This is so much better than the WoTC video. It's clear and concise, and he speaks in a loud voice with no background noise. Keep up these tutorial videos!
Never had a chance to try Two-Headed Giant and I honestly need to get more people I can enjoy the game with, into my life. The locals that play Magic are tryhards and not my kind of crowd to enjoy games with (card or board). I like people who can enjoy a game regardless of outcome, that don't ONLY go for the most OP or highly used cards and are not rule-lawyers that bust a vein when things don't go their way. I know that applies to a ton of hobbies, but I feel it way more oppressive around here.
Yeah I've had the same problem, stopped going to FNM because of it. I play with friends but due to how competitive some of the people I play with are its gotten frustrating. In last ditch effort, I upgraded my deck to keep my pace but then realized it wasnt worth it. Luckily I still have a friend that like me and I ve been able to keep playing for fun...I hope thats the case for you as well
+Nick Santillo (Nickywhat) that's sad to hear. keep on the look out, and I'm sure you will find more people to play with that is in your range of satisfaction.
Larpers R us Thanks Jay and Larpers. Gonna try to see if i can get my best friend into playing Magic, though he's not one to really get into collecting/buying for a hobby. Hoping can possibly get him semi interested enough to get a deck or two of his own/make one. I have a duel deck that I plan for us to take a few rounds with and go from there.
.... Meanwhile on MTG's youtube channel they upload a video with the same topic a few hours after you. Ite nice to see you are trend setting and inspiring MTG themselves.
Taught my Fiancées cousin how to play, they have a new roommate who is interested so if I end up teaching them it'll be those two vs me in this format. Super excited!
Checking in for my first every Two-Headed Giant game this weekend. I knew I could count on you guys to give me a good handle on how to play! Also, this was uploaded the day my first child was born. I didn't even know Magic existed at this point in my life. Thanks Prof and partner!
Watched this video after staying up all night from midnight sealed pre-release; came back for the 2 headed giant and we ended up taking first place at my LGS. I really liked the format and how the surge mechanic makes you really want to work together. I feel our communication is what led us to victory as everyone else was more like a 1 headed giant with 2 decks (best player piloting every move). Great video we even got challenged on the free mulligan rule and googled your vid dropping some knowledge on the shop owner in the process B)
Well described! Was always curious about this format but was nervous because I didn't know any of the specifics that you described here! Thanks professor!
Thanks for this vid! I’m 13 and have been playing magic for a few years and I wanna start playing in tournaments so for my first tournament I’m playing two headed giant with my dad next month to help me learn deck building and hopefully play many more tournaments in the future
Very clear and to the point. Thank you for a bit of reminder on the rules, I was a bit rusty on 2 headed giant. I was so very excited to see this published in the wizards of the coast articles. You sir are a staple among all the magic related channels.
Thanks Professor! This video really helps since its the first time I'm doing 2 headed giant. I'm excited and nervous! Can't wait for midnight, t-minus 5hrs30mins!
The Two-Headed Giant way of playing is a great way for new players to learn. having worked as a Teacher, I can see huge benefits from giving players a 'buddy' to play with, to improve confidence, critical thinking and social skills with that dedicated support from your teammate. I know some players feel put off by a competitive environment so it could also help there. Great choice for a prerelease, that's fo' sho'.
Back in Legion me and a buddy made sliver two-headed giant decks, when all slivers in play shared abilities. It was really fun and strong, we only lost to a straight burn team in the finals of our 20 team tabletop magic tourney.
Thank you very much Professor, I just got back in the magic and I'm going to my first pre-release in four years and one of the formats is going to be two headed giant and I had no idea how to play it till now. Thank you again, keep up the great work! 👍🏻
Thank you so much for this video, Professor. It is well written and thorough. I had no idea both players on a team share a card pool and I've played in (and won) Double-Headed prereleases before.
Thanks for this helpful primer. I am looking forward to trying my first Two-Headed Giant in Ravnica remastered sealed. Didn't know a couple of these rules.
