4 Card Blind: The Silkster Seasons

[silkster]

dte: Kessig Wolf Run, Fungal reaches, Tower of the Magistrate, Dryad arbor, comment: Luddite
6-0, unblockable Arbor too fast

Reeplcheep: Inkmoth Nexus, Ancient Den, Glimmervoid, Rancor, comment: Ink-redibly fast
6-0, poison too fast

Wrath of Pie: Lotus Bloom, Lotus Bloom, Wild Evocation, Furnace Dragon, comment:
0-6, EE on 0 catches the Blooms, but I think Ratchet Bomb on 0 also catches the Blooms, so maybe not legal?

Tirrit: Memnite, Lotus Petal, Vesuva, Caustic Wasps, comment: Here's hoping for no charge/sol lands!
0-6, Vesuva is very cute

FTW: Teferi's Isle, Gut Shot, Tomb Trawler, Chronomaton, comment: Slow copy
0-6, you played a 2-drop and a 1-drop :( If only I'd played Blinkmoth Nexus.

GoblinSmashmaster: Dwarven Hold, Hearth Charm, Flamebreak, Goblin Cannon, comment: Bazaar banned!
2-2, Dwarven Hold is bad, y'all. I considered Stalking Stones to be vulnerable to Dwarven Hold with Hearth Charm or Molten Frame, but I didn't like that it lost the mirror.
Wait, I don't need my creature to die to Hearth Charm. You can just ignore it and kill me with 44 mana on turn 46, cause I don't kill until turn 61.
6-0
Double wait. I attack every third turn, but it's every third turn for 2.
2-2

Silkster: Saltcrusted Steppe, Mishra's Foundry, Engineered Explosives, Isolate, comment: floor is so hard to beat!

The perfect 50/50 again!

This week was tough. I I had some time to think about it early, and I pretty quickly came to this deck after considering a turn-1 4/4 artifact flyer.


Now is probably a good time to reflect on the season. I was quite happy that we had powerful floor decks and mediumly powerful ceiling decks. Each round I felt like I had room to brew and that I didn't know what other people would play. I was worried that there would be too many copycats, but so many effects are nearly unique, and the restriction that you had to lose OTP or win OTD meant that you had to be a step away from the floor/ceiling.

I wonder where we want to go next. I realize now that the ceiling/floor structure can replace banathon, so we could rehash old banathon seasons as ceiling/floor seasons, like pauper or creatures+lands only.

[GoblinSmashmaster]

GoblinSmashmaster Results for Round "Manland"

dte: kessig wolf run, fungal reaches, tower of the magistrate, Dryad arbor, comment: Luddite
Goblin blast! :( 0-6

Reeplcheep: Inkmoth Nexus, Ancient Den, Glimmervoid, Rancor, comment: Ink-redibly fast
Charm 2-2

Wrath of Pie: Lotus Bloom, Lotus Bloom, Wild Evocation, Furnace Dragon, comment:
Dragon smash 6-0

Tirrit: Memnite, Lotus Petal, Vesuva, Caustic Wasps, comment: Here's hoping for no charge/sol lands!
Pesky wasps 2-2

FTW: Teferi's Isle, Gut Shot, Tomb Trawler, Chronomaton, comment: Slow copy
Goblin blast! :( 0-6

GoblinSmashmaster: Dwarven Hold, Hearth Charm, Flamebreak, Goblin Cannon, comment: Bazaar banned!
That's me, not playing a 1/1 goblin

Silkster: Saltcrusted Steppe, Mishra's Foundry, Engineered Explosives, Isolate, comment: floor is so hard to beat!
Charm 2-2

12 goblin points

[silkster]

Reeplcheep: Inkmoth Nexus, Ancient Den, Glimmervoid, Rancor, comment: Ink-redibly fast
Inkmoth smash 6-0

GoblinSmashmaster: Dwarven Hold, Hearth Charm, Flamebreak, Goblin Cannon, comment: Bazaar banned!
That's me, not playing a 1/1 goblin

Silkster: Saltcrusted Steppe, Mishra's Foundry, Engineered Explosives, Isolate, comment: floor is so hard to beat!
Goblin blast! :( 0-6

My mistake. My clock is ~30 turns, not ~60, so you have to hold up mana for Hearth Charm at some point.

