4 Card Blind: The Silkster Seasons

[Wrath of Pie]

Both of you graciously gave yourselves the L, 0 points each.
I think you WW. Kozilek negates Barbed Shocker. You'll get your cards back, play out your lands, and can keep jamming Stronghold Gambit until it resolves.

Oh right, the draw part is relevant.

[silkster]

Why would I cast PC first?
You have to play three cards to both discard CC and play BB on T1.
Then I will just play bazaar, play PC targeting you, hold priority, tap bazaar and shuffle with PC on the stack. You let resolve (otherwise I draw a card and gain a turn).
So I gain 1 turn on your schedule, resolving converter T3.

Alas, my mental model of your play cannot exceed my own play.

[dte]

Alas, my mental model of your play cannot exceed my own play.

I'm not sure I understand?

[silkster]

I'm not sure I understand?

I was just playfully saying that when I'm going over my matches and choosing your lines I can only choose lines as good as I can find. Like how I could try to cosplay as Magnus Carlsen and imitate his accent, but any attempt to imitate his play will be limited by my own chess ability.

You have to play three cards to both discard CC and play BB on T1.
Then I will just play bazaar, play PC targeting you, hold priority, tap bazaar and shuffle with PC on the stack. You let resolve (otherwise I draw a card and gain a turn).
So I gain 1 turn on your schedule, resolving converter T3.

But on third thought, what if I counter the PC once the shuffle trigger is on the stack? Then PC gets shuffled in with the rest of the stuff, but no cards are in your library to draw from Vex resolving.

[dte]

Understood!

But on third thought, what if I counter the PC once the shuffle trigger is on the stack? Then PC gets shuffled in with the rest of the stuff, but no cards are in your library to draw from Vex resolving.

That's right third thoughts.
But on fourth thoughts, from this, and still not casting PC first, I cast it T2 (or rather 3, as it becomes worse to draw kozilek T2), targetting your discard and a faerie. If it resolves I gain one clock turn, if it doesn't I draw cc and gain a turn as well:

On the play, it takes 8 turns for me to win and I lose 7 life along the way. PC gets countered, and then your turns are 1) Bazaar, shuffle; 2) draw PC; 3) draw Kozilek; 4) draw Converter, make a 2/2; 5) attack for 2; 6) attack for 4; 7) attack for 6 and put me to 1 (though I do have one blocker here to spare).

[Asthereal]

Did we get a week's break just because I said I was away for the holidays?
(Just checking from my holiday location. )

[silkster]

Playing Prismari Command on turn 3 does look better now. Unfortunate for me if Vex allowing you to draw a card costs me a win. There's also now the possibility of Inquisitioning the Command instead, now that you're not firing it of on my upkeep. I don't think this helps me, but I haven't confirmed it. I'll do that later.

For now, new bans are:
Abeyance
Ashiok, Nightmare Muse
Bazaar of Baghdad
Currency Converter
Ephemerate
Ertai Resurrected
Foil
Intervention Pact
Kitesail Freebooter
Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
Nether Spirit
Orchard
Prismari Command
Scrubland
Snow-Covered Island
Sudden Substitution.

[silkster]

Hi everyone! Sorry I'm late. I decided to make the deadline Wednesday this week so that I don't rush people too much and you can enjoy puzzling it out. I should also consider how many rounds this season should go since I left it open ended. Are you finding the lengthy banlist annoying, or are you excited that more obscure and ridiculous cards are going to get their turns in the spotlight?

ROUND 9 OF SEASON 14: WUBRG is now open.

I have PM'ed myself my deck for round 8, and for fun I made a salted hash at https://emn178.github.io/online-tools/sha256.html which is d1592d3c769693e3b9e1e615d65546b3da4ea48b673e935285e50c57f20ddd9e

[B]DEADLINE: Wednesday, January 4th at 1:00pm Eastern Standard Time (GMT-5).
PLEASE NOTE:
The way you send your deck to me matters. Please send it in the way described below, so it doesn't cost me an hour of editing before I can post all the decks.
Please send your deck as follows:

silkster: Lightning Bolt, Lightning Blow, Lightning-Core Excavator, Dazzling Lights.

So with name, colon, and card tags around each card, and not above each other, and with your Username and 4CB S14R09 in the topic.

Usually you should keep an eye on the banned list, found in the second post and in the spreadsheet. Remember that the card pool is Vintage minus Unfinity.

