02 Draco9 :: "Elvish Metal" March of the Machines / Elvish Spirit Guide / Liquimetal Coating / Mishra's Workshop / Nature's Claim I had originally chosen Titania's Song over March of the Machines to stop shenanigans like this. Unfortunately, shortly before submitting I realized blue was under-represented, so I switched to March without remembering why it was important to use Titania's Song. Although Song stops useful effects from the opponent, allowing you to stop artifact mana AND lands is too degenerate. That said, I liked the Nature's Claim here. I also wonder if City of Traitors would be a safer call then Workshop. City would allow you to survive Tabernacle when you needed to use the Claim.
03 WhammWhamme :: "" March of the Machines / Ancient Tomb / Karakas / Leyline of Singularity / Liquimetal Coating The leyine-karakas combo gave you a huge boost up this round. It destroyed the Growing Ranks decks (they can't choose not to populate), and tore up the single-threat guys as one would imagine. Liquid Coating did its magic well.
07 Grolleter :: "" Phyrexian Reclamation / Karakas / Orzhov Basilica / Wispmare / Vindicate Wispmare with Vindicate backup was nice. This deck is great in theory, and it's hard to say exactly why it didn't do so well. It sometimes wanted speed, like a 2nd turn vindicate. Other times it wanted to recur vindicate, like from Necrotic Sliver. It lacked both, and that often hurt. Karakas actually lost you points this round.
10 benbuzz790 :: "" Growing Ranks / Chancellor of the Forge / Foil / Island / Mental Misstep Misstep was generally useless, since Foil was almost always enough when it happened. This was similar to what I envisioned Growing Ranks to want though; albeit using Tundra/Abolish as the foil alternate instead. Although not a game changer, it would have garnered you a few more points. Using Leyline of the Void is a nice "after I see the decks" card that would bolster you up quite a bit.
There were 16 players with 120 matches and 240 total games.
38 hands ended in a draw. 18 matches had at least one draw.
That's 16% of all games, averaging 2.4 games per player.
The following player(s) had the most drawn games, with 11 total draws: WhammWhamme
22 matches were a 3-3 split.
That's 18% of all matches, averaging 1.4 matches per player.
The following player(s) had the most split matches, with 4 total splits: pininja : fnord
90 matches were a 6-0 sweep.
That's 75% of all matches, averaging 5.6 matches per player.
The following player(s) had the most 6-0 match sweeps, at 10 total sweeps: Feyd_Ruin
There were 50 unique cards submitted, out of 80 total.
16 card(s) were repeated:
Next Round will be '3CB Free Lotus Powerhouse'.
Entries are due Sunday Night at Midnight.
3CB Free Lotus Powerhouse
Description:
If I'm giving you free stuff, why not give you the best card in the game, right?
Lets see what you can do with a free lotus, of sorts, each turn.
Deck size:
20
3 cards.
Land Rule:
20
NONE.
Special Rules:
Each player begins the game with an emblem that reads:
"At the beginning of your upkeep, add three mana of any one color to your mana pool. Until end of turn, this mana doesn't empty from your mana pool as steps and phases end. This ability can't be countered."
FAQs/Explinations:
20
* The mana will empty at the end of turn. It won't be there for your opponent's turn.
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.
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
The All Blind Tournament (ABT) is a Magic tournament that consists of four rounds of X Card Blind (XCB), run entirely within this forum. To compete, entrants submit decks containing X cards which are played against each other. Scoring assumes optimal play, without randomness or concealed information.
1. Game Rules
1.1. There are many versions of XCB. Each version has a name, of the form XCB 'Land Rule' 'Sanctioned Magic Format' 'Special Format' '(Bonus)' 'Life Rule'.
1.1a. X is a number.
1.1b. 'Land Rule' can be LR, ELR, ALR, LRS, ELRS, ALRS, or nothing. LR indicates that the basic land rule is in effect, ELR indicates that the expanded land rule is in effect, ALR indicates that the alternative land rule is in effect, and S indicates that the supplemental land rule is also in effect (see Rule 1.7).
1.1c. 'Sanctioned Magic Format' can be the name of a sanctioned Magic constructed format or nothing. The name of a format indicates that only cards contained in sets legal in that format may be submitted. This is an exception to rule 2.3c.
1.1d. 'Special Format' can be the name of at least one special format or nothing. The name of a special format indicates that the special format in effect (see Rule 1.8).
1.1e. '(Bonus)' can be (Bonus) or nothing. (Bonus) modifies the preceding special format, indicating that an entrant must not follow the rules of that format, but that entrant will earn a specified number of bonus points if he or she does (see Rule 2.4f).
1.1f. 'Life Rule' can be LF or nothing. LF indicates that the life rule is in effect (see Rule 1.9).
1.2. Decks are not played, but are scored as though they were. The player of a deck is the entrant who submitted that deck.
1.3. Except for the changes described in these rules, games follow the rules for a normal game of Magic.
1.3a. Ignore any part of an instruction that isn't covered by these rules or the rules of Magic.
1.4. An entrant's deck contains exactly X cards (see Rule 1.1).
1.4a. A player's opening hand contains the cards in his or her deck.
1.4b. Players don't draw hands or mulligan.
1.4c. Players don't have sideboards.
