3CB #91 Results and Discussion/3CB Tournament #92 (New Year Edition)

[Godder]

I'd like to congratulate Godder as the winner of 3CB Tournament #91 - Christmas Extravaganza! It was another low-ish turnout this time around, but with Christmas approaching, that's not surprising. It's the same format next time as well, but with a different bonus point structure, because this one didn't work as well as I'd hoped.

As an aside, Balance was returned to its original "balancing" order with the most recent erratum, that being Lands, then Hand, then Creatures. Unfortunately, that renders Dodecapod useless against it, because putting it into play is a replacement effect (I also doublechecked in #MTGJudge, where Lee Sharpe confirmed). Can anyone think of a deck that beats Lotus/Balance/The Rack in match, either 4-1 or 6-0?

3CB Tournament #91 Card list:

Mesmeric Fiend
Nezumi Shortfang
Blackmail
Cabal Therapy
Abandon Hope
Pulse of the Dross
Pox
Mind Swords
Smallpox
Coercion
Nullstone Gargoyle
Form of the Dragon
Ghost Quarter
Strip Mine
Wasteland
The Rack
Balance
Glacial Chasm
Trinisphere
Null Chamber
Any deck that can force the discard of more than one card per turn
Any deck that can goldfish on turn 1
Any deck that can't win if the opposition does nothing e.g. Mishra's Workshop, Trinisphere, Wheel of Torture (aka The Mise Prize, given out to decks that score lots of 2-2 draws)

Decks:

1   Lochinvar81   -   Deadliest Sin   -   Black Lotus   Black Lotus   Avarice Totem (Mise Prize)
2   Illissius   -   Suck on my Pinky Finger   -   Black Lotus   Balance   The Rack
3   Diopter   -   3CB Fish   -   Mishra's Factory   Island   Daze
4   Franz Ferdinand   -   Viva Las Toasterettes   -   Black Lotus   Dodecapod   Glowrider
5   Godder   -   Down on the Swamp   -   Bayou   Thallid   Duress
6   Diopter   -   Snakes on a Plane   -   Black Lotus   Channel   Snake Basket
7   Illissius   -   Declare Myself Evil   -   Saprazzan Cove   Rishadan Cutpurse   Chalice of the Void
8   Nomad   -   No name   -   Black Lotus   Indentured Djinn   Maze of Ith
9   President_Skroob   -   A Smallish Pox on your House   -   Black Lotus   Smallpox   Nether Spirit
10   Lochinvar81   -   The Resistrix   -   Mishra's Workshop   Sphere of Resistance   Myr Mindservant
11   Andrewpate   -   The Original   -   Mishra's Workshop   Jinxed Choker   Glacial Chasm
12   Andrewpate   -   The experimental   -   Urborg   Black Lotus   Horobi, Death's Wail

Results:

      1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   0   1   2 Bonus Total Position
1|   X   0   0   0   0   0   0   2   0   0   2   2      0   6   12
2|   6   X   3   3   3   6   3   6   6   3   6   6      0   51   8
3|   6   3   X   4   0   3   2   1   4   6   3   3      30   65   2
4|   6   3   1   X   0   3   0   1   3   1   3   0      30   51   8
5|   6   3   6   6   X   3   6   3   6   3   3   3      30   78   1
6|   6   0   3   3   3   X   3   0   3   3   0   0      30   54   7
7|   6   3   2   6   0   3   X   1   3   2   0   3      30   59   5
8|   2   0   4   4   3   6   4   X   2   4   0   2      30   61   3
9|   6   0   1   3   0   3   3   2   X   3   6   6      0   33   11
0|   6   3   0   4   3   3   2   1   3   X   3   0      30   58   6
1|   2   0   3   3   3   6   6   6   0   3   X   6      0   38   10
2|   2   0   3   6   3   6   3   2   0   6   0   X      30   61   3

With the slightly different format, I was wondering how many people would run "broken" decks, but in the end, not many. With all the Lotus decks, anti-Lotus cards were very strong this week.

For next time: The New Year broken extravaganza! Entries will receive a 10 point bonus for each card in the deck that is not on the list below, and an additional 10 points if they don't breach any of the rules at the bottom. Where individual cards breach a rule, I will only penalise once (e.g. Balance is on the list and will often cause decks to discard more than one card). Please note that cards must still be legal in Vintage.

