This thread contains the results for week 3 of All Blind Tournament #3 and is the start of week 4 of ABT#3.
Week 3 of ABT#3
This round was 5CB Mass Extinction.
This round was a simple change, with far reaching implications. We played as if creatures never existed. No creatures, nothing that said creatures; not even something that said "noncreature."
04 WhammWhamme :: "" Darksteel Reactor / Mishra's Workshop / Smokestack / Sol Ring / Witchbane Orb With all of your real drops costing 4, a Mox over Sol Ring would have served your better. It would have slid under a stopper (ie: Aura of Silence), and raced against several other decks. The one turn speed bump hurt you more than one would have thought.
There were 14 players with 91 matches and 182 total games.
24 hands ended in a draw. 12 matches had at least one draw.
That's 13% of all games, averaging 1.7 games per player.
The following player(s) had the most drawn games, with 8 total draws: fnord : Parsley
30 matches were a 3-3 split.
That's 33% of all matches, averaging 2.1 matches per player.
The following player(s) had the most split matches, with 6 total splits: Antonia
64 matches were a 6-0 sweep.
That's 70% of all matches, averaging 4.6 matches per player.
The following player(s) had the most 6-0 match sweeps, at 11 total sweeps: Mogg
There were 48 unique cards submitted, out of 70 total.
13 card(s) were repeated:
Next Round will be '3CB ELR Guildwar Legions'.
Entries are due Sunday Night at Midnight.
3CB ELR Guildwar Legions Description:
This round is a simple, yet very in-depth format, with two main factors. First, this round is creatures only. Second, this round is a guild vs guild. The 2nd part will take a little explaining, but the concept is fairly simple. You choose a guild, get an ability for it, but are restricted to it. Deck size:
203 cards.
Land Rule:
20Expanded Land Rule (Restricted to guild lands; see below)
Special Rules:Creatures Only
">10All noncreature cards are banned from submission, including lands.
Choose a GuildEach player must select a guild as part of his or her submission.* When you select a guild, you get an emblem specific to that guild, which has the text listed under that guild below.
* You may only use cards that are within your guilds colors. (ie: Dimir allows blue, black, or blue-and-black cards. No others. No colorless.)
* You may only play lands that are within your guild. (ie: Dimir will only let you play Swamps and Islands)
px;">10Participants are limited to submitting creature cards only.
10All noncreature cards are banned from submission, including lands.
Choose a GuildEach player must select a guild as part of his or her submission.[space=10]* When you select a guild, you get an emblem specific to that guild, which has the text listed under that guild below.
* You may only use cards that are within your guilds colors. (ie: Dimir allows blue, black, or blue-and-black cards. No others. No colorless.)
* You may only play lands that are within your guild. (ie: Dimir will only let you play Swamps and Islands) The Guilds
Azorius Senate 40Emblem: "At the beginning of your upkeep, detain target creature an opponent controls."
40Colors: White and Blue
40Lands : Plains and Islands
Boros Legion 40Emblem: "After your first combat phase each turn, there is an additional combat phase. At the beginning of that combat, untap all creatures that attacked this turn."
40Colors: Red and White
40Lands : Mountains and Plains
Cult of Rakdos 40Emblem:"Whenever a creature enters the battlefield, it deals damage equal to its power to its controller."
40Colors: Black and Red
40Lands : Swamps and Mountains
Golgari Swarm 40Emblem: "At the beginning of your upkeep, you may cast a creature card from your graveyard."
40Colors: Black and Green
40Lands : Swamps and Forests
Gruul Clan 40Emblem: "Whenever you tap a land for mana, add an additional mana of that type to your mana pool. You may spend that mana only to cast creature spells."
40Colors: Red and Green
40Lands : Mountains and Forests
House Dimir 40Emblem: "Creatures you control are unblockable and have hexproof."
40Colors: Blue and Black
40Lands : Swamps and Islands
Izzet League 40Emblem: "Whenever an ability of a creature you control is activated, if it isn't a mana ability, copy that ability. You may choose new targets for the copy."
40Colors: Blue and Red
40Lands : Islands and Mountains
Orzhov Syndicate 40Emblem: "Creatures you control have lifelink and deathtouch."
40Colors: Black and White
40Lands : Swamps and Plains
Selesnya Conclave 40Emblem: "At the beginning of your upkeep, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control."
