1. Overview
2. Game Rules
3. Deck Construction Rules
4. Entry
5. Perfect Hand Magic League
6. Scoring
7. Variant Format Rules
1. Overview
Perfect Hand Magic (PHM) is a competitive strategy game for two or more players. It can be played using pencil and paper; however, it's most commonly played via online forum. To play the game, each player secretly chooses a specified number of Magic cards which form that player's hand. Once all players have chosen hands, the hands are revealed and scored.
The object of the game is to choose the hand that will score the most points. The score for each hand is determined by the result that it would achieve if it were used to play two games of Magic – one match – against each competing hand; the rules for these theoretical games are covered in Section 2 – Game Rules. During each theoretical game, the theoretical player of each hand employs the strategy that will maximize the score for his or her hand, taking into account the strategy of his or her opponent.
A hand scores 3 points for each game that it would win, 0 points for each game it would lose, and 1 point for each game that would end in a draw. However, a hand scores only 2 points for any match that would have a symmetrical result, regardless of whether the result would be two drawn games or a win for each hand.
The composition of a hand is limited only by a short banned list and a few restrictions on the game states that it can enable; these restrictions are covered in Section 3 – Deck Composition.
2. Game Rules
2.1. Except for the changes described in these rules, games follow the rules for a normal game of Magic.
2.1a. Changes to the Comprehensive Rules or the Oracle text of a card take effect at the following times:
i. Changes that would take effect during the prerelease for a set take effect during the first round for which cards from that set may be submitted instead.
ii. Changes that would take effect at any other time take effect during the first round for which those rules have been in effect since the start of the round instead.
2.1b. Ignore any part of an instruction that isn't covered by these rules or the rules of Magic.
2.2. A player's opening hand contains that player's chosen cards.
2.3. Players' libraries begin the game empty.
2.3a. A player doesn't lose the game as a result of being unable to draw a card.
2.4. A cost or effect that would produce a random result produces the result that least benefits the player who paid that cost or the owner of the source of that effect instead.
2.5. Each player is the starting player for one game in each match.
2.6. Players know the identities of all face-down cards and cards in hidden zones, and players know which decisions have been made by other players.
2.7. If a game would continue indefinitely, then the game is a draw.
2.8. If a loop containing at least one optional action would be repeated indefinitely during a turn, then any player may propose a number of times for that loop to repeat instead. If a player does, then each other player may propose a different number and the loop is repeated for the greatest number of times proposed instead. No player is required to make a choice that would end a loop that crosses multiple turns.
2.9. Cards can't be brought into the game from outside the game.
3. Hand Construction Rules
3.1. A player may not choose an opening hand that could enable that player to achieve any of the following results before an opponent's second turn would begin, such that that opponent could make no sequence of decisions that would not result in at least one of these results:
i. win the game
ii. take an infinite number of turns
iii. cause a card to leave an opponent's hand.
Ignore this rule in the following cases:
3.1a. That player's hand would be legal if that player's opponents' cards had no rules text.
3.1b. That player's hand would be legal if that player's opponents had no maximum hand size.
3.1c. That player could achieve one of these results only during a game that was restarted after an opponent's second turn had begun.
3.1d. All cards that would leave an opponent's hand during the resolution of an effect would be put onto the battlefield by that effect.
3.1e. All cards that would leave an opponent's hand during the resolution of an effect would be in that opponent's hand once that effect resolved.
3.2. A hand may contain any number of copies of any card legal in Vintage.
3.2a. An unreleased card is treated as though it's legal in Vintage if it will become legal in Vintage upon release and if the release notes for the set that contains that card were published prior to the start of the round (See rule 4.1).
3.3. A hand may not contain any cards on the PHM Banned List.
4. Entry
4.1. A player plays a round of PHM by submitting a list of his or her chosen cards to the PHM moderator.
4.2. A player may change his or her hand until the posted deadline.
4.2a. If a player submits an illegal hand, then the moderator will try to notify that player to change his or her hand prior to the deadline. If the hand is discovered to be illegal after the deadline – or if the player does not submit a new hand – then the moderator may either disqualify that hand or replace it with a similar hand, in which any cards causing that hand to be illegal have been removed or replaced.
