Welcome to 4 Card Magic Modern: Inter-Community Challenge![/center]
4CMM:ICC is the same limited deck-size Magic game you know and love, but with a smaller pool of cards, a larger deck, and across three forums: [url=http://community.wizards.com/forum/magic-general/threads/4153571]WOTC[/url], [url=http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/outside-magic/other-forum-games/575973-4cmm-icc-round-1-due-oct-22nd]MTGS[/url], and [url=http://forum.nogoblinsallowed.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=6672]NGA[/url].
[spoiler=How to play][list=1][*]Deckbuilding
[list=a][*]Each player submits a deck of any four cards from sets in the Modern format. Note that unlike the Vintage format, we won't be using the Modern ban-list. (But there will be a ban list. See below.)
[*]Decks are not allowed to win before an opponent has completed a full turn. When determining this, consider the opponent's deck to consist of four blank cards. [i](For example, a deck designed to play Ignite Memories on turn 1 would be legal, even if doing so could kill an opponent.)[/i]
[*]Decks are not allowed to reduce the number of cards in an opponent's hand by more than one per turn. When determining this, consider the entire set of possible characteristics a card in your opponent's hand could have. [i](For example, Persecute is not allowed in a player's deck.)[/i]
[*]Submit your decks to me via PM titled "4CM Round #". The deadline is always on [b]Wednesdays at 5:00 pm PST[/b] unless otherwise stated.[/list]
[*]Gamplay
[list=a][*]Every deck plays two games against each other submitted deck, once on the play, once on the draw. You get 3 points for each game win, 1 point for each game tie, and 0 points for each game loss.
[*]Games are played with perfect information and are played optimally. It is up to all the participants to figure out the correct lines of play and award points accordingly.
[*]Players do not lose for attempting to draw a card from an empty deck. Draws are not, however, skipped. If a card ends up back in your library, you will draw it when the next available effect allows you to.
[*]If a player's deck would generate a random effect, the other player chooses its outcome.
[*]Effects that get cards from outside the game find nothing.
[*]Game records will be recorded in a public google spreadsheet where all participants can and should grade their own matches.[/list]
[*]Leaderboard
[list=a][*]The leaderboard will consist of total points earned across the last four rounds of competition. When a new round is completed, the scores from four rounds ago will be dropped. [i](Example: I scored 30, 20, 30, 10 over the last four rounds, for a total of 90. During the next round, I score 10. My new score will be 70.)[/i][/list][/list][/spoiler]
Also, I've already locked in my deck. If you would like a PM to know what my deck is, I'd gladly send one. (Though that means you aren't allowed to change your own deck for the round.)
Since you're playing 4 Card Blind: Modern, I highly suggest adopting the main XCB rules. There are numerous loopholes, corner cases, what-if situations, etc, that have popped up over the many years we've done XCB, and the official rules cover them. The scoring system has also shown itself to be the most liked for determining winners.
The official rules can be seen Here (3rd spoiler of that post). They could be rewritten slightly for this specific Card Blind, since the rules cover all XCBs and thus refer to rules that wouldn't be relevant here (such as land rule, the wording of how many cards start in hand, etc). That way it'd be less confusing to newer people. Generally, we have a basic rules similar to what you wrote, and then an official all-in rules.
Just a thought.
Either way, I'll always play an XCB.
Because I'm attempting to host this across three forums, I tried to write the rules to encompass as much from the way each plays it as possible. (Having played on all three forums, there really isn't much different other than presentation.) That said, I've played way more of it on WOTC than I have here, thus why I've made some small choice differences, such as awarding 3 points to a split. If you notice anything in the rules that seems poorly written or fishy, let me know.
Right now, the Modern format looks like it doesn't need to worry about speed too much. I think there are some third turn kills, but they're fragile. The discard I've just inherited from the old WOTC run. It was the one thing I genuinely forgot was different. If the version posted now proves problematic, I'll gladly switch over. I'm gonna keep the one posted for now just so I'm not mucking things up.
(Though Karn can't be your only kill condition since it technically isn't one.)
Can you please elaborate on this point? I think the relevant rule is "Your deck must be able to win", and I don't see how a deck that enables its player to cast Karn could fail to enable that player to win the game in every case.
