How about this: we'll wait until Dr. Tom comes and posts the answer, because I have no desire to repost that which I've already typed. Frankly, I think both positions have some weight, and I am curious to see what the official ruling is.
Well, there's a slight problem with that.
I don't know the answer. Like I said in my original post, I scoured the CompRules looking for something that would conclusively support one side or the other. I couldn't find anything. My gut is that it will trigger and deal the damage, but that's unsupported. I didn't post it here to play "stump the judge" or anything like that (mostly because I HATE it when people do that); I posted it to see if anyone had found a conclusive answer.
At least I'm not alone in thinking there really is no conclusive answer to this. A lack of definition for "shuffle into" seems to be the key.
Your card choices seem good, but I've never been a fan of the 5x3 method of making a sideboard. Some cards deserve 4 slots based on the expected metagame. Others would only get 2 for the same reason.
This recently came up as a "brain teaser" in our local judge mailing list.
You control a Psychogenic Probe. Your opponent targets it with Oblation. Does the Probe trigger and deal 2 damage to you?
Most people have been saying no, since the Probe isn't in play to see itself get shuffled into the library. My thought is that it wouldn't be a "brain teaser" if the answer were as simple as that. I think it DOES trigger, but I've scoured the CompRules and haven't found one specific rule that supports that conclusion (or the other one, for that matter). I've looked at triggered abilities, zone changes, leaving play, etc, and I can't point to a specific rule that clearly says yes it triggers, or no it doesn't.
So now I'm teasing the brains of my fellow judges here.
Psychogenic Probe
{2}
Artifact
Whenever a spell or ability causes a player to shuffle his or her library, Psychogenic Probe deals 2 damage to him or her.
Oblation
{2}{W}
Instant
The owner of target nonland permanent shuffles it into his or her library, then draws two cards.
Presumably, cards in your main deck get shuffled more than cards in your sideboard. This can lead to a marked cards situation as the maindeck sleeves will probably have more visible wear than the sideboard ones.
I'm glad someone mentioned this.
Even if you buy a box of new sleeves before an event, they're going to get wear marks on them thru the course of your games. They'll also build up sweat and oil from your fingers, especially if it's warmer in the store/event hall. In later rounds, there could be a marked cards situation between your maindeck sleeves and sideboard sleeves, since the sideboard ones will be much less worn.
So the solution seems to be playing with an unsleeved sideboard. That's fine, from a rules perspective. My concern here (taking off the judge hat and donning the player helicopter cap for a moment) is a strategic one: your opponent then knows how many cards you're bringing in. With a sleeved sideboard, you can just shuffle all 15 in, then pull out the ones you'd never use in the matchup, plus whatever maindeck cards you're removing in favor of the sideboard cards you're keeping in. That way, your opponent is clueless as to how many cards you actually sideboarded. I suppose you could desleeve 15 cards from your deck (including the ones you want to take out, obv), shuffle them with your sideboard, and put 15 back in, but that seems like a lot of work for the deception value you get.
How would I name an engineered plague to affect animated darksteel ingots or lands animated by soilshapers?
Only thru shenanigans. Or some other effect which actually gives them a creature type. In general, animated lands and artifacts don't have a creature type. You're only allowed to name valid, pre-existing creature types with Engineered Plague.
I guess that's matchup-dependent, but I don't think it's true at all. Unsummon has surprise value because you can play it when you need it and foil your opponent's plans. Seal is just sitting there, and while they'll have to play around it for a while, they'll eventually out-draw it.
Secondly, daze is amazing. I have always been happy to have a copy in my hand in the early game. It's been a life saver.
It hasn't been impressive for me so far.
The problem with Unsummon is can be stripped from your hand by Therapy and Duress.
The Rock looks dead around here. Reanimator, about the same. I think I saw 4 total, between the two, at the 84-person GPT.
