This is the results thread for PHM League round 31:02, Glitchy AI. For next week's submissions, go here!
Round Perfect Hand Magic League 31:01
This round was 5 Card Glitchy AI.
Commentary
This week's format subtly nefted countermagic, which had an interesting impact on the decks which were submitted - I have always loved the way that the round rules can lead to completely new metagames which have nearly nothing to do with the rules! It reminds me of things like Nash Equilibriums and strategic dominance. If you are interested in learning a bit more about this kind of thing, check out this popular experiment
Next week's format voting is completed, and the format will be: 3 Card Land Rule - Epic Storm (as suggested by turkeytron). Check out next week's thread for more details.
Calculate Your Row Now
Please submit your score row in the following format:
You don't need to calculate the final PTs or score, just your individual results. The scoring conventions are outlined in the rules at the bottom of this post. If there are any difficult or controversial matchups, please highlight these in some way and provide a brief note in your post.
5 Card Glitchy AI
Whenever a player has priority, if that player could play one or more cards from their hand by tapping and/or sacrificing any number of permanents for mana, they must play one of those cards. ("playing a card" includes casting spells, playing lands and activating abilities of cards in a player's hand)
Deck Size: 5 Land Rule: None Additional Banned list: None (please remember to check the "PHM Banned List")
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.
Pretty sure the intent is "if your lands could pay for this spell, you must play it"... although note that for sorcery speed CMC2+ spells, this can be avoided by tapping out in your upkeep.
I have realised that in order for the round rule to work, we need to make a very slight adjustment to the rules:
Whenever a player has priority, if that player could play one or more cards from their hand by tapping and/or sacrificing any number of permanents for mana or using mana from their mana pool, they must play one of those cards. ("playing a card" includes casting spells, playing lands and activating abilities of cards in a player's hand)
I hope this makes sense for everyone - if we don't have this rule, then it lets you tap your mana at instant speed while there is something on the stack, removing the obligation to play a spell in sequence since the rule doesn't check for mana in your mana pool. Are there any objections to this change?
Well my deck is pretty easy to calculate, it's about as glass cannon as it gets.
01 2-2 On the play I can't beat Aura
03 6-0 I always generate at least 12 goblins no matter what you counter
04 6-0 (unless you can t2 cast emrakul) On the play you die to goblins. On the draw, I think you cast LED, shelldock, crack LED in response to hideaway, cast Reckless Wurm, discard Violent Eruption, Emrakul shuffle trigger, shuffle Violent Eruption, Emrakul and LED into library, find Emrakul with hideaway. Am I correct in saying that you don't actually draw LED until T3, since that would be the less favourable result? Is there a way you can T2 cast Emrakul and make the result 2-2?
05 0-6 Tabernacle, moving on...
06 2-2 On the play 16 goblins, on the draw Nevermore.
07 either 6-0 or 0-6 depending on how Mindbreak Trap works. If I cast Black Lotusx3, do you have to cast the Mindbreak Trap on the 3rd one? Or can you choose to wait?
You are right, the foil was supposed to protect the lotus, though I can play the island before the lotus to not be able to foil. I have no way to protect the lotus with foil due to being able to hold priority casting the lotus.
Turkeytron I see myself 4-1 vs you though.
On Draw I foil the lotus, your deck does nothing, but I can't keep a creature in play - Draw
On Play I play Island, Lotus, Patron. Patron counters your Lotus, and I win
04 nerdyjoe: 6-0
Lion's Eye never resolves on play or draw
05 turkeytron: 4-1
On Draw I foil the lotus, your deck does nothing, but I can't keep a creature in play - Draw
On Play I play Island, Lotus, Patron. Patron counters your Lotus, and I win
06 WhammeWhamme: 0-6
Shelldock paying for Patron trumps me
vs. 01 Madmanquail: Nevermore/Blood Moon chops it. 3-3
vs. 02 Chess_76: Same goldfish speed, no real interaction. 3-3
vs. 03 Danxor: On the play, Lotus gets Foiled and I drop things, then I can use Isle to pay for Patron. On the draw, he has to play out his Island and drop Patron Wizard (or else counter his own Lotus), so he can only Patron to counter Black Lotus (as Lotus can pay the 1 to stop LED from being countered)... same outcome. 6-0
vs. 04 nerdyjoe: I can Nevermore LED after playing my own, thus winning the mirror. 6-0
vs. 05 turkeytron: Emrakul kills afflictions, Isle pays Tabernacle. 6-0
vs. 07 tomsloger: Trap is a clever idea!. 0-6
So, I actually win before opponent's turn 2 unopposed:
LED, Sheldock, crack LED in response to trigger, cast Wurm for madness cost, shuffle LED, Eruption, Emrakul back, find Emrakul with Sheldock, put the others back in any order I choose (LED on top of eruption) : 702.72a Hideaway represents a static ability and a triggered ability. "Hideaway" means "This permanent enters the battlefield tapped" and "When this permanent enters the battlefield, look at the top four cards of your library. Exile one of them face down and put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order. The exiled card gains 'Any player who has controlled the permanent that exiled this card may look at this card in the exile zone.'"