Also, returning to the rule "Decks are not allowed to remove more than one card from an opponent's hand per turn" - can a deck contain and enable its player to cast either Counterbore or Time Reversal?
(Though Karn can't be your only kill condition since it technically isn't one.)
Can you please elaborate on this point? I think the relevant rule is "Your deck must be able to win", and I don't see how a deck that enables its player to cast Karn could fail to enable that player to win the game in every case.
I've seen this go both ways across many forums. I don't personally have a problem with Karn, but it technically isn't a win-condition if your opponent is running a non-permanent win condition. (For example, Red Sun's Zenith.) For this run, I've decided that the spirit of the rule is to close off pranks, mistake submissions, and corner-cases. (All of which I'll inform the player of prior to the round going live) I'd gladly hear what people's opinions are. Karn is one of the better charge-land options, so having it in the format is probably a boon. (Though there's no Tabernacle or Maze of Ith to compliment it.)
Also, returning to the rule "Decks are not allowed to remove more than one card from an opponent's hand per turn" - can a deck contain and enable its player to cast either Counterbore or Time Reversal?
I've updated the rule so that you're not allowed to reduce the number of cards in an opponent's hand by more than one per turn. That allows Time Reversal but makes Counterbore illegal.
I'm not particularly interested in whether Karn itself is legal, but it's a good example for some general questions. It's true that Karn doesn't let you win the game if an opponent's only win condition is an instant or sorcery. It's also true that Frost Titan doesn't let you win the game if an opponent has Geth's Verdict. Do the rules as written distinguish between these cases?
Also, a ruling that makes Counterbore illegal may be hard to generalize, because reducing the number of cards in an opponent's hand by more than one hinges on a decision made by an opponent. Is Phantasmagorian illegal because an opponent might have to discard to counter it? Is a deck illegal if an opponent's deck can only beat it by playing more than one card during a given turn?
I'm not particularly interested in whether Karn itself is legal, but it's a good example for some general questions. It's true that Karn doesn't let you win the game if an opponent's only win condition is an instant or sorcery. It's also true that Frost Titan doesn't let you win the game if an opponent has Geth's Verdict. Do the rules as written distinguish between these cases?
I've seen the rule written as "Your deck must win against a deck consisting of 4 blank cards" or "Your deck must win against a deck with no cards in it." I suppose for the sake of clarity, something more concrete is required. (Though in all my time playing this game, under all the different rules structures and wordings, it's never been a real problem.) I'll edit the rules to "four blank cards."
Also, a ruling that makes Counterbore illegal may be hard to generalize, because reducing the number of cards in an opponent's hand by more than one hinges on a decision made by an opponent. Is Phantasmagorian illegal because an opponent might have to discard to counter it? Is a deck illegal if an opponent's deck can only beat it by playing more than one card during a given turn?
I've always considered the deck construction rules and the gameplay to be different factors of the XCB. Your deck can't force the hand-size reduction through game mechanics. If a choice is offered to the opposition within the game, that isn't a forced action. This is different than a player choosing to run 3 Goblin Guides and losing them all to Cabal Therapy; the former is a gameplay decision, the latter is a deck-building one. That's how I've always seen this game.
All this said, activity for this game is much higher here than on the other forums at the moment, so I'm likely to change to the standard XCB rules here.
Fill in your scores as you see them, mark notes in the cells where you feel things are miscalculated, and share on the boards how you think your match-ups should play out.
Okay, so... first of all, that should not be my decklist. I'm pretty sure I submitted Inky, Slagheap, Blazing Shoal and *Blasphemous Act*, not Bituminous Blast (which is a terrible card in that deck), as I saw/see no rule forbidding winning on turn two.
