Do you like alternate ways of playing Magic? Does your playgroup regularly try out new variants for Magic Night? Is it getting a little stale in there? Today I want to get in my Way Back Time Machine ┢ and take a look at a casual variant of play that was created more than a decade ago. Despite its age, very few know what it is today, and we’re going to give it another day in the sun.
I was first exposed to Chaos Magic back when I played with a Magic application called Apprentice. It had the ability to play against someone online, and I played lots of games online with a group called E-League. I loved E-League because they organized tournaments through Apprentice online, and they tried to do some wacky things. I was even an E-League judge for a while. Anyway, Apprentice had been modified with the rules for Chaos Magic, in case you wanted to play it. They do suit being in software very well.
Chaos Magic was designed for crazy and fun things to happen every turn. Later on, others looked at just having a stack of cards in the middle of the table that went off every turn randomly, and that was your crazy-ness. Much, much later, we saw Planechase get made that did essentially the same thing, but with a few different rules. Lots of people wanted the same thing—something random!
In fact, randomness in Magic is loved so much that we have things like Momir Vig’s online format, or the sub-format Mo-Jho-Sto, and more. I even made Whimsy Magic based off those. People like being unable to predict which way the game will be moving next— it’s joy in a firecracker-shaped container. Just light it on fire!
Anyway, Chaos Magic reminds me of the D&D magic item Wand of Wonder. I don’t know who designed the variant (and if whoever made it wants to take credit in the comments, please do so!), but it feels like an RPG-style variant. You’ll see.
Let’s discuss the rules of Chaos Magic:
The Chaos Phase
Chaos Magic has a Chaos Phase which takes place before you untap, but after you phase things in. During the Chaos Phase, you cannot play any spells or fast effects, except for those listed later. Triggered effects will occur like normal, but no one can respond. Suppose that my Black Cat bites it during the Chaos Phase. I can still hit someone with a discard, and you could not respond by playing the Lightning Bolt in your hand.
During your Chaos Phase, you will roll dice to get a random number. You will need to generate a number between 1 and 200. The best way of doing that is to use any die as a 1d2 in the front, and two d10s to be the second and third numbers. (You could also use two d20s and just use the last digit). Just use the 1d2 to give you 0 and 1 instead of 1 and 2. Some other charts will need different dice. This is where the Wand of Wonder effect comes in, because you will roll a random effect.
Creatures you put into play from Rolls that do not have haste cannot attack on your turn. The Chaos Phase is too late to count for “continuously since the beginning of your turn” required to attack.
Rules for Resolving a Roll
The person whose phase it is rolls the dice and controls the effects, choosing all targets where necessary. So, if you roll a Mind Rot, you would choose what target discards two cards. All costs must still be paid by that individual as well (such as sacrificing a goblin to Goblin Grenade). If there are not enough legal targets, the roll still resolves and you choose as many as possible (so if you were to flip Hull Breach, and there were no artifact out, you’d still have to off an enchantment).
Chaos Rolls do not get through shroud or hexproof or other, similar things. However, all Chaos Rolls are colorless, so a result of Terminate will take out a White Knight.
The result of a Chaos Roll is that you have a colorless, targeting, effect that you control and must pay additional costs for (but you do not have to pay the original mana cost, just additional costs).
Adjunct Rules
There are several additional charts to roll on besides the Chaos Roll chart. They are the PersonaLand, WackyLand and EnchantWorldLand. You roll 2d10 for WackyLand and add them together, and 1d20 for the other two. Sometimes you’ll be instructed to roll on those charts instead.
At the beginning of the game, someone rolls on the EWL chart. That affect begins the game in play. It is considered a World Enchantment (but not a land) and is affected by things that affect enchantments (such as a Tranquility). It cannot be targeted. It is not a card, so it does not go to the graveyard when destroyed; it just leaves play. If another World Enchantment enters the battlefield, the one already in play is destroyed just like normal.
During the game, people may acquire things called RollFork and CounterRolls. These are one time abilities that can be used to Fork any Roll (and you choose new targets and do not have to pay any additional costs) or to Counter any Roll. Since these are the result of rolls, they can be Forked or Countered themselves by other RollFork or CounterRolls. I recommend keeping track of these with dice or counters.
Did you just die from a loss of life? Well, hold on a second! Would you like a last word? Maybe one chance to keep playing? You get a Spite Roll! Set your life to zero, and roll once on the Chaos Roll chart. Resolve normally. If you gain life, you keep playing! If not, your ability will resolve. This creates a mini-Chaos Phase and cannot be responded to in any way save by the aforementioned rolls. Unfortunately, this does not apply to losing from poison counters, being decked, or things like Amulet of Quoz or Helix Pinnacle taking you down.
