[size=3][font=Times New Roman]WELCOME TO BATTLE OF THE SETS (BOTS) VII!!! [/font][/size]
This is the official BOTS tournament center. In this first post of the BOTS tournament, you will find all the resources you need to follow the tournament: pairings, match results, decklists, rules, and a recap of the last tournament’s finals.
BOTS VII will be updated frequently over the next few weeks with match reports and previews before each round. Before the tournament starts, I would like to take this opportunity to thank two people:
1) Alfred, for his major role in the running of this tournament - both in playing all the matches with me, and in working on the deckbuilding. Without Alfred's excellent ideas and fine play, this BOTS tournament, as well as several before it, would not have been possible. Thank you Alfred!
2) Goblinboy - for his enthusiastic support of BOTS last time out when it appeared at MTG Salvation for the first time, and now for his support of BOTS as a front-page article. [Aww shucks *blush* -Ed]
And now - the storied tradition continues, as Magic’s 36 expansion sets battle for the most coveted championship in all of sport - the title of Battle of the Sets champion!
After the longest hiatus in BOTS history, the long-awaited seventh chapter of this ongoing saga returns, complete with all the drama, intrigue, rivalries and pulsating excitement you’ve come to expect.
Will buzz-saw Antiquities defend its title, making it three out of four, and become a dynasty?
How will newcomers Saviors of Kamigawa and Ravnica perform?
Heading for the top..?
After Judgment’s magical run last time out, which lower seed(s) will become the latest to surprise with a run past the early rounds?
Watch as the drama unfolds for the answer to these and many other questions.
Over the next few weeks, this is the only place to be for BOTS match coverage - the place to be to comment on the matches and the decks and to make predictions. You are encouraged to make match predictions and analysis.
I. TOURNAMENT BRACKET & MATCH RESULTS (updated at conc. of each match)
1) BEST OF 5: Each match is Best 3 out of 5.
2) SINGLE ELIMINATION: A series loss means elimination.
3) SEEDINGS & PAIRINGS: Each deck is classified before the tournament as a 1-8 seed. The competitors are then randomly divided into 4 Divisions (like regions in the NCAA tournament). For example, Antiquities, a 1 seed, could end up as the 1 seed of any of the 4 Divisions, and so forth.
4) DIVISION PLAY: Once the divisions are set, the divisions play out like normal tournament brackets, where each 1 seed plays each 8 seed, 2 vs. 7, 3 vs. 6, 4 vs. 5. The winner of the 1/8 then plays the winner of the 4/5, and the winner of 2/7 plays 3/6. The remaining two sets then play for the division title.
5) FINAL FOUR: Once four division champs are crowned, the Division 1 winner plays the Division 2 winner, and the Division 3 winner plays the Division 4 winner. Then the two left standing compete for the championship.
6) PLAY-IN DIVISION: With 36 sets, there is a play-in division consisting of the now 5 worst sets to decide which one of the five gets an 8 seed. The other four are out of the tournament. Format for the play-in division is best 3 out of 5, single elimination, with one deck getting a 1st round bye, then one of the remaining three getting a second bye, then the finals two contestants squaring off.
This is just an introductory article, but join us again soon when we'll go over BOTS VI's championship match!
My bet would be Torment, since it's great against creatures and the decks seem to be creature-heavy.
That Ravnica build I really wasn't expecting - I assumed it'd be something built around Plague Boiler...
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(I'm on on this site much anymore. If you want to get in touch it's probably best to email me: dom@heffalumps.org)
Forum Awards: Best Writer 2005, Best Limited Strategist 2005-2012
5CB PotM - June 2005, November 2005, February 2006, April 2008, May 2008, Feb 2009
MTGSalvation Articles: 1-20, plus guest appearance on MTGCast #86!
<Limited Clan>
That's a question that invariably comes up each time we run this tournament.
Its certainly a reasonable question, though, so I'm happy to answer it one more time.
The reason that Tempest is U/W Prayer/Humility rather than Sligh is because the U/W deck has outstanding matchups against most of the field, since a large portion of the field consists of heavy creature decks. The Prayer/Humility lock shuts down many of these creature decks cold, while seriously crippling others. Only a relatively low number of competitors have a serious chance of beating that.
On the other hand, Sligh, while no doubt viable with Tempest's card pool, actually pales in comparison to some of the elite beatdown decks in the field. Lacking many of Sligh's best cards from constructed formats (such as Fireblast, Ball Lightning, Incinerate, etc.), the potential for a truly outstanding Sligh deck is just not there in a Tempest only-card pool.
In seven tournaments thus far, Tempest has fared extremely well thanks to Prayer/Humility - Tempest has 1 Championship to its credit (BOTS II), a finals appearance (BOTS III), and currently has the 4th best match winning percentage in BOTS history. It would not have been able to distinguish itself in this manner with a good, but not great Sligh deck.
I started playing Magic back when Mirage came out and remember how powerful Tempest truly was..and still is.
Sure the deck is excellent against creature decks, and if played well can gain the upper hand against opposing counter decks with the mill option, just don't ever tap out.
