Lesson of Round 1: Some Trading Posts offer bargains, and some offer only bum deals.
Your next challenge involves a new kind of trade deal. The best part about current sets in the casual environment: a larger card pool! This round counts towards the Championship. You have six days to submit decks.
You have until the 24th of January 11:59 PM EST to submit decks.
Remember: you may submit a deck even if you haven't done so in Round 1.
Good luck to all!!
1) Main rules
- Any member of the MTGSalvation forums can submit a deck for the contest, including judges.
- This is "Casual". -> Only the cards banned in Vintage, silver bordered & celebration cards are banned. There is no Restricted list. It should be noted, however, that judges might not be impressed by overuse of “broken” cards."
2) Time
- Contestants have six days to build and post their decks for each round.
- Judges consult to select the top decks that will be judged for that round during the next two days.
- The next ten days, judges will test and rate the top decks.
- A ranking of the contestants’ scores will be posted and the winner of the round will be announced.
3) Judging
- There are three judges: Blackvise, Etched Chester, ExpiredRascals.
- In each round judges will rate up to five decks. The number of decks rated is equal to half the decks submitted (rounded up) or five, whichever is smaller.
- From the time the entry period in a given round ends, the judges have 48 hours to post a number of the decks they want to rate equal to the number of decks going to be rated plus one.
- From among the decks that received votes, those with the most votes will be rated.
- If votes fail to define the to be tested decks directly, in descending order decks with the most votes are locked in until more decks share their number of votes than there are places left for decks to be tested. From among those the remaining places will be chosen by dice roll (made by me with the dice-tag, #s assigned alphabetically).
- Each deck's judge-scores will be arithmeticaly averaged to determine its score for the round.
- Judges cannot rate their own decks.
- Judges are out-of-contest for the final-ranking.
- Judges are encouraged to add some comments as to why they chose a certain deck for rating or not.
- Judges are encouraged to add some comments as to why they gave a certain score to a certain deck.
- Judges are encouraged to add some suggestions how a rated deck could be improved.
Each judge awards up to 25 points to each tested deck he or she is allowed to rate, based on the following system:
Creativity/Originality: 0 to 5 points
How creative and original is your deck. Effectiveness/Card adherence: 0 to 5 points
How well does it use the selected card? Synergy/Tuning: 0 to 5 points
How well do the cards combine in the deck; elegance and card selection. Power/Capacity to win: 0 to 5 points
Can the deck deliver the goods? Interaction/Protection: 0 to 5 points
How well does the deck interact and deal with other decks. Format/Thematic: up to 2 points bonus(can't go over 25)
1 point for any format adherence other than Vintage & Legacy; 1 point for incorporation of theme/flavour.
Interpretation of this is up to the judges, individually.
4) Championship rules
- Six rounds will be played.
- To be included in the final ranking, a player has to gather scores in atleast three of the six rounds. (If too few players meet this criteria, it will be lowered accordingly.)
- At the end of the season, the player within the final ranking having the highest arithmetical average of top 6 scores becomes the Champion. Example: RabidVacin participates in all six rounds, has his decks scored five times and gets f.e. 23 points each round. baldersmashed participates in three rounds, gets tested in two of these three rounds and gets twice 24 points. All other players have an average < 23. -> Despite having a lower average than baldersmashed, RabidVacin wins, because baldersmashed hasn't met the criteria of having atleast three scores.
tl;dr:
For each round, a card is scheduled. Anyone can enter the contest and submit a deck using that card.
Contestants can post their decks during an entry period of six days. In the following ten days the judges (Casual staff) will elect the best decks submitted, to test and rate these decks. After (planned) six rounds the contest will have a winner.
Did I mention the prize for the Champ?
For those interested in the contest's history:
- The [official] CDCC 6 general discussion thread. - The current season's rounds: R0, R1, - Seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & CDCmC.
Credits for the contest banner go to perv90210.
What's it all about?
Enchantments! Enchantments! Enchantments! Mainly enchantments that exile stuff. Or trade for stuff. Or punch people, just because 'real' creatures are completely overrated. To be honest, not really too centered on the Currency, and more about the interactions between Parallaxes and Opalescence. Lots of ways of getting stuff into exile. Some ways to get it stuck there permanently.
Card Choices
Derives directly from my EDH which uses Opalescence/Parallax Wave/Parallax Tide combo to lock down multiple players by zapping their boards to perma-exile, followed by enchantment beatdown. O-ring and friends take care of troublesome permanents. Compulsion can be fed by Land Tax and digs for useful enchantments or can set up for a devastating Replenish. Trickbind usually counters Parallax leaves play triggers, but can also prevent Acidic Slime and friends to ruin your fun. Enchantress, well, she sits around and looks terribly busy while drawing burn spells lots of cards.
It would be so much easier if the enchantment was a creature, which got me thinking... How about an enchantment based Jund deck that is just... well... out there, lol.
- Conjured Currency: the staring roll
- Argothian Enchantress and Enchantress's Presence: card draw for the deck
- Aura Thief: Additional combo that acts like a finisher. Either block and get all the enchantments
- Soul Sculptor: When aura thief triggers, steal 1 or more enchantments. Also, the Copy Enchantment can become a creature copy, just in case.
- Opalescence: Part of the engine allowing me to repeatedly steal w/ the Vedalken Shackles and Aura Thief, not to mention attack w/ all creatures/enchantments
- Paradox Haze: Speeds things. Can switch during and upkeep and grab back Conjured Currency each upkeep.
- Copy Enchantment: Hey, who wouldn't want 3 extra Conjured Currency's?
- Asceticism: Now just keeps the enchantments untouchable & regenerates enchantments that are killed in combat
- The 3 tutors (not Tenors): Sets up combos and interactions
- Sylvan Scrying: Land ramp for ALL land types
- Vedalken Shackles: main combo piece, also, w/ 16 islands in the deck, shouldn't be a problem to steal.
- Sensei's Divining Top: Get the tutored goods quicker & just helps control important draws
- Dual Lands: gives the mana option for green and white w/o taking away from the 16 islands in the deck.
- Fetchlands - Grab a dual that is needed
- Reliquary Tower: w/ 5 quick card drawing sources, a hand can get above 7 really quick
- Serra's Sanctum - Enchantment-based mana acceleration
- Diamond Valley: Sac outlet for the Aura Thief & in general, life gain.
