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

[b_jonas]

For the purpose of Underdog, what order are games played in within a match?

I believe that the games within a round happen simultaneously and independently far away from each other, none of them affect the others.

[b_jonas]

I have already received some deck submissions for round 6. Please keep submitting the decks to me in private message, and mention that it's for round 6. I will freeze the decks for round 6 on Tuesday, 2019-11-19 21:00 UTC, which means that deck submissions after that are not used for round 6, and I'll announce the decks shortly after that. That is unless something unlikely delays this, eg. the round 5 results are revised so the ban list changes, or there are less than 5 decks submitted.

[b_jonas]

Revealing the decks for Return round 6.

Quiddle: Mirrored Lotus, Leyline of Anticipation, Collector Ouphe.
Fable Wright: Mountain, Burning Inquiry, Nether Spirit.
Ninjaman: Mirrored Lotus, Impatient Iguana, Burning Inquiry,
Gauntlet: Impatient Iguana, Mirrored Lotus, Burning Inquiry.
Bucky: Mirrored Lotus, Impatient Iguana, Burning Inquiry.
ben-zayb: Maze of Ith, Cavern of Souls, Wrench-Rigger, contraption deck Rapid Prototyper.
Tom the Mime: Impatient Iguana, Burning Inquiry, Mirrored Lotus.
TiaC: Balance, Lotus Petal, Gods' Eye, Gate to the Reikai.
Korith: Ancient Tomb, Isochron Scepter, Lightning Helix.

Yes, four players sent the same deck.

Mirrored Lotus and Impatient Iguana are cards from the new Mystery Boosters convention edition that are not legal in Vintage or other serious formats. These are essentially un-cards. The Release Notes for Mystery Boosters gives the full of these cards. The cards are not in Gatherer, but then the silver-bordered holiday card Evil Presents isn't in Gatherer either, and it's been ruled legal in the original Vanishing 3CB. I thus believe that these cards can be played in decks here. Some players have sent fallback decks for the case that they can't. I'll reveal those only if the judgement is that the normal decks cannot be played, since the players may want to use those decks for the next rounds.

For judging, note that the release notes say that if both players use Impatient Iguana, then the player who would originally had been the starting player will be the starting player.

I started a table for results, but won't do the judgements except for the easy ones. If you want to manage judging, you can copy this table to your post, or start a differently formatted table, as you prefer.

• With a mirror match of two Impatient Iguana decks, the first player can cast and resolve Burning Inquiry before the second player can cast anything, though the second player can still tap their lotus for mana.
• With an Impatient Iguana against Quiddle's deck, Quiddle can cast their Lotus and Ouphe in the opponent's upkeep. The Iguana player still gets their copy of the lotus and could tap it for mana, but they can't spend that mana in the upkeep, and can't use the Lotus later, so Quiddle wins.
• For an Impatient Iguana against Fable Wright, Fable has the Nether Spirit from their second upkeep, the opponent has their Iguana from their first main phase. The Iguana player gets a free attack in their second turn. After that, Fable can choose to attack, but the Iguana gets a counterattack, so they're locked in a draw where neither player wants to attack.
• Quiddle against Fable Wright. If Quiddle has the play, he gets the same draw as in the previous match. But if Fable Wright goes first, then Quiddle doesn't get a free attack. Fable Wright will attack every turn starting from his second. Quiddle can't block him, because the Nether Spirit comes back but the Ouphe stays dead. Quiddle can attack starting from his second turn, but Fable wins the damage race.
• Impatient Iguana wins against TiaC or ben-zayb or Korith, because the Iguana player gets to use Inquiry before the opponent can do anything.

	Q	FW	N	G	Bu	bz	TM	TC	K
Quiddle	.	DL	WW	WW	WW	??	WW	??	??	?	T0 Ouphe
Fable Wright	WD	.	DD	DD	DD	??	DD	??	??	?	NetherSpirit
Ninjaman	LL	DD	.	LW	LW	WW	LW	WW	WW	29	ImpIguana
Gauntlet	LL	DD	LW	.	LW	WW	LW	WW	WW	29	ImpIguana
Bucky	LL	DD	LW	LW	.	WW	LW	WW	WW	29	ImpIguana
ben-zayb	??	??	LL	LL	LL	.	LL	??	??	?	MazeIth
Tom the Mime	LL	DD	LW	LW	LW	WW	.	WW	WW	29	ImpIguana
TiaC	??	??	LL	LL	LL	??	LL	.	??	?	Balance, GodsEye
Korith	??	??	LL	LL	LL	??	LL	??	.	?	IsoScepter

Thanks everyone for participating. TiaC: good to see you back in the thread.

