Section 810

810 Two-Headed Giant Variant

810.1 Two-Headed Giant games are played with two teams of two players each.

810.2 The Two-Headed Giant variant uses the shared team turns option. (See rule 805.)

810.3 Each team sits together on one side of the table. Each team decides the order in which its players sit.

810.4 Each team has a shared life total, which starts at 30 life.

810.5 With the exception of life total and poison counters, a team’s resources (cards in hand, mana, and so on) are not shared in the Two-Headed Giant variant. Teammates may review each other’s hands and discuss strategies at any time. Teammates can’t manipulate each other’s cards or permanents.

810.6 The team who plays first skips the draw step of its first turn.

810.7 The Two-Headed Giant variant uses the combat rules for the shared team turns option (see rule 805.10). This is a change from previous rules.

810.8 The Two-Headed Giant variant uses the normal rules for winning or losing the game (see rule 104), with the following additions and specifications.

810.8a Players win and lose the game only as a team, not as individuals. If either player on a team loses the game, the team loses the game. If either player on a team wins the game, the entire team wins the game. If an effect says that a player can’t win the game, that player’s team can’t win the game. If an effect says that a player can’t lose the game, that player’s team can’t lose the game.

810.8b If a player concedes, their team leaves the game immediately. That team loses the game.

810.8c If a team’s life total is 0 or less, the team loses the game. (This is a state-based action. See rule 704.)

810.8d If a team has fifteen or more poison counters, that team loses the game. (This is a state-based action. See rule 704.)

810.9 Damage, loss of life, and gaining life happen to each player individually. The result is applied to the team’s shared life total.

810.9a If a cost or effect needs to know the value of an individual player’s life total, that cost or effect uses the team’s life total instead.

810.9b If a cost or effect allows both members of a team to pay life simultaneously, the total amount of life they pay may not exceed their team’s life total. (Players can always pay 0 life.)

810.9c If an effect sets a single player’s life total to a specific number, the player gains or loses the necessary amount of life to end up with the new total. The team’s life total is adjusted by the amount of life that player gained or lost.

810.9d If an effect would set the life total of each player on a team to a number, that team chooses one of its members. On that team, only that player is affected.

810.9e A player can’t exchange life totals with their teammate. If an effect would cause that to occur, the exchange won’t happen.

810.9f If an effect instructs a player to redistribute any number of players’ life totals, that player may not affect more than one member of each team this way.

810.9g If an effect says that a player can’t gain life, no player on that player’s team can gain life.

810.9h If an effect says that a player can’t lose life, no player on that player’s team can lose life or pay any amount of life other than 0.

810.10 Effects that cause players to get poison counters happen to each player individually. The poison counters are shared by the team.

810.10a If an effect needs to know how many poison counters an individual player has, that effect uses the number of poison counters that player’s team has. If an effect needs to know how many poison counters a player’s opponents have, that effect uses the number of poison counters opposing teams have.

810.10b If an effect says that a player loses poison counters, that player’s team loses that many poison counters.

810.10c If an effect says that a player can’t get poison counters, no player on that player’s team can get poison counters.

810.10d If a rule or effect needs to know what kinds of counters an individual player has, that effect uses the kinds of counters that player has and the kinds of counters that player’s team has. A player is “poisoned” if that player’s team has one or more poison counters.

810.11 The Two-Headed Giant variant can also be played with equally sized teams of more than two players. For each player a team has beyond the second, that team’s starting life total is increased by 15 and the number of poison counters required for the team to lose is increased by five. (These variants are called Three-Headed Giant, Four-Headed Giant, and so on.)