This article explains how some of the new cards in Commander 2015 work in Two-Headed Giant (2HG). The explanations assume you’re already familiar with how these cards work in a normal game. You can find the regular release notes here.
Reprints are not discussed here. If you would like to know about an interaction with an older card, the quickest way might be to try the Judge Rules Chat. If you want to know more about the rules of the format in general, check out the 2HG FAQ.
GENERAL NOTES
Experience Counters
Experience counters are a new type of counter that goes on players rather than permanents, just like poison counters.
- When you proliferate, if both players on a team have experience counters, you can give both players an additional experience counter. This is slightly different from poison counters, as you can’t give both players on a team an additional poison counter. This is because poison counters, like life total, are actually a shared resource, whereas experience counters are player-specific.
Myriad
Myriad is a new ability that gives you additional copies of a creature when it attacks, but only if you are in a game with multiple opponents.
- In 2HG you get one token copy. Unless they’re attacking a specific planeswalker, both the original and the token copy are attacking the defending team rather than a specific defending player.
- Because of the way “defending player” is interpreted in 2HG, you can actually attack one specific planeswalker with both the original and the copy. For example, you attack planeswalker A and myriad triggers. For the trigger you are free to choose either player as defending player, so you choose player B. Now you get a copy for player A that can attack her planeswalkers, so you attack planeswalker A with the copy as well.
- The player you choose as defending player with the myriad trigger has no bearing on other choices about defending player. For example, if you attack with Banshee of the Dread Choir, you could choose player A as the defending player for myriad, but still have player B discard a card for the second ability later on.
- You can choose the same defending player to deal combat damage to for both the original and the copy. For example, if you attack with Banshee of the Dread Choir, you can have one opponent discard 2 cards.
- You do not deal combat damage to both opponents, so you do not get two triggers from a single Banshee of the Dread Choir or Broodbirth Viper in 2HG.
CARD-SPECIFIC NOTES
Anya, Merciless Angel
- In 2HG a player’s life total is the same as that team’s life total. In practice this means that Anya gets +6/+6 as long as the opposing team has less than half their starting life total.
Arachnogenesis
- Creatures attack the defending team, not a specific player, so you get a token for all creatures attacking your team. You do not get any tokens for creatures attacking a planeswalker.
Awaken the Sky Tyrant
- This card does not play well in 2HG. Because your opponents can choose which defending player to deal combat damage to, they can usually simply choose to deal all damage to your teammate.
Karlov of the Ghost Council
- The first ability does not trigger when your teammate gains life. While your life total is shared in 2HG, changes to that life total are still treated as happening to players individually.
Mirror Match
- Creatures attack the defending team, not a specific player, so you get a token for all creatures attacking your team or a planeswalker you control. You do not get any tokens for creatures attacking a planeswalker controlled by your teammate however.
Rite of the Raging Storm
- In 2HG Lightning Ragers can’t attack your team or planeswalkers you control. They can still attack planeswalkers controlled by your teammate however.
Scytheclaw
- In 2HG a player’s life total is the same as that team’s life total.
- In the Combat Damage Step you choose one opponent to deal a creature’s combat damage to. The third ability will trigger for that player, you do not get two triggers.