1.5. Players' libraries begin the game empty.
1.5a. A player doesn't lose the game as a result of being unable to draw a card.
1.6. A cost or effect that would produce a random result produces the result that least benefits the player who paid the cost or the owner of the source of the effect instead.
1.7. Some versions of XCB use a land rule.
1.7a. This is the basic land rule (LR). Any player may play a basic land or basic snow land of the subtype of his or her choice from outside the game any time he or she could normally play a land.
1.7b. This is the expanded land rule (ELR). Any player may play a basic land or basic snow land of the subtype of his or her choice from outside the game any time he or she could normally play a land. Any player may play an additional land on each of his or her turns from his or her hand.
1.7c. This is the alternative land rule (ALR). If a player would draw a card from an empty library, that player puts a basic land or basic snow land card of the subtype 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.
1.7d. This is the supplemental land rule (S). Until each player has completed two turns, ignore any part of an effect of a source an opponent owns that would counter a spell or cause a card in a player's hand to change zones.
1.8. Some versions of XCB use a special format. A special format is an extra set of rules. These rules overwrite any other applicable rules. A non-comprehensive list of special formats is maintained here.
1.8a. Some special formats cause players to draw hands. The drawn cards become part of that player's opening hand.
1.8b. Continuous effects generated by special formats are applied in the order those formats are listed in the XCB version name, before any other effects that could be applied in a layer.
1.9. Some versions of XCB use the life rule.
1.9a. This is the life rule (LF). If neither player would win otherwise, then the player who maintains the higher life total wins the game.
1.10. Each player plays one match against each other player.
1.10a. Each match has two games.
1.10b. Each player is the starting player for one game in each match.
1.10c. If no player can win, then the game is a draw.
1.10d. Games are played with perfect information; players know the identities of face-down cards and cards in hidden zones, and players know which decisions have been made by other players.
1.10e. Games are played optimally; players attempt to win, to draw if unable to win, or to prolong the game if unable to draw.
2. Tournament Rules
2.1. Entrants compete in a competition.
2.1a. The shortest type of competition is a round. Typically, each round lasts one week.
2.1b. The ABT consists of four rounds.
2.2. An entrant submits his or her deck to the ABT moderator.
2.2a. An entrant submits his or her deck by private message (pm).
2.2b. An entrant may submit multiple decks, but only the most recently submitted deck is counted.
2.2c. An illegal deck is not counted. At the moderator’s discretion, an illegal deck may be replaced by a similar deck – in which any cards causing that deck to be illegal have been removed or replaced.
2.2d. The moderator determines the result of each match. Entrants may challenge results, but not after the results of the first round of a new ABT have been posted, except at the moderator's discretion.
2.2e. An entrant may name his or her deck. If an entrant doesn't, then the moderator may name it.
2.3. Decks are subject to some restrictions.
2.3a. An entrant may not submit a deck that could enable the player of that deck to win the game or force any cards in an opponent's hand to change zones before an opponent's second turn.
2.3b. An entrant may not submit a deck that doesn't enable the player of that deck to win a match (see Rule 2.4d) against at least one deck satisfying all rules.
2.3c. A deck may contain any number of copies of any card legal in Vintage (Type 1). Except as modified by a special format, all cards used in a game must be legal in Vintage.
2.3d. A deck may contain any number of copies of any card that will become legal in Vintage upon release of a set that's been revealed fully and officially since the start of the round.
2.3e. A deck may not contain any banned cards. If the rules of a special format instruct an entrant to choose a card, then that entrant can't choose a banned card.
2.3f. A deck may not contain any cards on the ABT Banned List.
2.4. Points determine round standings.
2.4a. Entrants are ranked – first to last – in order of decreasing number of points.
2.4b. For each match, an entrant earns 3 points per game win and 1 point per drawn game.
2.4c. The combined result of both games in a match is called a match result. Possible match results are: 6 – two wins, 4 – a win and a draw, 3 or 2 or S – a win and a loss, 2 – two draws, 1 – a draw and a loss, and 0 – two losses.
2.4d. Some match results are also denoted by names: two wins – match win, a win and a loss – split match, two draws – draw, and two losses – match loss. An entrant wins the match if he or she wins both games, splits the match if he or she wins a game and loses a game, draws a match if he or she draws both games, and loses the match if he or she loses both games.
2.4e. An entrant earns only 2 points for a split match. This is an exception to rule 2.4b.
2.4f. An entrant may earn a number of bonus points defined by a special format. An entrant earns these points in addition to any other points.
2.4g. A table of match results is posted at the end of each round. Its rows represent entrants and its columns represent those entrants' opponents. An entrant's total number of points is listed at the end of his or her row.
2.5. The entrant with the most tournament points over the course of the ABT is the tournament winner.
2.5a. Each round, an entrant receives tournament points equal to his or her average match result for that round multiplied by 100, rounded to the nearest integer or some number of decimal places chosen at the moderator's discretion. For example, an entrant scoring 6-6-6-6-X-0-0-0 in a round with 8 entrants receives 340 tournament points ((6 + 6 + 6 + 6) / (8 - 1) x 100).
2.5b. If two or more entrants would win the ABT, then each of those entrants competes in additional rounds specified by the moderator, until only one entrant has the most tournament points. Each additional round contains only the entrants who have the most tournament points. The moderator may specify a limit to the number of additional rounds.
