Emperor
If you've got a large play group, and are
looking for an interesting diversion from regular Magic or
the chaotic free-for-all, you might want to try a few games
of Emperor Magic . Clear off the big table, get plenty of
Coke and cheese balls, and get ready for an evening of spell-flinging.
The Emperor variant is a six-player team
game, in which one team's goal is to eliminate the opposing
team's leader. It was developed during the later stages of
Magic playtesting, and has been slowly evolving ever since
as new players add insights and find problems. This is the
most recent and complete version of the variant; players are
encouraged to invent their own changes as circumstances warrant.
Playing the Game
Players sit in a circle, three to a side, with each Emperor
seated between two Generals (see figure). You can also apply
these rules to a game with five players on each side, with
two Lieutenants, two Generals, and one Emperor. In fact, these
rules can apply to any similar arrangement, regardless of
size.
The battle begins like the basic Magic game.
Each player has 20 life points and a deck of at least 40 cards.
If you want to play for ante, have each player put one card
into a common pool, and after the game the winning team can
distribute the spoils by a random draw.
Play proceeds clockwise, with one Emperor's
left-hand General playing first. It's usually not very desirable
to go first in this game, because the opposing team will have
three turns after your team has only one. For example, in
the figure below, either C or F will play first, followed
by all three players on the opposite team. The team that loses
this game may opt to go either first or second in the next
duel. In the five-player variant, the left-hand General still
goes first, so one team gets two turns before the other team
begins. When one Emperor dies, the other team wins.
Basic Rules
Moving Creatures
Creatures may "march" from one allied territory
to another to make attacks and assist in defense. (See Moving
Your Creatures, below.)
Limiting Range
Creatures can only attack enemies who are directly adjacent
to them, and all spells, enchantments, artifacts, etc. have
a maximum range of two players in either direction. (Alternatively,
in the six-person game you may wish to limit spells, creatures,
artifacts, etc. to a range of only one player. Or you might
choose to limit spells to one player and everything else to
two.)
Redefining "You"
and "Your Opponent"
Cards which read "your opponent" can target any
single opposing player within two seats; cards which affect
"you" cannot be redirected to your teammates. You
cannot sacrifice or control your teammates' cards, or exchange
mana points. (Well, yes, you can still control their creatures
with the appropriate spells, just not as a matter of course.)
Eliminating Players
When one player dies, all of his cards are removed from play.
This includes creatures which are in front of other players,
or which have been controlled by the enemy. It also includes
any enchantments, artifacts, and lands controlled by that
player. However, permanent effects, like Thoughtlace, are
not reversed.
Moving Your Creatures
Players may "march" creatures into the territories
of neighboring allies. Creatures who relocate to another territory
remain under the control of their original summoner. They
still untap, attack, and recover from summoning sickness on
their controller's turn.
Restrictions on Relocation
Players may only move creatures at a time during their turn
that they may legally summon a creature. While a player may
choose to march creatures at several points during a turn
and any number of the player's creatures may march, each creature
may only be moved once a turn. Only creatures that are ready
to attack may march (although creatures may not march during
the attack phase): creatures who are tap-ped, or who have
summoning sickness, may not move. Walls also may not move
(unless they are animated ... there's an exception to every
rule). When a creature does march from one territory to another,
it will arrive untapped, but will again suffer from "summoning
sickness." The sickness expires when the creature has
begun one of its controller's turns in its current location.
Creatures may not move more than two territories away from
their controller, because of the limited-range rule described
above. (This problem does not arise in the six-player game
unless you have decided to limit the range to one territory.)
Attacking with Relocated
Creatures
If one player's creature is stationed in another player's
territory, that creature still attacks only on its controller's
turn. Players announce the attack as usual, specifying which
creatures are participating, and (if it is not obvious) which
player each creature is attacking. For example, an Emperor
who has lost both teammates may make a simultaneous attack
on both the left and right flank of the opposing team.
Defending with Relocated
Creatures
Creatures in other players' territories block only if their
controllers tell them to. The controller of the creature and
the controller of the territory may confer, but the creature's
controller has the final say. When a player is being attacked,
the defending player first decides which of his creatures
in his territory will block. Other players with creatures
in that player's territory may then assign creatures to block.
When a player dies, all creatures in that
player's territory die, including those controlled by other
players. This includes any creatures which have been magically
stolen from the opposing team. These all return to their owners'
graveyards, and may not be regenerated.
Forced Movement
If creatures are forced to attack, but have no adjacent enemies,
assume that they have been forced to march towards the source
of the effect. For example, if General C plays Siren's Call
on Emperor E, the creatures in front of the Emperor will be
forced to move into General D's territory, one step closer
to C. Creatures who cannot move are destroyed as described
in the text of the card. (Remember that cards which have just
been summoned, or who have just marched into a new territory,
are immune to things like Siren's Call.)
