It’s the season for giving… and getting, of course, because all of that giving has to be aimed somewhere! Some of it might as well trickle down to you. And nothing says holiday fun like a Secret Santa party, where you never know what kind of goodies you might receive…

Now a good old scientifically valid, double-blind Secret Santa gift-giving ceremony has three iconic features:

• The giver must be anonymous

• The gift must be of limited value

• The recipient must be determined at random

Today I’m going to talk about a seasonally-themed casual Magic variant that fits all of these criteria, and lets you give as good as you get: The Secret Santa Draft!

Ruletide: How to Play

• Each participant constructs 3 Secret Santa packs with their own cards: each pack must contain 1 rare (or mythic rare, or time-shifted) card, 3 uncommons, and 11 commons (any sets are okay, but no basic lands).

• As part of the above cards, each Secret Santa Pack must contain at least 2 cards of each basic color and contain no duplicate cards. The unspecified 5 slots can be anything you like: nonbasic lands, artifacts, multicolor, or extra cards of any color. Foils, conspiracies, and tokens are optional, but each pack must contain no more than one each of these. When in doubt, remember that you’re trying to emulate the feel of a regular Magic booster pack.

• Wrap your boosters neatly in unmarked tin foil and put them in a bag with the other Secret Santa Packs assembled by the other players. They will be mixed with the other players’ packs, distributed randomly, and then drafted and played as normal. Players can also bring along extra boosters to reward the best players if desired.

Give Like Santa, Save Like Scrooge

The advantages of this variant are obvious if you like Chaos Draft: because everybody has different Magic collections (as well as different ideas about what is useful or valuable), the Secret Santa Packs each player creates will have incredibly varied contents and enable a wide variety of strategies. As such, it may take a little longer to draft, but since it’s a casual format, timing isn’t really an issue. After all, you want people to have the chance to snicker at the contents of each booster as they go by, and to be able to come up with crazy or innovative draft strategies.

Financially speaking, you could be generous with the quality of the rares and foils you include, but there’s no real pressure to be since your pack contributions are anonymous. Whether you decide to be a Santa or a Scrooge, everyone who plays will save money on this draft, since you’re all using pre-existing cards in your collections to build your packs. As a general guide, if the possibility of gift-jealousness or embarrassment worries you, try not to exceed $5 value of cards in each pack and everyone will be content.

Because the pack construction part may be hard to visualize, I’ll lay out the contents of a sample pack below…

Rare

[display]Colossus of Sardia[/display]

Uncommons

[display]

Toil // Trouble

Horizon Chimera

Dauntless River Marshal

[/display]

Commons

[display]

Traveler’s Amulet

Trumpet Blast

Negate

Sip of Hemlock

Traveling Philosopher

Nessian Courser

Miner’s Bane

Aeronaut Tinkerer

Gravedigger

Excoriate

[/display]

Foil

[display]Gatecreeper Vine[/display]

You’ll notice that the colors are balanced, there’s a decent mix of creatures and spells from different expansions, and the price is right. There’s a couple of combos built in for those who care to find them (Dauntless River Marshall + Excoriate; Colossus of Sardia + Aeronaut Tinkerer), and there are answers for the “bomb” rare (Dauntless River Marshall or Excoriate versus Colossus of Sardia). I’m sure that you’ll all be able to craft much more interesting packs with your own collections!

Event / Contest Announcement

I must admit that my explaining all of this to you today has had a secondary motive. In addition to bringing the general public holiday cheer, I hope that this article can be used as a handy pack construction guide for those who are planning to attend…

The Secret Santa Draft 6:30 p.m., 16 December 2015 Face-to-Face Games Montreal Wrap up your packs and come play for free!

For this December 16 event, I am also running a contest. I will personally construct and bring a free draft set of Secret Santa Packs for the respondent who gets the most correct answers to the questions in The Quiz Below. The questions all relate in some way to earlier Yorke on Games articles, accessible here on ManaDeprived. (I consider this a kind of tribute to Mark Rosewater—as much as I give him a hard time, I really do enjoy his writing and like the way he periodically reflects and builds on his earlier efforts.)

Simply text your name and the question numbers and answer letters to (438) 831-0412 to be eligible to win!

The Quiz Below

1. According to Yorke on Games #1, when will the extrinsic player quit a game of Magic?

a. When there is no chance of winning a prize

b. When the game becomes no fun

c. When they perceive they have inevitability

d. Never

2. In Yorke on Games #2, the main position being argued for is, in the context of a game:

a. Friendship and rules are equally important

b. Friendship is more important than rules

c. Rules are more important than friendship

d. Neither friendship nor rules are important

3. In Yorke on Games #3, I announced the BFZ Punishment League at Face-to-Face Games in Montreal. That tournament series concluded last weekend. Which of these participants won it?

a. Primo Capriolo-Morris

b. Robert Anderson

c. Philippe Martin

d. Kar Yung Tom

4. The Secret Santa Draft is a reskinning of which Magic variant described in Yorke on Games #4?

a. Magic Duels Rarity Restriction

b. Reject Pack Draft

c. Bachelor’s Format

d. Power of 10

5. I surmised that Mark Rosewater read Yorke on Games #5 because:

a. He sent me a congratulatory email

b. He tweeted a fictional art description of Stasis shortly thereafter

c. He left a snarky comment at the bottom of the article

d. He is an omniscient trickster demon

6. Yorke on Games #6 was reviewed on Episode 12 of the MTGCast show “Will of the Council.” Which of the following is not true?

a. It put one of the podcasters to sleep

b. They found it “very thought-provoking”

c. They found it “easy to read”

d. They thought it would be good prep for the GRE

7. Which item occupies the uncommon slot in the Satiety Game in Yorke on Games #7?

a. An apple

b. A big snickers bar

c. A miniature snickers bar

d. A bag of chips

8. In the Card Design Challenge with Richard Garfield in Yorke on Games #8, there’s an iconic card that I designed and proposed to Richard in 1997 that actually made it to print in 1998’s Stronghold expansion, albeit with a different color, cost, and name. Which card was it printed as?

a. Evacuation

b. Bottomless Pit

c. Awakening

d. Flame Wave

9. What metaphorically happened to Yorke on Games #9?

a. It was cast, but got countered and exiled with three time counters on it

b. It entered the battlefield, but got exiled before the end of the turn

c. It got discarded from the hand into the graveyard

d. It was never drawn

10. According to Yorke on Games #10, what might as well be printed on all Portal boosters?

a. Warning: The Booster Pack You’re About To Enjoy Is Extremely Collectible

b. Imperial Seal Probably Isn’t In Here, But Go Ahead And Open Me Anyway

c. Welcome To The Only Expansion Not Set On A Plane

d. You’re Not Smart Enough To Play Real Magic

Good luck on the quiz, and hope to see you at the Secret Santa Draft! Happy Holidays everyone!