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Widely considered Magic: The Gathering's friendliest format, Commander just got a holiday twist just in time for the end of the year. In a special episode, hosts from a popular channel demonstrated a multiplayer match dubbed "Countdown to XT-Mas."

How the Festive Format Works

The basic idea involves a simple layer added on top of a standard Commander game. One special token moves to each player. Once it arrives at the active player's turn, the action briefly pauses. All gamers makes a hidden choice if they will be being Nice or Naughty with the help of indicator cards.

The participants flip their choice at the same time. After that, they apply the effect linked to their decision, beginning with the player holding the token. This marker is then passed clockwise. The countdown ticks up one notch, and normal Commander carries on.

These decisions intensify over time continue, seeming carefully crafted.

Growing Outcomes

At the start provided modest, shared advantages for the Nice path, such as gaining life or Clue tokens. On the other hand, Naughty choices typically offered personal benefits, usually at the expense of an opponent. As an example let those choosing Naughty create a 4/4 flying creature. Players that picked Nice made a small artifact token creature for all participants.

Santa's Big Finale

On the eighth round, Father Christmas personally made an appearance, transforming the game. Depending on the tally of each player selected Nice versus Naughty, Santa gave out sealed “gifts”. They appeared to be small containers, but inside were Magic booster packs of varying value.

• The kindest player got a top-tier special pack.
• The second-nicest player opened a different premium pack.
• One player received a older set.
• The most mischievous player essentially received coal: a notoriously weak booster pack that's essentially a punchline.

Each card unwrapped instantly were used for the rest of the game, cast from exile by spending mana treating it as all colors. For the nicer participants, their present proved to be a major boost. Whereas, mischievous participants basically received a disadvantage.

Trying the Game with Friends

While the demonstration match included considerable custom components, the format is something anybody could easily replicate at home. Participants would bring their standard Commander deck, and all you'd need are four different MTG packs with different worth.

A possible challenge could be that if everyone know the rewards in advance the best pack's identity, then everyone try to get the best booster pack. One might change this with alternatives, for example doing a mini-draft from a communal pile or letting players pull cards from their collection from their binders.

Based on the entertaining match, this holiday variant stands as a fun format to spread some joy when playing with friends. It changes the strategy between players in a joyous way, making it a memorable way to play for Magic fans everywhere.