40Colors: Green and White
40Lands : Forests and Plains
Simic Combine 40Emblem: ":0mana:: Each creature you control become a copy of target creature you control until the beginning of your next turn."
40Colors: Green and Blue
40Lands : Forests and Islands FAQs/Explinations:* Cards that become creatures are still illegal. It *must* have the Creature card type.
* Split cards and split-mana cards are illegal if any side or color is not within your guild.
* Colorless cards are not allowed. Cards *must* be within your guild's colors.
* Gruul : The additional mana must be spent to cast creature spells - it can't be used for abilities. The original mana may be spent however you wish.
* Simic : Activating the ability multiple times in a turn is generally useless. Once each creature becomes a copy, activating it again will produce the same result. Additional Banned List
Blind Magic is an online Magic format played here on the forums. Players play with an extremely limited deck size, such as 3 cards. Players begin with their entire deck (ie: those three cards) in hand and have no library (players don't lose when they fail to draw a card because of this). Due to the extremely limited number of play options given with their small deck size, games are calculated, rather then played, with an absolute determined winner (or a tie). Each player plays a match of two games against each other player who submitted - once going first, and once going second. Wins, losses, and ties for each of those two games are calculated by the moderator and players. The actual fun of the game comes from trying to decide which cards you will be playing.
What is the All Blind Tournament?
The All Blind Tournament is a four week quadrathlon XCB tournament, which spans all card blind formats and embraces a progressive anti-metagame. For each week of the four week tournament, a new XCB format is announced for players to enter. Players compete for points (similiar to the PotM points for previous XCB games) each round. At the end of the four week tournament, the player who has accumulated the most points over the four weeks wins the tournament, and receives a real-world prize.
Tournament Prize
This tournament, Feyd_Ruin has graciously donated the prize up for grabs.
Players will be playing for Sensei's Divining Top.
Player Standings
Previous standings will always be posted below the opening post of each week's thread.
Standings will be updated after the current week has been completed and score checking has finished.
Full Rules of All Blind Tournament
Below is the current full listing of all ABT rules.
If you find anything confusing or need clarification, either post in thread or PM the moderator.
0. Overview
All Blind Tournament (ABT) is a four week Magic tournament, run entirely within this forum. To compete, players submit decks (following the week's guidelines) 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 rules for a normal game of Magic.
1.2. Players' decks contain exactly X cards (X defined by the week's format), 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. Each player plays two games (one match) against each other player.
1.5a. Each player is the starting player once per match.
1.5b. If no player can win, then the game is a draw.
1.5c. Games are played with perfect information.
1.5d. Games are played optimally; players attempt to win, draw, or extend the game – in that order.
1.6. Any special rules of a given week within a tournament shall overrule any applicable ABT rules given herein, so long as it is implicitly stated, or obviously implied.
2. Tournament Rules
2.1. Players submit their decks to the ABT 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 winner of the tournament has been announced as final.
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 any card(s) in an opponent's hand to change zones before the beginning 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 week's banned list.
2.2f. A deck may not include any of the permanently banned cards listed in the next section.
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 tournament points over the course of a tournament is the Tournament Winner.
2.4a. A tournament includes exactly four weekly rounds.
2.4b. Each round, each player receives tournament points equal to his or her average match result for that round multiplied by 100, rounded to the nearest integer.
40(For example, a player scoring 6-6-6-6-X-0-0-0 in a round with 8 decks (7 opponents) receives 340 tournament points (24 / 7 x 100).)
2.4c. At the end of the tournament, the player with the most tournament points wins.
2.4d. If two or more players are tied for the most tournament points at the end of the tournament, a special tie breaker round will take place to determine a single winner.
40Only the tied players will play during the round, and rules and formats are at the moderators discretion.
3. Prize Rules
3.1. A prize shall be given to the tournament winner.
3.1a. The winner of the tournament shall be given the prize described within the tournament, or a suitable replacement upon the tournament's end.
3.1b. The Tournament Winner may decline the prize. If so, the tournament winner may designate the prize to be given to another player.
3.1c. Players under the age of 18 are ineligible for prizes, due to federal laws regarding the sharing of personal information of minors.
3.1d. If the winning player was a moderator in two or more weeks of the tournament, the prize shall instead be given to the player coming in 2nd. This is to ensure fair play.
