This thread contains the results for week 2 of All Blind Tournament #15 and is the start of week 3 of ABT#15.
Week 2 of ABT#15
This round was 2CB ALR simplicity.
leaving maralen off the banlist was an oversight, but it actually made for an extremely interesting format. i like everyones answers, and those of us who just ignored it, and those of us who just went with it.
someone guessed that we would all play maralen answers and noone would play maralen, but that didnt end up happening. i do think it may be time to add her to the permaban list. shes always either unplayable or broken. thoughts?
The Entries
1 tomsloger :: bring it on maralen of the mornsong / black lotus
when you moderate, you dont get to delve into the format. especially when you dont really think about it before you post it. so, as MyNameIsFourteen said, obvious deck is obvious
2 Feyd_Ruin :: This is a sniper shot. Black Lotus / student of warfare
i like that this beats maralen and is still strong against other decks. though not the other decks that got submitted...
3 WhammWhamme :: legend-wait for it Karakas / Mangara of Corondor
this deck falls down against burn, and theres alot of burn
4 benbuzz790 :: the devil is in the details Esper Charm / Devil's Play
why not rsz? but ill always love esper charm
8 Personman :: walking on the sun Path to Exile / Red Sun's Zenith
this is the subtle ways maralen warps the format. normally, rsz would be enough removal.
Blind Magic is an online Magic format played here on the forums. Players play with an extremely limited deck size, such as 3 cards. Players begin with their entire deck (ie: those three cards) in hand and have no library (players don't lose when they fail to draw a card because of this). Due to the extremely limited number of play options given with their small deck size, games are calculated, rather then played, with an absolute determined winner (or a tie). Each player plays a match of two games against each other player who submitted - once going first, and once going second. Wins, losses, and ties for each of those two games are calculated by the moderator and players. The actual fun of the game comes from trying to decide which cards you will be playing.
What is the All Blind Tournament?
The All Blind Tournament is a four-week XCB tournament, which spans all card blind formats and embraces a progressive anti-metagame. For each week of the four-week tournament, a new XCB format is announced for players to enter. Players compete for points (similiar to the PotM points for previous XCB games) each round. At the end of the four-week tournament, the player who has accumulated the most points over the four weeks wins the tournament, and receives a real-world prize.
Basic Rules of All Blind Tournament
Below lies the rules of ABT written in laymen's terms for ease of understanding.
While a comprehensive rule system exists, new players and quick glances are best left for this basic explanation.
Overview
The All Blind Tournament (ABT) is a Magic tournament that consists of four rounds of X Card Blind (XCB), run entirely within this forum. To compete, entrants submit decks containing X cards which are played against each other. Scoring assumes optimal play, without randomness or concealed information.
Deck Construction Rules
1. A deck must contain exactly X cards.
2. A deck may contain any number of copies of any Vintage-legal card, but can't contain any cards on the ABT Banned List.
3. A player's deck must not enable that player to win the game before an opponent's second turn.
4. A player's deck must not enable that player to force an opponent to lose any cards in his or her hand before an opponent's second turn.
5. A player's deck must enable that player to win the game.
Deck Submission Rules
6. An entrant submits his or her deck to the ABT moderator by private message (pm).
Playing the Decks
7. Entrants don't actually play their decks, because game results can be determined theoretically.
8. Each player starts the game with the cards in his or her deck in his or her hand.
9. A player doesn't lose the game as a result of being unable to draw a card.
10. A random effect resolves in favor of the opponent of the owner of that effect.
11. Players know all information that would normally be concealed from them.
12. Each player plays one two-game match against each other player, and each player is the starting player once per match.
Points
13. The entrant with the most points in a round is the round winner. For each match, an entrant earns 3 points per game win and 1 point per drawn game. However, an entrant earns only 2 points for a split match (each player wins a game).
14. The entrant with the most points in the four rounds comprising the ABT is the tournament winner.
Extra Rules
15. Some optional rules may be used; see Optional Rules.
16. The Basic Rules don't cover every issue. For in-depth rules, see Comprehensive Rules.
Optional Rules
Land Rule
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.
Expanded Land Rule
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.
Alternative Land Rule
If a player would draw a card from an empty library, that player puts a basic land card 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.
Sanctioned Magic Format
A deck may contain only cards contained in sets legal in the specified format.
