[Format] Martian Timewalk

[BirdsOfParadise]

MARTIAN TIMEWALK
Nerdy Martian engineering students are using remote sensing technology to obtain spoilers for Magic: the Gathering sets, one by one. The cards fascinate them, but the technology is finnicky, so each set takes time and effort to detect. Because of their otherworldly concept of time, the Martians can't detect sets in chronological order; instead, they detect sets at random. They use psycholinguistics to infer the up-to-date, comprehensive rules of Magic: the Gathering. They sit down to play, and a new format is born: Martian Timewalk.

KEY INFO
Format type: Constructed. Sets added to card pool in random order.
Legal sets: Alpha/Beta, Lorwyn, Magic Origins, Mirage, Planar Chaos, War of the Spark
Deck construction:
> 60+ cards in maindeck.
> Optional 15-card sideboard.
> No more than 4 copies of a card, except basic lands.
> Some cards cost points to include in a deck. No more than 7 points allowed between maindeck and sideboard.

Cards that cost points (per copy):
Ancestral Recall (3 pt)
Sol Ring (3 pt)

Black Lotus (2 pt)
Time Walk (2 pt)

Balance (1 pt)
Channel (1 pt)
Dark Ritual (1 pt)
Demonic Tutor (1 pt)
Karn, the Great Creator (1 pt)
Lightning Bolt (1 pt)
Mana Vault (1 pt)
Mox Emerald (1 pt)
Mox Jet (1 pt)
Mox Pearl (1 pt)
Mox Ruby (1 pt)
Mox Sapphire (1 pt)
Mystical Tutor (1 pt)
Swords to Plowshares (1 pt)
Taiga (1 pt)
Time Vault (1 pt)
Timetwister (1 pt)
Wheel of Fortune (1 pt)

Banned cards:

• All ante cards (such as Contract from Below)
• All dexterity cards (such as Chaos Orb)
• All cards that do not meet Martian community standards, which are identical to WotC community standards (such as Crusade) --- see https://magic.wizards.com/en/article...gic-2020-06-10
• No cards banned because of power level

Next update of point list: August 1, 2022
Next set added: October 16, 2022

DESCRIPTION
(*) Martian Timewalk is meant to feel like a nascent Eternal format in an alternate reality; sets are released in a random walk instead of chronologically.
(*) Sets will be added quickly at first and more slowly later on. This is because formats with deep card pools take longer to stabilize after being perturbed.
(*) A point system is used instead of a banned list. An algorithm, applied periodically, is used to assign points to cards. (Cards that are both restricted in Vintage and banned in Legacy enter the format with one point.)

HOW TO PARTICIPATE
(*) Ask questions, post decks, or discuss any aspect of the format in this thread!
(*) Send any outcomes of competitive play to me by PM. Prior to each automatic point adjustment, I collate all results of competitive play and feed them to the algorithm. Competitive play includes tournaments, but any isolated 1v1 match can also count as competitive play if both players so agree beforehand.

[BirdsOfParadise]

(reserved for possible future post about point algorithm)

[BirdsOfParadise]

This deck won my first test gauntlet.

RUG Zoo

// 26 Creature
4 Mtenda Lion
4 Granger Guildmage
4 Quirion Elves
1 Goblin Tinkerer
4 Frenetic Efreet
2 Searing Spear Askari
4 Nettletooth Djinn
2 Wildfire Emissary
1 Emberwilde Caliph

// 12 Other Spells
4 Rampant Growth
4 Incinerate
1 Armor of Thorns
1 Memory Lapse
2 Kaervek's Torch

// 22 Land
4 Mountain Valley
9 Forest
4 Mountain
5 Island

SB: 3 Goblin Tinkerer
SB: 2 Emberwilde Caliph
SB: 1 Wildfire Emissary
SB: 3 Mind Harness
SB: 3 Memory Lapse
SB: 3 Reign of Chaos

Mtenda Lion, Granger Guildmage, Frenetic Efreet, and Nettletooth Djinn are all nice, efficient creatures. Incinerate is a must. Quirion Elves and Rampant Growth are necessary to cover three colors of mana. Kaervek's Torch is great at 2 or 3 copies when you're aggressive and have 8 ramp spells. Everything else is pretty much filler. (Emberwilde Caliph is probably a superstar or a disaster, depending on the situation.) The Goblin Tinkerers are there because I expect Reality Ripple + Phyrexian Dreadnought to be playable.