3.1e. In the event a prize cannot be given to a player, the moderator will do his best to find another suitable way to reward the player.
3.1f. No prize is 100% guaranteed, but is assumed upon a good faith basis. Lets face it, with international customs, weird laws, etc, we cannot guarantee anything. We'll do our best.
3.2. As a Prized Tournament, special scoring rules and practices are in place.
3.2a. Players are responsible for their own scoring. Assistance will be given, especially to new players, but it is ultimately up to each player to ensure his or her scoring is completed and accurate.
3.2b. Incomplete scores are considered losses, even to both players of a match if necessary. This is to make sure a winner is determined at the end of a tournament.
3.2c. The Moderator always has the final word regarding scores and rules. Players may question any scoring the moderator does, until the moderator says that a match's scoring is final.
3.2d. The Moderator may, at his or her discretion, determine a match is too difficult to calculate and give it a tie score, or his or her best guess. Again, this is final.
3.2e. Once a winner has been announced as final, that player shall receive the prize, even if errors in scoring or points are shown later.
Permanently Banned Cards
The following cards are permanently banned in the All Blind Tournament.
Each round will have an additional banned list that extends beyond, but always includes, these cards.
First of all, congrats on your modship! (again?) Secondly, did you check your PM? Thirdly, a special format idea. Actually, its more of a tweak.
2 or 3 CB w/ alternate land rule & alternate discard rule. In addition, each player starts with an additional 5 (if 2CB) or 4 (if 3CB) basic land cards of the type and supertype of his or her choice in his or her hand.
Alternate Land Rule
If a player would draw a card while his or her library has no cards in it, that player puts a basic land card of the type and supertype of his or her choice from outside the game into his or her hand instead. The starting player doesn't skip the draw step of his or her first turn.
Alternate Discard Rule
If an effect a player controls or owns would force an opponent to discard or exile a card from his or her hand, that player puts it on top of his or her library instead.
Random format thoughts off the top of my head--some may not be very good.
Words, words, words.
3CB ELR,
You must submit three cards with different names that share at least one word in all three names ("the" should probably be disallowed)
Thoughtseize You
5cb
Each player begins with an emblem that says "At the beginning of the upkeep of your first turn, look at your opponent's hand and choose a nonland card from it. Your opponent discards that card"
Split Strawman
Any
LIke a normal strawman week, except instead of losing to the strawman, you have to 3-3 split with it.
Kobolds
5cb
Each player begins the game with Kher Keep, Kobolds of Kher Keep, Crimson Kobolds, and Crookshank Kobolds in play.
Words, words, words.
3CB ELR,
You must submit three cards with different names that share at least one word in all three names ("the" should probably be disallowed)
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.
Both players start with Omniscience and Rule of law emblems. 5CB. You can't win before your opponent's first turn.
I've been wanting to do something like this for a while, actually.
If we went with Omniscience/Rule of Law, though, you run into problems like Decree of Silence stifling everything, Emrakuls galore, etc. I fear we'd actually end up with a very narrow field of good card choices, once we go through an iteration or two of what we think others will play.
What I originally wanted, and is relatively close:
Pure Evocation
"You can't play cards."
"At the beginning of your upkeep, you may put a permanent card with converted mana X from your hand onto the battlefield, where X is equal to the number of turns you have started."
It adds a huge layer of depth, in that you will still get your huge drops free - but at a cost. It's tempting to go with huge splashy cards, but they're still slow. Do you go for the early, mid, or late game? Do you bash skulls or have layers of protection? It really comes to aggro vs control; speed vs power; focus or utility.
Think this is a good alternative?
edit:
Just realized... I came up with "Pure Evocation" a year and a half ago.
Sheesh.. time has really flown.
edit2:
lol. that's the same time we came up with "It's a Trap!"
It was great theory, but ended up with the most horrible round ever.
We gave up trying to calculate the matchups after a couple of days.
I've been wanting to do something like this for a while, actually.
If we went with Omniscience/Rule of Law, though, you run into problems like Decree of Silence stifling everything, Emrakuls galore, etc. I fear we'd actually end up with a very narrow field of good card choices, once we go through an iteration or two of what we think others will play.
What I originally wanted, and is relatively close:
"You can't play cards."
"At the beginning of your upkeep, you may put a permanent card with converted mana X from your hand onto the battlefield, where X is equal to the number of turns you have started."