On the other hand, your Hearth Charm also catches Reeplcheep's Inkmoth, so you play defense there and draw too.

It's a good thing you chose that truly terrible Dwarven Hold card.

[Reeplcheep]

Reeplcheep: Inkmoth Nexus, Ancient Den, Glimmervoid,
Rancor, comment: Ink-redibly fast

I found this week hard, so I just hoped people would play ping or shatter effects. Turns out other people realized the non-land rider was important.

dte: kessig wolf run, fungal reaches, tower of the magistrate, Dryad arbor, comment: Luddite
Similar deck, but you can be slower since you can block. WW

Wrath of Pie: Lotus Bloom, Lotus Bloom, Wild Evocation, Furnace Dragon, comment:
Disagreement. I kill on t5 which is your combo turn. I also think you lose to ratchet bomb in your t4 upkeep. WL?

Tirrit: Memnite, Lotus Petal, Vesuva, Caustic Wasps, comment: Here's hoping for no charge/sol lands!
Copied nexus forces me to trade for memnite. DD

FTW: Teferi's Isle, Gut Shot, Tomb Trawler, Chronomaton, comment: Slow copy
An istant speed ping effect! LL

GoblinSmashmaster: Dwarven Hold, Hearth Charm, Flamebreak, Goblin Cannon, comment: Bazaar banned!
Charmed by your deck. DD

Silkster: Saltcrusted Steppe, Mishra's Foundry, Engineered Explosives, Isolate, comment: floor is so hard to beat!
You can isolate my rancor but I'm still too fast. WW.

5 W 4 D 3 L for 13/36

[dte]

Did another round start?

[FTW]

Did another round start?

I would guess yours is the ceiling deck. We must lose to trampling Dryad Arbor!

[silkster]

Did another round start?

Yes, the current ceiling deck is: Kessig Wolf Run, Fungal Reaches, Tower of the Magistrate, Dryad Arbor.

Banned are:
Kessig Wolf Run, Fungal Reaches, Tower of the Magistrate, Dryad Arbor
Ratchet Bomb, City of Traitors, Patchwork Automaton, Drillworks Mole;
Thassa's Oracle, Laboratory Maniac, Jace, Wielder of Mysteries, Strip Mine, Ghost Quarter, Wasteland, Volatile Fault.

Since this is coming a bit late (though inferable), I'm going to delay the round end until Wednesday at 11am EDT.

I will also take this time to solicit suggestions for future seasons. My only idea is to play Floor/Ceiling but with only creatures and lands. FTW might have a season ready to go, and any other suggestions are welcome.

[silkster]

7644a31be830985f808dfaac4c6fef6993c13cf19cffc712ccc133eff098d628

[silkster]

Only 6 entries, but we're already an extra day, so I guess I'll just go for it.

Round 10

Tirrit: Bazaar of Bagdad, Shelldock Isle, Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, Rhystic Cave, comment: I have a bad feeling about this deck, but I can't help myself: it's too fun to submit rhystic cave on a ceiling week!
GoblinSmashmaster: Chancellor of the Forge, Foil, Volcanic Island, Raze the Effigy, comment: Goblin Smash!
Wrath of Pie: Bottomless Vault, Hollow Trees, Gaze of Granite, Wurmcoil Engine, comment:
Silkster: Underground Sea, Blackmail, Phantasmal Bear, Chancellor of the Annex, comment: the all lands decks are bad, right?
FTW: Thoughtseize, Death Rattle, Hive of the Eye Tyrant, Molten Slagheap, comment: No Storm Giants!
dte: Leyline of Singularity, Karakas, Hex Parasite, Memnite, comment:

[silkster]

Tirrit: Bazaar of Bagdad, Shelldock Isle, Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, Rhystic Cave, comment: I have a bad feeling about this deck, but I can't help myself: it's too fun to submit rhystic cave on a ceiling week!
Wait, is this deck actually good?
0-6

GoblinSmashmaster: Chancellor of the Forge, Foil, Volcanic Island, Raze the Effigy, comment: Goblin Smash!
I need to Blackmail you to stop you from using the Effigy as removal on my creature, but I can do that.
6-0

Wrath of Pie: Bottomless Vault, Hollow Trees, Gaze of Granite, Wurmcoil Engine, comment:
I can always catch your creature, but you can always catch mine.
2-2

Silkster: Underground Sea, Blackmail, Phantasmal Bear, Chancellor of the Annex, comment: the all lands decks are bad, right?
I thought everyone would be on Blackmail.

