JumpSTARt: Battle Royale — Devlog #00: Kickoff
This marks the beginning of a series of devlogs chronicling the latest project I’m working on: JumpSTARt: Battle Royale!
This post will cover a high-level overview of the project and the custom in-game rules. Future bloggings will explore further how to set up a game and what cards & themes are contained within the set.
What’s JumpSTARt: Battle Royale?
JumpSTARt: Battle Royale is a star-format* Jumpstart-style** set with custom rules (and NO custom card designs — safe for Wizards of the Coast employees to read).
*The star format is five players playing simultaneously; and, to win, your two enemies must lose. Which are the two players across from you (not seated adjacent to you). The players seated next to you can be your buddies, since you share a common enemy with each of them. Eventually, though, they may turn on you in order to stop you from winning!
**Jumpstart sets involve mashing together two 20-card packets to make a complete 40-card deck quickly and ready to rumble! The process for how a player can arrive at their two packets can vary among Jumpstart sets (whether you open two packet boosters or, as in digital Magic, you select a couple times from a few theme options). The number of different kinds of packets that could possibly appear also can vary.
What are the custom rules for this star format?
Star format rules can vary! But for this project…
Here are the custom rules for JumpSTARt: Battle Royale:
- The players seated adjacent to you at the start of the game are considered your teammates (and the players seated across from you are considered your opponents)
- Whenever a player wins the game, their teammates DON’T also win (similarly, if you hit zero life, this doesn’t cause your teammate to lose the game)
- Turns are taken as teams (more on this below)
- You can only attack the opponent you share with your active teammate
- As part of declaring attackers, there’s a sequence called “committing attackers” (more on this below)
- Whenever a “partner with” creature enters the battlefield, you must target the teammate that has the partnered creature (more on this below).
As with other multiplayer formats, these rules are in effect:
- You get one free mulligan
- You draw a card on your first turn
Taking a Turn in JumpSTARt: Battle Royale
Let’s say players named Ajani, Jace, Liliana, Chandra, & Garruk are all about to play a game of JumpSTARt: Battle Royale and already have their decks ready.
The first turn is taken by Ajani & Jace at the same time, as if they’re playing Two-Headed Giant. They’re seated next to each other. Ajani plays an Elite Vanguard and Jace just drops an Island.
Then the turn order moves clockwise.
After Ajani & Jace are done, Liliana & Chandra take their turn. Chandra plays a Raging Goblin. Nice, it can attack right away! Both Chandra & Liliana share the opponent of Ajani. This means only Ajani can be attacked this turn by Chandra & Liliana (Jace is safe from attacks — for now)! Chandra decides to attack Ajani, despite the Elite Vanguard. Ajani chooses not to block.
Then Chandra & Liliana pass their turn.
Next, Garruk & Ajani take their turn. That’s right, Ajani’s up again already! Their shared opponent is Liliana, so they both can only attack her. Luckily, Liliana didn’t play a creature during her last turn — so Ajani decides to attack Liliana with that Elite Vanguard he played during his last turn!
And the turns continue onward to Jace & Liliana, then Chandra & Garruk, & so forth.
As for how to declare attackers…? Read the next section.
Declaring Attackers in JumpSTARt: Battle Royale
It’s easy to declare attackers together with your buddy in two-headed giant. But it’s less easy to do so when your active teammate doesn’t want you to win.
Enter the concept of “committing attackers.”
During the declare attackers step, do this:
- The player on the left chooses any number of their creatures to “commit” for declaring as attackers
- Then the player on the right, after seeing what was committed, commits any number of their own creatures for declaring as attackers
- If the player on the right committed any attackers, then the player on the left may now decide to commit more attackers (they can’t take back any committed attackers). Otherwise, move to declaring all committed creatures as attackers.
- If the player on the left committed any more attackers, then the player on the right, once again, may commit even more attackers. Keep repeating this back-and-forth of committing more and more attackers until a player passes on committing any more creatures. Then, move to declaring all committed creatures as attackers.