My turn two, cast led, crack to activate shelldock, cast emrakul, swing with Wurm (4 damage). My turn 2 (again), swing with emrakul and wurm (23 damage)
I realized this a little late, and should have changed my deck, but didn't. So I get this round's 000 points.
Basking Rootwalla + violent eruption would still do 20 damage before turn three; he could go turn 1 LED, shelldock into Rootwalla + eruption, and then draw the LED again to cast Emmy and swing for 16.
It would have to be a madness creature which cost more than 0 but with power 2 or less. Gorgon Recluse it is!
So, I actually win before opponent's turn 2 unopposed:
LED, Sheldock, crack LED in response to trigger, cast Wurm for madness cost, shuffle LED, Eruption, Emrakul back, find Emrakul with Sheldock, put the others back in any order I choose (LED on top of eruption) : 702.72a Hideaway represents a static ability and a triggered ability. "Hideaway" means "This permanent enters the battlefield tapped" and "When this permanent enters the battlefield, look at the top four cards of your library. Exile one of them face down and put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order. The exiled card gains 'Any player who has controlled the permanent that exiled this card may look at this card in the exile zone.'"
My turn two, cast led, crack to activate shelldock, cast emrakul, swing with Wurm (4 damage). My turn 2 (again), swing with emrakul and wurm (23 damage)
I realized this a little late, and should have changed my deck, but didn't. So I get this round's 000 points.
does the madness/LED combo work? it looks like discarding the cards is part of the cost of the ability, so you dont have the mana at the time of the
discard. i am unsure on this though. rules people?
Can't we just replace Wurm with a basic land (or Basking Rootwalla)? Or was there a policy decision against that kind of thing?
im not moderating this round, but my opinion on the matter is that if you can switch a card with a blank to make it legal, thats awesome.
the debate, iirc, was over functional replacements (like rootwalla in this case)
does the madness/LED combo work? it looks like discarding the cards is part of the cost of the ability, so you dont have the mana at the time of the
discard. i am unsure on this though. rules people?
It does work. You are right that the cards are discarded before the mana is added, but the casting for madness comes in a triggered ability, which resolves afterwards.
01 On the play, preacher and aura lock me out, on the draw, I believe I can drop LED (and shelldock, to no effect) and hold up volcanic eruption. They can play hate cards, but can't put a clock on the table (eruption will remove it). On my next turn I have to violent eruption, but I choose to use the madness cost. Unfortunately I can't quite cycle the eruption with stacking madness/emrakul triggers correctly because the LED always costs two and I only have a single mountain. 1-4
02 On the play, they drop 16 goblins. I do my shelldock trigger tricks and get an emrakul under it with LED on top, eruption second, and eruption kills 4 goblins (12). They swing in for 12. I play LED activate Shelldock, casting emrakul. Extra turn, I swing with emrakul, removing 63 goblins (9), deal 15 damage. On their turn they swing for 69, taking me to 2-1, and on my following turn I get the kill. When i'm on the play, it's even better. 6-0 they only get to swing once, with the 15 goblins they have after saccing 3 loti and 3 goblins to emrakul. 3-3
03 When I'm on the play, my LED gets foiled, and I lose to nether spirit. When I'm on the draw, they play Island (so they don't foil their own lotus), Lotus, Wizard, pass. I have to play lotus, and Shelldock etb tapped, so I can't pay the trollwizard toll. 0-6
