4. ced395 - Mind Swords / The Rack Mind Swords is effective removal against slow decks, but doesn't pose a threat to anything fast.
5. Mogg - Chain of Vapor / Nyxathid Chain of Vapor is usually pointless in this format because of the land rule. Vindicate may have been a better choice.
Edit: Chain of vapor is useful for snatching Nyxathid from the grip of destruction.
6. VikingMetal4L - Balance / The Rack Balance should probably be banned.
7. WhammWhamme - Dread / Sol Ring Dread is difficult to remove, but generally too slow to pose a threat.
8. domogrue - Maelstrom Pulse / The Rack Maelstrom pulse was amusing, though less useful than Vindicate.
9. dethwing - The Rack / The Rack I'm amazed that this was only submitted once.
10. Krashbot - Ajani Vengeant / Black Lotus Ajani's ability to tap lands isn't useful in this format.
Congratulations to bmh for tentatively winning 2CB #0.
0. Overview
Two Card Blind (2CB) is a Magic tournament, run entirely within this forum. To compete, players submit two-card decks which are played against each other. Scoring assumes optimal play, without randomness or concealed information.
1. Game Rules
1.1. Except for the changes described in these rules, games follow the Magic: The Gathering Comprehensive Rules.
1.2. Players' decks contain exactly two cards, which begin the game in hand. Players do not mulligan or sideboard.
1.3. Players' libraries begin the game empty. A player does not lose the game as a result of being unable to draw a card.
1.4. A random effect produces the result that least benefits the owner of the source of the effect.
1.5 Whenever a player could play a land card, that player may instead put a basic land card from outside the game onto the battlefield.
2. Tournament Rules
2.1. Players submit their decks to the 2CB moderator (bmh).
2.1a. The moderator acknowledges submissions and informs players of mistakes in a timely manner.
2.1b. A player may submit multiple decks, but only the most recent is counted.
2.1c. If a player's final deck is illegal, the moderator replaces cards in the deck with Library of Alexandria until the deck is made legal. Replacements are made such that the revised deck functions as closely as possible to the original.
2.2. A player may not submit a deck that can – against any deck – win the game or force one or more card in an opponent's hand to change zones before an opponent's first turn.
2.3. A deck may include any number of any card legal in Vintage (Type 1).
2.4. Each player plays one match, consisting of two games, against each other player. Each player is the starting player once per match. Results assume optimal play and perfect information.
2.4a. If no player can win, the game is a draw.
2.4b. A player that can't win or draw plays to extend the game.
2.5. Points determine tournament standings. Players are ranked, first to last, in order of decreasing number of points.
2.5a. For each match, a player earns 3 points per game win and 1 point per drawn game.
2.5b. A table of match results is posted each round. Its rows represent players and its columns represent opponents. Match results reflect the combined result of both games played in a match; 3 is a game win, 1 a drawn game, and 0 a game loss. A player's points are listed at the end of his or her row.
2.5c. If I receive too many decks, players will be randomly divided into heats.
4-5: 0-6 -> 2-2
Chain Rack in response to Swords removes Rack.
5-6: 0-6 -> 2-2
Chain Rack in response to Balance avoids discarding Nyxathid; Nyxathid beats Rack. Chain Rack in response to Balance discards Rack if Nyxathid is in play; if Chain is copied, Nyxathid beats Rack.
5-7: 0-6 -> 2-2
If Sol Ring is never played, Nyxathid outraces (on the draw, only if Dread attacks). If Sol Ring is played, Nyxathid is a 7/7 black blocker.
Two corrections that actually don't change my overall score:
3 vs. 13 (listed as 6-0 in favor of 13; should be 0-6)
I can't do anything to stop Akki Underminer, even on the play. He wins.
13 vs. 8 (listed as 0-6 in favor of 8; should be 6-0)
Rack can't kill me before I have enough mana to play Form with UU open to Mana Drain Pulse if he tries to play it. Once Form is down, Rack cannot kill me.
A lot of things "should" be banned in the abstract, but it's not like the format was overrun by Balance (or Meddling Mage, or Tidehollow Sculler, or any two-drop). The most widely played card was clearly The Rack, which didn't even finish on top. I give mad props to bmh for discovering Rhys as the superior one-drop.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that if I had run 2CB #1, I would have banned Balance, The Rack, Meddling Mage, Nezumi Shortfang, etc. right off the bat. But none of those strategies were clearly dominant, so I don't think that would have been appropriate. I now think the banned list should stay as short as possible until the metagame stagnates.