Counter Rule
Until each player has completed two turns, each player ignores any part of an effect of a source an opponent owns that would counter a spell that player controls.
Life Rule
If neither player would win otherwise, then the player who maintains the higher life total wins the game. Determine whether a deck enables the player of that deck to win the game as though this rule didn't exist.
Special Format
Other rules are specified.
XCB Comprehensive Rules
Below lies the comprehensive rules system for the ABT.
Rules are written for precision and game clarification. They are not written for ease of reading.
Game Rules
1.1. There are many versions of XCB. Each version has a name, of the form XCB 'Land Rule' 'Sanctioned Magic Format' 'Special Format' '(Bonus)' 'Counter Rule' 'Life Rule'.
1.1a. X is a number.
1.1b. 'Land Rule' can be LR, ELR, ALR, or nothing. LR indicates that the basic land rule is in effect, ELR indicates that the expanded land rule is in effect, and ALR indicates that the alternative land rule is in effect (see Rule 1.7).
1.1c. 'Sanctioned Magic Format' can be the name of a sanctioned Magic constructed format or nothing. The name of a format indicates that only cards contained in sets legal in that format may be submitted. This is an exception to rule 2.3c.
1.1d. 'Special Format' can be the name of at least one special format or nothing. The name of a special format indicates that the special format in effect (see Rule 1.8).
1.1e. 'Bonus' can be (Bonus) or nothing. (Bonus) modifies the preceding special format, indicating that an entrant must not follow the rules of that format, but that entrant will earn a specified number of bonus points if he or she does (see Rule 2.4f).
1.1f. 'Counter Rule' can be C or nothing. C indicates that the counter rule is in effect (see Rule 1.9).
1.1g. 'Life Rule' can be LF, AL, or nothing. LF indicates that the life rule is in effect and AL indicates that the alternative life rule is in effect (see Rule 1.10).
1.2. Decks are not played, but are scored as though they were. The player of a deck is the entrant who submitted that deck.
1.3. Except for the changes described in these rules, games follow the rules for a normal game of Magic.
1.3a. Ignore any part of an instruction that isn't covered by these rules or the rules of Magic.
1.3b. Rules 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 (see Rule 2.3d).
1.4. An entrant's deck contains exactly X cards (see Rule 1.1).
1.4a. A player's opening hand contains the cards in his or her deck.
1.4b. Players don't draw hands or mulligan.
1.4c. Players don't have sideboards.
1.5. Players' libraries begin the game empty.
1.5a. A player doesn't lose the game as a result of being unable to draw a card.
1.6. A cost or effect that would produce a random result produces the result that least benefits the player who paid the cost or the owner of the source of the effect instead.
1.7. Some versions of XCB use a land rule.
1.7a. 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.
1.7b. This is the expanded 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.
1.7c. This is the alternative land rule (ALR). 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.
1.8. Some versions of XCB use a special format. A special format is an extra set of rules. These rules overwrite any other applicable rules. A non-comprehensive list of special formats is maintained here.
1.8a. Some special formats cause players to draw hands. The drawn cards become part of that player's opening hand.
1.8b. Some special formats generate continuous effects. Continuous effects generated by special formats are applied in the order those formats are listed in the XCB version name, before any other effects that could be applied in a layer.
1.8c. Some special formats require an entrant to make some number of decisions in addition to or instead of submitting a deck. An entrant's submission is that entrant's deck and any decisions that entrant makes. An entrant's submission must not violate rule 2.3 if all instances of the word 'deck' in that rule are replaced with 'submission'.
1.8d. Some special formats refer to decks that obtain or could obtain results. Saying that a deck obtains or could obtain a result means that the player of that deck obtains or could obtain that result in a game or match against another player (see Rule 1.11). If a deck obtains or could obtain a result against another deck, then the player of that deck obtains or could obtain that result against the player of the other deck.
1.9. Some versions of XCB use the counter rule.
1.9a. This is the counter rule (C). Until each player has completed two turns, each player ignores any part of an effect of a source an opponent owns that would counter a spell that player controls.
1.10. Some versions of XCB use a life rule.
1.10a. This is the life rule (LF). If neither player would win otherwise, then the player who maintains the higher life total wins the game. Determine whether a deck enables the player of that deck to win a match as though this rule didn't exist (see Rule 2.3b).
1.10b. This is the alternative life rule (AL). If neither player would win otherwise, then the player who maintains the higher life total wins the game.