04 That's me!
05 On the play, they drop lotus, 3x affliction, tabernacle, pass. I do my LED / Shelldock / Emrakul trick, and cast eruption on their face (16). They pass. I start my turn, lose 9 life. Play LED activate Isle, take extra turn. I start my turn lose 9 life pay for emrakul with isle, swing for 15 (1), they sac all their perements. I then take my next turn and lesuirely win. When they're on the draw, it's better for me. 6-0
06 On the play or draw, they nevermore (with lotus) naming LED after dropping their own. They can then win, since I never get to cast another spell. My lack of enchantment removal hurt me (as vs 01). 0-6
07 Needle on Isle turn 1 slows my clock enough that the turn 5 Marit Lage swing is lethal, and I can't do anything about it. 0-6
Actually, #2 is still 3-3; they play lotus lotus lotus, then Yawgwin them all back, then play Empty the Warrens using floating mana... and have three lotuses in play to sacrifice to Annihilator. =/
07 either 6-0 or 0-6 depending on how Mindbreak Trap works. If I cast Black Lotusx3, do you have to cast the Mindbreak Trap on the 3rd one? Or can you choose to wait?
this is a solid question. i suspect that i do:
Whenever a player has priority, if that player could play one or more cards from their hand by tapping and/or sacrificing any number of permanents for mana, they must play one of those cards. ("playing a card" includes casting spells, playing lands and activating abilities of cards in a player's hand)
listing as me losing unless anybody knows different.
i win 6-0 apparently. bully for me
i think that you are. thespian's stage copies dark depths and you sac it with zero counters.
i swing on turn 4 for 20 indestructible. should be 6-0 me.
scores as reported, with mine and mmq's added in.
1 | X 2 6 4 1 3 2 | 17 | 283
2 | 2 X 6 3 0 3 0 | 12 | 200
3 | 0 0 X 6 4 0 0 | 10 | 167
4 | 1 3 0 X 6 0 0 | 09 | 150
5 | 4 6 1 0 X 0 0 | 11 | 183
6 | 3 3 6 6 6 X 0 | 22 | 367
7 | 2 6 6 6 6 6 X | 32 | 533
disagreements:
2v4, listed 6-3 not sure on this one.
assistance required.
is 3-3. updating scoring.
Thanks for the scoring grid tomsloger. The ruling on Mindbreak trap is: the alternative cost is a 'may' ability in the same way that snapback is. Thus, you may decide not to cast it for 0.
Thanks for the scoring grid tomsloger. The ruling on Mindbreak trap is: the alternative cost is a 'may' ability in the same way that snapback is. Thus, you may decide not to cast it for 0.
cool! still not sure on 2v4 though. round complete.
Round Perfect Hand Magic League 31:01
This round was 5 Card Glitchy AI.
Commentary
This week's format subtly nefted countermagic, which had an interesting impact on the decks which were submitted - I have always loved the way that the round rules can lead to completely new metagames which have nearly nothing to do with the rules! It reminds me of things like Nash Equilibriums and strategic dominance. If you are interested in learning a bit more about this kind of thing, check out this popular experiment
Next week's format voting is completed, and the format will be: 3 Card Land Rule - Epic Storm (as suggested by turkeytron). Check out next week's thread for more details.
Calculate Your Row Now
Please submit your score row in the following format:
X | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 | PT | Points
1 | X 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 |
You don't need to calculate the final PTs or score, just your individual results. The scoring conventions are outlined in the rules at the bottom of this post. If there are any difficult or controversial matchups, please highlight these in some way and provide a brief note in your post.