4.2b. The moderator also will try to notify a player if that player's hand doesn't enable that player to win the game against any possible hand.
4.3. A player may name his or her hand. If that player doesn't, then the PHM moderator may name it. The PHM moderator may also rename a player's hand at his or discretion.
5. Perfect Hand Magic League
5.1. PHM League play consists of four rounds of PHM.
5.2. Each round, a player earns League points according to the following formula:
League Points = Points Scored / Number of Opponents x 100 (rounded to the nearest integer)
5.3. The player with the most League points at the end of League play is the PHM League winner.
5.3a. If multiple players have the most League points at the end of the League, then the PHM moderator may allow those players to play additional rounds until only one of those players has the most League points or until a specified number of additional rounds have been played.
6. Scoring
6.1. A table of match results is posted at the end of each round. Each row lists one player's results against each other player. A player's points and League points are tallied at the end of his or her row.
6.2. A player may earn bonus League points as specified by the PHM moderator.
6.3. Each player is responsible for determining the match results for his or her hand.
6.3a. Players are encouraged to determine or verify additional match results.
6.3b. An undetermined match result is counted as a loss for both players in that match.
6.3c. A player may challenge any result until the moderator announces that the result is final.
7. Variant Format Rules
7.1. Perfect Hand Magic has been played with hands containing between one and seven cards. Additionally, the Game Rules and Deck Construction Rules have been adapted to create hundreds of variant formats. Five commonly-played variants are described in Sections 7.3-7.7.
7.2. The rules of a variant format overwrite any other applicable rules.
7.2a. Some variant formats generate continuous effects. A continuous effect generated by a variant format is treated as having the earliest timestamp within a layer or sublayer. If continuous effects generated by multiple variant formats would apply in the same layer or sublayer, assign timestamps to those effects in the order that the variant formats are listed in the rules or name of the round.
7.2b. Some variant formats require a player to make some number of decisions in addition to or instead of submitting a hand. A player's submission must comply with the Hand Construction Rules, taking into account any decisions made at this time.
7.2c. Some variant formats require players to make decisions "before the start of each game". For these decisions, follow the "Active Player, Nonactive Player order" rule, replacing "active player" with "starting player".
7.3. Land Rule Variant.
7.3a. This is the basic land rule (LR). Any player may play a basic land or basic snow land of the subtype of his or her choice from outside the game any time he or she could normally play a land. A hand may not contain any cards on the Land Rule Banned List.
7.3b. This is the extra land rule (ELR). Any player may play a basic land or basic snow land of the subtype of his or her choice from outside the game any time he or she could normally play a land. Any player may play an additional land on each of his or her turns from his or her hand. A hand may not contain any cards on the Land Rule Banned List.
7.3c. This is the draw land rule (DLR). If a player would draw a card from an empty library, that player puts a basic land or basic snow land card of the subtype of his or her choice from outside the game into his or her hand instead. The starting player doesn't skip the draw step of his or her first turn. A hand may not contain any cards on the Land Rule Banned List.
7.4a. Only cards contained in sets legal in the named format may be submitted.
7.5. Life Rule (LF).
7.5a. If neither player would win otherwise, then the player who maintains the higher life total wins the game.
7.5b. A player must choose an opening hand that enables that player to win both games of a match against at least one legal hand, irrespective of rule 7.5a.
7.6. Backbuild.
7.6a. Players exchanges hands before the start of each match. A hand must enable the player of that hand to win both games of a match against a specified hand or specified hands. Ignore rule 3.1.
7.7. Bonus Points.
7.7a. A player earns bonus points if his or her hand meets specified requirements.
PHM Banned List
The following cards are automatically banned in all Perfect Hand Magic League rounds unless otherwise specified by the round rules. Each round may have an additional banned list that extends beyond, but always includes, these cards.
Land Rule Banned List
"Land Rule" is the most common variant for PHM, and thus a separate ban list has been developed to allow for easier moderation. The following cards are banned in Perfect Hand Magic League rounds when a Land Rule is used. There will be a reminder of this on the round rules.
