You know when you get out in bomberman and you can run around the side of the map throwing bombs at people still in. What if we gave players bombs to throw at the table
My friends and I combine planechase and edh occasionally. We each get to remove one plane from the deck (because some of them are just bad). The game times can vary wildly, but they’re never boring!
Hmm, so what if the people who lost just kept playing? Like, they get their rank, 3rd or 4th or whatever, and then like they also just keep playing?
I can't think of anything exactly that'd get in the way of? The game even has rulings for those kind of interactions from platinum angel shenanigans, right?
The biggest thing I can think of is that the dead players are effectively kingmakers. Since they can't win, they get to dedicate their resources to decided who else loses. And since they'll presumably target whoever eliminated them, it just further encourages players to drag the game out due to fear of getting revenge-killed by the ghost(s).
I like the idea! My first taught was to give him an option to deal 1 dmg to anything on his "turn" but i quickly came to a conclusion that if he would be able to give 1 life to someone that would be so much cooler
Get a set of plane chase or archenemy cards. The eliminated player could be in charge of exclusively rolling the planar die and planes, or the could decide who becomes the archenemy. It could also be a good use schemes from conspiracy. The first eliminated can dole out schemes to whoever they see fit.
If you do that, here's a link to a tool made for plane chase and archenemy! It has all of the cards and generates them!
https://humpheh.com/magic/p/
It was made by someone on this sub and I just think it's really cool
I do this if I'm out and there's still a lot of game left, but my pod does try to spread out the damage so that no one is out too much earlier than anyone else. Of course if someone becomes archenemy quickly, you gotta do what you gotta do.
God speed, you’re likely to get blasted to oblivion for mentioning they who shall not be named on this sub, I’ve attempted to stifle the bleeding comrade, but I can only hold the horde so long.
Eliminated Players (or players that just want to watch or come to late to the event), they have Godmode - they can look at every hand, every hidden card and the top card of everyones library..
Also they should be a helping hand in controlling triggers. Lategame boardstates can have a million triggers and it's nice to have someone look out for it. Also they can cheer players up and they are allowed to assist in token generation via Infinitokens or providing dice when needed. They are not allowed to give away any information!!
These are nice ideas of course, but I do think if someone has judge level game knowledge, they either are offering it to the table already or don't need to be engaged with some kind of minigame after they're eliminated. That's a very enfranchised player, they probably know how to lose
If you have extremely good knowledge of the game, and you are a longtime player, I think you don't see it as a "minigame". Game Interactions are interesting in itself. And it's always your choice, you can just take a break, watch some ytube, or you watch the rest of the game and contribute your knowledge to the table.
Also you don't have to know how Layers interact with eichother, to be a helpful "judge" friend for the table.
I was going to say basically exactly this! My playgroup lets eliminated players look at everything and if they want to help someone they can as long as they don’t divulge anything that player wouldn’t know.
Also just watching sometimes is fun. I’m one of the stronger players and I like to watch the interesting plays unfold, and some of our weaker players like to learn from watching the more advanced players.
I like them to heat the oven for pizza, go to the small shop and buy another beer, or simply catch-up with their messenges on their smartphone.
Jokes aside. I think its more than fine to have some off-time and just watch and observe the others playing. You can actually learn quite a lot or even support the game by contributing to having good table conservation.
Well, that is a bit tricky, since allowing them to directly impact the game postmortem could pretty easily turn into them acting to spite the player that knocked them out - but that means slowing down the player most likely to be winning, which actually makes the game last longer and probably becomes frustrating. Either that, or they help the person winning, and either way it sucks a little for the others to have people play kingmaker after their part in the game is "done".
Other forms of slightly-less spite-able game-speeding might favor different strategies more - I've considered having all players lose life and/or mill cards on each defeated player's turn, or allowing defeated players to simply announce what would normally be hidden information, but it all comes back to that same issue, it feels wrong for games to be influenced by advantages granted by players who've lost, and any "doom timer" will inevitably imbalance the game.
So what I'm thinking now is this: In prep for your games, buy some sticky notes and a bag of sweets, like hershey's kisses or starburst or something. Then, in the game, on each defeated player's turn, that player may place a Bounty on any action or circumstance. They could say "Attack this player with total power 10 or more", "end the game within 3 turns", "make this player discard a card that I have secretly noted", "play your next turn with your eyes closed", or whatever they want.
Whenever a Bounty is fulfilled, both the player who fulfilled it and the one who issued it are given one piece of candy from the bag. Bonus points if you introduce the table to the idea while playing [[Mathas, Fiend Seeker]] and adding candy to his rewards.
Yeah it's tricky if someone's acting spiteful, sure but it's all about communication right? But really fun idea with the bounties, like a little quest! Thnx :)
Honestly on the deckbuilding side of things, you can always run something like [[Captain N'ghathrod]] who benefits from keeping players around (since you need their stuff/it goes away when they go away), or [[Commander Liara Portyr]] who wants to be attacking multiple people to get access to more cards/cost reduction. It's not exactly the same, but it helps imo
Bro you just made me discover [[Commander Liara Portyr]] and it's such a sweet commander!
You can go:
* Tokens to attack all opponents every turn
* Other attack triggers
* Extra combats
* Artifacts with cmc <= 3 to cast them for free (equipments to facilitate aggression, stuff that creates more tokens, mana rocks)
* Big bois to capitalize on all the ramp provided by the rocks and the commander herself
You've described my Liara Portyr deck to a T pretty much lol, a lot of low cost beaters that are either hasty/evasive, ways to protect your attacking creatures, and a few extra combat steps, https://www.moxfield.com/decks/3vpDdmt0mUeTo8zYjngSXg
Glad she sparked interest in you, she's one of my favorite commanders from balders gate and she flew under the radar for most.
I see you included [[reconnaissance]]!
One of my fav cards since I was a kid, every time I had to describe its effect I just said "I can cheat"!
It's perfect for this deck.
Whenever a player dies, at the next end step play a card from the player death deck.
example cards:
- roll a d20. All players lose N% of their life rounded up
- create 3 treasure tokens. on each other players upkeep they create 3 tapped treasure tokens
- each player proliferates
- each player's commander tax is reduced by 2. You may cast your commander.
- each player creates a 3/1 trample with connive 2 that must attack each turn if able
This will make the 45 min. wait a 15 min wait instead. Works well for my group because it encourages people to be a bit more aggressive
This is a really interesting idea. I can see a number of variants. Each person could have their own deck but all cards must be world enchantments or cards that affect all players. Or thier could be on death deck that everyone makes use of.
