Hand Size: 3 cards.
Land Rule: Extra Land Rule.
Format Rule:
Each player starts the game with an emblem with
"At the beginning of your upkeep, choose a permanent an opponent controls.
Untap that permanent and gain control of it until end of turn.
That permanent gains haste until end of turn.
You can't sacrifice that permanent this turn."
Be sure to review the rules and banned list(s) by clicking below.
Cards on the PHM Banned List are always banned, and cards on the Land Rule Banned List are banned as well when the round uses a Land Rule.
Contents
1. Overview
2. Game Rules
3. Hand Construction Rules
4. Entry
5. Perfect Hand Magic League (PHML)
6. Scoring
7. Variant Format Rules
1. Overview
Perfect Hand Magic (PHM) is a competitive strategy game for two or more players. It can be played using pencil and paper; however, it's most commonly played via an online forum. To play the game, each player secretly chooses a specified number of Magic cards which form his or her hand. Once all players have chosen hands, the hands are revealed and scored.
The object of the game is to choose the hand that will score the most points. The score for each hand is determined by the result that it would achieve if it were used to play two games of Magic – one match – against each competing hand; the rules for these theoretical games are covered in Section 2 – Game Rules. During each theoretical game, the player of each hand employs the strategy that maximizes the score for his or her hand, taking into account the strategy of his or her opponent.
A hand scores 3 points for each game that it would win, 0 points for each game that it would lose, and 1 point for each game that would end in a draw. However, a hand scores only 2 points for any match that would have a symmetrical result, regardless of whether the result would be two drawn games or a win for each hand.
The composition of a hand is limited only by a short banned list and a few restrictions on the game states that it can enable; these restrictions are covered in Section 3 – Hand Construction Rules.
2. Game Rules
2.1. Except for the changes described in these rules, games follow the rules for a normal game of Magic.
2.1a. Changes to the Comprehensive Rules or the Oracle text of a card take effect at the following times:
i. Changes that would take effect during the prerelease for a set take effect during the first round for which cards from that set may be submitted instead.
ii. Changes that would take effect at any other time take effect during the first round for which those rules have been in effect since the start of the round instead.
2.1b. Ignore any part of an instruction that isn't covered by these rules or by the rules of Magic.
2.2. A player's opening hand contains that player's chosen cards.
2.3. Players' libraries begin the game empty.
2.3a. A player doesn't lose the game as a result of being unable to draw a card.
2.4. An effect that would produce a random result produces the result that least benefits the owner of the source of that effect instead.
2.5. Each player is the starting player for one game in each match.
2.6. Players know the identities of all face-down cards and all cards in hidden zones, and players know which decisions have been made by other players.
2.7. If a game would continue indefinitely, then the game is a draw.
2.8. If a loop containing at least one optional action would be repeated indefinitely during a turn, then any player may propose a number of times for that loop to repeat instead. If a player does, then each other player may propose a different number and the loop is repeated for the greatest number of times proposed instead. No player is required to make a choice that would end a loop that crosses multiple turns.
2.9. Cards can't be brought into the game from outside the game.
3. Hand Construction Rules
3.1. A player may not choose an opening hand that would enable him or her to achieve any of the following results before an opponent's second turn would begin, such that that opponent could make no sequence of decisions that would not result in at least one of these results:
i. Win the game.
ii. Take an infinite number of turns.
iii. Cause a card to leave an opponent's hand.
Ignore this rule in the following cases:
3.1a. That player's hand would be legal if that player's opponents' cards had no rules text.
3.1b. That player's hand would be legal if that player's opponents had no maximum hand size.
3.1c. That player could achieve one of these results only during a game that was restarted after an opponent's second turn had begun.
3.1d. All cards that would leave an opponent's hand during the resolution of an effect would be put onto the battlefield by that effect.
3.1e. All cards that would leave an opponent's hand during the resolution of an effect would be in that opponent's hand once that effect resolved.
3.2. A hand may contain any number of copies of any card legal in Vintage.
3.2a. An unreleased card is treated as though it's legal in Vintage if it will become legal in Vintage upon release and if the release notes for the set that contains that card were published prior to the start of the round (See rule 4.1).
3.3. A hand may not contain any cards on the PHM Banned List.
4. Entry
4.1. A player plays a round of PHM by submitting a list of his or her chosen cards to the PHM moderator.
4.2. A player may change his or her hand until the posted deadline.
4.2a. If a player submits an illegal hand, then the moderator will try to notify that player to change his or her hand prior to the deadline. If the hand is discovered to be illegal after the deadline has passed – or if the player does not submit a new hand – then the moderator may either disqualify that hand or replace it with a similar hand, in which any cards causing that hand to be illegal have been removed or replaced.
4.2b. The moderator also will try to notify a player if that player's hand doesn't enable that player to win the game against any possible hand.
4.3. A player may name his or her hand. If he or she doesn't, then the moderator may name it. The moderator may also rename a player's hand at his or her discretion.
5. Perfect Hand Magic League (PHML)
5.1. PHM League play consists of four rounds of PHM.
5.2. Each round, a player earns League points according to the following formula:
League Points = Points Scored / Number of Opponents x 100 (rounded to the nearest integer)
5.3. The player with the most League points at the end of League play is the PHM League winner.
5.3a. If multiple players have the most League points at the end of the League, then the PHM moderator may allow those players to play additional rounds until only one of those players has the most League points or until a specified number of additional rounds has been played.