5 Card Glitchy AI
Whenever a player has priority, if that player could play one or more cards from their hand by tapping and/or sacrificing any number of permanents for mana, they must play one of those cards. ("playing a card" includes casting spells, playing lands and activating abilities of cards in a player's hand)
Deck Size: 5
Land Rule: None
Additional Banned list: None (please remember to check the "PHM Banned List")
The Entries
01 Madmanquail :: "Let the hate flow!"
Black Lotus / Black Lotus / Preacher / Blood Moon / Aura of Silence
02 Chess_76 :: "Empty Will"
Black Lotus / Black Lotus / Black Lotus / Yawgmoth's Will / Empty the Warrens
03 Danxor :: "Risky Manoeuvre"
Black Lotus / Patron Wizard / Island / Foil / Nether Spirit
04 nerdyjoe :: "The Madness of Emmy's Eye"
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn / Shelldock Isle / Lion's Eye Diamond / Gorgon Recluse / Violent Eruption
05 turkeytron :: "Shrieks at Pendrell Vale"
Black Lotus / Shrieking Affliction / Shrieking Affliction / Shrieking Affliction / The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
06 WhammeWhamme :: "Emrakul Never Stops"
Black Lotus / Nevermore / Lion's Eye Diamond / Shelldock Isle / Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
07 tomsloger :: "Mindbreaker Needle"
Mindbreak Trap / Thespian's Stage / Dark Depths / Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth / Pithing Needle
The Grid
X | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 | PT | Points
1 | X . . . . . . | |
2 | . X . . . . . | |
3 | . . X . . . . | |
4 | . . . X . . . | |
5 | . . . . X . . | |
6 | . . . . . X . | |
7 | . . . . . . X | |
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
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Pretty sure the intent is "if your lands could pay for this spell, you must play it"... although note that for sorcery speed CMC2+ spells, this can be avoided by tapping out in your upkeep.
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I hope this makes sense for everyone - if we don't have this rule, then it lets you tap your mana at instant speed while there is something on the stack, removing the obligation to play a spell in sequence since the rule doesn't check for mana in your mana pool. Are there any objections to this change?
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01 2-2 On the play I can't beat Aura
03 6-0 I always generate at least 12 goblins no matter what you counter
04 6-0 (unless you can t2 cast emrakul) On the play you die to goblins. On the draw, I think you cast LED, shelldock, crack LED in response to hideaway, cast Reckless Wurm, discard Violent Eruption, Emrakul shuffle trigger, shuffle Violent Eruption, Emrakul and LED into library, find Emrakul with hideaway. Am I correct in saying that you don't actually draw LED until T3, since that would be the less favourable result? Is there a way you can T2 cast Emrakul and make the result 2-2?
05 0-6 Tabernacle, moving on...
06 2-2 On the play 16 goblins, on the draw Nevermore.
07 either 6-0 or 0-6 depending on how Mindbreak Trap works. If I cast Black Lotusx3, do you have to cast the Mindbreak Trap on the 3rd one? Or can you choose to wait?
Turkeytron I see myself 4-1 vs you though.
On Draw I foil the lotus, your deck does nothing, but I can't keep a creature in play - Draw
On Play I play Island, Lotus, Patron. Patron counters your Lotus, and I win
Preacher locks me out
02 Chess_76: 0-6
Too Many lotuses
04 nerdyjoe: 6-0
Lion's Eye never resolves on play or draw
05 turkeytron: 4-1
On Draw I foil the lotus, your deck does nothing, but I can't keep a creature in play - Draw
On Play I play Island, Lotus, Patron. Patron counters your Lotus, and I win
06 WhammeWhamme: 0-6
Shelldock paying for Patron trumps me
07 tomsloge: 0-6
Well then
0 0 X 6 4 0 0
vs. 02 Chess_76: Same goldfish speed, no real interaction. 3-3
vs. 03 Danxor: On the play, Lotus gets Foiled and I drop things, then I can use Isle to pay for Patron. On the draw, he has to play out his Island and drop Patron Wizard (or else counter his own Lotus), so he can only Patron to counter Black Lotus (as Lotus can pay the 1 to stop LED from being countered)... same outcome. 6-0
vs. 04 nerdyjoe: I can Nevermore LED after playing my own, thus winning the mirror. 6-0
vs. 05 turkeytron: Emrakul kills afflictions, Isle pays Tabernacle. 6-0
vs. 07 tomsloger: Trap is a clever idea!. 0-6
LED, Sheldock, crack LED in response to trigger, cast Wurm for madness cost, shuffle LED, Eruption, Emrakul back, find Emrakul with Sheldock, put the others back in any order I choose (LED on top of eruption) : 702.72a Hideaway represents a static ability and a triggered ability. "Hideaway" means "This permanent enters the battlefield tapped" and "When this permanent enters the battlefield, look at the top four cards of your library. Exile one of them face down and put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order. The exiled card gains 'Any player who has controlled the permanent that exiled this card may look at this card in the exile zone.'"
