QL Magic Video

[The Knight who say Ni!]

Hi everyone!

I hope you all remember that some time ago I introduced to your attention QL Magic (if you want to refresh your memory have a look at www.qlmagic.com).

I am pleased to say that QL is getting more and more interest among Magic players and recently we played the 5th tournament of this format.

Here is one exciting video from the 3rd QL Magic Tournament.
It is the second game of the final match between G. Trapani and M. Palù.

A challenge at lightning speed with stunning twists… all to be watched!

LINK (http://www.formatoql.it/2012/11/23/video-torneo/) or HERE (http://www.qlmagic.com/2012/11/24/3rd-ql-magic-tournament-video/)

[Hof]

I am very interested in this format, but obviously I have no one to play with yet.
Good job on the tournaments, website and decklists (I enjoyed those especially).

I am impressed by your will and ability to make a project like this one work against the odds.

I am a little bit worried about the rules throwback. It's not all good. For example, Phyrexian Dreadnought can't be Stifled (again) because you have re(introduced) power errata.

In general, I am worried that only a small segment of people that experienced their personal Magic golden age during a very specific time period are going to enjoy this. Basically, it is a format that exists for nostalgia reasons alone. I feel it could be more that that if you adopted the current rules and just defined the format by its unique restricted/banned lists, which places the format somewhere around 'inverse Modern' or 'Vintage light'. Maybe there could be a few lines of rules change on top of that, but using the entire comprehensive rulebook from an age long go is going to alienate a lot of people.

Anyway, just my opinion. Good luck!

[Sloshthedark]

the banlist is extremly oppresive imho... not that I care much, I prefer old design Highlander, no restrictions

[Hof]

Playing with 1 Accumulated Knowledge is no fun. :-)

[nedleeds]

"In conclusion, to promote a game based on strategy and tactics" ... we are playing with Chaos Orb. What a bunch of fools.

[Hof]

"In conclusion, to promote a game based on strategy and tactics" ... we are playing with Chaos Orb.
That does seem like a self-contradiction.


Anyway, I really like the way power cards are all legal but restricted to 3 per deck. It means that if you have some power but not full power, you are in business. No need for proxies. And if you have full power, you can play with all your cards, but not all of them all of the time.

This principle could possibly be expanded to include all cards on the restricted list. Each card on the restricted list could be given a point value based on relative power, and the restricted cards in a deck could be limited by some fixed points total (in addition to each restricted card being restricted to 1).

There is another point I would like to add. Old cards are getting old in Legacy. With each new expansion, power creep invalidates more and more of the old cards. Eventually the original dual lands and a few staples like FoW, Brainstorm, and Wasteland will be the only cards with original frame playable in Legacy. It is only a matter of time. Vintage is much the same.

If you hope to be able to play a deck like this (http://www.formatoql.it/deck/stimato-ql/) ever again, you are going to need a format for it.

[DalkonCledwin]

so basically this is the Rich Kids Format (I wanted to call it something else, but didn't want to be banned because of it)... I mean to actually have any chance in this format you practically have to own 3 copies of Black Lotus, don't you?

[The Knight who say Ni!]

Thank you very much for your kindly reply.


the banlist is extremly oppresive imho... not that I care much, I prefer old design Highlander, no restrictions

The guideline we have in mind when we take our decisions concerning the banned/restricted cards is to promote a way of playing based on a balanced, fair game.
So we prefer to exclude the cards that let someone obtain an infinite or very high number of lifepoints as well as infinite mana, damages, draws, tokens or "win at first turn" strategies, or cards that allow to rebuild
the combo-tier of 2003 (TPS etc...)
Anyway, the majority of the cards in our ban list are already present in 2003 DCI's official ban list.
Even the metagame of QLmagic is not the same of what you had in 2003. Thanks to a pondered ban list, you simply can't rebuild some insane combo tier or TPS. However a lot of decks are totally new and never seen before!
Our experience consists of two years of QL Magic intensive play. We can say that it works very good and is collecting a lot of enthusiastic opinions between those who hear about it and, most important, begin to play it!