Actually I'd be curious to see what would happen if Fastbond came off the list. Obviously it's stupid powerful, but running Fastbond means you're basically playing 1CB. And note that Fastbond-Banefire still loses 0-2 to any deck with the Rack.
Both players have 0 cards in hand and lose 3 life per turn. But strangely, player A loses this race! On the other hand, if player B is on the play and has nothing to do turn 2, then the "obvious" line of play is as follows...
Losing three life per turn, player A wins this race on the draw! Crazy. What I am saying is that multiple lines of play must be considered, because the "obvious" line is not necessarily the best.
For example, I will outline how my match with domogrue should unfold.
On the play:
Turn 1 VM: Land.
Turn 1 DG: Land. If he plays The Rack here, then basically Scenario 2 plays out and he loses, so he must pass back.
Turn 2 VM: Land.
Turn 2 DG: Land. He may as well play The Rack now, because next turn I will play Rack and Balance together.
Turn 3 VM: (19 life) Land, Rack, Balance.
Turn 3 DG: (17 life)
...and so on: it takes 7 turns for The Rack to kill either of us from 19 or 20 life, and domogrue takes the first hit so loses.
On the draw:
Turn 1 DG: Land. He can't play The Rack by Scenario 2.
Turn 1 VM: Land. I can't play The Rack by Scenario 1 (even if I don't follow with Balance as in Scenario 1, I would still lose the race).
Turn 2 DG: Land, Rack. He must play The Rack now, because if he waits another turn, then I get enough land to play Rack and Balance together.
Turn 2 VM: (19 life) Land, Rack. I pretty much have to play The Rack right now, as this is my only chance to be in position to win the race.
Turn 3 DG: (18 life) Land, Maelstrom Pulse kills both Racks so that he doesn't just lose. The game is a draw.
So I get a win and a draw against domogrue instead of win and loss. By similar reasoning, I get double win versus Shogun17, since Ensnaring Bridge is completely irrelevant. However, I get double loss versus dethwing by Scenario 1. ced395 and I do still split our games, because whoever gets to 3 mana first wins. In fact ced395 and I should have identical records versus Rack decks.
Anyway, you get the picture. Count some cases and search some decision trees, guys. I'm too tired to finish thinking about everyone's games, but I wanted to say something while this was still relevant.
Alright Brendan and Jake. I did the rest of the Rack mirror calculations for you. Overall more points are awarded to Rack decks because fewer matches end 3-3.
ced395 goes 3-3 with VM4L, 4-1 with domo, 0-6 with dethwing, and 6-0 with Shogun. Score changes by +4 up to 42
VM4L goes 3-3 with ced395, 4-1 with domo, 0-6 with dethwing, 6-0 with Shogun. Score changes by +4 up to 48
domogrue goes 1-4 with ced, 1-4 with VM4L, 2-2 with dethwing, and 2-2 with Shogun. (Reason for the draws is the "principle" that whoever plays The Rack first loses.) Score changes by -6, down to 28.
dethwing goes 6-0 with ced, 6-0 with VM4L, 2-2 with domo, and 6-0 with Shogun. Score changes by +10, up to 44.
Shogun goes 0-6 to ced, 0-6 to VM4L, 2-2 with domo, and 0-6 with dethwing. Score changes by -5, down to 18.
For example, I will outline how my match with domogrue should unfold.
On the play:
Turn 1 VM: Land.
Turn 1 DG: Land. If he plays The Rack here, then basically Scenario 2 plays out and he loses, so he must pass back.
Turn 2 VM: Land.
Turn 2 DG: Land. He may as well play The Rack now, because next turn I will play Rack and Balance together.
Turn 3 VM: (19 life) Land, Rack, Balance.
Turn 3 DG: (17 life)
...and so on: it takes 7 turns for The Rack to kill either of us from 19 or 20 life, and domogrue takes the first hit so loses.
On the draw:
Turn 1 DG: Land. He can't play The Rack by Scenario 2.
Turn 1 VM: Land. I can't play The Rack by Scenario 1 (even if I don't follow with Balance as in Scenario 1, I would still lose the race).
Turn 2 DG: Land, Rack. He must play The Rack now, because if he waits another turn, then I get enough land to play Rack and Balance together.
Turn 2 VM: (19 life) Land, Rack. I pretty much have to play The Rack right now, as this is my only chance to be in position to win the race.
Turn 3 DG: (18 life) Land, Maelstrom Pulse kills both Racks so that he doesn't just lose. The game is a draw.