FTW: Thoughtseize, Death Rattle, Hive of the Eye Tyrant, Molten Slagheap, comment: No Storm Giants!
OTP, I play the bear, then Chancellor slows you down, then I blackmail your other land.
OTD, you play a land and pass, I blackmail a land, then you Thoughtseize the bear. Edit: you don't have the second land to push Thoughtseize through.
4-1 6-0

dte: Leyline of Singularity, Karakas, Hex Parasite, Memnite, comment:
I can't believe I didn't think of Leyline Karakas. I was so blinded by Blackmail.
OTP, you can't play Leyline or I catch your land. I Blackmail and you hide your land so I take Memnite and you can't cast Parasite.
OTD, you play Leyline, Krakas, and pay for Memnite, and I lose.
3-3

My initial thought was to play artifacts:
Mishra's Factory Dreadship Reef Needlebug Meteor Golem?

Then I thought of phantasmal creatures:
Saprazzan Skerry Ancient Tomb Phantasmal Dragon Phantasmal Dreadmaw

Then my favourite:
Crystal Vein Lotus Petal Show and Tell Kaldra Compleat

Then I found that I could play Blackmail and didn't really look back, except for trying an all-lands deck, but they didn't seem great.

[FTW]

FTW: Thoughtseize, Death Rattle, Hive of the Eye Tyrant, Molten Slagheap, comment: No Storm Giants!

Tirrit: Bazaar of Bagdad, Shelldock Isle, Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, Rhystic Cave
I can't beat Emrakul, but 2 lands keeps you off U forever. DD 2-2

GoblinSmashmaster: Chancellor of the Forge, Foil, Volcanic Island, Raze the Effigy
Thoughtseize takes Foil, Death Rattle kills the Goblin, then Hive eventually gets there. WW 6-0

Wrath of Pie: Bottomless Vault, Hollow Trees, Gaze of Granite, Wurmcoil Engine
Thoughtseize takes Wurmcoil, manland dodges Gaze. WW 6-0

Silkster: Underground Sea, Blackmail, Phantasmal Bear, Chancellor of the Annex
Can't resolve Thoughtseize through Channex or use my other 2 cards after you Blackmail a land. LL 0-6

dte: Leyline of Singularity, Karakas, Hex Parasite, Memnite
OTP Thoughtseize Hex Parasite, Death Rattle kills Memnite, Hive dodges Leyline combo
OTD I get punished for trying to go bigger than Factory instead of just playing Factory. Hex Parasite gets down under Thoughtseize and stops me from storing mana, then races.
WL 3-3

17 points (5 wins, 2 draws, 3 loss)


My first thought was Leyline+Karakas, but then I realized mimicking with manlands dodged that and most Tier 1 interaction. Mishra's Factory seemed like the best thing. So then I wanted a bigger manland than Factory, and instant nongreen removal to kill manlands & artifact creatures but not Dryad.

I mistakenly thought Blackmail couldn't be played, since taking either Kessig or Tower makes it really hard to lose to Dryad. Phantasmal Bear was a clever solution! Did not notice both Kessig & Tower can target creatures of either player!!

I had:
Leyline, Karakas, FoW, Chronomaton
Leyline, Karakas, FoW, Mishra's Factory
Show and Tell + Wurmcoil Engine (Kaldra is better!)
T0 Tidehollow Sculler
Thoughtseize + removal + land + Factory

Thoughtseize Factory does better here than Thoughtseize Hive, but I thought I needed to Next-Level Factory.

[FTW]

Wrath of Pie: Bottomless Vault, Hollow Trees, Gaze of Granite, Wurmcoil Engine, comment:
I can always catch your creature, but you can always catch mine.
2-2

What if WoP hides Wurmcoil from Blackmail? If you take a land, the other one still plays T9 Wurmcoil through Channex, just fast enough to stop 2/2 bear and then catch up with Lifelink.

Edit: Nevermind, you can just hold Blackmail till WoP plays a land, then always hit either Wurmcoil or Gaze. You must take Wurmcoil & then draw with Gaze.

