I have a bunch of people interested in this, but I want it to remain casual. There should be a prize on the line, but prizes tend to make things more cutthroat and I don't want it to be combo vs combo vs combo vs Armageddon, which would make all the casual players hate the format/not come back.
So Here's what I propose (Assuming we'll get about 16 people):
Everyone fronts the cost of 3 booster packs into a prize pool.
Everyone is grouped into a 4 player game. Everyone that loses is eliminated. The remaining players play a second playoff game.
Prize structure:
If you have all of your lands destroyed by an opponent - you get a pack from the prize pool.
If a player takes 3+ extra turns in a single game - each opponent of that player gets 1 pack from the prize pool
If you pull off an "infinite" combo - each of your opponents gets a pack from the prize pool.
If a player dies from poison counters - that player gets a pack from the prize pool.
If you played in but didn't win the final game - 2 packs from the prize pool.
Winner of the tournament: The remainder of the packs from the prize pool.
The idea here is that if you bring your "combo off and kill everyone at the table turn 4" deck, you might win - but you won't walk away with much at the end of the day - encouraging people to play decks that are more fair (and therefore more fun to play against) so they can win more packs for themselves.
Obviously this is a rough draft - what do you think? Any other ideas on how to run an EDH tournament are welcome.
Not that anyone at home is keeping track - but a few posts ago I was all "how does goblins beat RDW/Burn?"
I went 4-0 today with goblins with my super secret sideboard tech: Bottle Gnomes
He blocked goblin guide and then keldon marauders and gained me 3 life! I woudn't sleeve them up if I was going to a grand prix or anything, but if 1/4 of your field is lightning bolting you - Bottle Gnomes.
Question - I'm going to be bringing in a pretty standard goblins list, but there are two players (out of a field of about 10) who I know for sure will be running red deck wins and burn, and frankly, I'm tired of losing to them. Is there super secret tech that I can sideboard (I'd even be willing to maindeck a spicy 1-of goblin) to trump lightning bolts to my face? I think they're a turn faster than we are.
I like 1 of's here because they make you less vulnerable to surgical extraction. I got surgical'd in three out of 4 matchups today, but they were mostly irrelevant.
Played this at FNM this weekend, went 2-2. Here are my scatterbrained thought on what I remember:
Round 1 Vs. U/B Control
Game 1: Made a bunch of guys, they got countered & blown up and stuff, eventually I tapped all but 1 green mana, they tapped out to counter something, I dropped ghoultree and it stuck and I won a few turns later.
I sideboard:
-2 Splinterfright
-1 Gnaw to the Bone
+3 Skaab Ruinator
Game 2: He has spellbomb turn 1. Turn 4 or 5 tracker's instincts which he lets resolve. Then he tries to spellbomb me after it resolves but before I do anything, which I was smart enough to not allow him to do. I play 1 mana ghoultree and he spellbombs me in response. It dies to tragic slip after he chump blocks next turn with snapcaster mage. He eventually finds second spellbomb to take out skaab ruinator. Dissapate is really good against the second copy I find. I play 1-2 guys per turn thanks to a lot of tracker's instincts, but he has black sun's zenith and tons of answers and eventually wins with double drownyard on me.
Game 3: The deck does what it's supposed to do, and his does too. He plays double think twice and flashes them back and kills a guy here and there, but never sees spellbomb. I get him to 14, and he drops consecrated sphinx as his last card. I got pretty lucky with tracker's instincts into armored skaab and attack with a 22/22 splinterfright.
1-0
Round 2 Vs. B/W Tokens
Game 1: He plays turn 2 intangible virtue, turn 3 midnight haunting, turn 4 intangible virtue and then honor of the pure attack for 8 flying. I actually get a pretty nutty hand also, and I end up putting about 25 power onto the table, forcing him to DoJ. Tracker's instincts into splinterfright, followed by splinterfright and ghoultree pretty much gets me back to where I was before the wrath. He drops sorin and makes a token, and passes. I mill artful dodge next turn, and hit him for lots.
