You may recall the Casual Deck Construction Contest, as ran by djosh. The Contest lasted for 4 weeks (1, 2, 3, 4), but ended in the grave due to a lack of time djosh could devote on the contest. Before leaving it, he gave his grace to anyone who would be willing to take over the contest. Blutsau and Parabola01 got together to resurrect the fallen contest. And what better day for a resurrection than on the Dawn of the Dead,
today.
What more appropriate day than that of Halloween to bring back a dead contest? It should be noted that the rules aren't quite the same as they used to be. Just as the dead come back with rotting flesh, green skin, and visible vertebrae, did our contest come back with a few changes as well.
1. Main rule
- Each round a card will be chosen, either by the winner of the last round or the judges. (the winner has 24h time to PM a judge or post his/her suggseston)
- A submitted deck has to contain the card of the current round and has to be built around said card in some way.
-When you submit a deck, explain your choices. While not explaining them won't penalize you, giving the judges insight on why you picked certain cards over others could improve their understanding of your deck.
2. This is casual
- All sets that are legal in Vintage are legal (no B&R list). Un-set cards and the like are banned until further notice.
- The power level of a deck is irrelevant, but it should be noted that some of the judges might not be keen seeing a lot of B&R cards thrown into a deck. If you want to use a powerful card, such as Yawgoth's Will, as four-off you need a reason and proof why your deck needs it and is not completly broken.
4. Time – eleven days
- contestants have seven days to build their decks each round.
- judging will take three days
- the next card will be chosen after judgings are up, the winner has time 24h time to submit a card, else the judges will choose one. The submitted card is to be sent to a permanent judge for approval. If the card is approved, a new contest will be posted for the chosen card.
3. Judges will be: [A, B and C] and the winner of the last round.
- Each judge has 25 points to hand out, after criteria of their choice. The judges are encouraged to post their criteria before judging.
- Each deck will get judged by three judges.
- A list of the contestants total points will be held.
The card for this week is – surprise, surprise: All Hallow's Eve.
Have fun.
Parabola01 - He's to this contest what Karn is to Argentum: Short before Halloween he PMed me and remined me of the old contest held by djosh and asked to revive it. He also worked out the basis for the current rules.
After roughly three and a half months and 8 rounds running the contest, the machine RL has demanded its tribute and keeps him to busy to continue judging.
Me - due to military service; but quoting another robot (that somehow made it into politics):
"I'll be back."
A quote of my own from later in the thread. A question was asked how the chosen card is effected by format legality.
In summary, when it comes to bending legality when using 4x:
Standard: OK
Extended: OK
Pauper: OK
Budget: OK
EDH: NO
Singleton: NO
Highlander: NO
Rainbow Stairwell: NO
and you should get the idea.
And here's my system:
Creativity - 6 (How creative is the use of the chosen card?)
6: You took advantage of themes that were not obvious and/or obscure combos with the card.
3: You did something expected in an unexpected way.
0: Very obvious choice. For example, if the chosen card was Ambush Commander, you put it into an Elf deck.
Originality - 6 (How original is the deck?)
6: Mind-blowingly insane, featuring obscure cards/themes.
3: A well-known and established deck, but not a tournament one, with a few unique changes here or there.
0: A cookie-cutter tournament deck.
Effectiveness - 6 (How much does the chosen card help the deck?)
6: Can't live without it. If the deck can't find the card, it can't do much.
3: It sort of needs it. The deck plays neither better nor worse with the chosen card.
0: It doesn't need it. In fact, it's better off not wasting the time to play the chosen card.
Fun - 4 (Whether I found the deck fun or not.)
I'm a little bit of every Magic persona, so I find a variety of decks fun, but there are a few things I enjoy or hate more than others:
+ The deck uses a creative/obscure combo.
+ The deck can reliably use all five colors.
- The deck has problems with mana.
- The deck has trouble finding cards it needs to work.
Protection - 2 (You must have at least 8 cards considered to be Protection to be eligible.)
2: The deck can reliably deal with 4 or more of the 8 card types.
1: The deck can deal with 2 or more of the 8 card types.
0: The deck can deal with 1 or less of the 8 card types.
(Note: Reliably is a key word. Just because you put 4 Counterspells and 4 Stone Rains in a deck doesn't mean you'll get 2 points just because you can deal with every permanent type. You need to be able to deal with those permanents reliably, whether that means having a lot of draw, a tutor package, just a lot of protection, or something else.)
Format - 1 (Point awarded for decks following a different format. Singleton, PDC, Tribal, EDH, Block, Standard, MYOS, Rainbow Stairwell, Highlander, ect. Vintage, Legacy, and Extended won't be included.)
This is to keep a record of each week's card, and who won that week.
I think the main difference between all hallow's eve and the other two is the flavor, so the main difference for how I would build around the one will be flavor also. all hallows eve calls for an emphasis on the dead, especially spirits, and horrors and especially those with come into play abilities.
keening banshee seems very in theme and she brings an appropriate ability with her. krovikan horror seems appropriate as well. skulking ghost seems like it belongs in a Halloween deck. will-o'-the-wisp seems like the spooky sort of thing you might associate with a night of trick or treating childhood horror is certainly in theme, and with a card like all hallows eve, it looks like we'll be filling the graves anyway. faceless butcher has a useful ability for this kind of deck, even though hes more horror than the spooky i'm aiming for. hidden horror can be the monster under the bed that enables the deck gloom drifter looks like another flavor-full addition.
the deck is going to need some way to keep the opponents graveyard as clear as possible grave gouger can work. carrion rats and carrion wurm can encourage opponents to keep their yard empty
the best cards for this sort of thing are tormond's crypt and withered wretch. I was going to have to use the wretch, because of its raw overall effectiveness and staus as an uncommon, but then I remembered faerie macabre she and grave gouger will be playing my grave removal roles. those and mortiphobia.
the idea is to play early creatures like the wisp that can play defensive while you stock your grave yard and keep your opponent's empty until while all hallows eve is ticking down. laquatus's champion acts as a finisher and most of the comes into play abilities involve cleaning up and pesky creatures that may be threats on the big night. I put heavy emphasis on flavor for the deck.