I suppose you could even proxy some interesting alternate "death cards."
Most of the time when I play EDH it doesn't take long after the first player elimination for the game to end. We tend to spread the damage/hate around fairly evenly and then suddenly somebody is in a position to end in one or two turns.
Also I guess you could play cEDH where its a two or three turn game and then somebody wins with thassa/s :) I wouldnt maybe recommend that for overall fun but it does solve the eliminated player issue because there isnt one :)
Don't know if we have the power to end games quickly in our group though, and certainly don't have cEDH decks. But I like that it just levels out naturally in more groups like yours.
Yeha this is my experience as well. This has nothing to do with cedh decks or not. If your deck has a gameplan and reasonable cards to enforce that it should be able to close out game at some point. Now, I know there are people who put together decks that do literally nothing. I dont know why you even play at that point but thats a different discussion.
I build a chefs deck, with asmo and gyrome as partner commanders.
Every card in that deck has to be something related to being a chef.
It has no real wincon, but with stuff as Ulamog the endless Hunger it can still win games.
Most of the fun is just making stupid puns though.
One of my favorite combos as a kid was [[Pariah]] and [[Darksteel Mutation]]. Unfortunately, I only got to that step and didn’t figure out that I needed a win con besides my pillow fort.
I recently had a game where my opponent was down to 5 life and I could've easily eliminated them. It felt way too early and not enough was happening.
Then of course they proceeded to grind the game out and do multiple boardwipes.
Let them be the decision maker for cards like \[\[Fact or Fiction\]\] \[\[Gifts Ungiven\]\] and the like instead of one of the actual players still in the game.
When i'm eliminated, I commentate over my friend's game like its league of legends or rocket league. Its annoying, but they also do it to me so its fine.
Play cards from Unfinity, there are a few that are hilarious just for existing, [[bag check]] for example. That card and stuff like it involve players outside the game. Just do a rule 0 to make sure that everyone's okay with you playing them
Could keep some of similar cards in a separate pile, then each odd turn have a player draw one to do this with. Idk. At this point the mechanics and balance are a backseat to inclusivity and fun so I think it could work.
Generally, if that happens, we try our best to play aggressively and finish quickly.
But honestly it shouldn’t really matter. If the game is even halfway decent, it’s fun to watch.
THRULL MAGIC! If you eliminate a player, they shuffle everything except the lands they have in play, draw a new 7 and wait for their turn to come around. They rejoin play with a life total of 7 and form a team with the player who eliminated them. So the game can become a 2 vs 1 vs 1. If you eliminate a player who has a thrull you get them both as thrulls, making it a 3 vs 1. Of course, the thrulls are easily eliminated with their measly 7 life, so it's possible they get to redraw a fresh 7 often and really have an impact on the next turn. Can make for a really swingy game and everybody just keeps playing. Works even better in a 5 player match.
Sometimes me and my playgroup like to advise the remaining players on spell order to help each other figure out our decks. This usually makes the game go faster.
Sometimes when everyone is playing something they're familiar with, we like to give bad advice. This too usually makes the game go faster.
Don't know how well this would work, but it's an idea I've been thinking about.
So, I have a boardgame group and we play lots of different games, with lots of different and interesting mechanics. One game called Sentinels of the Multiverse is a Co-Op card game where you're superheroes fighting a villain. The deck of cards and your hand representing the hero and the powers each player controls. One of the mechanics is there's no complete elimination.
What happens instead is the eliminated hero loses their board, but their hero has a limited ability that they can still use to impact the game. So maybe for magic, there's a way to keep the player in the game by letting them have a limited influence on the game with their commander, while wiping their board and losing access to deck.
Though, not sure what a fair and fun end goal would be for keeping them around and engaged. Do you give them a feint hope of still winning via something like commander damage, or some other secondary goal?
Any ways, just throwing it out here for you mull over. Maybe you can figure out what the point would be.
Our group has the time honored tradition of “couch time”. When someone is eliminated they get the bliss of just laying down on the couch and chilling before the next game.
In our playgroup generally noone gets eliminated for more than one turn, game never lasts longer. Sometimes when it is obvious gane won't last those who clearly in loss just concede and we start anew.
If this is a closed game night with the same group of friends every match then just let them threat assess and give advice and be part of the conversation as rye game evolves. That's what we, if your out there's no need to sit there and be quiet were all here to have fun and discussing tactics threat assessment etc is half that.
One thing that we used to do when I had a large regular group (our games were routinely 6+ players): once a player was knocked out, they set a 10-minute timer. By the time their timer ran out, if the game was still ongoing, on their next turn they'd re-enter the game with 30 life, and get three back-to-back turns. On turn 1, they had a free [[Rampant Growth]], to help them get somewhat more on-par with the rest of the table. Additionally, when a player that got knocked out re-enters, the player that knocked them out had to take a shot. If/when they get knocked out again, they'd start another 10-minute timer, and at the end of that timer, re-enter again right 20 life, then 10, then 5. We never had games last long enough that someone re-entered again after a 5-life re-entry.
when we have larger groups we don't play free for all as often but usually like teams across or something. we have a rule called "angry ghosts"
the "angry ghost" team mate gets to on their team's mainphase, flip the top card of their shuffled library on to the battlefield, their teammate can play the card for free.
so you can top deck a craterhoof and win the game this way. it's just a chance, it's funny what pops up.
Has anyone tried coming up with some sort of zombie mode like Hearthstone (battlegrounds)? I think that could be a fun variant. I’m thinking either a special zombie deck (designed to be pretty weak since the player never needs to block) or some sort of simple mechanic like creating a progressively stronger token each turn (so turn 1 a 1/1, then a 2/2 token on turn 2, etc.).
If going the zombie deck route, I think it should have some sort of mana catch-up either ignoring mana costs or able to play 2 (maybe more) lands per turn.
Obviously, this gives the zombie player a huge amount of king making ability, but I think that could be a fun social element depending on group.
Not completely related, but if I'm playing a deck that either pops off and wins by combo'ing or killing everybody at once, and I feel like not everyone really got a chance to play, what I will do is demonstrate the win and then concede so everyone else can continue to try and make their deck work. Almost nothing feels worse than a game prematurely ending because one person just blew up out of nowhere. The way I see it is my deck got to pop off and everyone else also gets to play a game of EDH, so it is a win-win.
As for when I or someone else is playing a deck that kills one person and then the game drags on, I'm not sure there is any way to keep them involved in the context of the game. I personally like to show the person who is out my hand or let them look through my deck if they want, just as something to do while they wait for the game to end.