The one thing i see an issues that might happen during pre-release and release. Is that the new magic players, or the magic players who have played Two-Headed Giant before, but they play Two-Headed Giant with modified house rules, will cause some confusion during the tournaments that will promote the format Two-Headed Giant. This video of yours Professor is a great and gave simple instructions (I mean that in good intentions) for the new magic player, or the House rule magic player. I would like to see this video used in my LGS, to teach the new magic players, and the counter-top magic players. You were very informative in my opinion and slow and calm about your explanation, which i very much like as well. For me I haven't player a right Two-Headed Giant game in a log time. So for me I had forgotten what the actual rule were. When I saw your video Professor I smiled, happy and slightly disappointed in one rule of Two-Headed Giant, (but i want my team to have 8x lightning bolts, 8x Goblin Guides, and 8x Monastery Swiftspears! hahah) but still i very much loved and was intrigued by your video Professor. I hope you enjoy your Pre-Realese, and Release, I hope you win by killing your opponent or by winning the magic lottery cards. Have an amazing day Professor and have an amazing UA-cam, and Magic The Gathering experience for the tournaments. P.S. Also another question. What standard deck are you playing/running for this current standard before Oath Of The Gatewatch drops? I am playing/running Black/Blue (B/U) Eldrazi/Non-Eldrazi Mid-Range.
Thanks for the info as I did not know about this particular style of play. Very interesting, but I get confused enough sometimes playing regular magic.
I play a casual house rule variant of this with my friends. We simply play with our 60-card constructed decks, but we don't coordinate what decks we are playing with, so you have no idea if your partner is playing a deck that will compliment yours. heh (Obviously, this means that occasionally a team may have more than 4 of a certain card in their decks combined, but since there was no advance coordination, we just go with it.) Sometimes you get wacky pairings. It is nice to play this way, though, since there is no player elimination and there is ton of variety, since we swap partners and decks each game to shake things up. We even played some Three-Headed Giant games and had good success with that, as well. :-D
@Benjamin Utzinger I'm pretty sure it just puts them at ten. There's no "joint life" as you're interpreting. The team has only one pool of life, so cards that modify life will set the teams life total as specified.
I think it would be awesome if 2HG became big enough to start an actual competitive league for. Can you imagine that? A typically 1 person competitive game suddenly having a TEAM aspect to it. Also, loved the "and I'm taking this to make a GOOD deck" comment. lol
Great timing for this video Sir! I will be re-tweeting and sharing this one a lot before this weekend. Also, are you and your wife playing 2HG this weekend for the Pre-Release? Talk about one powerful team!
Thank you so much! I like the direction Wizards of the Coast is going with these pre-releases, however I find that Two-Headed giant might deter some players from going because it requires them to bring a second.
Hey Professor i was wondering if maybe we could get some more Commander videos? Deck Techs, Reviews, Strategies, anything's cool but i notice besides podcasts (Which many don't have the time to listen to) there aren't many videos on EDH out there even though it is one of the most popular formulas especially in my area. Thank you for the incredible videos!
Oh yeah! this it's for everyone! a store called dolor tree has been selling mtg cards ten for a dolor in random assortment. they range from classics to current cards. I'm neck deep in cards now and I've gotten my money's worth in opinion
I always play THG casually, sometimes going up to a modified game of 5 headed giant, two teams of 5. Usually my girlfriend and I use our bullshit vampire decks that have crazy synergy together and my other friends play whatever deck they have at that time. One time, my friend tried to use a colorless eldrazi deck and got destroyed! Ahhh much fun it was
Wow, well said. I know you don't want to work for WotC but maybe you could do like 2 hours a week consulting for them (helping them design products, rewriting rulebooks, etc.). It would make all of our lives so much better.
a complicated game mode, but one that's very fun for my large group of players is something we call Hydra. 5vs5 each player must have only 30 cards in their deck and between your whole team you can have 8 copy's of each card. but only 4 in a single deck is allowed. you share a life total of 50. it takes a long time to play bit its really fun. and its not to difficult for people to afford a good deck for the game. you may share your mana pool with one other team mate at any one time.
