I think that it should be the opposite, and that the last player is forced to counter as a penalty for a low bid.

Looking back through this...why isn't technogeek given the option to counter? Both Reanimator and Polynomial P can pass priority, forcing technogeek to counter the Balance or else everyone dies.

Damn, looks like I still would've gone first even with the SSG/Pyroblast addition...but I suppose it doesn't matter either way.

Haha, I'm really looking forward to seeing the outcome of this one--I think it's a great format, and it's a good thing Jacob seems to have patience enough to deal with me switching around my deck so much.

So, can we send you our stuff for the 7-card round yet? This was a lot of fun, I thought I'd do better.

parallax, do you plan on running a #2? I'm disappointed I missed out.

I'm kind of sick of this format. It's been a few rounds, switching it up for a little more originality would be a breath of fresh air, to me at least.

No lotus is hardly limiting. The primary format for M-L was no lotus, and even here was no lotus until about 10 rounds ago.

Doesn't #8 only get 10 bonus points? It breaks a rule below the card list, so it only gets 10 for Lotus.

myriadgames: How attached are you to Kris Mage? I've been testing Shadow Guildmage in the same spot and it has been just as good without having to pitch cards.

6 (Lotus-Djinn-Contagion-Unmask)
vs.
4 (Karakas-Lotus-Arbiter-Leyline)
Current: 0-6
Should be: 1-4

He wins if he goes first. If I go first, I Unmask the Lotus out of his hand and force a draw.

vs.
8 (Pearl-Factory-Disenchant-STP)
Current: 4-1
Should be: 6-0

Why is this 4-1? Whether or not I go first, I Unmask the STP out and just beat down with Djinn.

vs.
13 (Lotus-Lotus-Sporesower-Deathspore)
Current: 0-6
Should be: 6-0

Wow, this one I really don't get. On the play, I Unmask a Lotus and there is no way he can race me with Deathspore. On the draw, after he drops both of them, I Contagion and hit Deathspore and put a -2/-1 on Sporesower, and he still can't race me with that.

That puts me at 59 points, putting me in first. Still, this deck was actually a bad meta choice, I think, since it kept getting hit by Leyline-Karakas.

12 (Lotus-Scavenger-Wipe Away-Ball Lightning)
vs.
10 (Lotus-Lotus-Preacher-Moon)
Current: 0-6
Should be: 3-3

On the play, I drop Scavenger. If he plays Preacher without playing Moon, I recur Lotus, play it, and pass turn. On his turn, he can either take control of Scavenger, or not--I Wipe Away Preacher at end of turn. Then, on my turn, I recur Lotus. He can play Preacher, but either way I'm going to recur Wipe Away on my next turn and make it unusable.

vs.
11 (Caverns-Factory-Chalice-Spike)
Current: 0-6
Should be: 1-4

On the draw, he plays Chalice and I lose. On the play, I assume he pitches Chalice for Cavern. If he does, he can't tap to animate Factory, or else I drop Scavenger and he loses. If he pitches Factory, he can't win and forces a draw. If he pitches Spike, he can't stop me from playing Scavenger.

Oh, sorry, I hadn't checked the date on the main post and assumed you asked for second decks because there weren't enough and the deadline had passed.

So, are results going up anytime soon?

Lotus, Smallpox, something, can be way too good. Kaesh (from my round) played Corpulent Corpse ftw. Smallpox is just as bad as Pox (which is banned) and is 1 mana cheaper.

I really think Restore Balance deserves banning--I banned it on Magic-League after only one round of legality (I was already planning on banning it and Smallpox, but I wanted to make sure). This round was basically why I banned Restore Balance and Smallpox. Admittedly, though, our rounds are normally without Lotus, so I guess the format is slower.

Me (#10)
vs. #3 - Peat Bog, Chalice, Tongs, Smallpox
Current: 0-6
Suggested: 1-4

On the play:

Me1: Factory
Him1: Peat Bog
Me2: Basilica, returning Factory
Him2: Smallpox. If he plays Tongs, next turn I play Vindicate on his Bog and win through Shortfang. He has no lands, and I can't play anything off Factory alone. Draw.

vs. #15 - Fountain of Cho, Karakas, Leyline, Mangara
Current: 2-2
Suggested: 6-0

Him1: Fountain.
Me1: Factory.
Him2: 1 counter. Karakas.
Me2: Basilica.
Him3: 2 counters.
Me3: Factory. Vindicate on Karakas.
Him4: 3 counters.
Me4: Nezumi Shortfang.
Him5: Play Mangara.