In general, I am worried that only a small segment of people that experienced their personal Magic golden age during a very specific time period are going to enjoy this. Basically, it is a format that exists for nostalgia reasons alone.

We have to say that typical QL players are not only old afficionados, but also legacy players that have been playing magic since the beginning or for a long time.
They are often bored to always play against (or using) "Tharmogoyf", "Emrakul" or "Jace the lurker" (just as an example). With QL they may have a break with something they consider great!
Legacy-experienced players are the most enthusiastic about QL. They can play again with the decks they loved, the cards they loved, the rules that made this game a great game.
They can use decks that now are not playable anymore because of the direction WoTC policy has taken.




If you hope to be able to play a deck like this (http://www.formatoql.it/deck/stimato-ql/) ever again, you are going to need a format for it.

Thank you very much! There are a lot of very sweet decks in QL Magic, such as the two decks you can see in the video.



Anyway, I really like the way power cards are all legal but restricted to 3 per deck.

In the end, if you have all P9 cards, you can surely make two of your friends happy! :wink:




I am a little bit worried about the rules throwback. It's not all good. For example, Phyrexian Dreadnought can't be Stifled (again) because you have re(introduced) power errata.

Phyrexian Dreadnought + Stifle is a very good deck in QL ... Here it is LINK (http://www.formatoql.it/deck/gambero-stifle/)

...from Card Rulings Summary (Updated 2003/07/24) (http://www.qlmagic.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/rule-cards.html)
Phyrexian Dreadnought

Color=Artifact Type=Artifact Creature Cost=1 MI(R)
Text(MI+errata): 12/12, Trample. ; If ~this~ would come into play, sacrifice any number of creatures with total power 12 or greater instead. If you do, put ~this~ into play. If you don't, put it into its owner's graveyard. [Oracle 2000/02/01]
You have to sacrifice creatures right before it comes into play by any means. This is not a play cost. It is done during the resolution of whatever brings it into play. [D'Angelo 1999/07/29]
The sacrifice is not optional. The last sentence is equivalent to "If you can't sacrifice enough power in creatures, put it..." [DeLaney 2000/02/21]
When it phases in, it is not "coming into play" due to the phasing rules. So you don't have to sacrifice again when it phases in. [D'Angelo 1999/07/29]
The sacrifices are simultaneous, not one at a time. So if have a Keldon Warlord and 6 other creatures, you have a 7/7 Warlord, and you can sacrifice it and 5 other creatures all at once to pay the cost. [D'Angelo 2000/02/25]
Note - Also see Trample, Rule A.37.



Playing with 1 Accumulated Knowledge is no fun. :-)

?! it is not restricted in QL... please check the baned/Restricted list: LINK (http://www.qlmagic.com/banned-restricted/)


"In conclusion, to promote a game based on strategy and tactics" ... we are playing with Chaos Orb. What a bunch of fools.

Chaos orb? QL Magic admits it, it is funny and this also helps to obtain a different metagame (thougt about Argivian Archaeologist + Choas Orb). We are sorry you'll never be able to flip it! :tongue:

[DalkonCledwin]

The guideline we have in mind when we take our decisions concerning the banned/restricted cards is to promote a way of playing based on a balanced, fair game.
So we prefer to exclude the cards that let someone obtain an infinite or very high number of lifepoints as well as infinite mana, damages, draws, tokens or "win at first turn" strategies, or cards that allow to rebuild
the combo-tier of 2003 (TPS etc...)

You banned all that stuff, while still allowing the presence of infinite turns? yeah thats going to be a balanced format.


They can use decks that now are not playable anymore because of the direction WoTC policy has taken.

I would argue that all the decks that are playable in QL are still playable in the Vintage Format. They just function slightly differently due to the differences between the comprehensive rules of 2003 and the comprehensive rules of 2012. That said, the way the rules work currently is actually truer to what was intended by Richard Garfield than the way the rules were working back in 2003 from what I have been told.


