3 Card Game

[TheShop]

Did anyone else see this old 250 (5-color) side event:

Each player starts with 3 cards in their library and doesnt lose the game from decking.  So far these are the 3 card decks my friends and I could think of that were really neat, also here are the ones that people used:

Show and Tell
Form of the Dragon
Lotus

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Glowrider
rishadan cutpurse
lotus

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mishra's workshop
steel golem
trinisphere

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mishra's workshop
the rack
the rack

not sure if this one was legal...no one played it, but it is def busted in this format
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force of will
blue card
dryad arbor

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I think this is a neat intellectual exercise in magic.  They flipped the coin and played just like it was a real game.  I never saw one where someone played with a workshop when I read about this, or any counterspells...but dryad arbor was not printed then and they may have banned the rack.  Nearly everyone played with a lotus.  Anyone else got any cool ones?  I used to think about this a whole lot before I came up with the double rack one and the dryad arbor one...most of these beat several of the others, but have a glaring weakness to one of the above.

[Wagner]

We used to play this on a forum, but there was a couple of banned cards to promote diversity. Lotus and Workshop were banned, so we had a ton of decks with the MM depletion lands, the Invasion sac lands, the MM counter lands. If was actually very interesting like that. We used to ban cards that warped the metagame like Strip Mine. I'm pretty sure the Rack was also banned.

[TheShop]

Interesting- banning counterspells and the rack but leaving lotus and shop still leaves an interesting format because it allows 3cc spells with a preventable lotus.

[Wagner]

Why banning Counterspells? The only one worth using if FoW and it's still nothing big if people start using lands.

Also, with Lotus, I have a feeling it would quickly before a Chalice-Land-Lotus rock-paper-scissors format, with all decks losing when they don't start.

To me, a format like that needs diversity. I remember some of the good decks we had being Maze of Ith, Counter Land and Form of the Dragon, Land, Smallpox and Nether Spirit, Donate and Mana Crypt (we had a rule that flips were always at the disadvantage of the controller) and my favorite, and the hardest to figure out who won, Land Channel Snake Basket.

Oh, I forgot the surprisingly efficient Invasion sac land, mana Elf and Vindicate.

And no, it's not good memory, I was in charge of calculating the results of matchups, some were horrific.

[TheShop]

Lotus channel snake basket is strong, and we never thought of it.  The worst thing anyone did with a lotus was play form of the dragon, which gets owned in the face by the pirate hillariously.  Form of the dragon beatz snake basket even when going second.

I never thought of it as a game to play, but as a mental exercise in deck construction to find a deck without a weakness:

form of dragon beatz snake

snake beatz pirates on the play

pirates beat both on the draw(glowrider)

double rack beatz everything(banned)

force of will/dryad arbor beatz all except double rack(banned)

yours beats form of dragon, ties pirates, loses to force of will

strip mine is amazingly weak when lotus and workshop are available(workshop is just a lotus through glowrider).  You will ind you can't play chalice because it only stops lotus and then you lose on the draw to everything
 

[President Skroob]

Karakas, Leyline of Singularity, and Tethered Griffin has always been my 3 stack of choice for games like this. It bounces creatures, races small non-creature-based damage, and draws against most disruption-based stacks.

[jro]

The format is called 3 Card Blind (3CB).  While they're not currently playing it over at MTG Salvation, they do have a whole slew of similar formats currently being played.

My favorite weirdo variant remains Tortoise, in which you have a fixed 7 card hand with which you must kill your opponent as slowly as possible.

[TheShop]

Karakas, Leyline of Singularity, and Tethered Griffin has always been my 3 stack of choice for games like this. It bounces creatures, races small non-creature-based damage, and draws against most disruption-based stacks.

That one is insanely good.  How about:

lotus
storm entity ( the storm +1/+1 guy)
crack the earth

[GrandpaBelcher]

We came up with what I thought was a pretty good one this afternoon based on some of the new M11 cards:

Leyline of Anticipation
Black Lotus
Glowrider

You could also replace Glowrider with one or another discard creature like Ravenous Rats or something like Rishadan Cutpurse. 