And that’s it. Those are all of the rules. Here’s a quick recap:
Chaos Phase:
• Prior to untap, after phasing, no responses save for other rolls
• One Chaos Roll each Chaos Phase
• Roll controlled by roller: targets and additional costs must be chosen
• Roll is colorless, targets if it says it does, and can be stopped by shroud, etc.
• If you don’t have enough targets, it still resolves with whatever targets you can manage
• Creatures that come into play during the Chaos Phase without haste can’t attack that turn
When You Die From Damage:
• Life set to zero life
• You get one Spite Roll (one Chaos roll with the rules from the Chaos Phase applying)
• If you gain life, you keep playing; otherwise, it resolves and you’re out
Before The First Turn:
• Roll once on EnchantWorldLand.
• Result is a shroud World Enchantment that counts as such and can be destroyed
RollFork, CounterRolls:
• Count as rolls, so are colorless and can be used in response to other rolls
RollFork follows all rules for duplicating a spell
Are you ready for the charts? This is the meat of the format, so here we go, and we’ll start with the Chaos Chart:
Chaos Rolls 1d200
1 – Eureka – Beginning with you and proceeding in turn order, each player may choose a planeswalker, creature, enchantment, artifact, or land card in their hand and put that card into play. Continue until each player in turn has declined to put a card into play.
2 – Air Strike – Put 3 Eagle tokens into play. Treat these tokens as 2/1 fliers that are considered all colors and have haste. At end of turn, sacrifice all Eagle tokens.
3- Feldon’s Cane – Reshuffle your graveyard into your library.
4 – Enchant WorldLand – Roll in EnchantWorldLand.
5 — Footbottom Feast – Put any number of creatures from your graveyard onto the top of your library. Draw a card.
6 – Tranquility – Destroy all enchantments.
7 – Roll 3 times – Roll three Chaos Rolls.
8 – Rushing River – Return target non-land permanent to owner’s hand. You may sacrifice a land to return another target non-land permanent to owner’s hand.
9 – Tainted Energy – Lose 1d6 life or target opponent gains 1d6 life.
10 – Roll that Fork – Get a RollFork Counter. Sacrifice RollFork to duplicate the effects of any roll just rolled. You choose all new targets.
11 – Secret Cache – Shuffle your deck. If your top card after the shuffle is a planeswalker, creature, enchantment, artifact, or land card, put it into play on your side. If not, lose one life and shuffle again. Repeat until you get a planeswalker, creature, enchantment, artifact, or land card.
12 – Exhume – Each player puts a creature card from their graveyard into play.
13 – Neutral Plane – Destroy all non-aura enchantments.
14 – Sworn Enemy- Target creature gains protection from a color of your choice until the end of turn.
15 – Abandon Hope – Discard any number of cards from your hand. Look at target opponent’s hand and choose that number of cards from it. That player discards those cards.
16 – Mute – You may not cast a spell this turn.
17 – ExoByte’s Command – All players put cards from their libraries into their graveyards until they have threshold.
18 – Balance – Except the player who controls the fewest lands, each player sacrifices lands until all players control the same number of lands as the player who controls the fewest. Players do the same for creatures and for cards in hand.
19 – Ancestral Recall – Target player draws three cards.
20 – Memory Lapse – Skip your draw phase this turn.
21 – Terminate – Destroy target creature.
22 – Prosperity – All players draw 1d10 cards. (Roll once for everybody).
23- Enlightened Tutor – Search your library for an artifact or enchantment card and reveal that card. Shuffle your library, and then put the card on top of it. At the beginning of your upkeep, you may pay W or (3) to draw that card.
24 – Gauntlets of Chaos – Exchange control of target artifact, creature, or land you control for control of target permanent of the same type an opponent controls. Then destroy all enchantments played on those permanents.
25 – Deja Vu – All players shuffle the cards in their graveyards and put those cards on top of their libraries.
26 – Manipulate Fate – Search your library for three cards, exile them, then shuffle your library. Draw a card.
27 – Syphon Soul – Deal two damage to each opponent and gain one life for each damage dealt.
28 – Demonic Tutor – Search your library for a card and put it in your hand.
29 – Simplicity’s Reward – All players gain one life for each basic land they have in play. All players take one damage for each non-basic land they have in play.
30 – Solid Fog – As long as you remain in the game, until your next turn no attack phases may be declared.
31 – Mating Call – At the beginning of your first main phase, you may pay the mana cost of a creature in any graveyard +1. If you do, exile that card from the game and put a token copy of that creature into the battlefield under your control.
32 – Better Off Dead – Place a creature from your graveyard onto the battlefield under target opponent’s control.
33- Nevinyrral’s lil’ Disk – Each player sacrifices a creature, an enchantment, and an artifact.
34 – Seeds of Innocence – Destroy all artifacts. For each artifact destroyed, that artifacts controller gains life equal to that artifact’s casting cost.