With an upwelling effect in play, assuming that t5 Dragon is the same, it becomes t8 dragon, t11 dragon, t14 dragon. Not much better, but it could make the difference.
the way i see it, there are 3 main strawman strategies to consider:
-a hand that wins slightly slower than the test hand but doesnt interact with it.
-a hand as similar as possible (but slightly worse) than the test hand
-a good hand that loses to the test hand for whatever reason (likely jace bounce)
things we know we cant* play:
-land destruction
-instant speed creature removal
I assume there are rules to strawman that your deck has to play optimally attempting to win? As such you can't on purpose use your lightning bolts to kill yourself instead of the strawman deck.
Using the Mana Battery cycle could be a good way of letting Jace interact with your deck, all you need is a severely color dependent win condition. Phyrexian Obliterator?
I assume there are rules to strawman that your deck has to play optimally attempting to win? As such you can't on purpose use your lightning bolts to kill yourself instead of the strawman deck.
In Perfect Hand Magic, both players are assuming to play optimally, at all times, to try and get (in order of priority):
- The win
- The draw
- Prolonging the game
This *always* applies to deck legality - you can't submit a deck that goldfishes on turn one and promise not to go off until after their second turn in a normal week, for example.
So your deck has to, when played *perfectly*, still lose to Jace and a sometimes dragon.
What are the precise rules for strawman? I'm assuming mountan, 4x mana clash is not acceptable.
That sounds like a legal deck but it's a very bad choice. The goal is to make the best deck that loses to the test deck. Your deck would thus almost assuredly score 0 points.
Am I missing something or does this deck not lose 6-0?
10Subtle_Relevance : ruins of the strawman
Island / Treva's Ruins / Molten Slagheap / Jace, the Living Guildpact / Lightning Shrieker
rivals danxor for closest to the strawman. really hard to guess who is going to do well this week.
Can't he go t1 Slagheap, t2 Island to start storing counters, then t3 Ruins, picking up island, and then go from there?
Entries posted. Formatting is a little weird, but I just wanted to get it posted. I'll clean it up a bit when I get home tonight.
-tom
Don't forget to check out the new thread to submit for next week
As I see it 4, takes 5 turns of keeping tapped to generate enough mana for Ajani, then t 6 to cast it.
Jace must be out 1st to combat this, otherwise the +1 will lock the test deck out. If Adjani comes down and taps the storage land, Jace bounces Adjani, and send dragons in in between. If Adjani shoots Jace, they pair off evenly and deadlock, except dragons can be cast in between.
Since Jace can go even with Adjani, the bridge never has time to be cast, if it does get cast, then Jace just bounces it and casts a dragon.
Whoops. Vapor Snag was supposed to be Void Snare. I think I typed incorrectly when I was using my phone to search. I think, as it stands, my deck is illegal, because being able to bounce shriker once, lets me out race the test deck. I had meant to choose Void Snare specifically because it's Sorcery Speed, 1 mana bounce (therefore, it does not affect the test deck's clock). Not sure if it's possible to make the substitution in order to make my deck legal...
8v1: Same as test deck. (0-6)
8v2: Same as test deck. (0-6)
8v3: I Eureka, put out Emrakul, and steal Dreamsower. Heinsun can Claim the Aura on my turn. If Dreamsower attack, I can Desert it. If Crack gets cast, I can sac Emrakul and start all over long before Dreamswoer can kill me. (6-0)
8v4: Bridge'd. (0-6)
8v5: Same as test deck. Seems like the criteria this week didn't inspire much of a format. (0-6)
8v6: Same as test deck. Glad I don't have to grade a million mirror-matches. (0-6)
8v7: Judgment controls Emrakul. Desert controls Glitterfang. (2-2)
8v9: Emrakul > Form. You get to Daze when you go first to cut off my sweep. (4-1)
8v10: Same as test deck. I should have copy/pasted that phrase by now. (0-6)
8v11: I can't beat O-Ring. (0-6)
8v12: I win on the play because I can steal your Emrakul. On the draw, Daze ties it up. (4-1)
1Chrono007 : weaker dragon island / rainbow vale / molten slagheap / jace, the living guildpact / archwing dragon
0-6 rainbow vale can only be used once, and it speeds me up a turn as well. so you just hold it to pay for my daze.