An idea i got with this card is creating a deck that abused the number of creatures coming into play, then i had the idea of using lots of creatures with leave play triggers and i ended with a spirit tribal
I wanted to make this budget, so if you want, you can replace the taplands with painlands or duals.
I have 12 zuberas to make sure i can get a lot of damage once i sacrifice them at the same time with goblin bombardment, skullclamp is there to more card advantage, the crypt to make sure he opponent doesn't take advantage of the Eve. The use of All Hallow's Eve is to return multiple zuberas at the same time (triggering the thief) and then sacrificing them.
The kirin and the pact are other ways of taking advantage of the entering and dying creatures.
Money lands if you want. (Watery Grave, Underground Sea) If not take them out and add even number of swamps and islands.
So I made a wizard deck.
The point of the deck is to cast Buried Alive and Compulsion to get tons of Wizards and Supreme Inquisitor in your graveyard. Then when All Hallow's Eve goes off they come into play and Intruder Alarm will go off for each creature that came into play. Then tap Supreme Inquisitor and 4 other wizards to remove 5 cards from their deck then they untap because of Intruder Alarm and you can do this as many times as the number of creatures that came into play with All Hallow's Eve. (take out all the non-land cards first if you can't get them all) All Hallow's Eve isn't the best "get everything out of your yard" card but it'll work.
If Hallow doesn't work the fall back is to play Supreme Inquisitor and just take out their best stuff every time something comes into play.
Other cards:
Unearth This works great to get what you want out of your graveyard because everything besides the Supreme Inquisitor costs 3 or less.
Patron Wizard counters stuff. Discarding or using Buried Alive and Unearth this is the best way to get it out if you don't use Money lands.
Intruder Alarm helps stop a lot of people from playing every creature in their hand and can stop decks base on a big attacker. Note that Godsire will be auto win with this if you don't have Supreme Inquisitor and five wizards. A lot of people like new cards so watch out <_<
Edit: Also note that you have to play Intruder Alarm when it's useful not when it's in your hand and you have three mana. Play it when you can get stuff out to uptap ythe diggers or facing someone that does it for you(don't think I have to say this but both of the people I showed this deck to said my Discard card/draw card guys are useless because they don't untap...)
Edit: The deck digs so 2 or 3 land will get it digging and you'll have lots of land and end up discarding it later. Also don't need more then 3 of any combo parts becausing of digging (draw a card, discard a card) also tutors help with combo parts
EditEditEditEditEdit (ya I do this sometimes): out two Compulsion in 2 Grixis Battlemage (hope I'm not too late here)
I'm not sure how strong this deck would be, but it looks cool to me!
explanation:
The point is to fill up the scepter and the reactor with counters by recurring coretapper like a fiend and using power conduit to take counters off of the slagheap, all Hallow's eve, and dark depths to put wherever they're needed.
all hallows eve, buried alive, and unearth are for coretapper while all hallow's eve also brings back shriekmaw and Visara the Dreadful.
Sun Droplet + power conduit turns damage into extra turns and reactor counters.
Dark ritual obviously speeds everything up, leyline of the void is in to keep all hallow's eve usable, and to hose any graveyard strategies they themselves might have. Visara the dreaful and dark depths are just big beaters to help along the way, while shriekmaw and damnation will tear up everything they can.
the deck leaves you with 3 options
infinite turns
big creatures
just flat out winning
or any combination of the 3
Okay, so! You want creatures in your graveyard? Sure. You know what puts creatures in your graveyard? Drawing your entire deck. Okay now that we have that out of the way, generally to achieve infinite draw one needs to achieve infinite mana. So I've utilised a three-piece combo in order to keep things as simple as possible:
I'm sure I don't need to explain to you just how this combo works. Assuming you have at least six lands you'll end up with infinite mana, and from there you can draw your entire deck which you then discard at the end of your turn and leave to be reanimated via AHE. The best part is that if you haven't drawn into an AHE over the course of the game, you'd better believe you will now. Because of the nature of the deck, you can feel free to run a toolbox of ridiculous creatures.
The length you guys went to explain and defend your choices is refreshing. I took a once-over of the decks, to make sure they all work. I didn't want anyone getting DQ'd because they misread a card or something.
power conduit to take counters off of the slagheap, all Hallow's eve, and dark depths
The Oracle wording of All Hallow's Eve has it being removed from the game. It works a lot like a Suspend card, except you can counter it with Counterspell before it gets RFG'd and not after, and it uses Scream counters and not Time ones. Anyways, because it's RFG'd (and a sorcery), it can not be a permanent, so it can't be a legal option to remove a counter from for Power Conduit. I can understand the confusion, though. I believe an older Oracle entry had the card being an Enchantment that came into play with two Scream counters and you sacrificed it when the final one was removed (like Vanishing), and then you got the effect.
