Sorcery TCG - Two-Headed Dragon

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Philosophy
Two-Headed Dragon (2HD) is a play on MTG’s Two-Headed Giant format. The goal is to foster even more unique interactions and give opportunity space for cards that aren’t normally played in 1v1 constructed. 2HD is meant to be fun, wild, and pushing the limits of what Sorcery gameplay can be. 

Basic Gameplay & Rules
Games of 2HD begin with the same rules as regular games of Sorcery (linked below), with some specific 2HD amendments.

• Sorcery Rulebook
• Comprehensive Rulebook Clarifications

Games of 2HD are played with the following fundamental changes:

• A game of 2HD is played with two teams of two players each, on a 9x4 grid board.
• Each team sits together on one side of the table. Each team decides the order in which its players sit. In the rare case of a dispute between teammates, the player sitting on the right has the final say.
• During game setup, each player places their Avatar on the 3rd square from that player's side of the board in their bottom row (see example grid at the bottom of the page).
• Each team takes their turn together and has a shared life total, which starts at 30 life.
• With the exception of life total, a team’s resources (cards in hand, mana, and so on) are not shared. Teammates may review each other's cards in hand and discuss strategy at any time.
• The team who plays first skips the draw step of its first turn.
• If a team's life total becomes half their starting life total or less, that team's new maximum life total is equal to half their starting life total (rounded up) for the remainder of the game.
• Once a team is on Death’s Door, you must deal a killing blow to each Avatar individually. However, once an Avatar has been dealt a killing blow, that player continues to play as normal, but will no longer draw a card at the start of their turn.
• If a player has at least one site adjacent to a teammate's site, that player may summon minions and artifacts to any of that teammate's sites as if they were their own.
• If an Avatar or player skips a turn (e.g. due to Vaults of Zul), only that player does so. That player may not take any game actions during the skipped turn.
• Ally or allied still refers to a game object controlled by you, not your teammates.
• [ADDED] If an enemy uses its Move and Attack basic ability to attack a unit or site controlled by your team, any of your team's other units that can reach the attack’s location may tap to defend.

Anything that isn't clear after referencing the linked sources or this webpage will be decided by the head judge.

Deck Construction
Deck construction follows the usual Sorcery deck construction rules (see the official Sorcery rulebook here). However, the following cards are banned:

• Courtesan Thais 
• Roots of Yggdrasil

Card Errata

The following cards have been issued errata for use in 2HD:

• Deathspeaker
  After all players reveal their Avatars during game setup, choose an opponent.
  Tap → Play or draw a site.
  You may cast one dead minion from either your cemetery or the chosen opponent's cemetery each turn, and for (0) if you’re on Death’s Door. Whenever you summon a minion this way, banish it.
  
  
• Imperial Road
  Genesis → A randomly-chosen target opponent, then you, may play a site adjacent to this one.

Team Unified 2HD Variant

For those with more coordination time ahead of your event, a "Unified" version of 2HD can be extremely fun! You’ll actually be able to pre-plan with your fellow dragon head.  This synergy will pay-off as you and your partner must share a common cardpool. This means in your COMBINED decklists, your team can only use a total of only one of each unique, two of each elite, three of each exceptional, and four of each ordinary. Is it better to stack one deck with all the jewelry or spread it out? Will one dragon head take all 4 Grapple Shots? Sites in your Atlas also count towards the Unified rules. All Avatars are considered unique for the purposes of this variant and Team Unified 2HD still follows the same errata and banned cards as normal 2HD.

Suggested Event Structure

While 2HD teams could certainly be chosen in advance by the players themselves, we have found that randomizing teammates each round, preventing direct synergy between partner's decklists, actually makes for a better 2HD experience. 

For a 2HD tournament, we suggest using the Swiss pairing system with pseudo-randomly assigned teammates. Teammates should be coupled based on record and team match pairings should also be based on record. While having the same teammate or opponent can't be entirely avoided, we suggest attempting to minimize repeat pairings.

Swiss rounds are played until either 1 or 2 undefeated players remains at the end of the round. In the case of a single player, they are crowned the 2HD Champ. If 2 players remain, they each choose anyone from the player pool to be their partner Dragon head for the Finals. The “winner” of that Finals match will be the 2HD Champ!

Rules Change History

• Version 1.0 - Retired on January 15, 2025
• Version 0 - Retired on August 6, 2024

Note: beginning with Version 2, all changes will be marked with either [ADDED], [UPDATED], or [REMOVED].