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. If the winner of the tournament has won two or more tournaments, then the highest ranked entrant who hasn't won two or more tournaments shall be given the prize instead.
3.1c. If the winner was a moderator for two or more rounds of the tournament, then the highest ranked entrant who wasn't the moderator for two or more rounds of that tournament shall be given the prize instead. This is to ensure fair play.
3.1d. An entrant may decline the prize. If he or she does, then that entrant may designate another entrant to receive the prize.
3.1e. Entrants under the age of 18 are ineligible for prizes, due to federal laws regarding the sharing of personal information of minors.
3.1f. In the event that a prize can't be given to an entrant, the moderator will do his best to find another suitable way to reward that entrant.
3.1g. No prize is 100% guaranteed, but is assumed upon a good faith basis. Let's face it, with international customs, weird laws, etc, we can't guarantee anything. We'll do our best.
3.2. As a prized tournament, special scoring rules and practices are in place.
3.2a. Entrants are responsible for their own scoring. Assistance will be given, especially to new entrants, but it is ultimately up to each entrant to ensure his or her scoring is completed and accurate.
3.2b. Incomplete scores are considered losses, even to both players in 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. Entrants 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 entrant 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.
This tournament, Feyd_Ruin has graciously donated the prize up for grabs.
Players will be playing for a FOIL Boros Reckoner.
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.
We're still missing 7 players from last week.
Down to 10 :/
I thought offering up the most expensive foil from the newest set would get more people to jump in, but player count is dropping instead. :/
Has the game become less interesting? Are the formats becoming too disjointed?
Maybe the talks about the discard rule turned a lot of people off.
3 more have jumped in, so it's a little better.
Mogg will make it at least 14.
I dunno, I might just have to advertise a little.
Maybe write an article with shameless plugs...
Good news is, the grid will be at least mostly done.
I actually had some free time this week. \o/
This week has shaped up very interestingly.
Right now there is a 4 way tie, and 3 of those decks don't even share a single card.
The last few decks will change this, I'm sure.
But it's been very interesting to see things trickle in and calculate.
Edit:
"Player-A" was part of the 4 way tie.
I realized him and Player-B's matchup was incorrect to Player-A's favor and fixed it, losing Player-A points.
This of course booted Player-A out of the 4 way tie...
...but this put Player-B at the exact point total to put it right back at a 4 way tie...
Some days I love calculating the grid.
Not always.. but sometimes, just sometimes... I get a real kick out of it.
vs (07) Grolleter:
Listed: 0-6
Should be: 2-2. Karakas legend rule means he can't win, Wispmare means I can't.
vs. (08) casualjohnny:
Listed: 3-3
Should be: 4-1
On the play, Coating wins easy even without Leyline. On the DRAW, Leyline/March means neither of us has a meaningful win condition - the Marches Legend rule to death!
Filling in:
vs fnord:
2-2 : Starting with Leyline in play means neither of us can win.
vs VikingMetal4L:
4-1. On the play, Karaki trade and his deck does nothing (ever) while my 2/2 Coating beats down. On the draw, he can Erase March of the Machines and force the draw.
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.
2 Draco9 – March of the Machines / Elvish Spirit Guide / Liquimetal Coating / Mishra's Workshop / Nature's Claim
vs.
14 Mogg – March of the Machines / Mishra's Workshop / Phyrexian Dreadnought / Sphere of Resistance / Torpor Orb
3-3 -> 1-4: I cast Sphere. Draco9 can't cast Claim and 2/2's trade.
3 WhammWhamme – March of the Machines / Ancient Tomb / Karakas / Leyline of Singularity / Liquimetal Coating
vs.
14 Mogg – March of the Machines / Mishra's Workshop / Phyrexian Dreadnought / Sphere of Resistance / Torpor Orb
6-0 -> 4-1: I cast Orb and Dreadnought. WW can play Karakas or Tomb-Coating. If he plays Karakas, then I attack with Dreadnought and Orb. Karakas bounces Dreadnought, and I replay Dreadnought and cast Sphere. To gain a foothold, WW casts Coating, which requires that he bounces Sphere with Karakas. WW drops to 16 from Tomb. I attack for 14 and replay Sphere. WW doesn't have time to answer all three of my threats.
If WW casts Coating instead (dropping to 18), then I attack for 14. WW would be forced to bounce Dreadnought every turn, so he blocks Orb and draws instead.
8 casual johnny – March of the Machines / Mishra's Workshop / Mishra's Workshop / Mycosynth Lattice / Wurmcoil Engine
vs.
14 Mogg – March of the Machines / Mishra's Workshop / Phyrexian Dreadnought / Sphere of Resistance / Torpor Orb
1 Feyd_Ruin – Frozen Aether / Mishra's Workshop / Phyrexian Revoker / Pithing Needle / Sphere of Resistance
vs.
9 Naphtali – Growing Ranks / Beast Within / City of Traitors / Elixir of Immortality / Mox Emerald
3-3 -> 6-0: Aether plus Sphere stops Beast and Revoker stops Elixir.
1 Feyd_Ruin – Frozen Aether / Mishra's Workshop / Phyrexian Revoker / Pithing Needle / Sphere of Resistance
vs.