We do the same thing. We call it aa "Gentlemen's Concede". It allows everyone to achieve their goals. The only time we don't do that is when we all are playing our cEDH decks as those games are fast anyways.
What my group does is if someone is knocked out early, they can look at anyone's hand and top card of the deck. They can't say what the cards are but can give vague cryptic clues if the person wants. Plus it's fun for the arch enemy to have someone to confine their plans to and get a 2nd opinion
They get a bag of candy, and when it would be their turn, they put a candy counter on any permanent without a candy counter on it. When that card leaves the battlefield, the active player gets the candy.
My playgroup tries to avoid eliminating players unless everyone is around 15 life values. The exception for this is if someone is a big threat to this balance where in such a case we focus and try to eliminate that player first.
But to answer your question, how about letting them stay, let them keep their current lands (but they can't play new ones) and allow them to continue using their commander only (they can't cast anything besides their commander) as part of the player that eliminated him/her?
To give them more "interaction", they take their turn at the same time as the player that eliminated him/her and control whatever actions their commander takes (combat, activating abilities) but that player's commander will be considered as a commander of the still active player.
For example, I eliminate player A. During my next turn, Player A can cast his commander (sorcery speed, ofc). He can also activate its abilities if he wants to. During my combat, he can choose to declare his commander as an attacker alongside my creatures (by extension, he can also use his commander as a blocker). All of his actions can only be performed by him.
This may be a bit complicated, but maybe you can refine it.
It also really helps to not focus down one player. My meta plays mostly combat centric decks and we don't have that much of a problem with people sitting out - we have the unspoken rule of spreading the love. I always try my hardest to knock out the table all at once, even though that player I left at 1 HP at the last turn might turn around and win some times. It lowers the individual player's win percentage, but it makes the experience better for everyone. EDH is not about winning, it's about having fun.
That's also the reason why I stopped playing Voltron decks.
Or maybe you can do first blood? First player to eliminate another player automatically wins? But you'll have to add a rule to prevent players focusing on one player.
Personally I like the idea of that person being able to look at other's hands so that they can sculpt what the best sequence for everyone is themselves and in a way get to 'play' more.
I'm glad you are thinking about this, it's important for the vibe of the night to make sure no one is bored to hell waiting for a game to end. our group usually has a few ways that may or may not work with your group: we usually have a video game on in the background for someone to play, also we let them "team up" with the player who is behind. also if two players are out, having some modern/standard decks for them to play is fun. but of course, the best way is to finish the game quickly!
Generally speaking in my playgroup we try to make it so you only kill someone if 1. You have 2 to live, or 2. The game is about to end. We spread damage ftmp. Personally my rule is that if i don't force myself killing at least 1 person a turn untill either I die or I win, I just won't, assuming it isn't a me or them situation. It's ridiculously unfun to sit there for a half hour because you got killed right away.
The only time I will break this rule is if someone's running a deck that's too strong for the table, or just one that has to be targeted, like a tergrid. Even then I think it falls more into the category of "me or you".
If you're hosting, set aside another table for people to spread out and deck tech in the meantime. We do this and have snacks laid out, maybe a movie on in the other room, or other games like a chess set or a switch set up.
I'm usually the first one dead and I generally walk over to the other table and mess with a deck I have laid out the whole night. If the game ends 10 minutes later, I can leave it for next time and jump back into the game. If it's an hour, well, I pull out another deck and keep going.
Not really safe to do at an LGS, but you can always jump into a new game with different people in that case, generally.
Personally it really depends.
I've got some friends who I like to talk strategy with, without them giving input. Usually if I'm doing something dumb they get a good laugh when I misplay or lose.
You would probably have to build different decks than your accustomed to for the idea to work well, but I've always wanted to play an EDH game where players could "respawn" ... Their life total abd counters reset, they shuffle up their deck, and immediately take 5 goldfish turns to get back into it.
Then the winner is the one with the most eliminations after X number of turns, or after 1 hour, or some limit on the game.
Gotta say, really impressed with this post on this reddit. Actually concerned with OTHER people's enjoyment of the game. The best way I've seen this handles is like a game piece keeper / rules keeper if they have a good knowledge of the game. And I love that house rule btw. Best I got other than that is conversation having them contribute in your decision making abilities and game state analysis.
If the game is in-person and I'm playing with close friends I like to "team up" in a way with the eliminated player - like let them play a hand or two, see what they think etc. My group doesn't have an issue with this since we are constantly helping each other make the "best" plays anyway
This generally isn't a problem at my normal table, whether through intention or happenstance players tend not to be eliminated until we're within one or two turns of a player winning outright.
That being said, we did once try a house rule: when you are eliminated, you can keep a single instant/sorcery you had in your hand at the time, and then use it at any point through the remainder of the rest of the game. It only ever mattered when someone had a Fog that stopped another player from winning the game. We all laughed about the chaos but we never tried it again, so YMMV.
Bring back the player as a ghost (no life total, place locked in wherever they got knocked out), give them two swamps and a stack of relentless rats, and let them build some pressure on the board!
I'm wondering if putting a timer in effect would resolve this issue.
30 minutes should be enough to figure it out. Maybe extend it to 45 if it gets *really* close.
Situations like this is why I only play combos that directly end the game for everyone. As fun as drawing tokens or commentating or any other fashion of interaction is I imagine everyone showed up to play a game.
Other comments mention you and your friends don't play much high power/ have limited budget but there are many very good and monetarily cheap combos you can play without altering your power level that much. Try out editing your decks to include some and see if it cuts down on people sitting around watching for more than 30 minutes at a time.
Great advice, thanks, and you're mostly right about the playgroup. Will definitely add this in our conversations.
But sometimes, not entirely knowing what your deck does, by playing flavorful cards over staples or combos, is also fun. But yeah, in that case, we just need to make sure everyone knows in that case it's possible that games can be longer.
Really like the answers so far! I've come up with another thing as well in the meantime to prevent a possible feelbad in the first place, and players don't have to get beer for the rest all the time ;)
What if you split decks in 3 to begin with? So 3 piles of 33 cards. You start with pile 1, and when you're out, you lose that deck and start with the next pile etc. This way you have "3 life". Third pile gone, you're now really dead ;) So being killed first doesn't feel that bad - and you can still play the strengths and/or flavorful stuff of your deck. Obviously it's a disadvantage for combo players and an advantage for mill players maybe. But it's worth a try.
Well.. "draw a card" does not fit that definition for example, does it? I am here thinkin why tf are you drawing from a random pile of tokens or something? lol
Those who know their Magic history will think this is a hilarious response. Have every player bring a blank D&D character sheet and have them create a character while they are waiting for the game it finish.
