I am also curious how this went, and I feel bad that nobody ever responded to offer advice before it took place. On the chance that Indalecia does not respond to you kiwipaul (he hasn't posted since April) here are my ideas on the matter.
First: I would probably not do Apprentice Mode team games to teach the game. I love team games and play them more often than 1v1, but I don't believe it would improve upon the learning experience. Instead, I would run a small Apprentice level tournament. Split the board in half, like normal for Apprentice games, and pit 2 of the players against each other on the left half of the board and the other two against each other on the right half. Then do 2 Swiss Rounds. After these two games, hopefully people will have a good grasp on the game (though I've seen people require more than 2 Apprentice Games to be comfortable with it) and you can move up to the full game. You will also be able to give one of them the title of Champion, painting a large target on his back, lol.
Second: If you do opt for the team game version of Apprentice Mode, I would recommend limiting the board to 2x3 zones as is normal in Apprentice Mode. It is setup this way for a reason. Most new players turtle. By limiting the board space, it makes it easier for players to break out of their shell, and actually swings the game in favor of aggressive strategies. The small space makes the game more fast paced and exciting while they deal with learning curves and analysis paralysis.
Third: I am going to shamelessly promote my variant for Team Games. I highly recommend you try it after you move up to the full game, as it has improved things for my group. The Variant is as follows (maybe I should come up with a fancy name for it).
1) Shared Life: Each mage converts their Life Total based upon the chart below and then adds it together with their teammates to determine their Shared Life Total. Any damage done to a mage is counted against their team's Shared Life Total, and any healing done to a mage removes damage from their team's Shared Life Total regardless of which mage on the team initially took the damage.
CONVERSION CHART
22.5 = Druid
24 = Forcemaster, Necromancer, Priestess, Wizard
25.5 = Johktari Beastmaster, Priest
27 = Beastmaster, Warlord
28.5 = Warlock
If you end up with a fraction after adding the teammates Life Totals together, round down.
2) Shared Turns: Initiative shall pass between teams instead of individuals. When it is a Team's turn during the Quick Cast Phase, 1 of the teammates may Quick Cast a spell. Priority then passes to the next team. When it is a Team's turn during the Action Phase, 1 of the teammates may activate a creature. Priority then passes to the next team.
If you do play team games, hopefully this variant will improve them for you as it has for my group. The Shared Life avoids the problems of player elimination and results in a game that is neither too long or short for my gaming group. The Life Totals in the chart are the result of multiplying each mage's starting life by 0.75 and in 2v2 matches this results in a Shared Life Total equaling 150% the average Life of the two mages. The Shared Turns eliminates the need for alternating seating, allowing team members to sit next to each other and coordinate plans.