But what do you side in/out against the mirror and the Rock
The Rock isn't popular here anymore. My sideboard is still very much a work in progress, as I said, so sideboarding for specific matchups is still up in the air (apart from the few which are obvious). Unsummon lets me pre-sideboard against the mirror; I'm considering whether or not I need Submerge also.
I suppose it is TOO much to ask for that someone who plays with a deck, actually KNOWS what cards are supposed to be in the deck?
Apparently so...
As for only the S/B cards having autographs, I'd still be a stickler and consider that having notes. It's your responsibility as a player to know what goes in your deck and what goes in your sodeboard. If you have a list of your sideboard cards, you can use it *after the match is over* to restore your deck to its regular configuration, as has been pointed out. Anything else seems like an effort to circumvent the rules, which can be a Very Bad Thing.
THe Dreams will trigger 6 times, and those triggers will be on the stack after you have finished resolving the ability of the Dreams. So you'll have 6 cards in your hand, 6 instances of "take 1 damage" on the stack, and priority to play spells (instants only at this point, of course) and abilities. So happy Pulse-ing.
"Hippie" brings up Hypnotic Spectre.
"Rit" brings up Dark Ritual
"mom" brings up Mind Over Matter, not MOther of Runes.
"Academy" obv brings up Tolarian Academy. Similar things work for the other Saga legendary lands.
"Elves" brings up Llanowar Elves.
The thing is, you want as many "free" spells as possible. The deck had quite a few more in Old Extended, and could count on Swords to Plowshares to mop up men it couldn't otherwise handle. I'm not sure how good this deck can be, really. An early Seal of Fire discourages you from playing a Dryad until you can protect it, and RDW is all over the place. I always liked the original GAT, and even played a T2 version, so I hope this doesn't turn out to be the MTG equivalent of bringing a knife to a gunfight.
The first thing I don't like is the Black. I don't think it helps you against bad matchups like RDW. U/G are obviously the core colors, and if you're going to pick up a 3rd, I'd go with White. It gives you Sunscape Familiar, which makes Blue and Green spells cheaper, enabling you to power up your Dryad more quickly. It also gives you ways to protect your Dryad and power it up at the same time.
I also don't like Counterspell because of the UU commitment. Leak seems fine at 1U, and Daze is an obvious inclusion because of its alternate casting cost (which can make Counterspell harder to cast). I think a couple copies of Foil would go well here. It has an ACC, so you can play it "for free" and pump up your Dryad, and it combos well with Gush (which should be a 4-spot).
So, let's work on a list.
d00dz (11):
4 Quirion Dryad
3 Wall of Blossoms/Wall of Essence
4 Sunscape Familiar
Spells (27):
4 Mana Leak
4 Daze
2 Foil
4 Gush
4 Brainstorm
4 Blessed Breath
3 Cunning Wish
2 Seal of Cleansing
As the "other person" in question, my maindeck differences are -1 L. Knight +1 Seal of CLeansing, and -1 Worship +1 Isamaru. My sideboard is different, but it's very much a work in progress. At a recent GP Trial, 84 people showed up, 4 of them packing Life. This is a deck that had *never* turned up around here before. At a 120-person PTQ, there could be 6-8 Life players, and I'd hate to be unprepared; like most decks that attack to win, I think this one has a bad game 1 matchup against Life. In my (very) limited testing, it does well against RDW, but you *definitely* want to keep Cursed Scroll off the table.
I agree that Unsummon > Daze. People *will* play around Daze, especially if you bluff that you have it early in the game.
In the mirror, Unsummon effectively reads, "Counter target Roar of the Wurm." Against RDW, it can delay some Firecat beats. Against Desire, it can fizzle a Snap targeting one of their Clouds of Fairies. Against Affinity, it's a cheap answer to their all-in plan. Sure, it's not relevant against decks like Scepter-Chant, but you can't have everything.