Okay, so! You want creatures in your graveyard? Sure. You know what puts creatures in your graveyard? Drawing your entire deck. Okay now that we have that out of the way, generally to achieve infinite draw one needs to achieve infinite mana. So I've utilised a three-piece combo in order to keep things as simple as possible:
I'm sure I don't need to explain to you just how this combo worksAssuming you have at least six lands you'll end up with infinite mana, and from there you can draw your entire deck which you then discard at the end of your turn and leave to be reanimated via AHE. The best part is that if you haven't drawn into an AHE over the course of the game, you'd better believe you will now. Because of the nature of the deck, you can feel free to run a toolbox of ridiculous creatures.
sry if it's me being a blind nut, but where exactly did you use the combo? I can't find a list of you...
would be great fun to see the list suppose you have about 13h +24h left
Edit: man am I absent-minded sometimes, it's thursday -.-'
The Oracle wording of All Hallow's Eve has it being removed from the game. It works a lot like a Suspend card, except you can counter it with Counterspell before it gets RFG'd and not after, and it uses Scream counters and not Time ones. Anyways, because it's RFG'd (and a sorcery), it can not be a permanent, so it can't be a legal option to remove a counter from for Power Conduit. I can understand the confusion, though. I believe an older Oracle entry had the card being an Enchantment that came into play with two Scream counters and you sacrificed it when the final one was removed (like Vanishing), and then you got the effect.
thank you! I had read the old oracle where it was an enchantment. time to rethink my plan, then.
So this is attempt number 2. I decided that Power conduit was too large a part of the previous deck, and the inability to speed up all hallow's eve without adding blue for paradox haze wasn't going to cut it.
This time around I've got 4 dark rituals and 4 cabal rituals, I'll probably have threshold really quick, and I want this whole thing to happen fast. the dual lands are there in the even that I actually have to cast a hellkite.
the pithing needles are mainly here to target the lethal vapors ability, but can obvioulsy be set to any threats. Leyline of the void is of course to keep their things from recurring. Mindslicer removes their hand from the game, especially if I already have lethal vapors out. if it happens as quickly as I want it to, they should be stuck trying to top deck some kind of answer.
all hallow's eve and exhume are used to recur bogardan hellkite for the win, which is accomplished by using entomb and/or buried alive.
I'd like to point out that a dark ritual, entomb and exhume in your opening hand means first turn hellkite!
I figure most of the deck were going to be the same, so I figured if I were to recur something, I might as well recur zombies and skeletons. The idea is to abuse dimir house guard who fetches for All Hallow's eve and other cards. From there I can dump my creatures into the graveyard to set up a big All Hallow's Eve.
creativity (8/9) - Nice toolbox, a bit heavy on creature removal; the I miss, is discard. I like SotF, and Gravestorm. the fun-factor (7/9) - Diversity, the deck looks like it will work not two games the same way and still the same way. consistency (3/3) - I don't see problems not to go off and hold ops at bay. "protection/controll/disruption" (3/4) - You can cast all creeps but Squee, each nukes a permanent, that adds safty and buys you time. You have 3 ways to reanimate. Ground Seal works not against non-targeted removal, and I see not much to deal with it.
creativity (8/9) - cycling to fill the grave, very nice. Fluctuator is tech, as the inclusion of Restless Dreams. the fun-factor (6/9) - This deck will for shure get some strange looks, when you pull it off the first time, but it's allways the same: racing to combo off. consistency (2/3) - You just draw through your deck, getting the cards you need is not the problem, but staying alive, thus -1. "protection/controll/disruption" (1/4) - with cycling you're in a clinch between a need to cycle and be able to only when you have to.
creativity (8.5/9) - Now that's an All Hallows Eve deck! Dripping sweet rotten mould of flavour. even the protection is on theme. wow. the fun-factor (8/9) - This to the tune of Ghostbusters Beating faces with such a deck would be great fun. the only thing is, well, it's also repetition. consistency (3/3) - AHE is only a lategame plan, you can cast each creep, have Mortiphobia and Horror to discard. I don't see problems. "protection/controll/disruption" (2/4) - good balance breakers, creature removal. I do again miss ways to deal with non-creature permanents and disruption.
creativity (8/9) - combo deck, nice idea, not much to say. the fun-factor (5/9) - Tainted Æther will also screw you, and that ain't fun, unless you're a maso-jonny =P. consistency (0/3) - you will screw yourself over have only CdA and have no real way to stay alive. "protection/controll/disruption" (1/4) - uhm, FM, that's worth a point.
creativity (7/9) - Zubera ftw, I like Mask, tribal and the cheap budget. the fun-factor (7/9) - Tossing around creatures and getting nice effects while doing so is nice, Mask is sort of a limited toolbox. consistency (3/3) - the only problem I see is mana screw. "protection/controll/disruption" (3/4) - no protection needed, as AHE is only a late game plan and then hopefully winning, creature control not a big problem, but again non-creature permanents...
creativity (9/9) - thight deck, great idea. the fun-factor (8/9) - apart from being defenseless, I'd totaly play this. consistency (1.5/3) - the problem is again not getting what you need, but to stay alive, and your AHE will probably kill you if you can't win the turn it goes off. "protection/controll/disruption" (1/4) - Nothing, apart from the Patron.