I have a feeling this process will end up grokkable & quick to execute.
What are the Packet Themes Based On?
Because JumpSTARt: Battle Royale will rarely be played, practically-speaking, unlike products like JumpSTART, JumpSTART: Historic Horizons, etc., we only need to create a minimum viable number of packet themes.
This means I need to design ten 20-card packets. However, I still would like to introduce the feeling of possibility/chance/variety — so, I’ll shoot for twenty 20-card packets. Only half the packets will show up in a game at a time.
Each packet contains a legendary creature that has “partner with.” For example, a packet with Toothy in it will be the “Toothy packet.” The rest of the contents of the packet contain cards that synergize with Toothy.
However, the player with the Toothy packet will NOT have the Pir packet. One of their teammates will have the Pir packet (or, should I say, one of their peers…? Okay, okay, throw your tomatoes).
Huh? How does this work…? Onwards to the next section!
How Does Distributing Packets Work?
When collating ten packets for a game of JumpSTARt: Battle Royale, if there’s a Virtus packet, there will always be a Gorm packet present. And there will never be more than one set of the Virtus & Gorm packets among the players.
Now, when it comes to selecting the packets — this method is to be covered in a future post. But what will always be ensured is this:
- Your deck will consist of two packets, where both of those packets don’t have “partner with” for each other
- One of your packets is “partnered with” another packet to the teammate to your left. And your deck’s other packet is “partnered with” a packet that the teammate to your right has.
For example, you may end up with a Toothy & Gorm deck. The teammate to your left has a Pir & Zndrsplt deck. And the teammate to your right has a Virtus & Rowan deck.
Speaking of which…
Which Characters are in JumpSTARt: Battle Royale?
Here are the contenders, each individual being a face of a JumpSTART: Battle Royale packet:
Battlebond
- Okaun & Zndrsplt
- Virtus & Gorm
- Khorvath & Sylvia
- Pir & Toothy
- Will & Rowan
Commander 2020
- Trynn & Silvar
- Nikara & Yannik
- Cazur & Ukkima
Crimson Vow Commander
- Rhoda & Timin
- Kamber & Laurine
I’m sure the dynamic duos that I’ve left out are someone’s faves. However, cutting some partners was necessary, due to the nature of this rules variant.
A clear example is Brallin. Brallin has this ability to help out Sharks. I want to make the Brallin packet monored. But there are no red Sharks. Yeah, you can ignore that Brallin has that ability, and you could always use it to help out the Shabraz teammate; but it’s kinda a feelbad and/or awkward to not be able to help yourself out. And of the changelings that exist within the red color identity, not many will benefit from gaining trample. Thus, I decided to not include Shabraz & Brallin in JumpSTARt: Battle Royale.
How Does the Customized Ruling on “Partner with” Work?
The current wording on the “partner with” mechanic gives you the choice on which player to target for finding the other partner. If we ran with the mechanic wording as-is, you may be incentivized to choose not to gift your teammate the other partner.
Targeting yourself, for example, means essentially fizzling that effect. That’s not the kind of gameplay pattern we want to see here.
So, instead, in JumpSTARt: Battle Royale, you have a choice:
- Cast your “partner with” creature (Pir) and be forced to let your teammate with Toothy choose whether to tutor
- Refuse to cast Pir, ’cause you don’t wanna give your teammate Toothy
With this ultimatum in place, you’re usually incentivized (in theory) to cast Pir. This is because the cost of helping your teammate to benefit yourself is usually worth it, considering that three other players in the match aren’t benefitting.
Besides, if you’re really feeling hesitant about gifting a Toothy, you can always wait until your Toothy teammate dies before you cast Pir (bwahaha).
Next Steps
I want to make sure to maximize the synergies among the possible combination of packets. So, before I design any packet lists, I must first define each packet’s theme.