35 – Massive Mana Clash – All players flip a coin. Each time a player’s coin comes up tails, that player takes one damage. When a player’s coin comes up heads, they stop flipping. Repeat until each player’s coin has come up heads
36 – Storm Seeker – Target player takes one damage for each card in their hand.
37 – Collective Unconscious – Draw a card for each creature you control.
38 – Chaos Knowledge – Roll twice (without resolving either), then choose one roll to ignore. Resolve the other roll.
39 – Morbid Hunger – Deal three damage to any target. Gain three life.
40 – Essence Vortex – Destroy target creature unless its controller pays life equal to its toughness. It cannot be regenerated.
41 – Stupor – Target opponent discards a card at random, then chooses and discards a card.
42 – Braingeyeser – Target player draws 1d6 cards.
43- Stormbind – Discard a card at random: deal two damage to any target. You may pay (2) each time you want to repeat this process in this Chaos Phase.
44 – Necropotence – Pay one life: set aside the top card of your library face down. At your next end of turn, put this card into your hand. You may do this as many times as you wish, but only during this Chaos Phase. Skip your draw step this turn.
45 – Earthquake – All creatures without flying and all players take 1d6 damage.
46 – Stream of life – Target player gains 1d10 life.
47 – Fumarole – Lose three life: destroy target land and target creature.
48 – Chaos Lore – Choose one: search your library for two basic lands and put them onto the battlefield, or search your library for a non-basic land and put it onto the battlefield. Shuffle your library afterwards.
49 – Winds of Change – Each player shuffles their hand into their library, then draws a new hand of as many cards as they had before.
50 – WackyLand III – Roll 1d3 times in WackyLand .
51 – Polymorph – Destroy target creature. It cannot be regenerated. That creature’s controller reveals cards in his or her library until a creature is revealed. Put that new creature onto the battlefield. Reshuffle all revealed cards into library.
52 – Gold Strike – All of your lands produce an additional mana of the appropriate type when tapped for mana this turn.
53- Portent – Look at the top three cards of target player’s library. Put those cards back on top of that library in any order. You may then have that player shuffle their library. Draw a card.
54 – Revenge is Sweet – Sacrifice a permanent: destroy a permanent of the same type.
55 – Soul Leech – Deal one damage to up to three targets. Gain one life for each damage successfully dealt in this way.
56 – Stasis – Skip your untap phase this turn. At the beginning of their upkeep, any player currently affected by Stasis may pay U or (3) during their upkeep to have it affect the next person as well.
57 – Pity – The player with lowest amount of life gains five life. If there is a tie, no player may gain life.
58 – Creeping Mold – Destroy target artifact, land, or enchantment.
59 – Mutual Betrayal – Look at target opponent’s hand and choose a card. They look at your hand and choose a card. Exchange cards.
60 – Chain Lightning – Deal three damage to target creature or player. Each time this deals damage, the player or the controller of the creature last targeted may pay RR or (4) to deal three damage to target creature or player of their choice.
61 – Mana Short – Tap all lands you control. Lands you control do not untap as normal during your untap phase this turn.
62 – Rolling Thunder – Deal 1d6-1 damage divided any way you choose among any number of target creatures and/or players.
63 – Goblin Game – Each player hides any number of objects (but greater than 0), then all players reveal them simultaneously. Each player loses life equal to the number he or she revealed. The player or players who revealed the least number loses half of their life, rounded up.
64 – Enchant WorldLand + – Leave any EnchantWorldLand in play. Roll in EnchantWorldLand and add another to the battlefield.
65 – Commanding Presence – Until end of turn, opponents may not play spells or abilities.
66 – Illusions of Grandeur – Gain twenty life and four Illusion counters. At the beginning of your upkeep, if you have any Illusions counters, remove one. When the last Illusions counter is removed, lose 20 life.
67 – Backflash — This turn, all cards with flashback that are exiled are instead placed into their owners’ hands.
68 – Never Say Die – All creatures in all graveyards with toughness less than or equal to 1d6 are returned to the battlefield under their owner’s control.
69 – WackyLand – Roll in WackyLand .
70 – PersonaLand – Roll in PersonaLand .
71 – Fighting a Legend – Each opponent rolls in PersonaLand .
72 – Reclaim – Put target card from your graveyard on top of your library. At the beginning of your upkeep you may pay G or (3) to draw that card.
73 – Prophetic Bolt – Deal four damage to target creature or player. Look at the top four cards of your library. Put one of those cards into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library.
74 – Hymn to Tourach – Target player discards two cards at random.
75 – Jester’s Cap – Search through target player’s library for any three cards and exile those cards. That player then shuffles their library.
76 – Agonizing Memories – Look at target player’s hand and choose two cards from it. Put those cards on top of that player’s library in any order.
77 – Time Crawl – Pass the dice, your turn is over. Put a turn counter in the Time Crawl Jackpot.