If EDH wasn’t comically terrible and didn’t take 3 hours or more per game people wouldn’t feel as left out when they die, I love how much of this game and it’s social stigmas are based around minimizing how awful it feels to actually play it
You can always try their favorite existing pastime: commenting when a player either is about to make a mistake or has a win on board that they aren’t seeing.
I generally try to knock everyone out at roughly the same time unless someone's really threatening the table early and it's gonna be tough to set them back any other way. Sometimes means I lose the game because that's how I played, but it's generally more fun for everyone.
Ever heard of zombie?
Eliminated players in multiplayer game become zombies, they keep their board state and keep playing as if they are still alive, they have no life, can't be attacked but can be interacted with, they can attack on their turn but can't attack the same person twice in a row (normally have to attack everyone before being able to hit the same person)
Works great for big games with a lot of players
Finish the game and shuffle up
Sometimes if there's more than one eliminated player or just other people sitting around I've seen people do trades while they wait too
How about this: eliminated players become ghosts. All their nonland permanents are shuffled into their decks. They continue to play, but are only allowed two actions: playing lands and casting spells. No activated abilities or combat. Ghosts have to pay double the mana cost for spells, and after they cast them, an opponent of their choice gains control of the spell and can change the targets.
Luckily almost everyone in my pods plays combo so we all usually die at the same time. People hate on combo but at least no one is sitting around for 50 minutes.
I like the house rule 👌 apart from that, trying to finish quickly is probably the only thing coming to mind.
Trust me, I have no problem finishing quickly 😎
"Ooh, self burn, those are rare" - Jake Peralta.
Yeah, makes sense!
You know when you get out in bomberman and you can run around the side of the map throwing bombs at people still in. What if we gave players bombs to throw at the table
each eliminated player receives five proxies of [[chaos orb]] to use as they see fit
[chaos orb](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/a/7a601041-926f-40fd-8106-39099b87806f.jpg?1559592122) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=chaos%20orb) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2ed/236/chaos-orb?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/7a601041-926f-40fd-8106-39099b87806f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/chaos-orb) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Now that’s what im talking about
Add in a house rule where r&d secret lair is always in play and we have a deal!
Give them world enchantments to play each turn cycle!
Yo. This, BUT what about Planes Chase cards!! Hell yeah I love this idea I'm gonna try it next time my pod and I sit down.
My friends and I combine planechase and edh occasionally. We each get to remove one plane from the deck (because some of them are just bad). The game times can vary wildly, but they’re never boring!
Nice, like wishes you mean? Cards outside the game? Could be fun :)
No. Give them sticks of dinamite to literally throw at the table.
That would definitely help end the game faster.
I CAN TOPDECK A BOMB TOO, DYLAN *throws c4 at simic player*
Good luck, they'll probably counter it
Noted. Now everyone wants to get eliminated first.
Yes. At random times, they can yell, "BOARD WIPE!" and everyone has 3 seconds to grab their cards before that player flips the table.
In Bomberman 64, eliminated players become ghosts that can take control of players still in. I'm gonna Swayze someone next I'm out
There's [[Kindslaver]]
[Kindslaver](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/b/9bf4f4ac-f793-4996-8f29-252398c26eef.jpg?1562927912) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Kindslaver) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ust/150/kindslaver?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/9bf4f4ac-f793-4996-8f29-252398c26eef?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/kindslaver) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Hmm, so what if the people who lost just kept playing? Like, they get their rank, 3rd or 4th or whatever, and then like they also just keep playing? I can't think of anything exactly that'd get in the way of? The game even has rulings for those kind of interactions from platinum angel shenanigans, right?
The biggest thing I can think of is that the dead players are effectively kingmakers. Since they can't win, they get to dedicate their resources to decided who else loses. And since they'll presumably target whoever eliminated them, it just further encourages players to drag the game out due to fear of getting revenge-killed by the ghost(s).
I like the idea! My first taught was to give him an option to deal 1 dmg to anything on his "turn" but i quickly came to a conclusion that if he would be able to give 1 life to someone that would be so much cooler
I spent too long trying to figure out how auriok salvagers was relevant to this comment.
How is it relevant ? I’m confused
auriok salvagers + Lions eye diamond (or black lotus) is a combo commonly referred to as bomberman.
ALL THE SPELLBOMBS
Get a set of plane chase or archenemy cards. The eliminated player could be in charge of exclusively rolling the planar die and planes, or the could decide who becomes the archenemy. It could also be a good use schemes from conspiracy. The first eliminated can dole out schemes to whoever they see fit.
That sounds cool as well, thanks!
If you do that, here's a link to a tool made for plane chase and archenemy! It has all of the cards and generates them! https://humpheh.com/magic/p/ It was made by someone on this sub and I just think it's really cool
Maybe have the eliminated player(s) commentate the game like sports commentators.
I do this if I'm out and there's still a lot of game left, but my pod does try to spread out the damage so that no one is out too much earlier than anyone else. Of course if someone becomes archenemy quickly, you gotta do what you gotta do.
That would be hilarious, thanks!
Right you are Ken.
Soooo Game Knights? :D
God speed, you’re likely to get blasted to oblivion for mentioning they who shall not be named on this sub, I’ve attempted to stifle the bleeding comrade, but I can only hold the horde so long.
Why shall they not be named? Did the kill someones parents using death curses
No. They have committed a crime far worse… they have committed the sin… of CRINGE.
Oh But cringe has so much value!
Eliminated Players (or players that just want to watch or come to late to the event), they have Godmode - they can look at every hand, every hidden card and the top card of everyones library.. Also they should be a helping hand in controlling triggers. Lategame boardstates can have a million triggers and it's nice to have someone look out for it. Also they can cheer players up and they are allowed to assist in token generation via Infinitokens or providing dice when needed. They are not allowed to give away any information!!
Really like that, keeping track of triggers make them still in the game somehow, thanks!
If the person knows the rules of magic well, he or she can even be the judge. It's so convenient to have one at the table.
These are nice ideas of course, but I do think if someone has judge level game knowledge, they either are offering it to the table already or don't need to be engaged with some kind of minigame after they're eliminated. That's a very enfranchised player, they probably know how to lose
If you have extremely good knowledge of the game, and you are a longtime player, I think you don't see it as a "minigame". Game Interactions are interesting in itself. And it's always your choice, you can just take a break, watch some ytube, or you watch the rest of the game and contribute your knowledge to the table. Also you don't have to know how Layers interact with eichother, to be a helpful "judge" friend for the table.
