Weekly (well, mostly) 3CB: #12, Holidays Brokenness Edition (entries close 01/04/08)

[Illissius]

3CB #12 is open for entries! Congratulations to georgjorge, winner of 3CB #11! GreenOne and Illissius were only a point or two behind, respectively, making almost a three way tie.

Special format this week! At a price of one point per opponent you end up facing, you may optionally include a banned card in your deck, or break the multiple discard rule.* (If a card is both banned and breaks the rule, you will only be penalized once). You may invoke this as many times as you like, in which case the price is cumulative. Barren Glory and Force of Will cost double! So for example, if your deck is Black Lotus - Coercion - Ornithopter, and 15 people enter, you will deduct 14 points from your total to pay for Coercion.

* "You may not submit a deck that can force an opponent to lose more than one card from his or her hand in a single turn."

Decklists and results for previous 3CBs can be found at the wiki. Edit your results in for 3CBs #3-5 and #11 if you played in those (password is 3cbthesource). We have full results up on the wiki for all the other rounds, and 3-5 are an ugly, gaping hole; it'd be great if we could fill it, and it only takes a minute to copy your results in from the thread, to which there's a link (conveniently) right there at the wiki.

Entries for this round close at 23:59 EST on Friday, January 4th. To enter, either PM me, or send your deck by email to thesource3cb at gmail. I'm not accepting second decks this week. Preferred format for submissions:

3CB #12 Entry (title of PM or email)
ThisIsMyUsername - Suicide Black
Bottomless Vault
Brush with Death
Tendrils of Agony

Notes, comments, etc.

Please try to follow this format; reformatting close to 30 entries by hand is a bigger pain in the ass than you'd think.

If you're paranoid about me seeing your deck (I won't), I'll be posting the MWS security code for my own deck within the next few days and you can wait for that.



-- What is 3CB? --

3CB, which stands for Three Card Blind, is a unique format of Magic play, quite unlike any other; sort of like a very (very, very -- in the way a government bureaucracy is an advanced form of a pickpocket --) advanced form of Rock, Paper, Scissors. As per the name, you have three cards, of your own choosing. They are your deck and your hand. Your opponent also has three cards. All normally hidden information is visible to both players, and nothing happens randomly, so the optimal play for each player is always known -- meaning you don't actually play any Magic, per se. You submit a deck, so does everyone else, and all outcomes (all decks versus all other decks) are determined deterministically, usually by a moderator, or (as we do here) group effort. Unless you can break the format in half, it often comes down to metagaming.


-- Rules of 3CB --

Your deck is composed of 3 cards which all start in your hand.
Your library contains 0 cards and you don’t have a sideboard nor own any cards outside of the game. (Wishes fetch nothing.)
Random effects always go in your opponent's favor. (This includes Chaos Orb and Falling Star. If controllership of something with random effects changes, they go in favor of the player who doesn't own it.)
You can see your opponent's hand, so you make the best possible play. (If both players' taking an action would cause that player to lose the game, then neither player takes any action, and the game is a draw.)
You don't lose as a result of not being able to draw a card. (If cards are put in your library, you draw them as normal. Effects which require you to skip a draw work as normal.)
You play each opponent twice; once going first and once going second.
For each win, you score 3 points.
For each draw, you score 1 point.
For each loss, you score 0 points.

Three rules restrict the kind of deck you can send. They are:
1. You may not submit a deck that can win before the opponent's first main phase.
2. You may not submit a deck that can force an opponent to lose more than one card from his or her hand in a single turn.
3. You may not submit a deck that uses a card on the 3CB banned list.

Other than the aforementioned, everything is handled exactly like a real game of Magic.


-- 3CB Banned List --

All Ante Cards
All Promo cards not available on Gatherer/Autocard
All Unglued and Unhinged Cards (excluding basic lands)

Creatures:
Magus of the Moon
Mesmeric Fiend
Nezumi Shortfang
Voidstone Gargoyle

Lands:
Ghost Quarter
Glacial Chasm
Strip Mine
Wasteland

Artifacts:
The Rack

Enchantments:
Barren Glory
Form of the Dragon

Instants:
Force of Will

Sorceries:
Abandon Hope
Balance
Blackmail
Cabal Therapy
Coercion
Pulse of the Dross
Restore Balance
Thoughtseize

[georgjorge]

That will be fun, although it might degenerate into "whoever goes first wins"...

[Illissius]

Well, it could, if the banned cards were free. The price of points adds an interesting tension to it, though. We used this format for several rounds back at TMD, and the metagame went everywhere from what you describe, to the opposite extreme of being dominated by storage lands. This was before some of the significant new cards that have been printed recently, so it should be interesting to see what happens now.