78 – Natural Order – Sacrifice a creature: search your library for a creature card of the same color and put that card onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library.
79 – Relentless Assault – After your attack phase, untap all creatures that attacked this turn. You get an additional combat phase followed by an additional main phase this turn.
80 – Grinning Totem – Search target opponent’s library for a card and set it aside. You may play it as if it were in your hand. Shuffle that library. At beginning of your next turn, unless it’s in play, put it in its owner’s graveyard
81 – Pestilence – All players and creatures take 1d6 damage.
82 – Circle Shield – Get three shield counters. Whenever you would take damage, remove a shield counter instead.
83- Impulse – Look at the top four cards of your library. Put one of them into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library.
84 – Temporal Spring – Put target permanent on top of its owner’s library
85 – Gamble — Search your library for a card, put that card into your hand, then discard a card at random. Then shuffle your library.
86 – Desert Twister – Destroy target permanent.
87 – Roll 3 Times – Roll three Chaos Rolls.
88 – WackyLand – Roll in WackyLand .
89 — Forget – Target player discards two cards from his or her hand, then draws as many cards as they discarded this way.
90 – Zaphod’s Gambit – All players choose a card in their hand. All players then reveal their chosen card. The lowest casting cost creature, enchantment, and artifact are all put onto the battlefield. If two or more cards tie, those cards are put onto the battlefield.
91 – Luck – Randomly choose a spell in your hand. Play that spell without paying its casting cost. If X is in the casting cost, X is 0.
92 – Windows of Opportunity – Target player taps all artifacts, lands, and creatures they control. At end of turn, tap all artifacts, lands, and creatures you control.
93- Energy Bolt – Choose one: deal 1d6 damage to target player or gain 1d6 life.
94 – Price of Knowledge – Skip your next turn: draw four cards.
95 – Tremble – All players sacrifice a land.
96 – Jokulhaups Light – All players sacrifice one land, one creature, and one artifact.
97 – Cone of Flame – Choose three target creatures and/or players. Deal one damage to the first, two damage to the second, and three damage to the third.
98 – Fact or Fiction – Reveal the top five cards of your library. An opponent separates those cards into two face-up piles. Put one pile into your hand and the other into your graveyard.
99 – Happy Balance – Using the cards from the top of their libraries, each player equalizes hand size, number of lands, and number of creatures to the amount that is the highest. Players shuffle unused revealed cards into their libraries.
100 – Happy Land – Choose one: roll in EnchantWorldLand ,roll in WackyLand, or roll in PersonaLand .
101 –Confiscate — Gain control of target permanent.
102 – CounterRoll – Get a CounterRoll counter. Sacrifice CounterRoll to counter the effects of any roll.
103 – Flux – All players choose and discard any number of cards, then draw that many cards. Draw a card.
104 – PersonaLand – Roll in PersonaLand .
105 – Elric’s Wager – Target opponent names a number and reveals cards from their library until they get a spell of that casting cost. They put that card into their hand and all other revealed cards into their graveyard. That player takes one damage for each card put into the graveyard in this manner.
106 – Wheel of Fortune – Each player discards their hand, and then each player draws seven cards.
107 – Double Sided Blade – Roll a 1d6. That number of cards is drawn by any combination of players of your choice. For each card you draw, take two damage. For each card drawn by an opponent, that player takes one damage.
108 – Clash of Chaos – Choose target opponent. Flip a coin, opponent calls it in the air. Loser of the flip takes two damage. Winner decides to flip again, or to stop.
109 – Master Chef – Choose one: get a CounterRoll counter. Sacrifice CounterRoll to counter the effects of any roll; or get a RollFork counter. Sacrifice RollFork to duplicate the effects of any Chaos effect just rolled. You choose all new targets.
110 – All Hallow’s Eve Light – Each player puts up to two creatures from their graveyard onto the battlefield.
111 – Mana Barbs – Whenever you tap a land for mana this turn, take one damage.
112 – Retribution – Choose two target creatures controlled by one player. That player sacrifices one of those creatures. Put a -1/-1 counter on the other.
113 – WackyLand – Roll in WackyLand .
114 – Infernal Tutor – Name a total casting cost. Reveal cards in your library until you reveal a permanent with the named casting cost. Put that card into play and exile the others.
115 – Mind Bend – Change the text of target permanent by replacing all instances of one color word or basic land type with another. This does not end at the end of the turn.
116 – Drain Life – Deals 1d6 damage to target creature or player. You gain life equal to the damage dealt, but not more life than that creature’s toughness or that player’s life total.
117 – Desperate Times – Look at the top three cards of your library. Put one into your hand and the other two into your graveyard. Roll again.
118 – Distract Shoes: Connor MacLeod – Borrow the Highlander’s bright white shoes. Opponents are so distracted by them, after your turn you and all cards you control phase out.
