I don't know if it was popular across the pond, but here in the UK I thought Eastern Promises was excellent.

Also, did anyone catch "Michael Clayton"? I'm still wondering about whether to try and watch it or not; I've heard good things about it but that doesn't necessarily mean it's worthwhile.

My thoughts exactly. Definitely keen for this.

Stereophonics - Devil
Lostprophets - To Hell We Ride

That's just 2 sets, though; the Aeneid is Virgil's idea of a 'set' based on the first two.

Though a set based on that would be cool in the extreme. Maybe use Ovid's Metamorphoses too?

Hi all,

As you have no doubt noticed, there hasn't been a 4CB tournament in some time. This is mainly because I never got any entries (I think I had about 3 by the time the tournament was due). At the time, I wasn't in a big hurry to follow this up, as I was very busy then; however, now that I've sat back a bit and thought about it, I just don't think it makes much sense for me to try and run something like this, as I'm just not committed enough to Magic in general, and I don't go on these boards for more than (literally) a few minutes a day. If someone else wants to take over the running of this, that would be great - just PM me or post to let me know; as it is, I'm retiring from running tournaments like these.

Thanks to everyone who's played in the various tournaments of X-card blind for the last year or two, it's been great.

Cheers,
Adam

I'd like to congratulate Naphtali as the winner of 4CB Tournament #3!
This time the powerhouse was the same Preacher deck that took the first tournament - again, a metagame heavy on threats but light on removal meant that the creature-thieving deck did very well! Congratulations!

Banned List:
Strip Mine
Ghost Quarter
Wasteland
The Rack
Trinisphere
Channel
Form of the Dragon
Abandon Hope
Addle
Brain Pry
Blackmail
Cabal Therapy
Duress
Mesmeric Fiend
Meddling Mage
Energy Field
Foil
Force of Will
Show and Tell

Decks:
1.   combo_dude    -    Before and After    -    Black Lotus,   Leonin Squire,   Null Chamber,   Vindicate
2.   meadbert    -    Hand Rape    -    Black Lotus,   Pendelhaven,   Ravenous Rats,   Anvil of Bogardan
3.   r_x_    -    same old, same old...    -    Black Lotus,   Treasure Hunter,   Aura of Silence,   Blood Moon
4.   Naphtali    -    B&B    -    Karakas,   Black Lotus,   Grand Arbiter Augustin IV,   Leyline of Singularity
5.   ReAnimator    -    We are the Knights who say Ni-mbus!    -    Karakas,   Mox Pearl,   Knights of the Holy Nimbus,   Disenchant
6.   Franz Ferdinand    -    God Made Man    -    Black Lotus,   Indentured Djinn,   Contagion,   Unmask
7.   Godder    -    Mangara's Revenge    -    Karakas,   Fountain of Cho,   Mangara of Corondor,   Leyline of Singularity
8.   combo_dude    -    3.5CB    -    Mox Pearl,   Mishra's Factory,   Disenchant   Swords to Plowshares
9.   meadbert    -    Squirrels    -    Black Lotus,   Pendelhaven,   Anurid Scavenger,   Chatter of the Squirrel
10.   Naphtali    -    Bloody Sermon    -    Black Lotus,   Black Lotus,   Preacher,   Blood Moon
11.   ReAnimator    -    Landstill,    -    Gemstone Caverns,   Mishra's Factory,   Chalice of the Void,   Force Spike
12.   Franz Ferdinand    -    Man Made God    -    Black Lotus,   Anurid Scavenger,   Wipe Away,   Ball Lightning
13.   Godder    -    The Rock    -    Black Lotus,   Black Lotus,   Sporesower Thallid,   Deathspore Thallid
14.   Illissius    -    Worse than Force    -    Thran Quarry,   Stormscape Apprentice,   Disrupting Shoal,   Evermind
15.   Nomad    -    Arson    -    Mox Ruby,   Mishra's Factory,   Searing Touch,   Braid of Fire


Results:

      1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   0   1   2   3   4   5 Total Position
1|   X   4   3   3   6   1   2   2   3   6   0   1   3   0   6   40   (9)
2|   1   X   3   1   3   0   2   1   0   0   1   0   0   0   2   14   (15)
3|   3   3   X   1   3   1   2   3   0   3   0   4   3   0   2   28   (12)
4|   3   4   4   X   4   6   1   0   6   3   2   4   6   2   3   48   (4)
5|   0   3   3   1   X   0   1   2   0   0   1   0   0   0   6   17   (13)
6|   4   6   4   0   6   X   2   4   3   6   4   3   0   2   6   50   (3)
7|   2   2   2   4   4   2   X   2   6   0   6   6   6   6   0   48   (4)
8|   2   4   3   6   2   1   2   X   2   6   1   6   0   0   6   41   (8)
9|   3   6   6   0   6   3   0   2   X   0   6   0   0   2   6   40   (9)
0|   0   6   3   3   6   0   6   0   6   X   6   6   6   6   2   56   (1)
1|   6   4   6   2   4   1   0   4   0   0   X   6   3   4   4   44   (7)
2|   4   6   1   1   6   3   0   0   6   0   0   X   6   0   6   39   (11)
3|   3   6   3   0   6   6   0   6   6   0   3   0   X   0   6   45   (6)
4|   6   6   6   2   6   2   0   6   2   0   1   6   6   X   6   55   (2)
5|   0   2   2   3   0   0   6   0   0   2   1   0   0   0   X   16   (14)

Back to the pattern of the first tournament again here: lots of threats meant that decks with carefully chosen removal (like Preacher) did well, whilst decks with less carefully chosen removal (like my two decks) did not! The Shoal deck showed why Force is banned - here, a card that is genuinely useless except as a conjunct to the Shoal was there instead of something useful that could accompany Force, and it still finished just a point off the top! Not a lot new here, though, apart from that - some interesting new ideas thrown up for Scavenger decks, and the Unmask/Contagion trick is a very useful one, but other than that a fairly standard mix. Interestingly, I feel the Stuffy Doll deck or Grim Power may have done pretty well here, given the lack of removal (though I haven't calculated it); maybe not, though, as there was a fair bit of anti-Lotus stuff floating around.