It adds a huge layer of depth, in that you will still get your huge drops free - but at a cost. It's tempting to go with huge splashy cards, but they're still slow. Do you go for the early, mid, or late game? Do you bash skulls or have layers of protection? It really comes to aggro vs control; speed vs power; focus or utility.
Is it close enough to your suggestion?
I'm not sure... that feels like a land rule format. Every now and then an overpowered, wild-west format can be pretty fun. (Although if we're playing for prizes I can definitely understand people's not wanting to do this).
I might like your rule if you make it the square of the turn number -- 1 mana (or less) on turn 1, 4 (or less) on turn 2, 9 (or less) on turn 3, etc. Why did you limit it to only permanents?
Also, what was "it's a trap?" I must have missed that week.
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 not sure... that feels like a land rule format. Every now and then an overpowered, wild-west format can be pretty fun.
I might like your rule if you make it the square of the turn number -- 1 mana (or less) on turn 1, 4 (or less) on turn 2, 9 (or less) on turn 3...
What was "it's a trap!"?
I want to avoid the "or less" part.
It makes matches much easier, and really makes you commit.
"As you start a turn, you gain up to 2 power counters."
"At the beginning of your upkeep, you may play a nonland card from your hand with converted mana cost equal to the number of power counters you have without paying its mana cost."
This will let you hit odd/even fine.
Lets you jump up and skip a card to get to the higher cost faster.
Etc.
Cards with converted mana cost 0 would be banned for the round.
(No lands, lotus, etc)
I've been wanting to do something like this for a while, actually.
If we went with Omniscience/Rule of Law, though, you run into problems like Decree of Silence stifling everything, Emrakuls galore, etc. I fear we'd actually end up with a very narrow field of good card choices, once we go through an iteration or two of what we think others will play.
there may not be many card choices, but there are plenty of deck choices. i can see 5 huge threats vs 5 answers (with draining whelk the only win con) and everywhere in between.
Pure Evocation
"You can't play cards."
"At the beginning of your upkeep, you may put a permanent card with converted mana X from your hand onto the battlefield, where X is equal to the number of turns you have started."
It adds a huge layer of depth, in that you will still get your huge drops free - but at a cost. It's tempting to go with huge splashy cards, but they're still slow. Do you go for the early, mid, or late game? Do you bash skulls or have layers of protection? It really comes to aggro vs control; speed vs power; focus or utility.
Think this is a good alternative?
this is an intriguing format too, but an entirely different one. being limited to permanents changes what you can do to interact.
that said, i have now made my decks for both of these formats.
I want to avoid the "or less" part.
It makes matches much easier, and really makes you commit.
"As you start a turn, you gain up to 2 power counters."
"At the beginning of your upkeep, you may play a nonland card from your hand with converted mana cost equal to the number of power counters you have without paying its mana cost."
This will let you hit odd/even fine.
Lets you jump up and skip a card to get to the higher cost faster.
Etc.
Cards with converted mana cost 0 would be banned for the round.
(No lands, lotus, etc)
I was going for something else. Yours is definitely an interesting format, and I'd like to try it, but the restrictions negate what I was trying to do. Maybe mine is better suited to LabCB...
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 was going for something else. Yours is definitely an interesting format, and I'd like to try it, but the restrictions negate what I was trying to do. Maybe mine is better suited to LabCB...
the one above your post changes this, and is a much closer in-between.
not really. theres still not gonna be much interaction. theres no countermagic, no recursion, gonna have to get really lucky with mana costs for any removal to work.
not to say thats a bad thing. i think we could use a week where we dont have to worry about resolving a spell
It was actually a really intriguing format, but the first iteration had two problems. First, the extent to which plays were forced caused a majority of superficially legal decks to be illegal. Second, control-changing effects made match results very difficult to counter.
As I was adding formats to the repository, I revised the rules for It's A Trap! to deal with the deck legality issue. Using these rules, banning or restricting control-changing effects, and using fewer cards (3CB or 4CB) could result in a good format, though there may still be too much stigma around it.
Suggested rules:
Each player starts the game with all permanent cards in his or her deck face down on the battlefield. Face-down permanents are 2/2 creatures. At the beginning of each player's end step, that player turns a face-down permanent he or she controls face up.
