2HG FAQ

From Judge Wiki

Two Headed Giant is a multiplayer format in which 2 teams of 2 players play together in a single game. The players on each team have a shared life total and play with a shared turn between them. With the exceptions of life total and poison counters, a teams resources (cards in hand, mana, and so on) are not shared.

This document is intended as a summary for 2HG events at regular rules enforcement level such as pre-release and launch party events. For more information refer to the Comprehensive Rules and the Magic Tournament Rules. This document is also available as a pdf and was the subject of a 45 minute Live judge stream, the recording of which is available on YouTube

Contents 1 Tournament Organisation and Structure 2 Starting the game 3 Combat 4 Life Totals and Damage

Tournament Organisation and Structure

• 2HG events have a minimum of 4 teams (8 players) and 2 rounds.
• 2HG has 60 minutes recommended deck construction time with 8 boosters for sealed and 6 for draft.
• The players build two 40 card minimum decks from the card pool and basic lands. During a match cards not in either players deck can only be accessed by effects that refer to cards outside the game (such as Spawnsire of Ulamog).
• 2HG can be run as a draft format. The 4 teams are seated around a table, teammates may communicate with each other while drafting. Each team opens a booster and picks 2 cards before passing it, these cards form a shared card pool for decks to be built from as in sealed.
• In limited events players may play more than 4 of a card if they have them in their pool.
• Teams can rebuild their decks from their entire card pool between rounds, even swapping entire decks between teammates.
• 2HG rounds are 50 minutes as normal.
• In 2HG there are only 3 extra turns for the end-of-match procedure.
• 2HG matches are first to 1 game win, if the first game is a draw before the round is over continue playing another game. Players may not sideboard.
• Players on a team win or lose together. If an effect says a player loses the game that player’s team loses the game, the other head can’t continue playing on their own. A team on 0 or less life or that has 15 or more poison counters loses the game.
• Players may communicate freely with each other. Each player can see all information their teammate has, such as cards in hand and facedown cards. Strategy discussions should be done in a brief, timely manner.

Starting the game

• Each team starts with 30 life.
• Neither player on the team going first draws a card on the first turn.
• Each player receives one free mulligan redrawing 7 cards. Further mulligans result in 1 card less being drawn each time.
• Mulligan decisions alternate between teams as normal with each player on a team deciding whether to mulligan simultaneously. This means players can’t see what their teammate draws from a mulligan before choosing whether to mulligan themselves.

Combat

• Attackers are declared as a team and are attacking the opposing team or a planeswalker, not a specific player on that team.
• Creatures with landwalk are unblockable if either player on the opposing team controls the appropriate land type.
• Both players on the opposing team are defending players, and if an effect (such as annhiliator) asks for “the defending player” the controller of the effect chooses one of them.
• If a creature is attacking your team it is also attacking you.
• If an effect prevents a creature attacking a player it prevents that creature from attacking that player’s team.
• If attacking a planeswalker either player on the opposing team controls they are still both defending players and you can still choose either of them for effects that require it. For example you can attack a planeswalker controlled by player A with a creature with annhilator and choose player B to sacrifice for the trigger.
• Blockers are declared as a team, creatures either defending player controls can block any attacker. • Combat damage is dealt to the primary player by default (the primary player in a team is the player with no player on their right). Damage can still be assigned to either head by specifying otherwise.

Life Totals and Damage

• In changes from previous rules to make 2HG more intuitive players now share a life total and teams receive poison counters instead of individual players. If an effect asks for a players life total use the team’s life total instead.
  • For example; Serras Ascendant’s bonus is active if the team is on 30 or more life, the Zendikar vampires that get bonuses if an opponent is on 10 or less life get the bonus if the opposing team is on 10 or less life, if an effect (like Sorin Markov’s) sets a player’s life total to a number it sets the team’s life total to that number.
• If an effect would cause a player to gain or lose life calculate the amount that would be gained or lost and apply that change to the teams life total. Triggers that trigger when a player gains or loses life only apply for that player, the teammate doesnt gain or lose life when the teams lifetotal changes.
• When proliferating you may only give a team one additional poison counter. Team and Individual Effects
• “You” means just that, you, not including your team mate. If an effect says “creatures you control get +1/+1” it only applies to your creatures, not your teammate’s.
• If a trigger (such as Bloodchief Ascension) says “at the beginning of each end step” there is only one of that step each turn so it will trigger once each turn.
• If a trigger (such as Luminarch Ascension) says “each opponent’s end step” it will trigger once for each opponent in that step (so twice in 2HG).
• If a player would skip or get an extra step, phase or turn, that player’s team skips or gets one instead.
• If an effect refers to “each opponent” it applies to each player on the opposing team. For example if an effect causes each opponent to lose 3 life each player on that team loses 3 life and that teams life total is reduced by 6.