Given that, I have results:
1 vs. Rush Classic: too slow. 6-0
2 vs. tomsloger: Blasphemous Act can clear out Mayor and cronies, so draw on the play (I can't kill through Funeral Charm and die too soon on the draw). 1-4
3. vs. Feyd_Ruin: On the play, faster than the Pox. 3-3
4. vs. mqj: I'm fast. 6-0
5 vs. BronYAur: I can charge up to Act to kill Mage! 6-0
7 vs. door (dooooooooor): On the play, faster than the Pox. 3-3
8 vs. thatmarkguy: Inky+land wins the race. 6-0
9. vs. DARK_DRAC0: I can win through Thalia by charging my land. 6-0
10. vs. CommanderJim: Too slow, sah. 6-0
Okay, so... first of all, that should not be my decklist. I'm pretty sure I submitted Inky, Slagheap, Blazing Shoal and *Blasphemous Act*, not Bituminous Blast (which is a terrible card in that deck), as I saw/see no rule forbidding winning on turn two.
Sorry about that. Clerical error transferring over to the spreadsheet. You did indeed submit a card that makes sense.
And with that change, it looks like WhammeWhamme is the preliminary winner of the round. Since we're still at the infancy of this format, I'd like to open discussion about whether or not anything from the round should be banned. The first few weeks are gonna be like this; then we'll have a regular rotating ban list that kills the top deck from previous rounds. As well as an unbanning system once the list gets a bit bigger.
After you've looked at/posted some match-ups and entered your scores, come join the conversation about whether or not anything needs to be banned going forward.
1v2: Chalice does nothing. (This format doesn't really have much going on at 0 mana, and you don't really need to save your land after Crack.) On the play, I can land both threats which easily outrace the Thallid horde. On the draw, I lead with Noble, sac it to Crack, Charm Thallid, and Rack for the win. (6-0)
1v3: Gut Shot gets my Noble, but The Rack outraces Megaliths cleanly. (6-0)
1v4: The Rack outraces Helix by a mile. Noble forces cards out of your hand. (6-0)
1v5: Stromkirk can't survive and Rack can't race. But I still have a trick! On the play, I lay out Noble and begin my assault. On my second turn, I leave my land untapped. When you go to Smallpox, I respond by Charming Ulamog out of your hand, which won't shuffle back whichever land you choose to sacrifice. And you can't race the charge counter route. So, we tie. I can't do any of that on the draw, though. (1-4)
1v6: Either I get both of my threats and mow you down or you answer Noble and make yourself vulnerable to The Rack. Inkmoth can't quite race fast enough. (6-0)
1v7: Revoker's ability does nothing to me. I slam both threats and charm either the Revoker or the Nexus. Either way, Rack gets there. (6-0)
1v8: Tricky decision trees here, but what it really comes down to is our Charms. You need Mayor to stick since Inkmoth can't outrace my Noble. Which means you need to Charm away my Charm. However, I have no incentive to play out The Rack. I start with Noble. If you Charm it, I Charm your Mayor either out of your hand or off the board. If you let it go, it eats you alive faster that Inkmoth eats me. If you trade with Inkmoth, you have no mana for Mayor. My threat density seems to win out. (6-0)
1v9: Strange how Desert almost beats me all on its own, holding back Noble and keeping 3 cards in your hand. Charm thankfully discard you down to 2, allowing the win. Playing out Magus doesn't help at all. (6-0)
1v10: Presence was a bit of a misfire this round. It's probably okay overall, but way too much black showed up. Because of that, my 2 threats beat your 1. (6-0)
10 vs. thatmarkguy: Smallpox away his board, win. 6-0
Corrections welcome.
I've got it 4-1 with me earning a draw when I'm on the play, with this description (noted in spreadsheet):
Marked 6-0; should be 4-1.
On the play, 10 plays Chronomaton T1, 5 plays a land. From T2 10 leaves Chronomaton at home and swamp untapped, so that if 5 plays Smallpox 10 responds with Funeral Charm and Ulamog discards+shuffles before land sacs and the deck is neutered down to 1 land in play. So 5 just ratchets up the storage land, and during end phase of 5's turn (once any chance to play Smallpox has passed), 10 ratchets up Chronomaton. If Chronomaton ratchets up 3 times on T2-3-4, it's a 4/4 swinging from T5 that kills on T9, well before 5s storage land can cast Ulamog. So 5 eventually has to play the Smallpox to kill the Chronomaton, 10 responds with Funeral Charm, 5 loses a land for good (because Ulamog shuffles into deck before land gets sacced), and neither deck has a wincon anymore.
