Rule #1: Avoid control target permanent cards. Trust me, just avoid them. Sure stealing your opponents 158/158 trampled-life-linked Ageless Entity is priceless. Then swinging with it and killing him is almost orgasmic. However, we all know “the look” and feeling we get when someone puts their grubby paws all over our hard earned cards. We all know the rage we feel when we hear a giggle and a , “I’ll take that!” Not only that, we all remember 2 years later counting 59 cards in our deck and saying, “I know I had 60 in here. What the hell happened?” Only to thumb through the deck and realize, “Oh shit! I’m missing one of my Pherixan Obliterators!” Memories then flood back at your friend who no longer plays Magic that “stole” it from you. That friend that now has an annoying wife and five kids. A friend that when you ask him where the hell your card is tells you he sold all his cards for a DVD of Frozen and a vacation to Disney World. You remember the moment when his Control Magic took that Obliterator from you, and you instantly want to go all Indiana Jones Temple of Doom on him and hold his beating heart in your hands. You’d ask for the money, but you don’t feel like defending that fact that your 38 and still playing Magic.
Meh :P solid advice: Puschkin (similar advice from Jessie) = I run a few stealers in some of my deck specifically to keep the ridiculous in check. It teaches my buddies to maybe go for less gameturning cards. Which in turn allows myself to play some older, weaker but nicer cards that need some brain to be worthwhile. JESSIE = What if you do play a multiplayer blue deck? In theory, if one of your opponent's throws down a game winning card...you could steal it and therefore, everyone will not lose the game to him. You can almost act as an official...stealing threats that are about to kill an opponent.
Rule #2: Avoid lame combos. Ok so you get pleasure from killing 15 opponents with an infinite damage combo. You cackle manically as you use an unoriginal (or original for that matter) combo on everyone. Its funny to you that your opponents worked so hard to build a creature base, have some awesome equipment rolling, and are popping each other and strategizing for the win, only to have you bring a 45 minute game to an end with an infinite combo—or a Coalition Victory. Guess what? Everyone hates you! They only allow you to keep playing magic with them because you buy pizza and have a cool basement. If you were on fire, no one would pee on you to put you out. You can stop saying, “Everyone attacks me first because I’m so good at magic! Its why I lose so much!” No everyone attacks you first because they hate you.
Bust out this deck when a friend refuse to stop using lame combo decks! http://www.mtgvault.com/biggeorge76/decks/antidirtbag-deck/
Rule #3: High casting cost cards that are useless in duels now become top priority. There are countless cards that make you say, “Man 6 mana is just too much in a dueling deck. This card would be perfect if it cost four! Well guess what, in multiplayer game 6 casting cost isn’t a problem, it’s a beast. HOWEVER, Don't forget Early Game!: Yes high casting cost creatures are great, but too many in your deck, and you'll get run over. If you have no early defense up, they will attack you just because they can.
Rule #4: Destruction, Destruction, Destruction: I seriously cannot count the number of times Nevinyrals Disk has won me a game, or at the very least taken a player dominating the board to a player crying in his hands. A timely Wrath of God, and I go from losing, to wining. Moreover, I cannot count the times I looked at my army of creatures and said to myself, “Ugh! If I could just get rid of that fucking Sphere of Saftey! (Or some such other card). I could finish this clown!”
Rule #5: Get THAT card. Everyone has Hexproof, Fear, Unblockable, Shroud, Indestructible, Regenerate, Return From Graveyard. Get those cards that say Exile, remove from game, destroy all, opponent sacrifices, sacrifice all. Sure a destroy all may not work on an indestructible card, but it will work against that pesky privileged position. No multiplayer deck is worth its cost in cards unless you have a way to get rid of your opponent’s solid cards. Simple as that.
Rule #6: Get THOSE CARDS. You want the Hexproof, Fear, Unblockable, Shroud, Indestructible, Regenerate, Return From Graveyard. Not only that, you want versatility, and the ability for cards to keep producing. Cards that make creatures, cards that draw you cards, cards that return things to you, cards that take things away from your opponent multiple times. Disenchant? No thanks. Ray of Distortion? Better. Aura Shards? YES PLEASE!!