[BirdsOfParadise]

This deck won my second test gauntlet.

UW RippleNought

// 16 Combo & tutors
4 Phyrexian Dreadnought
4 Reality Ripple
4 Mystical Tutor
4 Enlightened Tutor

// 3 Enlightened Tutor package
1 Cursed Totem
2 Pacifism

// 4 Mystical Tutor package
1 Meddle
1 Afterlife
1 Disenchant
1 Boomerang

// 14 Other
2 Dream Fighter
4 Memory Lapse
4 Power Sink
4 Dissipate

// 23 Mana
1 Sky Diamond
7 Plains
11 Island
4 Flood Plain

SB: 2 Cursed Totem
SB: 2 Benevolent Unicorn
SB: 2 Shimmer
SB: 4 Mind Harness
SB: 2 Mangara's Equity
SB: 3 Disenchant

Sorcery-speed removal is surprisingly weak against Reality Ripple because the Dreadnought is phased out while you are tapped out. When Dreadnought phases in, you're untapped, so you can protect it with counterspells.

Goblin Tinkerer is good against this deck. GR(x) midrange decks can sideboard into a configuration with multiple copies each of Worldly Tutor and Goblin Tinkerer (and Mindbender Spores if they're willing to go there), and Cursed Totem and Mind Harness are good answers.

[BirdsOfParadise]

This deck won my third test gauntlet.

UW PolyWave

// 4 Artifact
4 Marble Diamond

// 2 Creature
2 Spirit of the Night

// 2 Enchantment
2 Sacred Mesa

// 23 Instant
4 Memory Lapse
4 Power Sink
4 Dissipate
4 Mystical Tutor
4 Tidal Wave
1 Afterlife
1 Boomerang
1 Disenchant

// 7 Sorcery
3 Dream Cache
4 Polymorph

// 22 Land
4 Flood Plain
6 Plains
11 Island
1 Crystal Vein

SB: 2 Cursed Totem
SB: 2 Shimmer
SB: 4 Mind Harness
SB: 2 Meddle
SB: 3 Disenchant
SB: 1 Boomerang
SB: 1 open slot

Plan A: Cast Tidal Wave at opponent's EOT so that the Wave token exists on your turn. On your turn, cast Polymorph on the Wave token, getting Spirit of the Night into play. Win with that plus some disruption.
Plan B: Be a UW control deck and win with Sacred Mesa. Tidal Wave can be part of the control plan by eating an attacker instead of being a combo piece. The Sacred Mesa plan doesn't work too well against beatdown decks, but it can be the stronger plan against decks that don't fill the board with creatures. Sacred Mesa can also feed into the Polymorph plan in a pinch.

Mystical Tutor can fetch either half of the combo. Dream Cache can tuck a Spirit of the Night that ends up in your hand.

[BirdsOfParadise]

This deck won my fourth test gauntlet.

// UR Imp

// 5 Artifact
4 Fire Diamond
1 Sky Diamond

// 16 Creature
4 Teferi's Imp
4 Frenetic Efreet
4 Goblin Tinkerer
4 Dream Fighter

// 8 Instant
4 Incinerate
4 Flare

// 12 Sorcery
4 Hammer of Bogardan
4 Kaervek's Torch
4 Stone Rain

// 19 Land
10 Mountain
9 Island

SB: 4 Mind Harness
SB: 4 Boomerang
SB: 3 Reign of Chaos
SB: 4 Builder's Bane

Teferi's Imp gives card draw (one card every other turn) if you can keep your hand empty to negate the discard trigger. Every card in the deck can be played proactively so that you can empty your hand. Another way to outlast opponents is Hammer of Bogardan. One weakness of this deck is Sacred Mesa.