After the deadline has passed, I will post all decks on the forum here, and you can start puzzling out your scores.
If you have any questions, please read the first two posts of this thread first. If you can't find the answer there, drop a message here. We'll answer a.s.a.p.

Happy listbuilding!

name and 4CB S14R09
YOURNAME: [cards]A[/cards], [cards]B[/cards], [cards]C[/cards], [cards]D[/cards]. 

[silkster]

We're up to 8 entries including mine, but since I'm already a day behind I'll go ahead as scheduled. I was just checking that no banned cards were submitted and I think we're good.

[silkster]

Season 14: Round 9 Lists

1. silkster: Brain Maggot, Nimble Obstructionist, Ionize, Subtlety
2. dte: Bayou, Grist, the Hunger Tide, Mayor of Avabruck, brain maggot
3. GoblinSmashmaster: Duress, Erayo, Soratami Ascendant, Mana Vault, Empty the Warrens
4. FTW: Brainstorm, Violent Outburst, Restore Balance, Shrieking Affliction
5. Asthereal: Barren Glory, Lotus Petal, Lotus Petal, Duress
6. Wrath of Pie: Eldrazi Temple, Thought-Knot Seer, Thought-Knot Seer, Spell Pierce
7. jfb1337: Insist, White Plume Adventurer, You See a Guard Approach, Cathedral of War
8. Reeplcheep: Lutri, Funeral Charm, Bojuka Bog, Hexdrinker

Hashed entry: Brain Maggot, Nimble Obstructionist, Ionize, Subtlety, it should have been ionize last round!

Direct link to round 9: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...gid=1948457480

[silkster]

1. silkster: Brain Maggot,Nimble Obstructionist,Ionize,Subtlety
Me ending up on more or less the same deck, mostly from lack of inspiration.

2. dte: Bayou, Grist, the Hunger Tide, Mayor of Avabruck, brain maggot
You have the mana to cast Mayor once and Grist twice...
LL

3. GoblinSmashmaster:Duress, Erayo, Soratami Ascendant, Mana Vault, Empty the Warrens
Countering Duress and stifling the storm trigger is still not good enough.
WL

4. FTW: Brainstorm, Violent Outburst, Restore Balance, Shrieking Affliction
Instant speed interaction is on the decline, so turn 0 is looking really cool here. I only just noticed that the Affliction can be tucked under the Balance. I haven't mathed how this does, but it looks like it gets a handful of 6-0 and 0-6 rather than mostly 3-3. For my part, I can counter one action spell and then stay at 2 cards in hand.
WW

5. Asthereal: Barren Glory, Lotus Petal, Lotus Petal, Duress
My two reactive spells don't quite line up.
WL

6. Wrath of Pie: Eldrazi Temple, Thought-Knot Seer, Thought-Knot Seer, Spell Pierce
Funnily enough, I just remembered TKS this round and considered playing it, but I didn't find a version I liked.
Unlike against Grist, you can only cast TKS twice, so Maggot on Spell Pierce is enough.
WL

7. jfb1337: Insist,White Plume Adventurer,You See a Guard Approach,Cathedral of War
Finally my countermagic lines up properly!
WW

8. Reeplcheep:Lutri, Funeral Charm, Bojuka Bog, Hexdrinker
On my play, if you lead with Funeral Charm, I can discard bird/Subtlety, counter the Lutri, and Maggod the Hexdrinker.
On the draw, I need to counter Hexdrinker and Subtlety the Lutri, then Charm defeats the Brain Maggot in one of two ways.
WD

8W, 5L, 1D

I like the diversity and creativity this round. Most of these cards haven't been played at all this season.

[FTW]

4. FTW: Brainstorm, Violent Outburst, Restore Balance, Shrieking Affliction
#BanBrainstorm

T0 upkeep Brainstorm, putting back Balance & Affliction. Violent Outburst cascades into Balance with 0 cards in hand, 0 permanents in play, and B floating. Draw and play T1 Affliction.
What can't Brainstorm do??

