Eldrazi Town
creatures only is an interesting format. this takes it even further.
a lot of defensive cards this week. i expected more people to go aggro.
Players can only submit cards which are creatures whose power and toughness differ by at least two.
Deck Size: 3 Land Rule: Basic Land Rule (7.3a, below) Additional Banned list: Land Rule Banned list (please remember to check Land Rule and regular PHM Banned Lists, which are shown in the spoiler below)
8tomsloger : forever pings tinder wall / junktroller / ancient hydra
yall know i love recursion. no idea if this is good, but it sure does do a lot of stuff.
1. Overview
2. Game Rules
3. Deck Construction Rules
4. Entry
5. Perfect Hand Magic League
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 online forum. To play the game, each player secretly chooses a specified number of Magic cards which form that player's 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 theoretical player of each hand employs the strategy that will maximize 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 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 – Deck Composition.
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 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. A cost or effect that would produce a random result produces the result that least benefits the player who paid that cost or 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 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 could enable that player 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 – 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 that player doesn't, then the PHM moderator may name it. The PHM moderator may also rename a player's hand at his or discretion.
5. Perfect Hand Magic League
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 have 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 results 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 containing between one and seven cards. Additionally, the Game Rules and Deck 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 or basic snow land of the subtype 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 or basic snow land of the subtype 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 or basic snow land card of the subtype 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. A player must choose an opening hand that enables that player to win both games of a match against at least one legal hand, irrespective of rule 7.5a.
7.6. Backbuild.
7.6a. Players exchanges hands before the start of each match. A hand must enable the player of that hand to win both games of a match against a specified hand or specified hands. Ignore rule 3.1.
7.7. Bonus Points.
7.7a. A player earns bonus points if his or her hand meets specified requirements.
PHM Banned List
The following cards are automatically banned in all Perfect Hand Magic League rounds unless otherwise specified by the round rules. Each round may have an additional banned list that extends beyond, but always includes, these cards.
Land Rule Banned List
"Land Rule" is the most common variant for PHM, and thus a separate ban list has been developed to allow for easier moderation. The following cards are banned in Perfect Hand Magic League rounds when a Land Rule is used. There will be a reminder of this on the round rules.
1: 6-0: Very little pressure, so I bide my time and make a huge token force in one turn.
2: 6-0: Too many tokens.
3: 6-0: Hunter + Gargadon permanently exiles the Elemental. Tokens + Titania + Gargadon overwhelm True-Name Nemesis + Fiend Hunter.
5: 6-0: Hunter + Gargadon permanently exiles Magus or Magus is too late to matter. Tokens overwhelm the opposition.
6: 6-0: Hunter + Gargadon permanently exiles Nest. Tokens win.
7: 6-0: Hunter + a bunch of tokens.
8: 6-0: Hydra comes down t4 to maintain access to self-ping, which is too late. I make a bunch of tokens.
3Madmanquail : time of the true hunter True-Name Nemesis / Fiend Hunter / Time Elemental
6-0
Optimal line of play I see is that you drop Time Elemental first, we trade volleys of Fiend Hunter, and I wind up with Silumgar stealing your Fiend Hunter vs. your TNN. Race math works out in my favor from there.
5piato : monowhite humans Fiend Hunter / Magus of the Disk / Angelic Overseer
2-2
Option 1: Magus -> Fleshbag makes you sac it -> Overseer -> Silumgar steals it -> Fiend Hunter exiles Silumgar -> Fiend Hunter exiles Fiend Hunter, returns Silumgar, steals Overseer again.
Option 2: 5 does nothing until 1 does something. Silumgar -> Magus -> Fleshbag -> Fiend Hunter -> Fiend Hunter -> Overseer. Clogged board state.
6SeeNamedPerson : hive of slaughter Hornet Nest / Flametongue Kavu / Mogis, God of Slaughter
0-6
Your best move is to wait until turn 7 when you can play Nest and FTK on the same turn. At that point I can't remove enough tokens to be able to get through and Mogis triggers get there.
8tomsloger : forever pings tinder wall / junktroller / ancient hydra
2-2
Bunch of lines of play here. 8's best strategy seems to be to play nothing initially. 1 can play nothing too, but that's obviously a draw. If 1 commits Silumgar to an empty table, 8 eventually gets in Hydra to kill it... but 8 still can't play its other cards because 1 will remove them. Still a draw.
