4 Card Blind

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BirdsOfParadise

i was on the cusp of suggesting a ban on Blackmail previously but was surprised by others’ ingenuity. If anything is constant from round to round it is that I’m surprised by other players’ ingenuity. Either someone will think of a clever answer or someone will think of a clever way to take advantage of the meta. I’m not competing this time but personally I don’t mind if some rounds are more open-ended and others are about dealing with specific problems. Whole formats in Magic (cough Vintage cough) seem to be about figuring out how to best use or best work around terribly broken and oppressive cards, and this is only a single round.

That said, if problem cards arise during the block tour, those blocks are ripe for revisiting later with the problem cards banned.

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Indeed. I'm thinking about, for a later season, revisiting the Block Tour, or just continuing it, but this time using the banned list for season 1 (Legacy).
That will eliminate the worst cards (Blackmail, Ghost Quarter and friends are all on there), which should give us more balanced metas.
Still, there's always a best card, no matter what we do. :wink:

Update on the round: 4 entries so far, with a little over a day to go until the deadline. People indeed are struggling.

I will end up submitting a deck... although not a good one probably.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tylert

I will end up submitting a deck... although not a good one probably.

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Almost assuredly it won't be worse than mine, :cool:

Nine entries at the passing of the deadline. :smile:
I'll post decks as soon as I find time.

Time for the Quarter quell. See how we did.

DECKS FOR ROUND 10 OF THE BLOCK TOUR - Ravnica block (Ravnica: City of Guilds, Guildpact, Dissension):

1. Asthereal (TO): Mountain, Wild Cantor, Seal of Fire, Ghost Quarter
2. Unlif3: Overgrown Tomb, Cry of Contrition, Elves of Deep Shadow, Plagued Rusalka
3. Wrath of Pie: Forest, Plains, Wild Cantor, Watchwolf
4. Whoshim: Leyline of the Meek, Selesnya Sanctuary, Selesnya Sanctuary, Vitu-Ghazi, the City-Tree
5. H: Overgrown Tomb, Swamp, Birds of Paradise, Slithering Shade
6. GoblinSmashmaster: Mountain, Ghost Quarter, Seal of Fire, Boros Recruit
7. Tylert: Swamp, Swamp, Darkblast, Slithering Shade
8. FTW: Stomping Ground, Birds of Paradise, Boros Recruit, Taste for Mayhem
9. apple713: Forest, Ghost Quarter, Birds of Paradise, Taste for Mayhem

Please post your scores and cross-check with the opponents.
I'll update the Google Spreadsheet for the season, so you can enter your scores there as well: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing

Asthereal results for round 10 - Ravnica block:

1. Asthereal (TO): that's me, with boring and uninspired GQ, land, dude, removal: Mountain, Wild Cantor, Seal of Fire, Ghost Quarter
2. Unlif3: I think I'd be the one with the options to try for a win, but I don't see one yet. I'll enter two draws now (I can discard GQ, and I have two answers for your 2 threats), and calculate in depth later. 2-2
3. Wrath of Pie: OTP open with Mountain, Seal. I'll kill your Cantor and Quarter your first land. My Cantor wins it. OTD you go land-Cantor. I Quarter the land. You make 3/3. I have to block + Seal for a draw. 4-1
4. Whoshim: Heavily meta'd deck that hopes most of us play around GQ rather than use it. Of course this loses to decks that did choose to play GQ anyway. 6-0
5. H: GQ one land, Seal Shade in response to the first pump, which will always kill it. Cantor > BoP. 6-0
6. GoblinSmashmaster: We Seal eachothers wincon. We GQ eachothers land. Happy days and draws galore. 2-2
7. Tylert: I can only GQ one Swamp. Blast blasts my Cantor. Seal seals your Shade. More draws. 2-2
8. FTW: OTP make Seal, you make BoP, I GQ land and Seal BoP. Cantor wins it. OTD you go land-BoP. I go Seal. You cast Recruit, cast Taste on BoP, I Seal BoP. You spent 2 life getting your land untapped, so if we race, I'll win. You hold Recruit back and we have a stare-off for a draw. 4-1
9. apple713: Your threat is bigger than mine, an I can't stop you from casting it, so I have to kill your guy. So I have to open with Mountain into Seal, you GQ my Mountain and we always draw. 2-2

Total: 28 points, for now. Calculations for the games against Unlif3 to follow shortly.