Update: Quiddle vs Fable Wright was incorrect in the table.

[Quiddle]

Wow, thats a weird meta. Thanks for doing the matches!

It seems like contraptions have triggered abilities so I should lose to bz.
Ouphe turns off scepter and lotus petal so I should win those as well.

[Ninjaman]

We were four people who thought we had it all figured out, but then Quiddle happened.

[Tom the Mime]

Yeah, the iguana was low hanging fruit but too good to pass up unless you thought the meta was going to be as extreme as it actually was and there was only one deck that made sense with it.

Fun fact: FoW decks WW against everyone but zayb and would have taken the round.

On the plus side, lotuses are gone again.

[b_jonas]

Fun fact: FoW decks WW against everyone but zayb and would have taken the round.

What Force of Will deck and how does it defeat Fable Wright's deck with the Nether Spirit that comes back after it's countered?

Update: ah, you counter the Burning Inquiry. Makes sense, thank you.

[Tom the Mime]

Shouldn't matter if it was dryad arbor or memnite and if you counter burning inquiry, nether spirit is stuck in their hand.

Edit: As far as I can tell, the missing results are
Fable is WW against TiaC and WL against Korith and zayb.
zayb is WL against Fable and TiaC and LL against Korith.
TiaC is WL against zayb and Korith and LL against Fable.
Korith is WW against zayb and WL against TiaC and Fable.

Fable and TiaC generally win on play by discard but lose on draw as their threats can't keep up with other first turn plays (exception for against each other where nether spirit still comes out). Korith can always scepter the tokens to keep new ones from getting two big and has time to chip away when one only comes out every third turn. They might even be able to take it in a flat out race but they don't need to.

[ben-zayb]

Wait, there are new cards? That's what I get for not paying attention. At least the new Lotus is dealt with alongside Leyline of Flash.

Matchups against my deck look about right.

[TiaC]

Yeah, that's what I get for deciding that I didn't have time to read through the new cards.

[Ninjaman]

Fun fact: FoW decks WW against everyone but zayb and would have taken the round.

Yep, noticed that too. Realized that was one of the few things the Iguana deck lost to, had actually expected at least one to play it.

[Fable Wright]

Going to give next round or three a pass, until the new completely unbalanced cards are dropped from the meta. It's hard enough to make a deck when I have access to Gatherer.

[Ninjaman]

Going to give next round or three a pass, until the new completely unbalanced cards are dropped from the meta. It's hard enough to make a deck when I have access to Gatherer.

How many more completely unbalanced cards are there in Mythic Playtest? Even Iguana is pretty hard to use now without a lotus.

[b_jonas]

Oops, that table I posted is pretty messed up. All those LW results for the mirror matches are supposed to be WL.

It seems like contraptions have triggered abilities so I should lose to bz.
Ouphe turns off scepter and lotus petal so I should win those as well.

Edit: As far as I can tell, the missing results are
Fable is WW against TiaC and WL against Korith and zayb.
zayb is WL against Fable and TiaC and LL against Korith.
TiaC is WL against zayb and Korith and LL against Fable.
Korith is WW against zayb and WL against TiaC and Fable.

That gives the following table.

	Q	FW	N	G	Bu	bz	TM	TC	K
Quiddle	.	DL	WW	WW	WW	LL	WW	WW	WW	37	T0 Ouphe
Fable Wright	WD	.	DD	DD	DD	WL	DD	WW	WL	24	NetherSpirit
Ninjaman	LL	DD	.	WL	WL	WW	WL	WW	WW	29	ImpIguana
Gauntlet	LL	DD	WL	.	WL	WW	WL	WW	WW	29	ImpIguana
Bucky	LL	DD	WL	WL	.	WW	WL	WW	WW	29	ImpIguana
ben-zayb	WW	WL	LL	LL	LL	.	LL	WL	LL	12	MazeIth
Tom the Mime	LL	DD	WL	WL	WL	WW	.	WW	WW	29	ImpIguana
TiaC	LL	LL	LL	LL	LL	WL	LL	.	WL	6	Balance, GodsEye
Korith	LL	WL	LL	LL	LL	WW	LL	WL	.	12	IsoScepter

Please verify that table.

