Return of the MTG: Vanishing Three Card Blind - Once upon a time there was a 3CB

[b_jonas]

Yes, we need more players. You can't lose anything by submitting a deck, even if it isn't the best deck ever. And, in general, in a round with few players, you have more chance to win too. You can also absolutely submit decks that are similar to ones from the previous rounds, as long as the cards are not on the ban list. We all learn a lot about deck ideas and interesting cards from looking at previous decks.

[Ninjaman]

I had an idea but then someone made a similar deck in a previous round and I didn't want to seem like I was copying then, so I decided to sit this one out. If we need people though, I'll enter it.

Even if you were copying a deck, there's no shame in that. If you can copy a deck that means it didn't win. If it didn't win then it wasn't the right meta call at the time, but it might be now. Calling the meta is just as much a part of this game as coming up with decks.

[b_jonas]

Revealing the decks for Return round 11.

Tom the Mime: Energy Field, Invisible Stalker, Saprazzan Skerry.
Gauntlet: Lotus Petal, Karakas, Meddling Mage.
Fable Wright: Blooming Marsh, Cabal Therapy, Young Wolf.
Personification: Darksteel Citadel, Irrigation Ditch, Oko, Thief of Crowns.
Ninjaman: Thassa's Oracle, Island, Lotus Petal.

Note. Thassa's Oracle is a card from the upcoming Standard-legal set Theros Beyond Death, similar to Laboratory Maniac. It was revealed on 2020-01-07, just a few days ago, in an article on Wizards by Mark Gottlieb. It now appears in the set spoiler gallery by Wizards and the variants spoiler gallery as well, but not yet in Gatherer. Here's its text for convienience.

• name: Thassa's Oracle
  mana: UU
  type: Creature — Merfolk Wizard
  p/t: 1/3
  text: When Thassa’s Oracle enters the battlefield, look at the top X cards of your library, where X is your devotion to blue. Put up to one of them on top of your library and the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order. If X is greater than or equal to the number of cards in your library, you win the game. (Each {U} in the mana costs of permanents you control counts toward your devotion to blue.)

Starting the table for results.

	TM	G	FW	P	N
Tom the Mime	.	?L	?L	??	LL	?	EnergyField unblockable
Gauntlet	W?	.	WL	W?	WL	?	MeddlingMage
Fable Wright	W?	WL	.	W?	WL	?	CabalTherapy undying
Personification	??	?L	?L	.	LL	?	Oko
Ninjaman	WW	WL	WL	WW	.	18	Thassa'sOracle

Ninjaman wins in his turn 1 unless the opponent has some disruption. Nobody brought Force of Will or other instant speed disruption this round, so he wins on the play against everyone, and wins on the draw against Tom and Personification. Gauntlet and Fable Wright have disruption that they can play on their first turn, and nobody has a deck with redudnancy wincons to survive disruption, so I believe they also win on play against everyone.

[Ninjaman]

Personification and Tom both can't play spells before turn 2, right? So they lose to turn 1 disruption on the play as well.

For their match, I don't think Personification can kill through an Energy Field, and he can't Deal with an Invisible Stalker. He can create food every turn, but he doesn't have the mana to sacrifice it.

[b_jonas]

Hmm wait, I was incorrect about Gauntlet vs Tom. The Meddling Mage can stop only one of the EField and the Stalker. Gauntlet still wins: he has to stop the EField and then damage race.

Personification and Tom both can't play spells before turn 2, right? So they lose to turn 1 disruption on the play as well.

Does that make a three-way tie with seven cards banned in one round?

	TM	G	FW	P	N
Tom the Mime	.	LL	LL	WW	LL	6	EnergyField unblockable
Gauntlet	WW	.	WL	WW	WL	18	MeddlingMage
Fable Wright	WW	WL	.	WW	WL	18	CabalTherapy undying
Personification	LL	LL	LL	.	LL	0	Oko
Ninjaman	WW	WL	WL	WW	.	18	Thassa'sOracle

[Fable Wright]

This does look like a three-way tie, yes. I, for one, am happy to get rid of all these cards.

Except maybe for Karakas. I feel like someone could actually use that card for an interesting and/or fun purpose later, but it is banned here now for no reason when a basic plains would have done fine.

[Ninjaman]

Nice bans all around. Not going to miss any of these.

[Tom the Mime]

This does look like a three-way tie, yes. I, for one, am happy to get rid of all these cards.

Except maybe for Karakas. I feel like someone could actually use that card for an interesting and/or fun purpose later, but it is banned here now for no reason when a basic plains would have done fine.

Good bans, especially another lab maniac effect which I think most of us hadn't seen yet. There's still a fair bit of targeted 1 cmc discard so the cabal therapy ban doesn't block that out yet. And Karakas only really has 2 main combos, the Leyline of Singularity one which I think we've seen and the weird Mangara of Corondor one which doesn't fizzle after bouncing because it doesn't technically target itself, which isn't great for 3CB.