I need to remember that 100% reactive hands give people the "do nothing" out.
7|0 0 0 0 0 0 X 0
This is why I shouldn't try to build something last minute at midnight :/
V1 0-6 I can't beat removal very well
V2 0-6 hey look more removal
V3 0-6 (removal)
V4 0-6 removal oh and tokens
V5 0-6 infinite removal
V6 0-6 to much pain for me to try And control
V7 do I win here?
V8 0-6 t5 board wiped basically
2v1 - See below. 6-0
X
2v3 - No matter what I do, your True-Name will race me. 0-6
2v4 - No way to deal with the tokens. 0-6
2v5 - My Fiend Hunter + Sakashima can get rid of your Fiend Hunter + Magus, then my Fog Bank can block your Overseer, and your Overseer can block+kill my 2x Hunters. 2-2
2v6 - No response to Mogis. 0-6
2v7 - Fog Bank blocks Char-Rumbler. Fiend Hunter removes Artillery or Acolyte (whichever drops first), then Sakashima copies Fiend Hunter to deal with the other. We draw. 2-2
2v8 - By holding onto Hydra until turn 10, you can play it and pop it in one go. If I try to play stuff before then, you can drop it early and kill my stuff. 0-6
2v1 - Fleshbag eats Fog Bank. I drop Fiend Hunter targetting nothing. You drop Fiend Hunter targetting mine. I drop Sakashima as a Fiend Hunter targetting yours, get my Fiend Hunter back. When you drop Silumgar, I use Sakashima's ability to bounce her at end of turn. You Fiend Hunter returns, exiling mine. Drop Sakashima next turn as another Fiend Hunter, exile yours, get mine back, exile Silumgar. 6-0
Alternately: You drop Fiend Hunter targeting nothing. I drop Silumgar stealing Fiend Hunter. You drop Sakashima copying Silumgar and steal Silumgar (also regaining control of Fiend Hunter.) Alternately, you drop Sakashima copying Fiend Hunter and exiling Silumgar, it's pretty much the same outcome. If you do this before you have the mana to bounce Sakashima in the same turn, I use my Fiend Hunter on Sakashima and proceed to start swinging unopposed with Silumgar. If you do this after you have mana to bounce Sakashima, you have to bounce it every time you play it or else I still win with Fiend Hunter. If you do bounce Sakashima every turn, then all you're accomplishing is to clear the way for your Fiend Hunter to get in for damage, but I have control of Silumgar on my own turn and my 3/5 outraces your 1/3.
So you don't drop Fiend Hunter on nothing, and then we're back to the stalemate.
Alternately: You drop Fiend Hunter targeting nothing. I drop Silumgar stealing Fiend Hunter. You drop Sakashima copying Silumgar and steal Silumgar (also regaining control of Fiend Hunter.) Alternately, you drop Sakashima copying Fiend Hunter and exiling Silumgar, it's pretty much the same outcome. If you do this before you have the mana to bounce Sakashima in the same turn, I use my Fiend Hunter on Sakashima and proceed to start swinging unopposed with Silumgar. If you do this after you have mana to bounce Sakashima, you have to bounce it every time you play it or else I still win with Fiend Hunter. If you do bounce Sakashima every turn, then all you're accomplishing is to clear the way for your Fiend Hunter to get in for damage, but I have control of Silumgar on my own turn and my 3/5 outraces your 1/3.
So you don't drop Fiend Hunter on nothing, and then we're back to the stalemate.
On my play: I drop Sakashima turn 4 copying nothing. You drop Fiend Hunter targeting her. I drop Fiend Hunter targeting yours. Sakashima comes back, still copying nothing. You can't cast Silumgar the following turn so I end up having the mana to bounce her. Or:
On my play: I drop Sakashima turn 4 copying nothing. You wait for Silumgar. I bounce in response, then copy Silumgar. You drop Fiend Hunter, exile Sakashima, and regain Silumgar. I drop Fiend Hunter, exile your Fiend Hunter, regain Sakashima copying Silumgar, gain control of Silumgar.