Replace the rule that reads "An entrant may not submit a deck that could – against any deck – win the game or force more than one card in an opponent's hand to change zones before a specified turn or until each player had completed a specified number of turns" with "An entrant may not submit a deck that could – against an opponent whose deck contained only a number of permanent cards less than or equal to the number of cards he or she could submit, if face-down permanents controlled by an opponent couldn't be turned face up, and if damage dealt by face-down creatures didn't cause an opponent's life total to change – win the game or force more than one permanent an opponent controlled to change zones before a specified turn or until each player had completed a specified number of turns."
I may need further FAQs, and a better look at ban list potentials for next week.
Draco9 and I worked very hard on the Guilds and their abilities.
We went through many iterations to make sure they are balanced and relevant.
Although I'm sure some will go unused, I know there are powerful decks in each and every guild.
No single guild is a shoe in against any other guild.
It's a lengthy explination on the guilds, but the concept itself should be fairly easy to understand.
09 fnord :: ""
Black Lotus / Fountain of Cho / Nevermore / Runed Halo / Zoetic Cavern
vs.
03 tomsloger :: "anvil of affliction"
Anvil of Bogardan / Daze / Gemstone Caverns / Shrieking Affliction / Underground Sea
Listed 0-6, suggested 2-2.
On the play I can Nevermore Affliction, after which neither player will be able to win. On the draw, I play Zoetic as a land (stopping Daze) and Nevermore Anvil, forcing a stalemate (keeping Fountain and Halo in hand).
04 WhammWhamme :: ""
Darksteel Reactor / Mishra's Workshop / Smokestack / Sol Ring / Witchbane Orb
Listed 2-2, suggested 6-0
I t1 Nevermore, naming Smokestack. Zoetic easily races Reactor.
08 faradan :: ""
Black Lotus / Black Lotus / Curse of the Pierced Heart / Harsh Judgment / Pithing Needle
Listed 3-3, Suggested 6-0.
I race or Halo Curse.
12 benbuzz790 :: ""
Black Lotus / Black Lotus / Black Lotus / Etherwrought Page / Nether Void
Listed 3-3, Suggested 4-1. On the play I Nevermore Lotus and win easily. On the draw, Zoetic resolves in time to force Page to be used for lifegain, leading to a stalemate.
14 Antonia :: ""
Black Lotus / Grim Monolith / Jinxed Choker / Power Artifact / Saprazzan Skerry
I chose page because I figured no one would be dealing more than two damage per turn and it can just beat anything that only does one damage a turn, AND it doesn't target. Void seemed good because casting everything on turn one seemed difficult this round.
12v11
6-0 to 0-6, I can't beat Reality Strobe and a storage land... Right?
12v14
Not listed to 6-0, Antonia can only play jinxed choker on the play against me (and can't do anything on the draw). Etherwrought page tips the table so that she always takes more damage than me.
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.
12v14
Not listed to 6-0, Antonia can only play jinxed choker on the play against me (and can't do anything on the draw). Etherwrought page tips the table so that she always takes more damage than me.
On the play: turn 1 Skerry, Lotus, crack lotus for Monolith.
Turn 2: Tap Skerry for Power Artifact, use Monolith to pay for Nether Void.
Turn 3: Tap Skerry (and sacrifice it) to untap Monolith for 2 mana. Generate infinite mana, Choker you.
It was actually a really intriguing format, but the first iteration had two problems. First, the extent to which plays were forced caused a majority of superficially legal decks to be illegal. Second, control-changing effects made match results very difficult to counter.
Here's my favorite part:
ghostway resolves, you steal two crabs and he names crab
then he filps a crab and switches it with a crab
That does seem like a fun format. I think the main cause of the complexity is definitely because of the number of cards used. The possible interactions of a 1v1 card deck is 1, the max for a 2v2 is 6 (it's a "handshake" calculation, if you know what I mean), for 3v3 it's 15... when you don't need mana sources, 5cb is gosh-darned complicated (profanity is against the rules right? I'm gonna start using more fake profanity).
The deck legality issue is separate, but I think mogg's fix works.
Good call Reyemile. I was calculating like it was one a them daggum pauper sac-lands. 12 v. 14 = 3-3
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.
Are the lands that can be submitted restricted by name or by subtype; i.e., can an Azorius deck contain Tundra or Snow-Covered Island, and can that deck play a Snow-Covered Island from outside the game via the land rule? If by type, then must a land only have at least one of those subtypes, or must it also have no other subtypes; i.e., can an Azorius deck contain Volcanic Island?
