Fun With Packs

Last week I was introduced to the most fun I have ever had opening packs of Magic cards. It's a goofy "format" called DC-10.

How do you play? Simple. You and your friend each get a pack of cards. You sit down and rip them open and shuffle them without looking at the cards. Figure out who is going first. Both players start with zero cards in hand. Both players have inifinite mana in their mana pool and infinite basic lands of every type in play. You draw and start playing. First one to take 20 damage or run out of cards loses.

So why would you play this? Most people play for some kind of ante. At the least you usually play for the cards in the two packs you're playing with, most of my friends play for an additional pack from the same set.

 

Is there really any skill? Nah. I happen to open and draw a Sparkcaster and you lose.

Is there a lot of strategy? Nope. Either my Caldera Kavu gets through and hits you for five billion, or you chump block with a Maggot Carrier in hopes that you draw a Death Bomb.

But is it fun? Heck yes. And that is the whole point. This is the best way I've seen to break open a box of cards, and a full match usually doesn't take longer than 10 minutes.

Inifinte mana in your pool and lands in play can create some goofy situations, so I'll give you a couple "rulings" that we have come up with in playing to help you settle disputes:

• When faced with a creature with "infinite" power that is blocking, or being blocked by a creature with "infinite" toughness, the one with infinite power wins out. For example, if an Alpha Kavu Blocks a Lava Zombie, the Kavu is killed and the Zombie keeps on fighting. Similarly, if that same Zombie blocks a Caldera Kavu, they will both take lethal damage.

• Any card that counts lands in play, works on the assumption you have all of them in play. You draw five cards with Allied Strategies, you deal five damage with Exotic Disease, and Natural Emergence is generall "game over" for your opponent.

• When you play a land of any kind, it is immediately sacrificed. You can, however, play a land destruction spell, although it won't do much good since your opponent has infinite land.

• Similarly, any spell that allows you to search for lands and put them into play may not be used, although they may be cast in order to get them out of your hand for cards like Planeswalker's Mirth. Looking through your deck takes half the fun out of it of not knowing what is in your deck. However, play Diabolic Intent all you like.

The main thing to remember is to have fun. It's all about goofing off with magic packs and seeing who can drop the first Keldon Mantle for the win.

Why the name DC-10 you ask? From what I'm told, some PT Players came up with this while flying back from GP Amsterdam, and they happened to be flying on a DC-10

Tim Stoltzfus
wakkodjinn@pojo.com