See Arcane Obelisk.

Ack! Evolution mechanics in magic!

... that could work really well, actually. And we can bring back the Chaos Orb :)

This may just be me but I do prefer the words to the arrows. If you tap this creature then all of it's arrows will point the wrong way. The words don't really have that problem.

It should probably say "the front creature" instead of "this creature".

"This creature" usually means "me" so this guy is just putting double effects on himself and the front ability does absolutely nothing.

Apart from those minor wording issues I like the design and it seems to be balanced. Lots of design space too. It would be interesting to see creatures that can extend the formation.

That wasn't the intention? Darn.

@Alchemist: That's a good point. I thought about it last night as I was lying in bed: how does tapping affect the orientation?

There's two options: tapping it changes which creatures are affected by what ability (for which the arrows are more clear), OR the creature closer to you is always the "behind" creature. I think the second option is simpler, especially since those weirdos who tap their cards the wrong way or only tap them 45° instead of 90° would have issues.

The more important question: Can two of these be a 4/2 and 2/4 or not?

Can I have two of these on a field with no one assigned and play a new creature both to the right of one and to the front of another? Can I assign it to the right of both?

The main issue with this mechanic is that attacking is usually signified by moving around creatures: attacking creatures get pushed forward, non-attacking creatures stay in place. That would disrupt the formation.

I'd suggest changing the whole formation to something more temporary: one combat step.

For simplicity, I'm going to ignore "front" and "back" for now.

> Formation (You may order your attacking creatures from left to right)
Creatures attacking to to the left of ~ get +1/+0.
Creatures attacking to to the right of ~ get +0/+1.
Creatures attacking directly to the left or right of ~ have hexproof from instants.

That would be already a quite complicated example, but seems logistically easier.

To summon a creature between two existing formation cards, there would have to be some kind of grid present in the game. I don't think there is any kind of grid in magic (there are imaginary lines). I like to think each formation card has its own independent grid. To make one creature connect two formation creatures, you would have to activate or trigger a new link without breaking the first link. Since there isn't a normal grid in magic, I imagine you can reposition your cards as you like. I don't know if anyone needs to hear this but don't go thinking you can overlap creatures just because there isn't a grid.

I agree the permanent formation is problematic when attacking. Do they all attack at once? Can they all attack independently? Would that break formation or not? I don't think it needs to be simplified as much as secret infiltrator says. But making it temporary could be the answer. Maybe after you declare attack with a formation creature, you can choose creatures to attack with it in one of the four positions. Perhaps not all creatures need to have four positions. A common card could only have 1. This is reminding me of Yu-Gi-Oh Link Monsters.

To be honest, I didn't think about this to that level of depth. Here are my thoughts about some of what you've said, now that there are questions:

• Two Formation creatures benefit from each other's bonuses. If you play another Steadfast Commander to the left of this card, both will get +2/+0 from this card, and both will get +0/+2 from that card. They would both be 4/4.

• Formations begin to form as grids on your board. If you play a creature with formation to the Front of this creature, and another to the left, a newly-arriving creature can be placed between those two cards and is now the Front of the creature on the left and the Left of the creature in front.

• Two formations can't be joined if they're begun separately. Magic doesn't and currently can't care about the position of your cards, but Formation would change that. Your wouldn't be able to rearrange your cards freely on the battlefield anymore.

• I, too, move my attacking creatures to the front of my space. Formation creatures attack and block independently of their formation, which would mean people would have to change how they play slightly.

I just jotted this down as an idea, and I didn't expect it to get much attention. I'm sure there are a lot of things I didn't consider, and things that I did consider but ignored for sake of putting the idea out there regardless.

I like the concept in the abstract, but I'd be annoyed by it in actuality, due to the physical necessity of positions.