Also, a correction:
4 WhammWhamme - Darksteel Reactor / Mishra's Workshop / Smokestack / Sol Ring / Witchbane Orb
vs.
6 Mogg - Ancient Tomb / Dust Bowl / Elixir of Immortality / Ratchet Bomb / Zoetic Cavern
3-3 -> 0-6: Assume WW casts Stack on his first turn. I play Tomb into Elixir. If he adds a counter on his second turn and casts Reactor, then I shuffle Elixir into my library and sacrifice Tomb. WW sacrifices Stack on his fifth turn (sac Ring, Shop, Stack; he can't cast Orb without mana), at which point, on successive turns, I play land and Elixir, play land and shuffle, draw Elixir and cast it, play Tomb and sac Cavern to Bowl (targetting Cavern), shuffle and draw Elixir and cast it, play Cavern as a creature, and attack ten times. I win when Reactor has only 18 counters on it (3 + 6 + 9).
If WW doesn't add a counter on his second turn, then I play Bowl and morphed Cavern on my second turn. If WW then adds a counter on his third turn, and casts Orb, then on my third turn, I sacrifice Bowl to Stack, cast Bomb, and attack. WW sacs Ring. If WW adds another counter to Stack on his fourth turn, then I sacrifice Tomb and Bomb, shuffle with Elixir, and attack. WW must sacrifice Smokestack, or else he would have to sacrifice it and Reactor on the following turn. If WW doesn't add another counter on his fourth turn, then I sac Bowl and shuffle with Elixir. I can easily maintain one sacrifice each turn.
This thread contains the results for week 3 of All Blind Tournament #3 and is the start of week 4 of ABT#3.
Week 3 of ABT#3 Next Round : Week 4 of ABT#3
No longer staff here.
Draco9 and I worked together to make an especially interesting round to finish off this tournament.
I'm always looking for special round ideas, so if you think of anything: post it, and we'll probably use it.
Previous Standings:
No longer staff here.
2 or 3 CB w/ alternate land rule & alternate discard rule. In addition, each player starts with an additional 5 (if 2CB) or 4 (if 3CB) basic land cards of the type and supertype of his or her choice in his or her hand.
Alternate Land Rule
If a player would draw a card while his or her library has no cards in it, that player puts a basic land card of the type and supertype of his or her choice from outside the game into his or her hand instead. The starting player doesn't skip the draw step of his or her first turn.
Alternate Discard Rule
If an effect a player controls or owns would force an opponent to discard or exile a card from his or her hand, that player puts it on top of his or her library instead.
Words, words, words.
3CB ELR,
You must submit three cards with different names that share at least one word in all three names ("the" should probably be disallowed)
Thoughtseize You
5cb
Each player begins with an emblem that says "At the beginning of the upkeep of your first turn, look at your opponent's hand and choose a nonland card from it. Your opponent discards that card"
Split Strawman
Any
LIke a normal strawman week, except instead of losing to the strawman, you have to 3-3 split with it.
Kobolds
5cb
Each player begins the game with Kher Keep, Kobolds of Kher Keep, Crimson Kobolds, and Crookshank Kobolds in play.
Foil
Leyline of Sanctity
Pact of Negation
Time Vault
Trinisphere
o_0
how the heck did leyline fall off?
fixed. tanx.
Troll level:
Players can't submit cards that don't contain the letters "K", "O", "B", "O", "L", "D", and "S" within their text.
4 or more letters?
No longer staff here.
Each match you 0-6, take a shot.
wait, was that not already in the rules?
I'm up to 5 shots this round.
Please.. let everyone who submits from henceforth have bad decks.
No longer staff here.
-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've been wanting to do something like this for a while, actually.
If we went with Omniscience/Rule of Law, though, you run into problems like Decree of Silence stifling everything, Emrakuls galore, etc. I fear we'd actually end up with a very narrow field of good card choices, once we go through an iteration or two of what we think others will play.
What I originally wanted, and is relatively close:
"You can't play cards."
"At the beginning of your upkeep, you may put a permanent card with converted mana X from your hand onto the battlefield, where X is equal to the number of turns you have started."
