Party
| Party | |
|---|---|
|
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Icon Party.png}}|70x70px]] | |
| Mechanic | |
| Introduced | Zendikar Rising |
| Last used |
Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate Commander Decks |
| Reminder Text | (Your party consists of up to one each of Cleric, Rogue, Warrior, and Wizard.) |
| Storm Scale | 8[1] |
| Scryfall Search | |
| fulloracle:"Party" | |
Party is a batching mechanic introduced in Zendikar Rising.[2][3]
Description
A player's party consists of up to one each of creatures with four creature classes: Cleric, Rogue, Warrior, and Wizard. A player controls a full party if that player fills all "party roles" with four different creatures of the appropriate types.[4] Each creature in a player's party only fills one role, so, for example, a creature with Changeling will only count as one creature in the party, not four. Zendikar Rising contains creatures that count as all four party classes, such as Tajuru Paragon, which again can count for just one party role at a time. The reminder text does not specify creatures, but the rules do, so the Tribal equipment from Morningtide cannot contribute to the party.
Abilities that care about the number of creatures in a player's party simply look for a number between 0 and 4. A player never has to identify which creature is filling which role. These abilities will use that number in various ways. If there are multiple different ways you could count a player's party, resulting in different numbers, the player always gets the highest number. There are no choices involved.
Some cards have bonuses if a player has a "full party." This means all roles are filled: that player controls a Cleric, a Rogue, a Warrior, and a Wizard. Remember each of these must be different creatures, in case a creature has more than one party-relevant creature type.
Stick Together is a unique application of party by having each player choose a party to survive a board wipe, one of the few non-numerical uses of it.
The creature-heavy and finnicky nature of achieving the payoff made Party poor in Constructed Magic, which greatly diminished its popularity, as few of the payoffs were worthwhile.[5] As a solution for Tribal gameplay for Zendikar Rising it was lauded, but its design influence outside the set greatly outstripped its actual play rates. It landed at 8 on the Storm Scale.[1]
Party cards and spells
The designed-for-digital card Angel of Unity (Alchemy: Innistrad) expanded on the concept of Party not on the battlefield, now referring to Cleric, Rogue, Warrior and Wizard as "Party spells" (on the stack) or Party creature cards (in your hand). This is either impractical or outright impossible with the paper rules, as if it were, Thwart the Grave, Tazri, Beacon of Unity, Base Camp and Nimble Trapfinder would be worded to refer to them as such. Unlike the original Party, which rewarded having all four creature types, the Angel of Unity version works just as well with any mix of the four, for example an all-cleric deck.
Rules
From the glossary of the Comprehensive Rules (June 7, 2024—Modern Horizons 3)
- Party
- Some cards refer to the number of creatures in your party. A player’s party includes up to one each of Cleric, Rogue, Warrior, and Wizard. See rule 700.8.
From the glossary of the Comprehensive Rules (June 7, 2024—Modern Horizons 3)
- Full Party
- A player has a full party if the number of creatures in their party is four. See rule 700.8.
From the Comprehensive Rules (June 7, 2024—Modern Horizons 3)
- 700.8. Some cards refer to a player’s party. A player’s party consists of up to one Cleric creature that player controls, up to one Rogue creature they control, up to one Warrior creature they control, and up to one Wizard creature they control.
- 700.8a If a spell, ability, or effect needs to determine the number of creatures in a player’s party, the calculation of that number is performed automatically by the game and results in a number between zero and four. Players don’t declare which specific creatures they control are in their party for such an effect.
- 700.8b If a creature has multiple creature types for which it could be the party member, it is counted as the party member for only one of those types. If there are different ways to count such a creature that results in different numbers of creatures in a player’s party, it is counted in such a way to get the highest result.
- 700.8c A player has a full party if there are four creatures in that player’s party.
- 700.8d One card, Stick Together, instructs players to choose a party from among creatures they control. To do so, for each of the creature types listed in rule 700.8, each player chooses up to one creature they control of that type.
Examples
Example
Coveted Prize 
Sorcery
This spell costs 
less to cast for each creature in your party. (Your party consists of up to one each of Cleric, Rogue, Warrior, and Wizard.)
Search your library for a card, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library. If you have a full party, you may cast a spell with converted mana cost 4 or less from your hand without paying its mana cost.
Trivia
- At one point in the design of Baldur's Gate, R&D was exploring "Megaparty", batching all the class creature types.[6][7]
- The silver-bordered card Pinkie Pie stipulates that your party consists of each creature you control, and that your party is always full.
References
- ↑ a b Mark Rosewater (January 03, 2022). "Storm Scale: Throne of Eldraine through Strixhaven, Part 2". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (September 1, 2020). "Zendikar Rising to the Challenge". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Eli Shiffrin (September 10, 2020). "Zendikar Rising Release Notes". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Matt Tabak (September 1, 2020). "Zendikar Rising Mechanics". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (October 9, 2023). "Lessons Learned, Part 6". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (May 23, 2022). "Going Baldur's Gate, Part 1". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (May 23, 2022). "In todays article you mention the team looked at...". Blogatog. Tumblr.
