It's the Magic: Spellslinging

So I've been thinking about a variant that focuses on instants and sorceries.

The Player

Players can be of any color or colors they choose. This should be clearly declared at the beginning of play. Players act as 0/0 creatures. Players may be targeted, enchanted, or affected as a creature on the battlefield, but they never leave the battlefield. Effects that would do this (destroy, exile, return to hand, etc.) can still target players, but it does not move the player to another zone (it unequips them instead). A player is their own controller and may not change controllers or be sacrificed.

Tapped
If a player is tapped, they cannot attack. Being tapped has no effect on a player’s ability to cast spell or activate abilities.

Toughness
A player’s toughness reduces all damage dealt to them once each turn.

Still works!

Negative Toughness
Some effects will give a player negative toughness. Whenever a player with negative toughness takes damage, they lose that much life (in addition for life lost from damage). The life lost this way per turn cannot be more than the amount of negative toughness they have.

Power
This is how much combat damage that player deals when they attack or are attacked in combat. Note that if a player takes damage from a source with first strike or double strike, if they haven’t lost, they will still deal their combat damage.

Permanents

A player may have one permanent in on the battlefield. If a player would gain control of a permanent or have a permanent enter the battlefield under their control, they sacrifice all other permanents they control and that action happens instead. If a player ever has more than one permanent, they sacrifice all but one of them as a state based action.

Lands

Players do not have lands. At the beginning of each untap step, each player gets all of their used mana counters back. At the beginning of their first main phase each turn, each player gets a new mana counter. A mana counter may be used for 1 mana of one of that player’s colors. Mana counters do not tap; they are either used or unused. You may make them emblems and keep them in your command zone if that makes you feel better. If an effect would put a land into play, that player instead gets a new mana counter (if that land would enter the battlefield tapped, it’s a used mana counter).

...and haste.

Creatures

At the end of each turn, each player sacrifices all creatures they control. If a creature cannot be sacrificed, exile it.

Equipment

You may control equipment and equip it to yourself. Whenever you lose life, unequip it.

No. Don't even try it.

Attacking

Players may attack. Players start the game on the battlefield and can attack on their first turn. Players may also block. Combat between players consists of them dealing combat damage to one another equal to their power.