Magic: The Gathering Planeswalker Royale Format

Image Credit: Wizards of the Coast via PeakPX
Published:
2023-01-16
Last Modified:
2024-03-10
By:
Davin Loegering
Publisher:
Imagine Majesty Productions
Why Planeswalker Royale Format?
After the introduction of planeswalker cards it brought a very meta aspect of the game, planeswalkers, into the game itself. The game presumes you're a powerful planeswalker with your library. Having a planeswalker at your command is odd thematically if you're a planeswalker yourself. This format removes the player as a planeswalker themselves and heads your library with a team of planeswalkers that are coordinated by the player. I love building decks and playing Magic: The Gathering and this format requires building a deck around a team of planeswalkers in a similar manner of building around a commander. This format skips the slow start of other formats by starting with a few powerful planeswalkers in play. These powerful abilities give players more options to build synergy with their decks in a casual format.
Planeswalker Royale Format Rules
- Each player starts the game with a 40 card singleton library including the chosen planeswalker(s) that total to 10 loyalty counters.
- The player starts the game with their chosen planeswalker(s) on the battlefield along with 4 basic lands of their choice from their deck.
- The planeswalker(s) has (have) a library, command zone, graveyard, exile zone, cards in hand, and battlefield.
- Planeswalkers cannot start the game in a library however cards that transform into a planeswalker can be included in the library.
- Planeswalkers can be returned to a player's hand if it would be shuffled into a library, returned to hand, exiled, or sent to the graveyard (or destroyed) but its casting cost is increased by 1 colorless mana. Its converted mana cost for all other purposes is as it is on the card.
- A planeswalker can be cast even if the player does not control a planeswalker that shares its colors.
- When a player draws but has no cards in their library they sacrifice a planeswalker instead.
- When casting a non-planeswalker spell its costs are paid with the resources of the player's planeswalkers. After the costs are paid a planeswalker must be designated as casting it. A planeswalker can only cast spells that share all of the spell's colors or are colorless.
- If a card instructs a player to lose the game that player sacrifices a planeswalker instead.
- The last planeswalker team standing wins, a player only loses when they have no loyalty counters among planeswalkers they control.
- When targeting a ‘player’ or ‘opponent’ target one of their planeswalkers instead. Player enchantments and emblems leave play with the targeted planeswalker.
- When a planeswalker is targeted the effect resolves normally.
- When a player is damaged, the player chooses one of their planeswalkers to take the damage in the form of loyalty counters. Excess damage does not overflow to another planeswalker unless the source of damage has trample.
- When a player is infected, the player chooses one of their planeswalkers to take the damage in the form of loyalty counters and is assigned the poison counters. When a planeswalker has 10 poison counters it is destroyed. Excess poison counters don't overflow to another planeswalker.
- When a player gains life, the player adds the life as loyalty counters to a legendary colorless planeswalker with their name, no abilities, and a base of zero loyalty counters, create the planeswalker token if it doesn't already exist to gain the loyalty counters.
- When a player loses life, the player chooses which planeswalker loses a loyalty counter for each life lost.
- When a player pays life, the player chooses which planeswalker loses a loyalty counter for each life to be paid.
- Each opponent/player effects affect the player and therefore one their planeswalkers is affected in the player's stead according to the rules above describing when a player is affected.
Talk to your playgroup and Planeswalker Royale community. Players may refuse to play against a deck with the Elderspell for obvious reasons. Just be transparent and try to maximize the fun for everyone. If you have some cruel cards, have a healthy sideboard to replace them if players don’t think it will be fun to play against a deck with those cards or an alternative deck that isn’t as cruel.
Disclaimer
We're not associated to Wizards of the Coast or Magic: The Gathering in any way. Their respective trademarks are their own and this is simply a fan format. Officially supported formats can be viewed and Magic: The Gathering products can be purchased at their website: https://magic.wizards.com/en