[tirrit]

Tirrit: Bazaar of Bagdad, Shelldock Isle, Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, Rhystic Cave, comment: I have a bad feeling about this deck, but I can't help myself: it's too fun to submit rhystic cave on a ceiling week!

I was totally unaware of Leyline of Singularity this week. I knew it affected more than just creatures, but I did not put together that it would not affect dryad arbor. If I'd known I would definitely have played a different deck! Karakas wrecks me. FTW this week I think you did what I always feel that I do, where you realized something important, thought everyone else would too, and tried to next level us. Meanwhile I was just playing on level 0.


GoblinSmashmaster: Chancellor of the Forge, Foil, Volcanic Island, Raze the Effigy, comment: Goblin Smash!
With only one land you can't stop me from casting Emrakul, which is uncounterable. 6-0

Wrath of Pie: Bottomless Vault, Hollow Trees, Gaze of Granite, Wurmcoil Engine, comment:
You have two mana producing lands but they are too slow to prevent me from casting Emrakul. 6-0

Silkster: Underground Sea, Blackmail, Phantasmal Bear, Chancellor of the Annex, comment: the all lands decks are bad, right?
With only one land you can't stop me from casting Emrakul, which is uncounterable. 6-0

FTW: Thoughtseize, Death Rattle, Hive of the Eye Tyrant, Molten Slagheap, comment: No Storm Giants!
Two lands that tap for mana is cheating! 2-2

dte: Leyline of Singularity, Karakas, Hex Parasite, Memnite, comment:
Karakas is way too good! 0-6

20/30 points

As far as next season goes, I enjoy the floor/ceiling dynamic so I'd be happy to play a season of that with creatures and lands. I'll try whatever though :)

[dte]

Tirrit: Bazaar of Bagdad, Shelldock Isle, Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, Rhystic Cave, comment: I have a bad feeling about this deck, but I can't help myself: it's too fun to submit rhystic cave on a ceiling week!
6-0, karakas
6

GoblinSmashmaster: Chancellor of the Forge, Foil, Volcanic Island, Raze the Effigy, comment: Goblin Smash!
6-0, karakas/lleyline
12

Wrath of Pie: Bottomless Vault, Hollow Trees, Gaze of Granite, Wurmcoil Engine, comment:
6-0, leyline/karakas
18

Silkster: Underground Sea, Blackmail, Phantasmal Bear, Chancellor of the Annex, comment: the all lands decks are bad, right?
3-3
21

FTW: Thoughtseize, Death Rattle, Hive of the Eye Tyrant, Molten Slagheap, comment: No Storm Giants!
3-3. Death rattle can't really catch memnite, but menace makes it a race, and I think you kill me at 2-4 life.
24

dte: Leyline of Singularity, Karakas, Hex Parasite, Memnite, comment:
Me, trying again lleyline karakas.

I really like the alternating floor/ceiling, I think it works very well, making each round unique. Like Tirrit, I will play anything that is chosen.

My thought:
- everyone chosing the target deck among the top2. Would very much limit the interest to play copycat, and even increase more diversity. And no need to ban any card (the infamous 7 are truly unbannable as well). Makes it even easier.

[Wrath of Pie]

Wrath of Pie: Bottomless Vault, Hollow Trees, Gaze of Granite, Wurmcoil Engine, comment:

Tirrit: Bazaar of Bagdad, Shelldock Isle, Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, Rhystic Cave, comment: I have a bad feeling about this deck, but I can't help myself: it's too fun to submit rhystic cave on a ceiling week! - Bazaar of Baghdad isn't Legacy legal.
GoblinSmashmaster: Chancellor of the Forge, Foil, Volcanic Island, Raze the Effigy, comment: Goblin Smash! - DD
Silkster: Underground Sea, Blackmail, Phantasmal Bear, Chancellor of the Annex, comment: the all lands decks are bad, right? - DD
FTW: Thoughtseize, Death Rattle, Hive of the Eye Tyrant, Molten Slagheap, comment: No Storm Giants! - LL
dte: Leyline of Singularity, Karakas, Hex Parasite, Memnite, comment: - LL - You actually do need Hex Parasite to beat me, give it some credit.

4d = 4 points

Should have stuck with Sphere of Resistance.

[tirrit]

Bazaar of Baghdad isn't Legacy legal.

