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Already known as Magic: The Gathering's friendliest format, the Elder Dragon Highlander format is getting a festive makeover just in time for the festive season. During a holiday-themed video, personalities from a popular channel demonstrated a four-player match called "Countdown to XT-Mas."

How the Festive Format Works

The basic idea involves a simple layer superimposed on a normal EDH match. One special token travels to each player. Once it arrives at the current player's turn, the game briefly pauses. All gamers secretly chooses whether they're being Naughty or Nice via two cards.

The participants reveal their choice together. Next, they carry out the effect tied to their own choice, first with the person holding the token. This marker is then passed clockwise. The countdown moves forward a single increment, and regular gameplay resumes.

The choices intensify over time go on, feeling finely tuned.

Escalating Outcomes

At the start provided small, table-wide benefits for choosing Nice, like life gain or investigation clues. On the other hand, The Naughty options often gave more specific advantages, often at the expense of another player. For instance allowed those choosing Naughty get a 4/4 flying Reindeer token. Players that selected Nice created a small artifact creature token for all participants.

The Grand Arrival

When the eighth round, Saint Nick personally made an appearance, changing the experience. Depending on the frequency with which each player was Nice versus Naughty, Santa handed out mystery presents. These looked like deck boxes, but inside were MTG booster packs with different rarities.

• The kindest player got a premium Collector Booster.
• The second-nicest player opened a slightly less valuable Collector Booster.
• Another participant got a mid-range booster pack.
• The very naughty player essentially received coal: a famously bad set acting as a gag.

Each card from these packs could then be playable for the duration, played from outside the game by spending mana treating it as any color. Players who were nice players, their gift proved to be a significant advantage. Whereas, mischievous participants basically received a disadvantage.

Trying the Variant with Friends

While the demonstration match had significant polish and preparation, this is a concept that players can adapt in their own playgroup. Everybody uses their regular EDH deck, and the additional materials needed are a selection of MTG packs of varying value.

A possible issue is that if everyone are aware beforehand the prize for being Nice, then everyone might aim for the best booster pack. Groups can change this by using other methods, such as drafting cards from a shared pool or allowing participants to include cards from their collection from outside the game.

Based on how the format played out, this holiday variant stands as a festive format to add holiday cheer this holiday season. It adds a layer to the social interplay in the game in a joyous manner, resulting in a special way to play for Magic players everywhere.