Your greatest possible threat would be a well timed splice of wear away, or maybe a fast token deck.
It would have been great if one could sideboard some green in the form of gea's blessings or maybe Feldon's canes. Just for those longer lasting duels.
Good luck to Tempest, hope to see it on top, also really looking forward to seeing how Ravnica will perform, this is a good test!
DIVISION 1
Mirrodin - easy choice for me, affinity for the win. Darksteel was my second choice but fighting against Disciple.
DIVISION 2
Antiquities vs. Champions of Kamigawa. This is the hard one, I hate to see only one Cranial Extraction but the combo is still there. Extraction could beat many decks alone knowing what to look for in match 1.
DIVISION 3
Odyssey - hard choices don't really know what to pick but division 1 & 2 have the best decks.
DIVISION 4
Onslaught - same thing, hard choice and my focus is on division 1 & 2
Mirrodin and Antiquities both have good mana but I think an artifact land for affinity every first turn is better than the Workshop some of the time. Champions has great card draw in the form of putting land in play, 2 of the best land search cards of all time in one set. Rend Flesh able to kill any creatures. If Champions can get its wear away and extraction going fast it will go all the way.
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first turn
Nick: I lay a swamp, tap, dark ritual...
Me: If you cast a hypnotic specter I'll punch you in the face
Nick:...ahh I take 3 points of mana burn
The reason I play black according to CrovaxtheCursed:
Good question. Alfred and I play against each other in all of the matchups. I simply choose which deck I'd like to play in a given matchup, or Alfred chooses (makes no difference since we never have a disagreement about it), then we each play whichever deck we chose to the best of our abilities. Although Alfred and I certainly have rooting interests and favorite decks, we put those aside and play each matchup 100% objectively. We impose an obligation upon ourselves to give whatever deck we play the best chance to win by playing it as well as we can.
The implementation of the "play-in bracket" seems a bit awkward. You start with two matches, then have two "rounds" of one match each. It works a little more smoothly if you treat one of the two opening matches as a "play-in to the play-in", with the winner facing Nemesis. Functionally it comes to the same thing, unless you're planning to base the second bye on the results of the first round.
Even better, IMHO, would have been to make an 8-9 "play-in" game for each of the four "regions", but I suspect you already considered and rejected that for some reason.
I loved this on manadrain.com and I love this tournament here....
Only suggestion though? Sideboards.
For example, as it stands, the Masques deck pretty much rolls over and dies to the monoblack Torment deck. Doesn't matter how many times it is run, barring massive manascrew along the lines of Torment either being stuck on 1 land for 5 turns, or being manaflooded for 5 turns, the MBC deck will simply beat down Masques.
A sideboard that gives access to Ivory mask would potentially nullify 15 of Torment's maindeck (which works out to half of their business spells) which at the least gives Masques a fighting chance.
Similarly, Antiquities will always be a massive HOUSE since really, the only deck packing global artifact destruction is Onslaught. Other decks can pull off the win such as Torment, but if you allowed sideboards, even the Dark gets a fighting chance (Blood Moon ). Really, if the other decks get access to their respective set's nonbasic and/or artifact hate, Antiquities would never win another championship.
I second the question. Where's Umezawa's Jitte? What possible excuse could there be for not running the best card in the set? Especially in a format where no other deck can run it, and artifact hate is very minimal?
What?! Look at the initial post; he is dead. Deceased. Kaputt. Indefinitely horizontal. In mafia games, you see, people are occasionally "killed off," and when that sad event occurs, he or she is no longer allowed to post, on account of rigor mortis and what-have-you.
'Welcome to Mafia Salvation', it said, 'Population: 3,660.' And someone, they never figured out who, had painted on the sign in red letters: '1,831 to lynch.'
I second the question. Where's Umezawa's Jitte? What possible excuse could there be for not running the best card in the set? Especially in a format where no other deck can run it, and artifact hate is very minimal?
You would be right if it got to dip into Kamigawa. However, aggro from JUST betrayers is somewhat...lacking. Tallowisp and Waxmane baku are the only decent white creatures. Black has good finishers in Ink Eyes and Yukora, but very little to start the game off. Red aggro in the entire block was laughed at, so Betrayers isn't going to make it any better. And...green can run...umm...yea. Basically, you can't build a terribly strong aggro deck out of the block unless you go 3 or more colors, and then you don't have the nonbasic lands to support it as tendo isn't NEARLY enough.
So, the deck defaults to control. WB control isn't too terrible in an otherwise very weak block.
Jitte is better as an anti-aggro card than as an aggro card. Plenty of the decks that Betrayers is going to have to face will have a large number of cards that are just shut down by the fact that they lose more by attacking than they gain, all because of this one card.
What?! Look at the initial post; he is dead. Deceased. Kaputt. Indefinitely horizontal. In mafia games, you see, people are occasionally "killed off," and when that sad event occurs, he or she is no longer allowed to post, on account of rigor mortis and what-have-you.