need 3 stored mana for each archwing. 15 total. so dragons on t17-21.
i win turn 23. 22 with the rainbow vale
Okay. I'm going to calculate my deck using Void Snare instead of Vapor Snag because, as the deck stands, it's currently illegal (and my intention was always the sorcery speed bounce spell). Worst case, I just get DQd
1 3-3:
both our decks kill on turn 20, and can't disrupt each other.
2 0-6:
your deck kills turn 18, and we can't disrupt each other
3 0-6:
crack the earth shuts me down
4 0-6:
i think you start by playing ajani and locking down my volcanic island. i council's judgement ajani, then you play ensaring bridge and cast devils play to empty your hand. eventually oyu kill me with a flashbacked devils play.
5 6-0:
you kill turn 21, i believe. my clock is faster
6 0-6:
charred!
8 2-2:
i can answer emrakrul, but desert beats glitterfang
9 2-2:
i can pay for daze with lotus, and i can vaporsnag form of the dragon and win with glitterfang
10:
same speed as test deck.
11 0-6:
o-ring my lotus, then daze my glitterfang
12 2-2:
i can council's judgement emmy, but then you can daze glitterfang
vs. 01 Chrono007: Lose to Jace. 0-6
vs. 02 Danxor: Lose to Jace. 0-6
vs. 03 Heinsun: Can this deck even win? If Dreamsower targets itself...?
vs. 04 Madmanquail: Lose to Bridge. 0-6
vs. 05 nerdyjoe: Lose to Jace. 0-6
vs. 06 notgreat: Lose to Jace. 0-6
vs. 07 psymunn42: Yay a draw. 2-2
vs. 08 Rush_Clasic: Embrace wins the mirror? Really? Oh c'mon. 0-6
vs. 09 snurfy8: Emrakul beats Form. 6-0
vs. 10 Subtle_Relevance: Lose to Jace. 0-6
vs. 11 tomsloger: Lose to O-Ring. 0-6
...what a wretched week. The winning move was to copy the test deck as precisely as possible, with the most minute weakening possible.
I feel strawman really suffers from the copy the deck syndrome.
I wonder if it would be more interesting if Strawman had an additional rule that all cards contained in the Strawman deck are banned, thus you can still try to copy the deck, but you will end up with something at least somewhat different, and it will hopefully make most peoples copies different enough to create variety.
I honestly don't think banning Jace and Lightning Shrieker would have made the format any more interesting.
The difference between the Gemstone Mine build vs. the River Delta build? Who cares?
If you want to salvage the format, offer a choice of strawmen. Picking one of, say, three terrible decks to lose to strikes me as actually interesting.
Figuring out the most pinpoint way to sabotage an already terrible deck? Ugh. It's not even backbuild, where you want to lose - the aim is simply to build the test deck as closely as possible, but fractionally worse so it loses 6-0.
Seriously, that kind of super-tightly-constrained setof build options is the opposite of what I find interesting in a PHM round.
Seriously, what happened to the Fork Weeks? Leyline Weeks? Why must every format be about layering on *more* restrictions?
Also, unconnected:
Why are land rule weeks always the variation on land rule where the lands eat your land drop? Lands-from-hand accelerating you by a turn was a really good rules change.
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Perfect Hand Magic League 30:02
'5 Card Strawman'.
A player's submitted hand must lose the match 0-6 against the following hand:
Island / Island / Molten Slagheap / Jace, the Living Guildpact / Lightning Shrieker
Deck Size: 5
Land Rule:: None
Additional Banned list:: None (please check the "permanently banned cards")
The entries:
1Chrono007 : weaker dragon
island / rainbow vale / molten slagheap / jace, the living guildpact / archwing dragon
worse land AND worse threat, but same basic hand. or is it a worse threat?
