This is the results for round 2.19 and the start for round 2.20.
Round 2.19
This round was Library of the Blind.
We played with a library this week, and few failed to abuse it.
The Entries
01 Feyd_Ruin :: Lack of Interaction Leyline of Sanctity / Island Sanctuary A couple of rounds ago, we had great non-interactive decks by fnord and personman. I wanted to take their dedication to doing nothing a step further.
02 Draco9 :: Minecraft Treasure Hunt / Seismic Assault Treasure hunt was awesomesauce, but Seismic made it a 4th turn kill, which was often a turn too late this round.
04 TANE :: Painting Fences Painter's Servant / Grindstone I guess Grindstone was a little too obvious. If we do this again, I'll ban it for diversity sake.
05 VikingMetal4L :: Serve the Servant Painter's Servant / Grindstone When I received this entry I was like "Soo… Is this all I'm going to get this round?" But this trilogy of decks stopped here. Comical that they happened 3 in a row though.
06 benbuzz790 :: Clique Clique Bang Lightning bolt / Vendilion clique Although Grindstone itself was predictible, how you beat it this round was ingenious. This was an epic meta deck.
07 Sir Mu :: Merry Christmas! Bazaar Trader / Countryside Crusher This almost played out exactly like Painter/Grindstone, but the few key differences made you end with 1 point less then them. It was still the most inventive aggressive-mill deck of the round.
08 Error1 :: The Natural Choice Nature's Claim / Mayor of Avabruck The Nature's Claim was a great call. Any good kill would have done after that, but Mayor just makes it funny. You were like "Special Rules? We don't need no stinkin' special rules!"
09 WhammWhamme :: Into the Void Leyline of the Void / Helm of Obedience It was nice to see the other insta-mill deck show up. Unfortunately, Helm is a 5th turn kill, which mattered in almost all of the matchups.
10 Personman :: Conflatulence Conflagrate / Treasure Hunt I was expecting a Treasure Hunt / Wild Mongrel deck. Conflagerate was actually great this round. It dodged all of the Vindicates and such, and still won on 3rd.
11 Antonia :: The Grace of Avacyn Isochron Scepter / Angel's Grace Your deck was very inventive in its win. The issue was that it couldn't stop anything that milled and swung, or swung and had you at a 2 card advantage.
12 Shogun17 :: The Island Island Sanctuary / Vindicate I love that you also picked up on the "Island Sanctuary is now a win con too?!" I CAN HAS IT?!?
13 Catmurderer :: Oh what? This was a special round? Pft. Necrotic Sliver / Volrath's Stronghold Your lack of participating in this special round was comical - especially since you did so well with it.
14 Parsley :: Assault and Battery Treasure Hunt / Seismic Assault It was nice that Seismic was a wincon in itself, without the need for treasure hunt. This helped if your opponent could stall you for a turn. You'd just slowburn them.
15 Mogg :: Imprisoned Solitary Confinement / Sundial of the Infinite If confinement had come down on 2nd turn by any playable means, you would have done much better. Unfortunately, as a 3rd turn, you lose to all of the 3rd turn wins on your draw.
There were 16 players with 120 matches and 240 total games.
8 hands ended in a draw. 4 matches had at least one draw.
That's 3% of all games, averaging 0.5 games per player.
The following player(s) had the most drawn games, with 4 total draws: Feyd_Ruin : Antonia : Mogg
27 matches were a 3-3 split.
That's 22% of all matches, averaging 3.4 matches per player.
The following player(s) had the most split matches, with 7 total splits: Reyemile : TANE : VikingMetal4L : fnord
89 matches were a 6-0 sweep.
That's 74% of all matches, averaging 5.6 matches per player.
The following player(s) had the most 6-0 match sweeps, at 10 total sweeps: benbuzz790
There were 22 unique cards submitted, out of 32 total.
5 cards were repeated:
Next Round will be 'Strawman Week'.
Entries are due Saturday Night at Midnight.