1. silkster: Balance forces out Ionize, but Brain Maggot races Affliction since you can keep 2 cards in hand. LL 0-6
2. dte: T0 Balance takes your hand. Affliction wins. WW 6-0
3. GoblinSmashmaster: T0 Balance takes your hand. Affliction wins. WW 6-0
5. Asthereal: T0 Balance takes your hand. Affliction wins. WW 6-0
6. Wrath of Pie: If I cascade combo, I can't pay for Spell Pierce. If I don't I can dodge discard & Pierce, but 2 TKS races Affliction + suspend Balance. LL 0-6
7. jfb1337: T0 Balance takes your hand. Affliction wins. WW 6-0
8. Reeplcheep: If I try to combo, you double discard in response to Brainstorm. If you lead on discard, I respond with Brainstorm and can Outburst -> Balance to draw. Instead you just play Hexdrinker. Affliction & suspend Balance are too slow. LL 0-6

24 points (8 wins, 6 losses)

[Reeplcheep]

8. Reeplcheep: Lutri, Funeral Charm, Bojuka Bog, Hexdrinker
I had 0 inspiration so I just played t0 discard.

1. silkster: Brain Maggot, Nimble Obstructionist, Ionize, Subtlety
Disagreement, you are forgetting the removal mode of funeral charm. DD 2-2

2. dte: Bayou, Grist, the Hunger Tide, Mayor of Avabruck, brain maggot
I only play hexdrinker if you do nothing. 2 creatures keeps grist under control until I get an 4/4 and leading on creatures is vulnerable to funeral charm removal mode. WW 6-0

3. GoblinSmashmaster: Duress, Erayo, Soratami Ascendant, Mana Vault, Empty the Warrens
My double discard doesn’t do a ton here. OTD you just barely get over the finish line if I trade everything. OTP you only get 4 goblins. WL 3-3

4. FTW: Brainstorm, Violent Outburst, Restore Balance, Shrieking Affliction
Disagreements: I don’t need bog to cast hexdrinker, only to upgrade it. So I can force the issue without opening myself up to shrieking. WW 6-0.

5. Asthereal: Barren Glory, Lotus Petal, Lotus Petal, Duress
my discard doesn’t do much if you cast barren glory second. LL 0-6

6. Wrath of Pie: Eldrazi Temple, Thought-Knot Seer, Thought-Knot Seer, Spell Pierce
Disagreement: when you are OTP 1 TKS beats lutri. WL 3-3

7. jfb1337: Insist, White Plume Adventurer, You See a Guard Approach, Cathedral of War
Disagreement. I can attack with lutri before WPA grows both OTP and OTD. If you trade, I have take the initiative with my 2/1 before you get a creature. If you don’t trade, I win the race by chumping. WW 6-0

Lots of disagreements. 8 W 2 D 4 L for 26/42.

[GoblinSmashmaster]

GoblinSmashmaster Results for Round "Discard"

1. silkster: Brain Maggot, Nimble Obstructionist, Ionize, Subtlety
Goblin smash, then discard 3-3

2. dte: Bayou, Grist, the Hunger Tide, Mayor of Avabruck, brain maggot
Goblin smash, then discard 3-3

3. GoblinSmashmaster: Duress, Erayo, Soratami Ascendant, Mana Vault, Empty the Warrens
That's me on Goblins again!!

4. FTW: Brainstorm, Violent Outburst, Restore Balance, Shrieking Affliction
Discard :( 0-6

5. Asthereal: Barren Glory, Lotus Petal, Lotus Petal, Duress
Goblin smash, then discard 3-3

6. Wrath of Pie: Eldrazi Temple, Thought-Knot Seer, Thought-Knot Seer, Spell Pierce
Goblin smash, then discard 3-3

7. jfb1337: Insist, White Plume Adventurer, You See a Guard Approach, Cathedral of War
Goblin smash!! 6-0

8. Reeplcheep: Lutri, Funeral Charm, Bojuka Bog, Hexdrinker
Goblin smash, then discard 3-3

Total: 21 goblin points

[jfb1337]

7. jfb1337: Insist, White Plume Adventurer, You See a Guard Approach, Cathedral of War
Not a good choice of protection spells this round.

1. silkster: Brain Maggot, Nimble Obstructionist, Ionize, Subtlety
LL - Too many counters.

2. dte: Bayou, Grist, the Hunger Tide, Mayor of Avabruck, brain maggot
LL - OTD discard. OTP I play white plume, brain maggot takes (or forces out) YSAGA, then grist kills white plume next turn

3. GoblinSmashmaster: Duress, Erayo, Soratami Ascendant, Mana Vault, Empty the Warrens
LL - OTP I play white plume, you make 8 gobos + leave erayo unflipped. Next turn you atk with all but 1, and are then able to indefinitely defend the initiative. OTD same.

