Full rules follow, largely stolen from MTGSalvation's Perfect Hand Magic League due to the comprehensiveness of that ruleset. The format we're playing is 4 Card Blind from the Modern cardset. There shouldn't be anything too surprising for experienced players, but note the deck construction rules, particularly 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4.
I welcome any commentary on the rules or banlist, and may make an emergency ban if someone points out I've missed something ridiculous. Otherwise, entries are due by 23:59 UTC on Wednesday 1st April. Entries by PM to me on MTGS or Reddit please.
My hashed entry: 746e65761485aa6e49e2707c315eb1e8
**1. Tournament Rules**
1.1. Each submitted hand will play one match of two games with each other hand, with each player being the starting player for one game.
1.2. Scoring is as follows:
1.2a. 6 Points for winning both games.
1.2b. 4 Points for winning one and drawing one game.
1.2c. 2 Points for winning one and losing one game or for drawing both games.
1.2d. 1 Point for drawing one game and losing one game.
1.2e. 0 Points for losing both games.
1.3. Each player's score is the summation of their points. Players are asked to calculate their own scores and check against their opponents. The moderator and other players may assist.
1.4. Where cross-round scoring is required, the score taken from each round will be the average points taken from the matches, rounded to two decimal places.
1.5. The moderator will make best effort to inform entrants if their entry is not legal.
1.5a. For reasons of neutrality, the moderator will not inform entrants of apparent errors in their entries if the resulting entry is legal.
1.6. The moderator may participate, but will post a salted hash of their entry before accepting decks.
**2. Game Rules** (Thanks to MTGSalvation's Perfect Hand Magic League)
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 by 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. An effect that would produce a random result produces the result that least benefits 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 all 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. Deck Construction Rules**
3.1. A player's hand must be capable of winning the game against at least one other deck.
3.2. A player's deck may not be capable of winning the game before the opponent has taken at least two turns.
3.3. A player's deck may not be capable of causing more total cards to have left an opponent's hand than the number of complete turns that player has taken.
3.4. Rules 3.2 and 3.3 may be ignored in the following cases:
3.4a. The deck would be legal if the opponent's cards had no rules text.
3.4b. The deck would be legal if the opponent had no maximum hand size.
3.4c. The illegal action can only be achieved if the game was restarted. Instead count the total number of completed turns across all games.
3.4d. Any card that would be put onto the battlefield or back into the opponent's hand may be discounted from the count of removed cards.
3.5. A player's deck may consist of any cards from Modern legal sets, if they are not on the ban list for the round.
3.5a. Note that the Modern ban list does not apply.
3.5b. Modifications to the ban list are at moderator discretion, but discussion is welcome.
**Ban List**
Abrupt Decay
Assassin's Trophy
Beast Within
Blazing Shoal
Chancellor of the Annex
Dark Depths
Generous Gift
Ghost Quarter
Jace, Wielder of Mysteries
Laboratory Maniac
Mayor of Avabruck
Restore Balance
Shelldock Isle
Smallpox
Thassa's Oracle
The Rack
1.1. Each submitted hand will play one match of two games with each other hand, with each player being the starting player for one game.
1.2. Scoring is as follows:
1.2a. 6 Points for winning both games.
1.2b. 4 Points for winning one and drawing one game.
1.2c. 2 Points for winning one and losing one game or for drawing both games.
1.2d. 1 Point for drawing one game and losing one game.
1.2e. 0 Points for losing both games.
1.3. Each player's score is the summation of their points. Players are asked to calculate their own scores and check against their opponents. The moderator and other players may assist.
1.4. Where cross-round scoring is required, the score taken from each round will be the average points taken from the matches, rounded to two decimal places.
1.5. The moderator will make best effort to inform entrants if their entry is not legal.
1.5a. For reasons of neutrality, the moderator will not inform entrants of apparent errors in their entries if the resulting entry is legal.
1.6. The moderator may participate, but will post a salted hash of their entry before accepting decks.
**2. Game Rules** (Thanks to MTGSalvation's Perfect Hand Magic League)
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 by 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. An effect that would produce a random result produces the result that least benefits 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 all 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. Deck Construction Rules**
3.1. A player's hand must be capable of winning the game against at least one other deck.
3.2. A player's deck may not be capable of winning the game before the opponent has taken at least two turns.
3.3. A player's deck may not be capable of causing more total cards to have left an opponent's hand than the number of complete turns that player has taken.
3.4. Rules 3.2 and 3.3 may be ignored in the following cases:
3.4a. The deck would be legal if the opponent's cards had no rules text.
3.4b. The deck would be legal if the opponent had no maximum hand size.
3.4c. The illegal action can only be achieved if the game was restarted. Instead count the total number of completed turns across all games.
3.4d. Any card that would be put onto the battlefield or back into the opponent's hand may be discounted from the count of removed cards.