(sigh) SO many decks played black and Evil Presence didn't affect in any meaningful way. I'd have done so much better with the blue equivalent deck (Island - Sea's Claim - Piracy Charm - Chronomaton). Heck, even running a green dual and using Lush Growth would have fared me better.
Can 5 cast Ulamog on T11? Molten Slagheap is a pay-to-store land. It can't get a storage counter on T1 (barring another nonland mana source). If it gets its storage counters on turns 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10, then it can be 'tapped' for 9 mana on T11 (I know it technically doesn't tap to discharge, but it does cost 1, and that 1 is usually paid via tapping the land), Urborg makes 1... that's a total of 10, still 1 shy of the 11-drop. As I see it, Ulamog lands on T12. I think that earns you the 2-2, as 5 has to deal with your Nexus which means you will be able to Charm away the redrawn Smallpox play or draw.
Uhm, but if you're charming away the Smallpox, you're letting the sacced land get recycled and replayed, which means 5 will eventually be able to cast Ulamog. You could charm away the sacced land as it gets drawn, but 5 probably sacced Urborg after charging up a few counters on the 'heap (5 could afford to let Inky swat several times as it worked up a few storage counters), allowing a smallpox play even after discarding Urborg. Hmm. I'm back to thinking the 6-0 was right. You don't even have the same 1-point Funeral Charm play as Rush and I have on the play because you don't have a threat that you can make use of while still being able to respond to Smallpox with Funeral Charm. If you don't attack with inky 5 just stores up for Ulamog; if you do you're not in position to respond to Smallpox with Funeral Charm to force 5 to permanently lose a land.
Whame, I've changed your matchups against 1, 8, and 10. On the play, 1 and 10 each play their creature and increase its size while leaving mana open. If you Pox, they respond with Charm and force Ulamog out of your hand before it can reclaim the land you sacrifice to Pox. (4-1 to you.) Against 8, Inkmoth races hardcast Ulamog, so you have to go for the Pox plan. After you pox, deck 8 stacks Land on top of your deck. (8's choice because of the random rule.) When you pass priority during your draw step, 8 Charms the land out of your hand. (2-2)
EDIT: Actually, Mark's line of play makes things really interesting for the 5v8 match-up. Increasing the counters to allow a future Smallpox play does in fact get everything back via Ulamog recursion. It doesn't work for the matchups against 1 and 10, but works here. Decisions, decisions! Changing back to 6-0 for 5.
Welcome to 4 Card Magic Modern: Inter-Community Challenge![/center]
4CMM:ICC is the same limited deck-size Magic game you know and love, but with a smaller pool of cards, a larger deck, and across three forums: [url=http://community.wizards.com/forum/magic-general/threads/4153571]WOTC[/url], [url=http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/outside-magic/other-forum-games/575973-4cmm-icc-round-1-due-oct-22nd]MTGS[/url], and [url=http://forum.nogoblinsallowed.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=6672]NGA[/url].
[spoiler=How to play][list=1][*]Deckbuilding
[list=a][*]Each player submits a deck of any four cards from sets in the Modern format. Note that unlike the Vintage format, we won't be using the Modern ban-list. (But there will be a ban list. See below.)
[*]Decks are not allowed to win before an opponent has completed a full turn. When determining this, consider the opponent's deck to consist of four blank cards. [i](For example, a deck designed to play Ignite Memories on turn 1 would be legal, even if doing so could kill an opponent.)[/i]
[*]Decks are not allowed to reduce the number of cards in an opponent's hand by more than one per turn. When determining this, consider the entire set of possible characteristics a card in your opponent's hand could have. [i](For example, Persecute is not allowed in a player's deck.)[/i]
[*]Submit your decks to me via PM titled "4CM Round #". The deadline is always on [b]Wednesdays at 5:00 pm PST[/b] unless otherwise stated.[/list]
[*]Gamplay
[list=a][*]Every deck plays two games against each other submitted deck, once on the play, once on the draw. You get 3 points for each game win, 1 point for each game tie, and 0 points for each game loss.