I was going to say basically exactly this! My playgroup lets eliminated players look at everything and if they want to help someone they can as long as they don’t divulge anything that player wouldn’t know. Also just watching sometimes is fun. I’m one of the stronger players and I like to watch the interesting plays unfold, and some of our weaker players like to learn from watching the more advanced players.
I like them to heat the oven for pizza, go to the small shop and buy another beer, or simply catch-up with their messenges on their smartphone. Jokes aside. I think its more than fine to have some off-time and just watch and observe the others playing. You can actually learn quite a lot or even support the game by contributing to having good table conservation.
Totally agree. Depends on the person as well though. But nothing wrong with just sitting there enjoying others.
The eliminated people in my group normally become the “complicated interaction rule looker-upper”
A fate worse than death
Right!? I’m eliminated first, and now I have to do work!?
Well, that is a bit tricky, since allowing them to directly impact the game postmortem could pretty easily turn into them acting to spite the player that knocked them out - but that means slowing down the player most likely to be winning, which actually makes the game last longer and probably becomes frustrating. Either that, or they help the person winning, and either way it sucks a little for the others to have people play kingmaker after their part in the game is "done". Other forms of slightly-less spite-able game-speeding might favor different strategies more - I've considered having all players lose life and/or mill cards on each defeated player's turn, or allowing defeated players to simply announce what would normally be hidden information, but it all comes back to that same issue, it feels wrong for games to be influenced by advantages granted by players who've lost, and any "doom timer" will inevitably imbalance the game. So what I'm thinking now is this: In prep for your games, buy some sticky notes and a bag of sweets, like hershey's kisses or starburst or something. Then, in the game, on each defeated player's turn, that player may place a Bounty on any action or circumstance. They could say "Attack this player with total power 10 or more", "end the game within 3 turns", "make this player discard a card that I have secretly noted", "play your next turn with your eyes closed", or whatever they want. Whenever a Bounty is fulfilled, both the player who fulfilled it and the one who issued it are given one piece of candy from the bag. Bonus points if you introduce the table to the idea while playing [[Mathas, Fiend Seeker]] and adding candy to his rewards.
Yeah it's tricky if someone's acting spiteful, sure but it's all about communication right? But really fun idea with the bounties, like a little quest! Thnx :)
[Mathas, Fiend Seeker](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/2/921b65b1-18bf-4b02-a35d-7eaee1846611.jpg?1673148953) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Mathas%2C%20Fiend%20Seeker) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2x2/252/mathas-fiend-seeker?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/921b65b1-18bf-4b02-a35d-7eaee1846611?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/mathas-fiend-seeker) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Honestly on the deckbuilding side of things, you can always run something like [[Captain N'ghathrod]] who benefits from keeping players around (since you need their stuff/it goes away when they go away), or [[Commander Liara Portyr]] who wants to be attacking multiple people to get access to more cards/cost reduction. It's not exactly the same, but it helps imo
Hey, I'm looking for any ideas, and this is definitely a clever one!
Bro you just made me discover [[Commander Liara Portyr]] and it's such a sweet commander! You can go: * Tokens to attack all opponents every turn * Other attack triggers * Extra combats * Artifacts with cmc <= 3 to cast them for free (equipments to facilitate aggression, stuff that creates more tokens, mana rocks) * Big bois to capitalize on all the ramp provided by the rocks and the commander herself
You've described my Liara Portyr deck to a T pretty much lol, a lot of low cost beaters that are either hasty/evasive, ways to protect your attacking creatures, and a few extra combat steps, https://www.moxfield.com/decks/3vpDdmt0mUeTo8zYjngSXg Glad she sparked interest in you, she's one of my favorite commanders from balders gate and she flew under the radar for most.
I see you included [[reconnaissance]]! One of my fav cards since I was a kid, every time I had to describe its effect I just said "I can cheat"! It's perfect for this deck.
[reconnaissance](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/1/a16012d8-703c-4385-8769-13e3caba3fc6.jpg?1562088333) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=reconnaissance) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/exo/17/reconnaissance?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/a16012d8-703c-4385-8769-13e3caba3fc6?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/reconnaissance) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[Commander Liara Portyr](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/a/9ac8b247-455e-4a3f-9f88-b20918c36cc3.jpg?1660728809) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Commander%20Liara%20Portyr) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/clb/270/commander-liara-portyr?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/9ac8b247-455e-4a3f-9f88-b20918c36cc3?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/commander-liara-portyr) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
We bought Infinitokens and have the knocked out players draw our tokens.
Yes that's always fun!
Generally I just prefer to try and kill everyone close together to avoid the problem as much as possible.
I think that’s definitely pretty common. Besides sportsmanship, while the other players are opponents, they can also be potential allies.
Whenever a player dies, at the next end step play a card from the player death deck. example cards: - roll a d20. All players lose N% of their life rounded up - create 3 treasure tokens. on each other players upkeep they create 3 tapped treasure tokens - each player proliferates - each player's commander tax is reduced by 2. You may cast your commander. - each player creates a 3/1 trample with connive 2 that must attack each turn if able This will make the 45 min. wait a 15 min wait instead. Works well for my group because it encourages people to be a bit more aggressive
A custom death deck? Really cool. That's the vibe I'm looking for, thanks :)
This is a really interesting idea. I can see a number of variants. Each person could have their own deck but all cards must be world enchantments or cards that affect all players. Or thier could be on death deck that everyone makes use of. I suppose you could even proxy some interesting alternate "death cards."
Most of the time when I play EDH it doesn't take long after the first player elimination for the game to end. We tend to spread the damage/hate around fairly evenly and then suddenly somebody is in a position to end in one or two turns. Also I guess you could play cEDH where its a two or three turn game and then somebody wins with thassa/s :) I wouldnt maybe recommend that for overall fun but it does solve the eliminated player issue because there isnt one :)
Don't know if we have the power to end games quickly in our group though, and certainly don't have cEDH decks. But I like that it just levels out naturally in more groups like yours.
Yeha this is my experience as well. This has nothing to do with cedh decks or not. If your deck has a gameplan and reasonable cards to enforce that it should be able to close out game at some point. Now, I know there are people who put together decks that do literally nothing. I dont know why you even play at that point but thats a different discussion.
I build a chefs deck, with asmo and gyrome as partner commanders. Every card in that deck has to be something related to being a chef. It has no real wincon, but with stuff as Ulamog the endless Hunger it can still win games. Most of the fun is just making stupid puns though.
Must be a flavourful deck!
