Variant: 1st kill ends the game

I recently proposed a variant rule to my playgroup: the first player to eliminate someone in commander wins and the game ends immediately.

The results have actually been great for the game and feel like they solve several issues I had with the format:

  • nobody sitting around eliminated waiting ages for the rest of the table

  • you actively protect the weaker players if you can't kill them yourselves because you don't want someone else to kill them and take the win

  • you assess threats differently, into 'who can I kill' vs 'who else might kill them' which makes the dynamics more interesting

  • more games per evening!

  • aggro strategies, Etrata etc are more viable, and in general it seems to merge some of the play patterns of 1v1 magic with the shenanigans of commander

  • people build their decks a little differently to make sure they have a bit more interaction, early plays etc which is good for the table

I'd love to see people try this and hear how it goes for them!