119 – Patience – Lose two life and gain three Focus counters. At the beginning of your upkeep, if you have any Focus counters, remove one. When the last Focus counter is removed, gain five life.
120 – Price of Immortality – Choose and discard a card: gain four life.
121 – Gaea’s Charm – Choose one: target player shuffles up to three cards from their graveyard into their library or remove any three cards in target player’s graveyard from the game. Draw a card.
122 — 5-Card Stud – All players reveal the top five cards of their library and use the casting costs of those cards to play 5-card stud. The player with the winning hand puts all of their cards into their hand. All other cards are placed in owner’s graveyards.
123 -Ill Gotten Gains – Each player discards their hand, then returns up to three cards from their graveyard into their hand.
124 – Murphy’s Law – Roll twice (without resolving either). Target opponent chooses a roll for you to ignore, then makes all decision in regards to how you resolve the remaining roll.
125 – Regrowth – Return target card from your graveyard to your hand.
126 – Chaos Storm – Roll twice and reverse the direction of turns.
127 – CounterRoll – Get a CounterRoll counter. Sacrifice CounterRoll to counter the effects of any roll.
128 – Storm Seeker Misses – Take one damage for each card in your hand.
129 – Price of Strength – Lose four life: put 2 +1/+1 counters on each creature you control.
130 – Global Stream of Life – Each player gains 1d10 life. (Roll once for everybody).
131 – Disenchant – Destroy target artifact or enchantment.
132 – Gathering — Gain one life for each creature in play.
133 – Gift of the Magi – Choose one: gain three life, draw three cards, or add three mana of any color to your mana pool at the beginning of your next main phase.
134 – RollFork – Get a RollFork Counter. Sacrifice RollFork to duplicate the effects of any roll just rolled. You choose all new targets.
135 – Price of Power – Sacrifice a land: deal four damage to any target.
136 – Enchant WorldLand – Leave any EnchantWorldLand in play. Roll in EnchantWorldLand and add another to the battlefield.
137 – Pillage – Destroy target artifact or land. It cannot be regenerated.
138 – Stronghold Discipline – Each player loses one life for each creature they control.
139 – Soothing Balm – Target player gains five life.
140 – Topple – Exile target creature with the greatest power. If two or more creatures are tied for greatest power, you choose which to target.
141 – Ray of Command – Untap target creature an opponent controls and gain control of it until end of turn. That creature gains haste until end of turn. When you lose control of the creature, tap it.
142 – Gerrard’s Wisdom – You gain two life for each card in your hand.
143 – Peace Talks – As long as you remain in the game, until your next turn no player may declare an attack phase or cast a spell that targets a player.
144 – Arcanix Ray – Target player names a card and then turns over the top card of their library. If that is the card named, put it into the player’s hand. Otherwise, put it into the player’s graveyard, and that player takes two damage. Draw a card.
145 – Truce – Each player may draw up to two cards. For each card less than two a player draws this way, that player gains two life.
146 – Meet in the Middle – Discard or draw until you have exactly four cards in hand.
147 – Land Ho! – All players may put up to three land from their hand and/or graveyard onto the battlefield.
148 – Unearth – Choose target creature card in your graveyard with a total casting cost of three or less and return that creature to the battlefield under your control.
149 – Blue – The next spell you play is countered. When this occurs, get a CounterRoll counter. Sacrifice CounterRoll to counter the effects of any roll.
150 – Wackyland III – Roll 1d3 times in WackyLand .
151 – Control Magic – Gain control of target creature.
152 – Intimidation – Nobody can attack you until your next turn.
153- Lightning Round – Until your next turn, when any player casts a spell, that player draws a card.
154 – Unhinge – Target player chooses and discards a card. Draw a card
155 – PersonaLand – Roll in PersonaLand .
156 – Calm Before the Storm – There are no Chaos Phases until your next turn. Then, until your next turn after that, all players must roll double the normal rolls.
157 – Peek – Look at target player’s hand. Draw a card.
158 – Yawgmoth’s Will — Until end of turn, you may play cards in your graveyard as though they were in your hand. If a card would be put into your graveyard this turn, exile it instead.
159 – Triple EnchantWorldLand – Destroy all EnchantWorldLand rolls already in play. Roll in three times and keep all those EnchantWorld effects in play.
160 – CounterRoll – Get a CounterRoll counter. Sacrifice CounterRoll to counter the effects of any roll.
161 – Swords To Plowshares – Exile target creature. That creature’s controller gains life equal to its power.
162 – Price of Support – Sacrifice a creature: put 4 Spirit tokens onto the battlefield. Treat these tokens as 1/1 creatures that are all colors.
163- TimeTwister – Each player shuffles their hand and graveyard into their library. Each player then draws seven cards.