-1 for the Battlemages - why not a classis Looter??
creativity (8/9) - Scepter-Wind is tech, especialy with Dredge. -1 for winning with timmy beatdown. the fun-factor (7/9) - efficent deck, I'd enjoy playing it, but that's not really fun-fun. consistency (3/3) - you'll dig through your lib. very fast and have speedbumps inform of dredge creeps. "protection/controll/disruption" (2.5/4) - Angel, Imp, Darkblast, Damnation. you get minus for Angel only working with AHE.
creativity (8.5/9) - Needle naming Vapor, wow - you mean bastard you ^^ add a Slicer -> gg. the fun-factor (8/9) - WANT TO PLAY THIS, my inner Dave wants to make others cry with Needled Vapor goodness. -1 because it's Dave-fun. consistency (3/3) - Apart from counterspells and Disenchant not much to say, as speed should be on your side. "protection/controll/disruption" (3/4) - No way to deal with non-creature permanents.
creativity (7/9) - straight MBC, plus for Housegard and Abomination use. the fun-factor (6/9) - dry MBC, not to much fun. consistency (3/3) - MBC what to say... "protection/controll/disruption" (2.5/4) - again no way to deal with non-creature permanents.
first: nevinlarry's disk would have fit into most of these decks, imo...
when parabola posted his judgement we'll update the ranking and name the winner (highest # of points) of the first round - who then has 24h time to either post here or PM us the card for the next round.
Creativity: 7
There are as many obscure choices as there are expected choices. I expected seeing Survival to fill the graveyard, but many of the creatures you picked are very different from what I envisioned.
Effectiveness: 3
I got stuck on 4 lands, a lot. Sometime it took a few extra turns to hit 4 mana, too. Everytime I drew Cabal Coffers, I just wished it was some other land, as it just sat around without a reliable way to search up Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. Also, any starting hand without Survival was difficult to get going. Once the deck started up, it was a beast, but it was sometimes difficult to get to that point.
Fun: 3
Basically only because of how effective the deck was. Sitting around waiting for lands/Survival was not fun.
Protection: 2
Gravestorm, Leyline, and Nezumi keep the opponent from beating you at your own game. Ground Seal keeps them from messing with your plans. Shriekmaw can deal with threats before the combo. If the cards hit the table, it's pretty well protected.
Format: 0
Not any special format I recognize.
Points: 15
Creativity: 9
Cycling creatures was a brilliant move. This was something I had not expected.
Effectiveness: 4
I did get manascrewed a few times, but, due to the draw power built into the deck, it didn't happen as often as I expected. Krosan Tusker was a surprising star of my solitaire games, often finding a new land to play and drawing a card for only G. Fluctuator is the real star of the deck, of course, and there were a good number of options to search it out. I went off consistantly around turn 7, and got back at least 5 creatures each time, and suaully many more.
Fun: 5
Cycyling a card into another card with cycling was quite fun. I was always able to do something, even on few lands, and I did enjoy cutting the size of my library in half by turn 7.
Protection: 1
Shred Memory keeps the opponent from one-upping you. Other than it and Shriekmaw, the deck didn't have a lot to make sure it did it's job.
Format: 0
Nothing special.
Total: 19
Creativity: 9
Very flavorful. I mean, Childhood Horror? I laughed when I saw that.
Effectiveness: 2
As a beatdown deck, it worked ok. But as a deck based around All Hallow's Eve, I often was left without certain cards I needed. And with no tutors and no card draws, it was all left to the topdeck.
Fun: 5
While it was a little frustration dealing with the topdeck, the idea of slamming a creature and yelling "Trick or treat" appeals to me.
Protection: 1
Lots of creature destruction and Mortiphobia.
Format: 0
Not enough Horrors for Tribal.
Total: 17
Creativity: 10
Completely unexpected and way out there. A deck that wins by giving the opponent more creatures is thinking outside of the box.
Effectiveness: 3
The deck was pretty slow, going off at around turn 10 or so. Maybe I just got a few bad hands. When the deck worked, though, it was pretty brutal. Even though I only did solitaires, I can image games were the opponent would have to sac all their creatures and lands, and that's hard to come back from.
Fun: 5
While I didn't enjoy waiting on the occasional card from time to time, the deck had it's ways of tutoring up an answer. Most fun was killing the opponent by giving them creatures; it's the Magic equivalent to "Stop hitting yourself".
Protection: 1
Faerie Macabre removes cards in the graveyard, and Tainthed Æther and Ascendant Envicar keep creatures under control.
Format: 0
Nothing special.
Total: 19
Creativity: 7
Sacrificing Zuberas isn't exactly new, but I do like that you stopped after a few colors, instead of streching it to 5. The remaining Spirits help remove some of the reliance off the Zuberas. I will say, kudos for making mask of the Mimic not feel like deadweight. Saccing a Zubera to search up another Zubera was great, and helped fuel All Hallow's Eve.
Effectiveness: 4
Here's how it broke down: if I drew Goblin Bombardment early, the deck was quite fast and powerful. One game, I drew 8 cards and dealt 11 damage on turn 5. All Hallow's Eve seals the deal. Without Bombardment, however, the deck starts to fall apart. Some carefull mulliganing, and the deck seemed to work ok.
Fun: 4
I had fun saccing the little 1/2s and reaping big rewards. So much fun, it was even better the second time with All Hallow's Eve, which often meant game. I also liked Mask of the Mimic, which made some surprisingly big plays, like turning what would have been 9 damage and 3 draws into 11 damage and 8 draws. What wasn't fun were the games without Goblin Bombardment. I just sat there topdecking, hoping the next card would be it.
Protection: 1
Tormod's Crypt right before All Hallow's Eve seems like a good play.
Format: 1
Tribal: Spirits.
Total: 17
Creativity: 8
A Wizard Tribal shell is nothing new, but it usually something you see in Mono-U decks, not UB decks dedicated around mass reviving creatures.
Effectiveness: 5
Even without Intruder Alarm, it was able to set up decently, although it was slow. With the Alarm, things just went nuts, drawing and discarding several cards a turn. All Hallow's Eve didn't make it infinite, but it made it large enough that I didn't want to count that high.
Fun: 5
Intruder Alarm made the deck crazy. When it hit the table, it was a blast. Drawing lots of cards and setting up more draws, building up for the big finish. Without the Alarm, it was a little boring, just digging each turn and passing.
