1) Feyd_Ruin Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite / Lion's Eye Diamond / Unburial Rites Good news - you can have your perfect week.
If you don't LED for norn when I'm on the play, the game is nothing until my t5, when I hardcast march and put 3 counters on it. There are two interesting cases from there:
A) You unburial for norn when I have 3 counters on march and 5 tokens. This still leads to me winning.
or
B) you wait and hardcast norn, but I've hit you a few times with the tokens from the first time I marched.
You play land #5
I attack you down to 15, march ticks to 2
You play land #6
I attack you to 10, march ticks to 1
You play land #7 and cast norn for 7 tokens, wiping mine
March ticks to zero, doing effectively nothing because norn is in play, but resetting itself to 3. I declaration in stone norn on my main phase. EDIT: which kills your tokens due to march's effect lasting all turn. GG. You hit me for 7 down to 13
March ticks to 2 You hit me for 7 down to 6
March ticks to 1 You kill me. GG.
2) Magus of the Aesthetic :: Now I Have a Glass Cannon, Ho Ho Ho! Beacon of Tomorrows / Earthcraft / Impact Tremors I cant interact with your combo so I have to beat you before you get to 8 mana (or 4 mana plus earthcraft and 4 squirrels)
When you're on the play:
T2 you play tremors (2 sq)
T3 you attack me down to 18, then cast earthcraft (4 sq), and tremor me down to 16
t3 I declaration on the squirrels
t4 I attack you down to 18
t5 I hardcast march, going up to 6 squirrels
t6 I attack you down to 12
t7 I attack you down to 6
t8 you combo off.
When I'm on the play this race flips in my favor.
3-3 0-6 per your writeup below.
5) Superbajt Needlebite Trap / Pithing Needle / Reverent Silence
6-0 I agree with your writeup - though it may surprise you to learn that Suspend is a special action like morph, not an activated ability. So Pithing needle does nothing other than make a squirell.
6) WhammeWhamme Blinkmoth Infusion / Disrupting Shoal / Intangible Virtue
Cool deck. Lots of lines.
If you sit there and wait for me to move, I hardcast march. You could make 16 tokens in response, but they'd all die when it resolves and then I win. So instead our match is a big fight over intagible virtue, which I want to claim and you want to protect.
With you on the play -
Nothing happens until your t5. You cast virtue, and I try to claim it on end step. You Shoal for 1. Now I have 1 squirrel and you have 5 2/2 squirrels.
On my t5, I untap, cast declaration on your tokens, and start attacking. on my t6 I hardcast march so I end up with 8 attacking squirells. This finishes you off before you can Hardcast Infusion many turns later.
6-0
I know this is silly, but I really want this format rule to have the usual (Zero is even.) reminder text that appears on all cards that mention odd/even.
The other idea I had was the lands deck, something like Urborg / Inkmoth / Tabernacle / Field of Ruin. It would've done pretty well too, looks like
What does Urborg accomplish in that deck? Or any deck for that matter? And if you mean Urborg, Tomb Of Yawgmoth I still have the same question. It lets Tabernacle tap for mana I guess, but you don't seem to need more than 2 mana for anything.
That said that hand does look strong - I have to imagine that it'll beat most of the decks that don't run a basic to pay for Tabernacle.
I was working on a Take Possesion deck for a while. Other cards I spent time staring at were Wipe Away and Consign // Oblivion. The latter required me to have a deck with no targets for Consign because Oblivion violates the 2 turn no discard rule if you can get it into your own graveyard. Was a fun puzzle to think about but all my solutions had lousy threats and did poorly in the face of Dazes and Grand Arbiters, which I didn't like.
Well, I see that I made mistake in this description. I Tithe Daze, resetting Omniscience, then I GAIV tax+Abstruse prevents you from resolving Gargoyle. If you don't Daze tax + 2 counters are even worse for you. Now I agree, 3-3.
We got there eventually, together. GGs. And again, (from someone who returned to this event last month after many years away) welcome to PHM! I hope you'll stick around.
