When looking at many casual variants, or considering the creation of one of your own, many of them involve a variety of deck-building limitations. Pauper and Commander are two of the most well-known variants that involve deck-building limitations. Commander changes a few of the other rules as well, but being a 100 card singleton format is the heart of Commander. Lately, we've seen Brawl offer another variant based on deck-building.

These are the variants that seem to catch the interest of a lot of Magic players. The allure of building something that no one else has built, can be intoxicating and is a big part of the fun of Magic. While tournament play limits that somewhat for Standard, these casual formats tend to be a less "solved" format, so your original brew could become the next monster! These variants allow everyone to be the brewer, which is such a big part of Magic!

While I appreciate what these formats offer, they are dependent on the players in your group being willing to build a deck for that format. You really can't play Brawl if the others players don't build Brawl decks. You need at least two decks to have a game. I understand that these variants are the most popular kind, since you are creating a meta that is unknown. The decks can produce very different games than usual games of Magic, which adds to the popularity. But sometimes, you want a little variety in your game without needing to build to different constrictions.

What I particularly like are variants that can be added to your usual game nights. You can be playing Commander or 60-card casual games, and add a wrinkle to it to create a variant that can spice up your game! Many players in my group simply don't have time to build new decks to try out variant formats. While Brawl is thriving in other parts, at my kitchen table it is falling flat simply because the players in my group don't have the time and inclination to create a deck for the format. We all enjoy a variant though, so many of our games are spiced up by putting the Planechase cards in the middle of the table and adding them to our games!

In that light, I have a variant that I'd like to introduce to you that I've been calling "Countdown." Let me give you the basics.

"Countdown" Rules

You play a regular game of Magic for the first two rounds. After everyone has had two turns, two things happen:

At the start of each person's turn, the Countdown timer is reduced by one. I recommend including the timer in the middle of the table in a prominent position. I like a large die, so everyone feels the pressure, but how you display it is up to you. When the Countdown hits zero, the two steps listed above are repeated to start a new Countdown, then the Boom that was chosen at random happens.

The only way to alter the countdown is to pay two mana any time you could play an instant. This allows the payer to add one or subtract one from the Countdown. This allows players to try to control when the "Boom" happens since some players will want it, while others won't. This version favors the player with more mana, but I suggest all sorts of variations later on that limit this advantage.

So what is the "Boom?" The Boom is an effect that dramatically changes the game. Some of the options I've considered so far include:

How it Plays

You play the first two rounds as a normal game without knowing what the Boom is because I didn't want anyone trying to set up for the Boom. I wanted the game to evolve at least a little bit without interference. Rolling a ten-sided die and adding the number of players to the roll guarantees everyone gets at least one turn knowing what the Boom will be before it hits. Players can decide to leave lands untapped to hurry it along or delay it. For a four-player game, the maximum the Countdown timer can be is 14, and the minimum is five. While 14 may sound like a long way off, it ends up only being three or four turns. When you consider the "Boom" effects, that may not be all that much.

I set two mana as the cost to change the timer because it was an amount that players can afford to pay early in the game that allows you to make a change, but not too much. If you want to delay it until your next turn, it will cost eight mana. Generally, you'll be able to move the Countdown a spot or two, but if even one person wants it to happen, it is likely going to happen. I looked at adding alternate ways to change the timer, such as exiling cards in hand, but they all just seemed like ways to complicate a format that should at least start out fairly straightforward.

I have tried to avoid any "Booms" that will add time to the game. My group's games tend to be on the longer side, and adding a variant that simply makes the games longer seems like a bad plan. Giving every player life or the ability to counter a spell just means the game would go on longer. Admittedly, giving some players that many cards can add to the game, but generally everyone getting more cards is a good thing that allows players to do the things they want to do, which should bring games to an end faster.

Variants of a Variant

"Countdown" allows for all sorts of variations. Your group can come up with their own "Boom" options. Perhaps you want "Boom" options that effect only one player, so altering the Countdown can make a dramatic difference. Perhaps you want your "Boom" options to be less dramatic but happen more frequently, so you choose to use a six-sided die. Perhaps your group loves the longer games, so you'll have "Boom" options that can extend the length of the game.

You can change the cost of altering the Countdown. Reduce it to one mana, or make it whatever you want. Exiling a card in hand is an option, but you can do virtually anything. Sacrificing a land or a creature might be enough. Instead of dealing combat damage, you could alter the Countdown. Paying life is another option that can bring a whole new level to controlling the Countdown.

Another way to alter the Countdown is to be able to change the Boom. Perhaps it isn't chosen at random, but instead the active player can choose if they pay a different cost. Another variation would allow the Boom to change every ten changes to the Countdown. This would make altering the Countdown especially significant since it could mean the difference between one Boom or another. For those who like more variance, the same thing could be done, but a new Boom is chosen at random. All the players know is that they like or dislike the current option enough to either want it over any other option or they are willing to choose any other option over the current one.

The key to the Countdown variant isn't so much that it is a variant, but more that it is the skeleton of something different that your group can try. There are so many options and variations within the Countdown, that I wouldn't expect any two groups' version of the Countdown to be the same.

My intention was never to create a new format that was codified where everyone played the exact same way. I like the idea that every group can take it and mold it itheir own version. There isn't a version that is more fun than any other. Just as every Commander group is different in what they see as appropriate power levels for decks, or whether they like combos or infect, every group will like something different about the Countdown. Getting to add another layer of strategy, another layer of chaos, or something right in the middle is what is so appealing about the Countdown to me.

If you decide to use the Countdown, I'd love to hear how your group prefers to play. Did you alter it because you primarily play Commander or has it proved to be a dud in Conspiracy games? One of Magic's strengths has always been its variability; the Countdown just plays to that strength.

Bruce Richard

@manaburned