MTG Envoy

You have been hired by a wealthy patron to expand their influence. You will be sent to distant lands to secure alliances, find wealth and prestige, and eliminate the competition. You may bring your spellbook and limited resources to aid you.

Four Player Example Setup

Basic Concept:

  • Up to six players create decks of no less than sixty cards consisting of instants, sorceries, and up to 5 unique enchantments in 2 colors. Each player has a Planeswalker (Patron) matching at least one color in their color identity in the command zone.

  • There is a communal “Encounter Deck” of at least 100 cards in the middle of the table consisting of Creatures, Artifacts, Planeswalkers, lands and other permanent cards.

  • Players may pay the casting cost of permanents in the "Encounter Zone" to gain control of that permanent.

  • Players can accumulate "Enmity." This new resource will make it more difficult for players to attack you, but accumulate too much and you will lose the game.

  • Players can also earn "Adoration." Get enough, and you win the game.

  • Last player standing wins.

Setup:

Player Decks:

  • 60 Cards or more. Up to 4 copies of any spell.

  • All cards limited to two colors of your choice.

  • Instants, Sorceries, and Enchantments.

  • Limit of 5 unique enchantments

  • Commander legal cards only

Command Zone:

  • A Planeswalker sharing at least one color in your color identity (Your Patron)

Encounter Deck:

  • At least 100 Permanent Cards (Colors should be evenly split for fair play to all colors)

  • Encounter deck may be themed to a plane or block, but it is not necessary.

  • Only one copy of named legendary cards.

  • All Cards Legal

The Game:

  • Players start with 25 life

  • 2-6 players

  • Free for all format

  • Clockwise turn order

  • Last player standing wins


To Start:

  • Players roll a dice to determine who goes first.

  • Players draw 5 cards from their personal library.

  • Explore the Encounter Library once per player.


New Terminology:

Encounter Zone:

This represents the new land that you have been sent to claim. The permanents here are the lands, creatures, artifacts, enchantments and planeswalkers who exist in that area.

Explore:

When a player explores, they reveal cards from the top of the encounter library until they reveal a land card. Put all revealed cards into the encounter zone.

Adoration:

This represents the respect that the inhabitants of this new land feel for you. Earn enough adoration and the people of this land will swear allegiance to your guild.

Enmity:

This represents the general level of fear and destruction you have caused in this territory. A little enmity can make the inhabitants of the region fearful and reluctant to attack you, but if you earn too much enmity, the inhabitants will purge you from the land.

Rules and Variations:

Envoy follows the basic and comprehensive rules of Magic the Gathering. Any variations or additions are listed below.

Encounter Zone Rule Variations:

  • Cards drawn from the encounter library are placed into the encounter zone face up. Cards in the encounter zone are considered to be in play and can be enchanted, targeted with spells, exiled or destroyed.

  • During their main phases, players may pay the mana cost of permanents in the encounter zone to gain control of that permanent.

  • Static abilities of permanents in the encounter zone are active.

  • Triggered abilities of permanents in the encounter zone that would be triggered will be triggered unless the ability requires a controller who can choose a target.

  • Permanents from the encounter library are owned by the encounter and cannot be owned by players.

  • Encounter permanents that are returned to their owner's control are returned to the encounter zone.

  • When a player gains control of a permanent from the encounter zone, it is considered as "entering the battlefield."

  • During a player's draw phase, they may choose to draw a card from their deck and place it into their hand or explore.

  • Players may forgo playing a land on their turn in order to place the top card of the encounter library into the encounter zone, if that card is a land, they may put it on the battlefield under their control.

  • Cards from the encounter library may not be put into players' hands or libraries. If a permanent owned by the encounter would be placed in a player's hand or library, it is put into the encounter zone instead.

  • A player may gain control of a land from the encounter zone only if they have not already played a land this turn.

  • If a permanent in the encounter zone has a static ability that affects opponents, it affects all players instead.

  • Plainswalkers in the encounter zone may be attacked and lose loyalty.

  • There is no limit to the number of permanents that can be in the Encounter Zone.

  • Creature cards in the encounter zone with the Flash keyword, lose Flash. Creatures in the Encounter Zone cannot gain Flash.

  • Tokens in the encounter zone have a mana value of 0.


Enmity Rule Variations:

  • If a player ends their turn with 10 or more enmity counters and they do not control their patron, they lose the game.

  • Creatures owned by the encounter cannot attack players with enmity greater than the creature's combined power/toughness.

  • When a player destroys or exiles a creature or planeswalker in the encounter zone or mills a creature or planeswalker from the encounter library into the encounter graveyard. They earn 1 enmity counter.