Longest game ever I played was a 2HG-EDH game with a Planechase deck. We had 8 players and we had each team start with 80 life. It took us just over 12 hours. And we played it out.....
Unfortunately, my local card shop wasn't notified that Two-Headed Giant was a possible format for the OGW Prerelease until after they registered to hold it.. I've heard the same thing happen from many others from around the world too. Perhaps a communication flaw on WOTCs side?
Very helpful and straight forward. That whole double strike example where the "captain" if u will, gets to choose how damage is displaced still kinda confuses me though. Can anyone explain further?
Love your videos! I'm starting playing 2hg EDH with my friends and we have a question for you: Do each player have an end step as each one has an upkeep? So, an effect that says "at the beginning of each end step", activates twice for one team's turn?
Interesting, didn't know there were so many different rules from how my friends and I play, simply put we play the normal way you would play a 1v1 mtg but just with 2 people. I suppose the main difference is that when something affects each opponent we normal nerf the ability to not have something like a gary drop and end the game so suddenly, helps keep it fun, same goes to extort as that can get out of hand quick.
This is so much better than the WoTC video. It's clear and concise, and he speaks in a loud voice with no background noise. Keep up these tutorial videos!
+Justin Le I agree, this is much more thought out and instructional.
Never had a chance to try Two-Headed Giant and I honestly need to get more people I can enjoy the game with, into my life. The locals that play Magic are tryhards and not my kind of crowd to enjoy games with (card or board). I like people who can enjoy a game regardless of outcome, that don't ONLY go for the most OP or highly used cards and are not rule-lawyers that bust a vein when things don't go their way. I know that applies to a ton of hobbies, but I feel it way more oppressive around here.
Yeah I've had the same problem, stopped going to FNM because of it. I play with friends but due to how competitive some of the people I play with are its gotten frustrating. In last ditch effort, I upgraded my deck to keep my pace but then realized it wasnt worth it. Luckily I still have a friend that like me and I ve been able to keep playing for fun...I hope thats the case for you as well
+Nick Santillo (Nickywhat) that's sad to hear. keep on the look out, and I'm sure you will find more people to play with that is in your range of satisfaction.
Larpers R us
Thanks Jay and Larpers. Gonna try to see if i can get my best friend into playing Magic, though he's not one to really get into collecting/buying for a hobby. Hoping can possibly get him semi interested enough to get a deck or two of his own/make one. I have a duel deck that I plan for us to take a few rounds with and go from there.
literally right before wizards put up their guide and this is better
I think it is funny that Tolarian Community College and the Magic: the Gathering uploaded the "how to play two-headed giant" videos on the same day
.... Meanwhile on MTG's youtube channel they upload a video with the same topic a few hours after you. Ite nice to see you are trend setting and inspiring MTG themselves.
Taught my Fiancées cousin how to play, they have a new roommate who is interested so if I end up teaching them it'll be those two vs me in this format. Super excited!
The Professor and the Cartographer ! unstoppable THG team ! :)
+Quentin Christensen Right, she is a geography professor, correct?
+Quentin Christensen imagine her own segment... what would it be about?
+Andrew sd english
+Andrew sd sorry i meant him
Andrew sd Yes she is ! :)
Checking in for my first every Two-Headed Giant game this weekend. I knew I could count on you guys to give me a good handle on how to play! Also, this was uploaded the day my first child was born. I didn't even know Magic existed at this point in my life. Thanks Prof and partner!
Pairing a new player with an experienced one in 2HG is probably the best way to mentor those who are new to FNM.
Love this!!! So glad you told me about this video on whatnot today!!
Watched this video after staying up all night from midnight sealed pre-release; came back for the 2 headed giant and we ended up taking first place at my LGS. I really liked the format and how the surge mechanic makes you really want to work together. I feel our communication is what led us to victory as everyone else was more like a 1 headed giant with 2 decks (best player piloting every move). Great video we even got challenged on the free mulligan rule and googled your vid dropping some knowledge on the shop owner in the process B)
Very helpful! I was planning a 2 headed giant with a friend this upcoming prerelease and have never played the format before. Thanks!
