>>> # *"It will make you a better magic player."* ___ **3-4 player multiplayer commander** **100 starting life** **20 card decks** **Each player starts with a Descent into Avernus in play** [[!Descent into Avernus]] **Don't bother with lands** *Yeah.* ___ A few words of advice to first time drafters... >>> ### Pace of Play <<< >>>[[!The Countdown is at One]]<<< >>>(*[[The Countdown is at One]] is not in the cube, it just seemed appropriate here*)<<< As a result of the absurd nature of this environment, **games will typically end during the third or fourth turn cycle**. Players may be knocked out as early as the second. Those turn cycles will be *dense*, with players often taking actions during each other's turns. Expect games to take about an hour, but particularly intense games can take longer. >>> ### Instant Speed <<< >>><<[[!Insidious Will]][[!Tishana's Tidebinder]][[!Glorious End]]>><<< Because of the pace of this environment, *at least* half of your deck should playable at instant speed. More is better. Your opponents are going to cast existentially threatening spells, and you need to be capable of answering them *immediately*. Similarly, the best windows to cast your own game-winning spells will usually be on someone else's turn. Don't get caught waiting around. >>> ### Mill <<< >>><<[[!Imperious Mindbreaker]][[!Damnable Pact]][[!Elixir of Immortality]]>><<< By now you may have done the math: 20 cards, -1 for your commander, -7 for your starting hand. You're left with 12 cards. That's not very many, and once those are gone you're one draw away from losing. Mill is at least as likely to kill you as hitting 0 life. To that end, there are five copies of [[Elixir of Immortality]] floating around; the lifegain is nice, but the shuffle is existential. >>> ### Brain Freeze <<< >>>[[!Brain Freeze]]<<< Brain Freeze is its own beast among mill cards. It's the most powerful card in the cube and a centralizing presence. You need a plan for when this card is put on the stack or you will lose to it. Keep in mind that storm is a single triggered ability that can be responded to and you're already well on your way. >>> ### Pingers <<< >>><<[[!Reckless Fireweaver]][[!Disciple of the Vault]][[!Pain Distributor]]>><<< When you first open up a pack of this cube you're going to shocked by how powerful the creatures seem. [[Reckless Fireweaver]] isn't a power outlier; it's the baseline for how much damage a threat should be doing in this environment. Aggressive (usually {B}{R}) decks want a critical mass of pingers, but many other decks plan to win games in ways that don't benefit much from the pressure. Don't get distracted from your game plan by how absurd the numbers on these cards sound. Relatedly, keep in mind that these pingers resolving is often not a terminal problem in a cube full of truly terminal problems. >>> ### Infinite Combos <<< >>><<[[!Reiterate]][[!Ral, Storm Conduit]]>><<< >>><<[[!Dualcaster Mage]][[!Cackling Counterpart]]>><<< There are two prominent (and overlapping) infinite combos in this environment, centered in {U}{R}: - **Magecraft combos**, where you combine a magecraft trigger with copying a copy spell. You can loop this infinitely for infinite triggers. - **Infinite dualcasters**, by copying a token copy spell. Do keep in mind you're going to have to untap to win this way. ___ >>> # Special Rules <<< - The draft is 3 packs of 10 cards with no special collation. - You must draft your commander. They'll be mixed in with all the other cards in the draft. Should you fail to draft a legal commander, you may add two copies of [[Faceless One]] to your pool. - Deck size is 20 cards, including commander. This means 19 card starting libraries, or 18 with two Faceless Ones. - You may play basic lands in your deck. (*You are strongly advised not to.*) - Starting life is 100. - Each player starts the game with a [[Descent into Avernus]] on the battlefield. - If a permanent named Descent into Avernus would leave the battlefield, instead it doesn't. - At the start of each game, 10 undrafted cards are set aside. If a [[Booster Tutor]] resolves, those 10 cards are used in place of a sealed booster. Additional resolving booster tutors look at the 9 remaining cards in the pack, then 8, and so on. (*Tutored cards do not need to be within your commander's color identity.*) - There are no free mulligans. - The player with the most life after all remaining players lose simultaneously due to have 0 or less life wins the game rather than a draw occurring. Essentially this makes it so when an Avernus trigger kills everyone, the player you'd expect to win does. - All other rules are followed per a normal game of commander. This includes color identity and losing upon taking 21 commander damage. - If you win a game, you get to deface a treasure token however you like.