3CB #81 Tournament Opening

[combo_dude]

TOURNAMENT OPENING ONLY:

Sorry, I know I said exams are over, but this tournament is bigger than expected! They'll be up tomorrow or Wednesday at the latest.

For next week: Same Again!

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]
[card]Pox[/card] <--- NEW ADDITION
All decks that can force mass-discard
All decks that can goldfish on turn 1

What is 3cb?

3-Card Blind (3CB) is a very unique game. The rules are as follows

Your deck is composed of 3 cards, all of which start in your hand.
You have no library (technically, the library exists, but starts at 0 cards) and no sideboard (Wishes fetch nothing).
Random effects always go in your opponent's favour.
You can see your opponent's hand, so you can always make the best possible play.
You don't lose as a result of not being able to draw a card.
You will play each opponent twice, once going first, once going second.
For each win, you score 3.
For each draw, you score 1.
For each loss, you get nothing.
Other than the aforementioned, EVERYTHING IS HANDLED EXACTLY LIKE A REAL GAME OF MAGIC!

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

Subject: 3cb Tournament #81 Entry or 3cb Tournament#81 Revision
Deck Name
Card #1
Card #2
Card #3

Optional Deck discussion, random sucking up, etc.

Entries close after 2 weeks. Get your entries in by 10th July. Possibly the last Lotus format, though I'm enjoying these - your thoughts?

Thanks,
Adam

[Illissius]

In situations where whoever acts first, loses, but if no one acts, nothing ever happens; what happens? Draw?
For example, if one player (going first) has a Spurnmage Advocate, and the other has a Rakdos and two Lotuses (Lotii?) in their graveyard. Whoever attacks gets their creature killed, and loses.

Also, from the results of the previous 3CB, I gather you can submit more than one deck. What's a reasonable limit for how many? (I assume submitting like ten may be frowned upon.)

[combo_dude]

Players act in the way that is best for them personally. In the given case, neither side attacks, as they'd lose. So neither side attacks, hence it's 2-2. It's the same for the Workshop-Wheel-Bridge deck; if the opponent holds everything, they can't win - and, for most decks, that's the best they can do.

As for deck submissions, in most circumstances (except formats with special rules) feel free to submit two decks - no more than two, though.

Adam

[Anusien]

Is there any card that generates 1 mana for free and attacks?  If not, I broke 4CB with Lotus instead.  (Unless, we're not still on Upwelling mode are we?)

Edit: I'm full of Lotus 4CB decks today.  Organize that.

[BweeBwee]

Mishra's Factory, I guess, but you need another mana source to make that work.

[Godder]

Is there any card that generates 1 mana for free and attacks?  If not, I broke 4CB with Lotus instead.  (Unless, we're not still on Upwelling mode are we?)

Edit: I'm full of Lotus 4CB decks today.  Organize that.

You know, you could do it . Alternatively, I could, but is there any desire on the part of others to play in something like that?

On a more general note, I love the Lotus format, and hope we continue it for a few more weeks yet.

[combo_dude]

I'd be happy to run 4CB stuff - I've not had experience of that in itself, although my brother (wonkey_donkey) ran it weekly on mtgsalvation.com for ages, so I'd pick it up fast enough (I hope), though obviously there'd be mistakes to start with as some of the cards, as well as the whole complicated nature of the format, would be new to me. Also, I wouldn't be happy running both 3 and 4CB - I just wouldn't have the time.

I'm also much preferring the Lotus format - I think I'll keep it going for at least a little while.

Adam

[Anusien]

I had Lotus, Shop, Trinisphere, Phyrexian Warbeast and Lotus, Island, Null Chamber, Mishra's Factory but neither of them work.

[parallax]

Just curious: All decks that can goldfish on turn 1
What decks can do this in 3CB? I can see it being a problem in 4CB, but not in 3CB.

[combo_dude]

I can't think of any 3-card decks that can do that either, but it's a useful safety net to have.

Any more decks would be good - I've got a few already, but more would be great!

Adam

[Illissius]

Players act in the way that is best for them personally. In the given case, neither side attacks, as they'd lose. So neither side attacks, hence it's 2-2. It's the same for the Workshop-Wheel-Bridge deck; if the opponent holds everything, they can't win - and, for most decks, that's the best they can do.

Damn. There goes my Foil - Island - Nether Spirit deck.

[combo_dude]

Yeah - I don't let anyone know that that deck can't win when they send it in to me (with a view to getting them to change it!); it's a mistake people only make once, so I'm prepared to let them suffer once.

[scutakicker]

Yeah - I don't let anyone know that that deck can't win when they send it in to me (with a view to getting them to change it!); it's a mistake people only make once, so I'm prepared to let them suffer once.

I totally submitted Foil/Island/Nether Spirit as one of my decks.  :lol: I'm a little more optimistic about my other entry though...