By this time, no matter what permanent he destroys, I still win. This is even better when I'm on the play.

#2 Me (Mine, Baloth, Balance)
vs.
#9 (Mox Sapphire, Sea's Claim, Viscerid Deepwalker)
Current: 0-6
Suggested: 6-0

I don't even need to play Balance. I just drop Baloth into Suspend and that will kill him just as soon, as he can't outrace it.

vs.
#13 (Me. Skerry, Ephemeron, Field)
Current: 2-2
Suggested: 6-0
If Me#2 plays the Field, I just tap Mine after suspending my two threats so that his Skerry will be pitched, sending Field to the graveyard, and Baloth can outrun Ephemeron.

The ten extra points puts me in 3rd, I think.

#13 (Skerry, Ephemeron, Field)
vs.
#5 (Trop, Sky Cutter, Spike)
Current: 2-2
Suggested: 6-0
Ephemeron comes down on turn 6. Even on the play, it still outraces his Cutter because of the lifegain (though I think it does either way). I simply don't play Field, and when Ephemeron comes out of Suspend, I have the mana to pay for Spike.

For Leylines: Assume that the nonactive player always gets what is best for him. If it is better for him to have a Leyline in play, he will know if there is one there already and won't play his. If it is not, he'll either not play his or play his to trigger the Legend rule.

I already have a deck that might get banned from the outset for next round (with TS, of course)...hopefully, combo_dude will post the round soon.

TS is a godsend for XCB. Suspend is so powerful.

I'm fairly sure you can't Stifle any part of Suspend as it seems to stand so far, as it's a static replacement effect.

Chalice for 0 stops this card though, which is definitely a pain...but any deck playing it is unlikely to have Chalice boarded in against it...I see it more in a control deck than combo.

#1:
vs. #10 is 0-6, not 6-0. #1 cannot outrace Steel Golem in any way whatsoever.

#2:
vs. #6 is 2-2, not 3-3. On the play, I drop Honden and Tabernacle. He plays Hunter and then plays Aura of Silence, destroying my Honden, but he cannot pay for Hunter's Tabernacle, resulting in a draw. On the draw, the same happens, except I can't play Honden.

#3:
vs. #6 is 0-6, not 1-4. On the draw, he loses. On the play, no matter what he plays, #6 goes Hunter-Aura and destroys it.

#4:
vs. #7 is 0-6, not 3-3. Thallid can race Atog with spore counters, since Brassman can only attack once.

#5:
vs. #6 is 0-6, not 1-4. See #3 vs. #6. You seem to keep forgetting Aura's second ability.
vs. #11 is 2-2, not 6-0. If he pops Powder Keg for 3, it will kill Golem, too. Unless Golem is already in play, #11 won't play Bridge.
vs. #12 is 0-6, not 3-3. Powder Keg can't ever race Kodama North.
vs. #16/#18 is 2-2, not 0-6. He can pop a Powder Keg for 1, killing Vineyard and forcing a draw.

#6:
vs. #11 is 6-0, not 4-1. See vs. #3, #5, etc. Aura kills Bridge.
vs. #15 is 3-3, not 0-6. On the play, #6 drops Aura and Lotus can't be played.

#7:
vs. #15 is 3-3, not 0-6. On the play, he Duresses Lotus out and wins.

#10:
vs. #17 is 3-3, not 0-6. The formula for the first turn you can play this is CMC+2. Visara takes 8 turns to come out. #10 wins on turn 8.

#11:
vs. #15 is 1-4, not 3-3. On the play, he always drops Bridge first. If he plays Barbed Wire, then #15 just keeps his Lotus + Dust Bowl ready to prevent two. However, if #15 plays Preacher, he will not have the mana to prevent, so it is a draw. On the draw, #15 drops Preacher turn 1, and a turn 1 Bridge will not stop it from doing 1 damage.