For next week: Same Again!

Rules:

Basic Rules

- Your deck is composed of 4 cards, all of which start in your hand.
- Your deck has no sideboard.
- You don't lose as a result of not being able to draw a card.
- You can see your opponent's hand, so you can always make the best possible play.
- Your random effects always go in your opponent's favor.
- All other rules of Magic remain unchanged, unless otherwise stated.

Tournament Rules

- All matches are played out by the moderator (participants only submit the decks).
- Tournaments are run in round-robin fashion.
- Each matchup consists of 2 games, with each deck going first once.
- Participants earn 3 points if their deck wins a game, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss; thus, over the course of a match, you can earn 6, 4, 3, 2, 1, or 0 points.

Deck-Building Rules

- You may not submit a deck that can win before the end of your opponent's first turn.
- You may not submit a deck that can force an opponent to discard more than 1 card in one turn.
- You may not submit a deck that can generate infinite (or an arbitrarily large amount of) mana on the first turn.
- Your deck may not include Unglued or Unhinged cards, ante cards, Garfield event cards (such as Splendid Genesis or Proposal), or 1996 World Champion.
- You may not include a card that appears on the 4CB Banned List.

Banned List:
Strip Mine
Ghost Quarter
Wasteland
The Rack
Trinisphere
Channel
Form of the Dragon
Abandon Hope
Addle
Brain Pry
Blackmail
Cabal Therapy
Duress
Mesmeric Fiend
Meddling Mage
Energy Field
Foil
Force of Will
Show and Tell
Smallpox <---------- NEW ADDITION

Preferred Submission Format: (Use [] instead of <>)

Subject: 4CB #??
YourName
DeckName
Card1
Card2
Card3
Card4

The date for closing entries will be the 9th November - two weeks from today. This tournament will almost certainly run late, as that's right in the middle of a play that I'm heavily involved in, but hopefully I'll be able to get them done.

Thanks,
Adam

Hopefully they'll be up today...not sure what the great rush is, as unlike usual I'm not late with them yet...

Adam

Second decks are being accepted; more players' first decks would be even more welcome, though!

Adam

"Resurrection", by PPK - from the "Very Best of Euphoria" album (mixed by Matt Darey). Massive tune.

TAL: It's similar to regular Magic - you unban everything and all the decks win (or become unassailable) on turn one. So they all go 3-3 with each other. Not a lot of fun. It may be possible to make the list smaller, but I really think some cards are just too abusive. For example, I don't think there is a single deck that can beat Lotus-Balance-The Rack when that deck is on the play; any deck that is at least 3-3 with everything is just a bit pointless.

Adam

The reason that the Magma Mine deck beats you (I'm about to go to bed so I'll check the others tomorrow, though it looks right at the moment) is that it can create a lot of mana and use the mana to remove counters from Jinxed Choker; if it does that, you'll eventually have to sac the Chasm, at which stage the Mine goes boom.

Adam

They all look OK - I forgot the Smallpox stops him from winning too. Will change them tomorrow.

As for Restore Balance, now that I think about it I think it should go: Balance isn't on the Banned List because it can force multiple discard, so I think that all cards that use the same mechanic also have to go.

Adam

I'd like to congratulate keys as the winner of 4CB Tournament #3!
Smallpox showed its power already this tournament, taking the top two slots - in fact, it's probably going to be banned - but some excellent interactions in the winning deck nonetheless! Well done!

Banned List:
Strip Mine
Ghost Quarter
Wasteland
The Rack
Trinisphere
Channel
Form of the Dragon
Abandon Hope
Addle
Brain Pry
Blackmail
Cabal Therapy
Duress
Mesmeric Fiend
Meddling Mage
Energy Field
Foil
Force of Will
Show and Tell

Decks:
1.   combo_dude    -    Ol' Black Magic    -    Mox Jet,   Mishra's Factory,   Nezumi Shortfang,   Diabolic Edict
2.   Franz Ferdinand    -    NO KRAKENS    -    Undiscovered Paradise,   Greater Gargadon,   Restore Balance,   Encroach
3.   Naphtali    -    Disease and Distress    -    Peat Bog,   Chalice of the Void,   Scalding Tongs,   Smallpox
4.   Cross    -    Grim Combo    -    Saprazzan Skerry,   Grim Monolith,   Power Artifact,   Magma Mine
5.   ReAnimator    -    Maybe it should be coretapper    -    City of Traitors,   Chalice of the Void,   Soldevi Sentry,   Umezawa's Jitte
6.   Godder    -    The Starke Reality    -    Dwarven Hold,   Starke of Rath,   Karakas,   Leyline of Singularity
7.   Illissius    -    StuffIt    -    Mishra's Workshop,   Black Lotus,   Stuffy Doll,   Guilty Conscience
8.   Scrappy Kid    -    My Skies, Part 2    -    Mox Sapphire,   Mishra's Factory,   Spiketail Hatchling,   Spiketail Hatchling
9.   combo_dude    -    (no name)    -    Black Lotus,   City of Traitors,   Meloku, The Clouded Mirror,   Chalice of the Void
10.   Franz Ferdinand    -    Cleveland Steamer    -    Orzhov Basilica,   Mishra's Factory,   Nezumi Shortfang,   Vindicate
11.   Illissius    -    Caverns-Go    -    Tropical Island,   Gemstone Caverns,   Vitality Charm,   Force Spike
12.   Scrappy Kid    -    Goldfish Bowl    -    Black Lotus,   Black Lotus,   Stuffy Doll,   Guilty Conscience
13.   parallax    -    Jinxed!    -    Mishra's Workshop,   Glacial Chasm,   Jinxed Choker,   Crucible of Worlds
14.   keys    -    pox n pets    -    Black Lotus,   Simic Sky Swallower,   Reanimate,   Smallpox
15.   Godder    -    Mangara's Revenge    -    Fountain of Cho,   Mangara of Corondor,   Karakas,   Leyline of Singularity

