Stratego Magic

Object of the Game

To capture your opponent's flag by reducing their life points to 0 or less.

Each person gives a piece of paper to their opponent prior to starting the game which states what each of their pieces represent. Here are the guidelines:

(Note: this variant uses the newest version of Stratego, where the marshal is a 10, not a 1. For those of you with the older one, here are the conversions: 1=10 2=9 3=8 4=7 5=6 6=5 7=4 8=3 9=2). 

A creature is used for each piece. You may have no more than 4 of any creature, despite which piece it is taking the place of. The only abilities allowed are first strike, phasing, and flanking. Treat these as normal, except first strike works only if you are the one attacking. When a creature phases out, remove its piece from the board as well until it returns to play, at which time it returns to play at the same spot. If a creature is currently occupying that space, they are both buried. Creatures with other abilities may be used, but are those abilities are considered to be gone. The exception is drawbacks, like Aku Djinn's +1/+1 clause, or the Spindrift Drake's need for blue mana.

Here is how to score a creature:

Turn Structure

Untap, upkeep, and draw remain the same. Main phase: You may either play a standard main phase minus the attack phase, or play only the attack. An attack is played as a Stratego turn; you get to move 1 of your pieces. If it hits an enemy piece, you have combat as normal. Also, you may move all mobile (as in not a flag or a bomb) pieces, instead of just one.

Play the rest of the turn as normal.

Setup

Very easy, just put your bombs and your flag in your home rows (the four directly in front of you).

So how do I get the pieces on the board?

Just cast them as normal. If you have the piece for that creature, put it anywhere in the first row directly in front of you. If there is no open space there, you must put it in the second row. If a similar occurrence happens, proceed to the third and the fourth rows. If all of your home rows are full, you may not cast the creature. If you don't have the appropriate piece for that creature currently free, you may not cast it.

How do I kill my opponent?

Just attack his flag. Instead of automatically capturing it, the damage from that creature is dealt to the opponent. If the opponent already has less than one life remaining, you may choose to capture the flag instead of dealing the damage to your opponent. Also, if an effect controlled by the opponent reduces himself to less than 1 life, like not sacrificing a creature to Lord of the Pit, then his flag is automatically captured.

You may not deal damage to an opponent in ANY way other than effects he controls himself or by attacking his flag with creatures.

History

This variant was created by Howard Toltz.