4. FTW: Brainstorm, Violent Outburst, Restore Balance, Shrieking Affliction
LL - T0 balance

5. Asthereal: Barren Glory, Lotus Petal, Lotus Petal, Duress
LL - Barren glory wins

6. Wrath of Pie: Eldrazi Temple, Thought-Knot Seer, Thought-Knot Seer, Spell Pierce
WL - OTD discard. OTP I play WPA and cathedral, TKS takes YSAGA. Turn 2 I enter forge, WPA becomes 5/5 and attacks for 6. You can play a second TKS, but if you don't attack then I keep the initiative and win, whereas if you attack with both you lose one and I get back the initiative next turn anyway.

8. Reeplcheep: Lutri, Funeral Charm, Bojuka Bog, Hexdrinker
LL - by dte's calculations



Total: 1W = 3.

[Wrath of Pie]

6. Wrath of Pie: Eldrazi Temple, Thought-Knot Seer, Thought-Knot Seer, Spell Pierce

1. silkster: Brain Maggot, Nimble Obstructionist, Ionize, Subtlety WL
2. dte: Bayou, Grist, the Hunger Tide, Mayor of Avabruck, brain maggot LL
3. GoblinSmashmaster: Duress, Erayo, Soratami Ascendant, Mana Vault, Empty the Warrens WL
4. FTW: Brainstorm, Violent Outburst, Restore Balance, Shrieking Affliction WW
5. Asthereal: Barren Glory, Lotus Petal, Lotus Petal, Duress WL
7. jfb1337: Insist, White Plume Adventurer, You See a Guard Approach, Cathedral of War WL
8. Reeplcheep: Lutri, Funeral Charm, Bojuka Bog, Hexdrinker WL

7w = 21 points

I am cursed to never finish above average.

[Asthereal]

Asthereal's scores for round three for the barren brain of dubiously glorious creativity:

1. silkster: Brain Maggot, Nimble Obstructionist, Ionize, Subtlety WL
OTP Duress the counter and Glory wins it. OTD you Maggot my stuff.
2. dte: Bayou, Grist, the Hunger Tide, Mayor of Avabruck, Brain maggot WL
OTP I discard your.. uh.. Duress? And drop Glory FTW. OTD you Maggot my Glory and I die to whatever.
3. GoblinSmashmaster: Duress, Erayo, Soratami Ascendant, Mana Vault, Empty the Warrens WL
OTP I drop Glory and make you discard Warrens. OTD you Duress my Glory and you win with whatever.
4. FTW: Brainstorm, Violent Outburst, Restore Balance, Shrieking Affliction LL
Uh.. what does this even do? On my upkeep you Brainstorm, put Balance on top, Affliction below, then cast Outburst leaving B open, Balance resolves. I have no hand. You then draw Affliction, cast it and I die. That's quite strong this late in the game.
5. Asthereal: Barren Glory, Lotus Petal, Lotus Petal, Duress <-me
Busy and so third time's a charm for the barren brain of depleted inspiration.
6. Wrath of Pie: Eldrazi Temple, Thought-Knot Seer, Thought-Knot Seer, Spell Pierce WL
OTP I Duress the Piece and then drop Glory FTW. OTD you dump a Seer that eats by Glory and I die.
7. jfb1337: Insist, White Plume Adventurer, You See a Guard Approach, Cathedral of War WW
I had to read these cards. Thankfully they don't seem to do very much against my plan.
8. Reeplcheep: Lutri, Funeral Charm, Bojuka Bog, Hexdrinker WW
Double own choice discard gets rid of my Duress and Petal. I still get to drop the Glory and win.

Total: 24 points. Crap, now I have to find a new deck to shamelessly copy.

6. Wrath of Pie: Eldrazi Temple, Thought-Knot Seer, Thought-Knot Seer, Spell Pierce

5. Asthereal: Barren Glory, Lotus Petal, Lotus Petal, Duress WD.

How do we draw with me OTP? I reckon I cast Duress for the WUBRG mana, take your Pierce, then play Petal, Petal, Glory and win on the next turn.

[Wrath of Pie]

How do we draw with me OTP? I reckon I cast Duress for the WUBRG mana, take your Pierce, then play Petal, Petal, Glory and win on the next turn.

I make you feel pity for me by your casting Lotus Petal first.

(I don't.)

[Asthereal]

I make you feel pity for me by your casting Lotus Petal first.

(I don't.)

Ah you made the same mistake I did last time around.
Anyway, issue resolved then.

[Reeplcheep]

I updated the post and the spreadsheet. I may have things wrong but I had several disagreements that should get another eye.