Mage Wars Formats best for Organized play
Standard Arena
Standard Arena is the base game Arena format.
2 players. No card pool restrictions. Custom spellbooks. 3x4 zone arena. Objective: enemy mage-kill
Team Arena
2 teams of two players each. Each mage has lifelink +2 or lifelink +3 with their teammate's mage. 4x5 zone arena. Custom spellbooks. No card pool restrictions. Objective: kill both enemy mages.
Arena Domination
Custom map. Custom spellbooks. No card pool restrictions. Objective: mage-kill or domination victory. All other format rules vary with the map.
Standard Academy
This is the base game Academy format. 2 players. Custom spellbooks. 1 zone arena. No quickcast or planning phases. Pests don't remove guard markers when they melee attack guards unless counterstriked. Academy cards only. Objective: enemy mage-kill.
Team Academy
2v2 or 3v3. Custom spellbooks. 1 zone arena. No quickcast or planning phases. Pests don't remove guard markers when they melee attack guards unless counterstriked. Academy cards only. Kharne, Horned Demon's melee bonus equals the number of creatures controlled by the enemy player who controls the most creatures. Objective: kill all enemy mages.
Grand Academy
Free for all for 8+ players. Players to your left and right are considered to be in the same zone as you. Everyone else is not. Objective: either be the first player to defeat an enemy mage, the player who defeats the most mages, or the player whose mage is the last one standing. Custom spellbooks. No quickcast or planning phases. Pests don't remove guard markers when they melee attack guards unless counterstriked. Academy cards only. Kharne, Horned Demon's melee bonus equals the number of creatures controlled by the enemy player who controls the most creatures.
Transfers and Mentors
2v2 or 3v3. Each team designates one friendly mage as the transfer mage. Objective: kill the enemy transfer mage. No quickcast or planning phases. Pests don't remove guard markers when they melee attack guards unless counterstriked. Academy cards only. Kharne, Horned Demon's melee bonus equals the number of creatures controlled by the enemy player who controls the most creatures.
Academy Domination
2 players. Custom spellbooks. 1 zone arena. 1 sslak with reduced stats. No quickcast or planning phases. Pests don't remove guard markers when they melee attack guards unless counterstriked. Academy cards only. Objective: enemy mage-kill or domination victory (3 vtar)
Free for all
3 players. Custom spellbooks. 3x5 zone arena. Zones b2, b4 and c3 each contain a spiked pit trap. No card pool restrictions. Objective: last mage standing wins.