2Danxor : gemstone inferiority
Gemstone Mine / Island / Molten Slagheap / Jace, the Living Guildpact / Lightning Shrieker
this is as close to the test hand as anyone got
3Heinsun : incremental advantage
taiga / crack the earth / nature's claim / lotus bloom / thalakos dreamsower
a lot of control cards that don't quite do anything against the test hand.
4Madmanquail : bridging the gap
Ajani Vengeant / Dwarven Hold / Shimmering Grotto / Devil’s Play / Ensnaring Bridge
i am not sure how this works vs the test hand, but im sure someone will check
5nerdyjoe : til the levee breaks
river delta / river delta / molten slagheap / jace, the living guildpact / lightning shrieker
river delta is way worse than islands
6notgreat : swiss charred
volcanic island / saprazzan cove / char / jace, the living guildpact / lightning shrieker
i like that char doesnt quite kill shrieker
7psymunn42 : glittershrieker
volcanic island / black lotus / glitterfang / vapor snag / council's judgment
similar feel to the test hand but no shared cards. should be interesting.
8Rush_Clasic : Snickers.dec
Desert / Black Lotus / Eureka / Emrakul, the Aeons Torn / Yavimaya's Embrace
i love when desert is relevant.
9snurfy8 : discovery of dragons
Black Lotus / Island / Eureka / Form of the Dragon / Daze
i love form of the dragon. hope it works out
10Subtle_Relevance : ruins of the strawman
Island / Treva's Ruins / Molten Slagheap / Jace, the Living Guildpact / Lightning Shrieker
rivals danxor for closest to the strawman. really hard to guess who is going to do well this week.
11tomsloger : in the details
dwarven hold / devil's play / tundra / daze / oblivion ring
daze and o-ring seems to be good against the same decks.
12WhammeWhamme : dazed and annhilated
black lotus / island / eureka / emrakul, the aeons torn / daze
i love that you snuck some control into a eureka build.
X| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 2
1| X 0 6 0 3 0 3 6 6 6 6 | 34 | 309
2| 6 X 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 | 66 | 600
3| 0 0 X 0 6 2 2 0 2 0 6 | 18 | 164
4| 6 0 6 X 6 6 6 6 6 3 6 | 50 | 455
5| 3 0 0 0 X 0 0 6 6 6 6 | 26 | 236
6| 6 0 2 0 6 X 6 6 6 3 6 | 40 | 364
7| 3 0 2 0 6 0 X 2 6 0 2 | 20 | 182
8| 0 0 6 0 0 0 2 X 4 0 4 | 16 | 145
9| 0 0 2 6 0 0 0 1 X 0 0 | 09 | 082
1| 0 0 6 3 0 3 6 6 6 X 6 | 34 | 309
2| 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 6 0 X | 09 | 082
1. Overview
2. Game Rules
3. Deck Construction Rules
4. Entry
5. Perfect Hand Magic League
6. Scoring
7. Variant Format Rules
1. Overview
Perfect Hand Magic (PHM) is a competitive strategy game for two or more players. It can be played using pencil and paper; however, it's most commonly played via online forum. To play the game, each player secretly chooses a specified number of Magic cards which form that player's hand. Once all players have chosen hands, the hands are revealed and scored.
The object of the game is to choose the hand that will score the most points. The score for each hand is determined by the result that it would achieve if it were used to play two games of Magic – one match – against each competing hand; the rules for these theoretical games are covered in Section 2 – Game Rules. During each theoretical game, the theoretical player of each hand employs the strategy that will maximize the score for his or her hand, taking into account the strategy of his or her opponent.
A hand scores 3 points for each game that it would win, 0 points for each game it would lose, and 1 point for each game that would end in a draw. However, a hand scores only 2 points for any match that would have a symmetrical result, regardless of whether the result would be two drawn games or a win for each hand.
The composition of a hand is limited only by a short banned list and a few restrictions on the game states that it can enable; these restrictions are covered in Section 3 – Deck Composition.