Strawman Week
This week, you're going to get beaten up by a girl!
I picked Antonia's deck from last week as the strawman test.
Your submission must LOSE to her deck, but you are playing to WIN against everyone else. It's like a reverse backbuild.
Two Card Blind (2CB) is a weekly 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.
Unlike normal Magic, 2CB uses a "land rule" to allow players to cast their spells; players have access to basic lands of their choice to play each turn, and each player may play an additional land each turn from his or her hand.
1. Game Rules
1.1. Except for the changes described in these rules, games follow the rules for a normal game of Magic.
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. Each player owns an infinite number of basic land cards outside of the game. A player may play one of these lands any time he or she could normally play a land. A player may play one additional land each turn from his or her hand.
1.5. Spells can't be countered by other spells or abilities until each player has completed at least 2 full turns.
1.6. A random effect produces the result that least benefits the owner of the source of the effect.
1.7. Each player plays two games (one match) against each other player.
1.7a. Each player is the starting player once per match.
1.7b. If no player can win, then the game is a draw.
1.7c. Games are played with perfect information.
1.7d. Games are played optimally; players attempt to win, draw, or extend the game – in that order.
2. Tournament Rules
2.1. Players submit their decks to the 2CB moderator.
2.1a. Players submit their decks by private message (pm).
2.1b. A player may submit multiple decks, but only the most recent deck is counted.
2.1c. An illegal deck is not counted. At the moderator’s discretion, an illegal deck may be replaced by a similar deck – in which any offending cards have been removed or replaced.
2.1d. The moderator determines the result of each match. Players may challenge results, but not after the results of the first round belonging to a new month have been posted (see Rule 2.4a).
2.1e. A player may name his or her deck. If a player does not, then the moderator may name it.
2.2. Decks are subject to some restrictions.
2.2a. A player may not submit a deck that can - against any deck - win the game, or force a card in an opponent's hand to change zones before the end of an opponent's second turn
2.2b. A player may not submit a deck that can't win both games of a match against at least one deck satisfying all rules.
2.2c. A deck may include any number of any card that will become legal in Vintage upon release of a set that has been revealed fully and officially since the start of the round.
2.2d. A deck may include any number of any card legal in Vintage (Type 1).
2.2e. A deck may not include any cards listed on the banned list, which is found below this rules listing.
2.3. Points determine tournament standings.
2.3a. Players are ranked – first to last – in order of decreasing number of points.
2.3b. For each match, a player earns 3 points per game win and 1 point per drawn game. However, a player earns only 2 points for a split match (a win and a loss).
2.3c. The combined result of both games in a match is called a "match result". Possible match results are: 6 – two game wins, 4 – a win and a draw, 3 or 2 or S – a win and a loss, 2 – two draws, and 1 – a draw and a loss.
2.3d. A table of match results is posted each round. Its rows represent players and its columns represent opponents. A player's points are listed at the end of his or her row.
2.4. The player with the most Player of the Month (POTM) points over the course of a month is the Player of the Month.
2.4a. A month includes all rounds for which decks are due during that month.
2.4b. Each round, each player receives POTM points equal to his or her average match result for that round multiplied by 100, rounded to the nearest integer. For example, a player scoring 6-6-6-6-X-0-0-0 in a round with 8 decks receives 343 POTM points (24 / 7 x 100 = 342.8 Rounded to 343).
2.4c. Each round, 50 POTM points will be awarded to the player who submitted the most creative deck, as determined by the moderator or by poll.
2.4d. Each round, for one week after the submitted decks have been posted, 50 POTM points will be awarded to the first player to post a deck that scores 6 points against each submitted deck.
Resources section has been revamped.
Rewordings courtesy of Mogg. (Thanx!)
We're on the 100s PotM points system now.
It'll take a round or two to get used to, but I believe it's easier and more fair this way.
The counter rule has been removed from 2.2a in favor of a new blanket rule:
1.5. Spells can't be countered by other spells or abilities until each player has completed at least 2 full turns.
Due to the way rules work, devising a specific rule to make what we want to get rid of illegal, without hitting things we dont, would almost surely make for a convoluted and confusing rule.
