Continuing in my trend of making weirder and weirder "decks"...this is sequence.
How you play it: In addition to your deck, you have a pile of cards that have categories on them - either a CMC, a type, or a CI. When you start the game, you shuffle up the extra deck and reveal the top 3 cards, keeping them in order. You may only cast spells that fit the category of the first card - once you've cast a spell that fits that category, that card is removed. The next card becomes the next condition, and the top card of the deck is revealed and placed at the end of the 3-card queue. Lands are unaffected.
Also you play with your hand revealed I think. I might experiment with revealing and not revealing. I am worried that, against scrubbier opponents, it'll make things take forever to reveal but I guess we'll see. telepathy usually hasn't been a huge issue so hopefully this won't be either.
Anyway, so the actual deck is not built for power exactly, but mostly to have a nice even split of stuff. Everything is set into groups of 6 by type, within which there is one card for each 2-color CI. CMC is kind of evenly split, although it's a little heavy on 5s and a little light on 4s for my liking =/ But there are a lot of cool 5s.
Obviously some conditions are hard (planeswalker) and some are easy (basically any color one). So you have to be smart about which card you play - might want to save some of the rarer types, especially if they're coming up! Hopefully I don't get, say, "instant" right away with no instants, that would be lame. We'll see how she goes, I might try adding more split-type cards like the aftermath cycles, or more X-spells, to improve my hit rate for some of the trickier condition cards. Or I might add more draw. Or maybe mulligan will include reshuffling the condition deck (although I guess just getting a new hand might also make a bad sequence good).
Sequence deck:
CMC 2 x2
CMC 3 x2
CMC 4 x2
CMC 5 x2
CMC 6
CMC 7
Type Planeswalker
Type creature x2
Type legend x2
Type enchantment x2
Type sorcery
Type instant
Type artifact x2
Color blue x3
Color white x3
Color black x3
Color green x3
Default commanders are probably silas + sidar since they synergize and make it easy to hit the artifact condition as well as legends, creatures, cmc3-4, and any of the color ones.
The color cards are easy enough to play (arguably too easy) but the type and cmc ones are absolutely brutal. I got hung up for many turns on "type: artifact" and "cmc: 7" until finally getting a lucky draw that put me back into it.
So one possibility is adding more X spells to alleviate the cmc issues. Could also reduce the band of cmcs and get rid of the 7 cmc sequence card. Type-wise I could throw in a round of artifact creatures instead of legendary creatures. Maybe the gearhulks? But then they aren't 2-colored, but as I said that seems ok since colors are super easy right now. Could also reduce the number of types. Maybe consolidate instant/sorcery?
Also I think 3 cards of foreknowledge isn't enough. Probably at least 5 would be really helpful. It would also increase the chances that I'll have to do more extensive planning instead of just playing whatever needs to be played, although more flexibility in terms of cmc and type would help that too.
So a little more tinkering needs to be done on that front I think.
The hand revealing mechanic was pretty pointless with the people I play against. No one really looked at my hand much or tried to figure out what my sequence was likely to be. For the most part it was more of a challenge for me, and mostly in the form of screwing myself over with conditions I couldn't reasonably have seen coming. That said, it was still pretty funny imo, which was at least sort of the point. But I do think I need some fine-tuning the details before it does exactly what I want it to do.
This time I played hand concealed, 5 cards up. For the most part people ignored it, so it was kind a puzzle for me to solve but no one else was involved. In general I think that's the problem with this concept - a lot of the players at my LGS just aren't at the level to be paying attention and making strategic decisions about stuff in people's hands, or stuff they might potentially play. They just kind of goldfish the thing their deck is supposed to do and don't pay a ton of attention to the outside world except when it's interfering with their plan. Our group has recently gotten significantly bigger and this is one of the hidden downsides.
I managed to win 2/3 games, and 2/2 where I wasn't manascrewed up the butt. So the deck has at least some chops, although that's not really the point. More an indictment of my opponents weaknesses than anything since the deck is a bunch of random stuff basically.
Overall I think the experiment was a bit of a failure. It might be more interesting in a more elite playgroup, but then the handicap is likely to be too significant to give me much chance of winning. Of my social experiment decks I think this one is probably one I won't be revisiting. Maybe if I decide to do something like calcutron or whatever that guys name is, since at least that forces my opponents to pay attention, even if they aren't paying attention to me. At least they'd have to think a little.
Continuing in my trend of making weirder and weirder "decks"...this is sequence.
How you play it: In addition to your deck, you have a pile of cards that have categories on them - either a CMC, a type, or a CI. When you start the game, you shuffle up the extra deck and reveal the top 3 cards, keeping them in order. You may only cast spells that fit the category of the first card - once you've cast a spell that fits that category, that card is removed. The next card becomes the next condition, and the top card of the deck is revealed and placed at the end of the 3-card queue. Lands are unaffected.
Also you play with your hand revealed I think. I might experiment with revealing and not revealing. I am worried that, against scrubbier opponents, it'll make things take forever to reveal but I guess we'll see. telepathy usually hasn't been a huge issue so hopefully this won't be either.
Anyway, so the actual deck is not built for power exactly, but mostly to have a nice even split of stuff. Everything is set into groups of 6 by type, within which there is one card for each 2-color CI. CMC is kind of evenly split, although it's a little heavy on 5s and a little light on 4s for my liking =/ But there are a lot of cool 5s.