6. Scoring
6.1. A table of match results is posted at the end of each round. Each row lists one player's result against each other player. A player's points and League points are tallied at the end of his or her row.
6.2. A player may earn bonus League points as specified by the PHM moderator.
6.3. Each player is responsible for determining the match results for his or her hand.
6.3a. Players are encouraged to determine or verify additional match results.
6.3b. An undetermined match result is counted as a loss for both players in that match.
6.3c. A player may challenge any result until the moderator announces that the result is final.
7. Variant Format Rules
7.1. Perfect Hand Magic has been played with hands typically containing between one and seven cards. Additionally, the Game Rules and Hand Construction Rules have been adapted to create hundreds of variant formats. Five commonly-played variants are described in Sections 7.3-7.7.
7.2. The rules of a variant format overwrite any other applicable rules.
7.2a. Some variant formats generate continuous effects. A continuous effect generated by a variant format is treated as having the earliest timestamp within a layer or sublayer. If continuous effects generated by multiple variant formats would apply in the same layer or sublayer, assign timestamps to those effects in the order that the variant formats are listed in the rules or name of the round.
7.2b. Some variant formats require a player to make some number of decisions in addition to or instead of submitting a hand. A player's submission must comply with the Hand Construction Rules, taking into account any decisions made at this time.
7.2c. Some variant formats require players to make decisions "before the start of each game". For these decisions, follow the "Active Player, Nonactive Player order" rule, replacing "active player" with "starting player".
7.3. Land Rule Variant.
7.3a. This is the basic land rule (LR). Any player may play a basic land of his or her choice from outside the game any time he or she could normally play a land. A hand may not contain any cards on the Land Rule Banned List.
7.3b. This is the extra land rule (ELR). Any player may play a basic land of his or her choice from outside the game any time he or she could normally play a land. Any player may play an additional land on each of his or her turns from his or her hand. A hand may not contain any cards on the Land Rule Banned List.
7.3c. This is the draw land rule (DLR). If a player would draw a card from an empty library, that player puts a basic land of his or her choice from outside the game into his or her hand instead. The starting player doesn't skip the draw step of his or her first turn. A hand may not contain any cards on the Land Rule Banned List.
7.4a. Only cards contained in sets legal in the named format may be submitted.
7.5. Life Rule (LF).
7.5a. If neither player would win otherwise, then the player who maintains the higher life total wins the game.
7.5b. Irrespective of rule 7.5a, a player must choose an opening hand that enables him or her to win both games of a match against at least one hand, such that the player of the losing hand could make no sequence of decisions that would not result in that player losing the game. The losing hand must conform with the Hand Construction Rules but need not consider this rule.
7.6. Backbuild.
7.6a. Players exchange hands before the start of each match. Each player must choose an opening hand that enables him or her to win both games of a match against a specified hand or specified hands, such that the player of any specified hand could make no sequence of decisions that would not result in the player of that specified hand losing the game. Ignore rule 3.1.
7.7. (Bonus).
7.7a. A player earns bonus points if his or her hand meets specified requirements.
PHM Banned List_________________Land Rule Banned List
Hand Size: 3 cards.
Land Rule: Basic Land Rule.
Format Rule: When submitting a hand, each player also chooses a basic land type.
Each player can play a land from outside the game only if it has his or her chosen land type.
Please post if you have any comments or suggestions!
Please post if you have any comments or suggestions!
It should be "each player also names a basic land card" so that we can play with wastes! I'm too tired of WotC's anti-waste agenda to let that fly here!
Hands have been posted, and they're sweet!
I had a lot of fun with this format, and people approached it from a lot of angles. Some of the strategies employed:
- going infinite by not being able to sacrifice a creature
- exiling all of an opponent's creatures with a land
- discarding an opponent's hand t1 on the draw if the opponent plays a land
- winning the game on opponent's 2nd upkeep on the draw if the opponent plays a land
- sacrificing all but one permanent to force a specific donation
- recurring mass land destruction (or just two lands at a time)
- a hand that I don't even understand, but I've been assured that it works (edit: after more reflection, I do understand it! this format was not straightforward)
- Feyd_Ruin trying to play a bunch of cards that have seen almost no play, while another player unintentionally plays two cards that have only been played once before (and a card that's never been played before) - one of them by Feyd_Ruin
- a hand that gains control of all of the lands
1: 0: t1 Obzedat is good enough.
2: 6: Affliction beats Hammer.
3: 0: Feyd_Ruin casts Safekeeper and sacrifices a land. I take Safekeeper and sacrifice a land. Once Chancellor expires, Feyd_Ruin plays a land and doesn't immediately sacrifice it, then casts Crypt the following turn and wins by having more cards in his graveyard.
4: 6: It's a Thinking man's game.
5: -
6: 6: Affliction races Agent.
7: 0: psyl4mne waits for my Chancellor to expire, then plays a land, then wins; if I play a land, psly4mne wins faster.
8: 6: If tomsloger plays the first land, then I cast Thinking. I play a land, and then tomsloger could cast Boom, but it would reset us both equally. If he just plays a land, then I cast Thinking. If he doesn't play a land, then I play a second land and pass. Tom plays Mountain and casts Boom, destroying both of my lands. He needs another two turns to cast Bow, though, because of the double green mana cost, which lets me discard it first with Thinking.
9: 0: EDIT: Per WW's analysis.
