Behold: Archenemy

Acrhenemy. If you ask me, I'd say they made this multiplayer format for me. Even if they did not, I still can't help but to feel like the archenemy in many free-for-all games. Or at the very least I find myself wanting to be able to play a scheme card as a last resort after my life total has been reduced to 1, and my chances of victory are 0.01%

The beauty of the archenemy setup is that it provides an interesting challenge for both the team against the archenemy and the archenemy in different ways. The archenemy is charged with defeating the opponents who are battling him. It could be 2,3 or 4 opponents and while the scheme cards are powerful, they are also unpredictable and not a reliable force each and every game. The schemes are something to effectively use when opportunities present themselves, but a greater strategy is dismantling the attacks and strategies from the team working to tear you down. On the other side of the coin is the team working to bring the archenemy down, which is quite an undertaking. The teams need to plan a strategy and work together to plan their attacks and when to makes aggressive moves and when to hold back, as scheme cards can wreck a plan as easily as they can set things in motion.

The game itself is not much different than a regular game of Magic. The biggest difference is the scheme cards, which are placed in a separate deck of 20 cards. I find that, it is more fun to add more cards than what is specified by the rules because it add less consistency to the scheme deck, as well as it allows for games that could go longer than 20 turns to stay away from redundancy. The multiple sets of Archenemy also allow a certain amount of customization for the Archenemy to make the deck of scheme cards more tuned to their specific deck. I currently only have 2 of the 4 archenemy decks, but I would eventually like to have all four sets of Archenemy scheme cards available for the group to use, which would allow us to have various pre-set scheme decks for the archenemy.

From the start of the game each participating player draws a hand like normal. Mulligans are allowed. Once play starts the archenemy always goes first and immediately turns over a scheme card. The scheme is set in motion and affects the game for however the card specifies. After the scheme is set in motion play resumes as normal. The archenemy starts his turn as normal and draws (yes even going first). The archenemy plays through his turn as normal and once complete the opponents go. The players opposing the archenemy complete their turns simultaneously, the same as how turns are done in a game of 2-headed giant. The players can number from 2-4, but I've also considered a variation where a team of 2 archenemies play against a team of 4-6 opponents, still only using one scheme deck (or maybe 2?).

The archenemy starts the game with 40 life, while each opposing person will start with the standard 20 life.

The game is over when all opposing players to the archenemy(s) are eliminated, or when the players have eliminated the archenemy(s) from play.

I was also thinking that as we move forward, and possibly incorporate EDH play into our group we may be able to combine both EDH and Archenemy to have and EDH archenemy play against a team of of EDH teammates, in the exact same format as listed above.

Let me know your thoughts on this, as nothing is set in stone, and any tweaks to the gameplay that would enhance the gameplay and create a more enjoyable experience for the group is ultimately the goal.

-James