MtG Game Variant: Mana Flow
Introduction
Magic: the Gathering is an incredibly fun and engaging game. With the myriad of available cards, endless strategies and combos can be created and employed.
However, there is one core concept in MtG that can foil even the best constructed decks:
Missing the land drop.
Nothing can be more frustrating for a player to see their deck fail only because the shuffle managed to put most land cards in the bottom half of their deck.
This is where the Mana Flow variant comes into play. This variant tries to remove the randomness of drawing and playing lands and turn it into a strategic choice instead.
Naturally, this variant is not designed for those players that enjoy this part of Magic: The Gathering, but rather for those that want to play the game without being stifled by lacking the lands to do so.
Rule Changes
When playing with the Mana Flow variant, apply the following rule changes.
You can use this variant with all game formats of MtG.
Split Libraries
The most important core change from normal MtG formats is the introduction of the Land Library.
When setting up your deck for the game, you separate your lands into one pile and the rest of your deck (i.e. all spells) into a second pile. You shuffle each pile separately and place them next to each other on the table.
These two piles are your Spell Library and your Land Library.
Cards in your Library
You always count the cards in both your Spell Library and your Land Library when calculating the number of cards in your library. E.g. you only lose the game when both your libraries are out of cards and you must draw a card.
Library Manipulation
Whenever you have to manipulate — reveal, draw, discard, or exile — a card from your library, the owner of the effect that forces you to do so chooses for each card whether to use your Spell Library or your Land Library.
Likewise, when you draw your first card on your turn, you may draw that card from either your Spell Library or your Land Library.
Exception
Cards that make you manipulate cards from your library until you hit a land or non-land card or that have a special effect for all land or non-land cards manipulated in this way.
In this case, you must alternate between your Spell Library and your Land Library. However, the owner of the triggering effect chooses whether to start with your Spell Library or your Land Library.
Example: When you play Animist's Awakening {XG}, you reveal X cards from your library and place all lands revealed in this way onto the battlefield tapped. You may choose whether to start revealing cards from your Land Library or your Spell Library, but either way, you must alternate revealing cards from both libraries until you have revealed X cards.
Returning Cards to your Library
Whenever you have to put a card back into your library, you must place the card into the corresponding library. A land card must go into your Land Library and any other card must go into your Spell Library.