The other hands I considered were Ritual / Braids, Vault / Key, Illusions (because I forgot about Crypt), and Stasis (I'm still not sure there's a way to make this work, but it was a fun thought experiment).
EDIT: Corrected 3-5 and provided more analysis for 5-8.
1: 6: Anachrosity plays turn 1 Gambit, turn 2 Gambit return to hand, turn 3 loses.
2: 6: No turn 1 play.
3: 2: Crypt can't kill either of us, and Safekeeper doesn't race itself.
4: 0: knobbodi can play turn 1 Outpost, leaving Plains in graveyard. If I Crypt, he returns Plains and plays Vindicate. I can try to race tokens, Vindicate and Ghost tip the race.
5: 6: I wait out the Chancellor then outrace Wistful
6: 0: I lose to Sleeper Agent.
8: 6: No turn 1 play.
9: 0: I can't win through Misstep. I can exile Synod Sanctum by playing City if he plays it early, so he can't use it to lock me down. But he can use it to exile my first Assembly-Worker then sacrifice it, putting him ahead on the race.
Endless Sands / Obzedat, Ghost Council / Stronghold Gambit
2: No creatures and no way to remove Obzedat. ~ 6-0
3: Can't deal with Crypt. ~ 0-6
4: If you play Ghost then I can Gambit on my next turn. If you don't play Ghost then I hard-cast Obzedat T3 or T4. ~ 6-0
5: Obzedat is cheaper than Chancellor, I empty my hand T1 and win. ~ 6-0
6: Endless Sands eats the agent. ~ 6-0
7: Forbidden Crypt is too fast. ~ 0-6
8: Nothing to stop Obzedat. ~ 6-0
9: Same. ~ 6-0
--Having ghost prevents gambit, but that means I can't cut you off of mana, so you can eventually cast obzedat and drain me to death, with sands protecting you from double outpost 0-6
2) CalvinSchwa :: Rakdos Themepark
City of Shadows / Hammer of Bogardan / Rix Maadi, Dungeon Palace
--City gets rid of ghost, meaning I can't cut you off of mana or double up on outpost, so hammer races 0-6
3) Feyd_Ruin :: Why aren't these used more?
Culling the Weak / Forbidden Crypt / Sylvan Safekeeper
--Outpost forcing me to sac a land -> vindicate prevents me from losing to crypt, and then I can win from there 6-0
5) Mogg
Chancellor of the Tangle / Shrieking Affliction / Wistful Thinking
--Wistful discards vindicate and affliction just barely races outpost because neither of your first 2 lands are plains 0-6
6) Personman
Breath of Fury / Sleeper Agent / Stave Off
--Ghost prevents you from ever getting enough mana to combo, and agent+tokens beat you down 6-0
7) psly4mne
City of Traitors / Forbidden Crypt / Rain of Filth
--Outpost forcing me to sac a land -> vindicate prevents me from losing to crypt, and then I can win from there 6-0
--On the play or draw, if I run outpost out there you blow it up with Boom. So instead what I do is use Ghost to keep you off of your mana, vindicating bow if you ever play it (and you never have an opportunity to play it on 5 mana to kill ghost), and then when I get to 6 mana I take a turn off of stealing your lands to make two tokens with outpost, and then go back to stealing your lands while now winning the race. 6-0
--This gets pretty convoluted, but I spent a while on this and all of the lines I've found have resulted in us drawing. Ghost and Vindicate prevent you from being able to win, but you can sanctum ghost to prevent me from making 2 tokens per turn, so we each just end up with an infinite army of soldiers 2-2 As per my most recent post, 4-1
vs. 01 Anachronity: I can't normally beat people playing lands. 0-6
vs. 02 Calvin Schwa: I can't normally beat people playing lands. 0-6
vs. 03 Feyd_Ruin: I Misstep Safekeeper and exile all the lands. 6-0
vs. 04 knobbodi: As far as I can tell, you just Ghost all my lands and pop the stolen Sanctum if I Sanctum the ghost. 0-6
vs. 05 Mogg: OTP, I don't play a first turn land. Then I steal and exile every land he plays and Misstep Affliction. 6-0
vs. 07 psly4mne: I can Misstep Rain of Filth and eventually win. 6-0
vs. 08 tomsloger: Sanctum Lock and Boom//Bust Factory = draw. 2-2
Well, I knew my deck was bad – didn't get too much time this week, so I just submitted the first cute thing I found. But I didn't realize quite how prevalent colorless "you control" removal would be – I think Stave Off was a completely dead card in every matchup. Later I might re-run my results with Vindicate in that slot, I think it might actually do pretty well.
6 | 0 0 6 0 0 X 6 2 0 | 14 |
6) Personman
Breath of Fury / Sleeper Agent / Stave Off
vs.
I don't know quite what I mean by this, but this is such a tomsloger deck. I really like it. It's also my most interesting matchup.
On the play, tomsloger can get Bow down on 3, and then Boom every turn, or sometimes gain life and sometimes Boom. It's not quite obvious how it works out, so:
1.
1. Agent
2. go to 18, hit me to 17, play Boom leaving me at 0 lands.
2. agent attack, 15. 1 land.
3. go to 13, hit me to 14, Bow.
3. agent attack, 10. 2 lands.
4. go to 8, hit me to 11, gain 3 to 11
4. agent attack, 8. 3 lands.
5. go to 6, Bow back Boom, hit me to 8, Boom me to 1 land.
5. agent attack, 3. 2 lands.
6. go to 1, hit me to 5, take a land and Karn, exiling Agent.