@MyNameIsFourteen
I agree completely with your written description of our match. But in your first post you wrote 0-6. Seems like we both think it's 3-3.
1) AvatarDylaang Nix / Sneak Attack / Volcanic Island / Zodiac Dragon
When I'm on the play, I cast gargoyle to name sneak attack. If you nix for free I daze.
After that I can start attacking. If you ever cast Dragon I Whelk it, and if you held nix back at the beginning and play it for mana then I daze nix.
When you're on the play, daze doesn't do me any good. If I try to whelk your first play, you tap your land to nix whelk. You may as well play dragon first because it beats the rest of my deck easily.
3-3
2) Convoy_Avenger Commandeer / Desertion / Summary Dismissal / Torrential Gearhulk
When I'm on the play I cast Gargoyle. If you try one of your counters, I daze it and then name gearhulk with the gargoyle.
If you respond with gearhulk I just daze gearhulk.
Then I clock you with a 3/3 flyer.
If you try to gearhulk on my upkeep rather than let me ever play my island, I whelk your gearhulk and clock you with the whelk.
When you're on the play, you can either pass (see above) or cast gearhulk during your first turn. If you do the latter, I whelk it and clock you with the whelk.
6-0
4) knobbodi :: Hopefully This Isn't Too Late! Grand Arbiter Augustin IV / Island / Nix / Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
I'm pretty sure we split the games. If you go first you force Ulamog through and destroy me. If I go first I force Gargoyle through and name Ulamog, then Gargoyle races Augustin and wins.
3-3
5) Magus of the Aesthetic :: Regression Towards the Mean Black Lotus / Council's Judgment / Disallow / Sphinx of the Final Word
When I'm on the play, I cast gargoyle. If you disallow I daze it. Then I name Sphinx.
If you lotus I let it resolve, then whelk the council's judgement. If you disallow the whelk because you didn't do so last turn, I daze that.
When you're on the play, sphinx just beats me. I can slow you down by Whelking the sphinx to get an 8/8 even though th sphinx still resolves, but you can then cast lotus, judgement and remove the Whelk.
3-3
6) ManyCookies Aethersnatch / Progenitus / Simian Spirit Guide / Summary Dismissal
If you ever use your main phase to cast Progenitus, I whelk it and you can't cast it again even though you redraw it.
If you ever use your main phase to cast Spirit Guide, then I can untap and use daze to force the Gargoyle through and name progenitus, then my 3/3 races your 2/2.
But while I'm holding these cards in hand to stop your lines, I can't get a clock on you. So we stare at each other forever.
2-2
10) tomsloger Erayo, Soratami Ascendant / Mayor of Avabruck / Gilded Lotus / Mox Emerald
If you try to play out your string in the expected order I can Whelk the Gilded Lotus. If you don't do that or I'm on the play I gargoyle naming Mayor.
If you just cast Mayor for free on the play that is fine, I whelk that and play gargoyle on my turn naming Erayo.
6-0
11) WhammeWhamme Dark Depths / Thespian's Stage / Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth / Venser, Shaper Savant
I strongly considered submitting Dark Depths, and for a while I was also on a Take Possesion / Wipe Away deck because I was afraid of dark depths and countermagic in equal measure. Then I went in a different direction. 0-6
8 | 2 6 6 2 2 2 6 X 2 6 0 | 34 | 340
---
Differences between my post and previously posted results:
Rules question: I'm looking for help understanding rule 3.1a a bit better. Does this exemption from the no 2 turn win/discard/infinite turns rule mean that duress is a legal submission because it might miss, whereas thoughtseize is not because it can hit a card with any type? If not, what is this exception meant to allow that would otherwise be disallowed?
8) MyNameIsFourteen
Dust Bowl / Nimble Obstructionist / Pride of the Clouds
vs...
1) AvatarDylaang
Dark Depths / Thespian's Stage / Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
When I'm on the draw, you make Marit Lage before I can do anything and it's gg when you attack on your 3rd turn.