The deck is a Red-Blue + Green Splash Combo Control deck. The main concept is simple: Use Jokulhaups to blow up everything except for your Enchantments such as Conjured Currency. From there you slow down your opponent from recovering by stealing their first land or first big threat with Conjured Currency. Therefore we have a deck where Currency is preferred over similar cards like Confiscate and Puca's Mischief. The overarching theme of the deck is stealing irrelevancy - meaning it doesn't affect the game at all if you happen to steal my enchantments with Currency. Cards like Mana Flare and Land's Edge affect both players equally, no matter which side of the field they are on. The win-condition of the deck is Land's Edge backed up by Life from the Loam, or Banefire/Eternal Dominion off the Burning Wish sideboard.
1. Conjured Currency Tricks - This is preferably played prior to blowing up the field with Jokulhaups, but it's okay to play it after as well (only realistically feasible with Mana Flare on the field). Its purpose in the deck is to slow down the opponent's recovery by stealing their first land or first threat while you easily recover via Life from the Loam. Alongside Land's Edge this forms a double threat - will your opponent play lands to advance his board position? Will he discard lands instead to use Land's Edge? Both choices are unfavorable.
I put in a lot of subtle tricks in here specifically to work for this card, for example all of the Enchantments except Propaganda work from both sides of the field. So your opponent can steal Land's Edge and it doesn't matter at all. You don't have any creatures yourself so Propaganda is technically a worthless steal too unless the opponent is going to alpha strike.
Another cool trick is with the Fetchlands. Here is a scenario where you have Conjured Currency on the field, and you blow up everything with Jokulhaups. Your opponent plays his first post-apocalyptic land, and you steal it with Currency. Then you play a Fetchland. Your opponent will steal it with the Currency if the fetchland can help him - and sacrifice it getting a new land! This land is stealable with Currency! Alternatively, you can blow up all the nonbasic lands stolen from you with your own Wasteland while stealing all of your opponents lands with Currency.
2. Intuition Tricks: This card is absolutely crucial to forming the combo or getting pinch removal. Obviously you can get 3 copies of anything to guarantee a card to your hand. Besides that, here's a list of quick combos:
- Life from the Loam + 2 Wasteland (against nonbasic heavy decks)
- Life from the Loam + Lonely Sandbar + Forgotten Cave (Recurring draw engine)
- Triple Aether Burst to bounce 3 creatures at once.
- If you have only 2 copies of a card remaining in your deck and you need it, then fetch: 2 copies of that card + Burning Wish, which allows you to use Regrowth or Creeping Rennaisance off the sideboard to 100% guarantee that card.
3. Life from the Loam Tricks: This is another extremely crucial card to the survival of this deck. It allows for a smooth post-Jokulhaups recovery, forms a constant draw engine with the Cycling lands, destroys nonbasic lands by recurring Wasteland, and gives you 3 lands to discard per turn to Land's Edge.
Against nonbasic heavy decks, if you can find Life from the Loam early by drawing it or tutoring it via Burning Wish, don't hesitate to Wasteland them aggressively. Without Life from the Loam, don't use Wasteland early unless it's absolutely necessary. Never mana-screw yourself.
5. Misc.: Note that Land's Edge is a World Enchantment, so it behaves similarly to a Legendary card. A World Enchantment destroys all other "World-type" permanents when it enters the battlefield.
Mana Flare is another crucial card for the deck as it allows for a very fast Jokulhaups and Conjured Currency. More importantly, it allows the opponents to lay down their threats much more quickly, thus forming a "bait and switch" scenario with Jokulhaups or Currency. Card advantage garlore or steal their biggest threat.
Grip of Chaos is a fun inclusion that your opponent can steal with Currency and have no downsides do you. This card works in your favor as you'll have multiple permanents post-Jokulhaups, while your opponent will only have 1. So when your opponent tries to steal something with Currency he will be at a disadvantage. This is more of a fun casual inclusion that happens to work in this strategy, but don't try to tutor for it aggressively. If you have it you can play it.
I did put in a lot of cards that specifically dodge Grip of Chaos though - for example Cyclonic Rift only affects your opponents permanents (and Overload makes Grip irrelvant anyway) so the Grip can't make you target one of your own permanents. Additionally cards that have multiple targets (Aether Burst, Life from the Loam are also unaffected by the Grip). Land's Edge can be tricky with this card so you should play it with caution as it can backfire. It's interesting to note that it will make your opponent's Land's Edge activations a 50/50 chance as well, so that can work in your favor too. (I did include Sheltered Valley and Primal Command just in case...)
-Banefire - Win condition if you can pull it off via Mana Flare.
-Regrowth - Combos with Intuition as explained above, or use it in a pinch to get back whatever.
-Mizzium Mortars + Arc Trail + Slagstorm - Cheap removal (all three avoid Grip of Chaos)
-Windfall - Card draw. Sometimes you will play out your hand very fast off Mana Flare. Goes well with all of the bounce in here.
-Pillage - This supplements the land-destruction theme and also can get rid of a problematic artifact.
-Anarchy - For those White Enchantment decks...anti Leyline of Sanctity + Oblivion Ring.
-Bribery - For against those big creature decks or Eldrazi combo decks. Note that your opponent can't steal this creature back with Conjured Currency.
-Primal Command - Removal + Lifegain + Anti-Graveyard (multiple targets also dodge Grip of Chaos)
-Creeping Rennaisance - Anti mass-enchantment removal, or a way of getting back all of your lands at once.
-Amnesia - Another way of getting rid of all of your opponents threats post-bounce. A great follow-up to Cyclonic Rift.
-Eternal Dominion - You know you always wanted to play with this card. This is a solid win-condition since Land's Edge is unaffected by Epic, and your opponent can't try to steal it with Conjured Currency since the cards are owned by the opponent. Play it early off Mana Flare!
Well thank you if you read all of that. I think the deck is rather unique and immensely fun to play with. I hope you'll find it fun to play with as well!
Here is how the deck utilizes Conjured Currency:
1. Pitch Conjured Currency to Pyromancy to do 6 damage to any target.
2. Use Capsize to make Conjured Currency recurring.
3. Take an opponent's creature with Conjured Currency then Energy Tap it to help cast an Eldrazi.
The other cards in the deck help with card draw, control and to make Pyromancy and the Eldrazi more effective.
Please don't discount the deck at a glance when you notice the "Unfundrazi". I think the way they are used in this deck is more creative than your typical Eldrazi deck.
My picks:
Maserati
SengirVampire
Stoogeslap
DLink123
RabidVacin
racky54: Simply, I feel like the star is the Sun Titan, not Conjured Currency. I worry that I'll be playing for that, not the CC.
Teraparsec: You said it best yourself: "To be honest, not really too centered on the Currency, and more about the interactions between Parallaxes and Opalescence."
We'll be testing 4 this round. Once ER votes, we can let you know what the call is.
