There are a lot of variant formats out there. Some have been released by the good folks at Wizards, and others have been created by the players. Although you may have played most, or even all of these variants, there's still more to explore. This article will cover a few variations on some of the most popular variant formats.

Planechase – The Eternities Map

One of the more well-known variant variants, The Eternities Map was created by Gavin Duggan. Here's how it works:

At the beginning of the game, shuffle one copy of each plane (If you don't have all of them, just use what you have) in a pile, and deal out five planes in a plus pattern. Flip the center plane face up, and put a marker of some sort on it. This is your starting plane. After taking any mulligans, flip the remaining four planes face up as well.

Whenever a player rolls the Planeswalker symbol, they may choose to move up, down, left, or right on the map. When this happens, any planes that are more than three steps away from the current plane get shuffled back into the deck. (You can reduce this to two steps if playing on a smaller table.) Then, place new planes face up in any blank spots adjacent to the current plane.

If the current plane is especially unpleasant, there is another option which can help you get away. In addition to moving normally, you can “Hellride” diagonally to an adjacent blank spot on the map. Again, shuffle in any planes that are more than three steps away, and deal out new planes to the current space and those next to it. If there are counters on a plane, such as Naar Isle, those counters will remain until the plane gets shuffled back into the deck.

Archenemy – Supervillain Showdown

In this simple variant variant, we'll toss out the 1-vs.-All theme of Archenemy in favor of a big free-for-all. Rather than having one Archenemy, have everyone start the game with a deck of scheme cards and 40 life. It's best if each player has their own custom deck of schemes, but using one big pile for everyone will work as well. If you have enough scheme cards, you can even draft them before the start of the game.

Planechase/Archenemy – Planar Plots

[caption id="attachment_13403" align="alignright" width="168" caption="Planar Die, now with 100% More Awesome"][/caption]This variant variant will add even more spice to rolling the planar die. Shuffle all the scheme cards into a big pile in the middle of the table. Whenever a player rolls the planeswalker symbol, they also flip over a scheme card. It seems like a small change, but you'll find it can add a lot more chaos to the game, and things can change very quickly.

Commander/Emperor – High Commander

Follow the normal rules for an Emperor game, with one exception: Have the two Emperors play with their Commander decks, starting at 40 life and following all the normal rules of the format. The Commander damage rule applies to all players, though it won't come up very often. With this variant variant in place, the Emperors will be truly formidable opponents, and it will take all your resources to take them down.

Archenemy/Planechase – Planar Invaders

This variant variant was invented by Serious Fun writer Adam Styborski in "Invaders! To Arms!" To start, you'll need an even number of players divided in to two teams. One team will be the invaders, and the other will be the defenders. The players on each team will share one turn, much like in two-headed giant.

The defenders will choose a home plane. This plane will be active for the entire game. Instead of rolling the planar die, any player on the defending team may pay to activate the plane's chaos ability. The chaos ability may be activated only once per turn, and only as a sorcery.

The invaders will choose at least 10 scheme cards, shuffling them into a shared deck. Instead of revealing a new scheme every upkeep, any player on the invading team may pay to set a scheme in motion. This may only be done once per turn, and only as a sorcery.

Like in two-headed giant, your teammates are unaffected by cards that affect only opponents, and you can't attack them. Unlike in two-headed giant, you don't share a life total, and you may not block for your teammates. When all the players on one team have lost the game, the opposing team wins.

Styborski recommended that the following schemes and planes be set aside. I agree with his suggestions; however, if you want to try them out, feel free to give it a go.

Planes

• Eloren Wilds
• Pools of Becoming
• Otaria
• Agyrem
• Naar Isle
• Lethe Lake

Schemes

• All in Good Time
• Choose Your Champion
• I Bask in Your Silent Awe
• Plots that Span Centuries

All of these variant variants can be a ton of fun, and I encourage you to try out as many as you can. Whether you're looking for some crazy new ideas, or just some small tweaks to a variant you've been playing for years, you're sure to find something here. If you have a variant variant of your own you'd like to share, feel free to weigh in in the comment section or on the forums.