[Gauntlet]

Going to give next round or three a pass, until the new completely unbalanced cards are dropped from the meta. It's hard enough to make a deck when I have access to Gatherer.

Scryfall is probably your best bet.

Now that the new Lotus is gone I don't think any of the other cards are particularly impressive to be honest. Frogkin Kidnapper is one of the better 'Creature + Thoughtseize' options, but nothing else really jumps out to me as obviously better than existing options.

I was thinking about a Mirrored Lotus + Yawgmoth's Testament list, and had a first turn kill build with it, but I felt it was strictly worse than the Iguana.

[b_jonas]

Very well. If nobody else isn't willing to do it, then I'll have to announce the winners. I'm not good at inventing witty titles like Tom, so feel free to write a better announcement if you can. These may still change if someone verifies the match results and finds bugs.

Return round 6 results.

• Gold: Quiddle
First place (in turn order): Ninjaman, Gauntlet, Bucky, Tom the Mime
Black-bordered: Fable Wright
Artifacts: ben-zayb, Korith
Balanced: TiaC

Ban list:

Spoiler: Ban list: Round 6

Show

Land: City of Traitors; Mishra's Workshop; Strip Mine

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

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

Black: Spike, Tournament Grinder; Street Wraith

Green: Crashing Footfalls; Collector Ouphe

Red: Empty

Gold: Empty

Please submit decks for Return round 7 to me in forum private message. Please mention that they're for round 7.

[b_jonas]

The thread is going slowly, so I'll have to wait a bit more. I'll freeze the decks for Return round 7 on Thursday evening, at 2019-11-28 21:00 UTC, unless there's an unforseen complication. I will reveal the decks shortly after that.

[b_jonas]

Wizards releases a silver-bordered holiday promo card every year. They don't appear in Gatherer. These cards always do something crazy, and so sometimes end up relevant in 3CB. Mishra's Toy Workshop, Thopter Pie Network, and Evil Presents were featured in the original 3CB thread.

Wizards just announced this year's card, Decorated Knight with an image. The card is immediately valid in 3CB. It's another wish card like Death Wish, so I presume the rule is still that it pulls cards from your sideboard, and the sideboard can contain three cards.

[Gauntlet]

Wish for three cards *and* a 3/3 body is a pretty nice effect, too. Mana cost is going to make it too weak for a while, though.

[Tom the Mime]

If the body still matters when it comes out slow and gets 3 more cards, that'd be a surprise. Research is just better now given you can still play it T1 with moxes, can choose which cards so you don't get dead draws and you can use it with isochron for finer tuned library manipulation.

[Ninjaman]

It's also worth noting it puts them into your deck, so it can take three turns to get the card you want.

[ben-zayb]

If the body still matters when it comes out slow and gets 3 more cards, that'd be a surprise. Research is just better now given you can still play it T1 with moxes, can choose which cards so you don't get dead draws and you can use it with isochron for finer tuned library manipulation.

Didn't Split Cards get a CMC rule revision during Amonkhet that would prevent Isochron Scepter shenanigans with Research?

[Tom the Mime]

Huh. So they did. I guess the Shelldock Isle deck I had last time doesn't work anymore. And I don't think the other variant can be used anymore with Lion's Eye Diamond banned. Might see if I can make it work later. Research still had a lot of potential even if I don't think it's quite there yet with the banlist. Because, as I keep saying, accessing your whole sideboard is very powerful. In this case, you trade a couple of turns in exchange for 2 extra mana sources, one of which needs to be blue or green I'd you're playing research T1 with dual lands. Might be fun to give it a try though.

Edit: I can see a way to make it work but there's at least 2 ways to cheat it out quicker although this one might be better at salvaging draws.

[b_jonas]

Revealing the decks for Return of the M:tG vanishing three card blind, round 7.

Ninjaman: Memnite, Force of Will, Misdirection.
Tom the Mime: Oko, Thief of Crowns, Treetop Village, Simic Growth Chamber.
Gauntlet: Blackcleave Cliffs, Wrench-Rigger, Blackmail, contraption deck Dispatch Dispensary.
Quiddle: Ivory Giant, Remote Farm, Balance.
ben-zayb: Meddling Mage, Karakas, Mox Sapphire.