Just got to say, you've definitely earned distinction as an MTGS hero
Quote from Stardust »
Because he's the hero MTGS deserves, and the one it needs right now. So we'll global him. Because he can take it. Because he's not just our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. An expired rascal.
Quote from LuckNorris »
ExpiredRascals you sir are a god-like hero.
Quote from Lanxal »
ER is a masterful god who cannot be beaten in any endeavour.
Sorry for the delay, but I finally have my scores up.
Let me just preface this by saying: Conjured Currency is a ***** of a card to build around. I truly appreciate the difficulty of this round.
Creativity/Originality: 4 Despotic Scepter was a cool find, I'll give you that.
Effectiveness/Card adherence: 1
Unfortunately, I played 8 games before Conjured Currency even hit the battlefield. By that point, I was down to 2 life. On paper, the idea looks great, and I enjoyed playing with the enchantments + Despotic Scepter, but CC was useless. Really, it relied on luck of the draw, and if my opening hand didn't contain CC, then I wasn't going to use it.
Synergy/Tuning: 2
I'm (generously) awarding 2 points here because I really liked Despotic Scepter + Reality Acid + Chime of Night. Still, you needed more draw, tutoring, etc. (Hatching Plans and Despotic Scepter / Infernal Tribute seemed like a roundabout way to put cards in my hand, and I'd rather have seen even Mulldrifter in there; something to draw me cards and possibly put a defensive body on the field). Even the control elements were modestly effective (Blight bought me a turn, tops; Paralyze didn't matter in the long run because I still couldn't do much after a few turns). I never cast Hakim, Loreweaver so he took up some space.
Power/Capacity to win: 1
I honestly didn't win with this one, but I came close on occasion, so I guess 1 point.
Interaction/Protection: 2
Aside from some modest control, I couldn't do much to protect vs. other decks. Even Genju of the Fens (an enchantment, not a creature BTW) was too slow - using it to block meant I had to leave land open, and this deck REALLY wanted me to have mana available. Some of the removal tricks were fun (see above), but impractical.
Effectiveness/Card adherence: 3
I do like how the deck was built around Conjured Currency overall. You picked some nice control aspects (Detention Sphere and Teferi's Moat were useful, but I would have loved to get CC online earlier. The Venser blinking CC was nice, but it was turn 7 before I could even do that, and Venser draws lots of hate.
Synergy/Tuning: 3
This deck wants mana, and it really needs some rocks. Sol Ring? Mind Stone? Any signets? Conjured Currency sat in my hand while I waited to put lands out, and if I wasn't drawing a land each turn, I wasn't doing more than waiting. Sometimes I could stall, but often I was just a sitting duck. This deck certainly needs more speed.
Power/Capacity to win: 2
The drawback to the lack of any acceleration is that it was extremely difficult to win. I usually lost just waiting for land. On occasion, Day of Judgement bought me time, but the games I did win were many, many turns in length.
Interaction/Protection: 3
Against most aggro, this deck is shaky at best. Other control decks were a toss up, depending on control aspects (since this deck wants to tap lots of mana, Mana Leak ruined it), and I could handle a few of the combo decks I faced (Runed Halo helped). I was certainly protected, but again....time was the great enemy of this deck, so that's what protection usually did. Gave me time to maybe draw more lands.
TOTAL: 14
Creativity/Originality: 5
No creatures, and the deck made my brain hurt.
Effectiveness/Card adherence: 3
So many options, so many reasons not to use Conjured Currency! I like that, for the most part, there was nothing for the opponent to swap back with Conjured Currency. The drawback to that was that if he decided to keep CC, it was kind of a waste of a card. Another card of that nature would have been a better fit overall.
Synergy/Tuning: 4
Despite the drawbacks to CC in this deck, I felt that the card selection was just insane. Jokulhaups to keep CC and the enchantments in play? Land's Edge + Life from the Loam? The fact that Propaganda didn't do anything when my opponent took it from me via CC? The combos in here were too many too count, but you lose a point because I never wanted to play the build-around card.
Power/Capacity to win: 4
I won quite a few games with this one. A few players raged when I Jokulhaups'd the board; some pissed and moaned when they couldn't cast their creature removal spells. Mana Flare also pissed people off when I promptly wiped lands away. Still, the star combo was Jokul + Land's Edge + Life from the Loam, and the (rare) occurrence of enchantment removal crippled me.
Interaction/Protection: 4
See above comment about enchantment removal. Speaking of, you need some. One deck that obliterated this one was a curse deck. Just wreaked havoc before I could do anything about it. Still, most of the cards in here kept me alive. This was a control deck that dominated the board for a long time.
Format/Thematic: 1
Bonus point because a) it was a bloody riot to play, and b)the card's flavor text really worked here: too good to be true, as they couldn't do anything withConjured Currency.
TOTAL: 21
Creativity/Originality: 3 Energy Tap to help cast an Eldrazi was kind of cool, and I liked the Pyromancy route. I only wish there was a more creative use for Conjured Currency.
Effectiveness/Card adherence: 3
Frankly, any card but Conjured Currency would have worked better. I found that I would rather keep it in hand to pitch it to Pyromancy than to actually cast it. When I did play it, I feared losing my Reckless Wurms and Eldrazi, so it was really a gamble. Mainly I'd use it to get a blocker out of the way or take control of something really annoying, but if the opponent didn't trade back, it prevented me from casting my big stuff.
Synergy/Tuning:4
The cards worked well together. I could give you 3 points since CC really didn't shine here, but it at least worked well with Pyromancy. I do wish there was some ramp here (any mana rocks would do), but the deck had enough going on that I could wait a few turns for CC.
Power/Capacity to win: 4
I won many games, but mostly with Eldrazi or by pitching cards with Pyromancy. CC found most of its use in that regard.
Interaction/Protection: 3 Mana Leak, Forbid, and Capsize really worked well (still, two of those cards are 3cc, which make things harder). I would have really liked to see you find a way to make Conjured Currency less effective for your opponents, since using that equally benefits the opponent.
Conjured Currency was an extremely difficult card to build around, and the variety in the submitted decks shows this. The decks this week especially had trouble with most any opposing deck that ran multiple 1-drops and two-drops. An aggressive curve on the other side of the table really would put the pressure on decks built around a slow 6-drop like this.
I apologize for the delay, I hope you enjoy your scores, and I hope everyone enjoys the next round!
Creativity/Originality: 4
Very interesting deck interactions. I did not like it at all on paper but the deck surprised me when I played it. Very unexpected direction
Effectiveness/Card adherence: 1.5
The deck played okay, but conjured currency very often felt like a 6 mana sinkhole that needed an enabler. Most of the time, it would be the worst card in the deck. The exception being against superfriends where I ended up getting a coffer-powered set up of conjured currency + skull of orm + despotic scepter and ended up with my own little suite of 'walkers.