  • Destroying any land permanent in play earns 1 enmity counter.

  • Enmity counters may be targeted for proliferation.

Adoration Rule Variations:

  • If a player begins their turn with 10 or more adoration counters and they control their patron, they win the game.

  • Once per turn, a player may pay 2 mana to gain an adoration counter

  • If a player deals combat damage to the player with the most enmity or tied for the most enmity, they gain 1 adoration.

  • Adoration counters may be proliferated

  • During each players' endstep, adoration counters and enmity counters negate.

Scrying and Searching Rule Variations:

  • If a spell would allow a player to search their library, they may search the top 10 cards of the Encounter library instead. If a card searched this way would be put into a player's hand, it is put into the encounter zone instead. Place the revealed cards back on top of the library in a random order.

  • If a spell allows a player to scry, they may scry the encounter deck instead.


Variations on the Format

Peaceful Acquisitions:

  • Players are not removed from the game when their life totals reach 0 or less.

  • Players who reach 0 life lose all Adoration counters

  • The first player to accumulate ten Adoration wins the game.

  • If all players have 0 life, the game ends in a draw. (The inhabitants are not interested in an alliance)

Conquistador:

  • Players do not lose the game when they accumulate 10 Enmity.

  • Players cannot gain adoration.

Sample Decks

Player Sample Deck - Red/White

Patron

  • Chandra, Torch of Defiance

Instants (37)

  • Blood Lust (4)

  • Boros Charm (4)

  • Boros Fury-Shield

  • Chaos Warp (2)

  • Cloudshift (2)

  • Deflecting Palm (4)

  • Expedite (4)

  • Lightning Bolt (4)

  • Path to Exile (4)

  • Reverberate (2)

  • Shatter (2)

  • Shock (2)

  • Swords to Plowshares (4)

  • Teferi's Protection (2)

  • Temur Battle Rage (3)

  • Wild Ricochet (2)

Sorcery (10)

  • Balance (2)

  • Cathartic Reunion (2)

  • Chain Lightning (2)

  • Past in Flames (2)

  • Wrath of God (2)

Enchantment (5)

  • Court of Ire

  • Darksteel Mutation

  • Legion's Initiative

  • Pacifism

  • Spirit Link

Sample Encounter Deck - The Island of Elementals

Creatures (73)

  • Ageless Entity

  • Air Elemental (2)

  • Brushfire Elemental (3)

  • Cavalier of Dawn (3)

  • Cavalier of Flame

  • Cavalier of Gales

  • Cavalier of Night (3)

  • Cavalier of Thorns

  • Cinderbones (4)

  • Creeping Trailblazer

  • Dawn Elemental (2)

  • Earth Elemental (2)

  • Fire Elemental (2)

  • Flame-kin Zealot

  • Flickerwisp

  • Frost Walker

  • Fusion Elemental

  • Guile

  • Horde of Notions

  • Incandescent Soulstoke

  • Living Twister (2)

  • Lord of Extinction

  • Maelstrom Wanderer

  • Morophon, the Boundless

  • Muldrotha, the Gravetide

  • Mulldrifter

  • Omnath, the Locus of Rage

  • Omnath, Locus of the Roil

  • Risen Reef

  • Root-Kin Ally (3)

  • Rust Elemental (4)

  • Shriekmaw (4)

  • Smor Elemental (4)

  • Titania, Protector of Argoth

  • Tornado Elemental (2)

  • Verdant Force (2)

  • Wakeroot Elemental

  • Water Elemental (3)

  • Wispmare (2)

  • Yarok, the Desecrated

Artifacts (9)

  • Chromatic Lantern (4)

  • Chromatic Orrery

  • Coat of Arms

  • Darksteel Ingot

  • Fellwar Stone

  • Urza's Incubator

Enchantments (4)

  • Etchings of the Chosen

  • Hoofprints of the Stag

  • Mirari's Wake

  • Zendikar's Roil

Planeswalkers (5)

  • Chandra, Flamecaller

  • Chandra, Novice Pyromancer

  • Nissa of Shadowed Boughs

  • Nissa, Steward of Elements

  • Nissa, Vital Force

Non-Basic Lands (9)

  • Cascading Cataracts

  • Exotic Orchard

  • Indatha Triome

  • Ketria Triome

  • Lotus Field

  • Primal Beyond

  • Raugrin Triome

  • Savai Triome

  • Zangoth Triome

Basic Lands (30)

  • Swamp (6)

  • Mountain (6)

  • Plains (6)

  • Island (6)

  • Forest (6)