Chaos orb? QL Magic admits it, it is funny and this also helps to obtain a different metagame (thougt about Argivian Archaeologist + Choas Orb). We are sorry you'll never be able to flip it! :tongue:

The fact that you allow Chaos Orb in the QL format is the very reason I will never play that format.

A. Random effects based on Card Flipping = bad mojo
B. Rules that say card text supersedes the comprehensive rules means that there will be some idiot out there somewhere who will claim that Chaos Orb means that any card it lands on must be burned, ripped up, or otherwise destroyed.
C. Chaos Orb encourages players to keep their cards as far away from each other as is possible so as to avoid Chaos Orb from landing on more than one card at a time... this becomes problematic during Tournament settings to say the least.
D. What happens if Chaos Orb lands on the opposing players Library/Deck?

[Hof]

?! (Accumulated Knowledge) is not restricted in QL... please check the baned/Restricted list

I made a reply to the "prefer highlander" comment.



Phyrexian Dreadnought + Stifle is a very good deck in QL ... Here it is LINK (http://www.formatoql.it/deck/gambero-stifle/)

...from Card Rulings Summary (Updated 2003/07/24) (http://www.qlmagic.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/rule-cards.html)
Phyrexian Dreadnought

Color=Artifact Type=Artifact Creature Cost=1 MI(R)
Text(MI+errata): 12/12, Trample. ; If ~this~ would come into play, sacrifice any number of creatures with total power 12 or greater instead. If you do, put ~this~ into play. If you don't, put it into its owner's graveyard. [Oracle 2000/02/01]
You have to sacrifice creatures right before it comes into play by any means. This is not a play cost. It is done during the resolution of whatever brings it into play. [D'Angelo 1999/07/29]
The sacrifice is not optional. The last sentence is equivalent to "If you can't sacrifice enough power in creatures, put it..." [DeLaney 2000/02/21]
When it phases in, it is not "coming into play" due to the phasing rules. So you don't have to sacrifice again when it phases in. [D'Angelo 1999/07/29]
The sacrifices are simultaneous, not one at a time. So if have a Keldon Warlord and 6 other creatures, you have a 7/7 Warlord, and you can sacrifice it and 5 other creatures all at once to pay the cost. [D'Angelo 2000/02/25]
Note - Also see Trample, Rule A.37.

I am puzzled. It seems to me that the ruling confirms that you can not Stifle the Dreadnought in QL.

The old Oracle wording is different from the card's text. It is stated as a replacement effect (If this would come into play, ... instead...), not a triggered ability (When this comes into play...). This sort of errata made to prevent a powerful combo, that was deemed inappropiate at the time, has later been referred to as power errata, and it has been reversed today. The current Oracle wording is closer to what the card actually says. By going back to the old wording, you have reintroduced the power errata, and as a direct consequence the deck in the link does not work. You do not get priority before having made the sacrifice of 12 power.

[nedleeds]

Chaos orb? QL Magic admits it, it is funny and this also helps to obtain a different metagame (thougt about Argivian Archaeologist + Choas Orb). We are sorry you'll never be able to flip it! :tongue:

I was flipping Chaos Orbs when you were in your daddies man sack.

[The Knight who say Ni!]

The old Oracle wording is different from the card's text. It is stated as a replacement effect (If this would come into play, ... instead...), not a triggered ability (When this comes into play...).

You're right!!

Phyrexian Dreadnought was reworded in July 2007.

Mirage's Oracle says: Sacrifice any number of creatures with total power of 12 or more when it enters play or bury this card.
While the official card text in 1997 was: When Phyrexian Dreadnought comes into play, sacrifice any number of creatures with total power of 12 or more, or bury Phyrexian Dreadnought.
It was reworded for the first time in 1999 due to its combo with Pandemonium.

The combo with Stifle is really strong, but after two years of experience with our format and its meta-game we believe it is not inappropriate.
It is not so easy to complete it if you are not well protected and there are enough answers even for those players who do not play blue spells (STP, Disenchant, Naturalize, Edicts, Terminate, Vindicate, REB...)

So we think we are going to consider the 2007 errata as a proper interpretation for QL Magic.

Anyway, thank you very much for your help!