Synergy/Tuning: 3
Blight --> Paralyze was the backbreaking synergy for this deck. Multiple Blight hands were able to stall opponents out until you got your more powerful synergies and mana online. That being said, it was still remarkably fragile.
The Hakim synergy was remarkably narrow. Cute if you got it online. It was a dead card otherwise.
The absence of claws of gix and trinket mage was conspicuous.
Power/Capacity to win: 1.5
As will be an apparent pattern with the decks of this round, this deck had a rough time winning. I had some games which felt pretty sweet, but they seemed to rely on multiples of certain cards. Only twice was conjured currency actually important to a game. Actually closing out the games was extremely difficult, even if you got your engine online.
Interaction/Protection: 2
You pretty much needed your opponent to be playing a midrangy deck with poor card advantage and fair creatures for this to have a shot. Too much of the deck was highly conditional control. It interacted, yes, but it was difficult to ensure the cards would do what you needed.
Format/Thematic: 0
N/A
Creativity/Originality: 3.5
Venser control was a nice direction to see. The deck had a lot that felt like a typical esper control list, but it actually did good work once it got online.
Effectiveness/Card adherence: 3.5
The deck's shell as a whole wasn't too dependent on Currency, but you definitely were not unhappy to see and play it.
The big thing here was venser with currency. That was the pairing that really made the card actually serviceable.
Synergy/Tuning: 4
The deck had what it needed to function consistently and reliably. The manabase was a bit shaky, but perfectly serviceable. Day of Judgment instead of Wrath of God or Supreme Verdict ended up being relevant in a couple games. I had a rotten time dealing with troll ascetic.
A fourth wrath effect would have been good in many of the games I played.
Power/Capacity to win: 3.5
It's a control deck. You sit back, ready yourself for a long game and enjoy the challenge of playing 2 turns ahead. You could get some pretty awkward draws with multiple priviledged position or currency, but there was nothing glaring.
Interaction/Protection: 3.5
You were dead in the water against anything that required interaction with the stack. Creatureless decks and most any form of combo could typically get past this deck without issue.
Format/Thematic: 1
It pains me to grant the point for modern legality, but it's separated from the eternal formats in the rules, and this list certainly complies.
Creativity/Originality: 4
LoamHaups was totally unexpected here, but I was already familiar with the approach.
Effectiveness/Card adherence: 2
I really didn't want or need Currency. Everything else in the deck felt better. It deserves some credit for the effort, but it did not get far.
Synergy/Tuning: 3
Lands Edge + Grip of Chaos was an annoying nonbo. Mana Flare + Propaganda was a similarly sad pairing. So much of this deck felt like cards were operating against eachother. The deck still had some serious horsepower, but that involved pretty much sticking to the land's edge + haups + loam plan. The score here is a bit awkward. The deck is very finely honed in general, and it's very difficult to balance that against the poor interactions also present within it.
Style points for including Æther Burst.
Power/Capacity to win: 4
It won a lot of games, very few people remember or know how to play against haups. It just wouldn't typically win on the back of the card of the round.
Interaction/Protection: 4.5
Versatile and powerful interaction. The attack on the opposing manabase made it have a shot against a broad range of decks, and it could tutor for most anything it needed.
Format/Thematic: 0
N/A
Creativity/Originality: 2.5
It didn't really feel like it wanted Conjured Currency, and it didn't do much to utilize the card. The rest of the deck was awkward but made sense if accepted as a pyromancy & Eldrazi deck.
Effectiveness/Card adherence: 1.5
I never wanted to see this round's card in this deck. It's also more than a little awkward when the best use of the round's card by a deck is discarding it for the CMC.
Synergy/Tuning: 2
It felt inconsistent and mulliganned poorly. I could do some work when I had a T2 looter to drop in reckless wurm as a surprise block when they attacked on T3, and energy tap on that same wurm could allow for some powerful T6 plays. Most of the time though, I was relying too hard on my normal draw and looting to smooth out a very rough curve.
Power/Capacity to win: 1.5
I won some games, but that mostly involved weenie decks that couldn't deal with a T3 4/4 blocker. Most of the time, i got bowled over due to the deck's extremely high curve.
You could get some random T5-6 blow-outs from Pyromancy doming the opponent with eldrazi.
Interaction/Protection: 2
Light Countermagic. Bouncer. Surprise 4/4s. That was about it. Pyromancy cost too much to do anything in a relevant timeframe.
Just got to say, you've definitely earned distinction as an MTGS hero
Quote from Stardust »
Because he's the hero MTGS deserves, and the one it needs right now. So we'll global him. Because he can take it. Because he's not just our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. An expired rascal.
Quote from LuckNorris »
ExpiredRascals you sir are a god-like hero.
Quote from Lanxal »
ER is a masterful god who cannot be beaten in any endeavour.
Lesson of Round 1: Some Trading Posts offer bargains, and some offer only bum deals.
Your next challenge involves a new kind of trade deal. The best part about current sets in the casual environment: a larger card pool! This round counts towards the Championship. You have six days to submit decks.
You have until the 24th of January 11:59 PM EST to submit decks.
Remember: you may submit a deck even if you haven't done so in Round 1.
Good luck to all!!
1) Main rules
- Any member of the MTGSalvation forums can submit a deck for the contest, including judges.
- This is "Casual". -> Only the cards banned in Vintage, silver bordered & celebration cards are banned. There is no Restricted list. It should be noted, however, that judges might not be impressed by overuse of “broken” cards."
2) Time
- Contestants have six days to build and post their decks for each round.
- Judges consult to select the top decks that will be judged for that round during the next two days.
- The next ten days, judges will test and rate the top decks.
- A ranking of the contestants’ scores will be posted and the winner of the round will be announced.
3) Judging
- There are three judges: Blackvise, Etched Chester, ExpiredRascals.
- In each round judges will rate up to five decks. The number of decks rated is equal to half the decks submitted (rounded up) or five, whichever is smaller.
- From the time the entry period in a given round ends, the judges have 48 hours to post a number of the decks they want to rate equal to the number of decks going to be rated plus one.
- From among the decks that received votes, those with the most votes will be rated.
- If votes fail to define the to be tested decks directly, in descending order decks with the most votes are locked in until more decks share their number of votes than there are places left for decks to be tested. From among those the remaining places will be chosen by dice roll (made by me with the dice-tag, #s assigned alphabetically).
- Each deck's judge-scores will be arithmeticaly averaged to determine its score for the round.
- Judges cannot rate their own decks.
