Slot Magic

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Slot Magic

Rules

When I first saw the Netrunner playing mat in the Duelist I thought: Why didn't they print something like that for Magic? Probably because having a dozen lands, four Thallids and twenty-one Saproling tokens in play would require a rather large mat. So why not define a variant where you can only put as many cards in play as you have slots?

After much thought and play testing I found a very playable combination of slots is:

3 lands
3 creatures
1 artifact
1 global enchantment

I made a layout of 2 x 4 slots (eight Magic card backs photocopied), the land and enchantment slots right before me and the creature and artifact slots in front of the other slots. This is a great reminder if you are playing this format for the first time, after a while you won't need it anymore.

Rules

The following rule changes are added:

You can only play cards (and tokens, respectively) in the appropriate slots. If a card could be played in several slots, you can choose where to put it. (A Copy Artifact of an artifact creature could be played in the enchantment, artifact or creature slot.)
If you cast a permanent spell or create a token and there is no free slot to put it, you have to sacrifice a card in play that uses such a slot when the new card comes into play. This means that without any additional mana producers you can cast spells that cost four mana: tap your three lands, put a land into play - sacrificing a tapped one - and tap the new land.
If several permanents normally come into play at once, they come into play one after the other in the order the caster wants them to. This allows you play cards like Sengir Autocrat or Tombstone Stairwell (why you would want to play them in this format is a totally different thing).
It's a good thing not to rely on spells costing more than four mana if you don't have several means to produce additional mana. Cards like Tinder Wall or Orcish Lumberjacks are much better here than in the normal format because they free a slot and you don't have to sacrifice something later that you'd rather have kept. Sengir Vampires cast with the help of Dark Rituals are quite intimidating.

Deck Construction

Use standard deck construction rules for this variant.

Sideboard

You can have a 15-card sideboard in Constructed and in Limited the cards you don’t use are your sideboard.

Banned & Restricted List

When playing this variant it is usually decided what type you will be playing. So if playing Type 1, Type 1.5, Type 2, or Extended Slot Magic then, follow that format’s Banned and Restricted List.

Mulligan Rules

Standard “Paris” Mulligan is used for this variant.

Before each game begins, a player may, for any reason, reshuffle and redraw his hand, drawing one less card. This may be repeated as often as the player wishes, until he has no cards left in his hand. After the participant, who plays first, mulligans as often as he likes, the decision of whether to mulligan passes to the other player. Once a player passes the opportunity to mulligan, that player may not change his mind.

History

This variant was created by Thomas Staudt.