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Widely regarded as Magic: The Gathering's friendliest way to play, the Elder Dragon Highlander format just got a seasonal twist just in time for the festive season. As part of a recent episode, personalities from a popular channel played a multiplayer match titled "Countdown to XT-Mas."

The Mechanics of the Festive Format Works

Fundamentally is a simple mechanic superimposed on a normal Commander game. One special token travels to each player. Once it arrives at the active player's upkeep, the action halts for a moment. Each participant privately decides if they will be being Nice or Naughty by using choice cards.

Everyone flip their card at the same time. They then resolve the effect linked to their own choice, starting with the player holding the token. The token then gets passed to the right. A special tracker advances a single increment, and regular Commander resumes.

These decisions intensify as the rounds progress, seeming well-balanced.

Increasing Choices

Early rounds provided modest, shared advantages for being Nice, like life gain or Clue tokens. In contrast, Naughty choices typically offered more targeted upsides, usually at the expense of another player. For instance allowed players choosing Naughty receive a 4/4 flying creature. Players that picked Nice created a 1/1 Toy token creature for each player.

The Climactic Arrival

On the eighth round, Saint Nick personally arrived, changing the experience. Depending on the frequency with which a participant selected Nice versus Naughty, Santa distributed mystery presents. These looked like deck boxes, but inside were MTG booster packs worth different amounts.

• The nicest player got a premium special pack.
• The second-nicest player opened a slightly less valuable Collector Booster.
• Another participant received a less powerful booster pack.
• The least nice player drew the short straw: a famously bad set acting as a punchline.

Every card opened could then be playable for the remainder of the match, used as a bonus with mana as though it were colorless. For the nicer players, their gift proved to be a huge advantage. Whereas, mischievous participants were given a disadvantage.

Trying the Variant with Friends

Although the video had significant polish and preparation, this is a concept that any group could easily replicate with friends. Each player plays with their standard Commander deck, and the additional materials needed would be several MTG packs from different sets.

One potential issue is that if players know the rewards in advance what being nice gets you, players might try to get the top prize. Groups can mix it up with alternatives, for example selecting cards together or letting players pull cards from their collection not in their deck.

Based on the successful demonstration, this holiday variant proves to be a joyous format to spread some joy when playing with friends. It adds a layer to the strategy in the game in a fun and way, making it a special way to play among MTG players in their playgroups.