Missing this kind of video. It's nice to see this coming back. Better that theses new videos and podcast!
Needed a review before trying two-headed Jumpstart 2022 this evening. I was happy to find that this video existed - very clear and concise!
Well described! Was always curious about this format but was nervous because I didn't know any of the specifics that you described here! Thanks professor!
Thanks for this vid! I’m 13 and have been playing magic for a few years and I wanna start playing in tournaments so for my first tournament I’m playing two headed giant with my dad next month to help me learn deck building and hopefully play many more tournaments in the future
The Mrs and I will be playing our first Two-headed Giant tonight for Brothers War Pre-release. Thanks for the excellent primer!
This is a very well explained description of the game. Thanks!
Very clear and to the point. Thank you for a bit of reminder on the rules, I was a bit rusty on 2 headed giant. I was so very excited to see this published in the wizards of the coast articles. You sir are a staple among all the magic related channels.
Thanks Professor! This video really helps since its the first time I'm doing 2 headed giant. I'm excited and nervous! Can't wait for midnight, t-minus 5hrs30mins!
have been playing this format for many years, is a lot of fun. great video, 3 thumbs up.
Once I tried two headed giant and I found it really interesting thanks to the cooperation between player, it's one of my favourite formats
Your channel is the best mtg channel! :D
Thank you for this. As the judge at my lgs, I will be playing this video as people are picking up their kits to explain THG.
I'm playing my first 2HG tomorrow and with being new to Magic; this was so helpful! I cant' wait! ^ ^ Thank you for the video!
The Two-Headed Giant way of playing is a great way for new players to learn.
having worked as a Teacher, I can see huge benefits from giving players a 'buddy' to play with, to improve confidence, critical thinking and social skills with that dedicated support from your teammate. I know some players feel put off by a competitive environment so it could also help there.
Great choice for a prerelease, that's fo' sho'.
Back in Legion me and a buddy made sliver two-headed giant decks, when all slivers in play shared abilities. It was really fun and strong, we only lost to a straight burn team in the finals of our 20 team tabletop magic tourney.
my brother and i are planning on playing thg at the oge prerelease. thanks for brushing me up in the rules!
I love 2hg more than standard. it's good to see the Cartagrapher in a video with you Professer
Ah, posting a 2HG guide on the day before a 2HG prerelease. Smart move professor, smart move!
Thank you very much Professor, I just got back in the magic and I'm going to my first pre-release in four years and one of the formats is going to be two headed giant and I had no idea how to play it till now. Thank you again, keep up the great work! 👍🏻
Thank you so much for this video, Professor. It is well written and thorough. I had no idea both players on a team share a card pool and I've played in (and won) Double-Headed prereleases before.
Thanks for this helpful primer. I am looking forward to trying my first Two-Headed Giant in Ravnica remastered sealed. Didn't know a couple of these rules.
First time I really understood 2HG. Thank you!
@4:10 I learned something new! Thanks Tolarian Community College!
The one thing i see an issues that might happen during pre-release and release. Is that the new magic players, or the magic players who have played Two-Headed Giant before, but they play Two-Headed Giant with modified house rules, will cause some confusion during the tournaments that will promote the format Two-Headed Giant. This video of yours Professor is a great and gave simple instructions (I mean that in good intentions) for the new magic player, or the House rule magic player. I would like to see this video used in my LGS, to teach the new magic players, and the counter-top magic players. You were very informative in my opinion and slow and calm about your explanation, which i very much like as well.
For me I haven't player a right Two-Headed Giant game in a log time. So for me I had forgotten what the actual rule were. When I saw your video Professor I smiled, happy and slightly disappointed in one rule of Two-Headed Giant, (but i want my team to have 8x lightning bolts, 8x Goblin Guides, and 8x Monastery Swiftspears! hahah) but still i very much loved and was intrigued by your video Professor. I hope you enjoy your Pre-Realese, and Release, I hope you win by killing your opponent or by winning the magic lottery cards. Have an amazing day Professor and have an amazing UA-cam, and Magic The Gathering experience for the tournaments.