6. Take Karn, exile Bow, draw.
I could not play lands after the initial Boom, but then tomsloger is free to gain life instead of recurring Boom.
However, I might have a really cool line:
same up through tomsloger's 3
3. take bow and shuffle 2 lands
4. go to 16, hit me to 14, boom me to 0 lands
4. play 2 lands to 2 lands, 1 in library. take agent and hit to 13.
5. go to 11, hit me to 11, has to boom again or i go off.
5. play 2 lands to 2 lands, 0 in library. take bow and shuffle.
6. go to 9, hit me to 8. Take land and Karn exiles Agent.
6. Take Karn and exile Bow, draw. Oh well.
On the play I assume I get there, but let's make sure:
1. Agent
1. 18, 17.
2. 15.
2. 13, 14. Boom me to 0.
3. 10. 1 land.
3. 8, 11. Gain to 11.
4. 8. 2 lands.
4. 6, 8. Gain to 9.
5. 6. 3 lands.
5. 4, 5. Must Boom.
6. 3. 2 lands.
6. 1. Eesh. I don't quite make it.
1. 6-0 Crypt-win races Obzedat
2. 6-0 By stealing your land, I can cast out on turn 2, bypassing City/Rix
3. xxx
4. 0-6 You can always vindicate Crypt thanks to extra land rule
5. 6-0 I don't lead with a land on my play. From here I can "2nd land" Crypt before Wistful hits.
6. 2-2 OMG complicated. See two posts below.
7. 2-2 It's either 3-3 or 2-2. Pretty sure caster's timing makes it 2-2
8. 6-0
9. 0-6 Synod Sanctum makes kittens cry.
Feyd can't get rid of agent, so I never have to take Crypt, so I win. 6-0.
Culling the Weak lets me sacrifice him. Remember, you gave him to me from its ability, not via the round rules which would prevent me from sacrificing him.
Problem with Safekeeper beatdown: Stealing it and swinging first.
Oh yeah that <_<
OK.
Trying to do the if-thens on this matchup is crazy.
So let's sit it at a 2-2 tie for now.
(If you ever cast Agent, I Culling the Weak)
If I work everything out I'll come back to it.
I think you might be able to win. If I play agent first, you can use Crypt to get Culling back and then go off. If I don't, you can just go off and I can't play Agent before I have to take Crypt. Not 100% sure though and I have to go to sleep now.
That said, you're right - I can use it to kill the ghost, so ultimately we end up with gobs and gobs of tokens on both sides, which I think ends up as a draw.
Okay so having calculated it out, it looks like it's 4-1 for me:
OTP
I go plains -> outpost -> ghost, and then if you take outpost, you can play island (I just picked island because I can't use the color) factory and sanctum it. You can't take ghost however, because you won't ever get to enough mana to play and activate sanctum in the same turn (since if you just run it out there, I can remove it the next turn). And if you try and take ghost to beat down, I pretty quickly get enough mana to start churning out enough tokens to race.
So you take outpost and either get rid of it, or try and churn out tokens. If you go for tokens, once I get to 6 mana on my 4th turn I can start making double tokens and outrace you. So instead, you take outpost and sanctum it, forcing me to then take sanctum and use it to remove itself. That game plays out like this:
plains, outpost, ghost | take outpost, island, factory, sanctum, sanctum outpost
take sanctum, sanctum self, plains (P), attack 20-19 | island (II F), take ghost, attack 19-19
take factory, ghost factory, plains (PP F) | island (III), take ghost, attack 18-19
take island, ghost island, swamp (PP I S F) | island (III), take ghost, attack 17-19
take island, ghost island, plains (PPP II S F) | island (III), take ghost, attack 16-19
take island, ghost island, plains (PPPP III S F), 1 token | island (III), take token, attack 14-19
take island, ghost island, plains (P-5 I-4 S F), 2 tokens, attack 14-17 | island (III), take token, attack 12-17
And from here I begin to bury you in tokens.
OTD:
The extra land you can play allows you to take my first turn ghost and still have enough mana to play sanctum and remove ghost, so I'm not able to lock you off of mana or out-token you.
3CH ELR Timeshare
Land Rule: Extra Land Rule.
Format Rule:
Untap that permanent and gain control of it until end of turn.
That permanent gains haste until end of turn.
You can't sacrifice that permanent this turn."
Additional Bans: Homeward Path
Hands:
1) Anachronity
Endless Sands / Obzedat, Ghost Council / Stronghold Gambit
2) CalvinSchwa :: Rakdos Themepark
City of Shadows / Hammer of Bogardan / Rix Maadi, Dungeon Palace
3) Feyd_Ruin :: Why aren't these used more?
Culling the Weak / Forbidden Crypt / Sylvan Safekeeper
4) knobbodi
Kjeldoran Outpost / Ruin Ghost / Vindicate
5) Mogg
Chancellor of the Tangle / Shrieking Affliction / Wistful Thinking
6) Personman
Breath of Fury / Sleeper Agent / Stave Off
7) psly4mne
City of Traitors / Forbidden Crypt / Rain of Filth
8) tomsloger
Boom // Bust / Bow of Nylea / Karn Liberated
9) WhammeWhamme
Mental Misstep / Synod Sanctum / Urza's Factory
X| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1| X 6 0 6 6 6 0 6 6 | 36 | 450
2| 0 X 0 6 0 6 0 0 6 | 18 | 225
3| 6 6 X 0 6 2 2 6 0 | 28 | 350
4| 0 0 6 X 0 6 6 6 4 | 28 | 350
5| 0 6 0 6 X 6 0 6 0 | 24 | 300
6| 0 0 2 0 0 X 6 2 0 | 10 | 125
7| 6 6 2 0 6 0 X 6 0 | 26 | 325
8| 0 6 0 0 0 2 0 X 2 | 08 | 100
9| 0 0 6 1 6 6 6 2 X | 27 | 338
Anachronity wins!