Next, if there are any sweet cycles I want to include, I’ll pin those to slots in the to-be-designed packet lists.
Then, from there, I will identify any areas that have the smallest amount of design space and start designing packets from there. (For example, there are only so many coin-flip cards to support Zndrsplt & Okaun… *wink* …wait, can one-eyed peeps wink?)
It’s possible for the rules currently stated in this article to morph over time. Especially if I’m receiving feedback after this is posted!
Speaking of which… if you have feedback, you can let me know on Twitter. (or in the Beacon of Creation Discord, if you’re also there)
Also shoot me any questions— but first check out the FAQ below (wait, who is frequently asking these questions? Ah, well, the “clarification section” then)!
FAQ
Q: Do the “partner with” cards start in the command zone?
A: No.
Q: If the “partner with” creatures start out inside the deck, why didn’t you include any of the nonlegendary “partner with” creatures?
A: Because there were enough legendary “partner with” cards to fill out the requisite number of packets I wanted to design, I decided that the legendary characters were more interesting to base a packet’s theme on. And while I could slip additional “partner with” (nonlegendary) creatures into packets that already have legendary “partner with” characters, I don’t want to overload the game with additional fetches. I’m confident that five players with two “partner with” cards each will trigger enough of this tutoring per game.
Q: What are the decklists for these packets?
A: That’s coming in future blog posts.
Q: The packets don’t seem to be color-balanced. What’s up with that?
A: Unlike premier sets, which facilitate draft & contribute toward the Standard Constructed card pool, there isn’t a need to balance the numbers exactly across the color in a Jumpstart environment. However, when designing the packet lists, I should be mindful of the balance of gameplay effects. For example, because of the lower presence of green among these packets, I might ensure that, among the white packets, there’s an extra Disenchant to make up for less Naturalizes.
Q: What is an “active teammate”?
A: A term to refer to the teammate you’re currently sharing a turn with. This is to help facilitate quicker communication. (e.g. “You and your active teammate’s shared opponent.”)
Q: Why is the “commit attackers” sequence necessary?
A: You and your active teammate may have clashing incentives for a particular turn. Imagine an opponent at 1 life and either you or your teammate needs to tap down to deal the lethal blow …it’d be nice if your teammate did the work, right? How do you decide who has to declare their one creature as an attacker? The commitment sequence solves the squabble — the player on the left can decide not to declare anything, forcing the player on the right to sigh, nod solemnly, and declare their Llanowar Elves as an attacker to finish off the shared opponent.
Q: Can I block creatures attacking my teammate with my own creatures?
A: No, this doesn’t follow the same rules as Battlebond nor Archenemy: Nicol Bolas for allowing blocking for your teammates.
Q: When will JumpSTARt: Battle Royale be ready to play(test)?
A: I don’t have a specific deadline, but the primary goal is to finish designing something that could feasibly then be put together using existing Magic cards by whoever reads the end-result decklists & rules. Ideally, I’d personally bring JumpSTARt: Battle Royale to MagicFests, CommandFests, & (when planned ahead of time) Mox Boarding House or friends’ homes. Currently, we’re in a pandemic, so it may be a while before a game can actually happen.
Q: Can a player who was knocked out still win the game?
A: Yes, as with regular star format, how you win is whether or not your two opponents are knocked out. If only you and your two opponents are at zero life, that means no one else has fulfilled the condition of two knocked out opponents. Thus, you’re the winner, even though you’re dead!
Q: Can more than one player win the game?
A: Yes, as with regular star format, it’s possible for multiple players to win the game at the same time. Maybe a Flame Rift unexpectedly got copied and knocked out four players at once! The two players who had the last player left standing as an opponent don’t win (they each only have one KO’d opponent). So, the other three players would win at the same time! Again, like with the previous question’s scenario, this is a rare occurrence.
Q: Why are you doing this?
A: I love Magic game design, especially in the space normally explored by supplementary products like Conspiracy, Archenemy, & Un-sets.
