Army of Magic (AOM) - an MTG Variant

These are the rules for a new rarity-restricted format for Magic: the Gathering that I call...

Army of Magic

Philosophy: for everyone to have fun.  AOM is designed as a casual play format, and probably won't take off on the tournament circuit.  I play with my girlfriend, our kids, and our friends, and the idea is for everyone to have a shot at winning every game if they play their hands right.

Deck Construction: remember the numbers: 3 - 6 - 9 - 12.  Remember these numbers and you can most likely remember the limits of deck building.

• There are no color restrictions in AOM.  Include whatever colors/color identities you feel you can play with the lands and deck sizes available.
• Up to 3 Generals.  Generals can be 1 to 3 creatures of your choice.  Rarity, Legendary status, and color don't matter except in keeping up with the totals below.  Just remember that these creatures will be available to play from your Command Zone similar to a Commander in EDH at an increasing cost every time you play one.  You can only cast a General when no other General is in play.  Planeswalkers cannot be Generals, even if the card says "[this] may be your Commander".  These are Generals, not Commanders.
• Generals are singletons, regardless of rarity.  You cannot include more than 1 copy of each General in your deck.
• Up to 3 Mythic Rares, only 1 copy of each.  Any mythic rare spell, including a General, counts toward this total.  Planeswalkers are typically of Mythic rarity, so they can be in your deck, just not as Generals.
• Up to 6 Rare Lands, only 1 copy of each.  Other than this cap, see Lands below.
• Up to 9 Rare Spells, with no more than 3 of those Mythic.  So 3 Mythic + 6 Rare = 9 total Rare slots.  If your deck has 1 Mythic Rare, you can have 8 Rares; 2 Mythic, 7 Rare, and so on.  Again, Rares and Mythic Rares are Singletons--you can only have one of each in your deck.
• Up to 12 Uncommons, at most 2 copies of each.  "Two-ofs" can be included of Uncommons, but there is a firm maximum of 12.  So an AOM deck could have 6 distinct Uncommons with 2 copies of each, or it could have 12 Uncommon Singletons, or any mix in between.
• No maximum of Commons, at most 4 copies of each.  So you can add any number of distinct Commons, and you can have 1-ofs, 2-ofs, 3-ofs, and 4-card sets of each specific Common.
• Lands: no maximum on Basic Lands; at most 4 copies of each Uncommon Land; up to 6 Rare Lands, only 1 copy of each.  So lands do not count toward spell rarity totals.
• Generals count toward rarity restrictions.  Example: 1 General is Mythic Rare and 2 are Rare: the deck may contain up to 6 additional Rares, with at most 2 of those being Mythic Rares.
• Deck size >= 80 cards.  No maximum deck size as long as you can shuffle it.

Legality / Ban List:

• Modern-legal cards follow the deck construction restrictions above.
• Conspiracy block cards follow the deck construction restrictions above, except that draft-specific cards such as Conspiracies are not allowed/do not apply unless distributed to players as a house rule.
• Commander-legal cards are allowed, but count as Rare regardless of the printed card rarity.
• Basic lands have indestructible.  The original rule in AOM was that land destruction was banned; there are numerous reasons that non-basic lands should be able to be targeted and removed in various instances.  To protect from blanket effects (e.g. "Destroy all lands") and abusive land targeting, basic lands are automatically granted indestructible.  Whenever a player targets a basic land he or she controls, that land loses indestructible.  (Therefore, if a player turns a basic land into a creature, it is not indestructible after being targeted.)

Gameplay:

• Unless otherwise noted or I missed something, the game is played following Standard Constructed MTG rules or the house rules your playgroup has agreed to follow.
• Players begin the game with 30 Life.
• Mulligans: each player draws 7 cards, and may mulligan by laying down the cards drawn and drawing 7 again, repeating this process until an acceptable hand is drawn.  Players should not abuse this privilege.
• Players roll dice to see who goes first; the starting player draws a card on his/her first turn.
• Generals: each player will have chosen 1 to 3 creatures as Generals.  These champions will begin the game face up in the Command Zone, which functions similarly with the zone of the same name in the Commander/EDH variant.
• A casting counter should be kept in the Command Zone for each General, incremented each time the specific General is cast from the Command Zone.  Each time a General spell is cast from the Command Zone (whether the spell resolves or not), the mana cost is increased by {2} for each time the General was previously cast from the Command Zone.
• A General may only be cast when no other General is in play (on the battlefield) under its owner's control.
• Suspend is an exception to the above rule; a General with Suspend may be exiled when another General is in play under its owner's control and is still cast when the last time counter is removed.  The following rule still applies.
• If a situation arises in which a player controls more than 1 General he or she owns, one General must be chosen by the player to be immediately sent to the graveyard or back to the Command Zone.
• If a General would be put into a library, hand, graveyard or exile from anywhere, its owner may choose to move it to the Command Zone instead.  This is a replacement effect, so triggers such as "dies", "goes to graveyard", etc. do not apply.
• Predator vs. Prey: in a multiplayer game, the player to your left is your Prey; the player to your right is your Predator.  At all times while these two players remain in the game, you may only attack and target your Prey, unless your Predator has attacked or targeted you in the game thus far.  Once your Predator attacks or targets you or any permanent or spell you control, you are allowed to retaliate in your own defense from that point on.  When your Prey loses the game, you automatically gain 10 life, and the next player to your left becomes your new Prey.  More detailed rules follow:
• Targeting in this context applies to player/opponent and any permanent or spell the player owns or controls.  Until targeted by your Predator, you can only target your Prey.  As soon as your Predator targets or attacks you, it is "one and done"; the gloves come off and you can attack and target your Predator at will--but be careful: you get no bonus for finishing off your Predator, and when your Predator loses the game, his or her Predator gains 10 life and will be after you next.
• Blanket effects that say "each" or "all" only apply to you (the source of the effect) and your current Predator and Prey.  Even if you cast a spell with a blanket effect on your opponent's turn, it cannot affect anyone other than you, the person to your left, and the person to your right.
• When your Prey loses the game (for any reason, but typically from having a life total of zero or less), you gain 10 life.  This effect happens whether you or an opponent causes your Prey to lose.  The next remaining player to your left immediately becomes your new Prey.
• When there are two players remaining in the game, it becomes a duel with no targeting/attacking restrictions.

That's it!  I hope that players will give this variant a go and give feedback on what the play experience is like.  I enjoy deck building almost as much as playing the game, and I believe this format will foster serious creativity in construction and some intensely balanced multiplayer duels.  Thoughts, suggestions, and rants are all welcome.

--Joe