This way makes them perfectly legal to play, but completely ineffective during the "safety turns". Counterspell is perfectly fine to use now, but it will be completely useless against a Mayor of Avabruck.
If you have any questions or concerns with any rule, wordings there of, or anything, please don't hesitate to post.
Something similar might work for the discard rule. It would be cool to be able to play thoughtseize and mayor on turn 3 instead of having to use a 3 mana discard spell, or to be able to play land and liliana, etc.
Spells and abilities opponents control cannot cause a card in your hand to change zones before you've finished your second turn.
Eh?
Random idea for a special week:
2CB stud. Both cards in your deck begin the game in play (That means no instants or sorceries). There is no land rule; you only have the two cards to work with. Since this gives a huge advantage to the person on the play, the person on the draw is allowed a rebuttal turn. I.e. the game can't end until the end of a round, where a standard round is 1 turn per person. At the end of the round, life totals and poison counters are checked to see if the game is a win, loss, or tie. Think of it like chess, but after you checkmate someone, they have one more turn to checkmate you right back. Also, cards with annihilator are banned?
Some facts of magic:
-Terror is an emotion which, when experienced, results in death.
-The pox was a disease notorious for having killed one-third, rounded up, of Europe’s population. Smallpox, on the other hand, killed only a single person.
-A person riding a horse cannot be stopped by foot soldiers, large animals, walls, archers, or even catapults.
-“spells can’t be countered . . . by other abilities” is ambiguous, since a spell is not an ability. Can a second-turn Mana Vortex resolve without the sacrifice of a land?
-“at least” is unnecessary. Either two turns have passed or two turns haven’t passed.
-‘full’ is also unnecessary. A completed turn is a full turn.
-Blood Funnel may see more play. That’s neither good nor bad, but it’s also not intuitive.
-“spells can’t be countered . . . by other abilities” is ambiguous, since a spell is not an ability. Can a second-turn Mana Vortex resolve without the sacrifice of a land?
...
-Blood Funnel may see more play. That’s neither good nor bad, but it’s also not intuitive.
1.5. Spells can't be countered by other spells or abilities until each player has completed at least 2 full turns.
You might just want to add in "controlled by another player" after "abilities" (or maybe "owned" instead of "controlled").
Everyone is always more creative than I expect. I think it's just better to try to beat the field now (and maybe consider mayor since he shows up every week).
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Some facts of magic:
-Terror is an emotion which, when experienced, results in death.
-The pox was a disease notorious for having killed one-third, rounded up, of Europe’s population. Smallpox, on the other hand, killed only a single person.
-A person riding a horse cannot be stopped by foot soldiers, large animals, walls, archers, or even catapults.
I'm aesthetically displeased by the idea of modifying the game rules instead of the deck legality rules. It's something XCB has always taken care to do as little of as possible, and it seems unnecessary here.
I think the right way to go with this is to dispense with the problematic "against any deck" wording. Instead, how about:
A player may not submit a deck that can - against a player with the deck Craw Wurm / Grizzly Bears who always casts spells as soon as possible - win the game, force a card in an opponent's hand to change zones, or counter a spell before each player has taken two turns.
I'm aesthetically displeased by the idea of modifying the game rules instead of the deck legality rules. It's something XCB has always taken care to do as little of as possible, and it seems unnecessary here.
I think the right way to go with this is to dispense with the problematic "against any deck" wording. Instead, how about:
A player may not submit a deck that can - against a player with the deck Craw Wurm / Grizzly Bears who always casts spells as soon as possible - win the game, force a card in an opponent's hand to change zones, or counter a spell before each player has taken two turns.
Functionally, as WhammWhamme noted, there are problems with choosing a specific set of cards.
Aesthetically, any set that you do choose will seem arbitrary, which causes the functional problem of not adequately explaining the intent of the rule to new players.