1.11. Each player plays one match against each other player.
1.11a. Each match has two games.
1.11b. Each player is the starting player for one game in each match.
1.11c. Games are played with perfect information; players know the identities of face-down cards and cards in hidden zones, and players know which decisions have been made by other players.
1.11d. Games are played optimally. The best outcome for a player is to win the game and the worst outcome is to lose the game.
1.11e. 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.
1.11f. If a game would continue indefinitely, then the game is a draw.
Tournament Rules
2.1. Entrants compete in a competition.
2.1a. The shortest type of competition is a round. Typically, each round lasts one week.
2.1b. The ABT is a competition consisting of four rounds.
2.2. An entrant submits his or her deck to the ABT moderator.
2.2a. An entrant submits his or her deck by private message (pm).
2.2b. An entrant may submit multiple decks, but only the most recently submitted deck is counted.
2.2c. An illegal deck is not counted. At the moderator’s discretion, an illegal deck may be replaced by a similar deck – in which any cards causing that deck to be illegal have been removed or replaced.
2.2d. The moderator determines the result of each match. Entrants may challenge results, but not after the results of the first round of a new ABT has been posted, except at the moderator's discretion.
2.2e. An entrant may name his or her deck. If an entrant doesn't, then the moderator may name it.
2.3. Decks are subject to some restrictions.
2.3a. An entrant may not submit a deck that could enable the player of that deck to win the game or force any cards in an opponent's hand to change zones before an opponent's second turn. A card is forced to change zones if the owner of that card could make no sequence of decisions that would not result in either that card changing zones or that player losing the game before his or her second turn. Ignore this rule in the following cases:
i. All cards in an opponent's hand that would be forced to change zones would not be cast by that opponent and would enter the battlefield under that opponent's control. For example, a 4CB deck with two copies of Black Lotus could contain Stronghold Gambit but could not contain Wild Evocation.
ii. All cards in an opponent's hand that weren't there as a result of a cost or effect that opponent controlled that would be forced to change zones during the resolution of a spell or ability would be in that opponent's hand after that spell or ability resolved. For example, a 3CB deck could contain Timetwister and Black Lotus but an 8CB deck could not.
iii. Cards in an opponent's hand would be forced to change zones only if cards in that opponent's hand that started outside the game would cause that opponent's maximum hand size at the start of the game to be exceeded. For example, a 3CB LR deck could contain two copies of Ancestral Recall.
iv. The rule would be violated only in a game that existed as a result of an effect that resolved not before the specified turn or until each player had completed the specified number of turns that restarted the game or created a subgame. For example, a 2CB LR deck could contain Karn Liberated.
2.3b. An entrant may not submit a deck that wouldn't enable the player of that deck to win a match (see Rule 2.4d) against the player of at least one deck satisfying all rules.
2.3c. A deck may contain any number of copies of any card legal in Vintage (Type 1). Except as modified by a special format, all cards used in a game must be legal in Vintage.
2.3d. A deck may contain any number of copies of any card that will become legal in Vintage upon release of a set that's been revealed fully and officially since the start of the round.
2.3e. A deck may not contain any cards on the ABT Banned List.
2.4. Points determine round standings.
2.4a. Entrants are ranked – first to last – in order of decreasing number of points.
2.4b. For each match, an entrant earns 3 points per game win and 1 point per drawn game.
2.4c. The combined result of both games in a match is called a match result. Possible match results are: 6 – two wins, 4 – a win and a draw, 3 or 2 or S – a win and a loss, 2 – two draws, 1 – a draw and a loss, and 0 – two losses.
2.4d. Some match results are also denoted by names: two wins – match win, a win and a loss – split match, two draws – draw, and two losses – match loss. An entrant wins the match if he or she wins both games, splits the match if he or she wins a game and loses a game, draws a match if he or she draws both games, and loses the match if he or she loses both games.
2.4e. An entrant earns only 2 points for a split match. This is an exception to rule 2.4b.
2.4f. An entrant may earn a number of bonus points defined by a special format. An entrant earns these points in addition to any other points.
2.4g. A table of match results is posted at the end of each round. Its rows represent entrants and its columns represent those entrants' opponents. An entrant's total number of points is listed at the end of his or her row.