So I get a win and a draw against domogrue instead of win and loss. By similar reasoning, I get double win versus Shogun17, since Ensnaring Bridge is completely irrelevant. However, I get double loss versus dethwing by Scenario 1. ced395 and I do still split our games, because whoever gets to 3 mana first wins. In fact ced395 and I should have identical records versus Rack decks.
Anyway, you get the picture. Count some cases and search some decision trees, guys. I'm too tired to finish thinking about everyone's games, but I wanted to say something while this was still relevant.
Q
How does Balance help you in these games? Playing Rack and Balance on the same turn leads to a draw. Either you destroy your own Rack (if they haven't played theirs, in which case theirs will also then be discarded), or you still have a card in your hand, and can't force them to discard their entire hand... so you're in the same "whoever plays rack first loses" situation. So... shouldn't all your wins in these situations actually be draws?
How does Balance help you in these games? Playing Rack and Balance on the same turn leads to a draw. Either you destroy your own Rack (if they haven't played theirs, in which case theirs will also then be discarded), or you still have a card in your hand, and can't force them to discard their entire hand... so you're in the same "whoever plays rack first loses" situation. So... shouldn't all your wins in these situations actually be draws?
Suppose he's on the Draw. His opponent lays down the Rack and he takes 1 point of damage (20/19) during his Upkeep. Viking plays the rack, and his opponent takes 2 points during his upkeep (18/19).
On Viking's next turn, he takes 2 points (18/17) and then he plays Balance. His opponent then takes 3 points of damage during his next upkeep (15/17) and Viking wins the damage race (0/2).
If his opponent doesn't play the Rack, he plays his own and then Balance to empty his opponent's hand.
How does Balance help you in these games? Playing Rack and Balance on the same turn leads to a draw. Either you destroy your own Rack (if they haven't played theirs, in which case theirs will also then be discarded), or you still have a card in your hand, and can't force them to discard their entire hand... so you're in the same "whoever plays rack first loses" situation. So... shouldn't all your wins in these situations actually be draws?
Ugh... I somehow managed to misread Balance, and thought it affected artifacts. That's why I was confused. Guess I need to learn to read... carry on, nothing to see here.
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The Rack was extremely prevalent this week. I'm considering banning it, but thought I'd give it another week to see how the metagame responds.
With Thoughtseize off the table, the format wasn't dominated by discard.
1. bmh - Meddling Mage / Rhys the Redeemed
I was surprised that no one else fielded Meddling Mage.
2. FSI - Nezumi Shortfang / Vindicate
Shortfang is neat but ultimately too fragile.
3. Halinn - Akki Underminer / Black Lotus
Underminer was cute, but was ultimately beat out by the Rack.
4. ced395 - Mind Swords / The Rack
Mind Swords is effective removal against slow decks, but doesn't pose a threat to anything fast.
5. Mogg - Chain of Vapor / Nyxathid
Chain of Vapor is usually pointless in this format because of the land rule. Vindicate may have been a better choice.Edit: Chain of vapor is useful for snatching Nyxathid from the grip of destruction.
6. VikingMetal4L - Balance / The Rack
Balance should probably be banned.
7. WhammWhamme - Dread / Sol Ring
Dread is difficult to remove, but generally too slow to pose a threat.
8. domogrue - Maelstrom Pulse / The Rack
Maelstrom pulse was amusing, though less useful than Vindicate.
9. dethwing - The Rack / The Rack
I'm amazed that this was only submitted once.
10. Krashbot - Ajani Vengeant / Black Lotus
Ajani's ability to tap lands isn't useful in this format.
11. Shogun17 - Ensnaring Bridge / The Rack
Ensnaring Bridge was only useful against two decks.
12. Personman - Energy Field / Form of the Dragon
Energy field is too susceptible to disruption.
13. DragonDart - Form of the Dragon / Mana Drain
This deck was surprisingly good.
XX| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3
01| - 6 6 6 6 3 6 6 3 0 6 4 3 | 52
02| 0 - 3 3 6 0 0 2 6 2 6 6 4 | 36
03| 0 3 - 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 3 6 | 16
04| 0 3 6 - 2 3 6 3 3 6 3 6 3 | 38
05| 0 0 6 2 - 2 2 6 6 6 0 0 0 | 30
06| 3 6 6 3 2 - 6 3 3 6 3 6 3 | 44
07| 0 6 0 0 2 0 - 6 0 0 0 0 0 | 14
08| 0 2 6 3 6 3 0 - 3 6 6 2 0 | 34
09| 3 0 6 3 0 3 6 4 - 6 6 0 0 | 34
10| 6 2 6 0 6 0 6 0 0 - 6 0 0 | 32
11| 0 0 6 3 6 3 6 1 0 0 - 0 0 | 23
12| 1 0 2 0 6 0 6 6 6 6 6 - 2 | 41
13| 3 1 0 3 6 3 6 6 6 6 6 2 - | 45
Congratulations to bmh for tentatively winning 2CB #0.