- Judges are out-of-contest for the final-ranking.
- Judges are encouraged to add some comments as to why they chose a certain deck for rating or not.
- Judges are encouraged to add some comments as to why they gave a certain score to a certain deck.
- Judges are encouraged to add some suggestions how a rated deck could be improved.
Each judge awards up to 25 points to each tested deck he or she is allowed to rate, based on the following system:
Creativity/Originality: 0 to 5 points
How creative and original is your deck.
Effectiveness/Card adherence: 0 to 5 points
How well does it use the selected card?
Synergy/Tuning: 0 to 5 points
How well do the cards combine in the deck; elegance and card selection.
Power/Capacity to win: 0 to 5 points
Can the deck deliver the goods?
Interaction/Protection: 0 to 5 points
How well does the deck interact and deal with other decks.
Format/Thematic: up to 2 points bonus (can't go over 25)
1 point for any format adherence other than Vintage & Legacy; 1 point for incorporation of theme/flavour.
Interpretation of this is up to the judges, individually.
4) Championship rules
- Six rounds will be played.
- To be included in the final ranking, a player has to gather scores in atleast three of the six rounds. (If too few players meet this criteria, it will be lowered accordingly.)
- At the end of the season, the player within the final ranking having the highest arithmetical average of top 6 scores becomes the Champion. Example: RabidVacin participates in all six rounds, has his decks scored five times and gets f.e. 23 points each round. baldersmashed participates in three rounds, gets tested in two of these three rounds and gets twice 24 points. All other players have an average < 23. -> Despite having a lower average than baldersmashed, RabidVacin wins, because baldersmashed hasn't met the criteria of having atleast three scores.
tl;dr:
For each round, a card is scheduled. Anyone can enter the contest and submit a deck using that card.
Contestants can post their decks during an entry period of six days. In the following ten days the judges (Casual staff) will elect the best decks submitted, to test and rate these decks. After (planned) six rounds the contest will have a winner.
Did I mention the prize for the Champ?
For those interested in the contest's history:
- The [official] CDCC 6 general discussion thread.
- The current season's rounds: R0, R1,
- Seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & CDCmC.
Credits for the contest banner go to perv90210.
Thanks to GR @ Yavin IV Studios for the signature!
4 Isochron Scepter
4 Conjured Currency
3 Privileged Position
4 Brand
3 Counterspell
3 Lightning Bolt
4 Ponder
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Think Twice
1 Sun Titan
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
3 Arid Mesa
3 Celestial Colonnade
1 Desolate Lighthouse
3 Flooded Strand
2 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
2 Plateau
2 Scalding Tarn
4 Tundra
3 Volcanic Island
This deck uses a control shell to dominate the game until you draw into Isochron Scepter with Brand, Privileged Position, and Conjured Currency. If that combo doesn't get online with all of your draw power, win with manlands or the Sun Titan. Enjoy the deck
Yes, 6/6.
Presenting ...
4 Opalescence
4 Parallax Wave
2 Parallax Tide
2 Journey to Nowhere
3 Oblivion Ring
3 Detention Sphere
2 Conjured Currency
2 Land Tax
2 Compulsion
2 Think Twice
2 Trickbind
2 Replenish
4 Mesa Enchantress
4 Celestial Colonnade
4 Azorius Guildgate
4 Terramorphic Expanse
5 Island
6 Plains
What's it all about?
Enchantments! Enchantments! Enchantments! Mainly enchantments that exile stuff. Or trade for stuff. Or punch people, just because 'real' creatures are completely overrated. To be honest, not really too centered on the Currency, and more about the interactions between Parallaxes and Opalescence. Lots of ways of getting stuff into exile. Some ways to get it stuck there permanently.
Card Choices
Derives directly from my EDH which uses Opalescence/Parallax Wave/Parallax Tide combo to lock down multiple players by zapping their boards to perma-exile, followed by enchantment beatdown. O-ring and friends take care of troublesome permanents. Compulsion can be fed by Land Tax and digs for useful enchantments or can set up for a devastating Replenish. Trickbind usually counters Parallax leaves play triggers, but can also prevent Acidic Slime and friends to ruin your fun. Enchantress, well, she sits around and looks terribly busy while drawing
burn spellslots of cards.L1 Judge
Here is my Frankenstein-creation:
4 Argothian Enchantress
3 Aura Thief
3 Soul Sculptor
ENCHANTMENTS
4 Conjured Currency
3 Enchantress's Presence
3 Paradox Haze
3 Copy Enchantment
4 Opalescence
2 Asceticism
1 Idyllic Tutor
1 Enlightened Tutor
SORCERIES
4 Sylvan Scrying
ARTIFACTS
3 Vedalken Shackles
2 Sensei's Divining Top
LAND
4 Tropical Island
2 Misty Rainforest
3 Breeding Pool
4 Tundra
3 Hallowed Fountain
2 Flooded Strand
2 Island
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Serra's Sanctum
1 Diamond Valley
The methods to my madness:
- Conjured Currency: the staring roll
- Argothian Enchantress and Enchantress's Presence: card draw for the deck
- Aura Thief: Additional combo that acts like a finisher. Either block and get all the enchantments
- Soul Sculptor: When aura thief triggers, steal 1 or more enchantments. Also, the Copy Enchantment can become a creature copy, just in case.
- Opalescence: Part of the engine allowing me to repeatedly steal w/ the Vedalken Shackles and Aura Thief, not to mention attack w/ all creatures/enchantments
- Paradox Haze: Speeds things. Can switch during and upkeep and grab back Conjured Currency each upkeep.
- Copy Enchantment: Hey, who wouldn't want 3 extra Conjured Currency's?
- Asceticism: Now just keeps the enchantments untouchable & regenerates enchantments that are killed in combat
- The 3 tutors (not Tenors): Sets up combos and interactions
- Sylvan Scrying: Land ramp for ALL land types
- Vedalken Shackles: main combo piece, also, w/ 16 islands in the deck, shouldn't be a problem to steal.
- Sensei's Divining Top: Get the tutored goods quicker & just helps control important draws
- Dual Lands: gives the mana option for green and white w/o taking away from the 16 islands in the deck.
- Fetchlands - Grab a dual that is needed
- Reliquary Tower: w/ 5 quick card drawing sources, a hand can get above 7 really quick
- Serra's Sanctum - Enchantment-based mana acceleration
- Diamond Valley: Sac outlet for the Aura Thief & in general, life gain.
