I've been pecking away at mine, haven't been putting anything on the wiki though. The last test kind of locked my brain into design mode so I've been writing them all down as they come, I'll be somewhat prepared for the final rounds, participant or not.
There's a full week between the announcement and the first challenge. I'm sure the finalists can manage somehow without updating their wiki for two days.
The multiple choice counts for 10% of the finalist cut. I wonder if all the 44s get 0% and the only 50 gets the full 10%; we don't know if certain questions are weighted or how they're curving it, etc. Maybe he'll mention something about that when the answers go up in an hour.
I put my answer key on my wiki (so that I can prove it later when I say I got them all right). No seriously, looking at all the conversation over controversial answers so far I feel pretty confident that I was up there.
The only one I was even remotely doubtful on was 31. A, C, and E all felt like good answers so in the end I overemphasized the "common" part of the question and went with E.
A - Pingers have been uncommon lately.
B - Damage prevention like that is always "creature or player", not just creature.
C - We haven't seen a tapper with no mana activation cost in a long time, I suspect it would be uncommon if we did.
D - Not a recurring tap ability, feels way to specific / out of place.
E - Still seems very common. Just because it hasn't shown up for a while doesn't mean it won't.
The question was what they are least likely to actually put on a flash creature. B may need to have flash to function, but that wasn't what they were asking; I can't see them ever printing such a narrow ability regardless. They're more likely to put simple effect like Giant Growth on a flash creature (any creature, really) than that jumbled garbage of a trigger.
I don't dispute this. My point is that, given equal skill, the unoriginal contestant has an easier job and will likely end up with a better result. That's bad challenge design IMO.
If you look in the rules for round three, originality and vision are very heavily weighted.
The wording is fine. I'm willing to wait to see what else Zendikar has to offer in the Landfall department before writing it off, but these lands are a different story. Maybe the Swamp, Island, or Forest cards in that cycle will be similarly devastating with Scapeshift. Right now Valakut alone is worth testing at least.
Scapeshift's previous performance in extended is irrelevant here, as there has never been a card to really abuse it with. Landfall as a keyword is promising, but that's the win more at this point. The power lies in resolving a single Scapeshift with any seven lands out allowing you to search for six Mountains and a Valakut. That's 18 damage. If you have 8 lands search for two Valakuts and it's 36 damage. Etc. That much power in one card is certainly worth building around.
Onyx Goblet > Icy Manipulator. In the same way as winning > stalling.
As for Helix Pinnacle I don't know why everyone keeps suggesting it when there are so many better options. The Pinnacle does nothing outside of the combo. It's a totally dead card (and you're not going to hit 100 counters without getting the combo). Goblet at least pings them for 1 every turn.
Cube is simply worded and simple to understand. When it goes off, it doubles whatever is in your mana pool.
In essence, it works in a way such that colors of mana will not be a problem after getting to the point where you can go infinite. Cube preserves color ratios.
Meanwhile the Selkie has evasion, and an easier casting cost than the constable. You only really need to get it through once, I can see it working out.
He did, obviously, if he won with it. Short of playing it as much as he did or asking him, there's no way to know how he sideboarded, besides the obvious inferences you can make.
I've working on my own version of T2 Paint it Blue since the Painter came out, with R/U instead of R/W. More control, less aggro, but I was pretty close to choosing white. Meh.
Having your pieces destroyed / countered / rfged / pithing needled is always a problem with combo decks. Just wait until the opportune moment, and keep it smart. The fact that removal exists is no reason not to play the cards they can remove. Always play the creature last (there's only one, thankfully.) Most people don't run artifact-specific removal main, but Esper may change that. I tested a few times with a Ub version, and I didn't really include any alternate wincons so I only won one game against a serious deck.
Yes we ascertained that. That's why the trigger cost is 10. And combo decks aren't for everyone. If your train of thought takes you down the road where you'd rather spend the 10 mana on cards you know are good on their own fine. I'd rather spend it on 2 cards that, in conjunction, win me the game immediately.
