This thread contains the results for week 4 of All Blind Tournament #20 and is the start of ABT#21. Week 4 of ABT#20
This round was '2CB LR'.
very basic week, but i see a lot of unique decks.
this almost got posted last night from my phone, but i thought yall would enjoy formatting.
The Entries
1tomsloger : fulfillment from within beast within / elixir of immortality
ive looked at builds like this before. always wanted to play it.
The Results tomsloger wins week 4!
[Spoiler=Weekly Rankings & Tournament Points] TPntsplayer
457 tomsloger
171 reyemile
200 bronYAur
243 aurorasparrow
114 mogg
429 knoboddi
229 piato
371 feyd_ruin [/Spoiler]
[Spoiler=Weekly Round Statistics]
there were unique cards out of submitted
the repeated cards were:
Next Round : Week 1 of ABT#21
2CB Land Hand
Format Rules
Deck size: 2 cards
Land Rule: none Special Rules:
Each player begins the game with a hand of their 2 chosen cards, plains, island, swamp, mountain, forest. Submit decks to tomsloger
format written by feyd, chosen by reyemile Additional Ban List
What is Blind Magic?
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.[spoiler=All Blind Tournament Basic Rules]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
[spoiler] Basic 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.
Extra 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.
Draw 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.
[/spoiler][/spoiler]
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.[spoiler=XCB Comprehensive Rules] 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 BLR, ELR, DLR, or nothing. BLR indicates that the basic land rule is in effect, ELR indicates that the extra land rule is in effect, and DLR indicates that the draw 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 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.
1.7c. This is the draw 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.
[/spoiler]
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.[spoiler=Permanently Banned Cards]Acceleration Channel Fastbond Flash Show and Tell
Land Rule Banned Cards
The following cards are often worth banning when a Land Rule is used.
They are included here for reference.[spoiler=Land Rule Banned Cards]Acceleration Black Lotus
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.
3bronYAur : ROCK Thrun, the Last Troll / Chainer's Edict
6-0 i cant kill thrun, and you get two of my beasts. but the life gain makes me win the race (i think)
5mogg : scissors
Path to Exile / Stromgald Crusader
X| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
5| 0 2 0 3 X 0 4 0 | 8
2-5: 2-2: Liliana to discard Path discards Mayor.
3-5: 6-0: Edict removes Crusader and Path doesn't remove Thrun.
4-5: 3-3: Crusader beats Pride if it resolves.
5-6: 0-6: Valakut shoots Knight.
5-8: 0-6: Scepter deals 20 damage by turn 9, while gaining life. Knight isn't fast enough to race.
I chose Path over Shrieking Affliction because I thought being able to deal with combo decks and turn two fatties would be more relevant than the secondary win condition. I think that choice cost me 22 points. I did not understand this format.
1. Beats, Destruction, and Life Gain.. OH MY! 0-6
2. Shoot mayor, [token?], lilly, face. 6-0
3. Outrace Thrun. 6-0
4. On play: Kill tokens for life, then race. Draw: Denial'd. 3-3
5. Race. 6-0
6. 3 net life loss per turn for each of us. I hit first. 6-0
7. Slowroll to Guildmage + 6 to 2xCounter. I'm 1 turn shy. 0-6
8. x
1: There was a beast within valakut 0-6
2: I'm just fast enough that even on the draw I can kill mayor & friends before Lili can ult / I die 6-0
3: Valakut is two turns faster than thrun 6-0
4: I have nothing to counter and I win the race 6-0
5: I kill crusader and then mogg 6-0
7: I have no spells, just lava 6-0
8: This is a race I cannot win 0-6
4-1 aurorasparrow can force a draw by countering mayor on the play. but not on the draw.
updating grid. pending any changes, congrats to feyd for the month win and knoboddi and i on the week.
edit: actually...
i think i 2-2 piato.
would love somebody to check my reasoning...
p1 island
t1 forest, elixir
p2 island, guildmage
t2 forest
p3 island, swing 2. 20-18
t3 forest
p4 on your turn, i beast within, targetting guildmage.