[*]Games are played with perfect information and are played optimally. It is up to all the participants to figure out the correct lines of play and award points accordingly.
[*]Players do not lose for attempting to draw a card from an empty deck. Draws are not, however, skipped. If a card ends up back in your library, you will draw it when the next available effect allows you to.
[*]If a player's deck would generate a random effect, the other player chooses its outcome.
[*]Effects that get cards from outside the game find nothing.
[*]Game records will be recorded in a public google spreadsheet where all participants can and should grade their own matches.[/list]
[*]Bannings
[list=a][*]Initially, bannings will only come when a deck begins to dominate and the format begins to stagnate. After a solid metagame has been established, we'll move into a rotating banning system
[*]Current banned list:
[list][*]Blackmail
[*]Blazing Shoal
[*]Chancellor of the Annex
[*]Dark Depths
[*]Funeral Charm
[*]Ghost Quarter
[*]Inquisition of Kozilek
[*]Laboratory Maniac
[*]Piracy Charm
[*]Shelldock Isle
[*]Smallpox
[*]Thoughtseize[/list][/list]
[*]Leaderboard
[list=a][*]The leaderboard will consist of total points earned across the last four rounds of competition. When a new round is completed, the scores from four rounds ago will be dropped. [i](Example: I scored 30, 20, 30, 10 over the last four rounds, for a total of 90. During the next round, I score 10. My new score will be 70.)[/i][/list][/list][/spoiler]
[spoiler=Previous Rounds][url=https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlaPteWmYRvZdGVYeXR2ZGdkcV9rQlR0U0hPTndZUGc&usp=sheets_web#gid=1]Round 1[/url] - Winner: [b]WhammeWhamme[/b]
[url=https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlaPteWmYRvZdFJJdEdnM1R4Q21zNFZLVUxISmxBT2c&usp=sheets_web#gid=2]Round 2[/url] - Winner: [b]Rush_Clasic[/b]
[url=https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlaPteWmYRvZdGRyejRnYU5NS1RyRkVQbUNHUlROSmc&usp=sheets_web#gid=2]Round 3[/url] - Winners: [b]WhammeWhamme[/b] & [b]mqj[/b]
[url=https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlaPteWmYRvZdG96b1Q2djZOTmdKclR3dW9Objc5bnc#gid=2]Round 4[/url] - Winner: [b]WhammeWhamme[/b]
[url=https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlaPteWmYRvZdHQwZU5XMEc5VFNWVnNOZl82SVNSYXc&usp=sheets_web#gid=2]Round 5[/url] - Winner: [b]Heinsun[/b]
[url=https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlaPteWmYRvZdEdwSGxpcy0zLXdBX256SXN0bW1UTFE&usp=sheets_web#gid=2]Round 6[/url] - Winner: [b]keyboardmash[/b]
[url=https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlaPteWmYRvZdHJjMkxwbjRXaUhSWFFJSHl3eGxWNlE&usp=sheets_web#gid=2]Round 7[/url] - Winner: [b]Heinsun[/b]
[url=https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlaPteWmYRvZdGJQQlRQb05WV0R4enpLQ3JrMnZhSnc&usp=sheets_web#gid=1]Round 8[/url] - Winner: [b]Rush_Clasic[/b]
[url=https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlaPteWmYRvZdHdzRlJHQTdvcGs1SGxrZlVTVUlvWUE#gid=1]Round 9[/url] - Winners: [b]keyboardmash[/b] & [b]tomsloger[/b]
[url=https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlaPteWmYRvZdDhqdEdMck51Wlh1UEMxYnN4TnVkVUE&usp=sheets_web#gid=2]Round 10[/url] - Winner: [b]Heinsun[/b]
[url=https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlaPteWmYRvZdDhUSF92eXFJbVQwNDBSQXhhdVhabFE#gid=1]Round 11[/url] - Winner: [b]Rush_Clasic[/b][/spoiler]
[spoiler=Leaderboard][color=red][i]*indicates number of four week cycles in first place[/i][/color]
tomslogger - 41 + 45 + 18 + 30 = [b]134[color=red]*1[/color][/b]
keyboardmash - 20 + 45 + 36 + 32 = [b]133[color=red]*1[/color][/b]
mqj - 27 + 33 + 37 + 32 = [b]129[color=red]*1[/color][/b]
Heinsun - 28 + 33 + 37 + 15 = [b]113[color=red]*3[/color][/b]