When I'm on the play, I have 3 mana when you play your third land, so I counter Thespian Stage's activation by cycling obstructionist. Turn 4 i untap, play dust bowl, and destroy your dark depths. Then I can win with pride tokens at my leisure. 3-3
2) CalvinSchwa
Lion's Eye Diamond / Progenitus / Shelldock Isle
I'm too slow for LED 0-6
3) Convoy_Avenger
Blinkmoth Nexus / Blinkmoth Nexus / Inkmoth Nexus
Dust bowl kills all your nexus before you can kill me, then I make some birds. 6-0
4) Feyd_Ruin :: Insane in the Membrane
Aspect of Mongoose / Evershrike / Geier Reach Sanitarium
I contest your result. When you're on the play, you go off before I have 3 mana and win.
When I'm on the play, I have 3 mana when you first activate Sanitarium. I counter the loot by cycling, then I untap and dust-bowl the sanitarium, locking you out. 3-3
6) Mogg
Field of Ruin / Greater Gargadon / Restore Balance
You're correct that stifle can counter a suspended spell. I'll be using it to stop Balance. Lets check the gargadon/lion race.
Mogg on the play, your fastest gargadon arrives on turn 6 and kills on turn 8. Even if I have to take off 1 turn in there to counter Restore Balance, I have a bird to attack with and a new one to chump with every turn. 6-0
7) Magus of the Aesthetic :: Big Money, No Whammies
Blightsteel Colossus / Lion's Eye Diamond / Shelldock Isle
LED'd 0-6
9) Personman
Dark Depths / Petrified Field / Thespian's Stage
When you're on the play you Marit Lage on turn 4, I have 3 mana and I counter Thespian Stage's copy ability, then untap and dust-bowl your Depths.
Your turn 5 you use field to retrieve depths, then on my turn 5 I dust-bowl your stage. If you ever play depths again to try to win the slow way, I can bowl your depths. If you wait until you have 30 mana to depths all at once, my birds have already finished the game. 6-0
10) WhammeWhamme
Greater Gargadon / Island of Wak-Wak / Restore Balance
Same as Mogg 6-0
Notably I came up with a different result for my match up with Feyd_Ruin than they provided.
I spent a bunch of time refining strategies using Lion's Eye Diamond along with madness and/or flashback only to realize that both of those things end up spending mana to cast spells. I'm sure my search for other options didn't find nearly everything that can be done under this restriction. I can't wait to see what everyone else found.
8) MyNameIsFourteen :: Oops, All Lands
Maze of Ith / Sunscorched Desert / Sunscorched Desert / Sunscorched Desert
versus:
1) AvatarDylaang :: Shops sans Shops
Black Lotus / Black Lotus / Lodestone Golem / Sphere of Resistance
Sphere does nothing, Maze locks out Golem, you die of thirst on my 4th turn. 6-0
3) Convoy_Avenger :: Mirrodin Block Constructed
City of Traitors / Myr Retriever / Myr Retriever / Throne of Geth
I can't beat one proliferate, and Maze can only stop one Myr. 0-6
6) Magus of the Aesthetic :: Turn 1 Wins Are Illegal So Here's Some Hot Garbage (Editor's Note: I did not assign this name.)
Black Lotus / Leyline of Sanctity / Nature's Claim / Scalding Tongs
I can't beat Leyline, Maze can't stop Tongs. 0-6
7) Mogg :: True Sleeper
Chain of Vapor / Daze / Sleeper Agent / Underground Sea
As you say, I'm fast enough. 6-0
9) WhammeWhamme :: The Whole City Just Fell In (It's A Really Big Chasm)
City of Traitors / Glacial Chasm / Leyline of Sanctity / Scalding Tongs
Same result as the other Leyline/Tongs deck 0-6
Format idea (this may have already been done back when Ixalan came out) Treasure Rule: each player starts with an emblem with "at the beginning of your upkeep, create a Treasure token with 't, sac this: add one Mana of any color to your Mana pool'"
Declaration in Stone / Festering March / Nature's Claim
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite / Lion's Eye Diamond / Unburial Rites
Good news - you can have your perfect week.If you don't LED for norn when I'm on the play, the game is nothing until my t5, when I hardcast march and put 3 counters on it. There are two interesting cases from there:
A) You unburial for norn when I have 3 counters on march and 5 tokens. This still leads to me winning.
or
B) you wait and hardcast norn, but I've hit you a few times with the tokens from the first time I marched.