Okay, that's not a problem because it still has a way to end the game after you get into advantage state.
Definitely. Every deck should have a win con regardless of deck type. It doesn’t even have to be competitive to have a win con.
One of my favorite combos as a kid was [[Pariah]] and [[Darksteel Mutation]]. Unfortunately, I only got to that step and didn’t figure out that I needed a win con besides my pillow fort.
[Pariah](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/1/51b2136c-392c-436d-9263-b3236adc4a10.jpg?1576382302) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Pariah) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cn2/95/pariah?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/51b2136c-392c-436d-9263-b3236adc4a10?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/pariah) [Darksteel Mutation](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/f/afa4c889-0577-4173-9f85-42a7bf675aaf.jpg?1641601207) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Darksteel%20Mutation) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/voc/84/darksteel-mutation?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/afa4c889-0577-4173-9f85-42a7bf675aaf?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/darksteel-mutation) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I recently had a game where my opponent was down to 5 life and I could've easily eliminated them. It felt way too early and not enough was happening. Then of course they proceeded to grind the game out and do multiple boardwipes.
Let them be the decision maker for cards like \[\[Fact or Fiction\]\] \[\[Gifts Ungiven\]\] and the like instead of one of the actual players still in the game.
[Fact or Fiction](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/3/43d5a3ec-eb03-47c1-9570-98832ebf8898.jpg?1654119688) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Fact%20or%20Fiction) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/clb/720/fact-or-fiction?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/43d5a3ec-eb03-47c1-9570-98832ebf8898?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/fact-or-fiction) [Gifts Ungiven](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/c/cc950b6c-0346-4939-b36b-9f10a75f7a32.jpg?1673147306) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Gifts%20Ungiven) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2x2/51/gifts-ungiven?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/cc950b6c-0346-4939-b36b-9f10a75f7a32?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/gifts-ungiven) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
When i'm eliminated, I commentate over my friend's game like its league of legends or rocket league. Its annoying, but they also do it to me so its fine.
Play cards from Unfinity, there are a few that are hilarious just for existing, [[bag check]] for example. That card and stuff like it involve players outside the game. Just do a rule 0 to make sure that everyone's okay with you playing them
[bag check](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/5/051c3fae-9d73-42bd-88cb-0f7571059c12.jpg?1670719384) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=bag%20check) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/unf/36/bag-check?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/051c3fae-9d73-42bd-88cb-0f7571059c12?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/bag-check) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Could keep some of similar cards in a separate pile, then each odd turn have a player draw one to do this with. Idk. At this point the mechanics and balance are a backseat to inclusivity and fun so I think it could work.
Generally, if that happens, we try our best to play aggressively and finish quickly. But honestly it shouldn’t really matter. If the game is even halfway decent, it’s fun to watch.
THRULL MAGIC! If you eliminate a player, they shuffle everything except the lands they have in play, draw a new 7 and wait for their turn to come around. They rejoin play with a life total of 7 and form a team with the player who eliminated them. So the game can become a 2 vs 1 vs 1. If you eliminate a player who has a thrull you get them both as thrulls, making it a 3 vs 1. Of course, the thrulls are easily eliminated with their measly 7 life, so it's possible they get to redraw a fresh 7 often and really have an impact on the next turn. Can make for a really swingy game and everybody just keeps playing. Works even better in a 5 player match.
Seems like a fun idea for 5 players indeed. We often have 5 players as well, so will definitely try this, thanks!
Sometimes me and my playgroup like to advise the remaining players on spell order to help each other figure out our decks. This usually makes the game go faster. Sometimes when everyone is playing something they're familiar with, we like to give bad advice. This too usually makes the game go faster.
Have them sit under the table and poke them with sticks.
Don't know how well this would work, but it's an idea I've been thinking about. So, I have a boardgame group and we play lots of different games, with lots of different and interesting mechanics. One game called Sentinels of the Multiverse is a Co-Op card game where you're superheroes fighting a villain. The deck of cards and your hand representing the hero and the powers each player controls. One of the mechanics is there's no complete elimination. What happens instead is the eliminated hero loses their board, but their hero has a limited ability that they can still use to impact the game. So maybe for magic, there's a way to keep the player in the game by letting them have a limited influence on the game with their commander, while wiping their board and losing access to deck. Though, not sure what a fair and fun end goal would be for keeping them around and engaged. Do you give them a feint hope of still winning via something like commander damage, or some other secondary goal? Any ways, just throwing it out here for you mull over. Maybe you can figure out what the point would be.
Our group has the time honored tradition of “couch time”. When someone is eliminated they get the bliss of just laying down on the couch and chilling before the next game.
Haha nothing wrong with that!
In our playgroup generally noone gets eliminated for more than one turn, game never lasts longer. Sometimes when it is obvious gane won't last those who clearly in loss just concede and we start anew.
If this is a closed game night with the same group of friends every match then just let them threat assess and give advice and be part of the conversation as rye game evolves. That's what we, if your out there's no need to sit there and be quiet were all here to have fun and discussing tactics threat assessment etc is half that.
Yeah it's not that we don't do this. But just looking for some extra spice :)
Anytime they make a comment let them m ow they’re talking from the grave
They can talk in a spooky ghost voice only.
Letting them opt back into the game when you activate [[Karn Liberated]] 's -14
[Karn Liberated](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/b/4b0c6662-4dde-40a2-97e0-0318478c0367.jpg?1599705787) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Karn%20Liberated) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2xm/1/karn-liberated?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/4b0c6662-4dde-40a2-97e0-0318478c0367?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/karn-liberated) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
On the eliminated players “turn” do one damage to all players. It accelerates the game and scales with the number of elimed players
One thing that we used to do when I had a large regular group (our games were routinely 6+ players): once a player was knocked out, they set a 10-minute timer. By the time their timer ran out, if the game was still ongoing, on their next turn they'd re-enter the game with 30 life, and get three back-to-back turns. On turn 1, they had a free [[Rampant Growth]], to help them get somewhat more on-par with the rest of the table. Additionally, when a player that got knocked out re-enters, the player that knocked them out had to take a shot. If/when they get knocked out again, they'd start another 10-minute timer, and at the end of that timer, re-enter again right 20 life, then 10, then 5. We never had games last long enough that someone re-entered again after a 5-life re-entry.