2. Game Rules
2.1. Except for the changes described in these rules, games follow the rules for a normal game of Magic.
2.2. A player's opening hand contains that player's chosen cards.
2.3. Players' libraries begin the game empty.
2.4. A cost or effect that would produce a random result produces the result that least benefits the player who paid that cost or the owner of the source of that effect instead.
2.5. Each player is the starting player for one game in each match.
2.6. Players know the identities of all face-down cards and cards in hidden zones, and players know which decisions have been made by other players.
2.7. If a game would continue indefinitely, then the game is a draw.
2.8. If a loop containing at least one optional action would be repeated indefinitely during a turn, then any player may propose a number of times for that loop to repeat instead. If a player does, then each other player may propose a different number and the loop is repeated for the greatest number of times proposed instead. No player is required to make a choice that would end a loop that crosses multiple turns.
2.9. Cards can't be brought into the game from outside the game.
3. Hand Construction Rules
3.1. A player may not choose an opening hand that could enable that player to achieve any of the following results before an opponent's second turn would begin, such that that opponent could make no sequence of decisions that would not result in at least one of these results:
Ignore this rule in the following cases:
3.2. A hand may contain any number of copies of any card legal in Vintage.
3.3. A hand may not contain any cards on the PHM Banned List.
4. Entry
4.1. A player plays a round of PHM by submitting a list of his or her chosen cards to the PHM moderator.
4.2. A player may change his or her hand until the posted deadline.
4.3. A player may name his or her hand. If that player doesn't, then the PHM moderator may name it. The PHM moderator may also rename a player's hand at his or discretion.
5. Perfect Hand Magic League
5.1. PHM League play consists of four rounds of PHM.
5.2. Each round, a player earns League points according to the following formula:
5.3. The player with the most League points at the end of League play is the PHM League winner.
6. Scoring
6.1. A table of match results is posted at the end of each round. Each row lists one player's results against each other player. A player's points and League points are tallied at the end of his or her row.
6.2. A player may earn bonus League points as specified by the PHM moderator.
6.3. Each player is responsible for determining the match results for his or her hand.
7. Variant Format Rules
7.1. Perfect Hand Magic has been played with hands containing between one and seven cards. Additionally, the Game Rules and Deck Construction Rules have been adapted to create hundreds of variant formats. Five commonly-played variants are described in Sections 7.3-7.7.
7.2. The rules of a variant format overwrite any other applicable rules.
7.3. Land Rule Variant.
7.4. Sanctioned Magic Format Variant.
7.5. Life Rule (LF).
7.6. Backbuild.
7.7. Bonus Points.
PHM Banned List
The following cards are automatically banned in all Perfect Hand Magic League rounds unless otherwise specified by the round rules. Each round may have an additional banned list that extends beyond, but always includes, these cards.
Acceleration
Channel
Fastbond
Flash
Show and Tell
Disruption
Pact of Negation
Chancellor of the Annex
Force of Will
Leyline of Anticipation
Trinisphere
Lands
Ghost Quarter
Strip Mine
Wasteland
Win Conditions
Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
Barren Glory
Laboratory Maniac
Magus of the Moon
Meddling Mage
The Rack
Vampire Hexmage
Land Rule Banned List
"Land Rule" is the most common variant for PHM, and thus a separate ban list has been developed to allow for easier moderation. The following cards are banned in Perfect Hand Magic League rounds when a Land Rule is used. There will be a reminder of this on the round rules.
Acceleration
Black Lotus
Disruption
Balancing Act
Energy Field
Time Walk
Win Conditions
Beacon of Creation
Maralen of the Mornsong
Nezumi Shortfang
Red Sun's Zenith
White Sun's Zenith
Follow me to be notified when weekly Perfect Hand Magic results are posted
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t5 - Dragon
t9 - Dragon
t13 - Dragon
t17 - Dragon
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-a hand that wins slightly slower than the test hand but doesnt interact with it.
-a hand as similar as possible (but slightly worse) than the test hand
-a good hand that loses to the test hand for whatever reason (likely jace bounce)
things we know we cant* play:
-land destruction
-instant speed creature removal
*theres always a way. it just takes hoops.
