3CB #93 Results and Discussion/3CB Tournament #94

[Godder]

I'd like to congratulate Technogeek5000 as the winner of 3CB Tournament #93! It was a nice change not having to call for more entries, and there are quite a few new entrants, one of whom took it out the event. Sphere of Resistance was an inspired call, and Straw Golem was a clever choice of creature. I was considering returning to the banned list for the next tournament, but it occurred to me that I could add a new rule and see how that goes ('decks that can produce more than two mana on the first turn'). Also, Planar Chaos is legal for this tournament!

3CB Tournament #93 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   Silvernail   -   Don't go all squirrely on me now!   -   Black Lotus   Squirrel Nest   Sorrow's Path
2   Illissius   -   Borken! Dargon   -   Black Lotus   Show and Tell   Form of the Dragon
3   Diopter   -   Lotus-Rack-Balance's poor bastard child   -   Black Lotus   Delirium Skeins   Basking Rootwalla
4   Franz Ferdinand   -   Two great tastes   -   Mishra's Workshop   Steel Golem   Trinisphere
5   Godder   -   Down on the Swamp   -   Bayou   Thallid   Duress
6   Silvernail   -   Saprolings in heat   -   Black Lotus   Academy Researchers   Verdant Embrace
7   Illissius   -   Squire   -   Black Lotus   Leonin Squire   Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
8   Godder   -   Broken.dec   -   Black Lotus   Balance   The Rack
9   The Atog Lord   -   Agora Display   -   Black Lotus   Show and Tell   Blazing Archon
10   JebLucas   -   This or That   -   Black Lotus   Glowrider   Rishadan Cutpurse
11   Technogeek5000   -   Find the straw in the needle Stax   -   Mishra's Workshop   Sphere of Resistance   Straw Golem
12   Diopter   -   Mise Well   -   Foil   Tropical Island   Basking Rootwalla
13   ReAnimator   -   Haha Metagame!   -   Hickory Woodlot   Elvish Farmer   Naturalize
14   BradWayne   -   U/G Badness   -   Tropical Island   Thallid   Chain of Vapor
15   Technogeek5000   -   Show and Tell 2.0   -   Black Lotus   Show and Tell   Keiga, the Tide Star
16   ReAnimator   -   <3Sphere   -   Mishra's Workshop   Trinisphere   Steel Golem

Results:

      1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   0   1   2   3   4   5   6 Bonus Total Position
1|   X   0   3   3   3   0   3   0   0   0   3   2   0   0   0   3   40   60   16
2|   6   X   3   3   3   6   3   3   0   0   3   2   0   0   2   3   30   67   14
3|   3   3   X   3   3   3   3   3   3   3   3   2   6   3   3   3   30   77   12
4|   3   3   3   X   6   3   3   3   3   6   3   6   6   6   3   2   30   89   3
5|   3   3   3   0   X   3   3   3   3   6   3   6   0   2   3   0   40   81   8
6|   6   0   3   3   3   X   3   0   0   3   3   2   3   0   6   3   40   78   10
7|   3   3   3   3   3   3   X   3   3   3   3   2   6   6   3   3   40   90   2
8|   6   3   3   3   3   6   3   X   6   3   3   2   6   6   6   3   20   82   7
9|   6   6   3   3   3   6   3   0   X   0   3   2   6   0   2   3   40   86   5
0|   6   6   3   0   3   3   3   3   6   X   0   2   0   0   3   0   40   78   10
1|   3   3   3   3   3   3   3   3   3   6   X   6   6   3   3   3   40   94   1
2|   2   2   2   0   0   2   2   2   2   2   0   X   2   2   2   0   40   62   15
3|   6   6   0   0   6   3   0   0   0   6   0   2   X   6   0   0   40   75   13
4|   6   6   3   0   2   6   0   0   6   6   3   2   0   X   6   0   40   86   5
5|   6   2   3   3   3   0   3   0   2   3   3   2   6   0   X   3   40   79   9
6|   3   3   3   2   6   3   3   3   3   6   3   6   6   6   3   X   30   89   3

With a stack of Lotus decks, anti-Lotus cards were still strong this time. Elvish Farmer was an interesting choice, as it wins the Thallid 'mirror', but Hickory Woodlot was a bit slow in the sea of Lotus decks. Illissius' squire deck was also a strong one, and the Trinisphere decks came awfully close to winning, too. There was a lot of variety this time, and long may it continue! The Delirium Skeins deck was interesting, but I think would have been better with Nether Spirit.

For next time: The broken extravaganza continues! 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 (note the new rule!). 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. Also, Planar Chaos is legal!

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 produce more than 2 mana on the first turn <- New rule!
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)

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 #94 Entry
Deck Name
Card #1
Card #2
Card #3

Optional Deck discussion, random sucking up, etc.

Entries close February 10. 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.

[jeblucas]

My Glowrider/Cutpurse deck should score a 3 against the Academy Researchers deck. If I Lotus out the Glowrider, the opponent will not be able to play their Lotus. It's a small victory, to be sure, but it takes me from tied for 12th to tied for 10th I think. A mild "w00t" would appear to be in order. No? Not in order? Ok, "w00t" rescinded.

[Godder]

Heh, I scored that one at 0-3 rather than 3-3. My mistake!

[diopter]

ReAnimator's/Franz's Trinisphere build came in so close at 3rd. Only 5 points behind the leader, despite having only a 30 point bonus.

[Godder]

They didn't score the most match points, though, as that distinction goes to Lotus-Rack-Balance with 62 points. As an aside, with the new rule, MWS decks will score an even smaller bonus.

[ReAnimator]

Oh man sooo happy the Elvish Farmer deck screwed up the other thalid decks. I pretty much wanted to run it just to steal points from the thalid decks  . Not cause i particularly hate the thalids but just cause they won the last one.