4 Careful Study
3 Unsummon
1 Worldly Tutor
4 Circular Logic
2 Intuition
3 Deep ANalysis
3 Roar o' de Wurm
2 Chrome Mox
1 City of Brass
4 Yavimaya Coast
7 Forest
9 Islands
Current sideboard:
4 Naturalize (is it better than Oxidize? Not just against Affinity, obv.)
4 Chill (might go to Chalice for RDW)
4 Powder Keg
1 Krosan Reclamation (vs. Desire)
2 Ambassador Laquatas (vs. Life)
The board is definitely subject to change. I saw enough Desire and Life at a recent GP Trial to think I need some options in those matchups. I can't count on Crumbling Sanctuary against Life, since they play Seal of CLeansing and numerous ways to go fetch it. Ambassador Lackey is something they can't effectively remove (a creature), and he kicks their ha-ha-I-have-854116141515616516841-life plan right in the teeth. Another option was Biorhythm, since one Wonder-fueled attack should win from there, but that costs eleventy thousand mana.
U/G Madness. I have a couple other decks I could build, but I'm familiar with UGM from seasons past. This helps, since I don't really have the time for playtesting that I'd like. Even with my judging commitments, I should be able to play in 3 PTQs and maybe a GP Trial this season. w00t~!
Well, writing "SB" on your sideboard cards -- in addition to being silly from a keeping-your-collection-valuable sense -- could be considered a note. I would consider it one if it happened in one of my events, and penalize accordingly.
Well, there's a slight problem with that.
I don't know the answer. Like I said in my original post, I scoured the CompRules looking for something that would conclusively support one side or the other. I couldn't find anything. My gut is that it will trigger and deal the damage, but that's unsupported. I didn't post it here to play "stump the judge" or anything like that (mostly because I HATE it when people do that); I posted it to see if anyone had found a conclusive answer.
At least I'm not alone in thinking there really is no conclusive answer to this. A lack of definition for "shuffle into" seems to be the key.
You control a Psychogenic Probe. Your opponent targets it with Oblation. Does the Probe trigger and deal 2 damage to you?
Most people have been saying no, since the Probe isn't in play to see itself get shuffled into the library. My thought is that it wouldn't be a "brain teaser" if the answer were as simple as that. I think it DOES trigger, but I've scoured the CompRules and haven't found one specific rule that supports that conclusion (or the other one, for that matter). I've looked at triggered abilities, zone changes, leaving play, etc, and I can't point to a specific rule that clearly says yes it triggers, or no it doesn't.
So now I'm teasing the brains of my fellow judges here.
Psychogenic Probe
{2}
Artifact
Whenever a spell or ability causes a player to shuffle his or her library, Psychogenic Probe deals 2 damage to him or her.
Oblation
{2}{W}
Instant
The owner of target nonland permanent shuffles it into his or her library, then draws two cards.
I'm glad someone mentioned this.
Even if you buy a box of new sleeves before an event, they're going to get wear marks on them thru the course of your games. They'll also build up sweat and oil from your fingers, especially if it's warmer in the store/event hall. In later rounds, there could be a marked cards situation between your maindeck sleeves and sideboard sleeves, since the sideboard ones will be much less worn.
So the solution seems to be playing with an unsleeved sideboard. That's fine, from a rules perspective. My concern here (taking off the judge hat and donning the player helicopter cap for a moment) is a strategic one: your opponent then knows how many cards you're bringing in. With a sleeved sideboard, you can just shuffle all 15 in, then pull out the ones you'd never use in the matchup, plus whatever maindeck cards you're removing in favor of the sideboard cards you're keeping in. That way, your opponent is clueless as to how many cards you actually sideboarded. I suppose you could desleeve 15 cards from your deck (including the ones you want to take out, obv), shuffle them with your sideboard, and put 15 back in, but that seems like a lot of work for the deception value you get.
Only thru shenanigans.
I guess that's matchup-dependent, but I don't think it's true at all. Unsummon has surprise value because you can play it when you need it and foil your opponent's plans. Seal is just sitting there, and while they'll have to play around it for a while, they'll eventually out-draw it.