In Perfect Hand Magic, both players are assuming to play optimally, at all times, to try and get (in order of priority):
- The win
- The draw
- Prolonging the game
This *always* applies to deck legality - you can't submit a deck that goldfishes on turn one and promise not to go off until after their second turn in a normal week, for example.
So your deck has to, when played *perfectly*, still lose to Jace and a sometimes dragon.
That sounds like a legal deck but it's a very bad choice. The goal is to make the best deck that loses to the test deck. Your deck would thus almost assuredly score 0 points.
10Subtle_Relevance : ruins of the strawman
Island / Treva's Ruins / Molten Slagheap / Jace, the Living Guildpact / Lightning Shrieker
rivals danxor for closest to the strawman. really hard to guess who is going to do well this week.
Can't he go t1 Slagheap, t2 Island to start storing counters, then t3 Ruins, picking up island, and then go from there?
I feel like I am missing something dumb here.
-tom
Don't forget to check out the new thread to submit for next week
Follow me to be notified when weekly Perfect Hand Magic results are posted
2 | 6 X 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 ! 6 6 |
vs 1, I count I am 1 turn faster on the Draw
I am sure something here is wrong.
As I see it 4, takes 5 turns of keeping tapped to generate enough mana for Ajani, then t 6 to cast it.
Jace must be out 1st to combat this, otherwise the +1 will lock the test deck out. If Adjani comes down and taps the storage land, Jace bounces Adjani, and send dragons in in between. If Adjani shoots Jace, they pair off evenly and deadlock, except dragons can be cast in between.
Since Jace can go even with Adjani, the bridge never has time to be cast, if it does get cast, then Jace just bounces it and casts a dragon.
CubeTutor Link
X | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 |
2 | 0 0 6 0 0 0 2 X 4 0 0 4 | 16
8v2: Same as test deck. (0-6)
8v3: I Eureka, put out Emrakul, and steal Dreamsower. Heinsun can Claim the Aura on my turn. If Dreamsower attack, I can Desert it. If Crack gets cast, I can sac Emrakul and start all over long before Dreamswoer can kill me. (6-0)
8v4: Bridge'd. (0-6)
8v5: Same as test deck. Seems like the criteria this week didn't inspire much of a format. (0-6)
8v6: Same as test deck. Glad I don't have to grade a million mirror-matches. (0-6)
8v7: Judgment controls Emrakul. Desert controls Glitterfang. (2-2)
8v9: Emrakul > Form. You get to Daze when you go first to cut off my sweep. (4-1)
8v10: Same as test deck. I should have copy/pasted that phrase by now. (0-6)
8v11: I can't beat O-Ring. (0-6)
8v12: I win on the play because I can steal your Emrakul. On the draw, Daze ties it up. (4-1)
11tomsloger : in the details
dwarven hold / devil's play / tundra / daze / oblivion ring
island / rainbow vale / molten slagheap / jace, the living guildpact / archwing dragon
0-6 rainbow vale can only be used once, and it speeds me up a turn as well. so you just hold it to pay for my daze.
need 3 stored mana for each archwing. 15 total. so dragons on t17-21.
i win turn 23. 22 with the rainbow vale
2Danxor : gemstone inferiority
Gemstone Mine / Island / Molten Slagheap / Jace, the Living Guildpact / Lightning Shrieker
0-6 essentially the same as the test hand.
3Heinsun : incremental advantage
taiga / crack the earth / nature's claim / lotus bloom / thalakos dreamsower
6-0. cte gets my white, but i still have red. devils play gets dreamsower, eventually flases back to win.
4Madmanquail : bridging the gap
Ajani Vengeant / Dwarven Hold / Shimmering Grotto / Devil’s Play / Ensnaring Bridge
3-3 dwarven hold and devil's play are the relevant cards.
5nerdyjoe : til the levee breaks
river delta / river delta / molten slagheap / jace, the living guildpact / lightning shrieker
0-6 deltas take turns charging slagheap. put 17 counters on it.
cast dragons on 19-22. beat me.