Pharmalade - 14 + 26 + 34 + 30 = [b]104[/b]
Rush_Clasic - 39 + 11 + 12 + 38 = [b]100[/b]
WhammeWhamme - NA + 23 + 44 + 33 = [b]100[color=red]*2[/color][/b]
Sand_Crab - NA + 31 + 18 + 12 = [b]61[/b]
thatmarkguy - 22 + NA + 36 + NA = [b]58[/b]
Subtle_Relevance = NA + NA + 46 + NA = [b]46[/b]
kliate = 18 + 2 + NA + NA = [b]32[/b]
NemataGG = 8 + 10 + 6 + 4 = [b]28[/b]
drwho42 = 24 + NA + NA + NA = [b]24[/b]
door (dooooooooooor) [b][color=red]*1[/color][/b][/spoiler]
[url=https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlaPteWmYRvZdDRoOVJqU0dGLVlhRW9ySUFTWkp6NlE#gid=1]Round 12 Spreadsheet[/url]
[b]Round 13[/b]
Due 1/21 @ 5pm PST.
List tags are malformed.
The official rules can be seen Here (3rd spoiler of that post). They could be rewritten slightly for this specific Card Blind, since the rules cover all XCBs and thus refer to rules that wouldn't be relevant here (such as land rule, the wording of how many cards start in hand, etc). That way it'd be less confusing to newer people. Generally, we have a basic rules similar to what you wrote, and then an official all-in rules.
Just a thought.
Either way, I'll always play an XCB.
No longer staff here.
Can a deck contain Karn Liberated?
BWTeysa, Orzhov Scion
GWRhys the Redeemed
GUKruphix, God of Horizons
GRXenagos, God of Revels
GThrun, the Last Troll
GStompy
Sure. (Though Karn can't be your only kill condition since it technically isn't one.) But I see your point. Forgot about him.
Can you please elaborate on this point? I think the relevant rule is "Your deck must be able to win", and I don't see how a deck that enables its player to cast Karn could fail to enable that player to win the game in every case.
Also, returning to the rule "Decks are not allowed to remove more than one card from an opponent's hand per turn" - can a deck contain and enable its player to cast either Counterbore or Time Reversal?
BWTeysa, Orzhov Scion
GWRhys the Redeemed
GUKruphix, God of Horizons
GRXenagos, God of Revels
GThrun, the Last Troll
GStompy
I've seen this go both ways across many forums. I don't personally have a problem with Karn, but it technically isn't a win-condition if your opponent is running a non-permanent win condition. (For example, Red Sun's Zenith.) For this run, I've decided that the spirit of the rule is to close off pranks, mistake submissions, and corner-cases. (All of which I'll inform the player of prior to the round going live) I'd gladly hear what people's opinions are. Karn is one of the better charge-land options, so having it in the format is probably a boon. (Though there's no Tabernacle or Maze of Ith to compliment it.)
I've updated the rule so that you're not allowed to reduce the number of cards in an opponent's hand by more than one per turn. That allows Time Reversal but makes Counterbore illegal.
Also, a ruling that makes Counterbore illegal may be hard to generalize, because reducing the number of cards in an opponent's hand by more than one hinges on a decision made by an opponent. Is Phantasmagorian illegal because an opponent might have to discard to counter it? Is a deck illegal if an opponent's deck can only beat it by playing more than one card during a given turn?
BWTeysa, Orzhov Scion
GWRhys the Redeemed
GUKruphix, God of Horizons
GRXenagos, God of Revels
GThrun, the Last Troll
GStompy
I've seen the rule written as "Your deck must win against a deck consisting of 4 blank cards" or "Your deck must win against a deck with no cards in it." I suppose for the sake of clarity, something more concrete is required. (Though in all my time playing this game, under all the different rules structures and wordings, it's never been a real problem.) I'll edit the rules to "four blank cards."