What about something like "against any deck with its textboxes blanked"?
We want to ensure that we hit cards that check for every possible characteristic, but we want to avoid weird interactions with abilities. So, allow every Magic card, but simply ignore their abilities.
I'm aesthetically displeased by the idea of modifying the game rules instead of the deck legality rules. It's something XCB has always taken care to do as little of as possible, and it seems unnecessary here.
I think the right way to go with this is to dispense with the problematic "against any deck" wording. Instead, how about:
A player may not submit a deck that can - against a player with the deck Craw Wurm / Grizzly Bears who always casts spells as soon as possible - win the game, force a card in an opponent's hand to change zones, or counter a spell before each player has taken two turns.
It's hopefully a temporary fix until we can find a nice, clean, wording for 2.2a.
I'm not sure whether or not I prefer splitting 2.2a into 2.2a and 1.5. That said, I'd like to suggest changes to those rules, as follows:
1.5: "Until each player has completed two turns, cards in a player's hand can't be moved by effects of sources an opponent owns, and spells can't by countered by effects of sources an opponent owns."
2.2a: "A player may not submit a deck that can win the game before the end of an opponent's second turn."
Also, I've made a post in the XCB Repository, updating various information related to 5CB. In an effort to increase the similarity between the rules sets of the different formats, I have a few more suggested changes.
1. Change "will be awarded" to "may be awarded" (2.4c).
This allows future mods to decide for themselves whether or not to run a poll.
2. Switch the order of 2.2c and 2.2d.
I think it makes more sense to state that Vintage-legal cards are legal, before addressing the Niche issue of cards that would be legal in a week anyway.
3. In the banned list, change "Fast Mana" to "Acceleration". This is a more general term, which accounts for cards like Show and Tell in other formats.
4. Rather than including the banned list in the post for each round, link to the banned list in post 4 of the XCB Repository.
The spoiler below includes all of these changes.
Basic 2CB Rules
0. Overview
Two Card Blind (2CB) is a weekly 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.
Unlike normal Magic, 2CB uses a "land rule" to allow players to cast their spells; players have access to basic lands of their choice to play each turn, and each player may play an additional land each turn from his or her hand.
1. Game Rules
1.1. Except for the changes described in these rules, games follow the rules for a normal game of Magic.
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. Each player owns an infinite number of basic land cards outside of the game. A player may play one of these lands any time he or she could normally play a land. A player may play one additional land each turn from his or her hand.
1.5. Until each player has completed two turns, cards in a player's hand can't be moved by effects of sources an opponent owns, and spells can't by countered by effects of sources an opponent owns.
1.6. A random effect produces the result that least benefits the owner of the source of the effect.
1.7. Each player plays two games (one match) against each other player.
1.7a. Each player is the starting player once per match.
1.7b. If no player can win, then the game is a draw.
1.7c. Games are played with perfect information.
1.7d. Games are played optimally; players attempt to win, draw, or extend the game – in that order.
2. Tournament Rules
2.1. Players submit their decks to the 2CB moderator.
2.1a. Players submit their decks by private message (pm).
2.1b. A player may submit multiple decks, but only the most recent deck is counted.
2.1c. An illegal deck is not counted. At the moderator’s discretion, an illegal deck may be replaced by a similar deck – in which any offending cards have been removed or replaced.
2.1d. The moderator determines the result of each match. Players may challenge results, but not after the results of the first round belonging to a new month have been posted (see Rule 2.4a).
2.1e. A player may name his or her deck. If a player does not, then the moderator may name it.
2.2. Decks are subject to some restrictions.
2.2a. A player may not submit a deck that can win the game before the end of an opponent's second turn.
2.2b. A player may not submit a deck that can't win both games of a match against at least one deck satisfying all rules.
2.2c. A deck may include any number of any card legal in Vintage (Type 1).
2.2d. A deck may include any number of any card that will become legal in Vintage upon release of a set that has been revealed fully and officially since the start of the round.