0. Overview
Two Card Blind (2CB) is a Magic tournament, run entirely within this forum. To compete, players submit two-card decks which are played against each other. Scoring assumes optimal play, without randomness or concealed information.
1. Game Rules
1.1. Except for the changes described in these rules, games follow the Magic: The Gathering Comprehensive Rules.
1.2. Players' decks contain exactly two cards, which begin the game in hand. Players do not mulligan or sideboard.
1.3. Players' libraries begin the game empty. A player does not lose the game as a result of being unable to draw a card.
1.4. A random effect produces the result that least benefits the owner of the source of the effect.
1.5 Whenever a player could play a land card, that player may instead put a basic land card from outside the game onto the battlefield.
2. Tournament Rules
2.1. Players submit their decks to the 2CB moderator (bmh).
2.1a. The moderator acknowledges submissions and informs players of mistakes in a timely manner.
2.1b. A player may submit multiple decks, but only the most recent is counted.
2.1c. If a player's final deck is illegal, the moderator replaces cards in the deck with Library of Alexandria until the deck is made legal. Replacements are made such that the revised deck functions as closely as possible to the original.
2.2. A player may not submit a deck that can – against any deck – win the game or force one or more card in an opponent's hand to change zones before an opponent's first turn.
2.3. A deck may include any number of any card legal in Vintage (Type 1).
2.4. Each player plays one match, consisting of two games, against each other player. Each player is the starting player once per match. Results assume optimal play and perfect information.
2.4a. If no player can win, the game is a draw.
2.4b. A player that can't win or draw plays to extend the game.
2.5. Points determine tournament standings. Players are ranked, first to last, in order of decreasing number of points.
2.5a. For each match, a player earns 3 points per game win and 1 point per drawn game.
2.5b. A table of match results is posted each round. Its rows represent players and its columns represent opponents. Match results reflect the combined result of both games played in a match; 3 is a game win, 1 a drawn game, and 0 a game loss. A player's points are listed at the end of his or her row.
2.5c. If I receive too many decks, players will be randomly divided into heats.
Fastbond
Blackmail
Cabal Therapy
Cry of Contrition
Duress
Encroach
Funeral Charm
Mind Peel
Ostracize
Piracy Charm
Psychic Spear
Raven's Crime
Shattered Dreams
Skull Fracture
Thoughtseize
Venarian Glimmer
I'm moving next week, so I'll be leaving adjudication to Personman. The deadline is 9/2.
Modern UW Taking Turns
Chain Rack in response to Swords removes Rack.
5-6: 0-6 -> 2-2
Chain Rack in response to Balance avoids discarding Nyxathid; Nyxathid beats Rack. Chain Rack in response to Balance discards Rack if Nyxathid is in play; if Chain is copied, Nyxathid beats Rack.
5-7: 0-6 -> 2-2
If Sol Ring is never played, Nyxathid outraces (on the draw, only if Dread attacks). If Sol Ring is played, Nyxathid is a 7/7 black blocker.
5-8: 0-6 -> 6-0
Nyxathid beats Rack. Chain on Nyxathid beats Pulse.
BWTeysa, Orzhov Scion
GWRhys the Redeemed
GUKruphix, God of Horizons
GRXenagos, God of Revels
GThrun, the Last Troll
GStompy
3 vs. 13 (listed as 6-0 in favor of 13; should be 0-6)
I can't do anything to stop Akki Underminer, even on the play. He wins.
13 vs. 8 (listed as 0-6 in favor of 8; should be 6-0)
Rack can't kill me before I have enough mana to play Form with UU open to Mana Drain Pulse if he tries to play it. Once Form is down, Rack cannot kill me.
Modern UW Taking Turns
I guess what I'm trying to say is that if I had run 2CB #1, I would have banned Balance, The Rack, Meddling Mage, Nezumi Shortfang, etc. right off the bat. But none of those strategies were clearly dominant, so I don't think that would have been appropriate. I now think the banned list should stay as short as possible until the metagame stagnates.