11 Parsley – Growing Ranks / Chatter of the Squirrel / Forest / Garruk Relentless / Rushwood Grove
3-3 -> 6-0: First, I'd like to note that it bothers me that people continue to play the Masques lands over the Fallen Empires lands in decks that have no reason to do so (literally, since the first week of the ABT). Second, because Needle does stop Grove, Aether plus Sphere stops Chatter.
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.
3 WhammWhamme – March of the Machines / Ancient Tomb / Karakas / Leyline of Singularity / Liquimetal Coating
vs.
14 Mogg – March of the Machines / Mishra's Workshop / Phyrexian Dreadnought / Sphere of Resistance / Torpor Orb
6-0 -> 4-1: I cast Orb and Dreadnought. WW can play Karakas or Tomb-Coating. If he plays Karakas, then I attack with Dreadnought and Orb. Karakas bounces Dreadnought, and I replay Dreadnought and cast Sphere. To gain a foothold, WW casts Coating, which requires that he bounces Sphere with Karakas. WW drops to 16 from Tomb. I attack for 14 and replay Sphere. WW doesn't have time to answer all three of my threats.
If WW casts Coating instead (dropping to 18), then I attack for 14. WW would be forced to bounce Dreadnought every turn, so he blocks Orb and draws instead.
Better than that - -it's 2-2. I have to Legend rule away the Marches (or die to dreadnaught... I choose Legend rule), so all I can do is bounce Dreadnought for the draw.
vs (07) Grolleter:
Listed: 0-6
Should be: 2-2. Karakas legend rule means he can't win, Wispmare means I can't.
Correction to your correction! When you're on the play, you lead with Karakas - that prevents me from ever being able to even evoke Wispmare. (I can't tap Karakas for mana before it dies to the legend rule, and I can't keep Basilica on the board unless I can bounce Karakas.) So we go 4-1 in your favor.
One other correction: vs. Parsley (#11)
Listed: 0-6
Should be: 2-2
No matter what he does, I evoke Wispmare on my first turn to destroy Growing Ranks, and I cast Vindicate on my third turn to destroy Rushwood Grove. He can't cast Garruk before his fifth turn, and without Growing Ranks, he can get at most two squirrels on the play or one on the draw - nowhere near enough for lethal if I leave Wispmare to block once I'm able to hardcast it. On the other hand, because he gets a squirrel on his first or second turn while I have to wait until my fifth turn to hardcast my Wispmare, he wins the race if I try to beat down with Mare. So we're locked into an everlasting standoff of horse versus squirrel.
For the last two:
I'm pretty sure I beat fnord 6-0: I eliminate March of the Machines with Wispmare and Paupers' Cage with Vindicate before fnord can deal more than about 4 damage to me. Then I have all the time in the world to recur Wispmare and attack 20 times.
Against VikingMetal4L, Karakas legend rule prevents either of us from dealing any damage to the other.
With those corrections and additions, my line looks like: X | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 | PT | TPs
7 | 0 2 1 0 0 0 X 0 0 1 2 2 0 0 6 2 | 16 | 107
I had an idea for a deck that would reanimate Iona on turn 1. It might have lost to the deck I actually played, but it looks like it would have done slightly better on the whole. Slightly.
well, my missing results are easy.
fnord has march of the machines, so 0-6 (though this one is closer than any of the other march decks)
viking doesnt, so 6-0
vs (07) Grolleter:
Listed: 0-6
Should be: 2-2. Karakas legend rule means he can't win, Wispmare means I can't.
vs. (08) casualjohnny:
Listed: 3-3
Should be: 4-1
On the play, Coating wins easy even without Leyline. On the DRAW, Leyline/March means neither of us has a meaningful win condition - the Marches Legend rule to death!
Filling in:
vs fnord:
2-2 : Starting with Leyline in play means neither of us can win.
vs VikingMetal4L:
4-1. On the play, Karaki trade and his deck does nothing (ever) while my 2/2 Coating beats down. On the draw, he can Erase March of the Machines and force the draw.
I missed the Karakas in the grolleter matchup, sorry.
However, it is actually up to 4-1 in your favor.
If you drop Karakas first on your turn, Grolleter never makes his 1 mana to evoke.
Thus, it's 2/2 beats time.
2 Draco9 – March of the Machines / Elvish Spirit Guide / Liquimetal Coating / Mishra's Workshop / Nature's Claim
vs.
14 Mogg – March of the Machines / Mishra's Workshop / Phyrexian Dreadnought / Sphere of Resistance / Torpor Orb
3-3 -> 1-4: I cast Sphere. Draco9 can't cast Claim and 2/2's trade.
3 WhammWhamme – March of the Machines / Ancient Tomb / Karakas / Leyline of Singularity / Liquimetal Coating
vs.
14 Mogg – March of the Machines / Mishra's Workshop / Phyrexian Dreadnought / Sphere of Resistance / Torpor Orb
6-0 -> 4-1: I cast Orb and Dreadnought. WW can play Karakas or Tomb-Coating. If he plays Karakas, then I attack with Dreadnought and Orb. Karakas bounces Dreadnought, and I replay Dreadnought and cast Sphere. To gain a foothold, WW casts Coating, which requires that he bounces Sphere with Karakas. WW drops to 16 from Tomb. I attack for 14 and replay Sphere. WW doesn't have time to answer all three of my threats.
