For what it's worth, I think banning jace and lightning shreiker would have significantly helped this week, and that while this week was exceptionally dull (so dull i didn't bother doing my row), the others have been pretty good. Next week I hope will be interesting. I'm worried the power is concentrated in too few cards, so there'll be maybe three top decks with minor variation.
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.
Fair criticism. Ironically, this is the first week in a look time that I have actually taken the format idea directly from the stock PHM repository "special formats" list this week.
Seriously, what happened to the Fork Weeks? Leyline Weeks? Why must every format be about layering on *more* restrictions?
Reviewing the past few week's formats, I don't see any particular pattern of restrictions. Personally I like to aim for a mixture of neutral, restrictive and overpowered formats. What were you referring to?
Ok, I admit to having a bias in favour of rounds with a positive format tweak.
Still, my recap:
Strawman was 5CB (average, or average+) with a horribly crippling round rule.
Sword-and-Shield was 3CB no-land-rule (weaker than usual) with a neutral round rule.
Forbidden Crypt was 2CB land rule (weaker than usual) with a powerful round rule.
Gallywix was 3CB land rule (average, I guess) with a neutral-to-disadvantageous (but admittedly interesting) round rule
Prometheus was 5CB (average, or average+) with two-edged-sword round rule.
Manifest Destiny was 4CB (average) with a minor positive rule.
Basically, the only strictly upside round we've had lately was Manifest Destiny, which is incidentally the most distant of the list. You count Forbidden Crypt as a powerful week, but I don't: 2CB is very weak, and narrowing the format to graveyard recursion vs. graveyard hate is a characteristic of a weak week, not a strong one.
Infinite Tarkir continues the trend - Standard-only more than offsets infinite.
Basically the weak weeks are just plain weak, the strong weeks all have hefty downsides.
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.
That would be the "extra land rule" formerly referred to as the "extended land rule". I hadn't played around too much with either of the alternative land rules until recently. I'll aim to make sure there is an "extra land rule" format in the near future, although I am wary of creating too much complexity in formats. Looking back, Forbidden Crypt 2.0 was actually a complex - amazingly complex - format considering it was only 2 card hands! On the other hand, this strawman format turned out to be overly simplistic. I like to strive for something in between, with enough scope for creativity and different strategic choices without being too wide open.
For a while (iirc) the "extended land rule" was the default format, because it played better than either of the other two (lands doubling as acceleration AND utility opened up some new builds and made lands occasionally worth including, as opposed to virtually always a terrible idea).
For a while (iirc) the "extended land rule" was the default format, because it played better than either of the other two (lands doubling as acceleration AND utility opened up some new builds and made lands occasionally worth including, as opposed to virtually always a terrible idea).
normally for infinite rounds, we have extended land rule and ban any land cards from being your infinite card. this is a tweak for simplicity more than anything.
as for power level concerns, as a moderator its much easier to come up with restrictive rounds. if youre adding power, you have to think about the ways to break it. and when you do, you dont get to play it :/
coming up with formats was always my least favorite part of moderating.
For a while (iirc) the "extended land rule" was the default format, because it played better than either of the other two (lands doubling as acceleration AND utility opened up some new builds and made lands occasionally worth including, as opposed to virtually always a terrible idea).
It was the default land rule format while Feyd_Ruin ran the ABT. I believe the stated reason was to give some amount of insurance against mana denial strategies. For example, Boomerang on Isochron Scepter is less potent when replaying the land use up the only land drop for the turn.
Personally, for land rule formats, I most enjoy a mix of LR and ELR. ELR is interesting, but it tends to speed up the format.
If a change were to be made to how we get formats, I'd like more time for peer review and more involvement from the masses in format creation. If each week's winner got to add a format to a poll, for example, it'd allow for both of those goals to be more readily reached. Popularly voted formats would get discussed and fleshed out before they go up and unliked formats wouldn't get voted on (and could be replaced at the moderator's whim every month or so).
results as posted:
1 | X 0 6 ? 3 0 3 6 6 D 6 6 | 34+
2 | 6 X 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 D 6 6 | 60 | 600
3 | 0 0 X 0 6 2 2 0 2 D 0 6 | 18 | 180
4 | ? 0 6 X ? ? 6 6 6 D 3 6 |
5 | 3 0 0 ? X 0 0 6 6 D 6 6 | 26+
6 | 6 0 2 ? 6 X 6 6 6 D 3 6 | 40+
7 | 3 0 2 0 6 0 X 2 6 D 0 2 | 20 | 200
8 | 0 0 6 0 0 0 2 X 4 D 0 4 | 16 | 160
9 | 0 0 2 6 0 0 0 1 X D 0 0 | 09 | 090
0 | DISQUALIFIED___________ |
1 | 0 0 6 3 0 3 6 6 6 D X 6 | 34 | 340
2 | 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 6 D 0 X | 09 | 090
as you can maybe tell, i finally got some free time.
changelog:
1v4 ?. actually leaving all the 4s blank for now.