Quick response before bed, so there is a decent chance that I overlooked something. :D

4. Whoshim: Leyline of the Meek, Selesnya Sanctuary, Selesnya Sanctuary, Vitu-Ghazi, the City-Tree


1. Asthereal (TO): Mountain, Wild Cantor, Seal of Fire, Ghost Quarter 0-6

2. Unlif3: Overgrown Tomb, Cry of Contrition, Elves of Deep Shadow, Plagued Rusalka 0-6 You can get both uses out of Cry before I get my lands down.

3. Wrath of Pie: Forest, Plains, Wild Cantor, Watchwolf 6-0 I think I can just stabilize before you get me, but I could be off when you are on the play.

5. H: Overgrown Tomb, Swamp, Birds of Paradise, Slithering Shade 6-0

6. GoblinSmashmaster: Mountain, Ghost Quarter, Seal of Fire, Boros Recruit 0-6

7. Tylert: Swamp, Swamp, Darkblast, Slithering Shade 6-0

8. FTW: Stomping Ground, Birds of Paradise, Boros Recruit, Taste for Mayhem 0-6

9. apple713: Forest, Ghost Quarter, Birds of Paradise, Taste for Mayhem 0-6

18 points, I think.

EDIT: Concerning Darkblast, the dredge part of it does not work in 4CB, right? You need to have cards to draw in normal Magic to use dredge, and I assumed it was the same here, but I could be mistaken. If I am wrong, I lose to Tylert.

Damn. Why did i talk myself into not playing dredge :(
I wanted to play Overgrown tomb, golgari rotfarm stinkweed imp and necroplasm. This would have owned all non GQ decks :(
There are not so much Ghost quarters decks...

Dredge should not work. If you can't put that exact number of cards from your Library into the Graveyard, you can't Dredge something.

3. Wrath of Pie: Forest, Plains, Wild Cantor, Watchwolf

1. Asthereal (TO): Mountain, Wild Cantor, Seal of Fire, Ghost Quarter DL
2. Unlif3: Overgrown Tomb, Cry of Contrition, Elves of Deep Shadow, Plagued Rusalka WL
4. Whoshim: Leyline of the Meek, Selesnya Sanctuary, Selesnya Sanctuary, Vitu-Ghazi, the City-Tree LL
5. H: Overgrown Tomb, Swamp, Birds of Paradise, Slithering Shade DD
6. GoblinSmashmaster: Mountain, Ghost Quarter, Seal of Fire, Boros Recruit DL
7. Tylert: Swamp, Swamp, Darkblast, Slithering Shade WW
8. FTW: Stomping Ground, Birds of Paradise, Boros Recruit, Taste for Mayhem LL
9. apple713: Forest, Ghost Quarter, Birds of Paradise, Taste for Mayhem LL

3w4d = 13 points

I think Asthereal is going to lock up the season crown soon, unless he somehow scores poorly for two straight rounds.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by H

Dredge should not work. If you can't put that exact number of cards from your Library into the Graveyard, you can't Dredge something.

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This is correct. You can't Dredge if you don't have the needed amount of cards in the grave.
So the Dredge mechanic is actually somewhat useless in 4CB.

Darkblast can still kill a creature though. Unfortunately. :wink:

EDIT: LIBRARY!! You need the amount of cards in your library. Ugh...

H: Overgrown Tomb, Swamp, Birds of Paradise, Slithering Shade

1. Asthereal (TO): Mountain, Wild Cantor, Seal of Fire, Ghost Quarter
I can't beat removal. 0-6

2. Unlif3: Overgrown Tomb, Cry of Contrition, Elves of Deep Shadow, Plagued Rusalka
Still can't beat removal. 0-6

3. Wrath of Pie: Forest, Plains, Wild Cantor, Watchwolf
Can't race that. 0-6

4. Whoshim: Leyline of the Meek, Selesnya Sanctuary, Selesnya Sanctuary, Vitu-Ghazi, the City-Tree
Eventaully, there will be two tokens and it gets worse from there. 0-6

5. H: Bye, myself.

6. GoblinSmashmaster: Mountain, Ghost Quarter, Seal of Fire, Boros Recruit
Removal, can't beat that. 0-6

7. Tylert: Swamp, Swamp, Darkblast, Slithering Shade
Removal, still. 0-6

8. FTW: Stomping Ground, Birds of Paradise, Boros Recruit, Taste for Mayhem
Definitely missed Taste existing. 0-6

9. apple713: Forest, Ghost Quarter, Birds of Paradise, Taste for Mayhem
Still missed it. 0-6

Well, looks like a nice flat zero. Which is about how much effort I put into the list...

