The festering evil of Gargoyle Castle must be stopped! Heroes from across the land have gathered armies to lay siege to the dark stronghold.
4/3 - Dialed down color-hosing evasion (fear, intimidate, protection).
4/8 - Removed a few non-zombies, added more disruption
4/14 - Removed Sutured Ghoul; it was never a fun drop
Heroes follow standard N-Headed Giant rules, starting with a pool of (30 * hero count) life. The Horde wins when the heroes are reduced to zero life or a hero attempts to draw a card from an empty library. The heroes win when the Horde player:
1. Has no cards in hand AND
2. Has no creatures in play AND
3. Has no cards in its library
...or if an effect explicitly causes a win/loss (Doorway to Nothingness, Laboratory Maniac, etc).
The heroes get 3 free turns, then turns alternate between the Horde and the heroes.
On each of the Horde's turns, the Horde:
1. Untaps any tapped permanents it owns
2. Handles any upkeep triggers
3. Exiles a number of cards equal to the number of heroes from the top of its deck, then casts cards exiled this way in the order: Instants, Sorceries, Enchantments, Creatures. Casting is done using the stack and can be responded to.
4. Casts all cards in its hand in the same order.
5. Attacks with all creatures
6. Handles any end step triggers
Battle Fronts:
There is one Front for each hero. The first Active Front is selected at random at the start of the game. When the Horde puts a creature into play or plays an instant or sorcery, it is directed at the Active Front. If the spell requires a target player, the associated hero is the target. If the spell or effect puts a creature into play, that creature will always attack the associated hero. ETB/CIP effects that target a player always target the same Front where the permanent was cast.
After playing a spell or putting a creature into play, the Active Front shifts clockwise. If a spell puts multiple creatures into play, the first creature is put into play in the Active Front and subsequent creature placements shift clockwise.
Fronts are only used for determining how the Horde targets spells and assigns attackers. All of the Horde's creatures are on the same Battlefield.
Special rules:
1. The Horde has infinite mana of any color and will pay any costs to complete actions (regenerate, attack against Norn's Annex, Mana Leak, etc).
2. The Horde's creatures all have haste.
3. If the Horde is forced to select and discard a card, it will discard a card at random.
4. If the Horde loses X life, it takes the top X cards of its library and places them on top of its graveyard. If the Horde gains X life, it takes the bottom X cards from its graveyard and places them on the bottom of its library.
5. When declaring attackers, the Horde will attack planeswalkers first.
6. If forced to sacrifice a permanent, the Horde will select randomly between all eligible permanents.
7. When assigning combat damage to multiple blockers, the Horde attempts to divide damage evenly among the blockers. Remainder damage is assigned to the blocker with the lowest toughness.
Special Card Logic:
The Horde player is always the target for Opportunity.
Sutured Ghoul always empties the Horde's graveyard.
Sedris will use his ability once per turn on the highest CMC creature in the Horde's graveyard (random between top CMC cards on a tie). The creature will always be placed on the same Front as Sedris.
Given that the Horde has infinite mana, Tresserhorn and Grave Defiler will be regenerated indefinitely.
Lords of Gargoyle Castle:
The four zombie lords of Gargoyle Castle are Tresserhorn, Nekusar, Thraximundar, and Sedris. They all start in the Command Zone.
When the Horde would play a Gargoyle Castle land, instead, immediately exile that card and cast one of the lords in the Command Zone (selected at random). When a lord would be destroyed or exiled, it is returned to the Command Zone.