Game 2: I turn 1 Ezuri's archers, thinking that he'll be pretty good. He again drops turn 2 intangible virtue. I'm setting up my graveyard, he casts lingering souls. I don't have anything with evasion, and he attacks with 2/2 guys (I trade one with archers) and drops sorin and makes another 2/2. I play some big fat stuff, then he DoJ's, and puts sorin at 5 to make another dude. I recover with tracker's instincts, and make a fat guy, then pass turn to him. He DoJ's again, and puts sorin at 6. My only play is to cast skaab ruinator from my graveyard. He ultimates with sorin next turn and I die shortly after.
Sideboards again:
-4 Ezuri's Archers (These guys are terrible)
+3 Beast Within (No way other way to deal with sorin unless we can get an attack in)
+1 Splinterfright (Didn't see spellbomb or extraction in game 1)
Game 3: I mulligan to 5 and keep a workable hand considering it's 5 cards. I don't have beast within, and sorin makes himself blockers. He DoJ's me again and puts sorin at 6. He has lingering souls. If I make guys he steals them, if I don't make guys he beats me to death. Lost.
1-1
Round 3 vs. Frites
Game 1: Lost. Lingering souls brought me down to 12ish, then I made enough guys to start attacking back with. I hit him, but he hardcasted wurmcoil engine, and I didn't have artful dodge. I throw my guys at it, but he soaks up 6 of my trample damage and then gains 6 life and kills splinterfright. 2 Wurms come in, then elesh norn comes out of the graveyard and his friends hit me for lethal.
Sideboarding:
+3 Beast Within
-3 Llanowar Elves (Just dies to elesh)
Game 2: He reanimates elesh norn 3 times, but each time I have either beast within or phyrexian metamorph to kill it with. The fourth time he reanimates it I slowrolled beast within. He tries to attack me for lethal with a bunch of 2/3 birds and 3/3 lingering souls tokens but I beast within during combat and ended up taking like 4 instead of like 14. I attack for lethal next turn.
Game 3: This game goes REALLY long. We're hitting back and fourth, he's on his 4th wurmcoil engine (because of unburial rites), and I just keep killing them by running fat dudes into them. I have artful dodge, but thanks to gnaw to the bone and his wurmcoils we're both at 40 something. I have two of his wurmcoils locked down with dungeion geists, but then he has a 3rd one that I can't answer. he drops elesh norn and attacks me for a ton. I can't block his 3/3 lingering souls next turn, so I make a ghoultree unblockable and swing with everything, but can only take him down to 8. He kills me next turn.
1-2
Round 4 Vs. U/W/B Something
Game 1: I have turn 1 birds, turn 2 armored skaab, which I think is one of our best plays. He has turn 3 geist of saint traft. I untap play a land and metamorph it to death. He plays a land and passes the turn. I figure he's got countermagic up, so I tracker's instincts into ghoultree, and flash it back. He drops a land and passes. I ghoultree with mana leak mana open. It resolves. I don't remember the rest of the game, but ghoultree went all the way.
Game 2: He drops turn 3 geist again, puts angelic destiny on it turn 4. I metamorph it again. He drops sword of war and peace, and I have a second metamorph for it. I'm not really sure what he was trying to do, but he countered/removed the rest of my guys, and llanowar elves and birds with copied sword of war and peace and up going the distance.
2-2 Did not top 8.
Conclusions:
Ezuri's Archers is terrible. You imagine him blocking 1/1 spirits all day, but between drogskol captain, intangible virtue, and honor of the pure, they rarely stay 1/1, so all he does is trade with half of midnight haunting, or 1/4th of lingering souls. I'm cutting them all.
Beast within is awesome. When I sideboarded it in, I NEEDED to see it in those matchups. I'm adding another one.