It hasn't been impressive for me so far.
The Rock looks dead around here. Reanimator, about the same. I think I saw 4 total, between the two, at the 84-person GPT.
The Rock isn't popular here anymore. My sideboard is still very much a work in progress, as I said, so sideboarding for specific matchups is still up in the air (apart from the few which are obvious). Unsummon lets me pre-sideboard against the mirror; I'm considering whether or not I need Submerge also.
Apparently so...
As for only the S/B cards having autographs, I'd still be a stickler and consider that having notes. It's your responsibility as a player to know what goes in your deck and what goes in your sodeboard. If you have a list of your sideboard cards, you can use it *after the match is over* to restore your deck to its regular configuration, as has been pointed out. Anything else seems like an effort to circumvent the rules, which can be a Very Bad Thing.
"Rit" brings up Dark Ritual
"mom" brings up Mind Over Matter, not MOther of Runes.
"Academy" obv brings up Tolarian Academy. Similar things work for the other Saga legendary lands.
"Elves" brings up Llanowar Elves.
I'm sure there are many more.
The first thing I don't like is the Black. I don't think it helps you against bad matchups like RDW. U/G are obviously the core colors, and if you're going to pick up a 3rd, I'd go with White. It gives you Sunscape Familiar, which makes Blue and Green spells cheaper, enabling you to power up your Dryad more quickly. It also gives you ways to protect your Dryad and power it up at the same time.
I also don't like Counterspell because of the UU commitment. Leak seems fine at 1U, and Daze is an obvious inclusion because of its alternate casting cost (which can make Counterspell harder to cast). I think a couple copies of Foil would go well here. It has an ACC, so you can play it "for free" and pump up your Dryad, and it combos well with Gush (which should be a 4-spot).
So, let's work on a list.
d00dz (11):
4 Quirion Dryad
3 Wall of Blossoms/Wall of Essence
4 Sunscape Familiar
Spells (27):
4 Mana Leak
4 Daze
2 Foil
4 Gush
4 Brainstorm
4 Blessed Breath
3 Cunning Wish
2 Seal of Cleansing
Lands (22):
4 Flooded Strand
4 Windswept Heath
7 Island
3 Plains
4 Forest
Relevant Wish targets in your sideboard: Disenchant, Oxidize, Unsummon, Shadow Rift, others as dictated by your metagame.
In the mirror, Unsummon effectively reads, "Counter target Roar of the Wurm." Against RDW, it can delay some Firecat beats. Against Desire, it can fizzle a Snap targeting one of their Clouds of Fairies. Against Affinity, it's a cheap answer to their all-in plan. Sure, it's not relevant against decks like Scepter-Chant, but you can't have everything.
Here's my current list:
4 Basking Rootwalla
4 Wild Mongrel
4 Aquamoeba
1 Merfolk Looter
4 Arrogant Wurm
1 Wonder
4 Careful Study
3 Unsummon
1 Worldly Tutor
4 Circular Logic
2 Intuition
3 Deep ANalysis
3 Roar o' de Wurm
2 Chrome Mox
1 City of Brass
4 Yavimaya Coast
7 Forest
9 Islands
Current sideboard:
4 Naturalize (is it better than Oxidize? Not just against Affinity, obv.)
4 Chill (might go to Chalice for RDW)
4 Powder Keg
1 Krosan Reclamation (vs. Desire)
2 Ambassador Laquatas (vs. Life)
The board is definitely subject to change. I saw enough Desire and Life at a recent GP Trial to think I need some options in those matchups. I can't count on Crumbling Sanctuary against Life, since they play Seal of CLeansing and numerous ways to go fetch it. Ambassador Lackey is something they can't effectively remove (a creature), and he kicks their ha-ha-I-have-854116141515616516841-life plan right in the teeth. Another option was Biorhythm, since one Wonder-fueled attack should win from there, but that costs eleventy thousand mana.