'Welcome to Mafia Salvation', it said, 'Population: 3,660.' And someone, they never figured out who, had painted on the sign in red letters: '1,831 to lynch.'
"The reason that Tempest is U/W Prayer/Humility rather than Sligh is because the U/W deck has outstanding matchups against most of the field, since a large portion of the field consists of heavy creature decks. The Prayer/Humility lock shuts down many of these creature decks cold, while seriously crippling others. Only a relatively low number of competitors have a serious chance of beating that."
look, I'm sure teh Prayer, Humility lock has been workign otu very well for Tempest but take a look at the Pro-Tour winning deck.
Deadguy Sligh is one of teh greatest Block decks of all time, In a set constructed teh only feasible reason I can see for not running Sligh would be becuase it's broken.
That said I beleive two decks are much ebtter than teh others. Thsoe two being Mirrodin and Torment. Torment just has a ton of bombs with powerfull creature control albeit extremly land heavy) and Affinity.
The Ravncia deck is good, probally above fifth seat. The CHK deck shoudl definatly have 3 Meloku in it. Meloku is just such a hosue vs aggro. Over all I think the divisons winners will be
Mirrodin
vs
Champions of Kamigawa
Tempest
vs
Torment
Torment
vs
Mirrodin
Mirrodin wins it all. What fool bets against Frogmites?
Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. All I'll say is that Alfred and I have worked on and tested all of the decks very thoroughly and have given a great deal of thought to all aspects of running the tournament. We're pleased with all 36 decklists as well as with the tournament format.
So I hope everyone enjoys the tournament! Let's hear some more predictions!
Arabian Nights could go to 24-25 lands and add, say, Khabal Ghoul.
The Dark could run Land Leeches for more beats. Say 2 and 23 land
Legends could run kismet or something. No deck needs 27 lands.
And Torment, 29 lands.... and no Drain Life effect... uggg...
Scourge could run more cycling or morphs. There is no excuse for 28 lands.
It seems like massive mana flood happens, and the decks that arent effected ie. Antiquities benefit.
The decks that Legend and I create are high on lands, mainly because they are way more consistant. Criticising Torment for having a lot of lands is bizarre, because it almost always goes to the finals in these tournaments, and it does that by being very consistant. Scourge running too many lands? Scourge is probably the most mana intensive deck on the planet, and most of the time recurring and cycling Dragon isn't something you want to be doing in the midgame.
Also, run a mana analysis on The Dark, and you'll see that we're actually cutting the amount of white and green mana sources that should be run in the deck. Barl's Cage, one of the best cards in the deck also requires a bunch of mana to operate.
Quote from pigeons »
Jitte is better as an anti-aggro card than as an aggro card. Plenty of the decks that Betrayers is going to have to face will have a large number of cards that are just shut down by the fact that they lose more by attacking than they gain, all because of this one card.
Betrayers would probably have to run more creatures than it does it accomodate Jitte, and besides, it already CRUSHES aggro decks. It simply murders them and their entire families as well. Also, running an aggro version of Betrayers simply isn't an option, due to the lack of higher quality creatures in the set.
Then Mirrodin beats Exodus. DS beats UD. Mirrodin Beats DS. DIVISION 2
(1) Antiquities vs. (8) Play-In Nothing obliterates brokenness like Homelands!
(4) Betrayers of Kamigawa vs. (5) Scourge
(2) Visions vs. (7) Urza’s Legacy
(3) Champions of Kamigawa vs. (6) Legends
Betrayers pulls the upset over Antiquities. Champs wears down Visions. Then Betrayers wrecks Champs.
DIVISION 3
(1) Tempest vs. (8) Mirage
(4) Arabian Nights vs. (5) Ravnica
(2) Apocalypse vs. (7) Planeshift
(3) Odyssey vs. (6) Legions
Tempest humbles Ravnica. Apocalypse crushes Odyssey. Then Apocalypse beats down Tempest. DIVISION 4
(1) Torment vs. (8) Prophecy
(4) Mercadian Masques vs. (5) Judgment
(2) Onslaught vs. (7) Ice Age
(3) Fifth Dawn vs. (6) Saviors of Kamigawa
Then Judgement beats down Torment. Onslaught slides past 5D. Then Judgement beats Onslaught. (Can you link the the previous BoTSes? I think Judgement has won this one before.)
So the Top 4 are Mirrodin, Betrayers, Apocalypse, and Judgement.
I think Ravnica would be better off with a Sunforger in there. It lets it burn things like Tempest to death. Replace Hunted Dragon or Moldervine Cloak.
first turn
Nick: I lay a swamp, tap, dark ritual...
Me: If you cast a hypnotic specter I'll punch you in the face
Nick:...ahh I take 3 points of mana burn
The reason I play black according to CrovaxtheCursed:
Those land counts look pretty normal to me. About Apocalypse, it's goal is to hit land drops every turn so that it can drop a Spiritmonger into play and Death Grasp you for 9. 30 lands may seem excessive, but if you've seen it play, you will know that isn't true.