My turn two, cast led, crack to activate shelldock, cast emrakul, swing with Wurm (4 damage). My turn 2 (again), swing with emrakul and wurm (23 damage)
I realized this a little late, and should have changed my deck, but didn't. So I get this round's 000 points.
It would have to be a madness creature which cost more than 0 but with power 2 or less. Gorgon Recluse it is!
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does the madness/LED combo work? it looks like discarding the cards is part of the cost of the ability, so you dont have the mana at the time of the
discard. i am unsure on this though. rules people?
if im wrong:
im not moderating this round, but my opinion on the matter is that if you can switch a card with a blank to make it legal, thats awesome.
the debate, iirc, was over functional replacements (like rootwalla in this case)
Emrakul / Shelldock / LED / Gorgon Recluse / Violent Eruption
XX | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 | PT | Points
04 | 1 3 0 X 6 0 0 | 9 | 150
01 On the play, preacher and aura lock me out, on the draw, I believe I can drop LED (and shelldock, to no effect) and hold up volcanic eruption. They can play hate cards, but can't put a clock on the table (eruption will remove it). On my next turn I have to violent eruption, but I choose to use the madness cost. Unfortunately I can't quite cycle the eruption with stacking madness/emrakul triggers correctly because the LED always costs two and I only have a single mountain.
02 On the play, they drop 16 goblins. I do my shelldock trigger tricks and get an emrakul under it with LED on top, eruption second, and eruption kills 4 goblins (12). They swing in for 12. I play LED activate Shelldock, casting emrakul. Extra turn, I swing with emrakul, removing
63 goblins (9), deal 15 damage. On their turn they swing for69, taking me to2-1, and on my following turn I get the kill. When i'm on the play,it's even better. 6-0they only get to swing once, with the 15 goblins they have after saccing 3 loti and 3 goblins to emrakul. 3-303 When I'm on the play, my LED gets foiled, and I lose to nether spirit. When I'm on the draw, they play Island (so they don't foil their own lotus), Lotus, Wizard, pass. I have to play lotus, and Shelldock etb tapped, so I can't pay the
trollwizard toll. 0-604 That's me!
05 On the play, they drop lotus, 3x affliction, tabernacle, pass. I do my LED / Shelldock / Emrakul trick, and cast eruption on their face (16). They pass. I start my turn, lose 9 life. Play LED activate Isle, take extra turn. I start my turn lose 9 life pay for emrakul with isle, swing for 15 (1), they sac all their perements. I then take my next turn and lesuirely win. When they're on the draw, it's better for me. 6-0
06 On the play or draw, they nevermore (with lotus) naming LED after dropping their own. They can then win, since I never get to cast another spell. My lack of enchantment removal hurt me (as vs 01). 0-6
07 Needle on Isle turn 1 slows my clock enough that the turn 5 Marit Lage swing is lethal, and I can't do anything about it. 0-6
Next week: Nature's Claim.
So they swing for 12, then 9.
this is a solid question.
i suspect that i do:
listing as me losing unless anybody knows different.
i win 6-0 apparently. bully for me
i think that you are. thespian's stage copies dark depths and you sac it with zero counters.
i swing on turn 4 for 20 indestructible. should be 6-0 me.
scores as reported, with mine and mmq's added in.
1 | X 2 6 4 1 3 2 | 17 | 283
2 | 2 X 6 3 0 3 0 | 12 | 200
3 | 0 0 X 6 4 0 0 | 10 | 167
4 | 1 3 0 X 6 0 0 | 09 | 150
5 | 4 6 1 0 X 0 0 | 11 | 183
6 | 3 3 6 6 6 X 0 | 22 | 367
7 | 2 6 6 6 6 6 X | 32 | 533
disagreements:
2v4, listed 6-3
not sure on this one.assistance required.
is 3-3. updating scoring.
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cool!
still not sure on 2v4 though.round complete.