Is planar chaos legal for this one? Cause if it is I'm totally entering the 'other' elvish farmer deck.

[Godder]

Normally gaining life wouldn't really help, but here you gain life faster than the opponent can take it away, so all you have to do is sit there and build up an army and then attack with everything. (Actually thinking about it, does that work? Could the opponent get a draw by sitting there and blocking as well?)

Also, Planar Chaos is legal.

[Illissius]

Hmm. I've never liked decks which were dependant on going first -- can you place well if you only win half of each your matches? Apparently, you can.

And the whole turnout thing baffles me. What was different this time versus the last two? One would expect that the first time a new format is tried, it draws plenty of interest, which dies down after a couple of events. Instead, the opposite happens.

[Scrappy Kid]

And the whole turnout thing baffles me. What was different this time versus the last two? One would expect that the first time a new format is tried, it draws plenty of interest, which dies down after a couple of events. Instead, the opposite happens.

Maybe people like to have a metagame to aim at, rather than trying to create a deck in a vacuum.

[parallax]

Hmm. I've never liked decks which were dependant on going first -- can you place well if you only win half of each your matches? Apparently, you can.

Actually, one of the best strategies is to try to go 3-3 with everything. You'll naturally catch a few decks with their pants down for a 6-0 or a 4-1, and end up above the average.

[ReAnimator]

Normally gaining life wouldn't really help, but here you gain life faster than the opponent can take it away, so all you have to do is sit there and build up an army and then attack with everything. (Actually thinking about it, does that work? Could the opponent get a draw by sitting there and blocking as well?)

Also, Planar Chaos is legal.

Acctually yeah,  I think the matchup is a draw!
I submitted the deck with the white masques land, Mycologist (the white elvish farmer) and a swords to plowshares. But PC was not legal so it was the green version that was run. The white version beats the blue thalid versions, and draws with the duress version. I think for next time I'll go with the Deathspore Thalid instead or the white version.

Maybe people like to have a metagame to aim at, rather than trying to create a deck in a vacuum.

I think this is exactly it. I wasn't too stoked to play this format the first time, as I really didn't have the time then to try to work out a viable deck type or anything like that. Now that it has been run a few times I have something to shoot for and know what to expect. I do enjoy strange 3CB formats, I just didn't have the time this specific tournament to really try to come up with anything.

[Illissius]

Any deck that can produce more than 2 mana on the first turn

I don't have any particular deck in mind yet, but does this mean the total amount of mana added to the mana pool over the course of the turn, or the maximum amount it contains at any given time?

For example, Swamp, Dark Ritual, Priest of Gix. Is that 3 or 7?

[technogeek5000]

Any deck that can force the discard of more than one card per turn

Does that mean if you and your opponent discard a card this will breach the rule.

Also if people were looking for a new format then 4cb wouldnt seem to bad and there would be more diversity

[ReAnimator]

Any deck that can produce more than 2 mana on the first turn

I don't have any particular deck in mind yet, but does this mean the total amount of mana added to the mana pool over the course of the turn, or the maximum amount it contains at any given time?

For example, Swamp, Dark Ritual, Priest of Gix. Is that 3 or 7?

I'm pretty sure, but correct me if i'm wrong, that it is useable mana. For example:
Mountain -> Rite of Flame, or Mountain Sol ring = Ok
Lotus, channel or workshop = Penalty.

[Godder]

Yeah, the maximum amount it contains at any one point in a turn.

Any deck that can force the discard of more than one card per turn

Does that mean if you and your opponent discard a card this will breach the rule.

No, only if one player is forced to discard two or more cards in a turn. Something that makes all players discard a card would be fine.

Also if people were looking for a new format then 4cb wouldnt seem to bad and there would be more diversity.

We had that for a month or two, as combo_dude switched from 3CB to 4CB, but the interest didn't seem to be there. You're right that it's a more diverse format, though, because it actually has combo.

[technogeek5000]

lol i didnt think that sphere would work that well.

But noone else can use it... use, my precious [/Golum]

[Scrappy Kid]

Also if people were looking for a new format then 4cb wouldnt seem to bad and there would be more diversity.

We had that for a month or two, as combo_dude switched from 3CB to 4CB, but the interest didn't seem to be there.

I wouldn't read too much into the low numbers. IIRC, that was a bit of a dead period for 3CB as well, with very low turnouts. Probably better if 4CB is run as an occassionl alternative to 3CB, not in addition to it.

[technogeek5000]

Also if people were looking for a new format then 4cb wouldnt seem to bad and there would be more diversity.

We had that for a month or two, as combo_dude switched from 3CB to 4CB, but the interest didn't seem to be there.

I wouldn't read too much into the low numbers. IIRC, that was a bit of a dead period for 3CB as well, with very low turnouts. Probably better if 4CB is run as an occassionl alternative to 3CB, not in addition to it.

Nah 3CB is fine, plus its alot easier for new and old.

oh and i think that the new rule wont be healthy for the format as we will see crappier decks getting into top 3

[diopter]

I gotta say, Technogeek, Sphere of Resistance was an awesome choice. It's like Trinisphere, except gives you a billion more points! (or, well, 10 at least, heh)

[Godder]

Sphere is awesome because it's better than Trinisphere in the MWS mirrors while still beating Lotus decks almost as well.

[technogeek5000]

I gotta say, Technogeek, Sphere of Resistance was an awesome choice. It's like Trinisphere, except gives you a billion more points! (or, well, 10 at least, heh)

Thx, hope everyone does well

[technogeek5000]

so wait how much longer till the next 1 of these

[Godder]

Entries close February 10.