Sadly I only received 5 submissions this week. Note that 5 submissions is the minimum, if I only receive 4 submissions then I don't reveal anything and postpone the round.

Please do the judging and fill the results.

	N	TM	G	Q	bz
Ninjaman	.	??	??	??	??	?	ForceWill Memnite
Tom the Mime	??	.	??	??	??	?	Oko Treetop
Gauntlet	??	??	.	??	??	?	Blackmail Rigger
Quiddle	??	??	??	.	??	?	IvoryGiant Balance
ben-zayb	??	??	??	??	.	?	MeddlingMage

[Bucky]

ben-zayb DD Quiddle.

Quiddle can at least draw with whichever spell isn't Meddling Maged by blocking or removing. Ben-Zayb can draw by holding Meddling Mage until right before the Giant arrives and naming the Giant.

[Fable Wright]

Gauntlet: WW vs Tom, since Blackmail steals Growth Chamber turn 1 and then neither card can be used.
LL vs Ninjaman. Blackmail gets Misdirected and takes out the Rigger, or Wrench-Rigger gets Force of Will'd.
WW vs Quiddle. Gauntlet on the play removes the land and Quiddle can't play the game. On the draw, Quiddle plays the Rigger rather than Blackmail. At this point, if Quiddle plays Balance, all he succeeds in doing is destroying a 1/1, and the Giant is Blackmailed away. If he suspends the Giant, Blackmail takes Balance, and two 2/2s are able to stop the Ivory Giant and they can attack at will with Menace.
WL vs ben-zayb. If Blackmail goes first, no Medding Mage. If Meddling Mage goes first, no rigger.

Ninjaman: WW vs Gauntlet, as above.
LL vs Tom, since he loses to Manland beats.
LL vs Quiddle. He can't counter the suspended Giant until Quiddle has had a chance to cast Balance, which must be countered. And even at 7 turns of Memnite beats into the game, Giant is a faster clock.
WW vs ben-zayb. Counterspell wins.

Tom: LL vs Gauntlet, as above.
WW vs Ninjaman, as above.
LL vs Quiddle. He just can't resolve Oko before Quiddle has a chance to suspend Giant and cast Balance on an empty hand with no lands on the field.
WW vs ben-zayb. Meddling Mage can't stop the Village.

Quiddle: LL vs Gauntlet, as above
WW vs Ninjaman, as above.
WW vs Tom.
DD vs ben-zayb. Meddling Mage has to hit Balance, or else it will be Balanced away before the Giant is actually cast. Five to six turns of Meddling Mage beats hit for 10-12 damage, meaning that Giant can't win the race by attacking. Someone check my math on this.

ben-zayb DD Quiddle.

Quiddle can at least draw with whichever spell isn't Meddling Maged by blocking or removing. Ben-Zayb can draw by holding Meddling Mage until right before the Giant arrives and naming the Giant.

ben-zayb can't actually hold off on the Meddling Mage, since Balance would be cast with an empty hand and with no lands on the board. You HAVE to play Meddling Mage soon or Balance forces a discard.

ben-zayb: WL vs Gauntlet
LL vs Ninjaman
LL vs Tom the Mime
DD vs Quiddle

I think Gauntlet wins at 15 points, narrowly beating out Quiddle at 14 for the win. Huzzah, wrench-rigger and Blackmail both leave the meta, and the decklists begin to open up!

[Ninjaman]

Looks like it wasn't quite the right time for Force of Will, though I am happy my Misdirection proved the right ditch card.

[b_jonas]

Writing the match results in Fable Wright's post to the table:

	N	TM	G	Q	bz
Ninjaman	.	LL	WW	LL	WW	12	ForceWill Memnite
Tom the Mime	WW	.	LL	LL	WW	12	Oko Treetop
Gauntlet	LL	WW	.	WW	WL	15	Blackmail Rigger
Quiddle	WW	WW	LL	.	DD	14	IvoryGiant Balance
ben-zayb	LL	LL	WL	DD	.	5	MeddlingMage

[Gauntlet]

Feels like Force + whatever has consistently been the second best deck for 5+ rounds in a row now.

[Ninjaman]

It was tied for third out of 5.