New alternative format: "One"

[Hi-Val]

The rules of One are simple: All spells in your deck excluding lands must cost 1 mana, no more, no less. This rules out X spells as well. We were talking about this on IRC and it sounded like a lot of fun. The format uses it's own B&R list:

BANNED:
Skullclamp

All else is legal AND UNRESTRICTED. This means LOA, Ancestral, Black Vise, etc. Note that many of these cards are foils to each other.

Post what you feel should be restricted/banned, we'll hammer out a good list.

Interesting strategies:
Flying Men Aggro-control
Artifacts
Burn
Control
Manlands!
Goblins or Elves

[Jacob Orlove]

Oh man, my irc list is gone. 4 clamp was the tech.

I think we should just ban cards, instead of restricting them.

[Nubi]

I think this could indeed be a very funny format, however I agree with Jacob about the ban/restrict rule. Even a single Skullclamp is easily found with 4 enlightened tutor and 4 vampiric tutor, not to mention Steelshaper's Gift.
That's 12 one-cost tutors which will dig up a skullclamp.

[dandan]

Cursed Scroll will be strong, maybe too strong (how hard is it to dump your hand when everything costs 1?)

Myr Servitor will be in most creature decks

Viridian Longbow looks like it might be useful

Stompy looks quite strong, although I can't imagine why you suggested Affinity would be good.

4 Rogue Elephant
4 Ghazban Ogre
4 Skyshroud Elite
4 Granger Guildmage  :lol:
4 Jungle Lion
4 Quirion Ranger
4 Scryb Sprites
4 Wild Dogs

4 Giant Growth
4 Briar Shield
4 Rancor
1 Berserk

1 Pendelhaven
8 Forest
4 Taiga
1 fetchland
1 Stripmine

[Phele]

The Flying Men fishy style deck could be some good.

4 Flying Men
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Ceta Disciple
4 Cloud Sprite
4 Cloud Pirates

4 Curiousity
4 Ligthning Bolt
3 Chain Lightning
4 Unstable Mutation
2 Flood
1 Maze of Ith
1 Ancestral Recall

4 Faerie Conclave
2 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
4 Volcanic Island
4 Flooded Strand
4 Shivan Reef
1 Library of Alexandria

Sideboard:

4 BEB
4 REB
4 Annul
3 Maze of Ith

[Hi-Val]

NOTE: ALL CARDS NOT BANNED ARE ALLOWED AS 4-OFS.

I blame myself for that lack of clarity. Basically it's an experiment and we'll see if it works out. I think 4 Ancestrals is balanced by 4 Vise personally. I was thinking of banning Strip Mine, but hell, all the spells cost 1! Again, it's an experiment. This also leaves out ante cards (no contracts!). Here's some concepts I was thinking of more fully:

-Kowal said he wanted to make a combo deck for this. At your disposal is 4 of: DeCon, Enlightened, Mystical and Vamp, as well as Spoils, Crop Rotation, Academy and Bazaar. A strategy might be to get out a Disciple of the Vault or two and a lot of sac artifacts like Spellbombs and cycle through the deck to deal damage. With Candelabra, Sol Ring and Mana Vault it would be easy to crank the mana.

-There has to be some control deck viable. You'd be pretty much relegated to using Force Spike-style cards, so I would probably run G/B/u for Duress, Innocent Blood, Ghastly Demise, the requisite Ancestrals and Oxidize to deal with Vise.

-A white weenie/burn deck could perform well also, with lots of men, Lightning Bolts and Firestorm.

Also, since you will be dumping your hand quickly, The Rack might even be playable.

[LoA]

I'm trying to find a combo deck in this format too.  Right now, I'm focusing on trying to break Magma Mine, but my current builds are too slow for my taste.

[Alfred]

I could forsee drop of honey being a very good card in controlling decks, along with swords to plowshares. The problem with control decks though, would be a lack of a potent finisher at the 1 drop level: perhaps manlands/burn? Also, force spike would be truely awful, and probably any 1cc counterspell (abjure????) especially when all spells cost 1 mana.

I believe a successful control deck could be focused around these cards:

4x Drop of honey
4x Mystical tutor
4x Mishra's Factory
4x Fastbond
4x Llanowar elite (see question later)
4x Innocent blood
4x Ancestral
4x Brainstorm
4x Vendetta
4x Vampiric Tutor
4x Tropical island
4x Bayou
4x Underground sea
4x Polluted delta
4x Windswept heath

This deck has 8 ways to tutor for the 4 ancestrals, along with fastbond to dump the lands that you should draw. Keep the creatures off your back with the multiple creature kill spells, and win with a massive Elite (if this is allowed of course).

