Magic: The Gathering/Riviera Live Draft

Riviera Live Draft

Features

• Huge common library
• Draft as you play
• No manascrew

Using the large Common Library, players "draft-as-they-draw". Flexible, controlled land drawing allows opportunistic change of strategy in mid-game.

Excellent for people wanting to play Magic casually, as it takes out the deckbuilding and card sorting aspects of the game - both of which can be tedious to some people. Popular with occasional or low-budget players, veteran players with harsh timetables and draft enthusiasts.

How to play

Setup

1. One huge Common Library of assorted cards - anything except basic lands (we use a nice combination of Core Set, Ravnica block and Fifth Dawn).
2. Five distinct piles for basic lands - face up.
3. To get their starting hand, each player draws 14 cards from the common library, then removes 7 of them from the game.
4. Give each player 40 random cards from the Common Library, this is their Private Library.
5. Flip the top card of the Common Library FACE UP in the middle of the table. This card represents the Sugar Pile, and everybody can see what it contains.

Draw step

• Draw the top card from the Sugar Pile, OR
• Draw the top card from your Private Library, OR
• Look at the top 3 cards from the Common Library, put one on the Sugar Pile, remove one from the game, and draw the third.

Lands

Once per turn during your main phase, as a Sorcery, you may remove a card in your hand from the game in exchange for a basic land.

• If you throw away a blue spell, you can pick an Island. Red spell, a mountain, etc.
• If you throw away a multicolored or hybrid spell, you get to choose which kind of basic land to draw. Example: remove Boros Guildmage from your hand, pick a Plain or a Mountain.
• If you throw away a colorless or costless card (such as artifact or land), you may pick any basic land among the five.

Private Library

• Library manipulation, "draw a card" effects, searching for a card, shuffling, milling... All of this target Private Libraries.
• A player loses when his or her Private Library gets empty.

Misc

• Each player still has an independent graveyard, and cards go there as normal.
• The owner of a card is the player who most recently drew it from the Sugar Pile, Common or Private Library into his or her hand.