Results:

      1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   0   1   2   3   4   5 Total Position
1|   X   3   1   6   3   2   6   4   3   4   6   6   0   2   2   48   (3)
2|   3   X   3   3   3   6   3   3   3   6   6   0   3   0   6   48   (3)
3|   4   3   X   6   6   6   3   3   4   4   1   3   0   4   6   54   (2)
4|   0   3   0   X   6   6   0   0   2   3   0   0   6   0   6   32   (13)
5|   3   3   0   0   X   0   3   3   4   0   2   3   0   3   0   24   (15)
6|   2   0   0   0   6   X   6   6   6   0   6   6   6   0   2   46   (6)
7|   0   3   3   6   3   0   X   3   3   6   6   3   3   0   0   39   (8)
8|   1   3   3   6   3   0   3   X   3   0   6   3   3   3   0   37   (10)
9|   3   3   1   2   1   0   3   3   X   0   6   3   0   3   0   28   (14)
0|   1   0   1   3   6   6   0   6   6   X   6   0   6   0   6   47   (5)
1|   0   0   4   6   2   0   6   0   0   0   X   6   6   6   0   36   (11)
2|   0   6   3   6   3   0   3   3   3   6   0   X   3   0   0   36   (11)
3|   6   3   6   0   6   0   3   3   6   0   0   3   X   3   0   39   (8)
4|   2   6   1   6   3   6   6   3   3   6   0   6   3   X   6   57   (1)
5|   2   0   0   0   6   2   6   6   6   0   6   6   6   0   X   46   (6)

Well, it's a shame that there weren't enough entrants to keep it to one deck each, but there were still plenty of interesting decks around! As mentioned above I don't think Smallpox is going to stay legal - it's just got too much power behind it for a two-mana card, even with two coloured mana; given two entirely different decks took the top two slots by a distance with completely different Smallpox tricks, I think that's testament to its power. I like the Stuffy Doll combo that two people came up with, which is a new benchmark for decks, as it's the fastest legal deck out there. One thing that interested me was the large number of Chalice decks running around, which is why the deck based on Suspend cards didn't run so well (and, incidentally, why my second creation was able to avoid the wooden spoon for the fortnight - Chalice for 2 on the play cut out a surprising number of decks' game plans!).

Apologies for not putting results up sooner, I had a few personal things that had to be dealt with last night and hence I didn't log on until now.

For next week: Same Again!

Rules:

Basic Rules

- Your deck is composed of 4 cards, all of which start in your hand.
- Your deck has no sideboard.
- You don't lose as a result of not being able to draw a card.
- You can see your opponent's hand, so you can always make the best possible play.
- Your random effects always go in your opponent's favor.
- All other rules of Magic remain unchanged, unless otherwise stated.

Tournament Rules

- All matches are played out by the moderator (participants only submit the decks).
- Tournaments are run in round-robin fashion.
- Each matchup consists of 2 games, with each deck going first once.
- Participants earn 3 points if their deck wins a game, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss; thus, over the course of a match, you can earn 6, 4, 3, 2, 1, or 0 points.

Deck-Building Rules

- You may not submit a deck that can win before the end of your opponent's first turn.
- You may not submit a deck that can force an opponent to discard more than 1 card in one turn.
- You may not submit a deck that can generate infinite (or an arbitrarily large amount of) mana on the first turn.
- Your deck may not include Unglued or Unhinged cards, ante cards, Garfield event cards (such as Splendid Genesis or Proposal), or 1996 World Champion.
- You may not include a card that appears on the 4CB Banned List.

Banned List:
Strip Mine
Ghost Quarter
Wasteland
The Rack
Trinisphere
Channel
Form of the Dragon
Abandon Hope
Addle
Brain Pry
Blackmail
Cabal Therapy
Duress
Mesmeric Fiend
Meddling Mage
Energy Field
Foil
Force of Will
Show and Tell
Smallpox <---------- NEW ADDITION

Preferred Submission Format: (Use [] instead of <>)

Subject: 4CB #??
YourName
DeckName
Card1
Card2
Card3
Card4

The date for closing entries will be the 26th October - two weeks from today. I'd normally just shorten this tournament to ten days, but on Sunday 22nd I'm getting baptised at my church, and to be honest I doubt I'll go on TMD that day; as such I may as well make it two weeks from now.

Thanks,
Adam

Still not enough decks, hence no results today...come on guys! I know I've been a bit lax as far as running these goes, but a few more decks would be good. If people want to submit second decks, go for it. I'll put them up no later than Wednesday, regardless of turnout.