I've always considered the deck construction rules and the gameplay to be different factors of the XCB. Your deck can't force the hand-size reduction through game mechanics. If a choice is offered to the opposition within the game, that isn't a forced action. This is different than a player choosing to run 3 Goblin Guides and losing them all to Cabal Therapy; the former is a gameplay decision, the latter is a deck-building one. That's how I've always seen this game.
All this said, activity for this game is much higher here than on the other forums at the moment, so I'm likely to change to the standard XCB rules here.
Fill in your scores as you see them, mark notes in the cells where you feel things are miscalculated, and share on the boards how you think your match-ups should play out.
Given that, I have results:
1 vs. Rush Classic: too slow. 6-0
2 vs. tomsloger: Blasphemous Act can clear out Mayor and cronies, so draw on the play (I can't kill through Funeral Charm and die too soon on the draw). 1-4
3. vs. Feyd_Ruin: On the play, faster than the Pox. 3-3
4. vs. mqj: I'm fast. 6-0
5 vs. BronYAur: I can charge up to Act to kill Mage! 6-0
7 vs. door (dooooooooor): On the play, faster than the Pox. 3-3
8 vs. thatmarkguy: Inky+land wins the race. 6-0
9. vs. DARK_DRAC0: I can win through Thalia by charging my land. 6-0
10. vs. CommanderJim: Too slow, sah. 6-0
Sorry about that. Clerical error transferring over to the spreadsheet. You did indeed submit a card that makes sense.
And with that change, it looks like WhammeWhamme is the preliminary winner of the round. Since we're still at the infancy of this format, I'd like to open discussion about whether or not anything from the round should be banned. The first few weeks are gonna be like this; then we'll have a regular rotating ban list that kills the top deck from previous rounds. As well as an unbanning system once the list gets a bit bigger.
Anyway, discuss!
No additional bans as of yet are being made. You have a metagame to work with now. Decks due Oct. 29th, 5pm PST.
Banned list for Round 2
Blackmail
Chancellor of the Annex
Dark Depths
Ghost Quarter
Inquisition of Kozilek
Laboratory Maniac
Shelldock Isle
Thoughtseize
After you've looked at/posted some match-ups and entered your scores, come join the conversation about whether or not anything needs to be banned going forward.
Land, Strommy
Land
Rack, swing (19)
Land, Pox (18)
Then Rack for 3 (15), draw, rack for 2 (13), draw, rack for 1 (12), draw, land, charge
Life Charge Counters at start of turn
11/1
10/2
9/3
8/4
7/5
6/6
5/7
4/8
3/9
2/10
1/11 ...and Ulamog kills the Rack. 6-0
2 vs. door (doooooooooor): Lose to Crack. 0-6
3 vs. DARK_DRAC0: Smallpox away his everything then win. 6-0
4 vs. mqj: Smallpox away the land, then win. 6-0
6 vs. tomsloger: Discard hits Ulamog only, Smallpox kills stuff. If he holds back, charge up. 6-0
7 vs. BronYAur: Pox away land and win chances. 6-0
8 vs. Parsley: If he plays all-out, Smallpox destroys him. If he just plays two lands out, charge up for doublepox. 6-0
9 vs. Hello World: I think he wins (so 0-6 for me) but does Magus overwrite Urborg? IIRC the rules have flipflopped on this.
10 vs. thatmarkguy: Smallpox away his board, win. 6-0
Corrections welcome.