About the land needed, everything looks normal to me. Arabian Nights is fine, because the land that you aren't counting are Library of Alexandrias, which won't be used for their mana a lot of the time.
This is the official BOTS tournament center. In this first post of the BOTS tournament, you will find all the resources you need to follow the tournament: pairings, match results, decklists, rules, and a recap of the last tournament’s finals.
BOTS VII will be updated frequently over the next few weeks with match reports and previews before each round. Before the tournament starts, I would like to take this opportunity to thank two people:
1) Alfred, for his major role in the running of this tournament - both in playing all the matches with me, and in working on the deckbuilding. Without Alfred's excellent ideas and fine play, this BOTS tournament, as well as several before it, would not have been possible. Thank you Alfred!
2) Goblinboy - for his enthusiastic support of BOTS last time out when it appeared at MTG Salvation for the first time, and now for his support of BOTS as a front-page article. [Aww shucks *blush* -Ed]
And now - the storied tradition continues, as Magic’s 36 expansion sets battle for the most coveted championship in all of sport - the title of Battle of the Sets champion!
After the longest hiatus in BOTS history, the long-awaited seventh chapter of this ongoing saga returns, complete with all the drama, intrigue, rivalries and pulsating excitement you’ve come to expect.
Will buzz-saw Antiquities defend its title, making it three out of four, and become a dynasty?
How will newcomers Saviors of Kamigawa and Ravnica perform?
Watch as the drama unfolds for the answer to these and many other questions.
Over the next few weeks, this is the only place to be for BOTS match coverage - the place to be to comment on the matches and the decks and to make predictions. You are encouraged to make match predictions and analysis.
I. TOURNAMENT BRACKET & MATCH RESULTS (updated at conc. of each match)
DIVISION 1
(1) Mirrodin vs. (8) Stronghold
(4) Urza’s Saga vs. (5) Exodus
(2) Darksteel vs. (7) Alliances[/font][/size]
(3) Urza’s Destiny vs. (6) Invasion
DIVISION 2
(1) Antiquities vs. (8) Play-In
(4) Betrayers of Kamigawa vs. (5) Scourge
(2) Visions vs. (7) Urza’s Legacy
(3) Champions of Kamigawa vs. (6) Legends
DIVISION 3
(1) Tempest vs. (8) Mirage
(4) Arabian Nights vs. (5) Ravnica
(2) Apocalypse vs. (7) Planeshift
(3) Odyssey vs. (6) Legions
DIVISION 4
(1) Torment vs. (8) Prophecy
(4) Mercadian Masques vs. (5) Judgment
(2) Onslaught vs. (7) Ice Age
(3) Fifth Dawn vs. (6) Saviors of Kamigawa
PLAY-IN DIVISION
The Dark
Fallen Empires
Homelands
Weatherlight
Nemesis
Round 1: BYE = Nemesis
Fallen Empires vs. The Dark
Homelands vs. Weatherlight
II. ALL 36 DECKLISTS:
4 Oubliette
4 Erg Raiders
4 Old Man of the Sea
4 Serendib Efreet
4 Flying Men
4 Unstable Mutation
4 Erhnam Djinn
4 City of Brass
10 Swamp
10 Island
4 Tetravus
4 Clockwork Avian
4 Tawnos's Coffin
4 Su-Chi
4 Rocket Launcher
4 Primal Clay
4 Onulet
4 Candelabra of Tawnos
4 Mishra's Factory
4 Strip Mine
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Mine
4 Urza's Tower
4 Thunder Spirit
3 Greater Realm of Preservation
4 Spirit Link
4 Land Tax
3 Firestorm Phoenix
4 Pyrotechnics
3 Land's Edge
4 Chain Lightning
17 Plains
4 Lurker
4 Tracker
4 Scavenger Folk
4 Witch Hunter
4 Preacher
4 Exorcist
3 Barl’s Cage
4 Maze of Ith
11 Forest
12 Plains
4 Derelor
4 Armor Thrull
4 Mindstab Thrull
4 Necrite
4 Order of the Ebon Hand
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Thrull Retainer
4 Aeolipile
20 Swamp
4 Incinerate
3 Demonic Consultation
4 Abyssal Specter
4 Foul Familiar
4 Dark Banishing
4 Necropotence
4 Zuran Orb
4 Sulfurous Springs
8 Mountain
13 Swamp
for purchase on MTGO.
4 Abbey Matron
4 Aysen Bureaucrats
4 Death Speakers
3 Autumn Willow
4 Roots
4 Leaping Lizard
4 Spectral Bears
11 Forest
14 Plains
4 Pillage
4 Primitive Justice
4 Guerilla Tactics
4 Death Spark
4 Pyrokinesis
4 Deadly Insect
4 Yavimaya Ants
4 Elvish Ranger
13 Mountain
4 Wildfire Emissary
4 Hammer of Bogardan
4 Savage Twister
4 Incinerate
4 Kaervek's Torch
4 Wall of Roots
4 Rampant Growth
4 MountainValley
5 Forest
15 Mountain
preferred licids or Equipoise,
9 out of 10 judges
committed suicide.
