Elder Dragon Highlander, commonly referred to as EDH, is one of the best ways to experience Magic the Gathering around. It's made for multiplayer and it brings aspects of diplomacy into play that you won't find in a standard game of Magic. Elder Dragon Highlander is a great social way to play Magic the Gathering, so let's look at what you'll need to know to play.
Elder Dragon Highlander plays a lot like regular Magic but the rules have some significant changes. For starters, players start at 40 life, your deck will need to be exactly 100 cards (no duplicates!), almost every card ever printed is legal, and you'll be playing with a "General".
The General is a legendary creature specific to Elder Dragon Highlander that you'll be building your deck around in some fashion, because the cards in your deck must share a color with your General, and you're not allowed to include or use any mana symbols on cards that don't share a color with your General as well (I.E. you're not allowed to include a creature with black mana symbol in it's abilities, such as Wormwood Treefolk, unless your General also shares that color.) For example, if you picked a five-color legend like Child of Alara you'd be able to play anything you like.
Generals operate under special rules, as they are selected and placed out of play before a game of EDH begins, and can be summoned normally like a regular creature during your turn from out of play. If your General is killed, don't fret - you'll place it back out of play in it's zone and be able to play it again, for an additional 2 colorless mana for each time it's been destroyed. (For instance, if your General was destroyed 3 times, it would cost an additional 6 mana of any kind on top of the original casting cost to play it again). One more thing about Generals to remember - if anyone takes over 20 points of damage from a General, it doesn't matter what their life total is - they're out.
Elder Dragon Highlander is often played with 3-6 people, so playing the table is almost as important as having a great deck. In fact, you almost don't want your deck to be too strong or you'll be the one the table is gunning to take out first. Along those lines, unless you're just looking to make yourself a target, stay away from cards that will enrage the table and make them all interested in taking you out - cards like Quicksilver Fountain or Armageddon are not going to win you any friends.
It's important to note many cards that you wouldn't think to play normally are great in Elder Dragon Highlander and other multiplayer formats. Since the pace is slower and you've got many opponents, high-casting cost cards that target multiple players go from unplayable binder trash to powerful winners - Crack open those binders and find your Blatant Thievery and your Wound Reflection and get ready to experience Magic the Gathering in a whole new way.
Want to know more? Check out the official EDH homepage.
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