1v3: Gut Shot gets my Noble, but The Rack outraces Megaliths cleanly. (6-0)
1v4: The Rack outraces Helix by a mile. Noble forces cards out of your hand. (6-0)
1v5: Stromkirk can't survive and Rack can't race. But I still have a trick! On the play, I lay out Noble and begin my assault. On my second turn, I leave my land untapped. When you go to Smallpox, I respond by Charming Ulamog out of your hand, which won't shuffle back whichever land you choose to sacrifice. And you can't race the charge counter route. So, we tie. I can't do any of that on the draw, though. (1-4)
1v6: Either I get both of my threats and mow you down or you answer Noble and make yourself vulnerable to The Rack. Inkmoth can't quite race fast enough. (6-0)
1v7: Revoker's ability does nothing to me. I slam both threats and charm either the Revoker or the Nexus. Either way, Rack gets there. (6-0)
1v8: Tricky decision trees here, but what it really comes down to is our Charms. You need Mayor to stick since Inkmoth can't outrace my Noble. Which means you need to Charm away my Charm. However, I have no incentive to play out The Rack. I start with Noble. If you Charm it, I Charm your Mayor either out of your hand or off the board. If you let it go, it eats you alive faster that Inkmoth eats me. If you trade with Inkmoth, you have no mana for Mayor. My threat density seems to win out. (6-0)
1v9: Strange how Desert almost beats me all on its own, holding back Noble and keeping 3 cards in your hand. Charm thankfully discard you down to 2, allowing the win. Playing out Magus doesn't help at all. (6-0)
1v10: Presence was a bit of a misfire this round. It's probably okay overall, but way too much black showed up. Because of that, my 2 threats beat your 1. (6-0)
I've got it 4-1 with me earning a draw when I'm on the play, with this description (noted in spreadsheet):
Marked 6-0; should be 4-1.
On the play, 10 plays Chronomaton T1, 5 plays a land. From T2 10 leaves Chronomaton at home and swamp untapped, so that if 5 plays Smallpox 10 responds with Funeral Charm and Ulamog discards+shuffles before land sacs and the deck is neutered down to 1 land in play. So 5 just ratchets up the storage land, and during end phase of 5's turn (once any chance to play Smallpox has passed), 10 ratchets up Chronomaton. If Chronomaton ratchets up 3 times on T2-3-4, it's a 4/4 swinging from T5 that kills on T9, well before 5s storage land can cast Ulamog. So 5 eventually has to play the Smallpox to kill the Chronomaton, 10 responds with Funeral Charm, 5 loses a land for good (because Ulamog shuffles into deck before land gets sacced), and neither deck has a wincon anymore.
(sigh) SO many decks played black and Evil Presence didn't affect in any meaningful way. I'd have done so much better with the blue equivalent deck (Island - Sea's Claim - Piracy Charm - Chronomaton). Heck, even running a green dual and using Lush Growth would have fared me better.
marked 6-0 should be 4-1
Inkmoth Nexus kills turn 11 and 5 can cast Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre on turn 11.
When i am on the play he needs to stop my Inkmoth Nexus with Smallpox, i discard Mayor of Avabruck and sacrifice Inkmoth Nexus.
Smallpox gets shuffled to the top and i make him discard it in his drawstep with Funeral Charm before he can cast it
Can 5 cast Ulamog on T11? Molten Slagheap is a pay-to-store land. It can't get a storage counter on T1 (barring another nonland mana source). If it gets its storage counters on turns 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10, then it can be 'tapped' for 9 mana on T11 (I know it technically doesn't tap to discharge, but it does cost 1, and that 1 is usually paid via tapping the land), Urborg makes 1... that's a total of 10, still 1 shy of the 11-drop. As I see it, Ulamog lands on T12. I think that earns you the 2-2, as 5 has to deal with your Nexus which means you will be able to Charm away the redrawn Smallpox play or draw.
Uhm, but if you're charming away the Smallpox, you're letting the sacced land get recycled and replayed, which means 5 will eventually be able to cast Ulamog. You could charm away the sacced land as it gets drawn, but 5 probably sacced Urborg after charging up a few counters on the 'heap (5 could afford to let Inky swat several times as it worked up a few storage counters), allowing a smallpox play even after discarding Urborg. Hmm. I'm back to thinking the 6-0 was right. You don't even have the same 1-point Funeral Charm play as Rush and I have on the play because you don't have a threat that you can make use of while still being able to respond to Smallpox with Funeral Charm. If you don't attack with inky 5 just stores up for Ulamog; if you do you're not in position to respond to Smallpox with Funeral Charm to force 5 to permanently lose a land.
EDIT: Actually, Mark's line of play makes things really interesting for the 5v8 match-up. Increasing the counters to allow a future Smallpox play does in fact get everything back via Ulamog recursion. It doesn't work for the matchups against 1 and 10, but works here. Decisions, decisions! Changing back to 6-0 for 5.