164 – Misfortune – An opponent chooses one: you put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control and gain four life or you put a -1/-1 counter on each creature that player controls that player takes four damage.
165 – Hymn of Rebirth – Take target creature from any graveyard and put it onto the battlefield under your control.
166 – Sift – Draw three cards, then choose and discard a card.
167 – RollFork – Get a RollFork Counter. Sacrifice RollFork to duplicate the effects of any roll just rolled. You choose all new targets.
168 – Conjure – Search your library for an artifact and put it directly onto the battlefield. Shuffle your library afterwards.
169 – Helm of Obedience – Put the top card of target opponent’s library into their graveyard. Repeat this process until you’ve put 1d6 cards or a creature card into that graveyard, whichever occurs first. If the last card put into the graveyard this way is a creature card, put that card into play under your control.
170 – Balloon – Each time you tap a land for mana this turn, gain 1 life.
171 – Lucky Us – All players reveal the top card of their library. If that card is a planeswalker, creature, enchantment, artifact, or land card, they put it directly onto the battlefield. If it is an instant or sorcery, they cast it without paying its casting cost.
172 – Rediscovery – All cards that have been exiled face up are reshuffled into their owner’s libraries.
173- PersonaLand – Roll in PersonaLand.
174 – Diminishing Returns – Each player shuffles their hand and graveyard into their library and removes the top four cards of their library from the game. Then each player draws up to seven cards.
175 – Power Surge – Take one damage for each land you have untapped.
176 – Ancestral Lands – Search your library for a basic land card of each type you do not control and put those lands onto the battlefield.
177 – WackyLand – Roll in WackyLand .
178 – Chaos Storm – Roll twice and reverse the direction of turns.
179 – Innocent Blood – All players sacrifice a creature.
180 – Weissman Charm – Choose one: deal one damage to any number of targets and draw a card or draw enough cards to have one more card in hand than the player who currently has the most cards in hand.
181 – Global Half-Hymn – Each player chooses and discards one card.
182 – Trade-In – Sacrifice a creature: place target creature from your graveyard or your hand onto the battlefield.
183 – Go Fish – Name a non-land card. Look at all players’ hands and put all copies of the named card into your hand. If no one has that card, draw a card (go fish).
184 – Blessed Wine – Gain one life. Draw a card.
185 – Psionic Blast – Deal four damage to target creature or player and two damage to yourself.
186 – Vampiric Tutor – Search your library for a card, then shuffle your library and put that card on top of it. You lose two life. At the beginning of your upkeep, you may pay B or two life to draw that card.
187 – Shortcut – Target creature gains a landwalk ability of your choice.
188 – Enchant WorldLand -Roll in EnchantWorldLand.
189 – Time Walk – Take an extra turn after this one.
190 – Wanna Bet? – Pick an opponent and a card they control. They pick one of yours. Flip a coin. Winner gets control of loser’s card.
191 – Hurricane – Each player and flying creature takes 1d6 damage.
192 – Lat-Nam’s Legacy – Shuffle a card from your hand into your library: draw two cards.
193- Magical Sleight – Change all occurrences of one mana symbol on any card in play to any other mana symbol. This change does not end at the end of the turn.
194 – Spring Cleaning – Destroy all lands. As many times as a player wishes, they may pay one life to prevent up to two of their lands from being destroyed in this manner.
195 – Brandish – All cards in all libraries, in all hands, and on the battlefield but not controlled by their owner go to their owner’s graveyard.
196 – East Wind – As long as you remain in the game, until your next turn if no other player is affected by East Wind, whenever any player would gain life, you gain it instead.
197 – Fall Harvest – Sacrifice a land: gain life equal to the number of remaining land you control.
198 – Steal Artifact – Gain control of target artifact.
199 – Feast or Famine – Choose one: bury target non-black, non-artifact creature; or put a 2/2 black zombie token into play.
200 – Chaos Tune – Choose any roll from the Chaos List. Resolve this roll as if it was the chosen roll.
Alright, there is the Chaos Chart. Whew! That’s very intimidating. Note that this format was made a long time ago and not updated in a while. Some of these abilities are brand new to the format, which is cool. Many are from really old sets. If there is interest from the community, I’d be happy to update 30 or 40 of these with newer abilities that were printed in the recent days of happiness. Just let me know in the forums.
How does #122 work? Alright, it’s simple. Everybody reveals the top five cards of their library. There are five suits (the five colors). The casting cost of the card is the number of the card, and artifacts or gold cards count here. (Lands don’t count as a color or as a cost of zero for this purpose.) Multicolor cards count as being in more than one suit. So, here is how you win:
Straight Flush — Five cards in the same color with casting costs in order (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 or other)
Five of a Kind — All five cards with the same converted casting cost (so all five being 3-drops)
Four of a Kind — Four of the cards with the same converted casting cost
Full House — Three cards with one cost, and two cards with another (three 2-drops and two six cost spells)
Flush — All five cards of the same color
Straight — All five cards in casting cost order (3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
Three of a Kind — Three cards with the same converted casting cost
Two Pair — Two cards with the same converted casting cost and another two with a different cost
Pair — Two cards with the same converted casting cost
High Card — Who has the highest casting cost
The highest cards apply when you have a tie. Suppose two players have a Flush. One has a six cost Kokusho and the other has a four cost Fact or Fiction as the highest cost. The one with Kokusho wins.