Protection: 1
Patron Wizard might deter the opponent from playing a spell or two.
Format: 1
Tribal: Wizards.
Total: 20
Creativity: 6
A dredge isn't terrible new or exciting from a creativity stand point.
Effectiveness: 6
The deck did what it should do each time. And why shouldn't it? There's a metric ton of card sifting built into the deck. As long as I drew into All Hallow's Eve, I was set.
Fun: 6
What's not fun about picking up my deck, turning it over, and putting it in my Graveyard?
Protection: 1
Some cards to stop creatures.
Format: 0
No special format.
Total: 19
Creativity: 9
Reanimation may not be new, but the approach is. With Pithing Needle/Lethal Vapors, you aren't reanimating for a body, but for a CITP effect only.
Effectiveness: 4
I had trouble with mana only a few times, but other than that, it worked rather well. The lack of draw hurt, when a pivital piece was missing, and drawing a Hellkite was really bad, but there is enough recurrsion in the deck to kill anyways.
Fun: 4
Reanimating Hellkites for a win was fun, but when left without a needed combo piece or mana, it got kind of boring. Just topdecking for a bit until something came up.
Protection: 2
Lots of cards to help make sure the opponent can't mess with it.
Format: 0
Nada.
Total: 19
Creativity: 5
It's MBC, a well known deck type, with some card choices changed.
Effectiveness: 5
A decent amount way was to stall the game, right up until the All Hallow's Eve beatdown finish. The games without Arena hurt, but were very playable.
Fun: 4
A toolbox of card advantage and removal that's tutored with a card the helps All Hallow's Eve. The amount of card advantage itself was key, as well, as it kept me playing cards and interactive at all times. Sometimes, though, the first 4 turns could be rough if I didn't get Dark Ritual.
Protection: 1
Leyline and Damnation.
Format: 0
2 Zombies shy from a Tribal deck.
Total: 15
If you read them in order, you can slowly watch my grammar and wordiness fade as my attention turns to football.
Neon-Chan: 36
No Name Maddox: 36
Anansi: 38.5
kruemel: 33
Post Affinity: 37
Night Child: 39.5
Arc-logger: 39.5
FoggManatic: 41.5
dragoonbot: 33.5
That means FoggManatic is the winner of this week. Please send your card choice to either Blutsau or myself, and, if approved, it will be the next contest.
You may recall the Casual Deck Construction Contest, as ran by djosh. The Contest lasted for 4 weeks (1, 2, 3, 4), but ended in the grave due to a lack of time djosh could devote on the contest. Before leaving it, he gave his grace to anyone who would be willing to take over the contest. Blutsau and Parabola01 got together to resurrect the fallen contest. And what better day for a resurrection than on the Dawn of the Dead,
What more appropriate day than that of Halloween to bring back a dead contest? It should be noted that the rules aren't quite the same as they used to be. Just as the dead come back with rotting flesh, green skin, and visible vertebrae, did our contest come back with a few changes as well.
1. Main rule
- Each round a card will be chosen, either by the winner of the last round or the judges. (the winner has 24h time to PM a judge or post his/her suggseston)
- A submitted deck has to contain the card of the current round and has to be built around said card in some way.
-When you submit a deck, explain your choices. While not explaining them won't penalize you, giving the judges insight on why you picked certain cards over others could improve their understanding of your deck.
2. This is casual
- All sets that are legal in Vintage are legal (no B&R list). Un-set cards and the like are banned until further notice.
- The power level of a deck is irrelevant, but it should be noted that some of the judges might not be keen seeing a lot of B&R cards thrown into a deck. If you want to use a powerful card, such as Yawgoth's Will, as four-off you need a reason and proof why your deck needs it and is not completly broken.
4. Time – eleven days
- contestants have seven days to build their decks each round.
- judging will take three days
- the next card will be chosen after judgings are up, the winner has time 24h time to submit a card, else the judges will choose one. The submitted card is to be sent to a permanent judge for approval. If the card is approved, a new contest will be posted for the chosen card.
3. Judges will be: [A, B and C] and the winner of the last round.
- Each judge has 25 points to hand out, after criteria of their choice. The judges are encouraged to post their criteria before judging.
- Each deck will get judged by three judges.
- A list of the contestants total points will be held.
The card for this week is – surprise, surprise: All Hallow's Eve.
Have fun.
Parabola01 - He's to this contest what Karn is to Argentum: Short before Halloween he PMed me and remined me of the old contest held by djosh and asked to revive it. He also worked out the basis for the current rules.
After roughly three and a half months and 8 rounds running the contest, the machine RL has demanded its tribute and keeps him to busy to continue judging.
Me - due to military service; but quoting another robot (that somehow made it into politics):
"I'll be back."
Credits: for the contest banner go to spiderboy4 from High~Light Studios, for the final OP go to Parabola01
A quote of my own from later in the thread. A question was asked how the chosen card is effected by format legality.
In summary, when it comes to bending legality when using 4x:
Standard: OK
Extended: OK
Pauper: OK
Budget: OK
EDH: NO
Singleton: NO
Highlander: NO
Rainbow Stairwell: NO
and you should get the idea.
And here's my system:
Creativity - 6 (How creative is the use of the chosen card?)
6: You took advantage of themes that were not obvious and/or obscure combos with the card.
3: You did something expected in an unexpected way.
0: Very obvious choice. For example, if the chosen card was Ambush Commander, you put it into an Elf deck.
Originality - 6 (How original is the deck?)
6: Mind-blowingly insane, featuring obscure cards/themes.