2 Scalding Tarn
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Wooded Foothills
4 Volcanic Island
2 Tropical Island
2 Taiga
4 Wasteland
2 Tolaria West
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 Forgotten Cave
1 Sheltered Valley
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
3 Conjured Currency
1 Grip of Chaos
3 Land's Edge
3 Propaganda
4 Mana Flare
Spells 21
3 Jokulhaups
4 Cyclonic Rift
4 Aether Burst
4 Intuition
2 Life from the Loam
4 Burning Wish
1 Banefire
1 Regrowth
1 Life from the Loam
1 Mizzium Mortars
1 Arc Trail
1 Windfall
1 Pillage
1 Slagstorm
1 Anarchy
1 Bribery
1 Primal Command
1 Creeping Rennaisance
1 Amnesia
1 Jokulhaups
1 Eternal Dominion
I put in a lot of subtle tricks in here specifically to work for this card, for example all of the Enchantments except Propaganda work from both sides of the field. So your opponent can steal Land's Edge and it doesn't matter at all. You don't have any creatures yourself so Propaganda is technically a worthless steal too unless the opponent is going to alpha strike.
Another cool trick is with the Fetchlands. Here is a scenario where you have Conjured Currency on the field, and you blow up everything with Jokulhaups. Your opponent plays his first post-apocalyptic land, and you steal it with Currency. Then you play a Fetchland. Your opponent will steal it with the Currency if the fetchland can help him - and sacrifice it getting a new land! This land is stealable with Currency! Alternatively, you can blow up all the nonbasic lands stolen from you with your own Wasteland while stealing all of your opponents lands with Currency.
2. Intuition Tricks: This card is absolutely crucial to forming the combo or getting pinch removal. Obviously you can get 3 copies of anything to guarantee a card to your hand. Besides that, here's a list of quick combos:
- Life from the Loam + 2 Wasteland (against nonbasic heavy decks)
- Life from the Loam + Lonely Sandbar + Forgotten Cave (Recurring draw engine)
- Triple Aether Burst to bounce 3 creatures at once.
- If you have only 2 copies of a card remaining in your deck and you need it, then fetch: 2 copies of that card + Burning Wish, which allows you to use Regrowth or Creeping Rennaisance off the sideboard to 100% guarantee that card.
3. Life from the Loam Tricks: This is another extremely crucial card to the survival of this deck. It allows for a smooth post-Jokulhaups recovery, forms a constant draw engine with the Cycling lands, destroys nonbasic lands by recurring Wasteland, and gives you 3 lands to discard per turn to Land's Edge.
Against nonbasic heavy decks, if you can find Life from the Loam early by drawing it or tutoring it via Burning Wish, don't hesitate to Wasteland them aggressively. Without Life from the Loam, don't use Wasteland early unless it's absolutely necessary. Never mana-screw yourself.
4. Removal & Stall: You have Jokulhaups, Cyclonic Rift, Aether Burst, Propaganda, Conjured Currency, The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale and possibly 4 more via Burning Wish. Please note that Land's Edge can only target players unlike Seismic Assault.
5. Misc.: Note that Land's Edge is a World Enchantment, so it behaves similarly to a Legendary card. A World Enchantment destroys all other "World-type" permanents when it enters the battlefield.
Mana Flare is another crucial card for the deck as it allows for a very fast Jokulhaups and Conjured Currency. More importantly, it allows the opponents to lay down their threats much more quickly, thus forming a "bait and switch" scenario with Jokulhaups or Currency. Card advantage garlore or steal their biggest threat.
Grip of Chaos is a fun inclusion that your opponent can steal with Currency and have no downsides do you. This card works in your favor as you'll have multiple permanents post-Jokulhaups, while your opponent will only have 1. So when your opponent tries to steal something with Currency he will be at a disadvantage. This is more of a fun casual inclusion that happens to work in this strategy, but don't try to tutor for it aggressively. If you have it you can play it.
I did put in a lot of cards that specifically dodge Grip of Chaos though - for example Cyclonic Rift only affects your opponents permanents (and Overload makes Grip irrelvant anyway) so the Grip can't make you target one of your own permanents. Additionally cards that have multiple targets (Aether Burst, Life from the Loam are also unaffected by the Grip). Land's Edge can be tricky with this card so you should play it with caution as it can backfire. It's interesting to note that it will make your opponent's Land's Edge activations a 50/50 chance as well, so that can work in your favor too. (I did include Sheltered Valley and Primal Command just in case...)
-Regrowth - Combos with Intuition as explained above, or use it in a pinch to get back whatever.
-Mizzium Mortars + Arc Trail + Slagstorm - Cheap removal (all three avoid Grip of Chaos)
-Windfall - Card draw. Sometimes you will play out your hand very fast off Mana Flare. Goes well with all of the bounce in here.
-Pillage - This supplements the land-destruction theme and also can get rid of a problematic artifact.
-Anarchy - For those White Enchantment decks...anti Leyline of Sanctity + Oblivion Ring.
-Bribery - For against those big creature decks or Eldrazi combo decks. Note that your opponent can't steal this creature back with Conjured Currency.
-Primal Command - Removal + Lifegain + Anti-Graveyard (multiple targets also dodge Grip of Chaos)
-Creeping Rennaisance - Anti mass-enchantment removal, or a way of getting back all of your lands at once.
-Amnesia - Another way of getting rid of all of your opponents threats post-bounce. A great follow-up to Cyclonic Rift.
-Eternal Dominion - You know you always wanted to play with this card. This is a solid win-condition since Land's Edge is unaffected by Epic, and your opponent can't try to steal it with Conjured Currency since the cards are owned by the opponent. Play it early off Mana Flare!
R: Copypasta Sauce {Browbeat}
UR: Mana Cache , One Spell to Bind them All {Magnetic Theft}
UG: Epic Struggle , All-In-Poison {Metamorphosis}
UW: Planar Overlay , Decree of the Bailiff {Saprazzan Bailiff}
BG: Thought Gorger , Dark Chroma {Umbra Stalker}
UBR: Dwarven Shrine
WUBRG: Dissipation Field , Maelstrom Nexus
FYI: ExpiredRascals :ER:, one of our esteemed Admins, has agreed to serve as a guest judge for round 2. Thank you, ER!
Thanks to GR @ Yavin IV Studios for the signature!
4 Merfolk Looter
4 Reckless Wurm
2 Waterfront Bouncer
4 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
2 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
3 Energy Tap
Instants (9)
3 Forbid
2 Capsize
4 Mana Leak
Enchantments (7)
4 Conjured Currency
3 Pyromancy
4 Sulfur Falls
4 Scalding Tarn
9 Island
8 Mountain
Here is how the deck utilizes Conjured Currency:
1. Pitch Conjured Currency to Pyromancy to do 6 damage to any target.
2. Use Capsize to make Conjured Currency recurring.
3. Take an opponent's creature with Conjured Currency then Energy Tap it to help cast an Eldrazi.
The other cards in the deck help with card draw, control and to make Pyromancy and the Eldrazi more effective.