4 Equipoise
4 Impulse
4 Vision Charm
4 Sands of Time
4 Wand of Denial
4 Coercion
4 Vampiric Tutor
1 Juju Bubble
1 Forbidden Ritual
8 Plains
8 Swamp
2 Undiscovered Paradise
2 Gallowbraid
4 Morinfen
4 Hidden Horror
4 Razortooth Rats
4 Serrated Biskelion
4 Barrow Ghoul
4 Fledgling Djinn
4 Circling Vultures
4 Straw Golem
4 Intuition
3 Capsize
4 Counterspell
4 Whispers of the Muse
4 Humility
4 Orim's Prayer
4 Sapphire Medallion
3 Grindstone
10 Plains
12 Island
4 Flame Wave
4 Flowstone Mauler
4 Shard Phoenix
4 Shock
4 Dream Halls
4 Sift
4 Mana Leak
11 Island
13 Mountain
4 Spike Weaver
4 Wood Elves
4 Survival of the Fittest
4 Pygmy Troll
1 Pit Spawn
2 Dauthi Jackal
4 Recurring Nightmare
4 Oath of Ghouls
4 Thrull Surgeon
1 Keeper of the Dead
1 Plaguebearer
2 Thopter Squadron
12 Swamp
3 Karn, Silver Golem
4 Phyrexian Processor
4 Smokestack
4 Worn Powerstone
4 Pit Trap
4 Thran Turbine
4 Voltaic Key
4 Claws of Gix
4 Blasted Landscape
17 Island
4 Weatherseed Faeries
4 Fleeting Image
4 Cloud of Faeries
4 Snap
4 Miscalculation
4 Might of Oaks
4 Simian Grunts
4 Rancor
4 Treetop Village
7 Forest
11 Island
4 Ancient Silverback
4 Plow Under
4 Pattern of Rebirth
4 Yavimaya Elder
4 Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
4 Heart Warden
4 Masticore
4 Thran Dynamo
3 Story Circle
4 Cho-Manno's Blessing
4 Thermal Glider
4 Nightwind Glider
4 Disenchant
2 Ramosian Lieutenant
4 Fresh Volunteers
4 Steadfast Guard
4 Ramosian Sergeant
19 Plains
4 Rhox
4 Saproling Burst
4 Blastoderm
4 Blinding Angel
4 Parallax Wave
4 Topple
4 Tangle Wire
4 Fog Patch
13 Forest
4 Citadel of Pain
4 Rhystic Lightning
4 Veteran Brawlers
4 Branded Brawlers
4 Troublesome Spirit
4 Ribbon Snake
4 Spiketail Hatchling
4 Chimeric Idol
12 Mountain
4 Blazing Specter
4 Pyre Zombie
4 Shivan Zombie
4 Ravenous Rats
4 Addle
4 Skizzik
4 Urza's Rage
4 Ghitu Fire
4 Urborg Volcano
10 Swamp
10 Mountain
4 Sunscape Battlemage
4 Phyrexian Scuta
4 Bog Down
4 Rushing River
4 Stormscape Familiar
4 Dromar’s Charm
4 Meddling Mage
4 Mana Cylix
6 Swamp
8 Plains
8 Island
4 Pernicious Deed
4 Vindicate
4 Death Grasp
4 Gerrard's Verdict
2 Desolation Angel
4 Phyrexian Arena
4 Spectral Lynx
4 Llanowar Wastes
4 Forest
8 Plains
10 Swamp
4 Standstill
4 Aether Burst
4 Careful Study
4 Roar of the Wurm
4 Call of the Herd
4 Wild Mongrel
4 Werebear
4 Nimble Mongoose
11 Island
12 Forest
3 Mind Sludge
4 Shambling Swarm
4 Faceless Butcher
4 Rancid Earth
4 Nantuko Shade
4 Mesmeric Fiend
4 Chainer's Edict
26 Swamp
4 Battle Screech
3 Commander Eesha
4 Anurid Brushhopper
4 Elephant Guide
4 Ray of Revelation
4 Phantom Nomad
4 Suntail Hawk
4 Spurnmage Advocate
15 Plains
4 Akroma's Vengeance
4 Astral Slide
4 Akroma's Blessing
4 Renewed Faith
4 Starstorm
4 Lightning Rift
4 Shock
4 Forgotten Cave
8 Mountain
12 Plains
was overpowered.