Card list:

Mesmeric Fiend
Nezumi Shortfang
Blackmail
Cabal Therapy
Abandon Hope
Pulse of the Dross
Pox
Mind Swords
Smallpox
Coercion
Nullstone Gargoyle
Form of the Dragon
Ghost Quarter
Strip Mine
Wasteland
The Rack
Balance
Glacial Chasm
Trinisphere
Null Chamber
Any deck that can force the discard of more than one card per turn
Any deck that can goldfish on turn 1
Any deck that can't win if the opposition does nothing e.g. Mishra's Workshop, Trinisphere, Wheel of Torture (aka The Mise Prize, given out to decks that score lots of 2-2 draws)

3-Card Blind (3CB) is a very unique game. With thanks to Zoneseek, the rules are as follows:

• Your deck comprises 3 cards, all of which start in your hand.
• The library starts at 0 cards and you have no sideboard (Wishes fetch nothing).
• Random effects always go in your opponent's favour.
• All hands are revealed, so you always make the best possible play.
• You don't lose as a result of not being able to draw a card. If cards are put into your library, you draw normally.
• Other than the aforementioned, normal Magic rules apply.
• Decks are played against each other deck twice by the Moderator, once going first, once going second. For each win, you score 3. For each draw, you score 1. For each loss, you score 0.
• While it may seem obvious, decks may not use cards from the 3CB Banned List. Illegal decks and decks with illegal cards will be rejected.

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

Subject: 3CB Tournament #92 Entry
Deck Name
Card #1
Card #2
Card #3

Optional Deck discussion, random sucking up, etc.

Entries close January 6. Players may enter up to two decks, but I reserve the right to restrict entries to one deck per player if sufficient entries are received, so please designate your preferred deck, just in case.

[President Skroob]

Hmmm... this one was all kinds of not good for me...

Back to the drawing board!

[andrewpate]

The reason not many people played "broken" decks was because, as I pointed out, the flat bonus crippled them.  Note that the non-bonus decks are almost purely lined up in the bottom slots, despite performing better.  I did one of each, and despite the fact that my "broken" deck performed 7 points better in rounds, the bonus was the difference between 3rd from the top and 3rd from the bottom.

I'm up for banning Balance straight off the top.  The Balance/The Rack/Black Lotus deck does lose to Black Lotus/Dodecapod/Glowrider, but that's kind of lame.  I'll go ahead and say now that those will be the two decks I submit for next time if the deck is allowed to remain.

[Godder]

If you'd read my rules point about Balance, you'd have seen that Dodecapod doesn't beat Balance, because it gets sacrificed immediately after being put into play by its own replacement ability. I considered banning Balance, but it does cost 20 points to play it (it's not much good without "the Rack").

I should also mention that until Andrewpate's entries arrived (I was in the middle of posting the results at the time), Thallid-Duress was actually ahead of Balance-The Rack even without the bonus, and even without a bonus my deck would be second place.

[The Atog Lord]

Pod doesn't survive Balance, but Sand Golem does. He jumps into play at end of turn.

[Godder]

Nether Spirit and Basking Rootwalla would also work, although they're a little small to race The Rack.

[Illissius]

Entries will receive a 10 point bonus for each card in the deck that is not on the list below, and an additional 10 points if they don't breach any of the rules at the bottom. Where individual cards breach a rule, I will only penalise once (e.g. Balance is on the list and will often cause decks to discard more than one card).

What exactly does the second bit mean? Would Lotus, Rack, Balance get a 10 or 20 point bonus?

[Hi-Val]

Unluckyman's Paradise, The Rack, Funeral Charm might squeak a match off Rackbalancelotus. You obviously never lose the games where you draw ever, because you just Charm your opponent's draw spell out during their upkeep. On the play, you probably bite it hard. I am unwilling to calculate who wins when that deck opens with Rack against rackbalancedeck.

[Godder]

Entries will receive a 10 point bonus for each card in the deck that is not on the list below, and an additional 10 points if they don't breach any of the rules at the bottom. Where individual cards breach a rule, I will only penalise once (e.g. Balance is on the list and will often cause decks to discard more than one card).

What exactly does the second bit mean? Would Lotus, Rack, Balance get a 10 or 20 point bonus?

I don't penalise more than once, so Lotus, Rack, Balance would get 20 points.

[parallax]

Unluckyman's Paradise, The Rack, Funeral Charm might squeak a match off Rackbalancelotus. You obviously never lose the games where you draw ever, because you just Charm your opponent's draw spell out during their upkeep. On the play, you probably bite it hard. I am unwilling to calculate who wins when that deck opens with Rack against rackbalancedeck.

Actually Gemstone Caverns--The Rack--Funeral Charm loses to Lotus--Balance--Rack on the draw and the play. On the draw, playing Caverns -> Charm, you will lose when they discard Balance and just play Lotus -> The Rack.

[Illissius]

Entries will receive a 10 point bonus for each card in the deck that is not on the list below, and an additional 10 points if they don't breach any of the rules at the bottom. Where individual cards breach a rule, I will only penalise once (e.g. Balance is on the list and will often cause decks to discard more than one card).

What exactly does the second bit mean? Would Lotus, Rack, Balance get a 10 or 20 point bonus?

I don't penalise more than once, so Lotus, Rack, Balance would get 20 points.

Okay. The first sentence was talking about bonuses, and the second one about penalties, which is why it was a bit unclear.

[Godder]

Given the general scarcity of entries, this contest is held over until next week, in the hope of generating more interest. Of course, given the timing, I can't say I'm surprised, but hopefully the extra week will help.