On the topic of copying decks, as everyone else has said, go for it. In this and the previous threads, a lot of the fertile ground has been covered and once wasteland is gone, there's a couple of decks from those that'll be hard to beat with the main potential threat against them gone. Personally I like submitting decks I nor anyone else has submitted but that's more based on me having more fun with new ideas, with the side benefit of sometimes approaching from a different enough angle to work. I don't always do that, but I've got a couple set up for the next few rounds that seem fun and have potential, even if they're not super competitive.

[b_jonas]

Let's wrap up this round quickly then. As always, these can change if you find an error in the match results.

Return round 11 winners:

• First (turn win): Gauntlet, Fable Wright, Ninjaman
Energetic: Tom the Mime
Not Jace: Personification

Ban list for Return round 12.

Spoiler: Ban list for Return round 12

Show

Land: Bayou; Blackcleave Cliffs; Blooming Marsh; Celestial Colonnade; City of Traitors; Geier Reach Sanitarium; Ghost Quarter; Karakas; Mishra's Factory; Mishra's Workshop; Shelldock Isle; Strip Mine; Tropical Island.

Artifact/Colourless: Black Lotus; Blacker Lotus; Dispatch Dispensary; Emrakul, the Aeons Torn; Karn, the Great Creator; Lion's Eye Diamond; Liquimetal Coating; Lodestone Golem; Lotus Petal; Lupine Prototype; Mana Crypt; Mirrored Lotus; Mox Pearl; Mox Sapphire; Sol Ring; The Rack; Time Vault; Voltaic Key.

White: Chancellor of the Annex; Serra Ascendant; Thalia, Guardian of Thraben; The Cheese Stands Alone.

Blue: Jace, Wielder of Mysteries; Laboratory Maniac; Leyline of Anticipation; Piracy Charm; Thassa's Oracle.

Black: Blackmail; Cabal Therapy; Mind Swords; Spike, Tournament Grinder; Street Wraith.

Red: Wrench-Rigger.

Green: Collector Ouphe; Crashing Footfalls; Llanowar Mentor; Young Wolf.

Gold: Meddling Mage; Research // Development.

Please submit decks for Return round 12 to me in forum private message. Please mention that they're for round 12.

I think it's a pity that we're getting a three-way tie simply because there are too few players so we can't distinguish the decks. Please play the game, everyone. It's fun, and you can't lose anything.

[Personification]

I think I unlocked the achievement again.

[Ninjaman]

I think I unlocked the achievement again.

I think until all the turn 1 hand disruption spells get banned it's not a good idea to play a deck that loses to turn 1 disruption on the play.

Also had you played Simic Growth Chamber and Treetop Village like Tom did once you would have drawn against Tom Gauntlet and Fable. You could have possibly won against Gauntlet and Fable, I don't feel like doing the race math.

[Tom the Mime]

I think the village just wins the races so they'd be second with 14. It's a good backup plan against anything other than land destruction given T2 vs T4 doesn't matter in most cases and a 3/3 is just enough to edge out a lot of the threats disruption can field.

[Ninjaman]

I think the village just wins the races so they'd be second with 14. It's a good backup plan against anything other than land destruction given T2 vs T4 doesn't matter in most cases and a 3/3 is just enough to edge out a lot of the threats disruption can field.

I think you're right, even on the play Meddling Mage can only deal 18 damage in the time Treetop Village deals 21.

[b_jonas]

Part of the difficulty is that we still have turn 1 disruption that can disrupt most decks, including no-land and all-land decks.

I'd like to freeze the Return round 12 deck submissions on Tuesday evening, at 2020-01-21 21:00 UTC, and reveal them soon after. Please send me your decks. Also, I may be hard to reach between 2020-01-24 and 2020-01-27.

[b_jonas]

Sorry guys, I've got deck submissions from only 4 players again, so I'll have to postpone Return round 12. Please submit your deck.

[b_jonas]

Revealing the decks for Return round 12.

Eurus: Force of Will, Memnite, Storm Crow.
Ninjaman: Mutavault, Mutavault, Wasteland.
Korith: Swamp, Unholy Grotto, Mire Triton.
Fable Wright: Fountain of Cho, Hall of Heliod's Generosity, History of Benalia.
Gauntlet: Simian Spirit Guide, Sonic Seizure, Nether Spirit.
Tom the Mime: Chancellor of the Tangle, Vine Dryad, Primal Cocoon.

Also, we need a hall of fame that lists the winners of all previous rounds, so that we can tell how many imaginary internet points each player has.

