Fresh & Fun 5+ Player EDH Variant | Totem Commander (and how to play)

do you often find 5+ player EDH becomes sluggish and a lot less engaging to play in?
“totem” is an easy and fun, way to freshen up 5+ player EDH games
Here are the basics of how it works
FULL RULES AND FAQ - abielinski.com/totem/
Credit goes to Adam Bielinski for making the variant
Music
NEFFEX - A YEAR AGO (INSTRUMENTAL) - • NEFFEX - A YEAR AGO (I...
Sound effect are from the KZbin Audio Library and home made
"this video is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.” #edh #magicthegathering #MTG

[@danhall4029]

Sounds amazing, might have to ask my play group to try this

[@Hammarn82]

This is the only multiplayerformat me and my friends play since last summer, its sooooo good (and balanced)

[@Qcheffing]

that's awesome it must work really well for you 😊 A balance issue we've run into is it's often harder to deal with arch enemy situations As you've played it longer than us, do you have any tips on mitigating or dealing with Arch Enemy situations? also hi Peter welcome to the channel! 😊

[@professorkraft480]

As a model maker i cant help but getting excited to come up with some objects to use as totems

[@davidhowell1415]

So a five player kitchen magic game mode has made it to commander. I’m honestly surprised it hasn’t happened earlier, seeing as kitchen table magic is what birthed the format. Kitchen table magic is the truest form of mtg

[@Qcheffing]

I believe there have been multiple similar 5+ player modes floating about in commander for years I've only recently heard of them though 😊 agreed 😊 though alternatively as we played as kids, on the grass, no sleeves and unaware of formats is probably the purest

[@davidhowell1415]

@@Qcheffing man when it started there were no 4 of rules it was chaos, moxies were land and timewalk with Vice or rack in this case were killers. I remember point system tournaments where cards got points values and you only had a point limit and many cards were deemed unplayable so they had zero points and well my stasis deck won that one with the help of an ice age card

[@Qcheffing]

i didnt play THAT far back, it sounds crazy now! I played 99~2005 then started again around Ixalan

[@davidhowell1415]

@@Qcheffing yea I started in 94 with beta. I do still have some cards from then but I remember selling the majority of my cards in 96 for pot because I was 17 at the time but I did keep my full set of Arabian knights and I still have my sealed box of Arabian knights that I spent a total of 78.99$ us on. Good times great game and I really hope that dude I sold my early collection to still has them or made bank on them it was a 5k card box full and it ranged from beta to alliances. I know for a fact I only kept 4 force of will from it and definitely left over 10 in that box. Man I wish I had that one back lmfao

[@pr0fess0rbadass]

Woah this is clever and interesting. Changes the nature of the game almost entirely

[@Qcheffing]

welcome to the channel pr0fessor 👋 Yeah the usual politics are turned on their head and the new dynamic of allies (willing or not) makes for some interesting situations and tactics for sure

[@AdamantAlex]

love this

[@samanthaince3035]

Helpful video before the game and plus fantastic sounds effects 🤩. Did you do the sound effects or the computer?

[@Qcheffing]

I hope so 🤞 It's a mixture of home made and from the KZbin audio library

[@2cool4uguyz]

So I read the full rules from the link in the description and I don't think yours match the site. In the video, P4 loses once both their totems are eliminated. On the website, I think it describes 2 players losing when one totem is eliminated. Both rulesets seem really interesting and fun so I really don't know if I prefer one over the other. The option to lose 1 totem without being KO'd would definitely have big implications for the alliances with your neighbors and how defensively you might play.

[@JiorujiDerako]

I feel like if losing a totem isn't a KO, that would end up stretching games out even longer (yes there's still only 5 life totals in a 5-player game, but each life total can have two players blocking for it instead of one). So the single totem KO seems more effective in terms of making 5-player games a faster-paced affair, at least in theory to me. Both have some unique politics to them though! Like with single totem KOs, there's some encouragement to not attack the totem directly to your left or right, since you become more vulnerable once you're the sole defender of one of your two assigned totems. But if you need to lose both your totems to be knocked out, there's more room for deal-making and double-crossing if you're attacking a totem one of your "teammates" is also a defender of (since they might agree to not block because the other player sharing that totem is running away with the game, unless they're confident they'll get the shared win with them, etc).

[@myeverchanginghobbies3450]

Definitely makes for interesting politics

[@Qcheffing]

the shared life totals and adds a very interesting dynamic for sure

[@OurHouseNiittyla]

this popped up on my feed, i havent a scooby what edh is ...

[@Qcheffing]

how odd? I expect this video made little sense to you then 😁 EDH also known as "Commander" is a certain way of playing the collectable card game "Magic the Gathering" it stands for Elder Dragon Highlander perhaps KZbin has noticed you have a similar interest Idk 🤷‍♂️

[@mrwalrus1150]

Life gain or life loss decks break this sadly.

[@davidhowell1415]

It’s funny how damage and abilities use the banding rules

[@Qcheffing]

I had to look up how banding works, but I don't really see the resemblance sorry 😬 by the way, welcome to the channel David 👋

[@davidhowell1415]

@@Qcheffing with banding the attacker decides how the damage and triggers stack unlike non banding. It’s a very confusing rule that will never be printed again. The entire rules part on banding was 12-15 pages in the alpha rules book if I remember correctly it’s been a long time from then till now.

[@davidhowell1415]

@@Qcheffing glad to join the channel and watch it grow from here. Edit: thanks for welcoming me that’s not something most channels do. Maybe that could be a retention thing for viewers, a mention from the channel shows a view that you acknowledge that view or comment etc you know what I’m getting at. Good luck with your channel I’ll be watching 👍

[@Qcheffing]

@@davidhowell1415 Ofcorse 😁 Most channels will want to connect with, understand and retain viewers as a small channel I don't get many comments however Its understandable that with larger channels replying to comments becomes unmanageable pretty quickly I hope you find my videos valuable and entertaing

[@davidhowell1415]

@@Qcheffing well the larger channel only has to comment if the new follow left a comment. And I know 200k + you’re not going to reply to everyone but… a new follow is worth a mention if they leave a comment.

[@floridaman6982]

U guys ever play “star” basically this except it still single player winner. Your immediate left and right are more like rivals than allies. If both your “opposite” players die you win!

[@Cronoistight]

I'm down