Rules and Banned List
Cards on the PHM Banned List are always banned, and cards on the Land Rule Banned List are banned as well when the round uses a Land Rule.
1. Overview
2. Game Rules
3. Hand Construction Rules
4. Entry
5. Perfect Hand Magic League (PHML)
6. Scoring
7. Variant Format Rules
1. Overview
Perfect Hand Magic (PHM) is a competitive strategy game for two or more players. It can be played using pencil and paper; however, it's most commonly played via an online forum. To play the game, each player secretly chooses a specified number of Magic cards which form his or her hand. Once all players have chosen hands, the hands are revealed and scored.
The object of the game is to choose the hand that will score the most points. The score for each hand is determined by the result that it would achieve if it were used to play two games of Magic – one match – against each competing hand; the rules for these theoretical games are covered in Section 2 – Game Rules. During each theoretical game, the player of each hand employs the strategy that maximizes the score for his or her hand, taking into account the strategy of his or her opponent.
A hand scores 3 points for each game that it would win, 0 points for each game that it would lose, and 1 point for each game that would end in a draw. However, a hand scores only 2 points for any match that would have a symmetrical result, regardless of whether the result would be two drawn games or a win for each hand.
The composition of a hand is limited only by a short banned list and a few restrictions on the game states that it can enable; these restrictions are covered in Section 3 – Hand Construction Rules.
2. Game Rules
2.1. Except for the changes described in these rules, games follow the rules for a normal game of Magic.
ii. Changes that would take effect at any other time take effect during the first round for which those rules have been in effect since the start of the round instead.
2.1b. Ignore any part of an instruction that isn't covered by these rules or by the rules of Magic.
2.2. A player's opening hand contains that player's chosen cards.
2.3. Players' libraries begin the game empty.
2.4. An effect that would produce a random result produces the result that least benefits the owner of the source of that effect instead.
2.5. Each player is the starting player for one game in each match.
2.6. Players know the identities of all face-down cards and all cards in hidden zones, and players know which decisions have been made by other players.
2.7. If a game would continue indefinitely, then the game is a draw.
2.8. If a loop containing at least one optional action would be repeated indefinitely during a turn, then any player may propose a number of times for that loop to repeat instead. If a player does, then each other player may propose a different number and the loop is repeated for the greatest number of times proposed instead. No player is required to make a choice that would end a loop that crosses multiple turns.
2.9. Cards can't be brought into the game from outside the game.
3. Hand Construction Rules
3.1. A player may not choose an opening hand that would enable him or her to achieve any of the following results before an opponent's second turn would begin, such that that opponent could make no sequence of decisions that would not result in at least one of these results:
ii. Take an infinite number of turns.
iii. Cause a card to leave an opponent's hand.
Ignore this rule in the following cases:
3.1b. That player's hand would be legal if that player's opponents had no maximum hand size.
3.1c. That player could achieve one of these results only during a game that was restarted after an opponent's second turn had begun.
3.1d. All cards that would leave an opponent's hand during the resolution of an effect would be put onto the battlefield by that effect.
3.1e. All cards that would leave an opponent's hand during the resolution of an effect would be in that opponent's hand once that effect resolved.
3.2. A hand may contain any number of copies of any card legal in Vintage.
3.3. A hand may not contain any cards on the PHM Banned List.
4. Entry
4.1. A player plays a round of PHM by submitting a list of his or her chosen cards to the PHM moderator.
4.2. A player may change his or her hand until the posted deadline.
4.2b. The moderator also will try to notify a player if that player's hand doesn't enable that player to win the game against any possible hand.
4.3. A player may name his or her hand. If he or she doesn't, then the moderator may name it. The moderator may also rename a player's hand at his or her discretion.
5. Perfect Hand Magic League (PHML)
5.1. PHM League play consists of four rounds of PHM.
5.2. Each round, a player earns League points according to the following formula:
5.3. The player with the most League points at the end of League play is the PHM League winner.
6. Scoring
6.1. A table of match results is posted at the end of each round. Each row lists one player's result against each other player. A player's points and League points are tallied at the end of his or her row.
6.2. A player may earn bonus League points as specified by the PHM moderator.
6.3. Each player is responsible for determining the match results for his or her hand.
6.3b. An undetermined match result is counted as a loss for both players in that match.
6.3c. A player may challenge any result until the moderator announces that the result is final.
7. Variant Format Rules
7.1. Perfect Hand Magic has been played with hands typically containing between one and seven cards. Additionally, the Game Rules and Hand Construction Rules have been adapted to create hundreds of variant formats. Five commonly-played variants are described in Sections 7.3-7.7.
7.2. The rules of a variant format overwrite any other applicable rules.
7.2b. Some variant formats require a player to make some number of decisions in addition to or instead of submitting a hand. A player's submission must comply with the Hand Construction Rules, taking into account any decisions made at this time.
7.2c. Some variant formats require players to make decisions "before the start of each game". For these decisions, follow the "Active Player, Nonactive Player order" rule, replacing "active player" with "starting player".