Mind Stone is great, the Obelisks I'm not too keen on. They're nice, they just... I don't know. They certainly aren't on par with Coalition Relic or the Signets, in my book. Bloom Tender can help me hit 10 mana pretty fast with the right buddies especially if I go U/b/g, and green has other stall options. But just going U/b would be ideal, you're absolutely right. I'll try out a few lists later and post the one I think is working out best. (U, U/b, and U/b/g. Maybe even U/g.)
My bad on the math. >_<
Forgot to add the three mana for activating the cube after the first time. (So it's +3, making it, yes, 10.)
Well darn. That is slightly harder to hit. Now should I splash green for accel, and if so which wincon do I use? Blue is definitely still the core color.
I'm thinking that Helix Pinnacle and the "Blaze" assortment of cards are not an option. They serve no purpose at all until the combo goes off, they're essentially dead cards without the other two elements in play and functional. Millstone and Onyx Goblet on the other hand, are, if not useful, at least useable, the whole game. They're also much sturdier and easier to resolve than Consume Spirit and the Counterable Sorcery Brigade.
Tezeret is definitely the tutor of choice. He finds every part and puts it straight into play, as well as providing a free untap on the Cube (or Cubes), letting the combo go off that much sooner. Other than him I'm not sure if I would need any more tutors other than a ton of stall and draw (Cryptic hits both quite nicely).
The only one I was even remotely doubtful on was 31. A, C, and E all felt like good answers so in the end I overemphasized the "common" part of the question and went with E.
A - Pingers have been uncommon lately.
B - Damage prevention like that is always "creature or player", not just creature.
C - We haven't seen a tapper with no mana activation cost in a long time, I suspect it would be uncommon if we did.
D - Not a recurring tap ability, feels way to specific / out of place.
E - Still seems very common. Just because it hasn't shown up for a while doesn't mean it won't.
If you look in the rules for round three, originality and vision are very heavily weighted.
The wording is fine. I'm willing to wait to see what else Zendikar has to offer in the Landfall department before writing it off, but these lands are a different story. Maybe the Swamp, Island, or Forest cards in that cycle will be similarly devastating with Scapeshift. Right now Valakut alone is worth testing at least.
As for Helix Pinnacle I don't know why everyone keeps suggesting it when there are so many better options. The Pinnacle does nothing outside of the combo. It's a totally dead card (and you're not going to hit 100 counters without getting the combo). Goblet at least pings them for 1 every turn.
Cube is simply worded and simple to understand. When it goes off, it doubles whatever is in your mana pool.
:symw::symu::symb::symr::symg:
becomes:
:symw::symu::symb::symr::symg:
:symw::symu::symb::symr::symg:
Just like
In essence, it works in a way such that colors of mana will not be a problem after getting to the point where you can go infinite. Cube preserves color ratios.
I've working on my own version of T2 Paint it Blue since the Painter came out, with R/U instead of R/W. More control, less aggro, but I was pretty close to choosing white. Meh.
Mind Stone is great, the Obelisks I'm not too keen on. They're nice, they just... I don't know. They certainly aren't on par with Coalition Relic or the Signets, in my book. Bloom Tender can help me hit 10 mana pretty fast with the right buddies especially if I go U/b/g, and green has other stall options. But just going U/b would be ideal, you're absolutely right. I'll try out a few lists later and post the one I think is working out best. (U, U/b, and U/b/g. Maybe even U/g.)
Forgot to add the three mana for activating the cube after the first time. (So it's +3, making it, yes, 10.)
Well darn. That is slightly harder to hit. Now should I splash green for accel, and if so which wincon do I use? Blue is definitely still the core color.
I'm thinking that Helix Pinnacle and the "Blaze" assortment of cards are not an option. They serve no purpose at all until the combo goes off, they're essentially dead cards without the other two elements in play and functional. Millstone and Onyx Goblet on the other hand, are, if not useful, at least useable, the whole game. They're also much sturdier and easier to resolve than Consume Spirit and the Counterable Sorcery Brigade.
Tezeret is definitely the tutor of choice. He finds every part and puts it straight into play, as well as providing a free untap on the Cube (or Cubes), letting the combo go off that much sooner. Other than him I'm not sure if I would need any more tutors other than a ton of stall and draw (Cryptic hits both quite nicely).