Think this is a good alternative?
edit:
Just realized... I came up with "Pure Evocation" a year and a half ago.
Sheesh.. time has really flown.
edit2:
lol. that's the same time we came up with "It's a Trap!"
It was great theory, but ended up with the most horrible round ever.
We gave up trying to calculate the matchups after a couple of days.
No longer staff here.
I'm not sure... that feels like a land rule format. Every now and then an overpowered, wild-west format can be pretty fun. (Although if we're playing for prizes I can definitely understand people's not wanting to do this).
I might like your rule if you make it the square of the turn number -- 1 mana (or less) on turn 1, 4 (or less) on turn 2, 9 (or less) on turn 3, etc. Why did you limit it to only permanents?
Also, what was "it's a trap?" I must have missed that week.
-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 want to avoid the "or less" part.
It makes matches much easier, and really makes you commit.
"As you start a turn, you gain up to 2 power counters."
"At the beginning of your upkeep, you may play a nonland card from your hand with converted mana cost equal to the number of power counters you have without paying its mana cost."
This will let you hit odd/even fine.
Lets you jump up and skip a card to get to the higher cost faster.
Etc.
Cards with converted mana cost 0 would be banned for the round.
(No lands, lotus, etc)
No longer staff here.
there may not be many card choices, but there are plenty of deck choices. i can see 5 huge threats vs 5 answers (with draining whelk the only win con) and everywhere in between.
this is an intriguing format too, but an entirely different one. being limited to permanents changes what you can do to interact.
that said, i have now made my decks for both of these formats.
I was going for something else. Yours is definitely an interesting format, and I'd like to try it, but the restrictions negate what I was trying to do. Maybe mine is better suited to LabCB...
-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
the one above your post changes this, and is a much closer in-between.
We could try both?
Yours just really made my old idea come to mind.
No longer staff here.
not really. theres still not gonna be much interaction. theres no countermagic, no recursion, gonna have to get really lucky with mana costs for any removal to work.
not to say thats a bad thing. i think we could use a week where we dont have to worry about resolving a spell
Original Rules
Decks
It was actually a really intriguing format, but the first iteration had two problems. First, the extent to which plays were forced caused a majority of superficially legal decks to be illegal. Second, control-changing effects made match results very difficult to counter.
As I was adding formats to the repository, I revised the rules for It's A Trap! to deal with the deck legality issue. Using these rules, banning or restricting control-changing effects, and using fewer cards (3CB or 4CB) could result in a good format, though there may still be too much stigma around it.
Suggested rules:
Each player starts the game with all permanent cards in his or her deck face down on the battlefield. Face-down permanents are 2/2 creatures. At the beginning of each player's end step, that player turns a face-down permanent he or she controls face up.
Replace the rule that reads "An entrant may not submit a deck that could – against any deck – win the game or force more than one card in an opponent's hand to change zones before a specified turn or until each player had completed a specified number of turns" with "An entrant may not submit a deck that could – against an opponent whose deck contained only a number of permanent cards less than or equal to the number of cards he or she could submit, if face-down permanents controlled by an opponent couldn't be turned face up, and if damage dealt by face-down creatures didn't cause an opponent's life total to change – win the game or force more than one permanent an opponent controlled to change zones before a specified turn or until each player had completed a specified number of turns."
BWTeysa, Orzhov Scion
GWRhys the Redeemed
GUKruphix, God of Horizons
GRXenagos, God of Revels
GThrun, the Last Troll
GStompy
I may need further FAQs, and a better look at ban list potentials for next week.
Draco9 and I worked very hard on the Guilds and their abilities.
We went through many iterations to make sure they are balanced and relevant.
Although I'm sure some will go unused, I know there are powerful decks in each and every guild.
No single guild is a shoe in against any other guild.
It's a lengthy explination on the guilds, but the concept itself should be fairly easy to understand.
No longer staff here.
Black Lotus / Fountain of Cho / Nevermore / Runed Halo / Zoetic Cavern
vs.
03 tomsloger :: "anvil of affliction"
Anvil of Bogardan / Daze / Gemstone Caverns / Shrieking Affliction / Underground Sea
Listed 0-6, suggested 2-2.
On the play I can Nevermore Affliction, after which neither player will be able to win. On the draw, I play Zoetic as a land (stopping Daze) and Nevermore Anvil, forcing a stalemate (keeping Fountain and Halo in hand).