6notgreat : swiss charred
volcanic island / saprazzan cove / char / jace, the living guildpact / lightning shrieker
3-3 we both have to put 20 storage counters because you have to hold volcanic for daze.
7psymunn42 : glittershrieker
volcanic island / black lotus / glitterfang / vapor snag / council's judgment
6-0 you need black lotus to pay for daze. but i can oblivion ring it.
8Rush_Clasic : Snickers.dec
Desert / Black Lotus / Eureka / Emrakul, the Aeons Torn / Yavimaya's Embrace
6-0 oblivion ring
9snurfy8 : discovery of dragons
Black Lotus / Island / Eureka / Form of the Dragon / Daze
6-0 oblivion ring
10Subtle_Relevance : ruins of the strawman
Island / Treva's Ruins / Molten Slagheap / Jace, the Living Guildpact / Lightning Shrieker
0-6, but illegal.
X
12WhammeWhamme : dazed and annhilated
black lotus / island / eureka / emrakul, the aeons torn / daze
6-0 oblivion ring
11| 0 0 6 3 0 3 6 6 6 _ X 6 | 34
X | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 |
1 | X 0 6 . . . . 6 . . 6 . |
X | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 |
7 | 3 0 0 0 6 0 X 2 6 ! 0 2 | 18
1 3-3:
both our decks kill on turn 20, and can't disrupt each other.
2 0-6:
your deck kills turn 18, and we can't disrupt each other
3 0-6:
crack the earth shuts me down
4 0-6:
i think you start by playing ajani and locking down my volcanic island. i council's judgement ajani, then you play ensaring bridge and cast devils play to empty your hand. eventually oyu kill me with a flashbacked devils play.
5 6-0:
you kill turn 21, i believe. my clock is faster
6 0-6:
charred!
8 2-2:
i can answer emrakrul, but desert beats glitterfang
9 2-2:
i can pay for daze with lotus, and i can vaporsnag form of the dragon and win with glitterfang
10:
same speed as test deck.
11 0-6:
o-ring my lotus, then daze my glitterfang
12 2-2:
i can council's judgement emmy, but then you can daze glitterfang
vs. 02 Danxor: Lose to Jace. 0-6
vs. 03 Heinsun: Can this deck even win? If Dreamsower targets itself...?
vs. 04 Madmanquail: Lose to Bridge. 0-6
vs. 05 nerdyjoe: Lose to Jace. 0-6
vs. 06 notgreat: Lose to Jace. 0-6
vs. 07 psymunn42: Yay a draw. 2-2
vs. 08 Rush_Clasic: Embrace wins the mirror? Really? Oh c'mon. 0-6
vs. 09 snurfy8: Emrakul beats Form. 6-0
vs. 10 Subtle_Relevance: Lose to Jace. 0-6
vs. 11 tomsloger: Lose to O-Ring. 0-6
...what a wretched week. The winning move was to copy the test deck as precisely as possible, with the most minute weakening possible.
Hurrah. Why did this seem like a good idea?
I wonder if it would be more interesting if Strawman had an additional rule that all cards contained in the Strawman deck are banned, thus you can still try to copy the deck, but you will end up with something at least somewhat different, and it will hopefully make most peoples copies different enough to create variety.
The difference between the Gemstone Mine build vs. the River Delta build? Who cares?
If you want to salvage the format, offer a choice of strawmen. Picking one of, say, three terrible decks to lose to strikes me as actually interesting.
Figuring out the most pinpoint way to sabotage an already terrible deck? Ugh. It's not even backbuild, where you want to lose - the aim is simply to build the test deck as closely as possible, but fractionally worse so it loses 6-0.
Seriously, that kind of super-tightly-constrained setof build options is the opposite of what I find interesting in a PHM round.
Seriously, what happened to the Fork Weeks? Leyline Weeks? Why must every format be about layering on *more* restrictions?
Also, unconnected:
Why are land rule weeks always the variation on land rule where the lands eat your land drop? Lands-from-hand accelerating you by a turn was a really good rules change.