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Widely known as Magic: The Gathering's most social way to play, Commander is getting a festive update just in time for the festive season. As part of a recent video, personalities Josh Lee Kwai and Jimmy Wong played a multiplayer match called "Countdown to XT-Mas."

How the Festive Format Works

At its core is a simple layer added on top of a normal EDH match. A rotating token travels around the table. Once it arrives at the active player's upkeep, the action halts for a moment. Every player privately decides whether they're being Naughty or Nice with the help of indicator cards.

The participants flip their card at the same time. They then resolve the consequence linked to their own choice, first with the person holding the marker. This marker then gets passed to the next player. A special tracker moves forward one notch, and regular Commander resumes.

The Naughty/Nice options become more significant over time go on, seeming finely tuned.

Growing Effects

Early rounds granted modest, shared benefits for the Nice path, including life gain or investigation clues. Conversely, The Naughty paths usually provided more specific upsides, usually targeting someone else. For instance allowed those choosing Naughty get a powerful airborne creature. Those who picked Nice generated a 1/1 Toy token creature for each player.

The Climactic Arrival

When the final round, Father Christmas himself arrived, changing the match. According to how often each player was Nice versus Naughty, Santa gave out mystery presents. These looked like deck boxes, but held MTG booster packs worth different amounts.

• The kindest player received a top-tier Collector Booster.
• The second-nicest player opened a slightly less valuable premium pack.
• A special guest got a older set.
• The very naughty player drew the short straw: a historically poor set that's essentially a gag.

Each card unwrapped could then be playable for the remainder of the match, cast from exile with mana treating it as all colors. For the nicer players, their present proved to be a huge boost. Whereas, the naughty players basically received a punitive gift.

Recreating the Format with Friends

Although the video had a lot of production value, this is a concept that anybody can adapt in their own playgroup. Everybody plays with their standard EDH deck, and all you'd need are a selection of booster packs of varying value.

A possible drawback lies in the fact that if players know ahead of time what being nice gets you, then everyone strategize for the most valuable gift. You could mix it up with alternatives, like doing a mini-draft from a communal pile or letting players pull cards they own not in their deck.

Judging by the successful demonstration, this holiday variant is definitely a fun method to create laughter when playing with friends. It complicates the dynamics in the game in a uniquely festive manner, creating a special way to play for Magic enthusiasts everywhere.