The next chart:
EnchantWorldLand 1d20
1 – Masquerade Cycle – Non-land permanent abilities with activation costs may be played by any player.
2 – Mirari Concentrate – All creatures gain +1/+1. All lands produce an additional mana of the appropriate type when tapped for mana. Whenever a player plays an instant or sorcery spell, that player may pay (4). If they do, they put a copy of that spell onto the stack. They may choose new targets for the copy.
3 – Concordant Crossroads – All creatures gain haste.
4 – Odyssey Block — All instants and sorceries gain “Flashback: pay this card’s casting cost.”
5- Howling Mine – At the beginning of each player’s draw step, that player draws an extra card.
6 – Cursed Rod – All creatures lose all abilities.
7 – Urza’s Epic — All cards without Cycling cost an additional (1) to play and gain Cycling: (2).
8 – Bottomless Pit -At the beginning of each player’s upkeep, that player discards a card at random.
9 – Invasion Block – At the beginning of each player’s upkeep, that player gains one life for each basic land type they control and loses one life for each basic land type they do not control.
10 – Aluren – Any player may play creature cards with casting cost three or less without paying their mana cost any time they could play an instant.
11 – Circle of Life – Whenever a card would go to the graveyard from play, shuffle it into owner’s library instead.
12 – Locomotion Drain -Creatures with defender may attack as though they didn’t have defender. Creatures without defender can’t attack.
13 – Rath Cycle – All instants and sorceries without buyback gain “Buyback: pay life equal to this spell’s casting cost.”
14 – Psychic Battle – Whenever a player chooses one or more targets other than due to an ability of Psychic Battle, each player reveals the top card of their library. The player who reveals the card with the highest converted mana cost may change the target or targets. If two or more cards are tied for highest cost, the target or targets remain unchanged.
15- City of Solitude – Players can play spells and abilities only during their turn.
16 – Forsaken Wastes – Players can’t gain life. During each player’s upkeep, that player loses one life.
17 – Gift of the Land – Whenever any player draws a card, reveal that card. If it is a land, gain two life. Otherwise, lose one life.
18 – Yogan Ran Digidan – All players may play spells or effects in response to Chaos Rolls.
19 – Up the Stakes – Double all life gained or damage dealt outside the Chaos Phase.
20 – Rainbow Vortex – Basic lands may tap for any color of mana. When a non-basic land enters the battlefield, its controller chooses a color. That land loses all abilities and can tap for the chosen color of mana.
The third chart:
PersonaLand 1d20
1 – Josh – Roll a D6. For each opponent, lose that much life. Each opponent gains that much life. Until you have taken that many turns: you and permanents you control have hexproof, and cannot be attacked, and creatures you control are unblockable.
2 – Jake – Put a 5/5 blue Squid token into play under your control. Until your next turn, whenever a roll is made on Personaland, put an additional 5/5 blue Squid token into play under your control.
3 – Ray – All opponents lose all but one life. A player that dies this turn gets four Spite Rolls instead of one. At end of turn, all opponents gain life equal to the life they lost this turn.
4 – Theo – Draw three cards. Target opponent discards a card. Discard a card at random. Deal two damage to any target.
5- Lee – You and target opponent exchange life totals.
6 – Mark Rosewater – Roll three times on without resolving any of those rolls. Instead, get a proxy of each roll and put these proxies into your hand. Treat these as zero casting cost instants with the exact text of the roll. They may be responded to as normal instants, rather than Chaos Rolls.
7 – Brian – Get a Brian counter. Sacrifice Brian to add or subtract ten from the value of X in any casting cost that includes an X.
8 – Dylan – Choose one: gain two life for each green creature in play or play two spells from your hand without paying their casting cost.
9 – Tim – Until you gain five or six life in this manner, every turn at the beginning of your upkeep, gain 1d6 life.
10 – Scott – You put any creature from any graveyard onto the battlefield under your control. Reveal the top card of each opponent’s library. You put each creature card revealed in this way onto the battlefield. Place all other revealed cards into owner’s graveyards.
11 – Iyarwein – Put a Hat counter on target creature. All creatures with Hat counters are unblockable. Remove a Hat counter from a creature to exile target creature.
12 – Ian – Use the force to move any card in play to any other player’s control. Treat that card as though that card’s new controller just cast it. Destroy all EnchantWorldLands. Roll in EnchantWorldLand .