2.2e. A deck may not include any cards on the 2CB Banned List.
2.3. Points determine tournament standings.
2.3a. Players are ranked – first to last – in order of decreasing number of points.
2.3b. For each match, a player earns 3 points per game win and 1 point per drawn game. However, a player earns only 2 points for a split match (a win and a loss).
2.3c. The combined result of both games in a match is called a "match result". Possible match results are: 6 – two game wins, 4 – a win and a draw, 3 or 2 or S – a win and a loss, 2 – two draws, and 1 – a draw and a loss.
2.3d. A table of match results is posted each round. Its rows represent players and its columns represent opponents. A player's points are listed at the end of his or her row.
2.4. The player with the most Player of the Month (POTM) points over the course of a month is the Player of the Month.
2.4a. A month includes all rounds for which decks are due during that month.
2.4b. Each round, each player receives POTM points equal to his or her average match result for that round multiplied by 100, rounded to the nearest integer. For example, a player scoring 6-6-6-6-X-0-0-0 in a round with 8 decks receives 340 POTM points (24 / 7 x 100).
2.4c. Each round, 50 POTM points may be awarded to the player who submitted the most creative deck, as determined by the moderator or by poll.
2.4d. Each round, for one week after the submitted decks have been posted, 50 POTM points will be awarded to the first player to post a deck that scores 6 points against each submitted deck.
How about "During each player's first 2 turns, spells can't be countered if it would be beneficial to the controller of the countering effect."
Basically, during the first 2 full turns, your countering only works if your opponent lets you. That takes care of stuff like Mana Vortex. You could word the discard rule similarly.
Is there a reason for this sudden move towards changing the game rules instead of the deck-legality rules? It is making me uneasy :/
And is there something wrong with my vs-blank-cards proposal?
Yes - it allows random weird things like "counter target spell that targets a permanent you control" (since without a text box nothing has targets), is undefined against "counter target spell played from a graveyard".
In short, to create the CONCEPT of a 'blank text box' you have to go well outside ordinary Magic rules.
Changing the game rules, on the other hand, is simple. "Spells cannot be countered" is an effect cards bestow; it has no strange quirks beyond those present in ordinary Magic.
Also I win against deck #12 on the play; There's no vindicate before I donate crusher, which gets my opponent to 0 cards in deck, then they draw and lose.
Also I win against deck #12 on the play; There's no vindicate before I donate crusher, which gets my opponent to 0 cards in deck, then they draw and lose.
But his sanctuary makes him never have to draw.
So now he has like a 58/58 to pummel you with on top of it.
Sanctuary beats you solo 6-0.
He drops it, keeps you from ever swinging, and decks you without ever drawing.
You actually don't drop the Crusher, so you can extend the game longer, until you deck.
Yeah, I knew I was not going to win. My deck was TOO obvious--I expected everyone to meta against it. Unfortunately, I was too busy this weekend to meta against it myself.
For the record: my alternate deck was: Vindicate/Telemin Performance. I think that doesn't do any better than the faster, less disruptive combo, but maybe I should have run it instead?
But his sanctuary makes him never have to draw.
So now he has like a 58/58 to pummel you with on top of it.
Sanctuary beats you solo 6-0.
He drops it, keeps you from ever swinging, and decks you without ever drawing.
You actually don't drop the Crusher, so you can extend the game longer, until you deck.
This is the results for round 2.19 and the start for round 2.20.
Round 2.19Next Round : 2.20 Resources
No longer staff here.
Rewordings courtesy of Mogg. (Thanx!)
We're on the 100s PotM points system now.
It'll take a round or two to get used to, but I believe it's easier and more fair this way.
The counter rule has been removed from 2.2a in favor of a new blanket rule:
Due to the way rules work, devising a specific rule to make what we want to get rid of illegal, without hitting things we dont, would almost surely make for a convoluted and confusing rule.
This way makes them perfectly legal to play, but completely ineffective during the "safety turns". Counterspell is perfectly fine to use now, but it will be completely useless against a Mayor of Avabruck.