EDIT: OH, maybe I draw with Wrath, I forgot I could just sit and block...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by H

2. Unlif3: Overgrown Tomb, Cry of Contrition, Elves of Deep Shadow, Plagued Rusalka
Still can't beat removal. 0-6

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Can't you go: Tomb > BoP, turn afterwards go Swamp > Shade and try to hold back Shade for defence?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by H

3. Wrath of Pie: Forest, Plains, Wild Cantor, Watchwolf
Can't race that. 0-6

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Don't have to. You can make Shade into a 3/4 which should be able to stop the Watchwolf from attacking.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by H

7. Tylert: Swamp, Swamp, Darkblast, Slithering Shade
Removal, still. 0-6

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Again, can't you go: Tomb > BoP, turn afterwards go Swamp > Shade and try to hold back Shade for defence? You have one more mana than him, which should compensate for the -1/-1 from Darkblast.

I think you have more points than zero.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Asthereal

This is correct. You can't Dredge if you don't have the needed amount of cards in the grave.
So the Dredge mechanic is actually somewhat useless in 4CB.

Darkblast can still kill a creature though. Unfortunately. :wink:

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Why did nobody told me that before the round? :) (and also before i started my evaluation of the match-ups)...

So "Dredge is a nonbo in 4CB" round:

1. Asthereal (TO): Mountain, Wild Cantor, Seal of Fire, Ghost Quarter
2. Unlif3: Overgrown Tomb, Cry of Contrition, Elves of Deep Shadow, Plagued Rusalka
3. Wrath of Pie: Forest, Plains, Wild Cantor, Watchwolf
4. Whoshim: Leyline of the Meek, Selesnya Sanctuary, Selesnya Sanctuary, Vitu-Ghazi, the City-Tree
5. H: Overgrown Tomb, Swamp, Birds of Paradise, Slithering Shade
6. GoblinSmashmaster: Mountain, Ghost Quarter, Seal of Fire, Boros Recruit
7. Tylert: Swamp, Swamp, Darkblast, Slithering Shade
8. FTW: Stomping Ground, Birds of Paradise, Boros Recruit, Taste for Mayhem
9. apple713: Forest, Ghost Quarter, Birds of Paradise, Taste for Mayhem

1. Asthereal: Seal kills shade, darkblast kills wild cantor. 2-2 --> 2
2. Unlif3: It's probably a draw. I can kill one of your guys only and have to kill the first one you play not to have to discard tow cards. 2-2 --> 4 (8 if dredge had work the way i thought it worked)
3. Wrath of Pie: I can't kill watchwolf. You win both games. 0-6 --> 4 (8)
4. Whoshim : Can't kill even one token and i'm not fast enough. 0-6 --> 4 (8)
5. H: I can't kill shade because you have at least two mana up when you play it. so it's a draw. 2-2 --> 6 (14)
6. GoblinSmashmaster: Darkblast kill recruit, seal kills shade. draw. 2-2 --> 8 (16)
7. Me.
8. FTW: It's going to be a draw as i can't attack with darkblast in hand and that i have to kill the creature you enchant to not loose. 2-2 --> 10 (22)
9. Apple713: Darkblast for the win. 6-0 --> 16 (28)

Total = 16.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by H

EDIT: OH, maybe I draw with Wrath, I forgot I could just sit and block...

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I don't see how you lose because you can be 3/4. Wrath can't beat you. At worst DD.

You should DD against Tyler too. Your creatures hold each other off.

Quote:

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3. Wrath of Pie: Forest, Plains, Wild Cantor, Watchwolf
6. GoblinSmashmaster: Mountain, Ghost Quarter, Seal of Fire, Boros Recruit WL

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Wrath should also DD against Gobbo. Watchwolf can't attack into Seal of Fire+Boros Recruit (first strike).

This round has a lot of draws!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tylert

Why did nobody told me that before the round? :) (and also before i started my evaluation of the match-ups)...