Taking Control of
Creatures
If you "control" one of your opponents' creatures,
it does not teleport to your territory. (This is not the case
if you steal a non-creature card, which does go directly into
your territory.) Treat the casting of the control spell as
a mandatory one-zone march, which works even if the creature
is tapped or otherwise unable to move. After that, the creature
must march as normal to relocate. The creature still operates
under your control, to attack or defend the territory it's
in, even if this territory is not allied with you. Once it
marches off an enemy territory, it can't go back. Note that
by this rule General D may steal a Wall from Emperor B, but
it will jump to General C's territory and be unable to move
any further. General D will only be able to use it to defend
General C.
Limited Range of
Effect
As has already been mentioned, players have a limited range
of two seats to the left and right for spell-casting, global
effects, creature control, etc. In the six-player version
of these rules, this means that players seated opposite each
other cannot affect each other at all until one player leaves
the game. In the ten-player version (and larger games), considerably
more players begin the game completely out of each others'
range. However, since creatures can move, a player can use
them to reach out and touch someone a little farther away.
In other words, if you walk your creatures
two places away from your territory, you can use them to attack
the player three places over, or to use a fast effect to poke
the player four seats away. For example, in the figure above,
suppose General F has hiked her Prodigal Sorcerer all the
way to General D's territory. She can instruct the Sorcerer
to attack General C, or to use its special poking ability
to attack any legal target in territories B through F.
  
However, if General C cast a Control Magic
on this Sorcerer, General F would be powerless to retrieve
it. Also, if the Sorcerer had any enchantments on it, General
F would still technically control them, but would not be within
range to activate them. (This means activated enchantments
like Blessing, Firebreathing, Regeneration, etc. would be
unusable by either player. Plain enchantments like Holy Strength
or Red Ward would still function perfectly.)
Global vs. Targeted Effects
Or, Deciding Who "Your Opponent" Is
If an effect is clearly global, or clearly
targeted, there isn't much of a problem deciding how it works
in a large team game. If one player plays Flashfires then
all plains within range are destroyed. If that player casts
a Lightning Bolt, it clearly may only be directed at a single,
legal target. However, many of the cards in the game were
written with only two players in mind. For example, there
are times when Demonic Hordes allows your opponent to destroy
one of your lands. Which opponent? Or do each of your opponents
get to destroy one land? (Yikes!)
The text on a card like this gives you no
real clue about how it should be played when you have more
than one "opponent." Short of creating an entire
list of single vs. multiple effects, you may just have to
reach an agreement about each card as it arises. Start by
treating each use of a spell with "your opponent"
as a single targeted spell, affecting a single "opponent"
within your sphere of control. This allows cards like Lifetap
and Black Vise to continue affecting each of your opponents,
since each application of these cards happens as a separate
event. But when you play Mind Twist or Demonic Attorney you
must choose an appropriate single target for the spell's effects.
When you use cards like Pestilence or Balance which say they
affect "both" players, treat them as if they affect
"all" players within your limited range.
When you are using a landwalk ability, the
particular opponent whom the creature is attacking must have
the appropriate land type in play. Cards whose strength is
dependent on your lands, or your opponent's, should have this
type of logic applied to them. For example, Gaea's Liege will
only gain power for the forests controlled by the player whom
it is attacking. When not attacking, it will only gain power
for the controller's forests (and not necessarily for the
forests where it is stationed.
Communication
Players on the same team are only allowed minimal communication.
They may confer about strategy before the game, and tune their
decks to interact properly. However, once the game begins
the players are restricted to discussing cards in play and
cards known to all players. In other words, if a General wants
to talk about a particular card from his hand, he must show
the card to everyone. This restriction allows questions like
"wouldn't it be nice if that Prodigal Sorcerer were to
suddenly die?" However, it prevents Emperors from looking
at their General's hands and mulling over the entire range
of possibilities. Even if the Emperor has a Glasses of Urza
in play, she can only use it to look at her opponents' cards.
For a more challenging variation, you may choose to entirely
prohibit communication between team members during the game.
So, set the table, get plenty of snacks,
and play a few games of Emperor Magic. You will probably find
that the strategy changes immensely in this teamwork oriented
configuration. Games are ultimately more involved, more dynamic,
and quite a bit more satisfying (for the wizards who survive.)
And if you happen to get Fireballed early on you have a great
opportunity to retune your deck. In fact, you might want to
let the wizard who dies be your next Emperor. Or you could
just send him down the street for a bag of cheese balls.
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