>if you mana drain, swing 2, then:
t4 activate elixir on my upkeep. redraw elixir. play it.
p5 swing 2. 20-21
t5 redraw beast within. destroy guildmage on your turn. then start my engine, gain a bunch of life, and overwhelm. 6-0
>if you dont mana drain:
t4 upkeep activate elixir. 20-23. redraw elixir. cast it. now a new thing to maybe mana drain.
if you do:
i redraw beast within the next turn. beast within my own land and trade beast tokens. 2-2.
if you dont:
well, you do. countering beast within doesnt do any good when i can get it back.
so way back at the beginning.
piato must not cast guildmage until it can be protected properly.
so if you wait til turn 7 when you can cast it and keep up mana drain and the ability to counter an elixir activation.
p4 beast within my own forest on your eot.
t4 upkeep elixir. redraw forest. swing 3. 25-17
p5 can cast guildmage safely.
t5 redraw elixir. if you mana drain, i can beast within guildmage next turn to draw. we already got there, so you play to win. no counter. tap the beast token.
p6 swing 2. 23-17
t6 forest (5)
p7 on your turn i beast within targetting guildmage.
>if you dont counter, we both have 1 beast token and i get atleast one activation out of elixir for one more beast token. 6-0
>if you do counter, i activate elixir right away, and you do have the mana to counter with guildmage.
but elixir doesnt sacrifice. it just taps. and ill be able to activate it on my turn without resistance
if theres a line in which piato waits even longer to cast guildmage, i dont see it
those are all with me on the draw. should be the same on the play though.
i wonder sometimes the scoring of isochron vs wheel.
I would have tied your matchup, given that I could always have killed the beast token, and you could always out lifegain the helix.
I would have also 4-1'd piato:
Play: Helix races with wheel getting through.
Draw: Drain@Wheel = Helix@Guildmage [tie out].
All other matchups would remain the same. That would have been 6 more points, putting me at 32. I'd have tied you for the win (you'll be at 32 with the above correction). Instead, I finished 3rd.
So yeah, wheel only ever netted me more points. It would have been a much better choice.
Week 4 of ABT#20
This round was '2CB LR'.
very basic week, but i see a lot of unique decks.
this almost got posted last night from my phone, but i thought yall would enjoy formatting.
The Entries
1tomsloger : fulfillment from within
beast within / elixir of immortality
ive looked at builds like this before. always wanted to play it.
2reyemile : hidden city
Mayor of Avabrook / Liliana of the Veil
hard to go wrong with two awesome cards
3bronYAur : ROCK
Thrun, the Last Troll / Chainer's Edict
very hard to deal with. but not that many creatures this round.
4aurorasparrow : paper
Arcane Denial / Pride of the Clouds
i like this control build. never having to cast your threat should be good in the mirror.
5mogg : scissors
Path to Exile / Stromgald Crusader
you went off the beaten path here. we'll see how it works.
6knobbodi : lizard
Valakut, the molten pinnacle / exploration
total classic, and IMO a deck you always have to think about in 2cb
7piato : spock
Mana Drain / azorius guildmage
guildmage was always my favorite 1cb card. why not add a mana drain?
8Feyd_Ruin : Last Second Thought
Isochron Sceptor / Lightning Helix
kickin it old school. i wonder sometimes the scoring of isochron vs wheel.
The Grid
1 | X 6 6 0 6 6 2 6 | 32 | 457
2 | 0 X 2 4 2 0 4 0 | 12 | 171
3 | 0 2 X 0 6 0 6 0 | 14 | 200
4 | 6 1 6 X 3 0 0 3 | 17 | 243
5 | 0 2 0 3 X 0 4 0 | 08 | 114
6 | 0 6 6 6 6 X 6 0 | 30 | 429
7 | 2 1 0 6 1 0 X 6 | 16 | 229
8 | 0 6 6 3 6 6 0 X | 26 | 371
The Results
tomsloger wins week 4!