3.5. A player's deck may consist of any cards from Modern legal sets, if they are not on the ban list for the round.
3.5a. Note that the Modern ban list does not apply.
3.5b. Modifications to the ban list are at moderator discretion, but discussion is welcome.
**Ban List**
Abrupt Decay
Assassin's Trophy
Beast Within
Blazing Shoal
Chancellor of the Annex
Dark Depths
Generous Gift
Ghost Quarter
Jace, Wielder of Mysteries
Laboratory Maniac
Mayor of Avabruck
Restore Balance
Shelldock Isle
Smallpox
Thassa's Oracle
The Rack
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before it was cool.Same context of a team-draft expansion too!
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2 | 3 X 6 4 6 | 18
1. 3-3, same.
2. X
3. 6-0, same.
4. 4-1, on the play Braids outspeeds, on the draw Mogg is stuck on two lands and so plays ruined halo for the draw.
5. 6-0, on the play Braids strands Myth Realized. On the draw nerdy can cast Vessel, but that only pumps Myth to a 1/1 and still loses to braids.
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As emperor of GDS4, I would drop all pretense and straight randomly eliminate all but 1000 contestants before the essay portion began (maybe do one essay+confirmation email just to check seriousness). Would be real annoying and silly, but probably spare frustration and essay workloads in the long run.
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I'll say this in Maro's defense; there were simply too many good designers for the size of the "real" competition they wanted to host. 3000 people submitted essays, and even if only 10% of those people are competent designers that deserve consideration – and this is from a pool entrenched enough to write a few thousand words about Magic in their spare time! – they still need to eliminate two thirds of that group to get a sample size they could possibly hope to accurately evaluate. Good designers were necessarily gonna be tossed regardless of how amazing their selection process was.
And so Maro hopefully writes an automated test that can at least pick out the "right" top third of our good designer pool, or 3% of the total. Except there's no automated test that could possibly distinguish between top 10% or top 5% or top 1% in a creative field. The Math SAT is a longer test, calibrated for years with a huge sample size, and with subject matter way less creative and subjective than card design... and my sister still got 95th percentile because she missed ONE of 100+ math questions from a stupid carry error. If the SAT can't tell top 5% from top 1% (and she's 1%), what hope in freaking hell does Maro have? There is necessarily going to be some arbitrary filter on our group. There must, statistically must, be some element of unimportant subject matter, or podcast favoritism, or sheer dumb luck from guesses on poorly worded questions.
It really sucks getting eliminated for stupid arbitrary reasons*, but it's literally unavoidable that it'd happen to highly qualified designers and it's truly not Maro's fault.
*Also sucks when you dodge the stupid arbitrary pitfalls!... and then full punt on two of the easiest questions.
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I think we successfully figured out the answers from passed people,
here's the answer key for those curious.
The felidar guardian question was in fact not a trick question, lol. I'll politely ask Maro for some brownie points.
EDIT: Ok it may be less depressing not to check. I got a 71, I would have passed had I not punted two of the easiest questions on the test.
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And here's my trial one summaries, I went out there for #3 and especially #10.
2. Cycling promotion for reasons stated above. Also suggested a possible name change to "Rethink" or "Reconsider".
3. Equipment demotion to deciduous/Storm Scale 3. Repeat effects have always been problematic, and it seems like they've been struggling with equipment designs for a while now. The common/uncommon equipment have been super similar for ages, and we haven't had a constructed playable one in years (Runechanter's Pike was the last one by my figure). Vehicles play in a similar creature enhancement space, but as non recurring artifact creatures they're way easier to design and vary.
4. Get them playing asap, if they have TCG experience show how Magic differs in simple ways with common decks (e.g if they're from hearthstone, make a deck with instant speed interaction, discard, and defensive creatures to show defender's advantage).
5. Modularity of cards, sheer number of different formats and ways to play.
6. Barriers to entry in multiple different fashions.
7. Converge from BFZ. Way undersupported, terrible common payoffs, placed in an inappropriate set, and centered in a color so bad that pros were advocating to never draft it.
8. Kaladesh, limited was too complex.
9. BFZ, the Eldrazi faction was super cool, and were a great lower cost execution of the tribe.
10. Try to alleviate mana screw somewhat. Wouldn't blindly implement, but would like to seriously test: "Once per game, if you would draw your card for turn, you may instead play a special tapped colorless mana land (counts as land drop for turn)". Variant might be "Only after Turn X". Would have a "token" card with the rules all on it, though not required to use it.
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Legendary Creature - Elder Wolf (M)
When Tsume enters the battlefield, create three 2/2 white Wolf creature tokens.
Tap X untapped creatures you control: Search your library for a creature card with converted mana cost X or less and put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle your library. Activate this ability only once each turn.
Her message, a single note echoed in a thousand different howls and calls and roars, was clear to man and beast alike: hunt together or perish alone.
4/4
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