Banned List Questions
-Leonin Squire, Form of the Dragon and Glacial Chasm all strike me as odd inclusions. I suppose you can do Lotus, Squire, Lotus and then hold a counterspell but that still loses to last week's winner of Woodlot/Wurm/Wurm and loses or fails to beat lots of the other decks. Form of the Dragon can't do anything until turn 9 and should be goldfished by half the decks in the format. Glacial Chasm seems to lack the required support to be broken. I may be completely missing the point on each of these, so tell me if I am (there's probably some horror stories that I haven't heard), but they seem like they could come off the list.

Also--multiple Black Lotuses?

[BweeBwee]

Leonin squire lets people get a 4 drop along with a 2/2, form of the dragon is hard to beat when dropped (If it hadn't been banned, my bazaar, maze, form deck would've done really well), and glacial chasm is pretty broken with mishra's workshop, chasm, jinxed choker.

EDIT: Especially Black lotus, leonin squire, grand arbitrer augustin.

[parallax]

3CB does not have a restricted list. Lotus, Lotus, Form is a rather degenerate deck.

[Illissius]

3CB does not have a restricted list. Lotus, Lotus, Form is a rather degenerate deck.

Form costs 7.

[combo_dude]

The decks that originally broke the named cards were:

Form: Lotus, Show and Tell, Form*
Squire: Lotus, Squire, Null Chamber
Chasm: Workshop, Choker, Chasm

*Yes, I know S&T is banned. Dwarven Hold, Maze of Ith, Form is still very powerful indeed - I saw it in action on mtgsalvation, it's too good (though having said that, it's probably one of the first cards to come off the list if I was taking cards off). Also, Loti (plural) are allowed in the same deck - there's one with Rakdos running around at the moment which is fairly popular.

Adam

[combo_dude]

Apologies for double-post, but no more second decks are being accepted; there are too many different entrants! I've got 15 different players (the cut-off for second decks, though I haven't had to use it for months!), and the tournament will just be too big otherwise for me to finish in time - if you haven't yet entered, then enter, though! Thanks for the great response so far, guys!

Adam

[Anusien]

The decks that originally broke the named cards were:

Form: Lotus, Show and Tell, Form*
Squire: Lotus, Squire, Null Chamber
Chasm: Workshop, Choker, Chasm

*Yes, I know S&T is banned. Dwarven Hold, Maze of Ith, Form is still very powerful indeed - I saw it in action on mtgsalvation, it's too good (though having said that, it's probably one of the first cards to come off the list if I was taking cards off). Also, Loti (plural) are allowed in the same deck - there's one with Rakdos running around at the moment which is fairly popular.

Adam

Unless I'm crazy, Lotus, Squire, Null Chamber does not work...

[Godder]

Unless I'm crazy, Lotus, Squire, Null Chamber does not work...

Play Lotus, sac for WWW. Play Squire for 1W, leaving W in pool. Return Lotus with Squire's ability, play Lotus, sac for WWW, giving WWWW in pool. Play Null Chamber for 3W, which empties pool.

[Anusien]

I was wondering why [card]Squire[/card] was banned.  You mean [card]Leonin Squire[/card] which is an entirely different animal.

[LordHomerCat]

You mean [card]Leonin Squire[/card] which is an entirely different animal.

Did anyone else laugh when they read this? Since Squire is a human, and Leonin Squire... If you intended to make that pun, well, I salute you =]

And I too thought you meant the regular Squire for a minute, which was rather confusing.

[parallax]

Black Lotus, Squire, Archery Training.

So Brokeded!

[scutakicker]

The decks that originally broke the named cards were:

Form: Lotus, Show and Tell, Form*
Squire: Lotus, Squire, Null Chamber
Chasm: Workshop, Choker, Chasm

Fair enough. Even if you banned Null Chamber instead I guess there's still Arbiter. Bazaar/Maze/Form strikes me as very powerful but slow--how would it have done in last week's contest?

The one I really don't get is Chasm--you have to sac a land when it comes into play, so you go shop, choker pass and then choke back and forth while they beat you down? In a few turns you'll be paying more in life to Chasm than either of you would lose to choker. I'm probably missing something though...

[Jacob Orlove]

Choker actually grows just as fast a clasm: +1 life loss on each player's turn (remember, it grows on your eot AND theirs) is the same as two more life on one player's turn. Here's the math:

You: Choker
Them: lose 1 life (19)
You: lose 2 life, Chasm (18)
Them: lose 3 life (16)
You: lose 2 life (16)
Them: lose 5 life (11)
You: lose 4 life (12)
Them: lose 7 life (4)
You: lose 6 life (6)
Them: die

[Illissius]

Apologies for double-post, but no more second decks are being accepted; there are too many different entrants! I've got 15 different players (the cut-off for second decks, though I haven't had to use it for months!), and the tournament will just be too big otherwise for me to finish in time - if you haven't yet entered, then enter, though! Thanks for the great response so far, guys!

Adam

Will the second decks submitted before this announcement still be included?