[Spoiler=Weekly Rankings & Tournament Points]
TPnts player
457 tomsloger
171 reyemile
200 bronYAur
243 aurorasparrow
114 mogg
429 knoboddi
229 piato
371 feyd_ruin
[/Spoiler]
[Spoiler=Weekly Round Statistics]
there were unique cards out of submitted
the repeated cards were:
2CB Land Hand
Deck size: 2 cards
Land Rule: none
Special Rules:
Each player begins the game with a hand of their 2 chosen cards, plains, island, swamp, mountain, forest.
Submit decks to tomsloger
format written by feyd, chosen by reyemile
Additional Ban List
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.[spoiler=All Blind Tournament Basic Rules]Overview
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.
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.
Extra Rules
16. The Basic Rules don't cover every issue. For in-depth rules, see Comprehensive Rules.
[spoiler]
Basic Land Rule
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.[spoiler=XCB Comprehensive Rules]
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'.
1.1b. 'Land Rule' can be BLR, ELR, DLR, or nothing. BLR indicates that the basic land rule is in effect, ELR indicates that the extra land rule is in effect, and DLR indicates that the draw 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).
1.3. Except for the changes described in these rules, games follow the rules for a normal game 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).
1.4b. Players don't draw hands or mulligan.
1.4c. Players don't have sideboards.
1.7. Some versions of XCB use a land rule.
1.7b. 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.
1.7c. This is the draw 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.
1.8b. 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.
1.10b. 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.
1.11b. 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.
2.1. Entrants compete in a competition.
2.1b. The ABT is a competition consisting of four rounds.
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.
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.
2.3c. 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.
2.4b. 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.
2.5b. 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.
3.1. A prize shall be given to the tournament winner.
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.
3.2b. 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.[spoiler=Permanently Banned Cards]Acceleration
Channel
Fastbond
Flash
Show and Tell
Disruption
Chancellor of the Annex
Force of Will
Leyline of Anticipation
Trinisphere
Lands
Ghost Quarter
Strip Mine
Wasteland
Win Conditions
Barren Glory
Laboratory Maniac
Magus of the Moon
Meddling Mage
The Rack
Vampire Hexmage
[/spoiler]
Land Rule Banned Cards
The following cards are often worth banning when a Land Rule is used.
They are included here for reference.[spoiler=Land Rule Banned Cards]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
[/spoiler]
Tournament Prize
tbd
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.
1693 | 371 422 500 400 feyd_ruin
1562 | 229 400 400 533 piato
1471 | 429 311 175 556 knobbodi
1176 | 457 311 225 178 tomsloger
1172 | 114 422 325 311 mogg
986 | 200 244 275 267 bronyaur
862 | 243 133 250 256 aurorasparrow
628 | 000 000 450 178 whammewhamme
478 | 000 378 000 100 sockfresh
371 | 171 200 000 000 reyemile
044 | 000 000 000 044 bateleur
1tomsloger : fulfillment from within
beast within / elixir of immortality
Mayor of Avabrook / Liliana of the Veil
6-0 mayor transforms into a beast instead of a werewolf
3bronYAur : ROCK
Thrun, the Last Troll / Chainer's Edict
6-0 i cant kill thrun, and you get two of my beasts. but the life gain makes me win the race (i think)
4aurorasparrow : paper
Arcane Denial / Pride of the Clouds
0-6 there may be a line of play for me, but i dont see it yet
5mogg : scissors
Path to Exile / Stromgald Crusader
6-0 knight turns to beast. even with path, lifegain wins me the race.
6knobbodi : lizard
Valakut, the molten pinnacle / exploration
6-0 beast within on valakut
7piato : spock
Mana Drain / azorius guildmage
0-6 see deck 4
8Feyd_Ruin : Last Second Thought
Isochron Sceptor / Lightning Helix
6-0 destroy sceptor
1 | X 6 6 0 6 6 0 6 | 30
5mogg : scissors
Path to Exile / Stromgald Crusader
X| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
5| 0 2 0 3 X 0 4 0 | 8
2-5: 2-2: Liliana to discard Path discards Mayor.
3-5: 6-0: Edict removes Crusader and Path doesn't remove Thrun.
4-5: 3-3: Crusader beats Pride if it resolves.
5-6: 0-6: Valakut shoots Knight.
