A couple friends and I are getting together for a Mage Wars party next month, which gave me an idea on some alternate ways to play the game with friends.
I occasionally play the online game Hearthstone, which has a fun tournament variant called "Challengestone". In this variant, players have to build decks using strange restrictions. For example: Using only even cost creatures and odd cost spells or only minions with the 'Taunt' effect. It can be really fun since you get to use a lot of cards that don't see as much play.
Obviously, if you tried this in Mage Wars with "All enchantments must be healing", Priestess would have an unfair advantage, so I think it might be best to try challenges like the following if you don't have enough sets to balance everything:
Sardonyx Wars
Each player must have Sardonyx in their book and cannot damage the enemy mage or cast other Creatures until their Sardonyx enters play. Sardonyx is a 'Legend' school spell and gains the traits 'Novice' and 'Cantrip'.
I'm not sure if players should be allowed to cast other minions besides Sardonyx, though. I might make him Living to eliminate Necromancer advantage/Beastmaster disadvantage as well. You could also equalize Mage's channeling and base health.
Has anyone else enjoyed setting creative spellbook restrictions with their friends? I'd love to try some more! Things like only 'Flying' or 'Minions can only attack if they have 2 or more enchantments on them' also sound entertaining.
