Magic: The Gathering – What Is The Initiative?

thegamer.com:

In Dungeons & Dragons, taking the initiative is what allows you to take your turns before your opponents. Everyone loves to have the initiative, but, at the end of the day, only one player can go first.

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While Magic: The Gathering’s take on the mechanic doesn’t determine turn orders, it allows one player to stand apart from the rest and be the game's focal point. At least, until someone else decided to try and take it from you. Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate is full of cards that helps you take the initiative, so what exactly is it?

Magic: The Gathering’s initiative combines two previous mechanics: monarch and venturing into the dungeon.

Like monarch, initiative is something a player can introduce to the game, but is then stolen by other players each turn. The initiative doesn’t exist at the start of a game; instead, it is added to it by the first player who plays a card that reads “take the initiative”. From there, it remains in play until the end of the game.

Also like monarch, initiative can be stolen through two ways: playing another card that has “take the initiative”, or dealing combat damage to a player who already has it. As soon as you connect a creature with their face, the initiative passes to you and it triggers immediately. Keep in mind that this is limited only to combat damage, meaning any other kind of damage or life loss won’t cause an opponent to lose the initiative.

Though creating and taking the initiative is very monarch-esque, the effect itself is a new dungeon, such as those introduced in Adventures in the Forgotten Realms. When you take the initiative, and at the beginning of each of your upkeeps for as long as you have it, you venture