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Already known as MTG's friendliest way to play, Commander is getting a seasonal twist just in time for the holidays. During a holiday-themed episode, creators from a popular channel showcased a four-player match called "Holiday Countdown."

How the Holiday Variant Works

At its core involves a straightforward mechanic added on top of a standard Commander game. A rotating token circulates around the table. Upon reaching the current player's upkeep, the game halts for a moment. Each participant makes a hidden choice if they will be being Nice or Naughty by using two cards.

Everyone turn over their choice simultaneously. After that, they apply the consequence linked to their selection, starting with the person who has the marker. It is then passed to the next player. The holiday round counter ticks up one notch, and regular Commander continues.

These decisions do escalate with each passing round continue, feeling finely tuned.

Growing Choices

At the start offered minor, collective advantages for choosing Nice, like gaining life or Clue tokens. Conversely, Naughty paths often gave more targeted upsides, frequently at the expense of another player. As an example let those choosing Naughty get a powerful airborne Reindeer token. Anyone who selected Nice made a small artifact token creature for everyone.

The Climactic Arrival

On the final round, Father Christmas himself arrived, turning the experience. According to the tally of each player was Naughty versus Nice, Santa handed out mystery presents. Outwardly, these were deck boxes, but inside were Magic booster packs with different rarities.

• The nicest player got a top-tier special pack.
• The second-nicest player opened a slightly less valuable premium pack.
• Another participant got a less powerful set.
• The least nice player essentially received coal: a notoriously weak set which is basically a punchline.

Every card opened instantly were playable for the rest of the game, played from outside the game using mana treating it as colorless. For the nicer participants, their boon wound up being a major advantage. Whereas, mischievous participants basically received a punitive gift.

Playing the Format with Friends

Although the demonstration match had considerable custom components, it's one that players could easily replicate in their own playgroup. Each player uses their regular Commander deck, and all you'd need would be four different booster packs with different worth.

One potential challenge is that if everyone know the rewards in advance what being nice gets you, then everyone might aim for the most valuable gift. You could change this by using other methods, like drafting cards from a communal pile or enabling gamers to use cards they own from their binders.

Judging by how the format played out, Countdown to XT-Mas is definitely a festive way to add holiday cheer when playing with friends. It changes the strategy in the game in a fun and manner, resulting in a memorable experience among MTG enthusiasts everywhere.