7.3. Land Rule Variant.
7.3b. This is the extra land rule (ELR). Any player may play a basic land of his or her choice from outside the game any time he or she could normally play a land. Any player may play an additional land on each of his or her turns from his or her hand. A hand may not contain any cards on the Land Rule Banned List.
7.3c. This is the draw land rule (DLR). If a player would draw a card from an empty library, that player puts a basic land of his or her choice from outside the game into his or her hand instead. The starting player doesn't skip the draw step of his or her first turn. A hand may not contain any cards on the Land Rule Banned List.
7.4. Sanctioned Magic Format Variant.
7.5. Life Rule (LF).
7.5b. Irrespective of rule 7.5a, a player must choose an opening hand that enables him or her to win both games of a match against at least one hand, such that the player of the losing hand could make no sequence of decisions that would not result in that player losing the game. The losing hand must conform with the Hand Construction Rules but need not consider this rule.
7.6. Backbuild.
7.7. (Bonus).
Beast Within________________________Beacon of Creation
Chancellor of the Annex_____________Black Lotus
Channel_____________________________Energy Field
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn_____________Maralen of the Mornsong
Fastbond____________________________Nezumi Shortfang
Flash_______________________________Red Sun's Zenith
Force of Will_______________________White Sun's Zenith
Ghost Quarter
Laboratory Maniac
Leyline of Anticipation
Leyline of Singularity
Leyline of the Meek
Magus of the Moon
Meddling Mage
Pact of Negation
Show and Tell
Strip Mine
The Rack
Trinisphere
Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
Vampire Hexmage
Wasteland
Channel_____________________________Black Lotus
Fastbond
Flash
Show and Tell
Disruption
Beast Within________________________Balancing Act
Chancellor of the Annex_____________Energy Field
Force of Will
Leyline of Anticipation
Leyline of Singularity
Pact of Negation
Trinisphere
Lands
Ghost Quarter
Strip Mine
Wasteland
Win Conditions
Barren Glory________________________Beacon of Creation
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn_____________Maralen of the Mornsong
Laboratory Maniac___________________Nezumi Shortfang
Leyline of the Meek_________________Red Sun's Zenith
Magus of the Moon___________________White Sun's Zenith
Meddling Mage
The Rack
Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
Vampire Hexmage
Format Ideas?
Additional Resources
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Hand Size: 3 cards.
Land Rule: Basic Land Rule.
Format Rule: When submitting a hand, each player also chooses a basic land type.
Each player can play a land from outside the game only if it has his or her chosen land type.
Please post if you have any comments or suggestions!
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It should be "each player also names a basic land card" so that we can play with wastes! I'm too tired of WotC's anti-waste agenda to let that fly here!
- Rabid Wombat
I had a lot of fun with this format, and people approached it from a lot of angles. Some of the strategies employed:
- going infinite by not being able to sacrifice a creature
- exiling all of an opponent's creatures with a land
- discarding an opponent's hand t1 on the draw if the opponent plays a land
- winning the game on opponent's 2nd upkeep on the draw if the opponent plays a land
- sacrificing all but one permanent to force a specific donation
- recurring mass land destruction (or just two lands at a time)
- a hand that I don't even understand, but I've been assured that it works (edit: after more reflection, I do understand it! this format was not straightforward)
- Feyd_Ruin trying to play a bunch of cards that have seen almost no play, while another player unintentionally plays two cards that have only been played once before (and a card that's never been played before) - one of them by Feyd_Ruin
- a hand that gains control of all of the lands
Please take a look and score your row!
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5) Mogg
Chancellor of the Tangle / Shrieking Affliction / Wistful Thinking
X| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
5| 0 6 0 6 X 6 0 6 0 | 24 | 300
1: 0: t1 Obzedat is good enough.
2: 6: Affliction beats Hammer.
3: 0: Feyd_Ruin casts Safekeeper and sacrifices a land. I take Safekeeper and sacrifice a land. Once Chancellor expires, Feyd_Ruin plays a land and doesn't immediately sacrifice it, then casts Crypt the following turn and wins by having more cards in his graveyard.
4: 6: It's a Thinking man's game.
5: -
6: 6: Affliction races Agent.
7: 0: psyl4mne waits for my Chancellor to expire, then plays a land, then wins; if I play a land, psly4mne wins faster.
8: 6: If tomsloger plays the first land, then I cast Thinking. I play a land, and then tomsloger could cast Boom, but it would reset us both equally. If he just plays a land, then I cast Thinking. If he doesn't play a land, then I play a second land and pass. Tom plays Mountain and casts Boom, destroying both of my lands. He needs another two turns to cast Bow, though, because of the double green mana cost, which lets me discard it first with Thinking.
9: 0: EDIT: Per WW's analysis.
The other hands I considered were Ritual / Braids, Vault / Key, Illusions (because I forgot about Crypt), and Stasis (I'm still not sure there's a way to make this work, but it was a fun thought experiment).
EDIT: Corrected 3-5 and provided more analysis for 5-8.
BWTeysa, Orzhov Scion
GWRhys the Redeemed
GUKruphix, God of Horizons
GRXenagos, God of Revels
GThrun, the Last Troll
GStompy
2: 6: No turn 1 play.
3: 2: Crypt can't kill either of us, and Safekeeper doesn't race itself.
