The magic deck is normally shuffled and dealt randomly in each magic phase. A spell cast with a Total Power card cannot be dispelled, so it is quite possible to take out an important character by magical means. This can be quite devastating, especially during the first turn of the game, and some uncommonly timid players find this disturbing!

However, you can make magic more or less potent by altering the way the magic cards are dealt. It is quite all right to do this so long as both players agree before the game. Warhammer Battle Magic gives some examples of how the deal can be varied, and here are some more variations which you can try.

Straight Deck

If you want to play with the full set of magic cards exactly as described in Warhammer Battle Magic then fine! You're playing with what, for the sake of argument, we'll call a straight deck. Unless both players agree otherwise the usual method is to play with a straight deck.

One Use

Shuffle and deal the cards in the normal way. Power and dispel cards are recycled as normal, but the special cards can only be used once. Once used, they are not placed on the discard pile like the rest of the cards, but are removed from the deck altogether. The only time these special cards are shuffled back into the deck is if they remain unused in your hand at the end of the magic phase.

As you would expect, the one use method reduces the effect of the special cards. It means that Total Power, Mental Duel and the other unique special cards can only be used once per game. Power and dispel cards are recycled as normal.

Deck Limits

Before the game begins both sides can agree to limit the cards in the magic deck by removing cards as they see fit. There is nothing to stop you reducing the number of power or dispel cards to boost or reduce the potency of magic. You can also remove any of the special cards to make the magic more predictable.

By setting a deck limit you can tailor the magic to the level you and your opponent are most happy with. You could, for example, simply remove the Total Power card from the deck, or take half the power cards out! There is no reason you can't set a deck limit and also play with 'one use' as described above.

Bar

Before the game begins take out any or all of the unique special cards and put them aside. These cards are shuffled back into the deck after an agreed number of magic phases have passed.

By setting a bar of so many magic phases you can guarantee that the unique special cards won't affect the first part of the battle - often when characters are most vulnerable to magic. The best way of doing this is to set a bar until the second turn, so the first player to take his second turn shuffles the cards back into the deck (ie the third magic phase of the game). The most common approach is to take out all the unique special cards: Total Power, Mental Duel, Rebound, etc, and keep them to one side until the second turn of the game.

Cycle

The magic deck is normally shuffled at the start of each magic phase - this means that there is an equal chance of receiving any given card in each turn. An alternative method is to cycle through all the cards before shuffling the discard pile back into the magic deck. This method makes the magic more predictable. It will neither reduce nor increase the overall effect of the magic, but it does mean that in an average game you can be sure no card will typically turn up more than twice.

Each of these variations has something to recommend it. Before starting a game, agree with your opponent how you are going to use the magic deck.