[Godder]

I used to run 3CB here at TMD, and there are heaps of threads in the Casual Forum from back in the day.

Also, love Tortoise .

[TheShop]

We came up with what I thought was a pretty good one this afternoon based on some of the new M11 cards:

Leyline of Anticipation
Black Lotus
Glowrider

You could also replace Glowrider with one or another discard creature like Ravenous Rats or something like Rishadan Cutpurse. 

wow, busted with boggle ransacker

[Anusien]

Karakas, Leyline of Singularity, and Tethered Griffin has always been my 3 stack of choice for games like this. It bounces creatures, races small non-creature-based damage, and draws against most disruption-based stacks.

Even better with Leyline of Sanctity!

[AmbivalentDuck]

The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale and 2x Mishra's Factory

[Wagner]

I remember another one giving me heachaches to count that was pretty good before mana burn died.

Pendelhaven + Rootwalla + Eladamri's Vineyard

A potential 6 damages a turn if the opponent has no sink.

[SiegeX]

Least us forget

Lotus
Vampire Hexmage
Dark Depths

Wins against Tabernacle but loses to Karakas

[Delha]

Least us forget

Lotus
Vampire Hexmage
Dark Depths

Wins against Tabernacle but loses to Karakas

How does that win against Tabernacle?

[SiegeX]

How does that win against Tabernacle?

Because tabernacle attempts to destroy if I don't pay and Marit Lage is indestructible

[TheShop]

How does tabernacle win against 2x the rack, form of the dragon, it only ties to pirates & leyline of singularity w/ karakas.

I still think the leyline of anticipation thing with a random discard 2/1 is strong.  It has a strong chance to beat anything when on the play.

By far, the most busted one mentioned so far is snake basket/channel IMHO.

Edit-marit large is awesome too, but loses to force of will + dryad arbor, trinisphere 1/2 the time, pirates/glowrider 100% of the time...

That is why I love this format, nothing is invincible.

[Delha]

How does that win against Tabernacle?

Because tabernacle attempts to destroy if I don't pay and Marit Lage is indestructible

Ah, my bad. I thought it was sacrifice, didn't realize they changed it between the original and Magus.

[SiegeX]

The following beats 2xRack, Form of the Dragon, Snake Basket, Karakas,

Lotus
Channel
Platinum Angel

[Delha]

Pirate/Glowrider is probably my favorite here. The versatility is amazing.

[SiegeX]

I'm going to have to go with:

Leyline Of Anticipation
Lotus
Mesmeric Fiend

[Delha]

I'm going to have to go with:

Leyline Of Anticipation
Lotus
Mesmeric Fiend

Ouch, that is pretty brutal.

[SiegeX]

It wins against everything except Tabernacle/2xMishra Factory & FoW/Dryad as far as I can tell.

Edit:  And 2x Rack.
Edit#2: This would also lose to Leyline of Sanctity / Karakas / Griffen.  

Perhaps Noggle Ransacker is the better choice because it doesn't target and the opp doesn't get to choose which card to toss ala Liliana's Specter. I think losing one card at random is worth the loss of evasion that Specter gives you.

[Wagner]

Another fun one we came with a while back was this.

Lotus/Swamp - Sarcomancy - Tel-Jihad Stylus

Not a strong as the ones mentionned, but really goes outside the box.

It also beats 2 Racks, and draws with Tabernacle + Mishra's if you use the Swamp.

[AmbivalentDuck]

Hmmm, what about:

Tabernacle
Karakas
Mishra's Factory

This appears to beat everything but 2x The Rack.

[TheShop]

Can't bounce stuff w /o leyline

[GrandpaBelcher]

So is somebody going to actually start a game or what?

1...2...3...not it!

[AmbivalentDuck]

Can't bounce stuff w /o leyline

None of the suggested kills have "haste."  You choose to go second if you win the coin flip and then play the correct answer.

[Wagner]

So is somebody going to actually start a game or what?

1...2...3...not it!

This tread actually made my start a game on my local forum, but with a much different banned list. Can'T wait to scratch my noodle again figuring out complex math.