I just wanted to share some rules that I have come up with concerning duo teams matches after a discussion with silverclawgrizzly yesterday afternoon. I would appreciate any feedback on the rules so I can improve them, and I would love to hear back from anyone who uses the rules in order to find out how well they work. I plan on testing them the next time I play Mage Wars if I can convince the other player to use the rules.
Mage Wars Duo Team Match Rules
In Mage Wars Duo Team Match Rules, each of the players controls one Arena Mage (the Hero) with one Hero Spellbook and one Academy Mage (the Sidekick) with one Sidekick Spellbook. The player constructs the Hero Spellbook with 120 spell points using Arena rules and the Sidekick Spellbook with 40 spell points using Academy rules. The Hero may only prepare and cast spells from the Hero Spellbook while the Sidekick may only prepare and cast spells from the Sidekick Spellbook.
The Hero is a level six Mage Creature while the Sidekick is a level four Mage Creature. While any Hero may ally with any Sidekick, the team is more effective if they share the same class. If the Hero and the Sidekick share the same class, they receive a +1 bonus on any and all of their effect die roll results (including the effect die rolls to determine Initiative during the first turn and to break ties at the end of Duo Team Tournaments). Sidekicks may tap into the Mana Supply of their allied Hero as if they possessed the Familiar Trait.
The Hero and the Sidekick start the game in the same zone. The Hero starts the first turn with Mana Supply equal to 10 before the first Channeling Phase while the Sidekick starts the first turn with Mana Supply equal to their normal starting Mana before the first Channeling Phase. The Hero and the Hero's creatures and objects are friendly to the Sidekick and the Sidekick's creatures and objects while the Sidekick and the Sidekick's creatures and objects are friendly to the Hero and the Hero's creatures and objects.
During the Reset Phase, each player resets his or her Hero and his or her Sidekick and resets any creatures and objects associated with his or her Hero and his or her Sidekick. During the Channel Phase, Heroes add Mana equal to their Channeling to their Mana Supply, Sidekicks add Mana equal to their Channeling to their Mana Supply, and creatures and objects that channel Mana gain Mana Counters equal to their Channeling. During the Upkeep Phase, each player removes Dissipate Tokens, pays Upkeep Costs, benefits from spells that take effect during the Upkeep Phase, and suffers from Condition Markers that take effect during the Upkeep Phase in the order of their choosing. During the Planning Phase, each player chooses two spells for his or her Hero from his or her Hero Spellbook, chooses two spells for his or her Sidekick from his or her Sidekick Spellbook, and chooses one spell for each of his or her Familiars or Spawnpoints, with any spells not cast by the during the round returning to the appropriate Spellbook at the beginning of the next Planning Phase. During the Deployment Phase, the Hero may cast any spell associated with his or her Spawnpoints.
Only the Hero is capable of taking a Quickcast Action during the First Quickcast Phase or the Final Quickcast Phase. During the Action Phase, players alternate taking turns and, on a player's turn, the player may choose to activate a creature controlled by the Hero (including the Hero) or a creature controlled by the Sidekick (including the Sidekick). The Hero and the Sidekick may use their Quickcast Action before or after any friendly creature's activation (including the Hero's activation or the Sidekick's activation) during the Action Phase.
The Hero considers their Sidekick a legal target for spells that target Mages and, if they share the same class, the Hero considers the Sidekick a legal target for spells that target specific types of Mages. Furthermore, the Hero (or any applicable Familiar or any applicable Spawnpoint controlled by the Hero) may target the Sidekick (or any creature or objects controlled by the Sidekick) with any spell from the Hero's Spellbook that would consider the Sidekick (or any creature or object controlled by the Sidekick) a legal target. The Sidekick considers their Hero a legal target for spells that target Mages and, if they share the same class, the Sidekick considers the Hero a legal target for spells that target specific types of Mages. Furthermore, the Sidekick may target the Hero (or any creatures or objects controlled by the Hero) with any spell from the Sidekick's Spellbook that would consider the Hero (or any creatures or objects controlled by the Hero) a legal target. Spells that target Minor Creatures or Non-Mage Creatures may not target the Hero or the Sidekick.
During Duo Teach Matches, the Hero and the Sidekick each possess their own status trackers for Channeling, Mana, and Life. Duo Team Matches end when the Hero collapses due to suffering mortal damage. If the Sidekick collapses due to mortal damage before their Hero, the spells controlled by the Sidekick disappear from the arena and any spells controlled by the Hero attached to the Sidekick or any of the Sidekick's creatures return to their Hero's Spellbook. It is the responsibility of each player to differentiate between the spells of his or her Hero and the spells of his or her Sidekick.
In Duo Team Tournaments, each Duo Team Match takes 90 minutes. At the end of each Duo Team Match, each player receives one victory point for retaining his or her Sidekick, one victory point for killing his or her opponent's Sidekick, one victory point for having less damage on his or her Sidekick than his or her opponent's Sidekick, three victory points for retaining his or her Mage, three victory points for killing his or her opponent's Mage, and three victory points for having less damage on his or her Mage than his or her opponent's Mage. By the end of a Duo Team Tournament, the player with the highest victory point total receives first place, the player with the second highest victory total receives second place, the player with the third highest victory total receives third place, etc. In the case of a tie for a place, the tied players each roll an effect die until one tied player ends up with a result on his or her effect die roll higher than the results on the effect dice of the other tied players, with the player with the highest result receiving the contested place, the player with the second highest result receiving the next lowest place, the player with the third highest result receiving the next lowest place after that, etc.