P.S. Also another question. What standard deck are you playing/running for this current standard before Oath Of The Gatewatch drops? I am playing/running Black/Blue (B/U) Eldrazi/Non-Eldrazi Mid-Range.
now i only need someone who wants to play with me...
+Patrik Steuerle I feel your pain. :/
+Patrik Steuerle same here man same here
Just ask around your lgs. You may be pleasantly surprised at how many people may want to play. :)
+FlowerPower unfortunately for me my nearest lgs is 40 miles but I do get to play there:)
+Patrik Steuerle Doing a 2HG as a bday present for my freind
Your videos are so great!! I've recently gotten back into Magic and have been watching so many of your videos, love it! Keep it up
THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS VIDEO!!!! I was really scared I couldn't play at prerelease
Very informative video, Thanks! Me and my friends play EDH 2HG sometimes, and this video definitely helped us out!
Thanks for the info as I did not know about this particular style of play. Very interesting, but I get confused enough sometimes playing regular magic.
I play a casual house rule variant of this with my friends. We simply play with our 60-card constructed decks, but we don't coordinate what decks we are playing with, so you have no idea if your partner is playing a deck that will compliment yours. heh (Obviously, this means that occasionally a team may have more than 4 of a certain card in their decks combined, but since there was no advance coordination, we just go with it.) Sometimes you get wacky pairings. It is nice to play this way, though, since there is no player elimination and there is ton of variety, since we swap partners and decks each game to shake things up. We even played some Three-Headed Giant games and had good success with that, as well. :-D
Two-headed giant is great. Last time I played was during Return to Ravnica block, and extort was a powerhouse there.
Thank you so much for this video! I plan to play two headed giant at the prerelease but never played it before!
I love dropping Ghostly Prisons, Sphere of Safety and Leyline of Sanctity. That with a Fatespinner too lol.
thank you for the info i knew little to nothing about 2 headed now I got the concept I have to put into practice....
I do love THG, or THDragon, but its been a very long time since ive actually played.
Going for my first 2 headed giant draft this weekend, wish me luck
perfectjaffa no
Nice video rly. Very usefull for the in coming prerelease. Thanks for putting out good content to all the Magic Tolarian Community College staff!!
can you please make a video about how to draft, I don't know how it works and you explain things so well
SuperWifiBattler did he?
Simple to the point and informative
@Benjamin Utzinger I'm pretty sure it just puts them at ten. There's no "joint life" as you're interpreting. The team has only one pool of life, so cards that modify life will set the teams life total as specified.
I think it would be awesome if 2HG became big enough to start an actual competitive league for. Can you imagine that? A typically 1 person competitive game suddenly having a TEAM aspect to it.
Also, loved the "and I'm taking this to make a GOOD deck" comment. lol
Timely video.. we're starting to play this format just now.. =)
Love these videos! So useful for running Prerelease as a judge
Great timing for this video Sir! I will be re-tweeting and sharing this one a lot before this weekend. Also, are you and your wife playing 2HG this weekend for the Pre-Release? Talk about one powerful team!
Thanks I needed this. Also, finally a video with the wife! haha Good luck in pre-release!
Thank you so much! I like the direction Wizards of the Coast is going with these pre-releases, however I find that Two-Headed giant might deter some players from going because it requires them to bring a second.
+MonkeiSunshine It doesn't really require you to bring a second, you just have to have an even number of players.
I only play Kamigawa Block Constructed Pauper Tiny Leaders Two Headed-Giant. It is truly the format of gentlemen.
This will help me at my pre release! Thanks, professor!
thank you this will help me play this weekend battelbond draft
Im planning on doing this soon but 3 teams of 2. Cant wait!
Thanks for the great advise Professor!!