You play land #5
I attack you down to 15, march ticks to 2
You play land #6
I attack you to 10, march ticks to 1
You play land #7 and cast norn for 7 tokens, wiping mine
March ticks to zero, doing effectively nothing because norn is in play, but resetting itself to 3. I declaration in stone norn on my main phase. EDIT: which kills your tokens due to march's effect lasting all turn. GG.
You hit me for 7 down to 13March ticks to 2
You hit me for 7 down to 6March ticks to 1
You kill me.GG.2) Magus of the Aesthetic :: Now I Have a Glass Cannon, Ho Ho Ho!
Beacon of Tomorrows / Earthcraft / Impact Tremors
I cant interact with your combo so I have to beat you before you get to 8 mana (or 4 mana plus earthcraft and 4 squirrels)
0-6 per your writeup below.When you're on the play:
T2 you play tremors (2 sq)
T3 you attack me down to 18, then cast earthcraft (4 sq), and tremor me down to 16
t3 I declaration on the squirrels
t4 I attack you down to 18
t5 I hardcast march, going up to 6 squirrels
t6 I attack you down to 12
t7 I attack you down to 6
t8 you combo off.
When I'm on the play this race flips in my favor.
3-3
3) ManyCookies :: CatCraft
Arcane Denial / Earthcraft / Whitemane Lion
0-6 I agree with your writup.
5) Superbajt
Needlebite Trap / Pithing Needle / Reverent Silence
6-0 I agree with your writeup - though it may surprise you to learn that Suspend is a special action like morph, not an activated ability. So Pithing needle does nothing other than make a squirell.
6) WhammeWhamme
Blinkmoth Infusion / Disrupting Shoal / Intangible Virtue
Cool deck. Lots of lines.
If you sit there and wait for me to move, I hardcast march. You could make 16 tokens in response, but they'd all die when it resolves and then I win. So instead our match is a big fight over intagible virtue, which I want to claim and you want to protect.
With you on the play -
Nothing happens until your t5. You cast virtue, and I try to claim it on end step. You Shoal for 1. Now I have 1 squirrel and you have 5 2/2 squirrels.
On my t5, I untap, cast declaration on your tokens, and start attacking. on my t6 I hardcast march so I end up with 8 attacking squirells. This finishes you off before you can Hardcast Infusion many turns later.
6-0
4| 2 0 0 X 6 6 | 14 | 280
That said that hand does look strong - I have to imagine that it'll beat most of the decks that don't run a basic to pay for Tabernacle.
I was working on a Take Possesion deck for a while. Other cards I spent time staring at were Wipe Away and Consign // Oblivion. The latter required me to have a deck with no targets for Consign because Oblivion violates the 2 turn no discard rule if you can get it into your own graveyard. Was a fun puzzle to think about but all my solutions had lousy threats and did poorly in the face of Dazes and Grand Arbiters, which I didn't like.
I agree completely with your written description of our match. But in your first post you wrote 0-6. Seems like we both think it's 3-3.
Daze / Draining Whelk / Island / Voidstone Gargoyle
1) AvatarDylaang
Nix / Sneak Attack / Volcanic Island / Zodiac Dragon
When I'm on the play, I cast gargoyle to name sneak attack. If you nix for free I daze.
After that I can start attacking. If you ever cast Dragon I Whelk it, and if you held nix back at the beginning and play it for mana then I daze nix.
When you're on the play, daze doesn't do me any good. If I try to whelk your first play, you tap your land to nix whelk. You may as well play dragon first because it beats the rest of my deck easily.
3-3
2) Convoy_Avenger
Commandeer / Desertion / Summary Dismissal / Torrential Gearhulk
When I'm on the play I cast Gargoyle. If you try one of your counters, I daze it and then name gearhulk with the gargoyle.