3: A well-known and established deck, but not a tournament one, with a few unique changes here or there.
0: A cookie-cutter tournament deck.
Effectiveness - 6 (How much does the chosen card help the deck?)
6: Can't live without it. If the deck can't find the card, it can't do much.
3: It sort of needs it. The deck plays neither better nor worse with the chosen card.
0: It doesn't need it. In fact, it's better off not wasting the time to play the chosen card.
Fun - 4 (Whether I found the deck fun or not.)
I'm a little bit of every Magic persona, so I find a variety of decks fun, but there are a few things I enjoy or hate more than others:
+ The deck uses a creative/obscure combo.
+ The deck can reliably use all five colors.
- The deck has problems with mana.
- The deck has trouble finding cards it needs to work.
Protection - 2 (You must have at least 8 cards considered to be Protection to be eligible.)
2: The deck can reliably deal with 4 or more of the 8 card types.
1: The deck can deal with 2 or more of the 8 card types.
0: The deck can deal with 1 or less of the 8 card types.
(Note: Reliably is a key word. Just because you put 4 Counterspells and 4 Stone Rains in a deck doesn't mean you'll get 2 points just because you can deal with every permanent type. You need to be able to deal with those permanents reliably, whether that means having a lot of draw, a tutor package, just a lot of protection, or something else.)
Format - 1 (Point awarded for decks following a different format. Singleton, PDC, Tribal, EDH, Block, Standard, MYOS, Rainbow Stairwell, Highlander, ect. Vintage, Legacy, and Extended won't be included.)
This is to keep a record of each week's card, and who won that week.
1.) All Hallow's Eve - FoggManatic
2.) Brion Stoutarm - Night Child
3.) Second Sunrise - No Name Maddox
4.) Death Match - dragoonbot
5.) Evolution Vat - Morphadite2
6.) Nucklavee - Post Affinity
7.) Upwelling - Anansi
8.) Surprise Deployment - kiwoli
9.) Heartstone - ???
Good luck, all.
I think the main difference between all hallow's eve and the other two is the flavor, so the main difference for how I would build around the one will be flavor also. all hallows eve calls for an emphasis on the dead, especially spirits, and horrors and especially those with come into play abilities.
keening banshee seems very in theme and she brings an appropriate ability with her.
krovikan horror seems appropriate as well.
skulking ghost seems like it belongs in a Halloween deck.
will-o'-the-wisp seems like the spooky sort of thing you might associate with a night of trick or treating
childhood horror is certainly in theme, and with a card like all hallows eve, it looks like we'll be filling the graves anyway.
faceless butcher has a useful ability for this kind of deck, even though hes more horror than the spooky i'm aiming for.
hidden horror can be the monster under the bed that enables the deck
gloom drifter looks like another flavor-full addition.
the deck is going to need some way to keep the opponents graveyard as clear as possible
grave gouger can work.
carrion rats and carrion wurm can encourage opponents to keep their yard empty
the best cards for this sort of thing are tormond's crypt and withered wretch. I was going to have to use the wretch, because of its raw overall effectiveness and staus as an uncommon, but then I remembered faerie macabre she and grave gouger will be playing my grave removal roles. those and mortiphobia.
4will-o'-the-wisp
2skulking ghost
4hidden horror
2gloom drifter
4faceless butcher
4faerie macabre
2keening banshee
2childhood horror
4laquatus's champion
houses
4 barren moor
20 swamp
2 living end
the idea is to play early creatures like the wisp that can play defensive while you stock your grave yard and keep your opponent's empty until while all hallows eve is ticking down. laquatus's champion acts as a finisher and most of the comes into play abilities involve cleaning up and pesky creatures that may be threats on the big night. I put heavy emphasis on flavor for the deck.
casual deck construction contest season 3:
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=189597
my trade thread:
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=239539
4 All hallow's eve
4 Ashen-skin Zubera
4 Ember-fist zubera
4 Thief of Hope
2 Grave Pact
4 Goblin Bombardment
2 Infernal Kirin
2 Tormod's Crypt
4 Floating-Dream Zubera
2 Skullclamp
2 Teller of tales
4 Crumbling Necropolis
3 Salt Marsh
3 Urborg Volcano
4 Swamp
4 Mountian
4 Island
I have 12 zuberas to make sure i can get a lot of damage once i sacrifice them at the same time with goblin bombardment, skullclamp is there to more card advantage, the crypt to make sure he opponent doesn't take advantage of the Eve. The use of All Hallow's Eve is to return multiple zuberas at the same time (triggering the thief) and then sacrificing them.
The kirin and the pact are other ways of taking advantage of the entering and dying creatures.
3x Supreme Inquisitor
4x Information Dealer
4x Thought Courier
3x Aphetto Grifter
4x Krovikan Sorcerer
3x Patron Wizard
2x Grixis Battlemage
3x Intruder Alarm
Spells:
3x All Hallow's Eve
4x Buried Alive
4x Unearth
1x Mystical Tutor
1x Demonic Tutor
4x Tainted Isle
3x Dimir Aqueduct
4x Underground Sea
4x Watery Grave
3x Island
3x Swamp
Money lands if you want. (Watery Grave, Underground Sea) If not take them out and add even number of swamps and islands.
So I made a wizard deck.
The point of the deck is to cast Buried Alive and Compulsion to get tons of Wizards and Supreme Inquisitor in your graveyard. Then when All Hallow's Eve goes off they come into play and Intruder Alarm will go off for each creature that came into play. Then tap Supreme Inquisitor and 4 other wizards to remove 5 cards from their deck then they untap because of Intruder Alarm and you can do this as many times as the number of creatures that came into play with All Hallow's Eve. (take out all the non-land cards first if you can't get them all) All Hallow's Eve isn't the best "get everything out of your yard" card but it'll work.
