3CB #84 Results and Discussion/3CB Tournament #85

[Godder]

I'd like to congratulate ScutaKicker as the winner of 3CB Tournament #84! After the call for more entries, we got a reasonable turnout, and this, I believe, marks the first Lotus deck to win a 3CB here at TMD. The decks were very aggressive this time around, with two Energy Field decks doing very poorly, relative to the usual placings! In the end, the huge armies of 1/1 tokens were too much, and Snake Basket took it out. In the light of the current fun and games being had with "Snakes on a Plane" on TMD, I must say the winning deck is very fitting.

Banned list:

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]
All cards banned in Vintage
All decks that can force the discard of more than one card per turn
All decks that can goldfish on turn 1

Decks:

1   Reanimator   -   Half a Brick of Kung-Fu   -   Hickory Woodlot   Naturalize   Tempting Wurm
2   Franz Ferdinand   -   Billy Jean   -   Sand Silos   Darksteel Reactor   Energy Field
3   Cross   -   Bridge Combo   -   Mishra's Workshop   Ensnaring Bridge   Barbed Wire
4   ScutaKicker   -   Snakes On A Messageboard   -   Black Lotus   Channel   Snake Basket
5   Godder   -   Down on the Swamp   -   Bayou   Thallid   Duress
6   Reanimator   -   Borrrrring.dec   -   Sand Silos   Darksteel Reactor   Energy Field
7   ScutaKicker   -   No name   -   Black Lotus   Glowrider   Rishadan Cutpurse
8   Godder   -   I'm Rich!   -   Black Lotus   Treasure Hunter   Arc Lightning
9   Atog Lord   -   Barely Legal   -   Black Lotus   Priest of Gix   Mind Swords
10   Parallax   -   Mono-Black Control   -   Bottomless Vault   Evil Presence   Visara, the Dreadful
11   Matt   -   The Ol' Soft Shoe   -   Black Lotus   Illusionary Mask   Phyrexian Dreadnought
12   Cross   -   TriniShop Deck   -   Mishra's Workshop   Trinisphere   Serrated Biskelion
13   Naphtali   -   Drunk Lizard   -   Pendelhaven   Eladamri's Vineyard   Basking Rootwalla
14   Naphtali   -   Stick   -   City of Traitors   Isochron Scepter   Lightning Helix
15   ScutaKicker   -   RDWFTW   -   Black Lotus   Crack the Earth   Slith Firewalker

Results:

      1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   0   1   2   3   4   5   Total  Position
1|   X   6   6   0   6   6   2   6   0   0   6   0   6   6   2   52   4
2|   0   X   6   0   0   3   2   6   0   0   0   6   0   6   2   31   10
3|   0   0   X   6   1   0   0   2   1   6   2   6   3   0   2   30   14
4|   6   6   0   X   3   6   3   6   3   6   2   3   6   6   6   62   1
5|   0   6   4   3   X   6   6   6   3   0   3   0   3   3   3   46   5
6|   0   3   6   0   0   X   2   6   0   0   0   6   0   6   2   31   10
7|   2   2   6   3   0   2   X   4   3   2   3   0   1   6   6   40   9
8|   0   0   2   0   0   0   1   X   1   0   0   3   0   0   2   9   15
9|   6   6   4   3   3   6   3   4   X   6   3   3   3   3   4   57   3
0|   6   6   0   0   6   6   2   6   0   X   0   6   0   6   0   44   6
1|   0   6   2   2   3   6   3   6   3   6   X   3   6   6   6   58   2
2|   6   0   0   3   6   0   6   3   3   0   3   X   4   6   4   44   6
3|   0   6   3   0   3   6   4   6   3   6   0   1   X   0   6   44   6
4|   0   0   6   0   3   0   0   6   3   0   0   0   6   X   2   26   12
5|   2   2   2   0   3   2   0   2   1   6   0   1   0   2   X   23   13

Unbanning Lotus still looks safe, even with the large numbers of Lotus decks this week - they only function well in certain environments, and are very vulnerable to metagaming. Note that Mind Swords is now banned. Although, as Atog Lord points out, it's not, strictly speaking, discard, that is, perhaps, a fine distinction. However, the deck didn't actually win, so I can't complain too much. Despite that, the deck can only lose on the play against very specific cards, which is pushing the "goldfishing on turn one" envelope a bit far in my view, so it's gone.