4 Goblin Goon
4 Gempalm Incinerator
4 Unstable Hulk
4 Skirk Marauder
4 Skirk Drill Sergeant
4 Goblin Lookout
4 Goblin Grappler
4 Warbreak Trumpeter
4 Noble Templar
4 Daru Warchief
4 Dawn Elemental
4 Decree of Justice
4 Wing Shards
4 Wipe Clean
4 Silver Knight
24 Plains
4 Thoughtcast
4 Shrapnel Blast
4 Atog
4 Disciple of the Vault
4 Myr Enforcer
4 Frogmite
4 Pyrite Spellbomb
4 Bonesplitter
4 Ornithopter
4 Welding Jar
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Great Furnace
4 Vault of Whispers
people played this over Worker
in Affinity? Hahahahaaaa
4 Arcbound Crusher
4 Arcbound Stinger
4 Arcbound Slith
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Arcbound Worker
4 Myr Moonvessel
4 Genesis Chamber
4 Skullclamp
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
16 Island
4 Pentad Prism
4 Wayfarer's Bauble
4 Etched Oracle
4 Bringer of the Green Dawn
4 Bringer of the Blue Dawn
4 Channel the Suns
4 Eternal Witness
4 Joiner Adept
3 Mountain
3 Plains
3 Island
12 Forest
4 Hana Kami
4 Kodama's Reach
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Wear Away
1 Joyous Respite
4 Sensei’s Diving Top
3 Eerie Procession
4 Gifts Ungiven
1 Cranial Extraction
4 Rend Flesh
1 Hideous Laughter
1 Etheral Haze
2 Soulless Revival
4 Swamp
8 Island
10 Forest
4 Final Judgment
4 Terashi's Grasp
4 Genju of the Fields
4 Three Tragedies
4 Yukora the Prisoner
4 Eradicate
4 Horobi's Whisper
4 Sickening Shoal
16 Swamp
4 Eiganjo Free-Riders
4 Promise of Bunrei
4 Descendant of Kiyomaro
4 Moonwing Moth
4 Hand of Honor
4 Kitsune Loreweaver
4 Kataki, War’s Wage
4 Ghost-Lit Redeemer
4 Loxodon Hierarch
4 Skynight Legionnaire
4 Char
4 Moldervine Cloak
4 Lightning Helix
4 Selesnya Guildmage
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Temple Garden
3 Plains
6 Mountain
7 Forest
III. RULES
The rules, as usual, are as follows:
1) BEST OF 5: Each match is Best 3 out of 5.
2) SINGLE ELIMINATION: A series loss means elimination.
3) SEEDINGS & PAIRINGS: Each deck is classified before the tournament as a 1-8 seed. The competitors are then randomly divided into 4 Divisions (like regions in the NCAA tournament). For example, Antiquities, a 1 seed, could end up as the 1 seed of any of the 4 Divisions, and so forth.
4) DIVISION PLAY: Once the divisions are set, the divisions play out like normal tournament brackets, where each 1 seed plays each 8 seed, 2 vs. 7, 3 vs. 6, 4 vs. 5. The winner of the 1/8 then plays the winner of the 4/5, and the winner of 2/7 plays 3/6. The remaining two sets then play for the division title.
5) FINAL FOUR: Once four division champs are crowned, the Division 1 winner plays the Division 2 winner, and the Division 3 winner plays the Division 4 winner. Then the two left standing compete for the championship.
6) PLAY-IN DIVISION: With 36 sets, there is a play-in division consisting of the now 5 worst sets to decide which one of the five gets an 8 seed. The other four are out of the tournament. Format for the play-in division is best 3 out of 5, single elimination, with one deck getting a 1st round bye, then one of the remaining three getting a second bye, then the finals two contestants squaring off.
This is just an introductory article, but join us again soon when we'll go over BOTS VI's championship match!
Edited by Goblinboy
Banner by ILoveAtogs
That Ravnica build I really wasn't expecting - I assumed it'd be something built around Plague Boiler...
(I'm on on this site much anymore. If you want to get in touch it's probably best to email me: dom@heffalumps.org)
Forum Awards: Best Writer 2005, Best Limited Strategist 2005-2012
5CB PotM - June 2005, November 2005, February 2006, April 2008, May 2008, Feb 2009
MTGSalvation Articles: 1-20, plus guest appearance on MTGCast #86!
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Originally Posted by lossy
Couldn't bwr also be france?
Game with france:
"Swamp"
"I concede"
"....."
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=30549
That's a question that invariably comes up each time we run this tournament.
Its certainly a reasonable question, though, so I'm happy to answer it one more time.
The reason that Tempest is U/W Prayer/Humility rather than Sligh is because the U/W deck has outstanding matchups against most of the field, since a large portion of the field consists of heavy creature decks. The Prayer/Humility lock shuts down many of these creature decks cold, while seriously crippling others. Only a relatively low number of competitors have a serious chance of beating that.
On the other hand, Sligh, while no doubt viable with Tempest's card pool, actually pales in comparison to some of the elite beatdown decks in the field. Lacking many of Sligh's best cards from constructed formats (such as Fireblast, Ball Lightning, Incinerate, etc.), the potential for a truly outstanding Sligh deck is just not there in a Tempest only-card pool.
In seven tournaments thus far, Tempest has fared extremely well thanks to Prayer/Humility - Tempest has 1 Championship to its credit (BOTS II), a finals appearance (BOTS III), and currently has the 4th best match winning percentage in BOTS history. It would not have been able to distinguish itself in this manner with a good, but not great Sligh deck.
I would put my money on it taking the title.