• 1: Ninjaman
  2: Dr.Gunsforhands
  3: Misothene
  4: Random_person
  5: Dr.Gunsforhands
  6: Eternis, HypoSoc
  7: Misothene
  8: Reinholdt
  9: Lord Ruby34
  10: Blood_caller
  11: Tom the Mime
  12: Bucky
  13: Gauntlet
  14: Gauntlet
  15: ben-zayb
  16: Tom the Mime, ben-zayb
  17: Tom the Mime
  18: Tom the Mime
  19: Tom the Mime
  20: Tom the Mime
  21: Tom the Mime, Gauntlet
  22: Ninjaman
  23: Tom the Mime
  24: Fable Wright
  25: Bucky
  26: Bucky
  27: Bucky
  28: Gauntlet, Fable Wright
  29: b_jonas, tgva8889
  30: Gauntlet
  R 1: Quiddle
  R 2: Fable Wright
  R 3: ben-zayb, Bucky
  R 4: Gauntlet
  R 5: Gauntlet, b_jonas
  R 6: Quiddle
  R 7: Gauntlet
  R 8: Bucky, Ninjaman
  R 9: Tom the Mime
  R 10: Gauntlet
  R 11: Gauntlet, Fable Wright, Ninjaman
  R 12: Fable Wright
  R 13: Tom the Mime
  R 14: Tom the Mime
  R 15: Fable Wright, Tom the Mime
  R 16: Fable Wright
  R 17: Fable Wright
  R 18: Tom the Mime
  R 19: Ninjaman
  R 20: plopfill
  R 21: plopfill, Gauntlet
  R 22: Fable Wright
  R 23: Tom the Mime
  R 24: Bucky
  R 25: plopfill
  R 26: plopfill
  R 27: Fable Wright, plopfill, Tom the Mime
  R 28: Tom the Mime

And the point totals.

• 16 imaginary internet points: Tom the Mime
  11 imaginary internet points: Gauntlet
  10 imaginary internet points: Fable Wright
  7 imaginary internet points: Bucky
  5 imaginary internet points: Ninjaman
  5 imaginary internet points: plopfill
  3 imaginary internet points: ben-zayb
  2 imaginary internet points: Dr.Gunsforhands
  2 imaginary internet points: Misothene
  2 imaginary internet points: Quiddle
  2 imaginary internet points: b_jonas
  1 imaginary internet points: Blood_caller
  1 imaginary internet points: Eternis
  1 imaginary internet points: HypoSoc
  1 imaginary internet points: Lord Ruby34
  1 imaginary internet points: Random_person
  1 imaginary internet points: Reinholdt
  1 imaginary internet points: tgva8889

[Tom the Mime]

Probably a mistake or two, especially with Fable.

Eurus beats Tom, loses to everyone else.

Ninjaman beats Eurus, Korith and Fable, loses to Gauntlet and Tom

Korith beats Eurus, loses to Ninjaman and Fable(?), draws with Gauntlet and Tom

Fable beats Eurus, Gauntlet(?) and Korith(?), loses to Ninjaman and Tom(?)

Gauntlet beats Eurus and Ninjaman, draws with Korith and Tom, loses to Fable(?)

Tom beats Ninjaman and Fable(?), draws with Korith and Gauntlet, loses to Eurus


So it could be Ninjaman, Gauntlet or Fable depending on the race results I've got a question mark on. I think Ninjaman and Fable share first and Gauntlet and I share third but it's questionable.

I think this is how my race with Fable goes:

T1: Dryad and cocoon. Fountains of Cho played
Counters build up
T4: History of Benalia
T5: If Fable swings with the Knight, it's blocked and the dryad stops growing but a 4/7 or 5/8 (play or draw) can outrace enough before history can be played again.
T6: If Fables swings with the knights he loses one and deals 4, stopping the Dryad at a 5/7 or 6/8 but again would lose the race.
T7: Dryad starts swinging as a 7/9 and while chump blocking at the end allows history to be cast again, I think there's enough pressure that it still wins the race.

On play I think Gauntlet almost scrapes a win against Fable by blocking when the knights are boosted but not quite.

Edit: Missed the Ninjama/Korith draw with only destroying non-basics so he gets one cast off which is enough to salvage the draw.

[Gauntlet]

Eurus: 6
Ninjaman - LL
Korith - LL
Fable Wright - LL
Gauntlet - LL
Tom the Mime - WW

Ninjaman: 14
Eurus - WW
Korith - DD
Fable Wright - WW
Gauntlet - LL
Tom the Mime - LL

Korith: 16
Eurus - WW
Ninjaman - DD
Fable Wright - LL
Gauntlet - DD
Tom the Mime - WW

Fable Wright: 18
Eurus - WW
Ninjaman - LL
Korith - WW
Gauntlet - WW
Tom the Mime - LL

Gauntlet: 16
Eurus WW
Ninjaman WW
Korith DD
Fable Wright - LL
Tom the Mime - DD

Tom the Mime: 16
Eurus LL
Ninjaman WW
Korith LL
Fable Wright WW
Gauntlet DD


Lots of close scores this time round but I think Fable Wright just about gets there with 18 points. In my match against FW I can do 19 damage before I die to Knight beatdown, close one!