Rule #7: Don’t play Armageddon, Winter Orb and their ilk: see Rule #2.
Rule #8: You need to protect against flyers. Trust me, you’ll have the game dominated, only to loose to a lowly Sera Angel because you can’t block flyers. Sometimes a simple Will-O-the-Wisps or Fog Bank can do the trick. You just need something.
Rule#9: Think BIG. 500 life is something that you will see on a night of multiplayer magic. Hell, maybe even 1500 life. Be that guy. Or be able to BEAT THAT GUY. Rouges Passage and Master of Cruelties : D. Or 75 flying 4/4 Angel Tokens. You get the point. Go big or go home. While this may seem like a violation of rule #2, trust me its not. I smile losing with 1754 life because my opponent finally made his 90 2/2 squirrels, and gave them all +x/+x and trample. Sure I say, “Fuck you!” But I really mean, SWEET! Eaten to death by a bunch of HGH Willy Wonka Squirles!! Nice game!
Rule #10: Let that shit go. Nothing ruins a fun night, or a group of magic players quicker than arguing over rules. It gets COMPLEX. Sure in a duel you know that one little trick. You may even have printed the rule out from Magic’s Official web page, or saved it on your phone to show the predictable argument. Not gonna work in a multiplayer game. What do you mean your Squallmonger with lifelink damages my protection from green creature?....NO! It doesn’t matter that it doesn’t target it! Fuck you! Any idiot knows that protection from green means you reduce all damage from a green source to zero regardless if it targets the creature or not! Don’t throw that card at me!! I’ll shove it up your…” …and your circle of Magic friends just got a bit smaller. Argue the point, but if it gets heated, to reference Frozen again, Let it GO!! Remember the rule, and when things are calm, or next time you play, show your friend the rule. He will say, “Shit! You were right! Sorry man!” Or he will still try and argue the rule. If so he is probably the guy from rule #2. Kill him immediately in every game as quickly as possible, and rinse and repeat every game. Your friends will love you.
Rule #11: Don’t look through your deck after losing a 2 hour game and go, “Oh man 2 draws away from wining! Man I would have won if I could have drawn that Wrath of God!” You lost. Your opponent has already blocked out your losers groveling, and is thinking about the next deck he is going to use. It just makes you sound pathetic.
Rule #12: know your enemy. Know what cards your circle of friends like and plan accordingly. They like lame combos and big spells: control spells. They like decks filled with lots of creatures: wraths and disks and such. They like life gain decks: Erebos God of the Dead. You get the point.
Rule#13 Table Talk! Here’s where your skills at negotiation come into play. Bat your eyelashes and push out your chest to expose more cleavage and sheepishly say, ”I p-womise not to attack you with my c-wetuwes for two turns if you don’t deswoy my wittle awtifact.” Ugh that only works for girls. Maybe try. Ok, who wants me to cast Trade Secrets on them? What are you willing to offer? (make sure your holding your drink, because all your friends hands are going to shoot up hurling everything not nailed down to the table all over the room). Choose wisely, and pick your ally accordingly. Pick cards that make friends. Finally, always keep your word when you make promises…even if it will cost you the game. You’ll get the reputation of a man who keeps his word and can be trusted. It will make your table talk more potent and in-turn allow you to manipulate the players better to your advantage. Here's a copied deck I found looking at an old web site that I think is pretty awesome at excelling at this fact. It's fun and never dull:
http://www.mtgvault.com/biggeorge76/decks/politics/
Rule #14: Feed your engine: Don't go crazy with ideas. This is one that translates to any deck, multiplayer or not. Pick what you want your deck to do: AKA How you want to win. And support that with your deck. Remember, pick an ENGINE. Say its nevinrayls disk. The DISK IS YOUR ENGINE. Feed it with fuel. Fuel in the form of creatures who regenerate, indestructible creatures, awesome lands it wont affect (or turn into creatures) cards that bring stuff back. Rule 14 and 4 go together for sure. Feed the Engine and destroy their stuff. Remember each slot needs to fill some role. No spot should be wasted in your 60 cards. They all must serve the following three purposes: destroy their shit, make your engine better, and win you the game.