Actually I'd be curious to see what would happen if Fastbond came off the list. Obviously it's stupid powerful, but running Fastbond means you're basically playing 1CB. And note that Fastbond-Banefire still loses 0-2 to any deck with the Rack.
Q
I just looked at every U/W one-drop creature to find it.
Modern UW Taking Turns
Racking up losses.
My blog.
--Scenario 1--
Turn 1A: Land, Rack.
Turn 1B: (19 life), Land, Rack.
Turn 2A: (18 life), Land, Balance.
Turn 2B: (16 life) ...
Both players have 0 cards in hand and lose 3 life per turn. But strangely, player A loses this race! On the other hand, if player B is on the play and has nothing to do turn 2, then the "obvious" line of play is as follows...
--Scenario 2--
Turn 1B: Land, Rack.
Turn 1A: (19 life) Land, Rack.
Turn 2B: (18 life) Land.
Turn 2A: (17 life) Land, Balance.
Losing three life per turn, player A wins this race on the draw! Crazy. What I am saying is that multiple lines of play must be considered, because the "obvious" line is not necessarily the best.
For example, I will outline how my match with domogrue should unfold.
On the play:
Turn 1 VM: Land.
Turn 1 DG: Land. If he plays The Rack here, then basically Scenario 2 plays out and he loses, so he must pass back.
Turn 2 VM: Land.
Turn 2 DG: Land. He may as well play The Rack now, because next turn I will play Rack and Balance together.
Turn 3 VM: (19 life) Land, Rack, Balance.
Turn 3 DG: (17 life)
...and so on: it takes 7 turns for The Rack to kill either of us from 19 or 20 life, and domogrue takes the first hit so loses.
On the draw:
Turn 1 DG: Land. He can't play The Rack by Scenario 2.
Turn 1 VM: Land. I can't play The Rack by Scenario 1 (even if I don't follow with Balance as in Scenario 1, I would still lose the race).
Turn 2 DG: Land, Rack. He must play The Rack now, because if he waits another turn, then I get enough land to play Rack and Balance together.
Turn 2 VM: (19 life) Land, Rack. I pretty much have to play The Rack right now, as this is my only chance to be in position to win the race.
Turn 3 DG: (18 life) Land, Maelstrom Pulse kills both Racks so that he doesn't just lose. The game is a draw.
So I get a win and a draw against domogrue instead of win and loss. By similar reasoning, I get double win versus Shogun17, since Ensnaring Bridge is completely irrelevant. However, I get double loss versus dethwing by Scenario 1. ced395 and I do still split our games, because whoever gets to 3 mana first wins. In fact ced395 and I should have identical records versus Rack decks.
Anyway, you get the picture. Count some cases and search some decision trees, guys. I'm too tired to finish thinking about everyone's games, but I wanted to say something while this was still relevant.
Q
Modern UW Taking Turns
Oh, I didn't realize that... because it's not in the rules. That's rather an important detail.
ced395 goes 3-3 with VM4L, 4-1 with domo, 0-6 with dethwing, and 6-0 with Shogun. Score changes by +4 up to 42
VM4L goes 3-3 with ced395, 4-1 with domo, 0-6 with dethwing, 6-0 with Shogun. Score changes by +4 up to 48
domogrue goes 1-4 with ced, 1-4 with VM4L, 2-2 with dethwing, and 2-2 with Shogun. (Reason for the draws is the "principle" that whoever plays The Rack first loses.) Score changes by -6, down to 28.
dethwing goes 6-0 with ced, 6-0 with VM4L, 2-2 with domo, and 6-0 with Shogun. Score changes by +10, up to 44.
Shogun goes 0-6 to ced, 0-6 to VM4L, 2-2 with domo, and 0-6 with dethwing. Score changes by -5, down to 18.
How does Balance help you in these games? Playing Rack and Balance on the same turn leads to a draw. Either you destroy your own Rack (if they haven't played theirs, in which case theirs will also then be discarded), or you still have a card in your hand, and can't force them to discard their entire hand... so you're in the same "whoever plays rack first loses" situation. So... shouldn't all your wins in these situations actually be draws?
Suppose he's on the Draw. His opponent lays down the Rack and he takes 1 point of damage (20/19) during his Upkeep. Viking plays the rack, and his opponent takes 2 points during his upkeep (18/19).
On Viking's next turn, he takes 2 points (18/17) and then he plays Balance. His opponent then takes 3 points of damage during his next upkeep (15/17) and Viking wins the damage race (0/2).
If his opponent doesn't play the Rack, he plays his own and then Balance to empty his opponent's hand.
Modern UW Taking Turns