By Dark Lord (Apprentice) on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 - 01:14 pm:

Hey everyone, its been sometime now since i've needed help constructing a deck. The only decks I have made in the past 2 years are Shandalar decks, and I have embraced a 1997-2000 era of magic. I'd like to make a mono u control deck using tech not younger then kamigawa.

i have to go now but i'll put up my decklist shortly.

By Puschkin (Puschkin) on Thursday, November 12, 2009 - 07:09 am:

Woah, first Confused, then Badluck and now Apprentice!

I propose a deal: We help you with your deck and you participate in 4CB. You are STILL on place 4 or something.

By Ghaleon (Xanatos_Yfel) on Thursday, November 12, 2009 - 10:46 am:

what about me? i came back like a month ago
and i'm place 20 i think. if only i knew how to play....

By JG (Jestergoblin) on Thursday, November 12, 2009 - 02:47 pm:

is my deck still a mountain, tahngarth's glare (foil) and lightning bolt?

ooo i'll need a 4th card...

By Puschkin (Puschkin) on Thursday, November 12, 2009 - 05:54 pm:

You came back a month ago. The other three came back within thesame 1 or 2 days. Which, BTW, makes me think once more that Badluck and Confused are in fact the same person.

By Ghaleon (Xanatos_Yfel) on Thursday, November 12, 2009 - 07:50 pm:

they have different pictures on myspace haha
so i don't think they're the same.

but seriously details on 4CB please

By Puschkin (Puschkin) on Friday, November 13, 2009 - 06:56 am:

You submit a deck of 4 cards. Then your deck is put against all other decks 2 times each (one time you begin and one time the opponent begins)and results are calculated. The rules are:

*You begin with all cards in your hand
*You don't lose for not being able to draw a card
*You know what your opponent has in hand
*Result is calculated assuming that each player will always do the best decisions
*Random effects like coin flipping or discard at random are always the worst possible for the controller of the effect.
*A win scores 3 points, a draw scores 1 point

Example:
Deck A
1 Kird Ape
1 Taiga
1 Rancor
1 Lightning Bolt

Deck B
Plains
Savannah Lion
Savannah Lion
Swords to Plowshares

Deck B beats Deck A two times because no matter who starts, B can kill the only creature of A while at least one Lion will survive.

Another example:
Deck A
1 Kird Ape
1 Taiga
1 Rancor
1 Lightning Bolt

Deck B
3 Plains
1 Paladin en-Vec

Result:
Deck A wins 2 times. By the time the Paladin hits the table, the Kird Ape is already Rancored and did at least 4 damage (8 if deck A went first). The Paladin can block without dying but the Ape will not die either but deal trample damage. The Paladin can then attack as well but he is not able to win the damage race.

Final Example:

Deck A
2 Mountain
1 Cinder Crawler
1 Incinerate

Deck B
1 Plains
1 Isamaru, Hound of Konda
1 Holy Strength
1 Swords to Plowshares

This time Deck B wins if it goes first but it's a draw if A goes first. Why?
Well, if B goes first, there is nothing A can do. B will play the Hound first turn. A cannot kill it because it has only 1 mana. By the time it gets the second mountain out, the Hound will have Holy Strength on it, raising it's toughness to 4, so Incinerate doesn't kill it. So A can only play the Cinder Crawler which is pointless since B can kill it. The Hound rides to victory.

Now let's see what happens if A goes first. A plays a mountain on turn one. B plays a Plains but doesn't play the Hound because if he does, it gets killed by A during A's next turn. Now it's A's turn. He plays a Mountain but doesn't play the creature because it can't win the game, so he is holding back. And that means both players can't play their creatures - a draw.

Now, let's see if you understood everything. What would the result of this matchup be:

Deck A
2 Mountain
1 Incinerate
1 Slith Firewalker

Deck B
1 Plains
1 Isamaru, Hound of Konda
2 Holy Strength

By Ghaleon (Xanatos_Yfel) on Friday, November 13, 2009 - 01:39 pm:

so basically all the spells are tiny because you must include mana.
where do i submit my deck?

By Ghaleon (Xanatos_Yfel) on Friday, November 13, 2009 - 02:09 pm:

how does that work anyway?
is it "all mana down" or what?
what exactly defines a win?
are draws possible if there are no creatures left?
any banned cards?

By Puschkin (Puschkin) on Friday, November 13, 2009 - 06:51 pm:

I thought I explained it thoroughly ... no, it's not "all mana down", you play it like a normal game with all cards in your hand. That's why the game ends in a draw in my third example when deck A goes first.
Maybe you didn't get the following: There is never an actual game. We just calculate all possible outcomes and make the best decisions for both players.

Banned list can be found here:
http://www.phyrexia.com/forum/messages/9/23174.html?1249310662
There you can also see past decks to get an idea about what is possible.

To participate, email your deck to Psycho.

By Ghaleon (Xanatos_Yfel) on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 - 10:12 am:

where do i get psycho's email address?

By Puschkin (Puschkin) on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 - 04:53 pm:

teijsbouts
at
gmail
dotcom

I can't spell it out correctkly because of the spiderbots.

By Ghaleon (Xanatos_Yfel) on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 - 05:04 pm:

what are the spiderbots?

By Puschkin (Puschkin) on Thursday, November 19, 2009 - 04:34 am:

Bot programs that crawl the internet for catalogizing websites and forums (mostly for the use of search engines). Some of them also scan for email addys. If you type your email openly, you'll run high risk of getting a bunch of mails that want to sell you drugs, hire you for investment projects or encourage you to enlarge your schlong

By Elaforge (Elaforge) on Thursday, November 19, 2009 - 07:10 pm:

This sounds like fun...

So in the example you gave Pusch,

Deck A would win if it went first because it could incinerate the hound before holy strength could be put on it. Deck B would win if it went first because the firewalker would not grow fast enough to be able to kill the hounds.


So here is a deck I threw together:

imaginary pet
counterspell
island
mox sapphire