Shoot, I guess I was actually playing on level -1.

[GoblinSmashmaster]

GoblinSmashmaster Results for Round "lose to 1/1?"

Tirrit: Bazaar of Bagdad, Shelldock Isle, Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, Rhystic Cave, comment: I have a bad feeling about this deck, but I can't help myself: it's too fun to submit rhystic cave on a ceiling week!
banned?

GoblinSmashmaster: Chancellor of the Forge, Foil, Volcanic Island, Raze the Effigy, comment: Goblin Smash!
That's me, playing a 1/1 goblin

Wrath of Pie: Bottomless Vault, Hollow Trees, Gaze of Granite, Wurmcoil Engine, comment:
does not lose to 1/1 :( 2-2

Silkster: Underground Sea, Blackmail, Phantasmal Bear, Chancellor of the Annex, comment: the all lands decks are bad, right?
does not lose to 1/1 :( 0-6

FTW: Thoughtseize, Death Rattle, Hive of the Eye Tyrant, Molten Slagheap, comment: No Storm Giants!
does not lose to 1/1 :( 0-6

dte: Leyline of Singularity, Karakas, Hex Parasite, Memnite, comment:
does not lose to 1/1 :( 0-6

2 goblin points :|

[silkster]

The spreadsheet wasn't updating, but I put things in manually and I think I have it right.
After 10 rounds, the standings are:

1. tirrit - 32.8
2. Silkster - 32.5
3. Reeplcheep - 27.8
4. dte - 25.5
5. FTW - 23.5
6. GoblinSmashmaster - 12.3
7. Wrath of Pie - 11.5

Congratulations to tirrit who almost lost the lead in the last round with an illegal entry, but managed to hang on.

Overall, I think this was fun and interesting season. I was rarely able to predict what people were doing, I was often doing things others weren't thinking of, I always felt like I had a few options to choose between, and I almost always felt like I could have done better both as I was submitting and after the fact.

So I plan to run another version of this, starting with a round of voting for the initial floor deck. (Post coming up imminently.)

[silkster]

4 Card Blind - Floor/Ceiling - Season 2

We are starting a new season of Floor/Ceiling, this time with the card pool of: creatures and lands from Vintage minus Unfinity.
Augmenter Pugilist is legal, but Bala Ged Recovery is not.
Juggernaut is legal, but Sol Ring is not.
Grist, the Hunger Tide is legal.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

What does Floor/Ceiling mean?
Rounds will alternate between Floor rounds and Ceiling rounds.

Floor rounds are backbuild, i.e. you're trying to lose. Matches are still determined by best play that is trying to win. (One way to think about this is that you trade decks before the match starts and then try to win.)
In a Floor round, there will be a deck designated as "the floor deck". All entries must defeat the floor deck 6-0 (or WW, i.e. winning on the play and on the draw).

Ceiling rounds are regular rounds where you are trying to win. In a ceiling round, there will be a deck designated as "the ceiling deck", and all entries must lose 0-6 (or LL) to the ceiling deck.

After each round, the deck with the most points becomes the designated deck for the next round. That means that the strongest decks become floor decks, and the weakest decks become ceiling decks.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

The season will be 10 rounds in total, and your score for the season will be the sum of your 8 highest rounds.

Before the first round, we're going to vote on the starting floor deck. To cast your vote, submit your deck in the Entry Form in my signature. We'll see how the decks do, and we'll take the median deck. (This is a special rule just for the pre-round. For an even number of entries, we'll take the higher of the two medians. In the event of a tie, the deck that is submitted earlier counts as scoring higher.)

The deadline for the pre-round is Tuesday at 11am EDT. Have fun submitting the silliest decks that you couldn't bring yourself to submit when points were on the line (or anything else you want)!

PS: I posted this on /r/threecardblind, which is why this post has details that the regulars know. Feel free to share elsewhere as well.
1. But it got removed because I made a new account to post it. Hopefully mods allow it.
2. 3cb mod was friendly and pointed out that my account was labeled as suspended and I learned it was shadowbanned. Appeal to reddit doesn't get viewed until Monday. smh
3. Still shadowbanned. Posted on another new account without a link. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[dte]

Big congrats to tirrit for the win!
And to Silkster as well for being so close, but also for organizing a great season.

Looking forward to play it with creatures & lands :)