If WW casts Coating instead (dropping to 18), then I attack for 14. WW would be forced to bounce Dreadnought every turn, so he blocks Orb and draws instead.
8 casual johnny – March of the Machines / Mishra's Workshop / Mishra's Workshop / Mycosynth Lattice / Wurmcoil Engine
vs.
14 Mogg – March of the Machines / Mishra's Workshop / Phyrexian Dreadnought / Sphere of Resistance / Torpor Orb
1 Feyd_Ruin – Frozen Aether / Mishra's Workshop / Phyrexian Revoker / Pithing Needle / Sphere of Resistance
vs.
9 Naphtali – Growing Ranks / Beast Within / City of Traitors / Elixir of Immortality / Mox Emerald
3-3 -> 6-0: Aether plus Sphere stops Beast and Revoker stops Elixir.
1 Feyd_Ruin – Frozen Aether / Mishra's Workshop / Phyrexian Revoker / Pithing Needle / Sphere of Resistance
vs.
11 Parsley – Growing Ranks / Chatter of the Squirrel / Forest / Garruk Relentless / Rushwood Grove
3-3 -> 6-0: First, I'd like to note that it bothers me that people continue to play the Masques lands over the Fallen Empires lands in decks that have no reason to do so (literally, since the first week of the ABT). Second, because Needle does stop Grove, Aether plus Sphere stops Chatter.
Better than that - -it's 2-2. I have to Legend rule away the Marches (or die to dreadnaught... I choose Legend rule), so all I can do is bounce Dreadnought for the draw.
Fixed.
This puts me and Mogg tied
This means I might have actually won an ABT round. The end is near.
It looks like they all would have done decent, but nothing awesome.
I came really close to using the Unburial Rites deck to hate hard on March of the Machines.
LED doesn't tap to activate, so it goes through Aether, and the Homicadal Seclusion lets it survive March.
Thus you drop LED. Cast LED2 & IRSP to LED2 Sac LED1. LED2 hits, sac. Unburial, and get any creature you want.
I was correct in thinking that Iona would actually not be the powerhouse she often is, for this round.
I never found any other creature that I really liked. Blazing Archon came close, as did Platinum Angel.
However, I was worried about tabernacle and abolish, neither of which even showed at all.
I also really wanted to do a Spellshock deck. One that did 16-18 damage turn 1.
I couldn't find anything I liked. City/Lotus/Sneak/Emrakul came close, but died hard to March, Aether, etc.
I'm still convinced there's a hidden gem somewhere that can deal 18 on 1st/2nd, and then finish the game later.
It's one of the main reasons I went with Aether-Revoker. I wanted to 3-3 anyone who found the deck I couldn't here.
Thought I was going to do well this week, then the last two decks were both running Mental Misstep. I would have done much better this week with Frozen Aether as my leyline and a Sphere of Resistance instead of the Revoker.
04 Vs. 9: 3-3 ---> 6-0
On the draw, I lead with Torpor Orb/Dreadnaught into his Beast Within mana. If he uses Beast Within to kill Torpor Orb and then plays/cracks Elixir next turn, I drop Revoker on his Mox. With only two mana (none green) he can elixir once every other turn, so my beast + revoker kills him.
If he Beasts his own Mox, Dreadnaught prevents an attack next turn and easily races Growing Ranks; Revoker on Elixir keeps him at 20 and makes sure I never have to deal with another Beast Within again.
04 vs. 12: 0-6 --> 3-3
I swing for 12 turn 2 and 14 turn 3 when the revoker joins in; On the play, that's exactly enough to kill him after he swings for 6 lifelink poison.
Homicidal Seclusion would make them 3/1.
Then you sac one right before the other hits, so it enters as a 3/1, etc.
Iona becomes a 10/8 lifelinker
..that dies to Karakas, etc.
I'm on the laptop, so I'll update the grid after a while.
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.
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.
parsley on the play drops turn 1 grove
p2 forest, squirrel, counter on grove
cj2 wurmcoil
p3 populate (2 tokens), counter on grove (2)
cj3 lattice, swing 6 14-26
p4 populate (3), counter on grove (3)
cj4 swing 12, 1 blocked 8-32
p5 populate (3), garruk, wolf token (4 tokens. doesnt yet matter what they are)
cj5 swing 12, 1 blocked 2-38
p6 populate (4), wolf token (5), counter on grove (1)
cj6 swing 12, both blocked 2-44
p7 populate (4), flashback chatter (5), flip garruk by killing own squirrel token (4)
cj7 swing 12, both blocked 2-50
p8 populate (3), make deathtouch token (1, NOW it matters which is which)
cj8 swing 12, both blocked by squirrels 2-56
p9 populate deathtouch wolf (1 squirrel, 2 wolves), make token (1,3)
cj9 now that parsley has multiple deathtouch blockers, johnny cannot profitably attack. if he does, parsley kills them. if he doesnt, parsley eventually gets to 1 squirrel and 63 wolves and swings for lethal.
This thread contains the results for week 2 of All Blind Tournament #4 and is the start of week 3 of ABT#4.