On my draw however your line is correct and we draw. End result is 4-1.
On my play: I drop Sakashima turn 4 copying nothing. You drop Fiend Hunter targeting her. I drop Fiend Hunter targeting yours. Sakashima comes back, still copying nothing. You can't cast Silumgar the following turn so I end up having the mana to bounce her. Or:
On my play: I drop Sakashima turn 4 copying nothing. You wait for Silumgar. I bounce in response, then copy Silumgar. You drop Fiend Hunter, exile Sakashima, and regain Silumgar. I drop Fiend Hunter, exile your Fiend Hunter, regain Sakashima copying Silumgar, gain control of Silumgar.
We can both wait though. Nothing in either hand is a terribly fast clock. If I take a turn off so I can play Fiend Hunter on my turn 5, I can get Silumgar down the turn after that. But in the same vein, you can wait until turn 7 to hit my Fiend Hunter with yours so you also have bounce mana.
...I think that means you 6-0 this, actually. Not seeing a play that gets around Sakashima opener into tactical waiting.
1Artscrafter : Esper Control Fleshbag Marauder / Fiend Hunter / Dragonlord Silumgar
listed 2-2, suggested 6-0
tinder wall is fleshbag protection instead of acceleration in this matchup
if fiend hunter tries to exile junktroller, hydra kills it.
if it tries to take hydra, hydra pings itself so i can recycle it.
silumgar is even worse, because taking the hydra doesnt last forever.
6SeeNamedPerson : hive of slaughter Hornet Nest / Flametongue Kavu / Mogis, God of Slaughter
6-0 its a race with mogis, wich i think i win by pinging 4 times, then saccing hydra to mogis, redrawing and recasting.
1Artscrafter : Esper Control Fleshbag Marauder / Fiend Hunter / Dragonlord Silumgar
listed 2-2, suggested 6-0
tinder wall is fleshbag protection instead of acceleration in this matchup
if fiend hunter tries to exile junktroller, hydra kills it.
if it tries to take hydra, hydra pings itself so i can recycle it.
silumgar is even worse, because taking the hydra doesnt last forever.
But what if I go after Junktroller with Silumgar?
If at any point you pass the turn to me while you control only Junktroller and Tinder Wall, if I have 6 or more mana on my turn and haven't played anything yet. I can play Fiend Hunter on Tinder Wall followed by Fleshbag to make you sacrifice Junktroller, and you lose. If you control all three and pass while tapped out, I can use Fiend Hunter on Hydra, forcing sac of Tinder Wall to save it from exile, then Fleshbag gets Junktroller. You have to play Hydra with a mana open to protect it from Fiend Hunter, but if I'm on the play you can't get all three down and have open mana for Hydra before I have 6 mana.
If you are on the play and you play everything out, you're putting Hydra down on turn 6 so you can have it ping itself if needed without using Tinder Wall to do it. On the following turn, I play Silumgar and steal Junktroller. You untap and respond to the Fading trigger by pinging Silumgar 5 times, killing it and regaining Junktroller. Hydra is sacrificed when its Fading trigger resolves. You pass the turn (unable to recycle Hydra yet due to summoning sickness on Junktroller.) I then play Fiend Hunter and Fleshbag to remove your two creatures, leaving you with nothing.
But what if you wait until you have enough mana to use all of the Hydra pings immediately? As noted above, you can't play Wall and Junktroller and pass to me in the late game, so you have to wait until turn 15 and play everything at once to get this to work. On my turn, I play Fiend Hunter targeting Hydra. Hydra pings Fiend Hunter and itself to death in response. I then play Silumgar to steal Junktroller; you can't tuck Hydra in response because you just played Junktroller.
But what if you don't play Junktroller first, to deny me the opening of stealing it? Well, you kind of have to, since if you don't you open up a window where Hydra is dead, you've just played Junktroller, and I can remove it without letting you recur things due to summoning sickness.
By my reckoning, every line of play where you make the first move results in you losing. But what if you do nothing until I do something? Let's see how that plays out.
My best proactive play is Silumgar to an empty board on turn 6. What do you do next?
- Play Hydra: I use Fleshbag to make you sacrifice it. Later on, you play Junktroller and I exile it with Fiend Hunter.
