This isn't technically a format, exactly. It's a way to fairly split your mage wars collection using drafting mechanics so that each member of your playgroup has access to a particular custom card pool to construct their spellbooks from. Here's how it works:
1. Everyone chooses their mages. The number of mages per person depends on the size of the playgroup and of the collection. Each player should have access to at least one mage.
2. Separate all of the autoincludes and mageclass-only spells from your collection. The current list:
a)ways to deal with enemy armor--goblin alchemist, spitting raptor, corrosive orchid, acid ball, rust, piercing strike, tooth and nail, creatures with good natural piercing such as brogan bloodstone.
b) ways to deal with enemy enchantments--dispel, disperse, arcane ward (for making other enchantments a viable counter to enemy enchantments)
c) ways to deal with enemy teleport, stuck/cripple and tangle/stranglevine etc.--teleport and astral anchor.
d) ways to deal with enemy equipment--dissolve, corrosive orchid, disarm (usually not sufficient on its own)
e) ways to deal with wizard's tower--walls that block line of sight and Otto Kronig, Reinforce (enchantment), Arcane Ward, Enchanter's wardstones, Cloak of Shadows
3. Separate the remainder of the collection into piles by type, school and level. Shuffle each pile. If a pile is too big, split it into manageable parts and shuffle those parts separately before putting them back together.
4. Pass each pile around the table, one pile at a time, starting with players with mages trained in the schools corresponding to that pile, then once they have picked all the spells they want, the pile is passed to everyone else. Each player can only pick up to one card at a time. Continue this process until the pile is depleted. Repeat this step with every pile in your collection until there are no more piles.
Example: player 1 has a priestess and a priest, player 2 has a paladin and no one else has holy mages. Player 1 picks one card from the lv1 holy spell pile, then player 2 does the same then player 1 again etc until neither player 1 or 2 want any more lv1 holy spells in their card pool. Then the remainder of the pile is passed around the table again, skipping player 1 and 2. Each player picks one card from the pile or passes until the pile is depleted.
5. Allow players to trade cards between their card pools if the card pools do not seem balanced.
6.
-It might help to have your own card sleeves for all the cards, and a unique sticker for each member of your playgroup. This way people can recognize what cards you own and which of them are being loaned to other players.
-In addition, you might want some folders that you can prop up on the table so that people can't see what you're putting in your spellbook and vice versa.
-You'll probably want some containers to put each custom card pool in.
7. Have everyone write down their spellbook lists and keep them somewhere safe. This allows them to reuse the same cards for multiple spellbooks by using the lists to disassemble and reassemble them.
8. Repeat the whole process. The number of times you repeat the process depends on the preferences and size of the playgroup. For instance, you could do it once a month, once at the start of each season, biannually, at the beginning of each year, or never.
Enjoy!