4: 0: knobbodi can play turn 1 Outpost, leaving Plains in graveyard. If I Crypt, he returns Plains and plays Vindicate. I can try to race tokens, Vindicate and Ghost tip the race.
5: 6: I wait out the Chancellor then outrace Wistful
6: 0: I lose to Sleeper Agent.
8: 6: No turn 1 play.
9: 0: I can't win through Misstep. I can exile Synod Sanctum by playing City if he plays it early, so he can't use it to lock me down. But he can use it to exile my first Assembly-Worker then sacrifice it, putting him ahead on the race.
X| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
7| 6 6 2 0 6 0 X 6 0 | 26
3: Can't deal with Crypt. ~ 0-6
4: If you play Ghost then I can Gambit on my next turn. If you don't play Ghost then I hard-cast Obzedat T3 or T4. ~ 6-0
5: Obzedat is cheaper than Chancellor, I empty my hand T1 and win. ~ 6-0
6: Endless Sands eats the agent. ~ 6-0
7: Forbidden Crypt is too fast. ~ 0-6
8: Nothing to stop Obzedat. ~ 6-0
9: Same. ~ 6-0
X| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
7| X 6 0 6 6 6 0 6 6 | 36 | 450
I'm honestly surprised I didn't see more counterspells, which is the main reason I ran Gambit over some form of disruption.
- Rabid Wombat
Kjeldoran Outpost / Ruin Ghost / Vindicate
VS:
1) Anachronity
Endless Sands / Obzedat, Ghost Council / Stronghold Gambit
--Having ghost prevents gambit, but that means I can't cut you off of mana, so you can eventually cast obzedat and drain me to death, with sands protecting you from double outpost 0-6
2) CalvinSchwa :: Rakdos Themepark
City of Shadows / Hammer of Bogardan / Rix Maadi, Dungeon Palace
--City gets rid of ghost, meaning I can't cut you off of mana or double up on outpost, so hammer races 0-6
3) Feyd_Ruin :: Why aren't these used more?
Culling the Weak / Forbidden Crypt / Sylvan Safekeeper
--Outpost forcing me to sac a land -> vindicate prevents me from losing to crypt, and then I can win from there 6-0
5) Mogg
Chancellor of the Tangle / Shrieking Affliction / Wistful Thinking
--Wistful discards vindicate and affliction just barely races outpost because neither of your first 2 lands are plains 0-6
6) Personman
Breath of Fury / Sleeper Agent / Stave Off
--Ghost prevents you from ever getting enough mana to combo, and agent+tokens beat you down 6-0
7) psly4mne
City of Traitors / Forbidden Crypt / Rain of Filth
--Outpost forcing me to sac a land -> vindicate prevents me from losing to crypt, and then I can win from there 6-0
8) tomsloger
Boom // Bust / Bow of Nylea / Karn Liberated
--On the play or draw, if I run outpost out there you blow it up with Boom. So instead what I do is use Ghost to keep you off of your mana, vindicating bow if you ever play it (and you never have an opportunity to play it on 5 mana to kill ghost), and then when I get to 6 mana I take a turn off of stealing your lands to make two tokens with outpost, and then go back to stealing your lands while now winning the race. 6-0
9) WhammeWhamme
Mental Misstep / Synod Sanctum / Urza's Factory
--
This gets pretty convoluted, but I spent a while on this and all of the lines I've found have resulted in us drawing. Ghost and Vindicate prevent you from being able to win, but you can sanctum ghost to prevent me from making 2 tokens per turn, so we each just end up with an infinite army of soldiers 2-2As per my most recent post, 4-1X| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
5| 0 0 6 X 0 6 6 6 4 | 28 | 350
vs. 01 Anachronity: I can't normally beat people playing lands. 0-6
vs. 02 Calvin Schwa: I can't normally beat people playing lands. 0-6
vs. 03 Feyd_Ruin: I Misstep Safekeeper and exile all the lands. 6-0
vs. 04 knobbodi: As far as I can tell, you just Ghost all my lands and pop the stolen Sanctum if I Sanctum the ghost. 0-6
vs. 05 Mogg: OTP, I don't play a first turn land. Then I steal and exile every land he plays and Misstep Affliction. 6-0
vs. 07 psly4mne: I can Misstep Rain of Filth and eventually win. 6-0
vs. 08 tomsloger: Sanctum Lock and Boom//Bust Factory = draw. 2-2
6 | 0 0 6 0 0 X 6 2 0 | 14 |
6) Personman
Breath of Fury / Sleeper Agent / Stave Off
vs.
1) Anachronity
Endless Sands / Obzedat, Ghost Council / Stronghold Gambit
Endless Sands and a threat that doesn't exist on my turn is enough. 0-6
2) CalvinSchwa :: Rakdos Themepark
City of Shadows / Hammer of Bogardan / Rix Maadi, Dungeon Palace
City and a noncreature threat is enough. 0-6
3) Feyd_Ruin :: Why aren't these used more?
Culling the Weak / Forbidden Crypt / Sylvan Safekeeper
Feyd can't get rid of agent, so I never have to take Crypt, so I win. 6-0.
4) knobbodi
Kjeldoran Outpost / Ruin Ghost / Vindicate
Ruin Ghost is cool. 0-6.
5) Mogg
Chancellor of the Tangle / Shrieking Affliction / Wistful Thinking
My four-mana jank continues to get punished. 0-6
7) psly4mne
City of Traitors / Forbidden Crypt / Rain of Filth
No way to deal with Agent, same as Feyd. 6-0
8) tomsloger
Boom // Bust / Bow of Nylea / Karn Liberated
I don't know quite what I mean by this, but this is such a tomsloger deck. I really like it. It's also my most interesting matchup.