Obviously some conditions are hard (planeswalker) and some are easy (basically any color one). So you have to be smart about which card you play - might want to save some of the rarer types, especially if they're coming up! Hopefully I don't get, say, "instant" right away with no instants, that would be lame. We'll see how she goes, I might try adding more split-type cards like the aftermath cycles, or more X-spells, to improve my hit rate for some of the trickier condition cards. Or I might add more draw. Or maybe mulligan will include reshuffling the condition deck (although I guess just getting a new hand might also make a bad sequence good).
Anyway, here's the "deck".
1 Ravos, Soultender
1 Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa
1 Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker
1 Silas Renn, Seeker Adept
1 Reyhan, Last of the Abzan
1 Thrasios, Triton Hero
Enchantments
1 Mirari's Wake
1 Dire Undercurrents
1 Teferi's Moat
1 Pernicious Deed
1 Debtor's Knell
1 Krasis Incubation
Signets
1 Golgari Signet
1 Selesnya Signet
1 Dimir Signet
1 Azorius Signet
1 Simic Signet
1 Orzhov Signet
Other artifacts
1 Behemoth Sledge
1 Evolution Vat
1 Talisman of Indulgence
1 Talisman of Progress
1 Talisman of Unity
1 Tidehollow Sculler
1 Ephara, God of the Polis
1 Athreos, God of Passage
1 Pharika, God of Affliction
1 Kruphix, God of Horizons
1 Karametra, God of Harvests
1 Phenax, God of Deception
Other Legends
1 Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter
1 Isperia, Supreme Judge
1 Experiment Kraj
1 Dragonlord Dromoka
1 Wrexial, the Risen Deep
1 Varolz, the Scar Striped
Sorceries
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Spitting Image
1 Merciless Eviction
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Reborn Hope
1 Psychic Intrusion
Instants
1 Mirrorweave
1 Utter End
1 Plasm Capture
1 Putrefy
1 Silumgar's Command
1 Sylvan Reclamation
1 Kaya, Ghost Assassin
1 Dovin Baan
1 Garruk Relentless
1 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
1 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
1 Nissa, Steward of Elements
Other Creatures
1 Angel of Despair
1 Trygon Predator
1 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Azorius Guildmage
1 Havengul Lich
1 Spiritmonger
Lands (40)
6 Temples
6 Duals
6 Shocks
10 Fetches
1 Yavimaya Hollow
1 Kor Haven
1 Academy Ruins
1 Volrath's Stronghold
2 Island
2 Forest
2 Plains
2 Swamp
Sequence deck:
CMC 2 x2
CMC 3 x2
CMC 4 x2
CMC 5 x2
CMC 6
CMC 7
Type Planeswalker
Type creature x2
Type legend x2
Type enchantment x2
Type sorcery
Type instant
Type artifact x2
Color blue x3
Color white x3
Color black x3
Color green x3
Default commanders are probably silas + sidar since they synergize and make it easy to hit the artifact condition as well as legends, creatures, cmc3-4, and any of the color ones.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
The color cards are easy enough to play (arguably too easy) but the type and cmc ones are absolutely brutal. I got hung up for many turns on "type: artifact" and "cmc: 7" until finally getting a lucky draw that put me back into it.
So one possibility is adding more X spells to alleviate the cmc issues. Could also reduce the band of cmcs and get rid of the 7 cmc sequence card. Type-wise I could throw in a round of artifact creatures instead of legendary creatures. Maybe the gearhulks? But then they aren't 2-colored, but as I said that seems ok since colors are super easy right now. Could also reduce the number of types. Maybe consolidate instant/sorcery?
Also I think 3 cards of foreknowledge isn't enough. Probably at least 5 would be really helpful. It would also increase the chances that I'll have to do more extensive planning instead of just playing whatever needs to be played, although more flexibility in terms of cmc and type would help that too.
So a little more tinkering needs to be done on that front I think.
The hand revealing mechanic was pretty pointless with the people I play against. No one really looked at my hand much or tried to figure out what my sequence was likely to be. For the most part it was more of a challenge for me, and mostly in the form of screwing myself over with conditions I couldn't reasonably have seen coming. That said, it was still pretty funny imo, which was at least sort of the point. But I do think I need some fine-tuning the details before it does exactly what I want it to do.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
This time I played hand concealed, 5 cards up. For the most part people ignored it, so it was kind a puzzle for me to solve but no one else was involved. In general I think that's the problem with this concept - a lot of the players at my LGS just aren't at the level to be paying attention and making strategic decisions about stuff in people's hands, or stuff they might potentially play. They just kind of goldfish the thing their deck is supposed to do and don't pay a ton of attention to the outside world except when it's interfering with their plan. Our group has recently gotten significantly bigger and this is one of the hidden downsides.
I managed to win 2/3 games, and 2/2 where I wasn't manascrewed up the butt. So the deck has at least some chops, although that's not really the point. More an indictment of my opponents weaknesses than anything since the deck is a bunch of random stuff basically.
Overall I think the experiment was a bit of a failure. It might be more interesting in a more elite playgroup, but then the handicap is likely to be too significant to give me much chance of winning. Of my social experiment decks I think this one is probably one I won't be revisiting. Maybe if I decide to do something like calcutron or whatever that guys name is, since at least that forces my opponents to pay attention, even if they aren't paying attention to me. At least they'd have to think a little.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6