Week 2 of ABT#4 Next Round : Week 3 of ABT#4 Information
No longer staff here.
If the opening post's grid is proven accurate, this makes the point race:
No longer staff here.
Down to 10 :/
I thought offering up the most expensive foil from the newest set would get more people to jump in, but player count is dropping instead. :/
Has the game become less interesting? Are the formats becoming too disjointed?
No longer staff here.
BWTeysa, Orzhov Scion
GWRhys the Redeemed
GUKruphix, God of Horizons
GRXenagos, God of Revels
GThrun, the Last Troll
GStompy
3 more have jumped in, so it's a little better.
Mogg will make it at least 14.
I dunno, I might just have to advertise a little.
Maybe write an article with shameless plugs...
Good news is, the grid will be at least mostly done.
I actually had some free time this week. \o/
This week has shaped up very interestingly.
Right now there is a 4 way tie, and 3 of those decks don't even share a single card.
The last few decks will change this, I'm sure.
But it's been very interesting to see things trickle in and calculate.
Edit:
"Player-A" was part of the 4 way tie.
I realized him and Player-B's matchup was incorrect to Player-A's favor and fixed it, losing Player-A points.
This of course booted Player-A out of the 4 way tie...
...but this put Player-B at the exact point total to put it right back at a 4 way tie...
Some days I love calculating the grid.
Not always.. but sometimes, just sometimes... I get a real kick out of it.
No longer staff here.
The big tie ended up dieing to a couple of corrections and the new decks.
Right now, the top few ranks are very tight.
No longer staff here.
vs (07) Grolleter:
Listed: 0-6
Should be: 2-2. Karakas legend rule means he can't win, Wispmare means I can't.
vs. (08) casualjohnny:
Listed: 3-3
Should be: 4-1
On the play, Coating wins easy even without Leyline. On the DRAW, Leyline/March means neither of us has a meaningful win condition - the Marches Legend rule to death!
Filling in:
vs fnord:
2-2 : Starting with Leyline in play means neither of us can win.
vs VikingMetal4L:
4-1. On the play, Karaki trade and his deck does nothing (ever) while my 2/2 Coating beats down. On the draw, he can Erase March of the Machines and force the draw.
tie with fnord 2-2win 6-0 against fnord, and I lose 0-6 to VikingMetal4L-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
X| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 | PT
4| 6 4 1 2 6 6 6 6 6 0 6 4 6 X 3 4 | 65
2 Draco9 – March of the Machines / Elvish Spirit Guide / Liquimetal Coating / Mishra's Workshop / Nature's Claim
vs.
14 Mogg – March of the Machines / Mishra's Workshop / Phyrexian Dreadnought / Sphere of Resistance / Torpor Orb
3-3 -> 1-4: I cast Sphere. Draco9 can't cast Claim and 2/2's trade.
3 WhammWhamme – March of the Machines / Ancient Tomb / Karakas / Leyline of Singularity / Liquimetal Coating
vs.
14 Mogg – March of the Machines / Mishra's Workshop / Phyrexian Dreadnought / Sphere of Resistance / Torpor Orb
6-0 -> 4-1: I cast Orb and Dreadnought. WW can play Karakas or Tomb-Coating. If he plays Karakas, then I attack with Dreadnought and Orb. Karakas bounces Dreadnought, and I replay Dreadnought and cast Sphere. To gain a foothold, WW casts Coating, which requires that he bounces Sphere with Karakas. WW drops to 16 from Tomb. I attack for 14 and replay Sphere. WW doesn't have time to answer all three of my threats.
If WW casts Coating instead (dropping to 18), then I attack for 14. WW would be forced to bounce Dreadnought every turn, so he blocks Orb and draws instead.
8 casual johnny – March of the Machines / Mishra's Workshop / Mishra's Workshop / Mycosynth Lattice / Wurmcoil Engine
vs.
14 Mogg – March of the Machines / Mishra's Workshop / Phyrexian Dreadnought / Sphere of Resistance / Torpor Orb
1-4 -> 0-6: Sphere prevents Lattice and Engine.
EDIT:
I checked lines for Feyd_Ruin and benbuzz790:
X| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 | PT
1| X 6 6 0 3 6 6 6 6 0 6 6 6 0 6 4 | 66
0| 6 6 2 6 6 0 4 6 0 X 6 6 0 6 6 0 | 60
1 Feyd_Ruin – Frozen Aether / Mishra's Workshop / Phyrexian Revoker / Pithing Needle / Sphere of Resistance
vs.
9 Naphtali – Growing Ranks / Beast Within / City of Traitors / Elixir of Immortality / Mox Emerald
3-3 -> 6-0: Aether plus Sphere stops Beast and Revoker stops Elixir.
1 Feyd_Ruin – Frozen Aether / Mishra's Workshop / Phyrexian Revoker / Pithing Needle / Sphere of Resistance
vs.
11 Parsley – Growing Ranks / Chatter of the Squirrel / Forest / Garruk Relentless / Rushwood Grove
3-3 -> 6-0: First, I'd like to note that it bothers me that people continue to play the Masques lands over the Fallen Empires lands in decks that have no reason to do so (literally, since the first week of the ABT). Second, because Needle does stop Grove, Aether plus Sphere stops Chatter.