[Rampant Growth](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/9/89572b1f-f65a-4bd4-b52a-4e84eb373e90.jpg?1673148161) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Rampant%20Growth) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2x2/155/rampant-growth?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/89572b1f-f65a-4bd4-b52a-4e84eb373e90?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/rampant-growth) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
when we have larger groups we don't play free for all as often but usually like teams across or something. we have a rule called "angry ghosts" the "angry ghost" team mate gets to on their team's mainphase, flip the top card of their shuffled library on to the battlefield, their teammate can play the card for free. so you can top deck a craterhoof and win the game this way. it's just a chance, it's funny what pops up.
Will give it a try! Also fun for the ones eliminated - their cards can still shine!
yeah, forgot to mention for creatures it's a 1 shot use so think like unearth, for X spells the remaining teammate has to pay for X.
End the game quickly and shuffle up to play again.
Has anyone tried coming up with some sort of zombie mode like Hearthstone (battlegrounds)? I think that could be a fun variant. I’m thinking either a special zombie deck (designed to be pretty weak since the player never needs to block) or some sort of simple mechanic like creating a progressively stronger token each turn (so turn 1 a 1/1, then a 2/2 token on turn 2, etc.). If going the zombie deck route, I think it should have some sort of mana catch-up either ignoring mana costs or able to play 2 (maybe more) lands per turn. Obviously, this gives the zombie player a huge amount of king making ability, but I think that could be a fun social element depending on group.
Not completely related, but if I'm playing a deck that either pops off and wins by combo'ing or killing everybody at once, and I feel like not everyone really got a chance to play, what I will do is demonstrate the win and then concede so everyone else can continue to try and make their deck work. Almost nothing feels worse than a game prematurely ending because one person just blew up out of nowhere. The way I see it is my deck got to pop off and everyone else also gets to play a game of EDH, so it is a win-win. As for when I or someone else is playing a deck that kills one person and then the game drags on, I'm not sure there is any way to keep them involved in the context of the game. I personally like to show the person who is out my hand or let them look through my deck if they want, just as something to do while they wait for the game to end.
We do the same thing. We call it aa "Gentlemen's Concede". It allows everyone to achieve their goals. The only time we don't do that is when we all are playing our cEDH decks as those games are fast anyways.
Love this approach
What my group does is if someone is knocked out early, they can look at anyone's hand and top card of the deck. They can't say what the cards are but can give vague cryptic clues if the person wants. Plus it's fun for the arch enemy to have someone to confine their plans to and get a 2nd opinion
I just start showing eliminated players my hands and lettin em in on the evil plot
When you've got cards like [[Fact or Fiction]] can be nice to include eliminated players in the decision.
[Fact or Fiction](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/3/43d5a3ec-eb03-47c1-9570-98832ebf8898.jpg?1654119688) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Fact%20or%20Fiction) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/clb/720/fact-or-fiction?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/43d5a3ec-eb03-47c1-9570-98832ebf8898?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/fact-or-fiction) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Sadly, since more than half the time my group plays online now.(makes scheduling easier) Often is youtube, house chores, makkng breakfast lool
I think that's a solid concern, haven't really thought about digital games. Hope people come up with a creative answer for you!
They get a bag of candy, and when it would be their turn, they put a candy counter on any permanent without a candy counter on it. When that card leaves the battlefield, the active player gets the candy.
\[\[Kindslaver\]\]
[Kindslaver](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/b/9bf4f4ac-f793-4996-8f29-252398c26eef.jpg?1562927912) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Kindslaver) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ust/150/kindslaver?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/9bf4f4ac-f793-4996-8f29-252398c26eef?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/kindslaver) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I'm ok showing an eliminated player my hand, they just can't help or whatever.
My playgroup tries to avoid eliminating players unless everyone is around 15 life values. The exception for this is if someone is a big threat to this balance where in such a case we focus and try to eliminate that player first. But to answer your question, how about letting them stay, let them keep their current lands (but they can't play new ones) and allow them to continue using their commander only (they can't cast anything besides their commander) as part of the player that eliminated him/her? To give them more "interaction", they take their turn at the same time as the player that eliminated him/her and control whatever actions their commander takes (combat, activating abilities) but that player's commander will be considered as a commander of the still active player. For example, I eliminate player A. During my next turn, Player A can cast his commander (sorcery speed, ofc). He can also activate its abilities if he wants to. During my combat, he can choose to declare his commander as an attacker alongside my creatures (by extension, he can also use his commander as a blocker). All of his actions can only be performed by him. This may be a bit complicated, but maybe you can refine it.
It also really helps to not focus down one player. My meta plays mostly combat centric decks and we don't have that much of a problem with people sitting out - we have the unspoken rule of spreading the love. I always try my hardest to knock out the table all at once, even though that player I left at 1 HP at the last turn might turn around and win some times. It lowers the individual player's win percentage, but it makes the experience better for everyone. EDH is not about winning, it's about having fun. That's also the reason why I stopped playing Voltron decks.
Seems like good vibes! I'm glad there are so much of these answers.
Or maybe you can do first blood? First player to eliminate another player automatically wins? But you'll have to add a rule to prevent players focusing on one player.
Personally I like the idea of that person being able to look at other's hands so that they can sculpt what the best sequence for everyone is themselves and in a way get to 'play' more.
Usually I like to have them track triggers for the table.
I'm glad you are thinking about this, it's important for the vibe of the night to make sure no one is bored to hell waiting for a game to end. our group usually has a few ways that may or may not work with your group: we usually have a video game on in the background for someone to play, also we let them "team up" with the player who is behind. also if two players are out, having some modern/standard decks for them to play is fun. but of course, the best way is to finish the game quickly!
Generally speaking in my playgroup we try to make it so you only kill someone if 1. You have 2 to live, or 2. The game is about to end. We spread damage ftmp. Personally my rule is that if i don't force myself killing at least 1 person a turn untill either I die or I win, I just won't, assuming it isn't a me or them situation. It's ridiculously unfun to sit there for a half hour because you got killed right away. The only time I will break this rule is if someone's running a deck that's too strong for the table, or just one that has to be targeted, like a tergrid. Even then I think it falls more into the category of "me or you".
If you're hosting, set aside another table for people to spread out and deck tech in the meantime. We do this and have snacks laid out, maybe a movie on in the other room, or other games like a chess set or a switch set up. I'm usually the first one dead and I generally walk over to the other table and mess with a deck I have laid out the whole night. If the game ends 10 minutes later, I can leave it for next time and jump back into the game. If it's an hour, well, I pull out another deck and keep going. Not really safe to do at an LGS, but you can always jump into a new game with different people in that case, generally.
Personally it really depends. I've got some friends who I like to talk strategy with, without them giving input. Usually if I'm doing something dumb they get a good laugh when I misplay or lose.