13 – Grahame – Get a Grahame counter. When you die, you may sacrifice Grahame. If you do, shuffle your deck back into your library and rejoin the game at half of your previous starting life total, rounded up.
14 – Mike – Look at all players’ hands. As many times as you wish, you may pay one life to force a player to discard a card of your choice.
15- Trevin – Put a Trevin counter on each of your creatures. While a creature has a Trevin counter on it, it gains +1/+1. Remove a Trevin counter from a creature to have it deal one damage to any target.
16 – Sharon – Target creature you control becomes a Sharon Sniper and may not attack. Roll a D6. You may tap Sharon Sniper to do an amount of damage equal to that roll to any attacking creature.
17 – Weissman Blast! – Ban any card that isn’t a basic land. Search all libraries, hands, graveyards, and cards in play and remove any now-illegal copies of chosen card from the game.
18 – Manhito – Choose one – Roll in Wackyland , PersonaLand , or EnchantWordLand . If later in the game you are told to roll in the chosen list, re-roll that roll.
19 – Shroomie – Create a proxy of any card in Magic of your choice and place it out of play. At end of each turn, each player rolls a D6. If a 6 is rolled, place the proxy in that players hand.
20 – Bahahala – Get a Chaos Tune counter. Sacrifice Chaos Tune at any time to change any Chaos Roll to any other Chaos Roll.
The final chart:
WackyLand 2d10
2 – Time Sprint – Take 2 turns after this one.
3 – Musical Chairs – All players get up and move one seat in the direction the turns are proceeding.
4 – It’s a New Ruling – Add up all numbers on target card and redistribute them however you wish.
5 – Master of Chaos – Until your next turn, you may choose ALL targets of Chaos Rolls.
6 -Magic Online Pricing – All players may sacrifice any number of permanents. Then all players lose three life for each rare they control, two life for each uncommon they control, and one life for each common they control. (Basic Lands do not have a rarity.)
7 – Rainbow Vale – Put a land token named Rainbow Vale into play under your control. It has “T: Add 1 mana of any color to your mana pool, ” and “Unused mana from Rainbow Vale causes mana burn, at a loss of five life instead of one,” and “If Rainbow Vale is untapped at end of turn, lose 5 life,” and “At the beginning of each player’s turn, that player gains control of Rainbow Vale and untaps it.”
8 – Musical Life – Each player passes their life total to the next player in the direction the turns are proceeding.
9 – Calculator – Add or subtract 1d6 from any number on a card in play.
10 – Turn Twister – Until your next turn, after each turn randomly choose who takes the next turn.
11 – Escape from AOL — A land of yours is now AOL and reads: “At end of your upkeep, exile a creature you control on AOL. Flip a coin. On heads, give any player AOL.” If a player destroys AOL, all creatures on it enter the battlefield under that player’s control.
12 – Magnet – Target creature gains “Every spell and ability that can target this creature, must target this creature.”
13 – Wrath of the Random – Bury all permanents in play with a casting cost of 1d6.
14 – Chaos Ward – Target creature gains Protection from Chaos. This does not end at the end of the turn.
15 – Fun Time – Roll once on ChaosList , WackyLand , PersonaLand , and EnchantWorldLand .
16- Time Wall Safe – Skip one of your phases this turn. Get a Safe counter for that phase. Sacrifice a Safe counter to take the phase that was skipped immediately.
17 – nruT – Go to your Cleanup Phase and proceed backwards through the order of phases and steps. When you reach your Chaos Phase, roll a Chaos Roll. Resolve that roll and end your turn.
18 – Expansion in a Bottle – Destroy all non-land cards from target expansion.
19 – Ka-Ching!!$$ – Ka-Ching!!$$ – Get a Black Lotus counter, a Mox Jet counter, a Mox Pearl counter, a Mox Emerald counter, a Mox Sapphire counter, a Mox Ruby counter, and a Mox Diamond counter.
20 – Time Crawl Jackpot! – Put a turn counter in the Time Crawl Jackpot. After this turn, you take an additional turn for each turn counter in the Time Crawl Jackpot.
I edited a few of the abilities here and there to bring them into line with things like modern rules or to add clarifications. They should read more cleanly. I also fixed some rules issues with cards like Bone Harvest (why are you putting them on top and then shuffling your library in the original rule?)
And that’s Chaos Magic! You can see why it feels RPGish. There are lots of dice getting rolls all over the place! There’s no reason not to take this out for a spin for your next Magic Night. If a lot of people like it, we’ll revisit it and revamp it a bit for modern times. Whether we do that or not, it’s still fun to play. Get your dice on!
Until Later,
P.S.—Yes, the technical name for this article is The Kitchen Table #375: The Compendium Of Alternate Formats #16: Chaos Magic. Just in case you care about those things.