Adam

Why not:

Gemstone Caverns
(random card to remove)
Dark Ritual
Dark Ritual
Entomb
Necromancy
Skeletal Scrying

...and then cast Scrying with the Dragon loop on the stack and a lot of colourless mana, removing Ritual x2 and Entomb and drawing into Divergent Growth, Ghitu Fire, and Elvish Spirit Guide? That way, you use ESG to create G, which you use to cast Growth, which allows you to tap Cavern for R, and boom.

Sorry for not replying to this sooner - I've been incredibly busy running the freshers' stuff at uni for the last week, I've barely been on TMD at all.

Firstly, a plea for more decks, as I've hardly got any at the moment; the first two tournaments have been really encouraging as far as turnout goes, I'd like that to continue. As for the Hypergenesis issue, now that I think about it, you'd get an Angel - if the opponent does nothing, then you can target the same Angel with each destroy effect, whilst if there are any targets, both Angels are destroyed. I'll take another look at the results.

Lastly, with Leylines, unless someone can provide a convincing reason why I shouldn't (as the issue seems fairly ambiguous), I'll stick with what I've done so far. Maybe the player playing second should be able to decide whether there's a Leyline? Or that each player should assume that the opponent (if it's advantageous to do so) would put the Leyline into play if the opponent was to do nothing?

Adam

Oh yeah, it did...bugger. Ah well. As for the deck, it's fine as long as Angel of Despair isn't the only card you can put in play!

Will check results and revise them accordingly, thanks for finding the ruling.

Adam

I'd like to congratulate combo_dude as the winner of 4CB Tournament #2!
Well, not wishing to blow my own trumpet...but basically everyone was trying to get as much power out of their decks as they could, rather than going for much resilience, so two removal spells shafted the lot of you!

Banned List:
Strip Mine
Ghost Quarter
Wasteland
The Rack
Trinisphere
Channel
Form of the Dragon
Abandon Hope
Addle
Brain Pry
Blackmail
Cabal Therapy
Duress
Mesmeric Fiend
Meddling Mage
Energy Field
Foil
Force of Will
Show and Tell

Decks:

1.   combo_dude    -    3.5CB    -    Mox Pearl,   Mishra's Factory,   Seal of Cleansing,   Swords to Plowshares
2.   Franz Ferdinand    -    Grandmother's Underpants    -    Mox Jet,   Blinkmoth Nexus,   Nezumi Shortfang,   Evil Presence
3.   ZoneSeek    -    The Empire Strikes Back    -    Black Lotus,   Eladamri's Vineyard,   Isochron Scepter,   Lightning Helix
4.   BweeBwee    -    (no name)    -    Black Lotus,   Misguided Rage,   Anurid Scavenger,   Leyline of Singularity
5.   Naphtali    -    Bounce and Bureaucracy    -    Karakas,   Black Lotus,   Grand Arbiter Augustin IV,   Leyline of Singularity
6.   Parallax    -    Jinxed!    -    Mishra's Workshop,   Glacial Chasm,   Jinxed Choker,   Crucible of Worlds
7.   ReAnimator    -    $T4Xz0rz    -    Mishra's Workshop,   Smokestack,   Gods' Eye, Gate to the Reikai,   Crucible of Worlds
8.   Godder    -    The Starke Reality    -    Karakas,   Dwarven Hold,   Starke of Rath,   Leyline of Singularity
9.   Cross    -    Grim Combo    -    Saprazzan Skerry,   Grim Monolith,   Magma Mine,   Power Artifact
10.   Illisius    -    arrr    -    Karakas,   Aether Vial,   Rishadan Brigand,   Leyline of Singularity
11.   Hi-Val    -    My Two Roommates    -    Black Lotus,   Hypergenesis,   Angel of Despair,   Angel of Despair
12.   Scrappy Kid    -    With my Gods Eye closed    -    Mishra's Workshop,   Smokestack,   Gods' Eye, Gate to the Reikai,   Crucible of Worlds

Results:

      1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   0   1   2 Total Position
1|   X   6   6   6   6   6   6   2   6   2   2   6   54   (1)
2|   0   X   0   0   3   6   2   6   6   6   6   2   37   (5)
3|   0   6   X   1   3   6   0   6   0   6   2   0   30   (6)
4|   0   6   4   X   0   6   0   0   6   0   6   0   28   (8)
5|   0   3   3   6   X   3   6   3   6   3   4   6   43   (2)
6|   0   0   0   0   3   X   0   0   6   6   2   0   17   (10)
7|   0   2   6   6   0   6   X   6   3   6   2   2   39   (3)
8|   2   0   0   6   3   6   0   X   0   3   6   0   26   (9)
9|   0   0   6   0   0   0   3   6   X   6   6   3   30   (6)
0|   2   0   0   6   3   0   0   3   0   X   2   0   16   (11)
1|   2   0   2   0   1   2   2   0   0   2   X   2   13   (12)
2|   0   2   6   6   0   6   2   6   3   6   2   X   39   (3)

Firstly, there's a problem with the Leyline mirror matches, as I don't know what the ruling is when both players have a Leyline; since some decks need one (and only one, since more than one kills both of them off) in play, how does this work? I've calculated on the basis that only one will be in play, but I don't know if that's the case.

A small tournament usually lets one of the lower-powered decks win, as there's less junk to push through - most of these decks were good choices, but they didn't have any slack in them - which meant that while against similar decks they would both try and power through, against decks like the top two, they just shut down because they couldn't get things to work! I liked the idea behind Hi-Val's deck - the main problem wasn't its lack of speed (though that came up occasionally), but was the fact that if the opponent did nothing, his Angel of Despair would have to target itself! Perhaps Akroma/AoD would be a better combination? Also, kudos to Scrappy Kid and ReAnimator for making (almost) strictly better versions of my deck from last week!