2.5. The entrant with the most tournament points over the course of the ABT is the tournament winner.
2.5a. Each round, an entrant receives tournament points equal to his or her average match result for that round multiplied by 100, rounded to the nearest integer or some number of decimal places chosen at the moderator's discretion. For example, an entrant scoring 6-6-6-6-X-0-0-0 in a round with 8 entrants receives 340 tournament points ((6 + 6 + 6 + 6) / (8 - 1) x 100).
2.5b. If two or more entrants would win the ABT, then each of those entrants competes in additional rounds specified by the moderator, until only one entrant has the most tournament points. Each additional round contains only the entrants who have the most tournament points. The moderator may specify a limit to the number of additional rounds.
3. Prize Rules
3.1. A prize shall be given to the tournament winner.
3.1a. The winner of the tournament shall be given the prize described within the tournament, or a suitable replacement upon the tournament's end.
3.1b. If the winner of the tournament has won two or more tournaments, then the highest ranked entrant who hasn't won two or more tournaments shall be given the prize instead.
3.1c. If the winner was a moderator for two or more rounds of the tournament, then the highest ranked entrant who wasn't the moderator for two or more rounds of that tournament shall be given the prize instead. This is to ensure fair play.
3.1d. An entrant may decline the prize. If he or she does, then that entrant may designate another entrant to receive the prize.
3.1e. Entrants under the age of 18 are ineligible for prizes, due to federal laws regarding the sharing of personal information of minors.
3.1f. In the event that a prize can't be given to an entrant, the moderator will do his best to find another suitable way to reward that entrant.
3.1g. No prize is 100% guaranteed, but is assumed upon a good faith basis. Let's face it, with international customs, weird laws, etc, we can't guarantee anything. We'll do our best.
3.2. As a prized tournament, special scoring rules and practices are in place.
3.2a. Entrants are responsible for their own scoring. Assistance will be given, especially to new entrants, but it is ultimately up to each entrant to ensure his or her scoring is completed and accurate.
3.2b. Incomplete scores are considered losses, even to both players in a match if necessary. This is to make sure a winner is determined at the end of a tournament.
3.2c. The moderator always has the final word regarding scores and rules. Entrants may question any scoring the moderator does, until the moderator says that a match's scoring is final.
3.2d. The moderator may, at his or her discretion, determine a match is too difficult to calculate and give it a tie score, or his or her best guess. Again, this is final.
3.2e. Once a winner has been announced as final, that entrant shall receive the prize, even if errors in scoring or points are shown later.
Permanently Banned Cards
The following cards are permanently banned in the All Blind Tournament.
Each round will have an additional banned list that extends beyond, but always includes, these cards.
The prize is another steam gift card. The steam gift card for the last tournament will go out once final standings have been calculated.
-
Player Standings
Previous standings will always be posted below the opening post of each week's thread.
Standings will be updated after the current week has been completed and score checking has finished.
8 Personman :: walking on the sun
Path to Exile / Red Sun's Zenith
vs
1 tomsloger :: bring it on
maralen of the mornsong / black lotus
3-3
2 Feyd_Ruin :: This is a sniper shot.
Black Lotus / student of warfare
6-0
3 WhammWhamme :: legend-wait for it
Karakas / Mangara of Corondor
6-0
4 benbuzz790 :: the devil is in the details
Esper Charm / Devil's Play 0-6, RSZ is a sorcery and gets discarded.
6-0, tomsloger points out that we are all silly and Esper Charm doesn't work. I am slowed by two turns but win t10, beating Devil's Play's t13.
5 aurorasparrow :: khaaaaaan
Black Lotus / Maralen of the Mornsong
3-3
6 Draco9 :: Anti-Maralen
Chancellor of the Forge / Pyrokinesis
6-0
7 MyNameIsFourteen :: Obvious Deck Is Obvious
3-3
9 Mogg :: fields of red
energy field / red sun's zenith
0-6
10 yarn :: forging the metagame
Chancellor of the Forge / Pyrokinesis
6-0
8 | 3 6 6 6 3 6 3 X 0 6 | 36 | 400
Oh yay, I love Originality Week! It was the last special format I ever did when I ran 2CB, and it was pretty darn cool.