1 Feyd_Ruin – Frozen Aether / Mishra's Workshop / Phyrexian Revoker / Pithing Needle / Sphere of Resistance
vs.
12 pininja – Homicidal Seclusion / Distortion Strike / Glistener Elf / Serene Remembrance / Tropical Island
4-1 -> 6-0: Aether plus Sphere wins here, too.
10 benbuzz790 – Growing Ranks / Chancellor of the Forge / Foil / Island / Mental Misstep
vs.
15 fnord – March of the Machines / Liquimetal Coating / Mental Misstep / Mishra's Workshop / Paupers' Cage
2-2 -> 6-0: March only affects noncreature artifacts. Populated 1/1's beat Coating.
BWTeysa, Orzhov Scion
GWRhys the Redeemed
GUKruphix, God of Horizons
GRXenagos, God of Revels
GThrun, the Last Troll
GStompy
-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
Better than that - -it's 2-2. I have to Legend rule away the Marches (or die to dreadnaught... I choose Legend rule), so all I can do is bounce Dreadnought for the draw.
Correction to your correction! When you're on the play, you lead with Karakas - that prevents me from ever being able to even evoke Wispmare. (I can't tap Karakas for mana before it dies to the legend rule, and I can't keep Basilica on the board unless I can bounce Karakas.) So we go 4-1 in your favor.
One other correction: vs. Parsley (#11)
Listed: 0-6
Should be: 2-2
No matter what he does, I evoke Wispmare on my first turn to destroy Growing Ranks, and I cast Vindicate on my third turn to destroy Rushwood Grove. He can't cast Garruk before his fifth turn, and without Growing Ranks, he can get at most two squirrels on the play or one on the draw - nowhere near enough for lethal if I leave Wispmare to block once I'm able to hardcast it. On the other hand, because he gets a squirrel on his first or second turn while I have to wait until my fifth turn to hardcast my Wispmare, he wins the race if I try to beat down with Mare. So we're locked into an everlasting standoff of horse versus squirrel.
For the last two:
I'm pretty sure I beat fnord 6-0: I eliminate March of the Machines with Wispmare and Paupers' Cage with Vindicate before fnord can deal more than about 4 damage to me. Then I have all the time in the world to recur Wispmare and attack 20 times.
Against VikingMetal4L, Karakas legend rule prevents either of us from dealing any damage to the other.
With those corrections and additions, my line looks like:
X | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 | PT | TPs
7 | 0 2 1 0 0 0 X 0 0 1 2 2 0 0 6 2 | 16 | 107
I had an idea for a deck that would reanimate Iona on turn 1. It might have lost to the deck I actually played, but it looks like it would have done slightly better on the whole. Slightly.
fnord has march of the machines, so 0-6 (though this one is closer than any of the other march decks)
viking doesnt, so 6-0
I missed the Karakas in the grolleter matchup, sorry.
However, it is actually up to 4-1 in your favor.
If you drop Karakas first on your turn, Grolleter never makes his 1 mana to evoke.
Thus, it's 2/2 beats time.
Others are accepted.
gotcha
Fixed all.
Thanks for catching mine as well.
I think I forgot about Aether on the last few decks
Fixed.
This puts me and Mogg tied
This means I might have actually won an ABT round. The end is near.
I had 4 other decks I thought about using this round:
1. Lurking Evil | Commandeer / Foil / Island / Snapback
2. Growing Ranks | Abolish / Chancellor of the Forge / Foil / Tundra
3. Homicidal Sec | Iona, Shielf of Emeria / Lion's Eye Diamond / Lion's Eye Diamond / Unburial Rites
4. Pandemonium. | Elvish Spirit Guide / Phyrexian Dreadnaught / Serene Remembrence / Forest
It looks like they all would have done decent, but nothing awesome.
I came really close to using the Unburial Rites deck to hate hard on March of the Machines.
LED doesn't tap to activate, so it goes through Aether, and the Homicadal Seclusion lets it survive March.
Thus you drop LED. Cast LED2 & IRSP to LED2 Sac LED1. LED2 hits, sac. Unburial, and get any creature you want.
I was correct in thinking that Iona would actually not be the powerhouse she often is, for this round.
I never found any other creature that I really liked. Blazing Archon came close, as did Platinum Angel.
However, I was worried about tabernacle and abolish, neither of which even showed at all.
I also really wanted to do a Spellshock deck. One that did 16-18 damage turn 1.
I couldn't find anything I liked. City/Lotus/Sneak/Emrakul came close, but died hard to March, Aether, etc.
I'm still convinced there's a hidden gem somewhere that can deal 18 on 1st/2nd, and then finish the game later.
It's one of the main reasons I went with Aether-Revoker. I wanted to 3-3 anyone who found the deck I couldn't here.
No longer staff here.
LED's would be 0/0 creatures against March.