Please don't discount the deck at a glance when you notice the "Unfundrazi". I think the way they are used in this deck is more creative than your typical Eldrazi deck.
Thanks to GR @ Yavin IV Studios for the signature!
Maserati
SengirVampire
Stoogeslap
DLink123
RabidVacin
racky54: Simply, I feel like the star is the Sun Titan, not Conjured Currency. I worry that I'll be playing for that, not the CC.
Teraparsec: You said it best yourself: "To be honest, not really too centered on the Currency, and more about the interactions between Parallaxes and Opalescence."
We'll be testing 4 this round. Once ER votes, we can let you know what the call is.
Thanks to GR @ Yavin IV Studios for the signature!
You haven't been forgotten! Prerelease weekend caused some judges to be otherwise preoccupied, so hang in there for the last bit of voting.
Thanks to GR @ Yavin IV Studios for the signature!
SengirVampire
Stoogeslap
DLink
Maserati
racky54
Terparsec – Felt like currency was an afterthought and extraneous/unwanted combo piece to synergies better off without it.
RabidVacin – It feels like only one of the uses of conjured currency is really a good use of the card, and that is the 12 mana a turn capsize pairing.
Body Count: GRRRUUUUUUUUUUU
إن سرقت إسرق جمل
Level 1 Judge
My Cube for use with 6th ed. Rules
RabidVacin
racky54
Stoogeslap
So, we'll be testing:
Maserati
SengirVampire
DLink123
RabidVacin
We'll be back on the 6th of February with our scores. Thanks to all who participated.
Thanks to GR @ Yavin IV Studios for the signature!
I'll get some scores up later, but I need another day or so. Sorry, but I do promise I'll have the scores.
Thanks to GR @ Yavin IV Studios for the signature!
Let me just preface this by saying:
Conjured Currency is a ***** of a card to build around. I truly appreciate the difficulty of this round.
Creativity/Originality: 4
Despotic Scepter was a cool find, I'll give you that.
Effectiveness/Card adherence: 1
Unfortunately, I played 8 games before Conjured Currency even hit the battlefield. By that point, I was down to 2 life. On paper, the idea looks great, and I enjoyed playing with the enchantments + Despotic Scepter, but CC was useless. Really, it relied on luck of the draw, and if my opening hand didn't contain CC, then I wasn't going to use it.
Synergy/Tuning: 2
I'm (generously) awarding 2 points here because I really liked Despotic Scepter + Reality Acid + Chime of Night. Still, you needed more draw, tutoring, etc. (Hatching Plans and Despotic Scepter / Infernal Tribute seemed like a roundabout way to put cards in my hand, and I'd rather have seen even Mulldrifter in there; something to draw me cards and possibly put a defensive body on the field). Even the control elements were modestly effective (Blight bought me a turn, tops; Paralyze didn't matter in the long run because I still couldn't do much after a few turns). I never cast Hakim, Loreweaver so he took up some space.
Power/Capacity to win: 1
I honestly didn't win with this one, but I came close on occasion, so I guess 1 point.
Interaction/Protection: 2
Aside from some modest control, I couldn't do much to protect vs. other decks. Even Genju of the Fens (an enchantment, not a creature BTW) was too slow - using it to block meant I had to leave land open, and this deck REALLY wanted me to have mana available. Some of the removal tricks were fun (see above), but impractical.
TOTAL: 10
Creativity/Originality: 3
The Venser, the Sojourner trick was nifty; Privileged Position was pretty obvious.
Effectiveness/Card adherence: 3
I do like how the deck was built around Conjured Currency overall. You picked some nice control aspects (Detention Sphere and Teferi's Moat were useful, but I would have loved to get CC online earlier. The Venser blinking CC was nice, but it was turn 7 before I could even do that, and Venser draws lots of hate.
Synergy/Tuning: 3
This deck wants mana, and it really needs some rocks. Sol Ring? Mind Stone? Any signets? Conjured Currency sat in my hand while I waited to put lands out, and if I wasn't drawing a land each turn, I wasn't doing more than waiting. Sometimes I could stall, but often I was just a sitting duck. This deck certainly needs more speed.
Power/Capacity to win: 2
The drawback to the lack of any acceleration is that it was extremely difficult to win. I usually lost just waiting for land. On occasion, Day of Judgement bought me time, but the games I did win were many, many turns in length.
Interaction/Protection: 3
Against most aggro, this deck is shaky at best. Other control decks were a toss up, depending on control aspects (since this deck wants to tap lots of mana, Mana Leak ruined it), and I could handle a few of the combo decks I faced (Runed Halo helped). I was certainly protected, but again....time was the great enemy of this deck, so that's what protection usually did. Gave me time to maybe draw more lands.
TOTAL: 14
Creativity/Originality: 5
No creatures, and the deck made my brain hurt.
Effectiveness/Card adherence: 3
So many options, so many reasons not to use Conjured Currency! I like that, for the most part, there was nothing for the opponent to swap back with Conjured Currency. The drawback to that was that if he decided to keep CC, it was kind of a waste of a card. Another card of that nature would have been a better fit overall.
Synergy/Tuning: 4
Despite the drawbacks to CC in this deck, I felt that the card selection was just insane. Jokulhaups to keep CC and the enchantments in play? Land's Edge + Life from the Loam? The fact that Propaganda didn't do anything when my opponent took it from me via CC? The combos in here were too many too count, but you lose a point because I never wanted to play the build-around card.
Power/Capacity to win: 4
I won quite a few games with this one. A few players raged when I Jokulhaups'd the board; some pissed and moaned when they couldn't cast their creature removal spells. Mana Flare also pissed people off when I promptly wiped lands away. Still, the star combo was Jokul + Land's Edge + Life from the Loam, and the (rare) occurrence of enchantment removal crippled me.
Interaction/Protection: 4
See above comment about enchantment removal. Speaking of, you need some. One deck that obliterated this one was a curse deck. Just wreaked havoc before I could do anything about it. Still, most of the cards in here kept me alive. This was a control deck that dominated the board for a long time.
Format/Thematic: 1
Bonus point because a) it was a bloody riot to play, and b)the card's flavor text really worked here: too good to be true, as they couldn't do anything withConjured Currency.
TOTAL: 21
Creativity/Originality: 3
Energy Tap to help cast an Eldrazi was kind of cool, and I liked the Pyromancy route. I only wish there was a more creative use for Conjured Currency.