If you have any questions or concerns with any rule, wordings there of, or anything, please don't hesitate to post.
No longer staff here.
Spells and abilities opponents control cannot cause a card in your hand to change zones before you've finished your second turn.
Eh?
Random idea for a special week:
2CB stud. Both cards in your deck begin the game in play (That means no instants or sorceries). There is no land rule; you only have the two cards to work with. Since this gives a huge advantage to the person on the play, the person on the draw is allowed a rebuttal turn. I.e. the game can't end until the end of a round, where a standard round is 1 turn per person. At the end of the round, life totals and poison counters are checked to see if the game is a win, loss, or tie. Think of it like chess, but after you checkmate someone, they have one more turn to checkmate you right back. Also, cards with annihilator are banned?
-Terror is an emotion which, when experienced, results in death.
-The pox was a disease notorious for having killed one-third, rounded up, of Europe’s population. Smallpox, on the other hand, killed only a single person.
-A person riding a horse cannot be stopped by foot soldiers, large animals, walls, archers, or even catapults.
More facts of magic
-“spells can’t be countered . . . by other abilities” is ambiguous, since a spell is not an ability. Can a second-turn Mana Vortex resolve without the sacrifice of a land?
-“at least” is unnecessary. Either two turns have passed or two turns haven’t passed.
-‘full’ is also unnecessary. A completed turn is a full turn.
-Blood Funnel may see more play. That’s neither good nor bad, but it’s also not intuitive.
BWTeysa, Orzhov Scion
GWRhys the Redeemed
GUKruphix, God of Horizons
GRXenagos, God of Revels
GThrun, the Last Troll
GStompy
You might just want to add in "controlled by another player" after "abilities" (or maybe "owned" instead of "controlled").
-Terror is an emotion which, when experienced, results in death.
-The pox was a disease notorious for having killed one-third, rounded up, of Europe’s population. Smallpox, on the other hand, killed only a single person.
-A person riding a horse cannot be stopped by foot soldiers, large animals, walls, archers, or even catapults.
More facts of magic
I think the right way to go with this is to dispense with the problematic "against any deck" wording. Instead, how about:
A player may not submit a deck that can - against a player with the deck Craw Wurm / Grizzly Bears who always casts spells as soon as possible - win the game, force a card in an opponent's hand to change zones, or counter a spell before each player has taken two turns.
Functionally, as WhammWhamme noted, there are problems with choosing a specific set of cards.
Aesthetically, any set that you do choose will seem arbitrary, which causes the functional problem of not adequately explaining the intent of the rule to new players.
BWTeysa, Orzhov Scion
GWRhys the Redeemed
GUKruphix, God of Horizons
GRXenagos, God of Revels
GThrun, the Last Troll
GStompy
What about something like "against any deck with its textboxes blanked"?
We want to ensure that we hit cards that check for every possible characteristic, but we want to avoid weird interactions with abilities. So, allow every Magic card, but simply ignore their abilities.
Immortality: Each player starts the game with a Platinum Angel on the battlefield. Leyline of Singularity is banned for this round.
-or-
Damnation: Each player starts the game with an Abyssal Persecutor on the battlefield. Leyline of Singularity is banned for this round.
It's hopefully a temporary fix until we can find a nice, clean, wording for 2.2a.
No longer staff here.
1.5: "Until each player has completed two turns, cards in a player's hand can't be moved by effects of sources an opponent owns, and spells can't by countered by effects of sources an opponent owns."
2.2a: "A player may not submit a deck that can win the game before the end of an opponent's second turn."
Also, I've made a post in the XCB Repository, updating various information related to 5CB. In an effort to increase the similarity between the rules sets of the different formats, I have a few more suggested changes.
1. Change "will be awarded" to "may be awarded" (2.4c).
This allows future mods to decide for themselves whether or not to run a poll.
2. Switch the order of 2.2c and 2.2d.
I think it makes more sense to state that Vintage-legal cards are legal, before addressing the Niche issue of cards that would be legal in a week anyway.