4 vs. benbuzz: On the play, I can use Mangara as landkill for the draw (Devil's Play can't just ping me for 1 per turn like RSZ can). 1-4
6 vs. Draco9: We can kill each other's threats (and if he doesn't pitch Chancellor to Pyrokinesis, I can land-lock him(. 2-2
i think im missing something with these two. esper charm should win it for benbuzz since its instant speed. as soon as you exile a land, mangara is gone. or is there some way of keeping priority?
and vs draco/yarn, you cant actually land lock them forever since mangara doesnt have haste
i think im missing something with these two. esper charm should win it for benbuzz since its instant speed. as soon as you exile a land, mangara is gone. or is there some way of keeping priority?
and vs draco/yarn, you cant actually land lock them forever since mangara doesnt have haste
Okay, first of all, Landlock works because I can activate, bounce, and replay Mangara all on my turn (and then have it lose summoning sickness next turn).
Secondly, you're right about Esper Charm. For some reason I was having him play a mountain...
Devil's play because it beats discard and counterspells.
I lose to all the maralen decks and beat all the non-maralen decks, at least on the play. The only one that is close is the student of warfare deck. I lose to that one on the draw.
If I'm on the draw,
1a Lotus, plains, student, level up to 3
1b Swamp
2a Plains, level up to 5, swing for 3 (17/20)
2b Plains
3a Plains, level up to 8, swing for 8 (9/20)
3b Island, Esper charm to draw two cards, play a mountain
4a Attack for 8, (1/20)
4b, Mountain, Devil's play student for 4
...
22b, Devil's play for 20.
Except, this was ALR, not ER, so that doesn't work at all. If I'm on the play, I can kill the 4/4 before it kills me, but not on the draw.
Some facts of magic:
-Terror is an emotion which, when experienced, results in death.
-The pox was a disease notorious for having killed one-third, rounded up, of Europe’s population. Smallpox, on the other hand, killed only a single person.
-A person riding a horse cannot be stopped by foot soldiers, large animals, walls, archers, or even catapults.
6 Draco9 :: Anti-Maralen Chancellor of the Forge / Pyrokinesis
2-2 Great minds and all that. The kicker is that a token + Pyrokinesis breaks the Chancellor.
On turn 4 I play Mangara with Karakas untapped. On turn 5 in your EOT I can kill the token. If you pitch to kill Mangara then then it's a draw. If you don't... what can you do? I can bounce in response to Pyrokinesis, or I can kill the Chancellor in response to it's own ability going on the stack.
On turn 4 I play Mangara with Karakas untapped. On turn 5 in your EOT I can kill the token. If you pitch to kill Mangara then then it's a draw. If you don't... what can you do? I can bounce in response to Pyrokinesis, or I can kill the Chancellor in response to it's own ability going on the stack.
okay. i think this is really close.
y1 land, swing 1. 20-19
w1 land
y2 land, swing 1. 20-18
w2 land
y3 land, swing 1. 20-17
w3 land
y4 land, swing 1. 20-16
w4 karakas, mangara
y5 land, swing 1. 20-15
w5 land, exile token. mangara.
y6 land
w6 land
y7 land. attempt to pyrokinesis mangara at whammes end step.
w7 land. end step exile land in response to pyrokinesis
y8 land, chancellor makes 1 token. swing 1. 20-14
w8 mangara
y9 swing 6. 20-8.
and then whamm blocks the token and exiles chancellor. token hits once more. and mangara slowly wins.
i really enjoyed this round.
average tournament scores were pretty interesting.
punt to maralen: 341 (decks 4, 8, 9. total score 1022)
anti-maralen: 300 (decks 2, 3, 6, 10. total score 1200 even)
maralen decks: 200
edit 2: ive just realized something we seem to have missed.
with alternative land rule, you draw lands but dont have to play them.
i dont think esper charm works as well as benbuzz was hoping...
whamm, personman, and mogg can just skip their first two land drops and win. they can discard lands.
whamm still gets the lock, and rsz still outraces.
does that work?
oh, wow, good catch! It slows me down a bit, but it's 1 on t4, 3 on t3... 21 on t10, which beats Devil's Play's t13.
Amazing how even though the WHOLE POINT of a special round is to think about how it shakes up normal interactions, we all just assumed that discard worked like normal..
edit 2: ive just realized something we seem to have missed.
with alternative land rule, you draw lands but dont have to play them.
i dont think esper charm works as well as benbuzz was hoping...
whamm, personman, and mogg can just skip their first two land drops and win. they can discard lands.
whamm still gets the lock, and rsz still outraces.
does that work?
