chaos stacks in type 4

[JayFromWAE]

i've been building my type 4 stack for a few months now and i'm trying to come up with variants on how we play. i remember a game i played with nomad and some of his friends with his chaos stack and thought a modified stack for type 4 would make an already hectic format even MORE fun.

i looked through some random cards and pulled out these to start it off:

pox
blood clock
tempest of light
bad moon
march of the machines
enter the dungeon
anarchy
hour of reckoning
soulscour
dovescape
howling mine
empty the catacombs
pain's reward
balance
night of soul's betrayal
uba mask
deat pits of rath
unifying theory
pyroclasam
aether snap
topsy turvy
grand melee
doubling season
gate to the aether
call to the grave
rain of gore
living death
razia's purification
warp world
mnemonic nexus
planar chaos
crack the earth
barter in blood
genesis chamber
final judgment
delerium skeins
vision skeins
show and tell
thieves' auction

i tried to include a mix of positive and negative effects to make for interesting reactions.

i'm looking for any ideas for cards to add. i want to stray away from changing the text of anything so please try to suggest cards that have a truly global effect.

feel free to copy this list and anything else we end up adding to it for your type 4 stack and let me know how it affects your games

--thanks
--J

[Anusien]

Eye of the Storm
Fatespinner
Overgrown Cemetery
Furance of Rath

[Hi-Val]

One of the questions to ask is whether anyone would draft some of those cards. I don't see anyone jumping to draft Warp World or Eye of the Storm.

Here's an interesting idea-- why not make a stack of, say, 30 or so enchantments, artifacts, or other permanents that have a weird chaos feel. Put them in a separate stack, shuffle them up really good and flip one of them over for each player there. Treat their effects as if they were indestuctible global effects, much like Rule of Law does with Type 4. You could decide whether Karona and Chaos Lord are indestructible or whether they can be killed and RFG'd normally.

I'm sure there's a way to work out giving things like Living Death out or Twilight's Call. Maybe those just go in the main stack. Maybe they could randomly fire off on a dice roll. Maybe they are global spells that any player can play as their spell, but then it cannot be used again in the game. Having a global Living Death available for anyone to use would make playing creatures and combat really interesting. Players could see whether they want to try to exploit Pox or just try to avoid it when someone else activates it.

[JayFromWAE]

@hi-val - the underdrafted cards were kind of the inspiration for this. i liked playing with unifying theory and gate to the aether but no one ever wanted to draft it much less spend their turn playing it.

@Anusien: oversold cemetery seemed too weak and eye of the storm seemed too strong. fatespinner and furnace are on the list now

i updated the list of cards i'm using/will be using. i do apologize to the people responsible for the critical mass type 4 mentioned in the t4 sticky: i didn't read that post until after i made this one so don't think i'm trying to take credit for this idea. some of the cards in that list made it to this one:

Positive Effects:
Empty the Catacombs
Show and Tell
Gate to the Aether
Unifying Theory
Hanna's Custody
Patriarch's Bidding
Eyes of the Watcher
Leyline of the Meek
Leyline of Lifeforce
Twilight's Call
Howling Mine
Roar of Reclamation
Exhume
Genesis Chamber
Eureka
Doubling Season

Negative Effects:
Crack the Earth
Decree of Annihilation
Death Pits of Rath
Barter in Blood
Arena of the Ancients
Pyroclasm
Balance
Hour of Reckoning
Blood Clock
Planar Chaos
Bad Moon
Jokulhaups
Moat
AEther Snap
Rain of Gore
Delerium Skeins
Razia's Purification
Night of Soul's Betrayal
Anarchy
Flamebreak
Call to the Grave
Tempest of Light
Pox
Dovescape
Final Judgment
Soulscour
Obliterate
Burning Tree Shaman
Time Stop
Uba Mask
Fate Spinner
Pyrostatic Pillar
Samuari of the Pale Curtain
Planar Void
Humility
Wrath of God
Stasis

Effects that don't fit either category but are still really interesting:
Warp World
Topsy Turvy
Grand Melee
Enter the Dungeon
Time Sifter
Living Death
Thieves' Auction
Confusion in the Ranks
Wheel of Fortune
Teferi's Puzzle Pox
March of the Machines
Furnace of Rath
Sway of the Stars
Windfall
Mnemonic Nexus
Zur's Weirding
Ricochet
Grip of Chaos
Pain's Reward
Winds of Change
Goblin Game
Titania's Song
Dosan, the Falling Leaf
Burning Cinder Fury of Crimson Chaos Fire

You'll notice some cards that have minor and weak effects (pyroclasm, anarchy), i want some flips to make the game return to normal. i'm even considering putting in a blank card just to have a true reset.

I'm looking to add more positive effects to make the stack more balanced

[Mr. Type 4]

Seems like your list is comming along well.  I know Harlequin mentioned that whe he ran this stuff, he wanted to make sure a few of the cards were a bit weaker so you couldn't bank on the world blowing up everytime a chaos card flipped over. 

So how;s it been working out for you?  Have the effects been too harsh, or does it feel mostly balanced?

[JayFromWAE]

the effects have been really balanced. i think the only card i want out is pyroclasm because it really doesn't do anything. flamebreak at least hits players (it killed 3 people in one shot tonight). reactions went from cheering for howling mine to cursing for time stop. every time a 1 or 2 was rolled it made everyone excited.

[Harlequin]

If your looking to add some more freebie effects some of my personal favorites are Hunted Wumpas and Charmed Griffin.