- Play Hydra and Tinder Wall with open mana: I can't remove both creatures without giving you Junktroller unopposed later, so I play nothing. You play Junktroller. Once Junktroller doesn't have summoning sickness, I can't meaningfully interact with your board position anymore. The critical turn is when you have 11 mana, which allows you to ping Silumgar to death, sac Hydra to Fading, tuck and redraw it, and replay it with open mana. This happens before Silumgar kills you, and I lose from that position.
So I don't have a proactive line of play where I win either. End result is that we have a staring contest instead of playing Magic.
creatures only is an interesting format. this takes it even further.
a lot of defensive cards this week. i expected more people to go aggro.
e.g. Vile Aggregate is legal, but Tarmogoyf is not. Char Rumbler is legal, Aetherling is not. Giant Spider is legal, Hidden Spider is not. Shapeshifter is legal, Sutured Ghoul is not. Yavimaya Kavu is not legal.
Deck Size: 3
Land Rule: Basic Land Rule (7.3a, below)
Additional Banned list: Land Rule Banned list (please remember to check Land Rule and regular PHM Banned Lists, which are shown in the spoiler below)
The Entries
1Artscrafter : Esper Control
Fleshbag Marauder / Fiend Hunter / Dragonlord Silumgar
removes some creatures, steal the best one. solid plan.
2HerziQuerzi : Smoke and Mirrors
Fog Bank / Fiend Hunter / Sakashima the Impostor
another solid plan. sakashima is neat.
3Madmanquail : time of the true hunter
True-Name Nemesis / Fiend Hunter / Time Elemental
time elemental seems amazing.
4Mogg : decent
Fiend Hunter / Greater Gargadon / Titania, Protector of Argoth
only one removal spell, but some solid token generation
5piato : monowhite humans
Fiend Hunter / Magus of the Disk / Angelic Overseer
great synergy. hard to beat.
6SeeNamedPerson : hive of slaughter
Hornet Nest / Flametongue Kavu / Mogis, God of Slaughter
thats a lot of hornets yo.
7tidalslimshady : sligh
Goblin Artillery / Acolyte of the Inferno / Char-Rumbler
theres the aggro deck i was expecting. should shock and awe some peeps.
8tomsloger : forever pings
tinder wall / junktroller / ancient hydra
yall know i love recursion. no idea if this is good, but it sure does do a lot of stuff.
The Grid
X| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1| X 0 6 0 2 0 6 2 | 16 | 229
2| 6 X 0 0 2 0 2 0 | 10 | 143
3| 0 6 X 0 3 6 6 6 | 26 | 371
4| 6 6 6 X 6 6 6 6 | 42 | 600
5| 2 2 3 0 X 6 6 0 | 18 | 257
6| 6 6 0 0 0 X 6 0 | 18 | 257
7| 0 2 0 0 0 0 X 0 | 02 | 029
8| 2 6 0 0 6 6 6 X | 26 | 371
1. Overview
2. Game Rules
3. Deck Construction Rules
4. Entry
5. Perfect Hand Magic League
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 online forum. To play the game, each player secretly chooses a specified number of Magic cards which form that player's 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 theoretical player of each hand employs the strategy that will maximize 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 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 – Deck Composition.
2. Game Rules
2.1. Except for the changes described in these rules, games follow the rules for a normal game 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. A cost or effect that would produce a random result produces the result that least benefits the player who paid that cost or 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 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 could enable that player 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:
Ignore this rule in the following cases:
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.
4.3. A player may name his or her hand. If that player doesn't, then the PHM moderator may name it. The PHM moderator may also rename a player's hand at his or discretion.
5. Perfect Hand Magic League
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 results 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.
7. Variant Format Rules
7.1. Perfect Hand Magic has been played with hands containing between one and seven cards. Additionally, the Game Rules and Deck 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.
7.3. Land Rule Variant.
7.4. Sanctioned Magic Format Variant.
7.5. Life Rule (LF).
7.6. Backbuild.
7.7. Bonus Points.
PHM Banned List
The following cards are automatically banned in all Perfect Hand Magic League rounds unless otherwise specified by the round rules. Each round may have an additional banned list that extends beyond, but always includes, these cards.