If you respond with gearhulk I just daze gearhulk.
Then I clock you with a 3/3 flyer.
If you try to gearhulk on my upkeep rather than let me ever play my island, I whelk your gearhulk and clock you with the whelk.
When you're on the play, you can either pass (see above) or cast gearhulk during your first turn. If you do the latter, I whelk it and clock you with the whelk.
6-0
3) Feyd_Ruin :: Go Go Gobo Toko!
Brutal Expulsion / Chancellor of the Forge / Time Stop / Unsubstantiate
6-0 I can force Gargoyle through with daze and if you cast Chancellor I can Whelk it.
4) knobbodi :: Hopefully This Isn't Too Late!
Grand Arbiter Augustin IV / Island / Nix / Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
I'm pretty sure we split the games. If you go first you force Ulamog through and destroy me. If I go first I force Gargoyle through and name Ulamog, then Gargoyle races Augustin and wins.
3-3
5) Magus of the Aesthetic :: Regression Towards the Mean
Black Lotus / Council's Judgment / Disallow / Sphinx of the Final Word
When I'm on the play, I cast gargoyle. If you disallow I daze it. Then I name Sphinx.
If you lotus I let it resolve, then whelk the council's judgement. If you disallow the whelk because you didn't do so last turn, I daze that.
When you're on the play, sphinx just beats me. I can slow you down by Whelking the sphinx to get an 8/8 even though th sphinx still resolves, but you can then cast lotus, judgement and remove the Whelk.
3-3
6) ManyCookies
Aethersnatch / Progenitus / Simian Spirit Guide / Summary Dismissal
If you ever use your main phase to cast Progenitus, I whelk it and you can't cast it again even though you redraw it.
If you ever use your main phase to cast Spirit Guide, then I can untap and use daze to force the Gargoyle through and name progenitus, then my 3/3 races your 2/2.
But while I'm holding these cards in hand to stop your lines, I can't get a clock on you. So we stare at each other forever.
2-2
7) Mogg
City of Traitors / Failure // Comply / Sphere of Resistance / Venser, Shaper Savant
6-0 I can race Venser if you play him out first or I can play through your disruption with Island and daze.
9) Superbajt
Abstruse Interference / Grand Arbiter Augustin IV / Karakas / Mana Tithe
Welcome! You wrote that this is 6-0 for me, but I don't see how I can beat you when you're on the play. I think we're 3-3
10) tomsloger
Erayo, Soratami Ascendant / Mayor of Avabruck / Gilded Lotus / Mox Emerald
If you try to play out your string in the expected order I can Whelk the Gilded Lotus. If you don't do that or I'm on the play I gargoyle naming Mayor.
If you just cast Mayor for free on the play that is fine, I whelk that and play gargoyle on my turn naming Erayo.
6-0
11) WhammeWhamme
Dark Depths / Thespian's Stage / Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth / Venser, Shaper Savant
I strongly considered submitting Dark Depths, and for a while I was also on a Take Possesion / Wipe Away deck because I was afraid of dark depths and countermagic in equal measure. Then I went in a different direction. 0-6
8 | 2 6 6 2 2 2 6 X 2 6 0 | 34 | 340
---
Differences between my post and previously posted results:
Superbajt
Abstruse Interference / Grand Arbiter Augustin IV / Karakas / Mana Tithe
Welcome! You wrote that this is 6-0 for me, but I don't see how I can beat you when you're on the play. I think we're 3-3
Dust Bowl / Nimble Obstructionist / Pride of the Clouds
vs...
Dark Depths / Thespian's Stage / Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
When I'm on the draw, you make Marit Lage before I can do anything and it's gg when you attack on your 3rd turn.