I'm only running 21 lands. I'm taking out a llanowar elves and adding a forest. I mulliganed a lot of 1 land hands away.
Memory's Journey - Should be in the sideboard.
Phyrexian Revoker - Should be in the sideboard. Stops spellbomb and planeswalkers. Amazing.
Skaab Ruinator - Can probably be a 2 of in the sideboard if you're running revoker.
This deck isn't so hot, but it's really fun to play. I'm going to keep testing with it and I'll post results when I have them.
Here's what I've got so far, not even 60 cards. I want to keep it squirrel related as much as possible. I actually plan on winning lots of casual games with this. I'll probably add Overrun at some point. What can I add? Are there any cards (I'd even branch out into a second color) that have squirrels in the art?
Disclaimer: I hate Krosan Beast. It's not really a squirrel...and I'll probably never get threshold in time for it to not be a 1/1 for 4.
I use Zedruu the Greathearted to give my opponent a Pyromancer's Swath on my turn, and then pass the turn. Does my opponent discard his hand immediately, or does he not discard until HIS end of turn step?
Tombstalker is horrible in my opening hand, but once things get going he usually costs BB. For now, I think he's a decent threat that lets me keep mana open for countering stuff. He could easily be something else, but I've never been unhappy to see him so far.
Secrets of the Dead - is Neat. Sometimes when my hand gets small, I'll intuition for Secrets/Phyrexian Arena/Jace, and people always give me secrets. I'd say it draws me an extra card 3/4ths of the time once I land it.
There aren't a lot of Burn spells played in multiplayer games in my area, which are obviously Dralnu's biggest threat. Still, you almost never drop him without protection either via Lightning Greaves, Kira, or countermagic up. His drawback is worth playing around though, because once he gets online he's pretty insane. Some spells were just not meant to be flashed back.
You may haven noticed that nearly 50% of the deck is land/mana rocks. This deck needs a LOT of colored mana to counter/draw/bounce/kill stuff that's pointed at you turn after turn, especially in multiplayer. If everyone teams up on you, you're dead...but you can discourage people from attacking you by killing/bouncing most things that come at you, and then playing a board sweeper when things get too crazy.
Quiet Speculation is my MVP, so much so that in the early game I usually Vampiric or Personal Tutor for it. Early game quiet specs usually get me Think Twice/Coffin Purge (Awesome to have looming in the graveyard)/Deep Analysis. Late game (usually flashed back) quiet specs usually get me army of the damned/chainer's edict/mystical teachings - or whatever I need at the time.
Tombstalker and Avatar of Woe almost always cost BB.
I tried playing with Catalyst Stone but it only really came into effect when I was already winning. I can't flash back Mana Drain with it, so Altar of the Lost took its place and has been working really well so far.
I probably should be playing Desertion instead of Gather Specimens but I can't stop dreaming about a day when I steal all of someone elses Rite of Replication tokens or something.
My favorite Magic Card is Survival of the Fittest. Before it was banned in legacy, I used to play it all the time - putting anger in the graveyard, getting squee, goblin nabob, and then casting a hasted fatty every turn. It's still good in EDH, but you just can't build a deck around it like you used to.
So Here's what I propose (Assuming we'll get about 16 people):
Everyone fronts the cost of 3 booster packs into a prize pool.
Everyone is grouped into a 4 player game. Everyone that loses is eliminated. The remaining players play a second playoff game.
Prize structure:
If you have all of your lands destroyed by an opponent - you get a pack from the prize pool.
If a player takes 3+ extra turns in a single game - each opponent of that player gets 1 pack from the prize pool
If you pull off an "infinite" combo - each of your opponents gets a pack from the prize pool.
If a player dies from poison counters - that player gets a pack from the prize pool.
If you played in but didn't win the final game - 2 packs from the prize pool.
Winner of the tournament: The remainder of the packs from the prize pool.