#15:
vs. #17 is 6-0, not 2-2. When #17 plays Visara, he just takes it. Simple.

#16/#18:
vs. #17 is 3-3, not 0-6. On the play, it can outrace #17 with mana burn, since it hits once with Village.

#17:
vs. #19 is 0-6, not 6-0. Keg can blow up the Presence, #19 wins the damage race.

I think most of these are correct.

Maybe one. But myself, I'd rather not run the risk. The burn package is probably better to cut first, since Oath is fast enough that its acceleration isn't that useful.

There's no reason NOT to have both STP and Hide/Seek. Hide/Seek is one of your best weapons against Oath.

The 1U Suspend 4 for a 4/4 flier already looks pretty good to me.

Suspend is looking like a hot mechanic for 3cb. Lotus Bloom, meh, but Errant Ephemeron really looks good.

Why would you pull STP? I'd get rid of irrelevant tech pieces first. Pillar can definitely go out for the Seeks.

Demonic Tutor seems like a waste. It wastes a turn, because you are not likely to have more than 3 mana sources. Magma Jet and Enlightened Tutor have worked for me so far, as your card quality is generally the same for most of the cards in the deck.

By the way, I've done -1 Plains -1 Flooded Strand -1 Windswept Heath +1 Badlands +2 Bloodstained Mire.

Also, I'm debating the merits of Darkblast, with this higher splash. It powers up Grimmy and Jotun as well as takes out nuisance X/1s.

Good point about the sole Badlands. I actually hadn't even thought about it with Hide//Seek. I'll take those suggestions into consideration.

Alright, RThomas, Eliminator and myself, regulars on Magic-League (admittedly not the best place for Vintage), have somewhat settled on this as the build we're testing:

//NAME: The Mountains Win Again
// Lands
1 Mountain
1 Plains
4 Plateau
1 Badlands
2 Wooded Foothills
1 Flooded Strand
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Windswept Heath
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
4 Mishra's Factory
// Other Mana
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
// Creatures
4 Goblin Vandal
2 Gorilla Shaman
4 Goblin Welder
2 Kataki, War's Wage
4 Grim Lavamancer
3 Jotun Grunt
// Spells
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Lightning Bolt
4 Magma Jet
//Tech
1 Enlightened Tutor
2 Seal of Cleansing
2 Pyrostatic Pillar
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Hide // Seek
// Sideboard
SB: 3 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 2 Pyroblast
SB: 1 Pyrostatic Pillar
SB: 2 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 1 Seal of Cleansing
SB: 2 Hide // Seek
SB: 4 Duress

Jotun Grunt has mostly replaced Tormod's Crypt in terms of grave hate. We also added a small black splash for Duress, to fight against combo and to replace dead cards against things like Fish. Sorry for posting the full decklist, but I thought this was a significant enough change.

Me versus 1 & 11 should be 4-1s, not 3-3s.

vs. 1:

If I'm on the play, I drop Isamaru and proceed to win.
If I'm on the draw, he plays Funeral Charm. I discard Isamaru, and play Karakas. If he plays Sarcomancy, I bounce the zombie and he dies from the Sarc, so he stays still. If I choose not to put Leyline down, he plays Sarcomancy first and it's a stalemate.

vs. 11:
If I'm on the draw, he plays Chalice for 1. Then, I play Karakas, and if he plays Coretapper, I bounce it.

By the way, if anyone wants to also play 3CB elsewhere, I run it on the forums at Magic-League (you don't need to play there to sign up for the forums). We're a little faster and there are more people, though the general skill level is a little lower.

Am I the only one not seeing Genju red pull its weight? It seems to require too much mana in a land-light deck. My current version right now has these changes from myriadgames' decklist:

SB swap:-3 Pyroblast <--> 1 Goblin Welder 1 Goblin Vandal 1 Swords to Plowshares
-2 Tormod's Crypt -1 Genju of the Spires +3 Jotun Grunt

Jotun Grunt is a powerhouse. This deck needs a beater, and it's much better than something like Jackal Pup.

Seregrauko: I think a third color would seriously damage consistency, more than you think.