If Hallow doesn't work the fall back is to play Supreme Inquisitor and just take out their best stuff every time something comes into play.
Other cards:
Unearth This works great to get what you want out of your graveyard because everything besides the Supreme Inquisitor costs 3 or less.
Patron Wizard counters stuff. Discarding or using Buried Alive and Unearth this is the best way to get it out if you don't use Money lands.
Thought Courier, Krovikan Sorcerer, Compulsion draws cards and discards what you want in your graveyard. (don't know how I forgot Compulsion when I made this, it's in all my blue decks)
Aphetto Grifter This works good and bad with Intruder Alarm.
Information Dealer a wizard deck needs this. Help with Compulsion
Demonic Tutor and Mystical Tutor They're tutors, they tutor for stuff.
Intruder Alarm helps stop a lot of people from playing every creature in their hand and can stop decks base on a big attacker. Note that Godsire will be auto win with this if you don't have Supreme Inquisitor and five wizards. A lot of people like new cards so watch out <_<
Edit: Also note that you have to play Intruder Alarm when it's useful not when it's in your hand and you have three mana. Play it when you can get stuff out to uptap ythe diggers or facing someone that does it for you(don't think I have to say this but both of the people I showed this deck to said my Discard card/draw card guys are useless because they don't untap...)
Edit: The deck digs so 2 or 3 land will get it digging and you'll have lots of land and end up discarding it later. Also don't need more then 3 of any combo parts becausing of digging (draw a card, discard a card) also tutors help with combo parts
EditEditEditEditEdit (ya I do this sometimes): out two Compulsion in 2 Grixis Battlemage (hope I'm not too late here)
Favorite decks:
:symu::symb::symr:Spike Mishra:symr::symb::symu:
:symb::symr::symg:Timmy Kresh:symg::symr::symb:
:symw::symu::symb::symr::symg:Johnny Conflux:symg::symr::symb::symu::symw:
the more the merrier
Should I make it for Midnight, right at Saturday?
I should also add that you are allowed to edit your deck up until the deadline, in case anyone was wondering.
2 Crystal Vein
15 Swamp
3 Molten Slagheap
2 Dark Depths
Hallow's eve and the like:
4 All Hallow's Eve
3 Unearth
4 Leyline of the Void
3 Buried Alive
4 dark ritual
3 Damnation
1 Sun Droplet
3 Shriekmaw
1 Visara the Dreadful
Combo:
4 Coretapper
3 Power Conduit
3 Magistrate's Scepter
3 Darksteel reactor
I'm not sure how strong this deck would be, but it looks cool to me!
explanation:
The point is to fill up the scepter and the reactor with counters by recurring coretapper like a fiend and using power conduit to take counters off of the slagheap, all Hallow's eve, and dark depths to put wherever they're needed.
all hallows eve, buried alive, and unearth are for coretapper while all hallow's eve also brings back shriekmaw and Visara the Dreadful.
Sun Droplet + power conduit turns damage into extra turns and reactor counters.
Dark ritual obviously speeds everything up, leyline of the void is in to keep all hallow's eve usable, and to hose any graveyard strategies they themselves might have. Visara the dreaful and dark depths are just big beaters to help along the way, while shriekmaw and damnation will tear up everything they can.
the deck leaves you with 3 options
infinite turns
big creatures
just flat out winning
or any combination of the 3
Cube list thread
Cubetutor
Sneak Attack + Palinchron + Whispers of the Muse.
I'm sure I don't need to explain to you just how this combo works. Assuming you have at least six lands you'll end up with infinite mana, and from there you can draw your entire deck which you then discard at the end of your turn and leave to be reanimated via AHE. The best part is that if you haven't drawn into an AHE over the course of the game, you'd better believe you will now. Because of the nature of the deck, you can feel free to run a toolbox of ridiculous creatures.
The Oracle wording of All Hallow's Eve has it being removed from the game. It works a lot like a Suspend card, except you can counter it with Counterspell before it gets RFG'd and not after, and it uses Scream counters and not Time ones. Anyways, because it's RFG'd (and a sorcery), it can not be a permanent, so it can't be a legal option to remove a counter from for Power Conduit. I can understand the confusion, though. I believe an older Oracle entry had the card being an Enchantment that came into play with two Scream counters and you sacrificed it when the final one was removed (like Vanishing), and then you got the effect.
You have 4 Floating-Dream Zuberas listed twice. I'm not sure if they are just extra or if you meant to put a different card there instead.
I don't believe I noticed anything else worth mentioning.
sry if it's me being a blind nut, but where exactly did you use the combo? I can't find a list of you...
would be great fun to see the list suppose you have about 13h +24h left
Edit: man am I absent-minded sometimes, it's thursday -.-'
Whoops. I didn't saw that, well it's repaired now. Though i don't think I will win because the deck doesn't have much sinergy anyway:rolleyes:.
If I didn't make the deadline edit it back.
Favorite decks:
:symu::symb::symr:Spike Mishra:symr::symb::symu:
:symb::symr::symg:Timmy Kresh:symg::symr::symb:
:symw::symu::symb::symr::symg:Johnny Conflux:symg::symr::symb::symu::symw:
Oh, don't worry, you have until 12:00 AM EST Saturday. You still have another 24 hours.
thanks for the info. Me bed now ~_~
Favorite decks:
:symu::symb::symr:Spike Mishra:symr::symb::symu:
:symb::symr::symg:Timmy Kresh:symg::symr::symb:
:symw::symu::symb::symr::symg:Johnny Conflux:symg::symr::symb::symu::symw:
thank you! I had read the old oracle where it was an enchantment. time to rethink my plan, then.