I started playing Magic back when Mirage came out and remember how powerful Tempest truly was..and still is.
Sure the deck is excellent against creature decks, and if played well can gain the upper hand against opposing counter decks with the mill option, just don't ever tap out.
Your greatest possible threat would be a well timed splice of wear away, or maybe a fast token deck.
It would have been great if one could sideboard some green in the form of gea's blessings or maybe Feldon's canes. Just for those longer lasting duels.
Good luck to Tempest, hope to see it on top, also really looking forward to seeing how Ravnica will perform, this is a good test!
I secretly cheer for Fallen Empires to get crazy lucky with Hymn and Thrulls to rule the day!
Mirrodin - easy choice for me, affinity for the win. Darksteel was my second choice but fighting against Disciple.
DIVISION 2
Antiquities vs. Champions of Kamigawa. This is the hard one, I hate to see only one Cranial Extraction but the combo is still there. Extraction could beat many decks alone knowing what to look for in match 1.
DIVISION 3
Odyssey - hard choices don't really know what to pick but division 1 & 2 have the best decks.
DIVISION 4
Onslaught - same thing, hard choice and my focus is on division 1 & 2
Mirrodin and Antiquities both have good mana but I think an artifact land for affinity every first turn is better than the Workshop some of the time. Champions has great card draw in the form of putting land in play, 2 of the best land search cards of all time in one set. Rend Flesh able to kill any creatures. If Champions can get its wear away and extraction going fast it will go all the way.
Nick: I lay a swamp, tap, dark ritual...
Me: If you cast a hypnotic specter I'll punch you in the face
Nick:...ahh I take 3 points of mana burn
The reason I play black according to CrovaxtheCursed:
Originally Posted by lossy
Couldn't bwr also be france?
Game with france:
"Swamp"
"I concede"
"....."
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=30549
Draft and Pauper on MTGO: RonTrauma
MTGArena: Mardu Aristocrats, Mono-R, 4C Dreadhorde, Golgari Citadel
Good question. Alfred and I play against each other in all of the matchups. I simply choose which deck I'd like to play in a given matchup, or Alfred chooses (makes no difference since we never have a disagreement about it), then we each play whichever deck we chose to the best of our abilities. Although Alfred and I certainly have rooting interests and favorite decks, we put those aside and play each matchup 100% objectively. We impose an obligation upon ourselves to give whatever deck we play the best chance to win by playing it as well as we can.
Arabian Nights could go to 24-25 lands and add, say, Khabal Ghoul.
The Dark could run Land Leeches for more beats. Say 2 and 23 land
Legends could run kismet or something. No deck needs 27 lands.
And Torment, 29 lands.... and no Drain Life effect... uggg...
Scourge could run more cycling or morphs. There is no excuse for 28 lands.
It seems like massive mana flood happens, and the decks that arent effected ie. Antiquities benefit.
The implementation of the "play-in bracket" seems a bit awkward. You start with two matches, then have two "rounds" of one match each. It works a little more smoothly if you treat one of the two opening matches as a "play-in to the play-in", with the winner facing Nemesis. Functionally it comes to the same thing, unless you're planning to base the second bye on the results of the first round.
Even better, IMHO, would have been to make an 8-9 "play-in" game for each of the four "regions", but I suspect you already considered and rejected that for some reason.
Only suggestion though? Sideboards.
For example, as it stands, the Masques deck pretty much rolls over and dies to the monoblack Torment deck. Doesn't matter how many times it is run, barring massive manascrew along the lines of Torment either being stuck on 1 land for 5 turns, or being manaflooded for 5 turns, the MBC deck will simply beat down Masques.
A sideboard that gives access to Ivory mask would potentially nullify 15 of Torment's maindeck (which works out to half of their business spells) which at the least gives Masques a fighting chance.
Similarly, Antiquities will always be a massive HOUSE since really, the only deck packing global artifact destruction is Onslaught. Other decks can pull off the win such as Torment, but if you allowed sideboards, even the Dark gets a fighting chance (Blood Moon ). Really, if the other decks get access to their respective set's nonbasic and/or artifact hate, Antiquities would never win another championship.
Mafia MVP BM Mafia
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You would be right if it got to dip into Kamigawa. However, aggro from JUST betrayers is somewhat...lacking. Tallowisp and Waxmane baku are the only decent white creatures. Black has good finishers in Ink Eyes and Yukora, but very little to start the game off. Red aggro in the entire block was laughed at, so Betrayers isn't going to make it any better. And...green can run...umm...yea. Basically, you can't build a terribly strong aggro deck out of the block unless you go 3 or more colors, and then you don't have the nonbasic lands to support it as tendo isn't NEARLY enough.
So, the deck defaults to control. WB control isn't too terrible in an otherwise very weak block.
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look, I'm sure teh Prayer, Humility lock has been workign otu very well for Tempest but take a look at the Pro-Tour winning deck.
Deadguy Sligh is one of teh greatest Block decks of all time, In a set constructed teh only feasible reason I can see for not running Sligh would be becuase it's broken.