[georgjorge]

Sounds fine. However, I would definitely recommend placing Blackmail in the same category as Force, making it cost two points, since it's the only discard spell that can get a land, and therefore be pretty unstoppable on the play (since the common solution to discard is playing TWO threats, which usually means playing only one land, not accounting for Factory as a threat).

[Illissius]

Abandon Hope, Coercion, Pulse, and Balance also get lands, FWIW, though that's besides the point. Blackmail, in previous experience, was definitely powerful, but not so powerful as to require corrective measures. We'll see. The reason I did it for Glory and Force, to be safe, is I think they stand a very good chance of winning both going first and second, whereas Blackmail (among many others) only really does so going first. (I hope someone still plays them, so we can get an idea of whether it was warranted...)

[yawg07]

I'm sure Delirium Skeins Will show up.

[Illissius]

Security code for my deck is EA1B9BB7.

[georgjorge]

I'm sure Delirium Skeins Will show up.

I don't think so, as for the same penalty you can play BALANCE, which I think is the most broken discard spell for this format, as in addition to having a Delirium Skeins effect, it can also get rid of any annoying lands or creatures your opponent may have played on his turn.

[Illissius]

Note: If you're sending me an entry, please put "Entry" somewhere in the subject. Likewise, if you're sending me something 3CB related that isn't an entry, put something like "(NOT AN ENTRY)" in there.

Otherwise, I'll have to PM you back to find out whether it's something I should open.

[Illissius]

Bit more than a day left to enter!

(I despise exclamation marks, but it doesn't feel appropriate to make announcements any other way.)

[Illissius]

So here's what you all submitted:

1. Maveric78f - The unbalanced deck (-11)
Black Lotus
Balance
Knight of Sursi

2. Giles - (-22)
Dryad Arbor
Force of Will
Misdirection

3. georgjorge - I'll go with two solid threats, thanks (-0)
Mishra's Workshop
Wheel of Torture
Chimeric Idol

4. yawg07 - Sooty Fog of Madness (-11)
Black Lotus
Delirium Skeins
Nether Spirit*

5. Sacearuse - This is why there banned!! (-11)
Black Lotus
Skittering Skirge
Thoughtseize

6. Illissius - Lotus Eater (-0)
Disrupting Shoal
Pact of Negation
Dryad Arbor

7. Xero - W Sexiness (-11)
Black Lotus
Knight of Sursi
Balance

8. Mordenkain - Deck-that-got-banned-for-a-reason.dec (-11)
Magus of the Moon
Preacher
Black Lotus

9. Eldariel - Discard Me! (-0)
Black Lotus
Crack the Earth
Slith Firewalker

10. herbig - Solidarity (+0)
Peat Bog
Ravenous Rats
Diabolic Edict

11. ForceofWill - Fuck you ForceofWill (Wait what?) (-0)
Mishra's Workshop
Wheel of Torture
Chimeric Idol

12. SpatulaOfTheAges - FredreichMohammedGarcia.dec (-0)
Black Lotus
Leonin Squire
Meddling Mage

* This was submitted as Nether Shadow, but the intent was pretty obvious, and I don't want to be an ass.

The new Balance deck seems very strong. Didn't think of KoS as an alternative to The Rack. Might need to double the penalty as with Force and Glory, but let's see how it performs first.

As always, calculate your results, then add them to the wiki.

[yawg07]

* This was submitted as Nether Shadow, but the intent was pretty obvious, and I don't want to be an ass.

Oh wow, I'm sorry, thank you very much

[yawg07]

1. Maveric78f - The unbalanced deck (-11)
Black Lotus
Balance
Knight of Sursi

WD - 4

2. Giles - (-22)
Dryad Arbor
Force of Will
Misdirection

LL - 4

3. georgjorge - I'll go with two solid threats, thanks (-0)
Mishra's Workshop
Wheel of Torture
Chimeric Idol

WL - 7

5. Sacearuse - This is why there banned!! (-11)
Black Lotus
Skittering Skirge
Thoughtseize

WL - 10

6. Illissius - Lotus Eater (-0)
Disrupting Shoal
Pact of Negation
Dryad Arbor

LL - 10

7. Xero - W Sexiness (-11)
Black Lotus
Knight of Sursi
Balance

WD - 14

8. Mordenkain - Deck-that-got-banned-for-a-reason.dec (-11)
Magus of the Moon
Preacher
Black Lotus

WL - 17

9. Eldariel - Discard Me! (-0)
Black Lotus
Crack the Earth
Slith Firewalker

WD - 21

10. herbig - Solidarity (+0)
Peat Bog
Ravenous Rats
Diabolic Edict

WW - 27

11. ForceofWill - Fuck you ForceofWill (Wait what?) (-0)
Mishra's Workshop
Wheel of Torture
Chimeric Idol

WL - 30

12. SpatulaOfTheAges - FredreichMohammedGarcia.dec (-0)
Black Lotus
Leonin Squire
Meddling Mage

WL - 33


TOTAL: 33 - 11 = 22

[etrigan]

I forgot to enter this week. I probably would have played a Nezumi Shortfang deck, to prove how not-broken it is. I think I would have succeeded as I would have done horribly.