Now for the combo deck:

Mana:
4x Tolarian Academy
4x City of Brass
4x Gemstone Mine
4x Glimmervoid
4x Sol Ring
4x Mana Vault
4x Voltaic Key
4x Candelabra of Tawnos

Draw/search:
4x Ancestral recall
4x Whispers of the Muse (if it is allowed)
4x Serum Visions
4x Vampiric Tutor

Other combo:
4x Chimeric Coils (best X oriented win condition)
4x Berserk
4x Fastbond

This is probably the best combo deck I have tested personally. Whispers of the muse is very useful in this deck I must say. It is really the place where you put all of the extra mana. This deck can win pretty quickly. It all depends on how broken the start is, like ancestral recall drawing lands that can be dumped via fastbond. The problem with this deck is obviously the draw... the mana does not need changing, it gets very retarded very quickly. Any suggestions/comments?

[weyker]

I built a pretty good Green/Black stompy deck for powerless quasi-T1 called "One is all you need". It used:
ESG's, Q. rangers, Rogue Elephants, Ogres and a few Dogs,
3 G.Growth, 4 Rancor, 4 Briar Shield, 1 berserk
3 Worb, 4 duress, 3 d.consult,  
and 3 CIRCLING VULTURES.
I may have had a few paralyze in there too.

Not sure what I'd replace paralyze with since is weak when everyone else's spells are cheap too. Vendetta is proably too much life loss with the defecting critters (ogres and dogs). Maybe Sandstorm, Sicken or Drop of Honey. If you're worried about your critter count then maybe Festering Goblin or Taunting Elf.  

The Vultures were really amazaing as long as you didn't have to cast them too early (and then one in hand can feed another and wild dogs can cycle). Usually the Vultures'  drawback was irrelevant because your opponent would be dead or have removed it long before you run out of creatures in the grave. If they never dealt with your first wave, you should have won already. My wife beat me once with with a rancored and berserked Vulture for 10 in the air when I was just about to stabilize.

I think the format would make the Winter Orbs awful except as anti-cursed scroll/anti-manland measures, you might be able to get a similar effect with strip mines vs. a mana light opponent I suppose. Or if lots of folks play 4 Sol Ring and depend on them, then Oxidize could fill Orb's Role.

If you think mana denial is hopeless, So the Worbs should probably be Scavenger folk or Oxidize if you expect a lot of artifacts (or Lyrist/Emerald Charm for enchantments). This deck can't play scroll because of the rogue elephants and not wanting to play the long game.

Even without Land Grant the deck should be do-able with fetches, bayous, a few basics and B/G painlands.  Losing the Elvish Spirit Guides is a much bigger deal. Dark Ritual doesn't help you cast anything important turn 1. You might be able to get some speed back with elves coming in free with concordant crossroads but you then lose out in critter quality.

Conversely, green/white stompy would get Icatian Javalineer, wax/wane, Plow, the 1cc critter tapper, and if you wanted them, Land Tax and the 1cc pro red and pro black guys. Much less exciting than swinging for 10 in the air though.

Man lands does inded sound like a good idea. I see something like:

4 Strip (why isn't this banned?)
4 Wasteland
4 Rishadan Port
4 Tabernacle at pendrell vale
4 Mishra's Factory
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
4 Treetop Village
4 Quicksand/ Maze of Ith/ Desert
4 Crop rotation (never so good as here)
4 Drop of Honey
4 Fastbond/Exploration
4 Sol Ring
4 Oxidize (for opposing Sol Rings)
+ Forests

[Alfred]

I move for having strip mine banned as well. This card is way too powerful as a 4 of. Almost every deck will run 4x strip mine and probably 4x wasteland, making certain strategies unviable (see my combo list). Also, if anyone wants to playtest some of the decks that they created, just shoot me a PM.

EDIT:

The new combo list:

4x Glimmervoid
4x City of Brass
4x Tolarian Academy
4x Gemstone Mine
4x Berserk
4x Fastbond
4x Whispers of the Muse
4x Chimeric Coils
4x Voltaic Key
4x Candelabra of Tawnos
4x Mana Vault
4x Ancestral Recall
4x Sol Ring
4x Duress
4x Demonic Consultation

I found that you need some way to protect your combo from oxidize/STP. Duress fills this function perfectly. Also, Demonic Consultation seems to fit this deck much better than vampiric, because it gives you what you need immediately and without lifeloss.