That said I beleive two decks are much ebtter than teh others. Thsoe two being Mirrodin and Torment. Torment just has a ton of bombs with powerfull creature control albeit extremly land heavy) and Affinity.
The Ravncia deck is good, probally above fifth seat. The CHK deck shoudl definatly have 3 Meloku in it. Meloku is just such a hosue vs aggro. Over all I think the divisons winners will be
Mirrodin
vs
Champions of Kamigawa
Tempest
vs
Torment
Torment
vs
Mirrodin
Mirrodin wins it all. What fool bets against Frogmites?
So I hope everyone enjoys the tournament! Let's hear some more predictions!
The decks that Legend and I create are high on lands, mainly because they are way more consistant. Criticising Torment for having a lot of lands is bizarre, because it almost always goes to the finals in these tournaments, and it does that by being very consistant. Scourge running too many lands? Scourge is probably the most mana intensive deck on the planet, and most of the time recurring and cycling Dragon isn't something you want to be doing in the midgame.
Also, run a mana analysis on The Dark, and you'll see that we're actually cutting the amount of white and green mana sources that should be run in the deck. Barl's Cage, one of the best cards in the deck also requires a bunch of mana to operate.
Betrayers would probably have to run more creatures than it does it accomodate Jitte, and besides, it already CRUSHES aggro decks. It simply murders them and their entire families as well. Also, running an aggro version of Betrayers simply isn't an option, due to the lack of higher quality creatures in the set.
(Predicted winners in bold)
DIVISION 1
(1) Mirrodin vs. (8) Stronghold
(4) Urza’s Saga vs. (5) Exodus
(2) Darksteel vs. (7) Alliances
(3) Urza’s Destiny vs. (6) Invasion
Then Mirrodin beats Exodus. DS beats UD. Mirrodin Beats DS.
DIVISION 2
(1) Antiquities vs. (8) Play-In Nothing obliterates brokenness like Homelands!
(4) Betrayers of Kamigawa vs. (5) Scourge
(2) Visions vs. (7) Urza’s Legacy
(3) Champions of Kamigawa vs. (6) Legends
Betrayers pulls the upset over Antiquities. Champs wears down Visions. Then Betrayers wrecks Champs.
DIVISION 3
(1) Tempest vs. (8) Mirage
(4) Arabian Nights vs. (5) Ravnica
(2) Apocalypse vs. (7) Planeshift
(3) Odyssey vs. (6) Legions
Tempest humbles Ravnica. Apocalypse crushes Odyssey. Then Apocalypse beats down Tempest.
DIVISION 4
(1) Torment vs. (8) Prophecy
(4) Mercadian Masques vs. (5) Judgment
(2) Onslaught vs. (7) Ice Age
(3) Fifth Dawn vs. (6) Saviors of Kamigawa
Then Judgement beats down Torment. Onslaught slides past 5D. Then Judgement beats Onslaught. (Can you link the the previous BoTSes? I think Judgement has won this one before.)
So the Top 4 are Mirrodin, Betrayers, Apocalypse, and Judgement.
I think Ravnica would be better off with a Sunforger in there. It lets it burn things like Tempest to death. Replace Hunted Dragon or Moldervine Cloak.
3CB and 4CB5CB!--Blown Away Spikey
Arabian Nights - 28 ....................... 23.25
Antiquities - 24 ............................ 26.22
Legends - 27 ............................... 20.82
The Dark - 23 + 2 City of Shadows .. 23.49
Fallen Empires - 24
Ice Age - 25
Homelands - 25
Alliances - 24
Mirage - 24
Visions - 26
Weatherlight - 22 .......................... 23.37
Tempest - 26
Stronghold - 24
Exodus - 24
Urza's Saga - 25
Urza's Legacy - 26
Urza's Destiny - 24
Mecadian Masques - 23
Nemesis - 25
Prophecy - 24
Invasion - 25
Planeshift - 24
Apocalypse - 30 ... 25.3 (Grasp 3)
Odyssey - 24
Torment - 26 + 3 Cabal Coffers (I count as a spell) ...... 24.29
Judgment - 25
Onslaught - 28
Legions - 24 ................ 24.22 using unmorph cost
Scourge - 24 + 4 Temple of the False God
Mirrodin - 16 ............................ 19.46 (afinity, artifact lands are like 2)
Darksteel - 24
Fifth Dawn - 24 ....................... 24.89 (explosives at 5)
Champions of Kamigawa - 24
Betrayers of Kamigawa - 26
Saviors of Kamigawa - 24 ......... 23.56 (shoal = 0)
Ravnica - 24 ........................ 23.56
Nick: I lay a swamp, tap, dark ritual...
Me: If you cast a hypnotic specter I'll punch you in the face
Nick:...ahh I take 3 points of mana burn
The reason I play black according to CrovaxtheCursed:
About the land needed, everything looks normal to me. Arabian Nights is fine, because the land that you aren't counting are Library of Alexandrias, which won't be used for their mana a lot of the time.