Acceleration
Channel
Fastbond
Flash
Show and Tell
Disruption
Pact of Negation
Chancellor of the Annex
Force of Will
Leyline of Anticipation
Trinisphere
Lands
Ghost Quarter
Strip Mine
Wasteland
Win Conditions
Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
Barren Glory
Laboratory Maniac
Magus of the Moon
Meddling Mage
The Rack
Vampire Hexmage
Land Rule Banned List
"Land Rule" is the most common variant for PHM, and thus a separate ban list has been developed to allow for easier moderation. The following cards are banned in Perfect Hand Magic League rounds when a Land Rule is used. There will be a reminder of this on the round rules.
Acceleration
Black Lotus
Disruption
Balancing Act
Energy Field
Time Walk
Win Conditions
Beacon of Creation
Maralen of the Mornsong
Nezumi Shortfang
Red Sun's Zenith
White Sun's Zenith
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4| 6 6 6 X 6 6 6 6 | 42 | 600
1: 6-0: Very little pressure, so I bide my time and make a huge token force in one turn.
2: 6-0: Too many tokens.
3: 6-0: Hunter + Gargadon permanently exiles the Elemental. Tokens + Titania + Gargadon overwhelm True-Name Nemesis + Fiend Hunter.
5: 6-0: Hunter + Gargadon permanently exiles Magus or Magus is too late to matter. Tokens overwhelm the opposition.
6: 6-0: Hunter + Gargadon permanently exiles Nest. Tokens win.
7: 6-0: Hunter + a bunch of tokens.
8: 6-0: Hydra comes down t4 to maintain access to self-ping, which is too late. I make a bunch of tokens.
BWTeysa, Orzhov Scion
GWRhys the Redeemed
GUKruphix, God of Horizons
GRXenagos, God of Revels
GThrun, the Last Troll
GStompy
Results for:
1 Artscrafter : Esper Control
Fleshbag Marauder / Fiend Hunter / Dragonlord Silumgar
X| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 |
4| X 0 6 0 2 0 6 2 | 16 |
2HerziQuerzi : Smoke and Mirrors
Fog Bank / Fiend Hunter / Sakashima the Impostor
0-6
This is discussed in depth below.
3Madmanquail : time of the true hunter
True-Name Nemesis / Fiend Hunter / Time Elemental
6-0
Optimal line of play I see is that you drop Time Elemental first, we trade volleys of Fiend Hunter, and I wind up with Silumgar stealing your Fiend Hunter vs. your TNN. Race math works out in my favor from there.
4Mogg : decent
Fiend Hunter / Greater Gargadon / Titania, Protector of Argoth
0-6
Can't stop you from making 25 power worth of tokens on turn 5. How do you find these things?
5piato : monowhite humans
Fiend Hunter / Magus of the Disk / Angelic Overseer
2-2
Option 1: Magus -> Fleshbag makes you sac it -> Overseer -> Silumgar steals it -> Fiend Hunter exiles Silumgar -> Fiend Hunter exiles Fiend Hunter, returns Silumgar, steals Overseer again.
Option 2: 5 does nothing until 1 does something. Silumgar -> Magus -> Fleshbag -> Fiend Hunter -> Fiend Hunter -> Overseer. Clogged board state.
6SeeNamedPerson : hive of slaughter
Hornet Nest / Flametongue Kavu / Mogis, God of Slaughter
0-6
Your best move is to wait until turn 7 when you can play Nest and FTK on the same turn. At that point I can't remove enough tokens to be able to get through and Mogis triggers get there.
7tidalslimshady : sligh
Goblin Artillery / Acolyte of the Inferno / Char-Rumbler
6-0
Aggro runs into removal wall.
8tomsloger : forever pings
tinder wall / junktroller / ancient hydra
2-2
Bunch of lines of play here. 8's best strategy seems to be to play nothing initially. 1 can play nothing too, but that's obviously a draw. If 1 commits Silumgar to an empty table, 8 eventually gets in Hydra to kill it... but 8 still can't play its other cards because 1 will remove them. Still a draw.
This is why I shouldn't try to build something last minute at midnight :/
V1 0-6 I can't beat removal very well
V2 0-6 hey look more removal
V3 0-6 (removal)
V4 0-6 removal oh and tokens
V5 0-6 infinite removal
V6 0-6 to much pain for me to try And control
V7 do I win here?