5-8: 0-6: Scepter deals 20 damage by turn 9, while gaining life. Knight isn't fast enough to race.
I chose Path over Shrieking Affliction because I thought being able to deal with combo decks and turn two fatties would be more relevant than the secondary win condition. I think that choice cost me 22 points. I did not understand this format.
BWTeysa, Orzhov Scion
GWRhys the Redeemed
GUKruphix, God of Horizons
GRXenagos, God of Revels
GThrun, the Last Troll
GStompy
2. Shoot mayor, [token?], lilly, face. 6-0
3. Outrace Thrun. 6-0
4. On play: Kill tokens for life, then race. Draw: Denial'd. 3-3
5. Race. 6-0
6. 3 net life loss per turn for each of us. I hit first. 6-0
7. Slowroll to Guildmage + 6 to 2xCounter. I'm 1 turn shy. 0-6
8. x
X | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 |
8 | 0 6 6 3 6 6 0 X | 26 | 371
..and crap.
I had a perfect deck for next week's format - but I have no idea what it was
No longer staff here.
2: I'm just fast enough that even on the draw I can kill mayor & friends before Lili can ult / I die 6-0
3: Valakut is two turns faster than thrun 6-0
4: I have nothing to counter and I win the race 6-0
5: I kill crusader and then mogg 6-0
7: I have no spells, just lava 6-0
8: This is a race I cannot win 0-6
X | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 |
6 | 0 6 6 6 6 X 6 0 | 30
2reyemile : hidden city
Mayor of Avabrook / Liliana of the Veil
vs
4aurorasparrow : paper
Arcane Denial / Pride of the Clouds
4-1 aurorasparrow can force a draw by countering mayor on the play. but not on the draw.
updating grid. pending any changes, congrats to feyd for the month win and knoboddi and i on the week.
edit: actually...
i think i 2-2 piato.
would love somebody to check my reasoning...
t1 forest, elixir
p2 island, guildmage
t2 forest
p3 island, swing 2. 20-18
t3 forest
p4 on your turn, i beast within, targetting guildmage.
>if you mana drain, swing 2, then:
t4 activate elixir on my upkeep. redraw elixir. play it.
p5 swing 2. 20-21
t5 redraw beast within. destroy guildmage on your turn. then start my engine, gain a bunch of life, and overwhelm. 6-0
>if you dont mana drain:
t4 upkeep activate elixir. 20-23. redraw elixir. cast it. now a new thing to maybe mana drain.
if you do:
i redraw beast within the next turn. beast within my own land and trade beast tokens. 2-2.
if you dont:
well, you do. countering beast within doesnt do any good when i can get it back.
so way back at the beginning.
piato must not cast guildmage until it can be protected properly.
so if you wait til turn 7 when you can cast it and keep up mana drain and the ability to counter an elixir activation.
p4 beast within my own forest on your eot.
t4 upkeep elixir. redraw forest. swing 3. 25-17
p5 can cast guildmage safely.
t5 redraw elixir. if you mana drain, i can beast within guildmage next turn to draw. we already got there, so you play to win. no counter. tap the beast token.
p6 swing 2. 23-17
t6 forest (5)
p7 on your turn i beast within targetting guildmage.
>if you dont counter, we both have 1 beast token and i get atleast one activation out of elixir for one more beast token. 6-0
>if you do counter, i activate elixir right away, and you do have the mana to counter with guildmage.
but elixir doesnt sacrifice. it just taps. and ill be able to activate it on my turn without resistance
if theres a line in which piato waits even longer to cast guildmage, i dont see it
those are all with me on the draw. should be the same on the play though.
I would have tied your matchup, given that I could always have killed the beast token, and you could always out lifegain the helix.
I would have also 4-1'd piato:
Play: Helix races with wheel getting through.
Draw: Drain@Wheel = Helix@Guildmage [tie out].
All other matchups would remain the same. That would have been 6 more points, putting me at 32. I'd have tied you for the win (you'll be at 32 with the above correction). Instead, I finished 3rd.
So yeah, wheel only ever netted me more points. It would have been a much better choice.
No longer staff here.
dont forget your decks for next week