncontrolled, but I'll discuss that later. If the owner of the Throne leaves the game without it being successfully attacked, the Throne becomes uncontrolled. Donating Creatures - All creatures in Throne Magic have "The controller of the Throne may gain control of this creature." As well as "Target player may gain control of this creature. Activate this ability only if you control the Throne." The targeted player chooses whether or not to accept the donation.

The Gameplay

Beyond how much fun it is to scream "A King in the North!" when someone resolves a Young Wolf in Throne magic, this variant offers a lot of fun and solves many of the problems I have with multiplayer games.

To begin, it resolves the common multiplayer problem of, "Who do I attack?" Anyone who has played a lot of multiplayer magic knows that if you get out to a very fast or slow start other players will target you. To prevent this, many playgroups force players to only attack the player to their left, which no longer feels like multiplayer. In Throne Magic, you are asked to assess the risks and rewards of attacking a player in exchange for having fewer players to eliminate. To succeed, you will need to read signals to determine if you're about to attack a friend or enemy. This is why sending signals and bluffing are two of the most important aspects of the game.

For instance, donating creatures to the King sends a strong signal that you want to help the King. It is up to you to determine if that signal is genuine or if a clever Usurper is trying to conceal their role. Another way players send signals is by attacking and controlling the Throne. Even though four out of the five roles are claimants and can control the Throne, sometimes it is in your best interest to leave it uncontrolled. With the correct amount of cunning, this bluff might be all you need to convince your opponent you're really the Dragon.

Despite this extra element of gathering information before attacking, you'll find Throne Magic has a faster pace than a regular multiplayer game. A common strategy in multiplayer games is to play defense by building up your board to the point where no one can attack you successfully, and the game stalls out. In Throne Magic, aggressive strategies are rewarded. For instance, because the King's Bannerman has the luxury of knowing who their only teammate is, they can aggressively attack every other concealed player. On the other hand, because the Usurper and their Bannerman know they must eliminate the King to win, they can both target King early and try to jump out to a quick lead. Both strategies send a strong signal to the table and forces the action along. Even if you're a control player or hate playing aggressive decks, Throne Magic moves faster simply because you have fewer players to eliminate.

Throne Magic is also a very versatile game and works with every format from Casual to Modern. We often play this with limited decks, and use it as a bonus round after cube drafts. When Conspiracy Take the Crown comes out, we intend to achieve ultimate flavor and throw Throne Magic in the mix.

We particularly enjoy playing Throne Magic with Commander. As I mentioned above, games end sooner, and if you've ever played against that one friend who has a Kruphix, God of Horizons group hug deck that he insists has no way to win, you know some games can last hours.

Furthermore, while other variants like planechase are fun, I find that they often have too much impact on how your deck performs. The Hippodrome feels really bad when you're playing goblins. Throne Magic rarely punishes a deck for doing what it wants, and the ability to choose your Throne allows you to set the tone of your game. For instance, the Throne of the Eternal rewards you for personally controlling the Throne, whereas the Throne of Wisdom can reward you for simply convincing its controller to be generous. I personally enjoy playing with the Throne of Life and Death, because it lets you speed up or prolong the game when necessary and nothing feels better than having your opponent reveal Emrakul, the Aeons Torn and losing immediately.

Memorable stories like that occur frequently in Throne magic, and it has kept us playing for half a decade. One very memorable moment occurred several years ago when I was the King and only my Bannerman and the Usurper were left. The trouble was, I didn't know who was who. Before my turn began, one of the players tapped all of his creatures and donated them to me, leaving his board completely open. On my turn, I untapped all of my new found "subjects" and attacked the other player who had not paid homage to his King. It turned out that I killed my own Bannerman and the Usurper donated his creatures to me because he was trying to top deck a Devil's Play with 10 cards left in his library to win.

Throne Magic is an exciting and dynamic addition to any multiplayer game that strikes the perfect balance of changing the game just enough to be fun, but not so much that you can't play it with your favorite decks. If you are looking to improve your multiplayer experience or consider yourself to be the Petyr Baelish of your playgroup, I highly recommend trying Throne Magic.

My next article will discuss the expansions that can transform this fun variation into one that can support more players and takes more skill to master. Until then, I hope you enjoy your first journey into Throne Magic and may your reign be eternal!

-----------------

In my last article I asked readers to tell me about other Achievements they'd like to see in EDH. After a long talk with my friend Ethan about foiling his friends Ad Nauseam deck with Nevermore and Extract, here's another achievement for those of you who play against combo decks.

(And Then There Was One: -2 points if you remove all other players from the game in one turn with a combo.) Worded in such a way that players can still combo kill their opponents, but punishes them if they do it in a single turn.

For my next ask the audience, I want to hear about your favorite card to play with in multiplayer! Are you a Grave Pact or Hunted Wumpus type of person? Tell me your favorite card and why you love it in a message and your answer may appear in a future article.

Comment on this article on Reddit at: https://www.reddit.com/r/PucaTrade/comments/4oja3n/article_fun_times_with_adam_throne_magic_part_1/

Adam Melfa is a casual player from Baltimore, MD, who loves limited and has a passion for finding new ways to enjoy the game. With the help of PucaTrade, he has slowly transformed his Magic collection into a more powerful cube. When he is not playing Magic, he is normally at heavy metal concerts, playing ultimate frisbee, or chopping wood.