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Widely considered Magic: The Gathering's most social format, Commander is getting a holiday update just in time for the festive season. During a holiday-themed episode, hosts Josh Lee Kwai and Jimmy Wong demonstrated a four-player match called "Countdown to XT-Mas."

The Mechanics of the Festive Format Function

At its core is a simple layer added on top of a standard EDH match. A rotating indicator circulates around the table. When it the active player's turn, the action halts for a moment. All gamers makes a hidden choice if they will be being Naughty or Nice with the help of two cards.

Everyone reveal their card together. They then apply the bonus linked to their own choice, beginning with the player who has the token. The token is then passed to the next player. A special tracker advances one notch, and standard gameplay carries on.

The choices intensify over time go on, designed to be well-balanced.

Growing Choices

The initial phases offered modest, shared boons for the Nice path, such as gaining life or investigation clues. Conversely, Naughty choices typically offered more specific upsides, often targeting someone else. For instance allowed players choosing Naughty get a powerful airborne Reindeer token. Those who picked Nice created a 1/1 Toy token creature for all participants.

The Grand Finale

On the eighth round, Father Christmas himself showed up, transforming the experience. Based on how often a participant selected Naughty versus Nice, Santa handed out sealed “gifts”. These looked like small containers, but inside were Magic booster packs of varying value.

• The kindest player got a high-value Collector Booster.
• Another friendly player got a slightly less valuable Collector Booster.
• One player received a less powerful booster pack.
• The very naughty player drew the short straw: a famously bad booster pack that's essentially a punchline.

Every card from these packs could then be used for the duration, cast from exile using mana considered to be all colors. For the nicer players, their boon became a huge power spike. Whereas, those who chose Naughty were given a punitive gift.

Recreating the Game Yourself

Although the demonstration match included considerable polish and preparation, this is a concept that any group can adapt in their own playgroup. Participants plays with their standard EDH deck, and the only extra items required are four different MTG packs of varying value.

A possible challenge could be that if players are aware beforehand the prize for being Nice, then everyone strategize for the best booster pack. One might change this by using other methods, like selecting cards from a shared pool or enabling gamers to pull specific cards not in their deck.

Based on how the format played out, this holiday variant is definitely a festive way to spread some joy during festive gatherings. It changes the social interplay between players in a uniquely festive way, resulting in a unique way to play among MTG players in their playgroups.