The funny thing is that I'm pretty sure I even considered discard at one point, before reaching this conclusion, and then I completely forgot about it when scoring. I believe I beat benbuzz790 6-0, then. Good catch.
Some facts of magic:
-Terror is an emotion which, when experienced, results in death.
-The pox was a disease notorious for having killed one-third, rounded up, of Europe’s population. Smallpox, on the other hand, killed only a single person.
-A person riding a horse cannot be stopped by foot soldiers, large animals, walls, archers, or even catapults.
On turn 4 I play Mangara with Karakas untapped. On turn 5 in your EOT I can kill the token. If you pitch to kill Mangara then then it's a draw. If you don't... what can you do? I can bounce in response to Pyrokinesis, or I can kill the Chancellor in response to it's own ability going on the stack.
Yeah, you're absolutely right. If you hold back Mangara until you have Karakas backup then I can't win so I'll pitch to burn him out. 2-2.
leaving maralen off the banlist was an oversight, but it actually made for an extremely interesting format. i like everyones answers, and those of us who just ignored it, and those of us who just went with it.
someone guessed that we would all play maralen answers and noone would play maralen, but that didnt end up happening. i do think it may be time to add her to the permaban list. shes always either unplayable or broken. thoughts?
I'm personally in favor of banning her. But for sake of argument, in a normal land rule round, Marlen seems like legit tech against Zenith/Beacon/Soldevi Digger/Volrath's Stonghold decks.
I'm personally in favor of banning her. But for sake of argument, in a normal land rule round, Marlen seems like legit tech against Zenith/Beacon/Soldevi Digger/Volrath's Stonghold decks.
She has no real effect on those even - they search out the card via her ability.
The only thing she can really do in non-ALR is stop miracle abuse. IE: She stops Wheel of Sun and Moon / Bonfire of the Damned - but even then she'd only 3-3 without something else backing her up. There are much better solutions available (and they see play).
I see no intrinsic value in her outside of ALR. I third the motion to ban her!
well, thats enough for me. another moderator can unban her if they want her.
to be fair, this was a very interesting round and i enjoyed it a lot. but since 70% of decks were either maralen or antimaralen, id say thats format warping.
This thread contains the results for week 2 of All Blind Tournament #15 and is the start of week 3 of ABT#15.
Week 2 of ABT#15 Next Round : Week 3 of ABT#15 Information
778 | 400 378 Mogg
733 | 222 511 Feyd_Ruin
644 | 200 444 Tomsloger
600 | 400 200 personman
511 | 200 311 aurorasparrow
467 | 311 156 yarn
444 | 311 133 draco9
400 | 200 200 mynameisfourteen
156 | 156 000 benbuzz790
133 | 000 133 plopfill
7 MyNameIsFourteen :: Obvious Deck Is Obvious
Black Lotus / Maralen of the Mornsong
(and also the other Maralen decks I guess)
maralen of the mornsong / black lotus
3-3 First hit wins.
2 Feyd_Ruin :: This is a sniper shot.
Black Lotus / student of warfare
0-6 Through the heart, and I'm too late.
3 WhammWhamme :: legend-wait for it
Karakas / Mangara of Corondor
0-6 Maralen is legendary :(.
4 benbuzz790 :: the devil is in the details
Esper Charm / Devil's Play
6-0 Unless I'm missing something, this also gets locked out.
5 aurorasparrow :: khaaaaaan
Black Lotus / Maralen of the Mornsong
3-3 First hit wins.
6 Draco9 :: Anti-Maralen
Chancellor of the Forge / Pyrokinesis
0-6 Unlike matter and anti-matter, anti-Maralen destroys Maralen while remaining intact itself.
8 Personman :: walking on the sun
Path to Exile / Red Sun's Zenith
3-3 PtE gets me on the play.
9 Mogg :: fields of red
energy field / red sun's zenith
6-0 Also also gets locked out.
10 yarn :: forging the metagame
Chancellor of the Forge / Pyrokinesis
0-6See above
maralen is legendary, so whamm's karakas locks us out.
should be 0-6
and personman only has a land for path on the play.
should be 3-3
so results for the maralen decks
1/5/7 | 3 0 0 6 3 0 X 3 6 0 | 18 | 200
Yep. Fixed.