04 WhammWhamme :: ""
Darksteel Reactor / Mishra's Workshop / Smokestack / Sol Ring / Witchbane Orb
Listed 2-2, suggested 6-0
I t1 Nevermore, naming Smokestack. Zoetic easily races Reactor.
08 faradan :: ""
Black Lotus / Black Lotus / Curse of the Pierced Heart / Harsh Judgment / Pithing Needle
Listed 3-3, Suggested 6-0.
I race or Halo Curse.
12 benbuzz790 :: ""
Black Lotus / Black Lotus / Black Lotus / Etherwrought Page / Nether Void
Listed 3-3, Suggested 4-1. On the play I Nevermore Lotus and win easily. On the draw, Zoetic resolves in time to force Page to be used for lifegain, leading to a stalemate.
14 Antonia :: ""
Black Lotus / Grim Monolith / Jinxed Choker / Power Artifact / Saprazzan Skerry
Listed N/A, Suggested 6-0
T1 Halo on Choker stops the damage.
Practice for Khans of Tarkir Limited:
Draft: (#1) (#2) (#3) (#4) (#5)
3 Black lotus / Nether Void / Etherwrought Page
I chose page because I figured no one would be dealing more than two damage per turn and it can just beat anything that only does one damage a turn, AND it doesn't target. Void seemed good because casting everything on turn one seemed difficult this round.
12v8
4-1 to 6-0, Etherwrought page beats Curse of the pierced heart and nothing else interacts
12v11
6-0 to 0-6, I can't beat Reality Strobe and a storage land... Right?
12v14
Not listed to 6-0, Antonia can only play jinxed choker on the play against me (and can't do anything on the draw). Etherwrought page tips the table so that she always takes more damage than me.
Fnord's change seems right too.
-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
Turn 2: Tap Skerry for Power Artifact, use Monolith to pay for Nether Void.
Turn 3: Tap Skerry (and sacrifice it) to untap Monolith for 2 mana. Generate infinite mana, Choker you.
Here's my favorite part:
That does seem like a fun format. I think the main cause of the complexity is definitely because of the number of cards used. The possible interactions of a 1v1 card deck is 1, the max for a 2v2 is 6 (it's a "handshake" calculation, if you know what I mean), for 3v3 it's 15... when you don't need mana sources, 5cb is gosh-darned complicated (profanity is against the rules right? I'm gonna start using more fake profanity).
The deck legality issue is separate, but I think mogg's fix works.
Good call Reyemile. I was calculating like it was one a them daggum pauper sac-lands. 12 v. 14 = 3-3
-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
Also, a correction:
4 WhammWhamme - Darksteel Reactor / Mishra's Workshop / Smokestack / Sol Ring / Witchbane Orb
vs.
6 Mogg - Ancient Tomb / Dust Bowl / Elixir of Immortality / Ratchet Bomb / Zoetic Cavern
3-3 -> 0-6: Assume WW casts Stack on his first turn. I play Tomb into Elixir. If he adds a counter on his second turn and casts Reactor, then I shuffle Elixir into my library and sacrifice Tomb. WW sacrifices Stack on his fifth turn (sac Ring, Shop, Stack; he can't cast Orb without mana), at which point, on successive turns, I play land and Elixir, play land and shuffle, draw Elixir and cast it, play Tomb and sac Cavern to Bowl (targetting Cavern), shuffle and draw Elixir and cast it, play Cavern as a creature, and attack ten times. I win when Reactor has only 18 counters on it (3 + 6 + 9).
If WW doesn't add a counter on his second turn, then I play Bowl and morphed Cavern on my second turn. If WW then adds a counter on his third turn, and casts Orb, then on my third turn, I sacrifice Bowl to Stack, cast Bomb, and attack. WW sacs Ring. If WW adds another counter to Stack on his fourth turn, then I sacrifice Tomb and Bomb, shuffle with Elixir, and attack. WW must sacrifice Smokestack, or else he would have to sacrifice it and Reactor on the following turn. If WW doesn't add another counter on his fourth turn, then I sac Bowl and shuffle with Elixir. I can easily maintain one sacrifice each turn.
BWTeysa, Orzhov Scion
GWRhys the Redeemed
GUKruphix, God of Horizons
GRXenagos, God of Revels
GThrun, the Last Troll
GStompy