V8 0-6 t5 board wiped basically
Fog Bank / Fiend Hunter / Sakashima the Impostor
2 | 6 X 0 0 2 0 2 0 | 10
X
2v3 - No matter what I do, your True-Name will race me. 0-6
2v4 - No way to deal with the tokens. 0-6
2v5 - My Fiend Hunter + Sakashima can get rid of your Fiend Hunter + Magus, then my Fog Bank can block your Overseer, and your Overseer can block+kill my 2x Hunters. 2-2
2v6 - No response to Mogis. 0-6
2v7 - Fog Bank blocks Char-Rumbler. Fiend Hunter removes Artillery or Acolyte (whichever drops first), then Sakashima copies Fiend Hunter to deal with the other. We draw. 2-2
2v8 - By holding onto Hydra until turn 10, you can play it and pop it in one go. If I try to play stuff before then, you can drop it early and kill my stuff. 0-6
So you don't drop Fiend Hunter on nothing, and then we're back to the stalemate.
On my play: I drop Sakashima turn 4 copying nothing. You drop Fiend Hunter targeting her. I drop Fiend Hunter targeting yours. Sakashima comes back, still copying nothing. You can't cast Silumgar the following turn so I end up having the mana to bounce her. Or:
On my play: I drop Sakashima turn 4 copying nothing. You wait for Silumgar. I bounce in response, then copy Silumgar. You drop Fiend Hunter, exile Sakashima, and regain Silumgar. I drop Fiend Hunter, exile your Fiend Hunter, regain Sakashima copying Silumgar, gain control of Silumgar.
On my draw however your line is correct and we draw. End result is 4-1.
...I think that means you 6-0 this, actually. Not seeing a play that gets around Sakashima opener into tactical waiting.
(Also, pretty sure Sakashima's actually a dude.)
tinder wall / junktroller / ancient hydra
Fleshbag Marauder / Fiend Hunter / Dragonlord Silumgar
listed 2-2, suggested 6-0
tinder wall is fleshbag protection instead of acceleration in this matchup
if fiend hunter tries to exile junktroller, hydra kills it.
if it tries to take hydra, hydra pings itself so i can recycle it.
silumgar is even worse, because taking the hydra doesnt last forever.
2HerziQuerzi : Smoke and Mirrors
Fog Bank / Fiend Hunter / Sakashima the Impostor
6-0
3Madmanquail : time of the true hunter
True-Name Nemesis / Fiend Hunter / Time Elemental
0-6 tnn is too fast a clock for me to do my loopy games through disruption.
4Mogg : decent
Fiend Hunter / Greater Gargadon / Titania, Protector of Argoth
0-6 exile trick with gargs is neat
5piato : monowhite humans
Fiend Hunter / Magus of the Disk / Angelic Overseer
6-0 steadily machine gun
6SeeNamedPerson : hive of slaughter
Hornet Nest / Flametongue Kavu / Mogis, God of Slaughter
6-0 its a race with mogis, wich i think i win by pinging 4 times, then saccing hydra to mogis, redrawing and recasting.
7tidalslimshady : sligh
Goblin Artillery / Acolyte of the Inferno / Char-Rumbler
6-0 junktroller as a blocker helps a lot.
If you are on the play and you play everything out, you're putting Hydra down on turn 6 so you can have it ping itself if needed without using Tinder Wall to do it. On the following turn, I play Silumgar and steal Junktroller. You untap and respond to the Fading trigger by pinging Silumgar 5 times, killing it and regaining Junktroller. Hydra is sacrificed when its Fading trigger resolves. You pass the turn (unable to recycle Hydra yet due to summoning sickness on Junktroller.) I then play Fiend Hunter and Fleshbag to remove your two creatures, leaving you with nothing.
But what if you wait until you have enough mana to use all of the Hydra pings immediately? As noted above, you can't play Wall and Junktroller and pass to me in the late game, so you have to wait until turn 15 and play everything at once to get this to work. On my turn, I play Fiend Hunter targeting Hydra. Hydra pings Fiend Hunter and itself to death in response. I then play Silumgar to steal Junktroller; you can't tuck Hydra in response because you just played Junktroller.