For next week: Same Again!

Banned list:

[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]
[card]Mind Swords[/card] <-- New addition!
All cards banned/not legal in Vintage (including Unglued and Unhinged)
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 will be rejected, and illegal cards will be replaced by basic land cards.

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

Subject: 3cb Tournament #85 Entry or 3cb Tournament#85 Revision
Deck Name
Card #1
Card #2
Card #3

Optional Deck discussion, random sucking up, etc.

Entries close September 2. First Prize is the Custom Title "TMD 3CB Champion" which will be retained until results are posted for the following tournament. Players may enter one or two decks, although please note that I reserve the right to restrict entries to one deck if numbers are sufficiently high. If entering two decks, please indicate which is your first choice.

[parallax]

You should probably reword the discard rule as "All decks that can remove more than one card from the opponent's hand in one turn."

10 v 3: How do I beat Ensnaring Bridge? (0-6)
10 v 5: Visara races Thallid, doesn't she? (6-0)

[combo_dude]

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

[parallax]

3 v 5: On the play, Duress takes Ensnaring Bridge leading to an easy win. (1-4)
3 v 7: On the play, Cutpurse can't remove Ensnaring Bridge. (1-4) Nevermind. Cutpurse is 1/1 and slips under the Bridge.
3 v 10: I covered this one above. (6-0)
3 v 11: Bridge stops Dreadnaught, leading to a Barbed Wire win. (6-0) Ooh. Tricky.
3 v 13: Bridge deals with Rootwalla on the play, and Vineyard mana can be pumped into Barbed Wire. (6-0) (3-3)

@Reanimator: Good job on the Naturalize tech.

[Illissius]

3 v 11: Bridge stops Dreadnaught, leading to a Barbed Wire win. (6-0)

11 can attack with the Dreadnaught as a 0/1 and flip it before combat damage, after which 3 dies to Barbed Wire quicker.

[parallax]

The rest look right to me. Was I wrong on any of the other ones?
3 v 5: 1-4
3 v 10: 6-0
3 v 13: 6-0 3-3
5 v 10: 0-6

[scutakicker]

The mothafuckin snakes takin it down! For once no one was running Tabernacle...

[Godder]

Visara takes 8 turns to hit play, so Thallid wins that race.

Ensnaring Bridge beats Rootwalla on the play, but not on the draw, because it's a 1/1, so it can attack, then be pumped. Then there's the option of dropping Barbed Wire and dying, or not dropping Barbed Wire and dying.

I'll check the rest later .

[Matt]

Damn, I came closer than I ever have before.

[parallax]

5 v 10:
Turn 1: drop Thallid; drop Bottomless Vault.
Turn 2: attack (19) one counter; one counter.
Turn 3: attack (18) two counters; two counters.
Turn 4: attack (17) make first saproling; three counters.
Turn 5: attack (15) one counter; four counters.
Turn 6: attack (13) two counters; five counters.
Turn 7: attack (11) make second saproling; six counters.
Turn 8: attack (8) one counter; drop Visara.
I can then block and/or kill all his guys before he can kill me.

Do I have this wrong? It's even better for me if I'm on the play, obviously.

[Franz Ferdinand]

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

[Godder]

The rest look right to me. Was I wrong on any of the other ones?
3 v 5: 1-4
3 v 10: 6-0
3 v 13: 6-0 3-3
5 v 10: 0-6

Looks reasonable - results have been edited. It didn't change much, though - placings are the same except that instead of one 6th place and 2 7th= places, we now have 3 6th= places .

Anything that creates independently cheap (e.g. Madness vs Affinity) cards is well worth looking at in 3CB, so I'm sure Suspend will have an impact.

[Franz Ferdinand]

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

[Naphtali]

Lotus Bloom might get some play in a meta where Black Lotus is banned..... but is still probably too slow.

[Godder]

The classic reminder - we're at 8 decks at present, and entries close in around 3 days. Second decks are also welcome!

[Illissius]

As with everything, I always hold off until the last minute; alternatingly because I can't think of anything, and in case I think of something better.
Anyways. Sent. :)