I didn't like any of my other decks, but the one with the most potential was Lurking Evil / Chancellor of the Tangle / Emerald Charm / Foil / Tropical Island. That would have scored 62 points: 6 6 6 6 6 3 2 6 0 0 6 6 3 X 6 2
BWTeysa, Orzhov Scion
GWRhys the Redeemed
GUKruphix, God of Horizons
GRXenagos, God of Revels
GThrun, the Last Troll
GStompy
Frozen AEther / Mishra's Workshop / Phyrexian Revoker / Pithing Needle / Sphere of Resistance
6-0
02 Draco9 :: "Elvish Metal"
March of the Machines / Elvish Spirit Guide / Liquimetal Coating / Mishra's Workshop / Nature's Claim
6-0
03 WhammWhamme :: ""
March of the Machines / Ancient Tomb / Karakas / Leyline of Singularity / Liquimetal Coating
0-6
04 Reyemile :: ""
Asceticism / Mishra's Workshop / Phyrexian Dreadnaught / Phyrexian Revoker / Torpor Orb
3-3
06 bateleur :: ""
City of Solitude / Auriok Salvagers / Black Lotus / Black Lotus / Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
0-6
07 Grolleter :: ""
Phyrexian Reclamation / Karakas / Orzhov Basilica / Wispmare / Vindicate
6-0
08 casual johnny :: ""
March of the Machines / Mishra's Workshop / Mishra's Workshop / Mycosynth Lattice / Wurmcoil Engine
6-0
09 Naphtali :: ""
Growing Ranks / Beast Within / City of Traitors / Elixir of Immortality / Mox Emerald
6-0
10 benbuzz790 :: ""
Growing Ranks / Chancellor of the Forge / Foil / Island / Mental Misstep
6-0
11 Parsley :: ""
Growing Ranks / Chatter of the Squirrel / Forest / Garruk Relentless / Rushwood Grove
6-0
12 pininja :: ""
Homicidal Seclusion / Distortion Strike / Glistener Elf / Serene Remembrance / Tropical Island
0-6
13 Lithel :: ""
City of Solitude / Auriok Salvagers / Black Lotus / Black Lotus / Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
0-6
14 Mogg :: ""
March of the Machines / Mishra's Workshop / Phyrexian Dreadnought / Sphere of Resistance / Torpor Orb
3-3
15 fnord :: ""
March of the Machines / Liquimetal Coating / Mental Misstep / Mishra's Workshop / Paupers' Cage
6-0
16 VikingMetal4L :: ""
Finest Hour / Erase / Inkmoth Nexus / Karakas / Mental Misstep
3-3
Thought I was going to do well this week, then the last two decks were both running Mental Misstep. I would have done much better this week with Frozen Aether as my leyline and a Sphere of Resistance instead of the Revoker.
04 Vs. 9: 3-3 ---> 6-0
On the draw, I lead with Torpor Orb/Dreadnaught into his Beast Within mana. If he uses Beast Within to kill Torpor Orb and then plays/cracks Elixir next turn, I drop Revoker on his Mox. With only two mana (none green) he can elixir once every other turn, so my beast + revoker kills him.
If he Beasts his own Mox, Dreadnaught prevents an attack next turn and easily races Growing Ranks; Revoker on Elixir keeps him at 20 and makes sure I never have to deal with another Beast Within again.
04 vs. 12: 0-6 --> 3-3
I swing for 12 turn 2 and 14 turn 3 when the revoker joins in; On the play, that's exactly enough to kill him after he swings for 6 lifelink poison.
Homicidal Seclusion would make them 3/1.
Then you sac one right before the other hits, so it enters as a 3/1, etc.
Iona becomes a 10/8 lifelinker
..that dies to Karakas, etc.
I'm on the laptop, so I'll update the grid after a while.
No longer staff here.
Lurking evil can't win by itself, can it? 20->10->5->2->1->0... you only get in 4 attacks.
-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
There's no "until end of turn". Once you pay the cost once, it's a 4/4 forever.
Oh! Wow. I dismissed a lot of decks because I didn't catch that.
Disrupting Shoal / Snapback / Misdirection / Commandeer or Mental Misstep was on the table at one point before I "realized" he couldn't win by himself. Looking at the first few decks... this would have done pretty well!
-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
08 casual johnny :: ""
March of the Machines / Mishra's Workshop / Mishra's Workshop / Mycosynth Lattice / Wurmcoil Engine
vs
11 Parsley :: ""
Growing Ranks / Chatter of the Squirrel / Forest / Garruk Relentless / Rushwood Grove
listed 6-0, suggested 3-3
p2 forest, squirrel, counter on grove
cj2 wurmcoil
p3 populate (2 tokens), counter on grove (2)
cj3 lattice, swing 6 14-26
p4 populate (3), counter on grove (3)
cj4 swing 12, 1 blocked 8-32
p5 populate (3), garruk, wolf token (4 tokens. doesnt yet matter what they are)
cj5 swing 12, 1 blocked 2-38
p6 populate (4), wolf token (5), counter on grove (1)
cj6 swing 12, both blocked 2-44
p7 populate (4), flashback chatter (5), flip garruk by killing own squirrel token (4)
cj7 swing 12, both blocked 2-50
p8 populate (3), make deathtouch token (1, NOW it matters which is which)
cj8 swing 12, both blocked by squirrels 2-56
p9 populate deathtouch wolf (1 squirrel, 2 wolves), make token (1,3)
cj9 now that parsley has multiple deathtouch blockers, johnny cannot profitably attack. if he does, parsley kills them. if he doesnt, parsley eventually gets to 1 squirrel and 63 wolves and swings for lethal.