The idea here is that if you bring your "combo off and kill everyone at the table turn 4" deck, you might win - but you won't walk away with much at the end of the day - encouraging people to play decks that are more fair (and therefore more fun to play against) so they can win more packs for themselves.
Obviously this is a rough draft - what do you think? Any other ideas on how to run an EDH tournament are welcome.
I went 4-0 today with goblins with my super secret sideboard tech: Bottle Gnomes
He blocked goblin guide and then keldon marauders and gained me 3 life!
In 1v1, aggro is my best matchup with dralnu. Tutoring Damnation and then flashing back spot removal is amazing. The link is my list.
3 Llanowar Elves
4 Ghoultree
4 Splinterfright
1 Kessig Cagebreakers
1 Boneyard Wurm
3 Phyrexian Metamorph
3 Dungeon Geists
4 Armor Skaab
4 Screeching Skaab
2 Mulch
1 Gnaw to the Bone
1 Artful Dodge
4 Hinterland Harbor
10 Forest
7 Island
4 Ezuri's Archers
2 Ratchet Bomb
3 Beast Within
2 Gnaw to the Bone
1 Artful Dodge
3 Skaab Ruinator
I like 1 of's here because they make you less vulnerable to surgical extraction. I got surgical'd in three out of 4 matchups today, but they were mostly irrelevant.
Played this at FNM this weekend, went 2-2. Here are my scatterbrained thought on what I remember:
Round 1 Vs. U/B Control
Game 1: Made a bunch of guys, they got countered & blown up and stuff, eventually I tapped all but 1 green mana, they tapped out to counter something, I dropped ghoultree and it stuck and I won a few turns later.
I sideboard:
-2 Splinterfright
-1 Gnaw to the Bone
+3 Skaab Ruinator
Game 2: He has spellbomb turn 1. Turn 4 or 5 tracker's instincts which he lets resolve. Then he tries to spellbomb me after it resolves but before I do anything, which I was smart enough to not allow him to do. I play 1 mana ghoultree and he spellbombs me in response. It dies to tragic slip after he chump blocks next turn with snapcaster mage. He eventually finds second spellbomb to take out skaab ruinator. Dissapate is really good against the second copy I find. I play 1-2 guys per turn thanks to a lot of tracker's instincts, but he has black sun's zenith and tons of answers and eventually wins with double drownyard on me.
Game 3: The deck does what it's supposed to do, and his does too. He plays double think twice and flashes them back and kills a guy here and there, but never sees spellbomb. I get him to 14, and he drops consecrated sphinx as his last card. I got pretty lucky with tracker's instincts into armored skaab and attack with a 22/22 splinterfright.
1-0
Round 2 Vs. B/W Tokens
Game 1: He plays turn 2 intangible virtue, turn 3 midnight haunting, turn 4 intangible virtue and then honor of the pure attack for 8 flying. I actually get a pretty nutty hand also, and I end up putting about 25 power onto the table, forcing him to DoJ. Tracker's instincts into splinterfright, followed by splinterfright and ghoultree pretty much gets me back to where I was before the wrath. He drops sorin and makes a token, and passes. I mill artful dodge next turn, and hit him for lots.
I sideboard:
-3 Llanowar Elves
-1 Splinterfright
-3 Dungeon Geists
+2 Ratchet Bomb
+4 Ezuri's Archers
+1 Skaab Ruinator
Game 2: I turn 1 Ezuri's archers, thinking that he'll be pretty good. He again drops turn 2 intangible virtue. I'm setting up my graveyard, he casts lingering souls. I don't have anything with evasion, and he attacks with 2/2 guys (I trade one with archers) and drops sorin and makes another 2/2. I play some big fat stuff, then he DoJ's, and puts sorin at 5 to make another dude. I recover with tracker's instincts, and make a fat guy, then pass turn to him. He DoJ's again, and puts sorin at 6. My only play is to cast skaab ruinator from my graveyard. He ultimates with sorin next turn and I die shortly after.