On the play, tomsloger can get Bow down on 3, and then Boom every turn, or sometimes gain life and sometimes Boom. It's not quite obvious how it works out, so:
1.
1. Agent
2. go to 18, hit me to 17, play Boom leaving me at 0 lands.
2. agent attack, 15. 1 land.
3. go to 13, hit me to 14, Bow.
3. agent attack, 10. 2 lands.
4. go to 8, hit me to 11, gain 3 to 11
4. agent attack, 8. 3 lands.
5. go to 6, Bow back Boom, hit me to 8, Boom me to 1 land.
5. agent attack, 3. 2 lands.
6. go to 1, hit me to 5, take a land and Karn, exiling Agent.
6. Take Karn, exile Bow, draw.
I could not play lands after the initial Boom, but then tomsloger is free to gain life instead of recurring Boom.
However, I might have a really cool line:
same up through tomsloger's 3
3. take bow and shuffle 2 lands
4. go to 16, hit me to 14, boom me to 0 lands
4. play 2 lands to 2 lands, 1 in library. take agent and hit to 13.
5. go to 11, hit me to 11, has to boom again or i go off.
5. play 2 lands to 2 lands, 0 in library. take bow and shuffle.
6. go to 9, hit me to 8. Take land and Karn exiles Agent.
6. Take Karn and exile Bow, draw. Oh well.
On the play I assume I get there, but let's make sure:
1. Agent
1. 18, 17.
2. 15.
2. 13, 14. Boom me to 0.
3. 10. 1 land.
3. 8, 11. Gain to 11.
4. 8. 2 lands.
4. 6, 8. Gain to 9.
5. 6. 3 lands.
5. 4, 5. Must Boom.
6. 3. 2 lands.
6. 1. Eesh. I don't quite make it.
2-2
9) WhammeWhamme
Mental Misstep / Synod Sanctum / Urza's Factory
Sanctum wrecks me like all the other colorless self-removal. 0-6
WhammWhamme, you don't have to be shy about it, I can accept that you beat me :p
2. 6-0 By stealing your land, I can cast out on turn 2, bypassing City/Rix
3. xxx
4. 0-6 You can always vindicate Crypt thanks to extra land rule
5. 6-0 I don't lead with a land on my play. From here I can "2nd land" Crypt before Wistful hits.
6. 2-2 OMG complicated. See two posts below.
7. 2-2 It's either 3-3 or 2-2. Pretty sure caster's timing makes it 2-2
8. 6-0
9. 0-6 Synod Sanctum makes kittens cry.
3 | 6 6 X 0 6 2 2 6 0 | 28 | 350
Culling the Weak lets me sacrifice him. Remember, you gave him to me from its ability, not via the round rules which would prevent me from sacrificing him.
No longer staff here.
OK.
Trying to do the if-thens on this matchup is crazy.
So let's sit it at a 2-2 tie for now.
(If you ever cast Agent, I Culling the Weak)
If I work everything out I'll come back to it.
No longer staff here.
If your opponent casts Sleeper Agent, cull it. If they do not, drop lands and go off.
IF they do... use Forbidden Crypt to recur Culling the Weak and execute your combo.
The round rule prevents me from paying the sacrifice cost for Sanctum
OTP
I go plains -> outpost -> ghost, and then if you take outpost, you can play island (I just picked island because I can't use the color) factory and sanctum it. You can't take ghost however, because you won't ever get to enough mana to play and activate sanctum in the same turn (since if you just run it out there, I can remove it the next turn). And if you try and take ghost to beat down, I pretty quickly get enough mana to start churning out enough tokens to race.
So you take outpost and either get rid of it, or try and churn out tokens. If you go for tokens, once I get to 6 mana on my 4th turn I can start making double tokens and outrace you. So instead, you take outpost and sanctum it, forcing me to then take sanctum and use it to remove itself. That game plays out like this:
plains, outpost, ghost | take outpost, island, factory, sanctum, sanctum outpost
take sanctum, sanctum self, plains (P), attack 20-19 | island (II F), take ghost, attack 19-19
take factory, ghost factory, plains (PP F) | island (III), take ghost, attack 18-19
take island, ghost island, swamp (PP I S F) | island (III), take ghost, attack 17-19
take island, ghost island, plains (PPP II S F) | island (III), take ghost, attack 16-19
take island, ghost island, plains (PPPP III S F), 1 token | island (III), take token, attack 14-19
take island, ghost island, plains (P-5 I-4 S F), 2 tokens, attack 14-17 | island (III), take token, attack 12-17
And from here I begin to bury you in tokens.
OTD:
The extra land you can play allows you to take my first turn ghost and still have enough mana to play sanctum and remove ghost, so I'm not able to lock you off of mana or out-token you.
WhammeWhamme 23.25
Mogg 18
Feyd_Ruin 16.75
knobbodi 13.5
CalvinSchwa 13.25
Anachronity 11
Personman 7
psly4mne 6.5
tomsloger 5.5
Leaders by Average League Points:
WhammeWhamme 391.25
Mogg 301.75
Feyd_Ruin 272.5
knobbodi 217.5
CalvinSchwa 216.25
Anachronity 152.5
Personman 106.25
tomsloger 95
psly4mne 81.25