Also, may I just say I'm quite excited for this week's format. Great idea.
2 | 6 X 0 3 6 0 6 0 0 0 | 20 | 222
I expected a strong field of Lotus & LED-Fed 4/4s.
Instead, there were none.
:/
No longer staff here.
Path to Exile / Red Sun's Zenith
vs
1 tomsloger :: bring it on
maralen of the mornsong / black lotus
3-3
2 Feyd_Ruin :: This is a sniper shot.
Black Lotus / student of warfare
6-0
3 WhammWhamme :: legend-wait for it
Karakas / Mangara of Corondor
6-0
4 benbuzz790 :: the devil is in the details
Esper Charm / Devil's Play
0-6, RSZ is a sorcery and gets discarded.6-0, tomsloger points out that we are all silly and Esper Charm doesn't work. I am slowed by two turns but win t10, beating Devil's Play's t13.
5 aurorasparrow :: khaaaaaan
Black Lotus / Maralen of the Mornsong
3-3
6 Draco9 :: Anti-Maralen
Chancellor of the Forge / Pyrokinesis
6-0
7 MyNameIsFourteen :: Obvious Deck Is Obvious
3-3
9 Mogg :: fields of red
energy field / red sun's zenith
0-6
10 yarn :: forging the metagame
Chancellor of the Forge / Pyrokinesis
6-0
8 | 3 6 6 6 3 6 3 X 0 6 | 36 | 400
Oh yay, I love Originality Week! It was the last special format I ever did when I ran 2CB, and it was pretty darn cool.
3 | 6 6 X 1 6 2 6 0 0 2 | 29 |
1 vs. tomsloger: Karakas beats Maralen. 6-0
2 vs. Feyd_Ruin
T1: Plains, Blotus, Student + 3 counters.
T1: Karakas
T2: Plains, +2 Counters, swing for 3 (17)
T2: Plains
T3: Plains, +3 Counters, swing for 8 (9)
T3: Plains, Mangara
T4: Swing for 8 (1)
T4: Mangara away Student.
6-0
4 vs. benbuzz: On the play, I can use Mangara as landkill for the draw (Devil's Play can't just ping me for 1 per turn like RSZ can). 1-4
5 vs. aurorasparrow: Still running Karakas. 6-0
6 vs. Draco9: We can kill each other's threats (and if he doesn't pitch Chancellor to Pyrokinesis, I can land-lock him(. 2-2
7 vs. MyNameIsFourteen: Still running Karakas. 6-0
8 vs. Personman: I got nothin'. 0-6
9 vs. Mogg: I got nothin'. 0-6
10 vs. yarn: See deck 6. 2-2
i think im missing something with these two. esper charm should win it for benbuzz since its instant speed. as soon as you exile a land, mangara is gone. or is there some way of keeping priority?
and vs draco/yarn, you cant actually land lock them forever since mangara doesnt have haste
9| 0 6 6 0 0 6 0 6 X 6 | 30
I lose to benbuzz790's deck, with Esper Charm discarding RSZ at instant speed. Otherwise, 6-0 against non-Maralen and 0-6 against Maralen.
BWTeysa, Orzhov Scion
GWRhys the Redeemed
GUKruphix, God of Horizons
GRXenagos, God of Revels
GThrun, the Last Troll
GStompy
Okay, first of all, Landlock works because I can activate, bounce, and replay Mangara all on my turn (and then have it lose summoning sickness next turn).
Secondly, you're right about Esper Charm. For some reason I was having him play a mountain...
I lose to all the maralen decks and beat all the non-maralen decks, at least on the play. The only one that is close is the student of warfare deck. I lose to that one on the draw.
If I'm on the draw,
1a Lotus, plains, student, level up to 3
1b Swamp
2a Plains, level up to 5, swing for 3 (17/20)
2b Plains
3a Plains, level up to 8, swing for 8 (9/20)
3b Island, Esper charm to draw two cards, play a mountain
4a Attack for 8, (1/20)
4b, Mountain, Devil's play student for 4
...
22b, Devil's play for 20.
Except, this was ALR, not ER, so that doesn't work at all. If I'm on the play, I can kill the 4/4 before it kills me, but not on the draw.
X| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 |
9| 0 2 6 X 0 6 0 6 6 6 | 32
-Terror is an emotion which, when experienced, results in death.
