Emblems! (Emperor-ish format)

[Sailor Vulcan]

EMBLEMS!

Here's how it works.

Each team has three Mages, one of which has an Emblem card attached to it face-down, and the other two have bluffem cards attached to them face-down. The object of the game is to capture the enemy's Emblem and keep control of it for two whole rounds, starting with the upkeep after it was captured.

In order to capture the enemy's Emblem the first step is for the Mage holding it to die. The second step is to pick up the Emblem from that Mage's corpse as a free action with range 0-0. You can also use this free action to retrieve your own team's Emblem from a dead Mage, or to capture a bluffem. You can only use this free action at any time that you could reveal an enchantment.

Emblems and bluffems are kept face-down until they're captured by an enemy mage. After capture, an Emblem or bluffem is flipped face-up, and remains face-up for the remainder of the game. After a bluffem is flipped face-up and shown to all players, it is removed from the Arena.

Emblems and bluffems are indestructible and cannot be affected by spells or attacks.
Emblems and bluffems are objects but NOT spells. They have no spell type or mana cost, and the game starts with each of them in the Arena attached to a Mage. A Mage that already has an Emblem or bluffem attached to it cannot have another one attached at the same time.
Emblems and bluffems are Epic, so they should be in card sleeves (or have stickers) that distinguish them from any face-down enchantments.







So what do you think? A few questions I have are:

About how long do you think a game in this format would take?
What size and shape board should be used in this format?
Do you think this format is balanced? Why or why not?

Any feedback would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[aquestrion]

When a bluffem is capt it is turned face down but. There are only 2 cards so u know and every body knows its a bluffem why turn it back down?

[Sailor Vulcan]

Sorry, that was a mistake leftover from the rough draft of this format. I've just made a few edits to fix it. It should make more sense now.

-There are now two bluffems per team.
-after a bluffem is flipped face-up, it is permanently removed from the Arena, still face-up. It is not destroyed.
-Bluffems are no longer Unique. Emblems are still Unique though. Both Emblems and bluffems are Epic

[Zuberi]

It sounds to me kind of like Capture the Flag. To that end, I think the Emblem should be able to change hands. Whenever two Mages of the same team are in the same zone, they may switch the cards attached to their Mage before or after their action phase.

Emblems and Bluffems should not be normal cards. They should have completely different back designs to tell them apart from enchantments. That way you make sure the two Mages aren't secretly exchanging enchants.

[Sailor Vulcan]

The ability to exchange the Emblem and bluffems between teammates is a great idea. However, instead of being a completely free action, I think it should be a quick cast spell that costs 2 mana and has a range of 0-1. Here's why.

Thematically: if the emblem could be exchanged that easily just by handing it to them, why doesn't it get blown away in a sandstorm, or knocked off when its mage is slammed into a wall? I'm thinking the reason for this is that the emblem is tied to its bearer magically. Also, they need their hands free for certain kinds of equipment to be cast on them.

Mechanically: if it was a completely free action that didn't require anything other than being in the same zone, then winning players would probably stake out one spot and stay there together the entire game, constantly switching the emblem holder, while sending out other creatures to take the enemy's flag. While this turtle+swarm strategy is still a good one to use, I don't want it to be the one go-to strategy like it is in the real-life gymnasium version of capture the flag.

Also, I'm thinking that each team will start in an opposite corner of a 3x5 zone board.

For distinguishing Emblems and bluffems from enchantments, I was thinking that they should just have different card sleeves.