[Wallace]

1. Maveric78f - The unbalanced deck
Black Lotus
Balance
Knight of Sursi

W-L 3 (3)

2. Giles -
Dryad Arbor
Force of Will
Misdirection

W-W 6 (9)

3. georgjorge - I'll go with two solid threats, thanks
Mishra's Workshop
Wheel of Torture
Chimeric Idol

W-L 3 (12)

4. yawg07 - Sooty Fog of Madness
Black Lotus
Delirium Skeins
Nether Spirit

W-L 3 (15)

5. Sacearuse - This is why there banned!!
Black Lotus
Skittering Skirge
Thoughtseize

ME (-11)

6. Illissius - Lotus Eater
Disrupting Shoal
Pact of Negation
Dryad Arbor

L-L 0 (15)

7. Xero - W Sexiness
Black Lotus
Knight of Sursi
Balance

W-L 3 (18)

8. Mordenkain - Deck-that-got-banned-for-a-reason.dec
Magus of the Moon
Preacher
Black Lotus

W-L 3 (21)

9. Eldariel - Discard Me!
Black Lotus
Crack the Earth
Slith Firewalker

W-D 4 (25)

10. herbig - Solidarity
Peat Bog
Ravenous Rats
Diabolic Edict

W-W 6 (31)

11. ForceofWill - Fuck you ForceofWill (Wait what?)
Mishra's Workshop
Wheel of Torture
Chimeric Idol

W-L 3 (34)

12. SpatulaOfTheAges - FredreichMohammedGarcia.dec
Black Lotus
Leonin Squire
Meddling Mage

W-L (37)

Total= 37 - 11= 26

[yawg07]

It seems like Illissius is going to do some stomping

[SpatulaOfTheAges]

1. Maveric78f - The unbalanced deck (-11)
Black Lotus
Balance
Knight of Sursi

WL - 3

2. Giles - (-22)
Dryad Arbor
Force of Will
Misdirection

LL - 3

3. georgjorge - I'll go with two solid threats, thanks (-0)
Mishra's Workshop
Wheel of Torture
Chimeric Idol

WD - 7

4. yawg07 - Sooty Fog of Madness (-11)
Black Lotus
Delirium Skeins
Nether Spirit*

WL - 10

5. Sacearuse - This is why there banned!! (-11)
Black Lotus
Skittering Skirge
Thoughtseize

WL - 13

6. Illissius - Lotus Eater (-0)
Disrupting Shoal
Pact of Negation
Dryad Arbor

LL - 13

7. Xero - W Sexiness (-11)
Black Lotus
Knight of Sursi
Balance

WL - 16

8. Mordenkain - Deck-that-got-banned-for-a-reason.dec (-11)
Magus of the Moon
Preacher
Black Lotus

WL -19

9. Eldariel - Discard Me! (-0)
Black Lotus
Crack the Earth
Slith Firewalker

WW - 25

10. herbig - Solidarity (+0)
Peat Bog
Ravenous Rats
Diabolic Edict

WW - 31

11. ForceofWill - Fuck you ForceofWill (Wait what?) (-0)
Mishra's Workshop
Wheel of Torture
Chimeric Idol

WD - 35

[georgjorge]

It seems like Illissius is going to do some stomping

True...congrats for the idea, it's pure genius.

[georgjorge]

3. Mishra's Workshop / Chimeric Idol / Wheel of Torture

1. WL
2. WW
3.
4. WL
5. WL
6. WW
7. WL
8. WL
9. DD
10.WW
11.WL
12.DL

Total: 39 points. This deck is a lot like Tarmogoyf in Legacy - not really broken, but so good it wins most of its games (or at least places in the Top3).

The "broken" format is fun ! Though nearly all of the banned cards are best with Lotus, which seems to lead to "whoever goes first wins" a lot of the time, although Illisius has shown us the cure for that.

[Illissius]

My results:

01. 6-0
02. 2-2
03. 0-6
04. 6-0
05. 6-0
06. N/A
07. 6-0
08. 6-0
09. 6-0
10. 0-6
11. 0-6
12. 6-0

Total: 44

Easiest calculation ever. Seems my gamble paid off, but that was mostly just luck this time. (Expected more Bayou-Blackmail-Thallid decks and the like).

EDIT -- So what should we do with Balance? Giving it a double penalty seems fair, because it's pretty much on the same level as Barren Glory: "I win". Sucks to be The Rack, but them's the breaks, I guess. Think Force of Will deserves it?