Effectiveness/Card adherence: 3
Frankly, any card but Conjured Currency would have worked better. I found that I would rather keep it in hand to pitch it to Pyromancy than to actually cast it. When I did play it, I feared losing my Reckless Wurms and Eldrazi, so it was really a gamble. Mainly I'd use it to get a blocker out of the way or take control of something really annoying, but if the opponent didn't trade back, it prevented me from casting my big stuff.
Synergy/Tuning:4
The cards worked well together. I could give you 3 points since CC really didn't shine here, but it at least worked well with Pyromancy. I do wish there was some ramp here (any mana rocks would do), but the deck had enough going on that I could wait a few turns for CC.
Power/Capacity to win: 4
I won many games, but mostly with Eldrazi or by pitching cards with Pyromancy. CC found most of its use in that regard.
Interaction/Protection: 3
Mana Leak, Forbid, and Capsize really worked well (still, two of those cards are 3cc, which make things harder). I would have really liked to see you find a way to make Conjured Currency less effective for your opponents, since using that equally benefits the opponent.
TOTAL: 17
Thanks to GR @ Yavin IV Studios for the signature!
Conjured Currency was an extremely difficult card to build around, and the variety in the submitted decks shows this. The decks this week especially had trouble with most any opposing deck that ran multiple 1-drops and two-drops. An aggressive curve on the other side of the table really would put the pressure on decks built around a slow 6-drop like this.
I apologize for the delay, I hope you enjoy your scores, and I hope everyone enjoys the next round!
Very interesting deck interactions. I did not like it at all on paper but the deck surprised me when I played it. Very unexpected direction
Effectiveness/Card adherence: 1.5
The deck played okay, but conjured currency very often felt like a 6 mana sinkhole that needed an enabler. Most of the time, it would be the worst card in the deck. The exception being against superfriends where I ended up getting a coffer-powered set up of conjured currency + skull of orm + despotic scepter and ended up with my own little suite of 'walkers.
Synergy/Tuning: 3
Blight --> Paralyze was the backbreaking synergy for this deck. Multiple Blight hands were able to stall opponents out until you got your more powerful synergies and mana online. That being said, it was still remarkably fragile.
The Hakim synergy was remarkably narrow. Cute if you got it online. It was a dead card otherwise.
The absence of claws of gix and trinket mage was conspicuous.
Power/Capacity to win: 1.5
As will be an apparent pattern with the decks of this round, this deck had a rough time winning. I had some games which felt pretty sweet, but they seemed to rely on multiples of certain cards. Only twice was conjured currency actually important to a game. Actually closing out the games was extremely difficult, even if you got your engine online.
Interaction/Protection: 2
You pretty much needed your opponent to be playing a midrangy deck with poor card advantage and fair creatures for this to have a shot. Too much of the deck was highly conditional control. It interacted, yes, but it was difficult to ensure the cards would do what you needed.
Format/Thematic: 0
N/A
Venser control was a nice direction to see. The deck had a lot that felt like a typical esper control list, but it actually did good work once it got online.
Effectiveness/Card adherence: 3.5
The deck's shell as a whole wasn't too dependent on Currency, but you definitely were not unhappy to see and play it.
The big thing here was venser with currency. That was the pairing that really made the card actually serviceable.
Synergy/Tuning: 4
The deck had what it needed to function consistently and reliably. The manabase was a bit shaky, but perfectly serviceable. Day of Judgment instead of Wrath of God or Supreme Verdict ended up being relevant in a couple games. I had a rotten time dealing with troll ascetic.
A fourth wrath effect would have been good in many of the games I played.
Power/Capacity to win: 3.5
It's a control deck. You sit back, ready yourself for a long game and enjoy the challenge of playing 2 turns ahead. You could get some pretty awkward draws with multiple priviledged position or currency, but there was nothing glaring.
Interaction/Protection: 3.5
You were dead in the water against anything that required interaction with the stack. Creatureless decks and most any form of combo could typically get past this deck without issue.
Format/Thematic: 1
It pains me to grant the point for modern legality, but it's separated from the eternal formats in the rules, and this list certainly complies.
LoamHaups was totally unexpected here, but I was already familiar with the approach.
Effectiveness/Card adherence: 2
I really didn't want or need Currency. Everything else in the deck felt better. It deserves some credit for the effort, but it did not get far.
Synergy/Tuning: 3
Lands Edge + Grip of Chaos was an annoying nonbo. Mana Flare + Propaganda was a similarly sad pairing. So much of this deck felt like cards were operating against eachother. The deck still had some serious horsepower, but that involved pretty much sticking to the land's edge + haups + loam plan. The score here is a bit awkward. The deck is very finely honed in general, and it's very difficult to balance that against the poor interactions also present within it.
Style points for including Æther Burst.
Power/Capacity to win: 4
It won a lot of games, very few people remember or know how to play against haups. It just wouldn't typically win on the back of the card of the round.
Interaction/Protection: 4.5
Versatile and powerful interaction. The attack on the opposing manabase made it have a shot against a broad range of decks, and it could tutor for most anything it needed.
Format/Thematic: 0
N/A
It didn't really feel like it wanted Conjured Currency, and it didn't do much to utilize the card. The rest of the deck was awkward but made sense if accepted as a pyromancy & Eldrazi deck.
Effectiveness/Card adherence: 1.5
I never wanted to see this round's card in this deck. It's also more than a little awkward when the best use of the round's card by a deck is discarding it for the CMC.
Synergy/Tuning: 2
It felt inconsistent and mulliganned poorly. I could do some work when I had a T2 looter to drop in reckless wurm as a surprise block when they attacked on T3, and energy tap on that same wurm could allow for some powerful T6 plays. Most of the time though, I was relying too hard on my normal draw and looting to smooth out a very rough curve.
Power/Capacity to win: 1.5
I won some games, but that mostly involved weenie decks that couldn't deal with a T3 4/4 blocker. Most of the time, i got bowled over due to the deck's extremely high curve.
You could get some random T5-6 blow-outs from Pyromancy doming the opponent with eldrazi.
Interaction/Protection: 2
Light Countermagic. Bouncer. Surprise 4/4s. That was about it. Pyromancy cost too much to do anything in a relevant timeframe.
Format/Thematic: 0
N/A
Body Count: GRRRUUUUUUUUUUU
إن سرقت إسرق جمل
Level 1 Judge
My Cube for use with 6th ed. Rules
1. DLink123 20
2. SengirVampire 16
3. RabidVacin 13.5
4. Maserati 12
Congratulations to DLink123, the winner of Round 2!
Round 3 will be up in the next few hours.
Thanks to GR @ Yavin IV Studios for the signature!