[Ninjaman]

Damn, it became relevant that Wasteland isn't a Strip Mine.

[b_jonas]

Damn, it became relevant that Wasteland isn't a Strip Mine.

Ah yes, you didn't play in the original round 24 when we learned that.

[Ninjaman]

Ah yes, you didn't play in the original round 24 when we learned that.

I fully expected it to happen at some point down the line, just not this soon.

[Fable Wright]

Wow. I was originally planning to use Words of Wilding instead of History of Benalia; did not expect History to give me the edge over Nether Spirit!

[b_jonas]

Administrative info. The forum server was down for a month here, so there's a gap. The forum is back now. I'll wait a few days in case anyone else wanted to check Gauntlet's judgements but couldn't post before I announce the results. Alternately, any regular on the thread can just do result announcements and ban list and call for a new deck if they want to move the thread along faster.

[b_jonas]

Results of Return round 12.

• First: Fable Wright
Second place: Korith, Gauntlet, Tom the Mime
Fifth place: Ninjaman
Sixth place: Eurus

Ban list for Return round 13.

Spoiler: Ban list for Return round 13

Show

Land: Bayou; Blackcleave Cliffs; Blooming Marsh; Celestial Colonnade; City of Traitors; Geier Reach Sanitarium; Ghost Quarter; Hall of Heliod's Generosity; Karakas; Mishra's Factory; Mishra's Workshop; Shelldock Isle; Strip Mine; Tropical Island.

Artifact/Colourless: Black Lotus; Blacker Lotus; Dispatch Dispensary; Emrakul, the Aeons Torn; Karn, the Great Creator; Lion's Eye Diamond; Liquimetal Coating; Lodestone Golem; Lotus Petal; Lupine Prototype; Mana Crypt; Mirrored Lotus; Mox Pearl; Mox Sapphire; Sol Ring; The Rack; Time Vault; Voltaic Key.

White: Chancellor of the Annex; History of Benalia; Serra Ascendant; Thalia, Guardian of Thraben; The Cheese Stands Alone.

Blue: Jace, Wielder of Mysteries; Laboratory Maniac; Leyline of Anticipation; Piracy Charm; Thassa's Oracle.

Black: Blackmail; Cabal Therapy; Mind Swords; Spike, Tournament Grinder; Street Wraith.

Red: Wrench-Rigger.

Green: Collector Ouphe; Crashing Footfalls; Llanowar Mentor; Young Wolf.

Gold: Meddling Mage; Research // Development.

Please submit decks for Return round 13 to me in forum private message. Please mention that they're for round 13.

Please also propose the special rule for round 15 in this thread, so that we can pick one in time. To kick this off, a popular suggestion from the previous round is Peace, suggested by Ninjaman: creatures can't attack.

Update 2020-02-25 19:41: removed Fountain of Cho from the ban list. It's excempt from getting banned because it's a winning deck according to our rules (as Gauntlet warned me), and I just wasn't paying attention when preparing the ban list.

[Gauntlet]

Fountain of Cho doesn't go on the banned list - Storage lands are exempt.

[Korith]

For round 15, I propose that each player starts the game with one Conspiracy card of their choice in their command zone, in addition to their 3 card hand

Notes - Sovereign's Realm would play basic lands from your sideboard; for purposes of Worldknit, you would be considered as playing with every card in your card pool as long as you don't have a sideboard.

[Ninjaman]

Shouldn't round 13 be posted?

[b_jonas]

Shouldn't round 13 be posted?

I have to wait until at least four players submit their decks. We're late because the server hosting this forum was inaccessible. And we just have too few players interested in general.

[b_jonas]

I will close submissions for Return round 13 on Thursday evening, at 2020-03-05 21:00 UTC. I will reveal the decks shortly after that.

[b_jonas]

Revealing the decks for Return round 13.

Unavenger: Ancient Tomb, Isochron Scepter, Lightning Helix.
Tom the Mime: Mox Emerald, Inkmoth Nexus, Living Wish, sideboard Maze of Ith, Wasteland, Chronomaton.
Korith: Atraxa, Praetors' Voice, Irrigation Ditch, Ancient Spring.
Ninjaman: Nether Spirit, Mountain, Burning Inquiry.

Please continue suggesting special rules for round 15, and/or supporting the rules that other players suggested. Also, does anyone want to become host starting from round 16?