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Editor:Staff 19th November 2007
RULES FOR FUN CASUAL
By Kye Temple
I go to the occasional tourney.
It’s kind of hard down here in the land UNDER the land down under.
We have like 1-2 standard events a year, and we recently lost PTQ’s
after only having them for a few years anyway. So as someone who loves
magic so much what am I to do?
There are Saturday morning drafts and prereleases… sure they are
fun and all but when do I get to use one of those dozens of decks I have
all sleeved up and stored away?
Cue the Casual game night!
I got me a proper job at the start of this year and a few months ago
moved out of home with my girlfriend. So the impact was minimal i.e. I
still get my washing and some cooking done for me :P
So now I have my own place and after about a year of me playing almost
no magic I decided to find some people. I got me some old school people
I used to spend so much time playing with in college (I didn’t skip
that many classes to play magic. Honest…) and a couple of new people
I managed to recruit to the game.
It’s hard teaching new players. Brings back bad memories...
So anyway now I got my Wednesday night game sessions cranking; Wednesday
is the best day ever to have it. You just come off a weekend with a daunting
5 days until you get another one, but now magic is on Wednesday so you
can look forward to that! It’s almost as good as a weekend! Then
you only have 2 more days till an actual weekend. OMG magic on Wednesday
is awesome. They should change FNM to WNM in my magical opinion.
Casual we play is usually chaos multiplayer and is severely lacking in
any removal of any kind. It seems like the answer to big threats in my
playgroup is simply bigger threats.
Anyway onto the actual article topic: RULES OF CASUAL (enforced in my
house on pain of being given a wet willy.(with an actual wet willy not
a stupid finger!))
Rule 1: The Autoscoop.
This is the exceptional circumstance rule.
Best way to explain it is with real life examples:
Rhys: “Ok I incinerate your frogmite”
Kye: “Hey you know they errated that so it’s a frog now right?”
Rhys: “no” *stunned blink followed by autoscoop*
And another:
Kye: *swings with a foil 9th ornithopter* “Ha-ha my thopter pwns
you all!”
Rhys: *nameless inversion on ornithopter* “Ha-ha it dies and isn’t
even a thopter when it does”
Kye: *autoscoop*
It’s not only a random knowledge of errata that will cause this
that’s just an example, a random event can have much the same effect
for example: you drop your life counter dice off the table, it hits the
floor and bounces back up onto the table…. Landing on the exact
number it should be!(I’ve actually seen this happen!).
And then there are just the WOW moments like first turn Foil Wanderwine
Hub revealing and playing a foil Merfolk of the Pearl Trident. That’s
some instant scoopage there (had a horrid hand anyway :P).
Rule 2: No Infinite decks.
This might need a little explanation: DON’T GO INFINITE AND KILL
EVERYBODY IN ONE GO!!!
I have nothing against infinite combos. Hell I have one or two decks that
do it myself, but in a game of 6-8 people the game suddenly ending because
some knobjockey at the other end of the table just announces he has gone
infinite IS NOT FUN! (Well it might be a little fun for the knobjockey
but overall it’s not fun!)
Combos that are infinite and kill another player? Sure thing that’s
all good. If u can continue the combo next turn and kill another player
all good (Charbelcher, I’m looking at you), that’s fine just
as long as people see it coming. Even if they don’t have any conceivable
way to stop you, as long as they see it coming it’s ok.
Charbelcher + a mountain in your deck = OK
Infinite mana + Fireball = UNFUN
Rule 3: Change decks.
It gets boring for everybody when 9 games out of ten you play the same
deck.
Mix it up a bit.
 Sure
pet decks are fine but try to restrict it to at least half the games you
play at the most. Also if you keep using it over and over you can warp
the groups meta (yeah casual groups have em :P), and people will start
playing cards specifically to beat you. (I swear if I have to face that
damn wall deck one more time I’m splashing red in every deck I own
and running Ali Baba + Goblin Digging Team).
If your new to the game and finding it hard to think up/scrape up another
deck, go to a draft or sealed or pre release or something, take the deck
you build on the day expand it to 60 cards and just improve it from there.
The number one excuse I get from new people as to why they don’t
make another deck is “I don’t know what to base it on”
or “what kind of deck” and “I don’t have enough
stuff”... drafts are $15… just take the pile of jank you get
from that add a handful of stuff and walla new deck.
Preconstructed's are good too but be prepared to be bagged out severely
for using one without changing it a bit.
Rule 4: No Proxies.
There is no need for it. If I wanted to play with proxies then I would
win every game before you got a turn. Period.
If you are lacking a card just find a substitute even if it is vastly
inferior.
For example “Wewewewe I can’t get hold of 4 incinerates for
my deck,” “Well howdy there let me introduce you to my little
friend shock.” Maybe a bad example but you get the idea.
(Proxies are banned in my house, anyone caught using them will be choked
to death with their own small intestine.)
Rule 5: Thou shalt wear the tee-shirt of shame.
If you end up in last place at say a Lorwyn Pre-release for example, and
have been beaten by everybody in the room (including the ‘special’
guy who is quite possibly the worst magic player in the world); and you
get awarded a tee-shirt as a booby/consolation prize, THOU MUST WEAR IT
AT EVERY MAGIC EVENT UNTILL THOU HATH REDEEMED THYSELF!
Rule 6: No winging girlfriends.
I have an excuse mine lives there.
Well there you go my first real article(ish?) after my dig at everyone(see
toldya I would).
Anyway I wanna hear what your playgroup does.
What crazy formats do you play?
Have any special rules?
Am I the only guy on earth with a wingy girlfriend?
All these questions and more I’m expecting answers to in the forums.
Untill next time GIMMIE ALL YOUR RODS!!!!!
Kye_Temple@hotmail.com
Kyeisgod on the forums.
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