-The pox was a disease notorious for having killed one-third, rounded up, of Europe’s population. Smallpox, on the other hand, killed only a single person.
-A person riding a horse cannot be stopped by foot soldiers, large animals, walls, archers, or even catapults.
More facts of magic
10 yarn :: forging the metagame
Chancellor of the Forge / Pyrokinesis
(and Draco I guess)
maralen of the mornsong / black lotus
6-0 Anti-Maralen wins.
2 Feyd_Ruin :: This is a sniper shot.
Black Lotus / student of warfare
6-0 Pretty neat deck, though the burn wins it for me.
3 WhammWhamme :: legend-wait for it
Karakas / Mangara of Corondor
2-2 Mangara forces a draw.
4 benbuzz790 :: the devil is in the details
Esper Charm / Devil's Play
0-6 Esper charm is sweet, Devil's Play having flashback is nice.
5 aurorasparrow :: khaaaaaan
Black Lotus / Maralen of the Mornsong
6-0 More burning hot Maralens.
6 Draco9 :: Anti-Maralen
Chancellor of the Forge / Pyrokinesis
2-2 Great minds and all that. The kicker is that a token + Pyrokinesis breaks the Chancellor.
7 MyNameIsFourteen :: Obvious Deck Is Obvious
Black Lotus / Maralen of the Mornsong
6-0 And again.
8 Personman :: walking on the sun
Path to Exile / Red Sun's Zenith
0-6 I can't beatdown fast enough.
9 Mogg :: fields of red
energy field / red sun's zenith
0-6 Wicked.
0 | 6 6 2 0 6 2 6 0 0 X | 30
@WhammWhamme please check my working.
I see no real downside to this.
okay. i think this is really close.
w1 land
y2 land, swing 1. 20-18
w2 land
y3 land, swing 1. 20-17
w3 land
y4 land, swing 1. 20-16
w4 karakas, mangara
y5 land, swing 1. 20-15
w5 land, exile token. mangara.
y6 land
w6 land
y7 land. attempt to pyrokinesis mangara at whammes end step.
w7 land. end step exile land in response to pyrokinesis
y8 land, chancellor makes 1 token. swing 1. 20-14
w8 mangara
y9 swing 6. 20-8.
and then whamm blocks the token and exiles chancellor. token hits once more. and mangara slowly wins.
edit: grid, standings, weekly round statistics complete.
i really enjoyed this round.
average tournament scores were pretty interesting.
punt to maralen: 341 (decks 4, 8, 9. total score 1022)
anti-maralen: 300 (decks 2, 3, 6, 10. total score 1200 even)
maralen decks: 200
edit 2: ive just realized something we seem to have missed.
with alternative land rule, you draw lands but dont have to play them.
i dont think esper charm works as well as benbuzz was hoping...
whamm, personman, and mogg can just skip their first two land drops and win. they can discard lands.
whamm still gets the lock, and rsz still outraces.
does that work?
Amazing how even though the WHOLE POINT of a special round is to think about how it shakes up normal interactions, we all just assumed that discard worked like normal..
The funny thing is that I'm pretty sure I even considered discard at one point, before reaching this conclusion, and then I completely forgot about it when scoring. I believe I beat benbuzz790 6-0, then. Good catch.
BWTeysa, Orzhov Scion
GWRhys the Redeemed
GUKruphix, God of Horizons
GRXenagos, God of Revels
GThrun, the Last Troll
GStompy
-Terror is an emotion which, when experienced, results in death.
-The pox was a disease notorious for having killed one-third, rounded up, of Europe’s population. Smallpox, on the other hand, killed only a single person.
-A person riding a horse cannot be stopped by foot soldiers, large animals, walls, archers, or even catapults.
More facts of magic
Yeah, you're absolutely right. If you hold back Mangara until you have Karakas backup then I can't win so I'll pitch to burn him out. 2-2.
She has no real effect on those even - they search out the card via her ability.
The only thing she can really do in non-ALR is stop miracle abuse. IE: She stops Wheel of Sun and Moon / Bonfire of the Damned - but even then she'd only 3-3 without something else backing her up. There are much better solutions available (and they see play).
I see no intrinsic value in her outside of ALR. I third the motion to ban her!
No longer staff here.
to be fair, this was a very interesting round and i enjoyed it a lot. but since 70% of decks were either maralen or antimaralen, id say thats format warping.