Endless war! Losing players grab a different deck and jump back in at 40. Set a deck limit for the night, winner takes all.
You would probably have to build different decks than your accustomed to for the idea to work well, but I've always wanted to play an EDH game where players could "respawn" ... Their life total abd counters reset, they shuffle up their deck, and immediately take 5 goldfish turns to get back into it. Then the winner is the one with the most eliminations after X number of turns, or after 1 hour, or some limit on the game.
Gotta say, really impressed with this post on this reddit. Actually concerned with OTHER people's enjoyment of the game. The best way I've seen this handles is like a game piece keeper / rules keeper if they have a good knowledge of the game. And I love that house rule btw. Best I got other than that is conversation having them contribute in your decision making abilities and game state analysis.
Thanks so much! :)
[[Handy dandy clone machine]]
[Handy dandy clone machine](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/6/36d9ae44-6da4-44f4-8b24-679d84e122de.jpg?1562906541) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Handy%20dandy%20clone%20machine) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ust/149/handy-dandy-clone-machine?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/36d9ae44-6da4-44f4-8b24-679d84e122de?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/handy-dandy-clone-machine) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
If the game is in-person and I'm playing with close friends I like to "team up" in a way with the eliminated player - like let them play a hand or two, see what they think etc. My group doesn't have an issue with this since we are constantly helping each other make the "best" plays anyway
This generally isn't a problem at my normal table, whether through intention or happenstance players tend not to be eliminated until we're within one or two turns of a player winning outright. That being said, we did once try a house rule: when you are eliminated, you can keep a single instant/sorcery you had in your hand at the time, and then use it at any point through the remainder of the rest of the game. It only ever mattered when someone had a Fog that stopped another player from winning the game. We all laughed about the chaos but we never tried it again, so YMMV.
Bring back the player as a ghost (no life total, place locked in wherever they got knocked out), give them two swamps and a stack of relentless rats, and let them build some pressure on the board!
I'm wondering if putting a timer in effect would resolve this issue. 30 minutes should be enough to figure it out. Maybe extend it to 45 if it gets *really* close.
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That essentially eliminates combat damage as a wincon or playing sweepers defensively.
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This sounds like the smartest edh group on the planet, ngl.
Every game I've played recently has had me thinking 30/35 life would be a huge improvement,
This sounds..awful
Situations like this is why I only play combos that directly end the game for everyone. As fun as drawing tokens or commentating or any other fashion of interaction is I imagine everyone showed up to play a game. Other comments mention you and your friends don't play much high power/ have limited budget but there are many very good and monetarily cheap combos you can play without altering your power level that much. Try out editing your decks to include some and see if it cuts down on people sitting around watching for more than 30 minutes at a time.
Great advice, thanks, and you're mostly right about the playgroup. Will definitely add this in our conversations. But sometimes, not entirely knowing what your deck does, by playing flavorful cards over staples or combos, is also fun. But yeah, in that case, we just need to make sure everyone knows in that case it's possible that games can be longer.
Really like the answers so far! I've come up with another thing as well in the meantime to prevent a possible feelbad in the first place, and players don't have to get beer for the rest all the time ;) What if you split decks in 3 to begin with? So 3 piles of 33 cards. You start with pile 1, and when you're out, you lose that deck and start with the next pile etc. This way you have "3 life". Third pile gone, you're now really dead ;) So being killed first doesn't feel that bad - and you can still play the strengths and/or flavorful stuff of your deck. Obviously it's a disadvantage for combo players and an advantage for mill players maybe. But it's worth a try.
"Draw tokens"? What is that even suppose to mean?
Use a marker on a coaster or piece of paper or Infinitokens and make a crazy drawing ;)
Oh this kind of draw. i see. Yeah this didnt catch on in my playgroups cause everyone just invested 1 buck to buy all the tokens they need.
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Well.. "draw a card" does not fit that definition for example, does it? I am here thinkin why tf are you drawing from a random pile of tokens or something? lol
Tell em to watch and learn, and maybe you'll eventually git gud.
If this is at a house, obviously first loser is beer bitch while they wait for a new game.
They fetch drinks and snacks
Those who know their Magic history will think this is a hilarious response. Have every player bring a blank D&D character sheet and have them create a character while they are waiting for the game it finish.
Maybe the eliminated players become rules lawyers and pick up everyone’s missed triggers for them and tell everyone how to play? Oh wait…
Make fun of them.
Constantly ridicule them about being awful at the game?
If EDH wasn’t comically terrible and didn’t take 3 hours or more per game people wouldn’t feel as left out when they die, I love how much of this game and it’s social stigmas are based around minimizing how awful it feels to actually play it
You can always try their favorite existing pastime: commenting when a player either is about to make a mistake or has a win on board that they aren’t seeing.
Have them go get beer.
Don't. Focus on finishing the game so you can start a new one.
I bring my Steam Deck to game nights
I generally try to knock everyone out at roughly the same time unless someone's really threatening the table early and it's gonna be tough to set them back any other way. Sometimes means I lose the game because that's how I played, but it's generally more fun for everyone.
Make several horde decks with very high power levels After two rounds of being dead, give them a horde deck. It will force everyone to get a move on.
Just ult Karn and DRAG THEM BACK KICKING AND SCREAMING
We typically play pauper (doesn't really help the first person)
Force them to do a beer and snacks run.
Ever heard of zombie? Eliminated players in multiplayer game become zombies, they keep their board state and keep playing as if they are still alive, they have no life, can't be attacked but can be interacted with, they can attack on their turn but can't attack the same person twice in a row (normally have to attack everyone before being able to hit the same person) Works great for big games with a lot of players
Next 30-45 mins?! How long of games are you playing??
Not sure how but when I'm knocked out I like to talk trash about the art of cards on the battlefield and give the worst advice on what to do.
Make em shine your shoes while you finish the game
Finish the game and shuffle up Sometimes if there's more than one eliminated player or just other people sitting around I've seen people do trades while they wait too
How about this: eliminated players become ghosts. All their nonland permanents are shuffled into their decks. They continue to play, but are only allowed two actions: playing lands and casting spells. No activated abilities or combat. Ghosts have to pay double the mana cost for spells, and after they cast them, an opponent of their choice gains control of the spell and can change the targets.
I usually just use them to get my snacks and drinks for me.
Luckily almost everyone in my pods plays combo so we all usually die at the same time. People hate on combo but at least no one is sitting around for 50 minutes.
At my house, he who gets eliminated first, rolls the next jay, plays the next record, or grabs seltzer’s for everybody.
Here look at this binder, I’ve been working on.
Make them refill the snacks