When I'm on the play, I have 3 mana when you play your third land, so I counter Thespian Stage's activation by cycling obstructionist. Turn 4 i untap, play dust bowl, and destroy your dark depths. Then I can win with pride tokens at my leisure. 3-3
2) CalvinSchwa
Lion's Eye Diamond / Progenitus / Shelldock Isle
I'm too slow for LED 0-6
3) Convoy_Avenger
Blinkmoth Nexus / Blinkmoth Nexus / Inkmoth Nexus
Dust bowl kills all your nexus before you can kill me, then I make some birds. 6-0
4) Feyd_Ruin :: Insane in the Membrane
Aspect of Mongoose / Evershrike / Geier Reach Sanitarium
I contest your result. When you're on the play, you go off before I have 3 mana and win.
When I'm on the play, I have 3 mana when you first activate Sanitarium. I counter the loot by cycling, then I untap and dust-bowl the sanitarium, locking you out. 3-3
5) knobbodi
Lion's Eye Diamond / Progenitus / Shelldock Isle
LED'd 0-6
6) Mogg
Field of Ruin / Greater Gargadon / Restore Balance
You're correct that stifle can counter a suspended spell. I'll be using it to stop Balance. Lets check the gargadon/lion race.
Mogg on the play, your fastest gargadon arrives on turn 6 and kills on turn 8. Even if I have to take off 1 turn in there to counter Restore Balance, I have a bird to attack with and a new one to chump with every turn. 6-0
7) Magus of the Aesthetic :: Big Money, No Whammies
Blightsteel Colossus / Lion's Eye Diamond / Shelldock Isle
LED'd 0-6
9) Personman
Dark Depths / Petrified Field / Thespian's Stage
When you're on the play you Marit Lage on turn 4, I have 3 mana and I counter Thespian Stage's copy ability, then untap and dust-bowl your Depths.
Your turn 5 you use field to retrieve depths, then on my turn 5 I dust-bowl your stage. If you ever play depths again to try to win the slow way, I can bowl your depths. If you wait until you have 30 mana to depths all at once, my birds have already finished the game. 6-0
10) WhammeWhamme
Greater Gargadon / Island of Wak-Wak / Restore Balance
Same as Mogg 6-0
Notably I came up with a different result for my match up with Feyd_Ruin than they provided.
08 | 2 0 6 2 0 6 0 X 6 6 | 28 | 280
Maze of Ith / Sunscorched Desert / Sunscorched Desert / Sunscorched Desert
versus:
1) AvatarDylaang :: Shops sans Shops
Black Lotus / Black Lotus / Lodestone Golem / Sphere of Resistance
Sphere does nothing, Maze locks out Golem, you die of thirst on my 4th turn. 6-0
2) CalvinSchwa :: Environmental Hazards
Leyline of Punishment / Sunscorched Desert / Sunscorched Desert / Sunscorched Desert
Race, Race, Race! 3-3
3) Convoy_Avenger :: Mirrodin Block Constructed
City of Traitors / Myr Retriever / Myr Retriever / Throne of Geth
I can't beat one proliferate, and Maze can only stop one Myr. 0-6
4) Feyd_Ruin :: Loses to Eager Cadet
Commandeer / Misthollow Griffin / Palinchron / Sand Silos
Can't Commandeer my lands! 6-0
5) knobbodi :: Double-Fisting Tongs
Ensnaring Bridge / Mishra's Workshop / Scalding Tongs / Scalding Tongs
Race! 3-3
6) Magus of the Aesthetic :: Turn 1 Wins Are Illegal So Here's Some Hot Garbage (Editor's Note: I did not assign this name.)
Black Lotus / Leyline of Sanctity / Nature's Claim / Scalding Tongs
I can't beat Leyline, Maze can't stop Tongs. 0-6
7) Mogg :: True Sleeper
Chain of Vapor / Daze / Sleeper Agent / Underground Sea
As you say, I'm fast enough. 6-0
9) WhammeWhamme :: The Whole City Just Fell In (It's A Really Big Chasm)
City of Traitors / Glacial Chasm / Leyline of Sanctity / Scalding Tongs
Same result as the other Leyline/Tongs deck 0-6
X| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 |
5| 6 2 0 6 2 0 6 X 0 | 22 | 275