There are so many different ways to play one of the best trading card games ever made, Magic: the Gathering. Commander, Pauper, Standard, Modern, and Pioneer are just a handful of the formats that exist inside of the game that is Magic. Each format has their own unique spin on the game and allows players to play the game very differently and bring unique decks to the table. Battlebox is one of the best casual formats to ever exist. Some of you reading this might not even know what that format is, myself included, until a few weeks ago.

What is Battlebox?

Battlebox is a shared deck format, similar to DanDan, where two players go head to head playing normal Magic, with a twist. The shared deck is roughly 200 cards in total and there are no lands in the deck of cards. Both players have access to 10 lands in a sideboard, 5 basic lands (one of each type) and a cycle of ally tap lands. Once per turn, a player may play one of those lands out of the sideboard as their one land per turn. Then, both players draw a starting hand of 4 cards and begin a normal game of Magic starting at 20 life.

Battlebox is incredibly simple to understand and can be a great tool to teach the basic mechanics of the game by fixing all mana before the game even starts. But just because this format is basic, it doesn't mean that it's only for beginners. Battlebox is a puzzle begging to be solved by any player of any skill level. Players get a starting hand, have access to any color of mana you could ask for, and then piece together those cards to secure the victory.

This format is the easiest to pick up and play without the need to even shuffle, if pressed for time. If you have rounds where you are watching the timer tick down at an event, ask your opponent to play some Battlebox. Have an awkward number for Commander night? Break out the Battlebox for the odd number of players.

If this format sounds interesting in the slightest, I encourage you to give it a shot by building your own. It is incredibly easy to piece together and can be made using draft chaff you have laying around. So how do you start building one?

Building a Battlebox

Like I said above, Battlebox usually contains around 200 cards to make things interesting for replayability, but that number can change, after all you are the one building it. The deck doesn't have to be balanced in the same way other shared deck formats or Cubes have to be. You are guaranteed a land drop and have perfect fixing. So how do you decide what to include?

You can decide to build a Battlebox around anything. Do you have a favorite block or set? Build it around that. Do you only like playing the color combination, Jund? Build a Battlebox around it. Battlebox can be built around any theme, character, plane, gimmick, or creature type that you can think of. There are no wrong answers when it comes to your creation, the only thing you have to take in consideration is balancing powerful cards.

Playing your Battlebox once or twice will immediately point out some outliers in your box. Fleetfeather Cockatrice is the most powerful card in my Battlebox and can sometimes be a point of contention for players, whether to cut it out of the experience or not. I kind of love it though. The fact that this bulk piece from years ago is now the strongest contender in this box of garbage is fascinating to me. It still dies to removal, but having that many keywords scares many a Battlebox player.

If you are looking for some inspiration on starting your own Battlebox, here is what my current Battlebox looks like:

Nigel's Battlebox | Battlebox | Nigel Kurtz

• Creatures (145)
• 1 Abuna Acolyte
• 1 Abzan Falconer
• 1 Alabaster Mage
• 1 Almighty Brushwagg
• 1 Amethyst Dragon // Explosive Crystal
• 1 Amphin Pathmage
• 1 Angelic Page
• 1 Anointed Chorister
• 1 Arbalest Elite
• 1 Arbalest Engineers
• 1 Archers' Parapet
• 1 Ardenvale Tactician // Dizzying Swoop
• 1 Armored Armadillo
• 1 Arwen Undomiel
• 1 Avacynian Priest
• 1 Avian Oddity
• 1 Bane's Invoker
• 1 Battle Cry Goblin
• 1 Bearer of Glory
• 1 Beetle, Legacy Criminal
• 1 Bellowing Bruiser // Beat a Path
• 1 Beluna's Gatekeeper // Entry Denied
• 1 Benalish Sleeper
• 1 Blightreaper Thallid // Blightsower Thallid
• 1 Blisterspit Gremlin
• 1 Blood Hustler
• 1 Bog Badger
• 1 Boros Guildmage
• 1 Bounding Felidar
• 1 Canyon Crab
• 1 Carnage Gladiator
• 1 Cave People
• 1 Chitin Gravestalker
• 1 Cindering Cutthroat
• 1 Clan Guildmage
• 1 Cleaving Skyrider
• 1 Coiling Stalker
• 1 Concealing Curtains // Revealing Eye
• 1 Courtly Provocateur
• 1 Crag Puca
• 1 Daring Saboteur
• 1 Dauntless Cathar
• 1 Dauntless River Marshal
• 1 Denethor, Ruling Steward
• 1 Departed Deckhand
• 1 Disciple of Tevesh Szat
• 1 Dread Linnorm // Scale Deflection
• 1 Dreg Mangler
• 1 Enclave Elite
• 1 Engine Rat
• 1 Envoy of the Ancestors
• 1 Ettercap // Web Shot
• 1 Falkenrath Forebear
• 1 Fell Horseman // Deathly Ride
• 1 Flametongue Yearling
• 1 Fleetfeather Cockatrice
• 1 Foundry Champion
• 1 Frenzied Arynx
• 1 Ghitu Amplifier
• 1 Gingerbread Hunter // Puny Snack
• 1 Gnottvold Hermit // Chrome Host Hulk
• 1 Gomazoa
• 1 Gray Slaad // Entropic Decay
• 1 Greater Sandwurm
• 1 Greenbelt Guardian
• 1 Guardian Naga // Banishing Coils
• 1 Guild Thief
• 1 Herbology Instructor // Malady Invoker
• 1 Hezrou // Demonic Stench
• 1 Hypnotic Sprite // Mesmeric Glare
• 1 Imodane's Recruiter // Train Troops
• 1 Juniper Order Rootweaver
• 1 Junkyard Genius
• 1 Kathari Bomber
• 1 Keen Buccaneer
• 1 Keldon Strike Team
• 1 Lava Serpent
• 1 Merfolk Skydiver
• 1 Migrating Ketradon
• 1 Mind Drill Assailant
• 1 Minecart Daredevil // Ride the Rails
• 1 Mire Boa
• 1 Molten Gatekeeper
• 1 Nightfire Giant
• 1 Obsessive Stitcher
• 1 Obyra's Attendants // Desperate Parry
• 1 Order of Midnight // Alter Fate
• 1 Phyrexian Missionary
• 1 Phyrexian Warhorse
• 1 Pixie Illusionist
• 1 Pyretic Prankster // Glistening Goremonger
• 1 Qasali Pridemage
• 1 Quakefoot Cyclops
• 1 Reckless Amplimancer
• 1 Reinforced Ronin
• 1 Rimrock Knight // Boulder Rush
• 1 Riveteers Initiate
• 1 Rune-Brand Juggler
• 1 Sanctuary Smasher
• 1 Sarpadian Simulacrum
• 1 Scourge Devil
• 1 Scrapwork Cohort
• 1 Scrapwork Mutt
• 1 Selesnya Guildmage
• 1 Shambling Remains
• 1 Sharktocrab
• 1 Shipwreck Singer
• 1 Shrewd Hatchling
• 1 Shrouded Shepherd // Cleave Shadows
• 1 Skizzik
• 1 Sky Crier
• 1 Slimefoot, the Stowaway
• 1 Sling-Gang Lieutenant
• 1 Smoldering Werewolf // Erupting Dreadwolf
• 1 Snowmelt Stag
• 1 Somberwald Alpha
• 1 Sower of Chaos
• 1 Splendor Mare
• 1 Sunhome Guildmage
• 1 Swarm Guildmage
• 1 Sword Coast Serpent // Capsizing Wave
• 1 Syndicate Guildmage
• 1 Tangleclaw Werewolf // Fibrous Entangler
• 1 Tarkir Duneshaper // Burnished Dunestomper
• 1 Tattermunge Duo
• 1 Thornscape Apprentice
• 1 Thrashing Mossdog
• 1 Thundersong Trumpeter
• 1 Toadstool Admirer
• 1 Topaz Dragon // Entropic Cloud
• 1 Trueheart Duelist
• 1 Twinshot Sniper
• 1 Undead Leotau
• 1 Underfoot Underdogs
• 1 Vantress Transmuter // Croaking Curse
• 1 Venom, Evil Unleashed
• 1 Venomsac Lagac
• 1 Viashino Branchrider
• 1 Void Beckoner
• 1 Waker of Waves
• 1 Waxen Shapethief
• 1 Windcaller Aven
• 1 Wispdrinker Vampire
• 1 Wreck Remover
• 1 Yavimaya Iconoclast

• Instants (26)
• 1 Airship Crash
• 1 Angelsong
• 1 Battle Menu
• 1 Break Down the Door
• 1 Cabaretti Charm
• 1 Charge of the Mites
• 1 Choking Tethers
• 1 Confounding Riddle
• 1 Dromar's Charm
• 1 Easy Prey
• 1 Frontline Rush
• 1 Fuel the Flames
• 1 Fuss // Bother
• 1 Gallant Strike
• 1 Hit // Run
• 1 Lightshield Parry
• 1 Obscura Charm
• 1 Primal Boost
• 1 Protect the Negotiators
• 1 Pursue Glory
• 1 Shredded Sails
• 1 Strength of the Coalition
• 1 Trip Up
• 1 Turn // Burn
• 1 Twist Reality
• 1 Wither and Bloom

• Sorceries (19)
• 1 Aerith Rescue Mission
• 1 Burn Down the House
• 1 Catch // Release
• 1 Choking Miasma
• 1 Engineered Might
• 1 Goblin War Party
• 1 Go for Blood
• 1 In Thrall to the Pit
• 1 Piercing Rays
• 1 Push // Pull
• 1 Runic Shot
• 1 Slice and Dice
• 1 Spectacular Pileup
• 1 The Final Days
• 1 Trade the Helm
• 1 Unearth
• 1 Urborg Repossession
• 1 Wander in Death
• 1 Winterthorn Blessing

• Enchantments (9)
• 1 Bitter Reunion
• 1 Bound by Moonsilver
• 1 Cast Out
• 1 Convenient Target
• 1 Eyes Everywhere
• 1 Lay Claim
• 1 Nahiri's Machinations
• 1 Ride the Shoopuf
• 1 Sigarda's Imprisonment

• Artifacts (1)
• 1 Tithing Blade // Consuming Sepulcher

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My Battlebox is built heavily on giving both players lots of different options with activated abilities or modal spells. I hope this list of cards is helpful when looking at building your own box of bulk for this format. My entire Battlebox comes to less than $50 if I were to buy all of the cards individually, but I just built it with what I had laying around in my bulk.

I hope this article inspires you to attempt building your own Battlebox and enjoying all that Magic has to offer in the many formats that exist out in the Multiverse.

See you on the battlefield!

-Nigel