Sideboards again:
-4 Ezuri's Archers (These guys are terrible)
+3 Beast Within (No way other way to deal with sorin unless we can get an attack in)
+1 Splinterfright (Didn't see spellbomb or extraction in game 1)
Game 3: I mulligan to 5 and keep a workable hand considering it's 5 cards. I don't have beast within, and sorin makes himself blockers. He DoJ's me again and puts sorin at 6. He has lingering souls. If I make guys he steals them, if I don't make guys he beats me to death. Lost.
1-1
Round 3 vs. Frites
Game 1: Lost. Lingering souls brought me down to 12ish, then I made enough guys to start attacking back with. I hit him, but he hardcasted wurmcoil engine, and I didn't have artful dodge. I throw my guys at it, but he soaks up 6 of my trample damage and then gains 6 life and kills splinterfright. 2 Wurms come in, then elesh norn comes out of the graveyard and his friends hit me for lethal.
Sideboarding:
+3 Beast Within
-3 Llanowar Elves (Just dies to elesh)
Game 2: He reanimates elesh norn 3 times, but each time I have either beast within or phyrexian metamorph to kill it with. The fourth time he reanimates it I slowrolled beast within. He tries to attack me for lethal with a bunch of 2/3 birds and 3/3 lingering souls tokens but I beast within during combat and ended up taking like 4 instead of like 14. I attack for lethal next turn.
Game 3: This game goes REALLY long. We're hitting back and fourth, he's on his 4th wurmcoil engine (because of unburial rites), and I just keep killing them by running fat dudes into them. I have artful dodge, but thanks to gnaw to the bone and his wurmcoils we're both at 40 something. I have two of his wurmcoils locked down with dungeion geists, but then he has a 3rd one that I can't answer. he drops elesh norn and attacks me for a ton. I can't block his 3/3 lingering souls next turn, so I make a ghoultree unblockable and swing with everything, but can only take him down to 8. He kills me next turn.
1-2
Round 4 Vs. U/W/B Something
Game 1: I have turn 1 birds, turn 2 armored skaab, which I think is one of our best plays. He has turn 3 geist of saint traft. I untap play a land and metamorph it to death. He plays a land and passes the turn. I figure he's got countermagic up, so I tracker's instincts into ghoultree, and flash it back. He drops a land and passes. I ghoultree with mana leak mana open. It resolves. I don't remember the rest of the game, but ghoultree went all the way.
Game 2: He drops turn 3 geist again, puts angelic destiny on it turn 4. I metamorph it again. He drops sword of war and peace, and I have a second metamorph for it. I'm not really sure what he was trying to do, but he countered/removed the rest of my guys, and llanowar elves and birds with copied sword of war and peace and up going the distance.
2-2 Did not top 8.
Conclusions:
Ezuri's Archers is terrible. You imagine him blocking 1/1 spirits all day, but between drogskol captain, intangible virtue, and honor of the pure, they rarely stay 1/1, so all he does is trade with half of midnight haunting, or 1/4th of lingering souls. I'm cutting them all.
Beast within is awesome. When I sideboarded it in, I NEEDED to see it in those matchups. I'm adding another one.
I'm only running 21 lands. I'm taking out a llanowar elves and adding a forest. I mulliganed a lot of 1 land hands away.
Memory's Journey - Should be in the sideboard.
Phyrexian Revoker - Should be in the sideboard. Stops spellbomb and planeswalkers. Amazing.
Skaab Ruinator - Can probably be a 2 of in the sideboard if you're running revoker.
This deck isn't so hot, but it's really fun to play. I'm going to keep testing with it and I'll post results when I have them.
3 Might of Oaks Urza's Legacy Art!
3 Monstrous Growth Portal Second Age Art!
Here's what I've got so far, not even 60 cards. I want to keep it squirrel related as much as possible. I actually plan on winning lots of casual games with this. I'll probably add Overrun at some point. What can I add? Are there any cards (I'd even branch out into a second color) that have squirrels in the art?
