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Widely regarded as MTG's most social way to play, Commander is getting a holiday twist just in time for the end of the year. During a special episode, hosts from a popular channel demonstrated a multiplayer game dubbed "Countdown to XT-Mas."

The Mechanics of the Holiday Format Works

Fundamentally is a straightforward mechanic superimposed on a standard EDH game. A rotating marker travels between players. Once it arrives at the active player's turn, the action temporarily stops. All gamers secretly chooses whether they're being Nice or Naughty by using two cards.

The participants flip their choice together. After that, they apply the effect tied to their decision, starting with the person holding the marker. This marker then gets passed to the right. A special tracker moves forward one notch, and normal gameplay carries on.

These decisions become more significant over time continue, feeling finely tuned.

Escalating Choices

Early rounds offered minor, collective benefits for choosing Nice, like gaining life or Clue tokens. In contrast, The Naughty options typically offered more targeted advantages, frequently targeting another player. For instance allowed those choosing Naughty receive a powerful airborne Reindeer token. Anyone who picked Nice made a small artifact creature token for each player.

The Grand Showdown

During the eighth round, Father Christmas personally arrived, changing the game. Based on the tally of each player selected Nice versus Naughty, Santa distributed mystery presents. Outwardly, these were small containers, but contained MTG booster packs worth different amounts.

• The nicest player received a top-tier special pack.
• The next kindest player opened a slightly less valuable premium pack.
• Another participant got a less powerful booster pack.
• The least nice player got the worst prize: a famously bad set that's essentially a gag.

Each card from these packs immediately became used for the rest of the game, cast from exile using mana as though it were colorless. For the nicer players, their gift became a major power spike. Meanwhile, the naughty players essentially got a punitive gift.

Trying the Format at Home

While the demonstration match included a lot of custom components, it's one that anybody can adapt in their own playgroup. Each player uses their usual EDH deck, and the only extra items required are a selection of MTG packs with different worth.

A possible challenge could be that if players know the rewards in advance the best pack's identity, then everyone strategize for the top prize. You could add variety by using other methods, like drafting cards from a communal pile or allowing participants to pull cards they own from their binders.

From the successful demonstration, this holiday variant stands as a joyous way to spread some joy this holiday season. It changes the social interplay between players in a joyous manner, making it a special experience among MTG enthusiasts in their playgroups.