For next week: Same Again!

Rules:

Basic Rules

- Your deck is composed of 4 cards, all of which start in your hand.
- Your deck has no sideboard.
- You don't lose as a result of not being able to draw a card.
- You can see your opponent's hand, so you can always make the best possible play.
- Your random effects always go in your opponent's favor.
- All other rules of Magic remain unchanged, unless otherwise stated.

Tournament Rules

- All matches are played out by the moderator (participants only submit the decks).
- Tournaments are run in round-robin fashion.
- Each matchup consists of 2 games, with each deck going first once.
- Participants earn 3 points if their deck wins a game, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss; thus, over the course of a match, you can earn 6, 4, 3, 2, 1, or 0 points.

Deck-Building Rules

- You may not submit a deck that can win before the end of your opponent's first turn.
- You may not submit a deck that can force an opponent to discard more than 1 card in one turn.
- You may not submit a deck that can generate infinite (or an arbitrarily large amount of) mana on the first turn.
- Your deck may not include Unglued or Unhinged cards, ante cards, Garfield event cards (such as Splendid Genesis or Proposal), or 1996 World Champion.
- You may not include a card that appears on the 4CB Banned List.

Banned List:
Strip Mine
Ghost Quarter
Wasteland
The Rack
Trinisphere
Channel
Form of the Dragon
Abandon Hope
Addle
Brain Pry
Blackmail
Cabal Therapy
Duress
Mesmeric Fiend
Meddling Mage
Energy Field
Foil
Force of Will
Show and Tell

Preferred Submission Format: (Use [] instead of <>)

Subject: 4CB #??
YourName
DeckName
Card1
Card2
Card3
Card4

The date for closing entries will be the 7th October - from now on, they're every two weeks. Time Spiral is fine for this tournament.

Thanks,
Adam

No, that looks good - I didn't realise Parallax's trick worked, so I thought that 6 damage was enough to manage it. Sorry for the large number of errors, it'll improve!

This, of course, makes Choker decks fairly ridiculous in the circumstances, so if it dominates another couple of tournaments something will have to go - agreed?

More decks would be good, not that many at the moment! Sorry I haven't been active for a while, there just really hasn't been much time. I'll try and be better organised for this lot in the future.

Adam

PS in the next tournament, Time Spiral will be legal, but if I get sent a ridiculous deck, don't expect it to survive even one tournament!

I'd like to congratulate Naphtali as the winner of 4CB Tournament #1!
The first tournament has now been and gone, so it was anyone's guess what would take it down - the lack of disruption in any form apart from the Karakas/Leyline combination meant that the Blood Moon deck powered by two Loti did very well for itself! Well done!

Banned List:
Strip Mine
Ghost Quarter
Wasteland
The Rack
Trinisphere
Channel
Form of the Dragon
Abandon Hope
Addle
Brain Pry
Blackmail
Cabal Therapy
Duress
Mesmeric Fiend
Meddling Mage
Energy Field
Foil
Force of Will
Show and Tell

Decks:
1.   combo_dude    -    The Engine Room    -    Gods' Eye, Gate to the Reikai,   Sol Ring,   Dust Bowl,   Crucible of Worlds
2.   Cross    -    (no name)    -    Mishra's Workshop,   Sun Droplet,   Ensnaring Bridge,   Barbed Wire
3.   ReAnimator    -    Leveler and Friends!    -    Black Lotus,   Leonin Squire,   Leonin Squire,   Leveler
4.   Naphtali    -    (no name)    -    Black Lotus,   Black Lotus,   Preacher,   Blood Moon
5.   Hi-Val    -    Burnfor1.dec    -    Black Lotus,   Black Lotus,   Phantom Warrior,   Island Sanctuary
6.   Franz Ferdinand    -    5 Beasts and a Baby    -    Black Lotus,   Black Lotus,   Leonin Squire,   Hunting Pack
7.   Rock Lee    -    There can only be one    -    Karakas,   Eiganjo Castle,   Isamaru, Hound of Konda,   Leyline of Singularity
8.   Harlequin    -    Flippin' the bird    -    Black Lotus,   Lion's Eye Diamond,   Erayo, Soratami Ascendant,   Roar of the Wurm
9.   Norm4eva    -    1.21 jigajiga.dec    -    Lion's Eye Diamond,   Lion's Eye Diamond,   Arrogant Wurm,   Arrogant Wurm
10.   Godder    -    The Starke Reality    -    Karakas,   Mercadian Bazaar,   Starke of Rath,   Leyline of Singularity
11.   scutakicker    -    Rats!    -    Karakas,   Black Lotus,   Earsplitting Rats,   Leyline of Singularity
12.   Parallax    -    Jinxed!    -    Mishra's Workshop,   Jinxed Choker,   Jinxed Choker,   Glacial Chasm
13.   Virtual    -    Lock, Shop and 2 Smoking Barrels    -    Mishra's Workshop,   Jinxed Choker,   Chalice of the Void,   Glacial Chasm
14.   Illisius    -    Vial Ninjas    -    Karakas,   Aether Vial,   Rishadan Brigand,   Leyline of Singularity
15.   Matt    -    Nosebleed    -    Black Lotus,   Mountain,   Hypnotic Specter,   Chaos Charm
16.   BweeBwee    -    Amusing and Amazing    -    Black Lotus,   Sheltered Valley,   Lavaborn Muse,   Maze of Ith

Results:

      1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   0   1   2   3   4   5   6 Total Position
1|   X   6   0   0   0   0   0   2   0   6   2   6   3   0   3   0   28   (13)
2|   0   X   6   1   6   6   6   1   6   0   2   0   6   0   2   0   42   (7)
3|   6   0   X   0   0   0   0   3   6   0   0   3   3   0   6   0   27   (14)
4|   6   4   6   X   2   0   6   3   4   6   3   6   6   2   6   6   66   (1)
5|   6   0   6   2   X   6   2   4   6   2   4   0   0   0   0   0   38   (11)
6|   6   0   6   6   0   X   0   3   6   0   0   3   3   0   3   6   42   (7)
7|   6   0   6   0   2   6   X   4   6   0   6   0   0   3   6   2   47   (5)
8|   2   4   3   3   1   3   1   X   4   2   1   3   3   1   6   1   38   (11)
9|   6   0   0   1   0   0   0   1   X   0   0   0   3   0   6   0   17   (16)
0|   0   6   6   0   2   6   2   2   6   X   2   0   0   3   2   2   39   (10)
1|   2   2   6   3   1   6   0   4   6   2   X   0   0   3   4   2   41   (9)
2|   0   6   3   0   6   3   6   3   6   6   6   X   2   6   3   6   62   (2)
3|   3   0   3   0   6   3   6   3   3   6   6   2   X   6   3   6   56   (4)
4|   6   6   6   2   6   6   3   4   6   3   3   0   0   X   1   6   58   (3)
5|   3   2   0   0   6   3   0   0   0   2   1   3   3   4   X   0   27   (14)
6|   6   6   6   0   6   0   2   4   6   2   2   0   0   0   6   X   46   (6)

Well, I didn't really know what to expect, so seeing lots of Lotus decks doesn't really surprise me - being able to play two of them and have options is definitely powerful, especially when there's so little disruption around. My own choice was a deck I came up with ages ago, and it's usually a solid performer - however, I came up with it before Leyline came out, and one rather irritating facet of Leyline is that even after Dust Bowl-ing Karakas I can't build up a token army the way I can against any other deck, as they're all Legendary! It was a shame that Matt's deck didn't do better - the "random effects go in your opponent's favour" really hurts with Specter. Hopefully there'll be a move towards disruption-based decks next week given how well the disruptive decks did this week (Preacher, Karakas, and Glacial Chasm took up almost the entire top half!), but let's wait and see! A great first turnout!

For next week: Same Again!

Rules:

Basic Rules

- Your deck is composed of 4 cards, all of which start in your hand.
- Your deck has no sideboard.
- You don't lose as a result of not being able to draw a card.
- You can see your opponent's hand, so you can always make the best possible play.
- Your random effects always go in your opponent's favor.
- All other rules of Magic remain unchanged, unless otherwise stated.

Tournament Rules

- All matches are played out by the moderator (participants only submit the decks).
- Tournaments are run in round-robin fashion.
- Each matchup consists of 2 games, with each deck going first once.
- Participants earn 3 points if their deck wins a game, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss; thus, over the course of a match, you can earn 6, 4, 3, 2, 1, or 0 points.

Deck-Building Rules

- You may not submit a deck that can win before the end of your opponent's first turn.
- You may not submit a deck that can force an opponent to discard more than 1 card in one turn.
- You may not submit a deck that can generate infinite (or an arbitrarily large amount of) mana on the first turn.
- Your deck may not include Unglued or Unhinged cards, ante cards, Garfield event cards (such as Splendid Genesis or Proposal), or 1996 World Champion.
- You may not include a card that appears on the 4CB Banned List.

Banned List:
Strip Mine
Ghost Quarter
Wasteland
The Rack
Trinisphere
Channel
Form of the Dragon
Abandon Hope
Addle
Brain Pry
Blackmail
Cabal Therapy
Duress
Mesmeric Fiend
Meddling Mage
Energy Field
Foil
Force of Will
Show and Tell

(This is subject to change, as I haven't looked hard enough at Coldsnap and Ravnica block for 4CB purposes.)

Preferred Submission Format: (Use [] instead of <>)

Subject: 4CB #??
YourName
DeckName
Card1
Card2
Card3
Card4

The date for closing entries will be the 22nd September - this one runs for a bit over two weeks, then it'll be fortnightly as usual.

Please post any corrections or discussion, though bear in mind I'm away for the next week and may not be online for 10 days or so, so don't expect corrections to be edited into this post any time soon. Oh, and no Time Spiral for this tournament.

Thanks,
Adam

Hi guys,

These results will go up on Wednesday - normally I'd put them up next Sunday (just over a week from now) but I'm going away for a week early Thursday morning. This means that this tournament will run for 2 and a half weeks, as will the next one - after that it's every fortnight. Just so people know what's going on.

A few more decks would be good, I've got a decent number but more never hurt!

Adam

Basically, because none of them are as good as Duress! Ostracize takes creatures - fine, but why not use StP instead? Encroach will only work on the play, and even then only against the part of the field that doesn't use Lotus or basic lands; Coercion is more dangerous, but I don't think it's a big threat because it needs Lotus to back it up. Lotus-Coercion-Scavenger is very dangerous in 3CB, but not only is there another card to stop this loop available here, but it's a 3-card combo that doesn't really co-ordinate with another card in the deck. However, a deck like Factory, Jet, Shortfang, Duress is seriously dangerous, as Duress can either take the removal for the Shortfang to mop up, or take a key combo card.

Adam

I always had Mind Swords on the banned list under the multi-discard rule - it comes to the same thing, all told! It's also a way to make sure the truly lethal 4CB deck of Lotus, Lotus, Anurid Scavenger, Parallax Nexus doesn't work.