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Yeah, I kind of just assumed you knew and still chose Darkblast because it kills most one-drops and can be played even when one of your lands gets Quarter Quelled. :cool:

8. FTW: Stomping Ground, Birds of Paradise, Boros Recruit, Taste for Mayhem

1. Asthereal (TO): OTP I play Birds. You play Seal. I cast Recruit and Taste on Birds. You Seal Birds. Recruit draws against Cantor.
OTD you lead with Seal and kill both my land and my play, so I can't do anything else. DL 1-4

2. Unlif3: OTP I play a creature. You play Cry of Contrition, discarding Taste. I play Recruit. Rusalka eventually kills Recruit and the Elves get me. OTD same thing. LL 0-6

3. Wrath of Pie: I put Taste on Recruit. 5/1 first strike holds off the first attack and wins the race (Birds can chump too). OTD same thing. WW 6-0

4. Whoshim: I put Taste on Birds. 4/1 flying gets there before your tokens do much. WW 6-0

5. H: I put Taste on Recruit. 5/1 first strike outraces 3/4 shade. WW 6-0

6. GoblinSmashmaster: OTP I play Birds. You play Seal. I cast Recruit and Taste on Birds. You Seal Birds. Recruits draw.
OTD you lead with Seal and kill both my land and play, then Recruit kills me. DL 1-4

7. Tylert: We play chicken. You can't Darkblast until I choose a target for Taste, which means Shade can't attack. DD 2-2

9. apple713: Our Birds trade while Recruit kills you. Holding birds on defense doesn't help because of first strike. WW 6-0

28 points (8 wins, 4 draws)

Not bad but not enough to catch up.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Asthereal

1. Asthereal (TO): Mountain, Wild Cantor, Seal of Fire, Ghost Quarter
2. Unlif3: Overgrown Tomb, Cry of Contrition, Elves of Deep Shadow, Plagued Rusalka

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Unif3 going first
U - Tomb. Elves. [U=17]
A - Mountain. Seal Elves.
U - Cry. If you discard Cantor, you can't win. If you discard GQ he plays Rusalka. Draw

If instead you GQ his land and leave the Elves, he still plays Cry. If you discard Mountain you lose. If you discard Seal, Cantor loses to Elves + Rusalka. Therefore you must discard Cantor and Seal his Elves to draw.

Asthereal going first
A - Mountain. Seal.
U - Tomb. Cry! [U=18]. If you discard Cantor you can't win, but you can GQ his land to draw. If you discard GQ, you can play Cantor and trade Cantor + Seal with Elves + Rusalka. Draw.

I don't see how you can win. Cry of Contrition squeezes your resources. However maybe GoblinSmashmaster could win on the play because of first strike.

GoblinSmashmaster results for round Quarter Quell

1. Asthereal (TO): Mountain, Wild Cantor, Seal of Fire, Ghost Quarter
You have removal. 2-2

2. Unlif3:
What Asthereal said. 2-2

3. Wrath of Pie: Forest, Plains, Wild Cantor, Watchwolf
Heel doggy. 4-1

4. Whoshim: Leyline of the Meek, Selesnya Sanctuary, Selesnya Sanctuary, Vitu-Ghazi, the City-Tree
Quelled. Then Goblin smashes! 6-0

5. H: Overgrown Tomb, Swamp, Birds of Paradise, Slithering Shade
Goblin smashes! 6-0

6. GoblinSmashmaster: Mountain, Ghost Quarter, Seal of Fire, Boros Recruit
That's me!

7. Tylert: Swamp, Swamp, Darkblast, Slithering Shade
You have removal. 2-2

8. FTW: Stomping Ground, Birds of Paradise, Boros Recruit, Taste for Mayhem
What Asthereal said. 4-1

9. apple713: Forest, Ghost Quarter, Birds of Paradise, Taste for Mayhem
What Asthereal said. 2-2

28 points

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Whoshim

2. Unlif3: Overgrown Tomb, Cry of Contrition, Elves of Deep Shadow, Plagued Rusalka 0-6 You can get both uses out of Cry before I get my lands down.

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To get a second use of Cry, he must activate Plagued Rusalka and he needs both fodder and a legal target. I think that forces him to kill his own board to discard your land, resulting in a draw. DD 2-2.

If he doesn't do that, he misses the 2nd Cry and you eventually make enough 1/1s to win.