Disclaimer: I hate Krosan Beast. It's not really a squirrel...and I'll probably never get threshold in time for it to not be a 1/1 for 4.
Secrets of the Dead - is Neat. Sometimes when my hand gets small, I'll intuition for Secrets/Phyrexian Arena/Jace, and people always give me secrets. I'd say it draws me an extra card 3/4ths of the time once I land it.
For some reason, I thought mystical tutor only got instants...personal tutor is leaving right now. Thank you!
First, the decklist:
1 Dralnu, Lich Lord
Other Creatures
2 Tombstalker
3 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
4 Dimir Doppleganger
5 Shadowmage Infiltrator
6 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
7 Draining Whelk
8 Avatar of Woe
Search/Draw
9 Diabolic Tutor
10 Demonic Tutor
11 Mystical Tutor
12 Vampiric Tutor
13 Quiet Speculation
14 Intuition
15 Mystical Teachings
16 Merchant Scroll
17 Forbidden Alchemy
18 Brainstorm
19 Jace Berelin
20 Phyrexian Arena
21 Secrets of the Dead
22 Think Twice
23 Deep Analysis
24 Ponder
25 Fact or Fiction
26 Gather Specimens
27 Go for the Throat
28 Mana Drain
29 Force of Will
30 Plague Wind
31 Repulse
32 Liliana of the Veil
33 Dismiss
34 Chainer's Edict
35 Wipe Away
36 Evacuation
37 Countersquall
38 Decree of Pain
39 Remand
40 Recoil
41 Hinder
42 Tribute to Hunger
43 Damnation
44 Counterspell
45 Coffin Purge
Win the Game
46 Time Warp
47 Time Stretch
48 Rite of Replication
49 Army of the Damned
50 Reins of Power
51 Lightning Greaves
52 Twincast
Mana Rocks
53 Mind Stone
54 Wayfarer's Bauble
55 Coldsteel Heart
56 Sol Ring
57 Gilded Lotus
58 Altar of the Lost
59 Coalition Relic
60 Dimir Signet
Land
61 Underground Sea
62 Polluted Delta
63 Salt Marsh
64 Dimir Aqueduct
65 Watery Grave
66 River of Tears
67 Underground River
68 Evolving Wilds
69 Terramorphic Expanse
70 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
71 Dreadship Reef
72 Bad River
73 Sunken Ruins
Notes:
There aren't a lot of Burn spells played in multiplayer games in my area, which are obviously Dralnu's biggest threat. Still, you almost never drop him without protection either via Lightning Greaves, Kira, or countermagic up. His drawback is worth playing around though, because once he gets online he's pretty insane. Some spells were just not meant to be flashed back.
You may haven noticed that nearly 50% of the deck is land/mana rocks. This deck needs a LOT of colored mana to counter/draw/bounce/kill stuff that's pointed at you turn after turn, especially in multiplayer. If everyone teams up on you, you're dead...but you can discourage people from attacking you by killing/bouncing most things that come at you, and then playing a board sweeper when things get too crazy.
Quiet Speculation is my MVP, so much so that in the early game I usually Vampiric or Personal Tutor for it. Early game quiet specs usually get me Think Twice/Coffin Purge (Awesome to have looming in the graveyard)/Deep Analysis. Late game (usually flashed back) quiet specs usually get me army of the damned/chainer's edict/mystical teachings - or whatever I need at the time.
Tombstalker and Avatar of Woe almost always cost BB.
I tried playing with Catalyst Stone but it only really came into effect when I was already winning. I can't flash back Mana Drain with it, so Altar of the Lost took its place and has been working really well so far.
I probably should be playing Desertion instead of Gather Specimens but I can't stop dreaming about a day when I steal all of someone elses Rite of Replication tokens or something.
I was also thinking about adding:
Changelog:
+ Mystical Tutor
Questions? Suggestions? I want them!