2/2018—Big changes to Two Headed Giants at D20…Classic, Better, Premium
Two-headed giants are a two player team Magic the Gathering event. Because they are social and very fun for lots of different types and levels of people, we tend to run them almost every Saturday night, except the first of each month. (Wizards intro and strategies for THG). There are slightly different rules, since there are two people on the same team.
Article by us on the Wizards Play Network about Two Headed Giants
Who is it good for ? Teams usually comprise of buddies, parent/kid combos, and a lot of couples. Both players play together, sharing a life total, showing each other their cards, consulting with each other and playing at the same times. Because of that it is both great social fun, and probably the best way for a new player, or someone who is just curious what their buddy/kid/or SO likes so much about the game to get a chance to try without feeling any pressure to know all (or any) of the rules. Think of it like tandem skydiving…you get all the fun, without having to worry about when to pull the rip-cord.(It is particularly great for Moms or Dads who want to have a really cool date night with their kids.
This event is a GREAT way for parents to figure out what this thing the kids are doing is anyway, and for the kids to get a chance to be the ones who know what is going on for a change. ;-)Because you play as a team and can help each other out, the kid gets to be the smart one for a change, and the parent gets to play without needing to worry about “doing it wrong”. Also…kids love having their mom or dad help them try and beat another team.)
How do you make the Decks? A standard two-headed Giant has each player getting 4 packs of the current set. The players then figure out which cards are important to them to get back at the end of the night and combine all the cards together to use as the pool for making two 40 card (minimum) decks, one for each player . You’ll have plenty of cards to use to make interesting decks with that number of packs, and the cards you open are yours to keep.
Teams play 3 matches against other teams (since the team starts with 30 life instead of twenty, it is a single game…they usually last anywhere from 25-50 minutes.) If you win a round, each team gets two prize packs. If you lost, you will most likely be paired up with someone else who had the same type of night, so it tends to balance itself out.
D20 tends to be a friendly place to play, and the Two-headed Giants are particularly so. We have great players who take pride in making other players feel welcome and remembering that it’s a game, its played for fun. ;-).
Frequently asked Questions
What is it?: Two-Headed Giant Magic Tournament. (Two players on the same team, sharing life and playing in parallel against other teams of players) Each team gets 30 life points between the two of them. It is an extremely fun way for experienced players to play with players who are just getting good with the game.
Do I need to know what I’m doing?: Since both players play at the same time and can show each other their cards, as long as one of the two players knows what they are doing, nothing is required of the other player. It is the best, most fun way to learn the game.
Do we need to make and bring our own decks? Nope. This is what is called a sealed deck tournament, which basically means that each team gets a fixed number of packs (7) of Magic cards to build the two decks used to play in the tournament.
Why is is called Two headed Giant? Both players share the same (larger) life total of 30 rather then the normal 20 points. Each “head” (player) takes their turns at the same time and can consult with each other, but they play in parallel, not able to share resources such as land or equipment (if you don’t know what those things are, don’t worry about it, your partner will.
Why only one game per match? Two headed Giant takes longer to play, so there is not enough time to do the standard 2-out of 3 games.
Other Rules
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- Each team sits together on one side of the table. Each team decides the order in which its players sit. The player seated on the right within each team is the primary player, and the player seated on the left is the secondary player.
- The Two-Headed Giant variant has two unique features:
- Each team has a shared life total, which starts at 30 life.
- Each team takes turns rather than each player.
- With the exception of life total, a team’s resources (cards in hand, mana, and so on) are not shared in the Two-Headed Giant variant. Teammates may review each other’s hands and discuss strategies at any time.
- Teammates can’t manipulate each other’s cards or permanents.
- A player who is dissatisfied with his or her initial hand may mulligan. First, the starting team takes any mulligans. For a team to take a mulligan, each player on that team decides whether to shuffle his or her hand back into the deck and then draw a new hand of seven cards. All players on that team who chose to do so take their mulligans at the same time. After each player on that team who took a mulligan looks at his or her new hand, the team repeats the process, resulting in a hand of one fewer card each time, until the hand size reaches zero cards. Teammates may consult during this process, but a player can’t see the result of his or her teammate’s mulligan before deciding whether to take a mulligan at the same time. Once a player has decided to keep a hand, those cards become his or her opening hand. That player can’t take any more mulligans, but his or her teammate may. Once each player on the starting team decides to keep an opening hand, the other team may take mulligans..
- Teams have priority, not individual players.