Also, I think I won the first Lotus format with Lotus-Horobi-Urborg, but hey.

Adam

Foil is banned because the deck Island-Foil-Hollow Trees-Crush of Wurms - or alternatively Island-Foil-Dwarven Hold-Flaming Gambit - is very powerful; unlike 3CB, you can counter any spell and still be able to win under your own steam.

As for multiple decks, I'd hope that for at least the early tournaments, they won't be necessary - but I'll post if I'm looking for them.

Adam

Hi all - I'm back, which means it's time to follow up on my earlier post: Welcome to the very first TMD 4 Card Blind tournament!

This is the rule set that my brother, wonkey_donkey, had whilst moderating 4CB at mtgsalvation.com - this seemed to work well enough.

Rules:

Basic Rules

- Your deck is composed of 4 cards, all of which start in your hand.
- Your deck has no sideboard.
- You don't lose as a result of not being able to draw a card.
- You can see your opponent's hand, so you can always make the best possible play.
- Your random effects always go in your opponent's favor.
- All other rules of Magic remain unchanged, unless otherwise stated.

Tournament Rules

- All matches are played out by the moderator (participants only submit the decks).
- Tournaments are run in round-robin fashion.
- Each matchup consists of 2 games, with each deck going first once.
- Participants earn 3 points if their deck wins a game, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss; thus, over the course of a match, you can earn 6, 4, 3, 2, 1, or 0 points.

Deck-Building Rules

- You may not submit a deck that can win before the end of your opponent's first turn.
- You may not submit a deck that can force an opponent to discard more than 1 card in one turn.
- You may not submit a deck that can generate infinite (or an arbitrarily large amount of) mana on the first turn.
- Your deck may not include Unglued or Unhinged cards, ante cards, Garfield event cards (such as Splendid Genesis or Proposal), or 1996 World Champion.
- You may not include a card that appears on the 4CB Banned List.

Banned List:
Strip Mine
Ghost Quarter
Wasteland
The Rack
Trinisphere
Channel
Form of the Dragon
Abandon Hope
Addle
Brain Pry
Blackmail
Cabal Therapy
Duress
Mesmeric Fiend
Meddling Mage
Energy Field
Foil
Force of Will
Show and Tell

(This is subject to change, as I haven't looked hard enough at Coldsnap and Ravnica block for 4CB purposes.)

Preferred Submission Format: (Use [] instead of <>)

Subject: 4CB #??
YourName
DeckName
<card>Card1</card>
<card>Card2</card>
<card>Card3</card>
<card>Card4</card>


(Of course, this submission assumes the card tags are working in some way now - since I've been away, I don't know if they've been fixed - but if they aren't, just send me card names.)

The closing point for entries will not be settled yet - in order to fit with 3CB, I will publish these a week after the next 3CB results are published. This will probably be early next week.

Please check the banned list closely before you send me anything - I hope you enjoy this!

Cheers,
Adam

Not so - it also makes a mess of Mishra's Factory decks, which is - more often than not - a pretty big chunk of the tournament. However, it's usually not worth it, as Duress is usually just better.

OK, I'll edit the banned list.

Also, Godder - if there are any results that need changing, as you're a mod and I'm not going to be around, can you edit my results posting?

Adam

I'd like to congratulate ReAnimator as the winner of 3CB Tournament #82!
Another good turnout, and the old standby deck taking the tournament - an altogether slightly slower format than usual, with far fewer Loti than have been seen of late, which allowed the deck that can sit there and win late possibly better than any other to take down my last tournament as 3CB moderator! Well done!

Banned list:
Portal (in ALL its forms)
Unglued AND UNHINGED
[card]Form of the Dragon[/card]
[card]Mesmeric Fiend[/card]
[card]Nezumi Shortfang[/card]
[card]Blackmail[/card]
[card]Ghost Quarter[/card]
[card]Cabal Therapy[/card]
[card]Abandon Hope[/card]
[card]Nullstone Gargoyle[/card]
[card]Coercion[/card]
[card]Strip Mine[/card]
[card]Wasteland[/card]
[card]The Rack[/card]
[card]Balance[/card]
[card]Meddling Mage[/card]
[card]Pulse of the Dross[/card]
[card]Leonin Squire[/card]
[card]Show and Tell[/card]
[card]Misguided Rage[/card]
[card]Abandon Hope[/card]
[card]Glacial Chasm[/card]
All decks that can force mass-discard
All decks that can goldfish on turn 1

Decks:

1.   combo_dude    -    Dig Dig Dig Dig Dig    -    Black Lotus,   Glowrider,   Treasure Hunter
2.   BweeBwee    -    EVIL!!!    -    Bayou,   Thallid,   Evil Presence
3.   wonkey_donkey    -    <3 sphere    -    Mishra's Workshop,   Steel Golem,   Trinisphere
4.   Moonkeeper    -    The Lone Apprentice    -    Underground Sea,   Stormscape Apprentice,   Vendetta
5.   Naphtali    -    Watch the Tail    -    Mox Sapphire,   Mishra's Factory,   Spiketail Hatchling
6.   Franz Ferdinand    -    Down in the Assless Chaps    -    Volcanic Island,   Roc Hatchling,   Daze
7.   ReAnimator    -    (no name)    -    Sand Silos,   Darksteel Reactor,   Energy Field
8.   Cross    -    Blue experiment    -    Mox Sapphire,   Mishra's Factory,   Spiketail Hatchling
9.   parallax    -    Snakes in a tree    -    Hollow Trees,   Sakura-Tribe Springcaller,   The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
10.   Godder    -    Down in the Swamp    -    Bayou,   Thallid,   Duress
11.   combo_dude    -    Black Maria    -    Black Lotus,   Horobi, Death's Wail,   Urborg
12.   BweeBwee    -    Revenge of the Nerds    -    Orzhov Basilica,   Mishra's Factory,   Vindicate
13.   Moonkeeper    -    The Death of the Predator    -    Black Lotus,   Hunted Horror,   Despotic Scepter
14.   Naphtali    -    The Crush    -    Hollow Trees,   Crush of Wurms,   Maze of Ith
15.   ReAnimator    -    woefully slow    -    Sand Silos,   Empress Galina,   Leyline of Singularity
16.   Godder    -    Zzzap!    -    Black Lotus,   Anurid Scavenger   Arc Lightning
17.   parallax    -    Mono-Black Control    -    Bottomless Vault,   Visara the Dreadful,   Evil Presence
18.   Franz Ferdinand    -    Final Justice    -    Mishra's Workshop,   Steel Golem,   Trinisphere

Results:

      1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   0   1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8 Total Position
1|   X   6   1   2   0   1   0   0   0   3   3   2   3   6   6   4   6   1   44   (14)
2|   0   X   0   0   3   6   6   3   6   2   0   6   0   6   6   0   6   0   50   (11)
3|   4   6   X   6   3   6   0   3   0   6   3   0   3   0   0   6   3   2   51   (9)
4|   2   6   0   X   0   0   6   0   2   0   0   0   0   0   6   0   0   0   22   (18)
5|   6   3   3   6   X   3   0   2   2   3   3   2   3   0   6   3   0   3   48   (12)
6|   4   0   0   6   3   X   0   3   6   0   3   6   3   0   0   3   0   0   37   (15)
7|   6   0   6   0   6   6   X   6   6   0   6   0   3   6   6   6   0   6   69   (1)
8|   6   3   3   6   2   3   0   X   2   3   3   2   3   0   6   3   0   3   48   (12)
9|   6   0   6   2   2   0   0   2   X   0   0   0   6   0   0   6   0   6   36   (16)
0|   3   2   0   6   3   6   6   3   6   X   3   6   3   6   0   3   0   0   56   (6)
1|   3   6   3   6   3   3   0   3   6   3   X   0   6   0   6   1   6   3   58   (5)
2|   2   0   6   6   2   0   6   2   6   0   6   X   6   2   6   0   3   6   59   (4)
3|   3   6   3   6   3   3   3   3   0   3   0   0   X   0   6   6   6   3   54   (7)
4|   0   0   6   6   6   6   0   6   6   0   6   2   6   X   6   0   0   6   62   (3)
5|   0   0   6   0   0   6   0   0   6   6   0   0   0   0   X   0   0   6   30   (17)
6|   1   6   0   6   3   3   0   3   0   3   4   6   0   6   6   X   6   0   53   (8)
7|   0   0   3   6   6   6   6   6   6   6   0   3   0   6   6   0   X   3   63   (2)
8|   4   6   2   6   3   6   0   3   0   6   3   0   3   0   0   6   3   X   51   (9)

Well, it's my last tournament running this, and in some ways this confirms that I've done the right thing to unban Lotus - all of the top 3 decks ran off storage lands, and a Factory-powered deck took 4th! I think this can safely dispel any fears that it speeds up the format too much! Granted, there wasn't an awful lot of Lotus around this time, but it's still seen a few new decks - the Hunted Horror one is interesting, although I think that it's going to be weaker than decks like Dreadnought or Leveler, which are more vulnerable, but are also balls-to-the-wall and win a turn faster; maybe it would work with Peat Bog and Powder Keg? There's also a surprising lack of Workshop of late, though this may be that it's pretty hard to justify playing it without Trinisphere or Ensnaring Bridge now.

For next week: Same Again!

Banned list:
Portal (in ALL its forms) NOT BANNED ANY MORE!
Unglued AND UNHINGED
[card]Form of the Dragon[/card]
[card]Mesmeric Fiend[/card]
[card]Nezumi Shortfang[/card]
[card]Blackmail[/card]
[card]Ghost Quarter[/card]
[card]Cabal Therapy[/card]
[card]Abandon Hope[/card]
[card]Nullstone Gargoyle[/card]
[card]Coercion[/card]
[card]Strip Mine[/card]
[card]Wasteland[/card]
[card]The Rack[/card]
[card]Balance[/card]
[card]Meddling Mage[/card]
[card]Pulse of the Dross[/card]
[card]Leonin Squire[/card]
[card]Show and Tell[/card]
[card]Misguided Rage[/card]
[card]Abandon Hope[/card]
[card]Glacial Chasm[/card]
[card]Pox[/card] <--- NEW ADDITION
All decks that can force mass-discard
All decks that can goldfish on turn 1



To make an entry, PM your deck to GODDER in the following format:

Subject: 3cb Tournament #83 Entry or 3cb Tournament#83 Revision
Deck Name
Card #1
Card #2
Card #3

Optional Deck discussion, random sucking up, etc.

Craig - can you post to give a deck deadline? I'm off on holiday for a month now, but I'll be back for the 4CB after that; in a few weeks, there'll be a new X-card-blind tournament running every week on TMD! Coldsnap is legal from here onward.

Well, that's all from me - from now on, Godder's in charge of this. It's been a pleasure, guys.

Thanks,
Adam

Is it just me, or has the Sengir Vampire not been photoshopped AT ALL to produce Putin?

Yes, second decks are being accepted.

Adam