Hey Professor i was wondering if maybe we could get some more Commander videos? Deck Techs, Reviews, Strategies, anything's cool but i notice besides podcasts (Which many don't have the time to listen to) there aren't many videos on EDH out there even though it is one of the most popular formulas especially in my area.
Thank you for the incredible videos!
Those booking and damage assignment rules, this should be interesting!
This like-dislike ratio is on of the best I've ever seen. Thanks for this explanation
I may not like the 2HG format, but I like that Triforce playmat :D
Very cool to see the Cartographer
Thank you! This definitely helped me understand the 2HG format better. :)
Right on time for oath of the gatewatch prerelease! :)
some how I missed this when it first came out... It's liked and commented on now!
That DS in the backround with pkmn fire red in the GBA slot though~
Are those N64 games on your shelf? do I see Pokémon stadium 2? excite :D
Thank you
This was a great episode! Have never played the format myself, so this was helpful. This wif...ehh the Cartographer does great on camera btw :)
Great vid, Prof and Cartographer! Hopefully THG gets more and more love! :D
Oh yeah! this it's for everyone! a store called dolor tree has been selling mtg cards ten for a dolor in random assortment. they range from classics to current cards. I'm neck deep in cards now and I've gotten my money's worth in opinion
this is so much better than wizards of the coast video
It helped me! thanks for the good content!
And as always, greetings from France!
I always play THG casually, sometimes going up to a modified game of 5 headed giant, two teams of 5. Usually my girlfriend and I use our bullshit vampire decks that have crazy synergy together and my other friends play whatever deck they have at that time. One time, my friend tried to use a colorless eldrazi deck and got destroyed! Ahhh much fun it was
With Battlebond coming out, this is relevant again :)
Wow, well said. I know you don't want to work for WotC but maybe you could do like 2 hours a week consulting for them (helping them design products, rewriting rulebooks, etc.). It would make all of our lives so much better.
a complicated game mode, but one that's very fun for my large group of players is something we call Hydra. 5vs5 each player must have only 30 cards in their deck and between your whole team you can have 8 copy's of each card. but only 4 in a single deck is allowed. you share a life total of 50. it takes a long time to play bit its really fun. and its not to difficult for people to afford a good deck for the game. you may share your mana pool with one other team mate at any one time.
oh and also you don't lose when you can't draw.
You and your wife are adorable as a UA-cam duo. You guys should keep doing videos together! The Tolarian Community Family.
That smug Link amiibo in the backround, though!
Thanks for the overview
Great video! Very timely.
Very helpful to help me prep for prerelease thanks :)
Longest game ever I played was a 2HG-EDH game with a Planechase deck. We had 8 players and we had each team start with 80 life. It took us just over 12 hours. And we played it out.....
This is my favorite type of game to play. I like to play 2 vs 2 vs 2 vs 2. But 2 vs 2 is still fun.
thanks, could have used this two weeks ago, but thanks again
Seems interesting... might have to enter a two headed giant during the next pre-release.
Unfortunately, my local card shop wasn't notified that Two-Headed Giant was a possible format for the OGW Prerelease until after they registered to hold it..
I've heard the same thing happen from many others from around the world too.
Perhaps a communication flaw on WOTCs side?
Very helpful and straight forward. That whole double strike example where the "captain" if u will, gets to choose how damage is displaced still kinda confuses me though. Can anyone explain further?
The Cartographer! Long time no see!
Nice triforce playmat
Will Professor senpai notice me?
Nice video by the way, gonna send this to my girlfriend who Im going to attend a 2HG pre with this weekend :)
Love your videos! I'm starting playing 2hg EDH with my friends and we have a question for you: Do each player have an end step as each one has an upkeep?
So, an effect that says "at the beginning of each end step", activates twice for one team's turn?
Interesting, didn't know there were so many different rules from how my friends and I play, simply put we play the normal way you would play a 1v1 mtg but just with 2 people. I suppose the main difference is that when something affects each opponent we normal nerf the ability to not have something like a gary drop and end the game so suddenly, helps keep it fun, same goes to extort as that can get out of hand quick.
This was very helpful. Thanks!