But what if you don't play Junktroller first, to deny me the opening of stealing it? Well, you kind of have to, since if you don't you open up a window where Hydra is dead, you've just played Junktroller, and I can remove it without letting you recur things due to summoning sickness.
By my reckoning, every line of play where you make the first move results in you losing. But what if you do nothing until I do something? Let's see how that plays out.
My best proactive play is Silumgar to an empty board on turn 6. What do you do next?
- Play Hydra: I use Fleshbag to make you sacrifice it. Later on, you play Junktroller and I exile it with Fiend Hunter.
- Play Hydra and Tinder Wall with open mana: I can't remove both creatures without giving you Junktroller unopposed later, so I play nothing. You play Junktroller. Once Junktroller doesn't have summoning sickness, I can't meaningfully interact with your board position anymore. The critical turn is when you have 11 mana, which allows you to ping Silumgar to death, sac Hydra to Fading, tuck and redraw it, and replay it with open mana. This happens before Silumgar kills you, and I lose from that position.
So I don't have a proactive line of play where I win either. End result is that we have a staring contest instead of playing Magic.
1| X 0 6 0 2 0 6 2 | 16 | 229
2| 6 X 0 0 2 0 2 0 | 10 | 143
3| 0 6 X 0 3 6 6 6 | 26 | 371
4| 6 6 6 X 6 6 6 6 | 42 | 600
5| 2 2 3 0 X 6 6 0 | 18 | 257
6| 6 6 0 0 0 X 6 0 | 18 | 257
7| 0 2 0 0 0 0 X 0 | 02 | 029
8| 2 6 0 0 6 6 6 X | 26 | 371
3-5: 3-3
3 plays first.
3: 3, time
5: 3, hunter (time)
3: 4, hunter (hunter)
5: 4, magus
3: 5, bounce magus
5: 19, 5, magus
3: 6, bounce magus
5: 18, 6, magus
3: 7, bounce magus, tnn
5: 17, 7, magus
3: 8, bounce magus
5: 13, 8, magus
3: 9, bounce magus
5: 9, 9, magus, angel
tnn wins the race against angel.
5 plays first.
3: 3, time
5: 4, magus
3: 4, bounce magus
5: 5, magus
3: 5, bounce magus
5: 6, magus
3: 6, hunter (magus), tnn
5: 7, hunter (hunter)
3: 7, bounce hunter, hunter (magus)
5: 17, 8, hunter (hunter), Angel
from this point, angel is always safe and wins the race against tnn.
5-6: 6-0: hunter exiles nest, ftk kills hunter, magus destroys everything, overseer races Mogis. If t5 Mogis leads, then t8 hunter + angel, nest + ftk, magus, 2 damage from tokens, magus wipes the board, angel wins t12 before mogis can win t14.
Disputed Results:
1-8: (2-2 / 0-6): 2-2 (I'm going with the most recent analysis)
2-7: (2-2 / 0-6): 2-2 (I'm going with the more in-depth analysis)
Mogg wins.
BWTeysa, Orzhov Scion
GWRhys the Redeemed
GUKruphix, God of Horizons
GRXenagos, God of Revels
GThrun, the Last Troll
GStompy
Mogg244 473 XXX 600 | 1317
Artscrafter311 273 400 229 | 1213
tomsloger133 300 400 371 | 1204
WhammeWhamme600 400 171 XXX | 1171
Madmanquail244 145 343 371 | 1103
SeeNamedPersonXXX 227 543 257 | 1027
HerziQuerzi111 345 257 143 | 0856
NewHJ222 364 114 XXX | 0700
piato400 XXX XXX 257 | 0657
tidalslimshadyXXX 455 XXX 029 | 0484
nerdyjoe333 000 XXX XXX | 0333
Rush_ClasicXXX 291 029 XXX | 0320
tixxon289 XXX XXX XXX | 0289
bubblecat2XXX 236 XXX XXX | 0236
Mogg wins with an average score of 329*.
*439 if only the rounds that I played are counted.
BWTeysa, Orzhov Scion
GWRhys the Redeemed
GUKruphix, God of Horizons
GRXenagos, God of Revels
GThrun, the Last Troll
GStompy