3. In the banned list, change "Fast Mana" to "Acceleration". This is a more general term, which accounts for cards like Show and Tell in other formats.
4. Rather than including the banned list in the post for each round, link to the banned list in post 4 of the XCB Repository.
The spoiler below includes all of these changes.
Basic 2CB Rules
0. Overview
Two Card Blind (2CB) is a weekly 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.
Unlike normal Magic, 2CB uses a "land rule" to allow players to cast their spells; players have access to basic lands of their choice to play each turn, and each player may play an additional land each turn from his or her hand.
1. Game Rules
1.1. Except for the changes described in these rules, games follow the rules for a normal game of Magic.
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. Each player owns an infinite number of basic land cards outside of the game. A player may play one of these lands any time he or she could normally play a land. A player may play one additional land each turn from his or her hand.
1.5. Until each player has completed two turns, cards in a player's hand can't be moved by effects of sources an opponent owns, and spells can't by countered by effects of sources an opponent owns.
1.6. A random effect produces the result that least benefits the owner of the source of the effect.
1.7. Each player plays two games (one match) against each other player.
2. Tournament Rules
2.1. Players submit their decks to the 2CB moderator.
2.2. Decks are subject to some restrictions.
2.3. Points determine tournament standings.
2.4. The player with the most Player of the Month (POTM) points over the course of a month is the Player of the Month.
BWTeysa, Orzhov Scion
GWRhys the Redeemed
GUKruphix, God of Horizons
GRXenagos, God of Revels
GThrun, the Last Troll
GStompy
Basically, during the first 2 full turns, your countering only works if your opponent lets you. That takes care of stuff like Mana Vortex. You could word the discard rule similarly.
Practice for Khans of Tarkir Limited:
Draft: (#1) (#2) (#3) (#4) (#5)
And is there something wrong with my vs-blank-cards proposal?
Yes - it allows random weird things like "counter target spell that targets a permanent you control" (since without a text box nothing has targets), is undefined against "counter target spell played from a graveyard".
In short, to create the CONCEPT of a 'blank text box' you have to go well outside ordinary Magic rules.
Changing the game rules, on the other hand, is simple. "Spells cannot be countered" is an effect cards bestow; it has no strange quirks beyond those present in ordinary Magic.
Grid finished, pending updates.
Will update the comments/names in a bit.
I've also apparently forgotten some updates to last round's grid.
I'll get on it.
Next week is the strawman.
We're all losing (0-6) to Antonia's deck from last round.
(Vault of the Archangel / Bitterblossom)
Edit:
My noncheat:
The Ninja devils the cenobitic nerd!
No longer staff here.
Anyway, you need to define what "lose to" means for next week. For example, does going 1-4 against count?
Practice for Khans of Tarkir Limited:
Draft: (#1) (#2) (#3) (#4) (#5)
Also I win against deck #12 on the play; There's no vindicate before I donate crusher, which gets my opponent to 0 cards in deck, then they draw and lose.
But his sanctuary makes him never have to draw.
So now he has like a 58/58 to pummel you with on top of it.
Sanctuary beats you solo 6-0.
He drops it, keeps you from ever swinging, and decks you without ever drawing.
You actually don't drop the Crusher, so you can extend the game longer, until you deck.
No longer staff here.
vs.
15 Mogg – Solitary Confinement / Sundial of the Infinite
3-3 -> 0-6
Sundial lets me skip my draw step. Crusher blocks Trader.
On another note, I thought my deck was good against Servant because of Sundial. I forgot that Servant could attack for damage.
BWTeysa, Orzhov Scion
GWRhys the Redeemed
GUKruphix, God of Horizons
GRXenagos, God of Revels
GThrun, the Last Troll
GStompy
For the record: my alternate deck was: Vindicate/Telemin Performance. I think that doesn't do any better than the faster, less disruptive combo, but maybe I should have run it instead?
Oooooh, that's right.