And now for something slightly different...

"Planar Chaos", the lastest expansion for Magic: The Gathering, is a jumble of old spells, new concepts and cards that break the rules about what each of the five colours can do. Rather than use the Theme Decks in a round-robin tournament, I decided to clear off my coffee table and play four "multiplayer" games (the quotes indicate the fact that, sad git that I am, I was the sole participant :-)).

I began by drafting the basic rules. The decks would only be able to attack to their immediate left and defend to their immediate right. They would all draw eight cards on the first turn. The initial starting order would be random, thereafter it would be the reverse of how the decks had just finished. Points would be scored as follows: 3 for being the "last man standing"; 1 for each opponent knocked out.

Before I reveal the results, here's a rundown of the four decks...

Endless March [red/white] - Versatile (mostly) weenie creatures that can return each other to your hand to avoid going to the graveyard or to reuse coming-into-play effects; plus a small amount of direct damage.

Ixidor's Legacy [mono-blue] - Tricksy critters. Includes nasty combos such as Serendib Sorcerer + Merfolk Thaumaturgist (make target creature 0/2, then switch its power and toughness = dead creature).

Ritual Of Rebirth [black/green/white] - Accumulate land quickly by dumping/milling fatties into the graveyard, reanimate these cheaply and "stomp a mudhole" in your opponent (as WWE announcer Jim Ross would say).

Unraveling Mind [black/red] - Almost every monster in this deck possesses evasion or a wicked ability. Add graveyard recursion and heaps of creature kill (including direct damage) and you've got classic black/red.

So here's how it all finished...

[Deck____Game 1__Game 2__Game 3__Game 4____Points (overall ranking)]

Endless March____1st__2nd__4th__2nd____9 points (1st)
Ixidor's Legacy____3rd__3rd__2nd__1st____7 points (2nd)
Unraveling Mind____2nd__1st__3rd__4th____4 points (3rd on countback)
Rituals Of Rebirth____4th__4th__1st__3rd____4 points (4th)

Trivia...

* The games lasted 10, 10, 12 and 11 turns, respectively.
* Suprisingly, the most convincing victory was by the last-placed deck, Rituals Of Rebirth, which ended game 3 on 44 life with total board control.
* This multiplayer madness took me five hours to complete, not including a lunchbreak in the middle.
* The CDs I listened to during play were: "The Dark Third" (2006) by Pure Reason Revolution, "Are You Sitting Comfortably?" (1989) by IQ, "Anoraknaphobia" (2001) by Marillion and "Aerial" (best release of 2005) by Kate Bush.