1v5 3-3 same speed with jace being irrelevant.
1v6 0-6 char totally kills archwing
1v9 6-0 jace does the thing
5v6 0-6 faster mana
5v9 6-0 jace
6v9 6-0 jace
3v7 2-0 > 2-2
3v8 2-6 > 0-6
Ok, I admit to having a bias in favour of rounds with a positive format tweak.
Still, my recap:
Strawman was 5CB (average, or average+) with a horribly crippling round rule.
Sword-and-Shield was 3CB no-land-rule (weaker than usual) with a neutral round rule.
Forbidden Crypt was 2CB land rule (weaker than usual) with a powerful round rule.
Gallywix was 3CB land rule (average, I guess) with a neutral-to-disadvantageous (but admittedly interesting) round rule
Prometheus was 5CB (average, or average+) with two-edged-sword round rule.
Manifest Destiny was 4CB (average) with a minor positive rule.
Basically, the only strictly upside round we've had lately was Manifest Destiny, which is incidentally the most distant of the list. You count Forbidden Crypt as a powerful week, but I don't: 2CB is very weak, and narrowing the format to graveyard recursion vs. graveyard hate is a characteristic of a weak week, not a strong one.
Infinite Tarkir continues the trend - Standard-only more than offsets infinite.
Basically the weak weeks are just plain weak, the strong weeks all have hefty downsides.
For a while (iirc) the "extended land rule" was the default format, because it played better than either of the other two (lands doubling as acceleration AND utility opened up some new builds and made lands occasionally worth including, as opposed to virtually always a terrible idea).
normally for infinite rounds, we have extended land rule and ban any land cards from being your infinite card. this is a tweak for simplicity more than anything.
as for power level concerns, as a moderator its much easier to come up with restrictive rounds. if youre adding power, you have to think about the ways to break it. and when you do, you dont get to play it :/
coming up with formats was always my least favorite part of moderating.
It was the default land rule format while Feyd_Ruin ran the ABT. I believe the stated reason was to give some amount of insurance against mana denial strategies. For example, Boomerang on Isochron Scepter is less potent when replaying the land use up the only land drop for the turn.
Personally, for land rule formats, I most enjoy a mix of LR and ELR. ELR is interesting, but it tends to speed up the format.
BWTeysa, Orzhov Scion
GWRhys the Redeemed
GUKruphix, God of Horizons
GRXenagos, God of Revels
GThrun, the Last Troll
GStompy
1 | X 0 6 ? 3 0 3 6 6 D 6 6 | 34+
2 | 6 X 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 D 6 6 | 60 | 600
3 | 0 0 X 0 6 2 2 0 2 D 0 6 | 18 | 180
4 | ? 0 6 X ? ? 6 6 6 D 3 6 |
5 | 3 0 0 ? X 0 0 6 6 D 6 6 | 26+
6 | 6 0 2 ? 6 X 6 6 6 D 3 6 | 40+
7 | 3 0 2 0 6 0 X 2 6 D 0 2 | 20 | 200
8 | 0 0 6 0 0 0 2 X 4 D 0 4 | 16 | 160
9 | 0 0 2 6 0 0 0 1 X D 0 0 | 09 | 090
0 | DISQUALIFIED___________ |
1 | 0 0 6 3 0 3 6 6 6 D X 6 | 34 | 340
2 | 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 6 D 0 X | 09 | 090
as you can maybe tell, i finally got some free time.
changelog:
1v4 ?. actually leaving all the 4s blank for now.
1v5 3-3 same speed with jace being irrelevant.
1v6 0-6 char totally kills archwing
1v9 6-0 jace does the thing
5v6 0-6 faster mana
5v9 6-0 jace
6v9 6-0 jace
3v7 2-0 > 2-2
3v8 2-6 > 0-6
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 | 82
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 | 82
1-4: 0-6: Bridge > Dragon, Play / Ajani > Jace (after bouncing Bridge).
4-5: 6-0: Bridge + Play / Ajani for Jace.
4-6: 6-0: Bridge + Play / Ajani for Jace.
Danxor wins
BWTeysa, Orzhov Scion
GWRhys the Redeemed
GUKruphix, God of Horizons
GRXenagos, God of Revels
GThrun, the Last Troll
GStompy