A fast, high-power multiplayer format about creatures, combat, cooperation, and competition

Overview

Coalition is an eternal multiplayer format for Magic: The Gathering. To play, you'll choose a legendary creature as a coalition leader, then build a 60-card deck plus sideboard around one of its creature type affiliations.

Coalition is played as a match of three games in which players compete for the most victory points. Players earn victory points equal to the combat damage they deal to opponents-- reaching 21 victory points immediately wins the game. At the end of each game, each player adds all victory points they earned during the game to their ranking. The player with the highest ranking at the end of the match wins.

Coalition remixes a lot of elements from other formats into its own unique spin on Magic. Give it a try-- we think you'll have a blast.

Each match has four players.
Players start each game with 25 life.
Each deck has 60 cards with a 15 card sideboard.
Each match is three games around 30 minutes each.

Affiliation

Affiliation describes what creature types a card is associated with. A card is affiliated with all creature types it is, as well as all creature types referenced in its Oracle text.

As an exception, "non-[type]" negations do not count as a reference to a creature type. A card that is not affiliated with any creature types is unaffiliated.

Master of Dark Rites is afffiliated with Vampires, Clerics, and Demons.

Leaders

Your coalition's leader is any legendary creature. It starts outside the game in your sideboard, and once on each of your turns, you may put it into your hand from outside the game as a sorcery. This is a special action and does not use the stack.

Leaders also have similar state-based actions and replacement effects to commanders-- they can be removed from the game again if they would transition zones.

Leader cards have many uses when in hand: cast them, discard them for a reanimate effect, use them to pay for pitch spell... it's up to you!

Victory Points

Players start each game at zero victory points and earn victory points equal to the combat damage they deal to opponents. Any player who reaches 21 victory points immediately wins the game; and winning through any other means grants the winner a final count of 21 victory points.

At the end of each game, each player adds all victory points they earned during the game to their ranking. The player with the highest ranking at the end of the match wins.

Alice Nancy Timmy Spike
Game1 12 14 21 4
Game2 7 16 8 21
Game3 21 13 10 3
Total 40 43 39 28
Never give up-- Nancy wins this match even though she never wins a single game!

Deck Format

The format for Coalition decks is decks of 60 cards with a 15 card sideboard. Creatures and non-basic land cards may be included up to four times, counted by their English card title equivalent. There are no limits on basic lands. All other cards may be included only once, counted by their English card title equivalent.

Restrictions

  • No cards from the banned cards list
  • One legendary creature is chosen as the deck's coalition leader, and a single creature type from its creature type affiliations is chosen as the deck's coalition type
    • The leader must be a legendary creature on the front side of the card
    • The leader is a single card and starts in the deck's sideboard
    • All other cards in the deck must be affiliated with the chosen coalition type or be unaffiliated
    • Human may not be chosen as a coalition type
  • No other legendary cards other than your coalition's leader.
    • This restriction applies to both sides of any double-faced cards, e.g. Westvale Abbey may not be run in any deck, and includes Companions
4x Creatures
4x Lands
1x Others

Other Game Mechanics

Turn Order
For game 1, randomly determine the turn order. For games 2 and 3, use the inverse of the players current rankings, e.g. the player with the least victory points goes first, the player with the next least goes second, etc. In the case of ties, the player had a lower turn ranking in the previous game should go before the other.
Mulligans
There is no free mulligan
First player draw
Like other multiplayer formats, the first player does draw a card.
Conceding
While a player may still concede at any time for any reason, conceding automatically invalidates their victory points for that match. The player's ranking is set to 0, and they are removed from any remaining games in the match. As an exception to this rule, if all opponents of a player wish to concede a game simultaneously, this rule does not apply and it is simply as if the player being conceded to had won through any other method.
Ties
In the case of any ties at the end of a match, the player with the highest life total at the end of game 3 should be considered the winner.