So this is attempt number 2. I decided that Power conduit was too large a part of the previous deck, and the inability to speed up all hallow's eve without adding blue for paradox haze wasn't going to cut it.
This time around I've got 4 dark rituals and 4 cabal rituals, I'll probably have threshold really quick, and I want this whole thing to happen fast. the dual lands are there in the even that I actually have to cast a hellkite.
the pithing needles are mainly here to target the lethal vapors ability, but can obvioulsy be set to any threats. Leyline of the void is of course to keep their things from recurring. Mindslicer removes their hand from the game, especially if I already have lethal vapors out. if it happens as quickly as I want it to, they should be stuck trying to top deck some kind of answer.
all hallow's eve and exhume are used to recur bogardan hellkite for the win, which is accomplished by using entomb and/or buried alive.
I'd like to point out that a dark ritual, entomb and exhume in your opening hand means first turn hellkite!
and there you have it.
Cube list thread
Cubetutor
There's still time, right?
About 5 hours. I'll make a post declaring when time is over (or edit this one if it's the last one).
3 Terramorphic Expanse
4 All Hallow’s Eve
4 Dark Ritual
3 Tendrils of Corruption
3 Phyrexian Arena
3 Leyline of the Void
2 Damnation
4 Grave Defiler
4 Korlash, Heir to Blackblade
4 Twisted Abomination
2 Festering Goblin
I figure most of the deck were going to be the same, so I figured if I were to recur something, I might as well recur zombies and skeletons. The idea is to abuse dimir house guard who fetches for All Hallow's eve and other cards. From there I can dump my creatures into the graveyard to set up a big All Hallow's Eve.
1 Squee, Goblin Naboob
1 Genesis
1 Indrik Stomphowler
1 Predatory Nightstalker
1 Cloudthresher
1 Dark Hatchling
1 Big Game Hunter
1 Nightshade assassin
1 Murderous Redcap
1 Woodfall primus
1 Shriekmaw
1 Skullmulcher
1 Wei Assassins
1 Kitchen Finks
1 Duplicant
4 All Hallow's Eve
4 Living death
Get-into-Grave
2 Buried Alive
4 Survival of the fittest
keep-opps-grave-empty
1 Nezumi Graverobber
4 Leyline of the Void
utility
2 Gravestorm
1 Recurring Nightmare
protection
3 Ground Seal
Lands
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawghmoth
4 Bayou
4 Overgrown Tomb
2 Bloodstained Mire
2 Polluted Delta
2 Cabal Coffers
5 Swamps
the fun-factor (7/9) - Diversity, the deck looks like it will work not two games the same way and still the same way.
consistency (3/3) - I don't see problems not to go off and hold ops at bay.
"protection/controll/disruption" (3/4) - You can cast all creeps but Squee, each nukes a permanent, that adds safty and buys you time. You have 3 ways to reanimate. Ground Seal works not against non-targeted removal, and I see not much to deal with it.
2 Slippery Karst
4 Polluted Mire
4 Blasted Landscape
2 overgrown tomb
5 swamp
3 forest
2 Twisted Abomination
2 Wirewood Guardian
4 Krosan Tusker
2 Yoked Plowbeast
4 Primoc Escapee
4 Jungle Weaver
4 Shriekmaw
4 All Hallow's Eve
4 Dark Ritual
4 Fluctuator
3 shred memory
2 Restless Dreams
1 demonic tutor
the fun-factor (6/9) - This deck will for shure get some strange looks, when you pull it off the first time, but it's allways the same: racing to combo off.
consistency (2/3) - You just draw through your deck, getting the cards you need is not the problem, but staying alive, thus -1.
"protection/controll/disruption" (1/4) - with cycling you're in a clinch between a need to cycle and be able to only when you have to.
4 barren moor
20 swamp
4 all hallow's eve
2 living end
4 mortiphobia
the fun-factor (8/9) - This to the tune of Ghostbusters Beating faces with such a deck would be great fun. the only thing is, well, it's also repetition.
consistency (3/3) - AHE is only a lategame plan, you can cast each creep, have Mortiphobia and Horror to discard. I don't see problems.
"protection/controll/disruption" (2/4) - good balance breakers, creature removal. I do again miss ways to deal with non-creature permanents and disruption.
3x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4x Cabal Coffers
17x Swamp
Engine
4x Tainted Æther
4x All Hallow's Eve
1x Demonic Tutor
2x Diabolic Intent
4x Putrid Imp
2x Oona's Prowler
3x Faerie Macabre
3x Hunted Phantasm
2x Hunted Troll
3x Ascendant Evincar
4x Festering Goblin
4x Shambling Swarm
the fun-factor (5/9) - Tainted Æther will also screw you, and that ain't fun, unless you're a maso-jonny =P.
consistency (0/3) - you will screw yourself over have only CdA and have no real way to stay alive.
"protection/controll/disruption" (1/4) - uhm, FM, that's worth a point.
4 Ember-fist Zubera
4 Thief of Hope
2 Infernal Kirin
4 Floating-Dream Zubera
2 Teller of Tales
4 All hallow's Eve
2 Grave Pact
4 Goblin Bombardment
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Skullclamp
3 Salt Marsh
3 Urborg Volcano
4 Swamp
4 Mountian
4 Island
the fun-factor (7/9) - Tossing around creatures and getting nice effects while doing so is nice, Mask is sort of a limited toolbox.
consistency (3/3) - the only problem I see is mana screw.
"protection/controll/disruption" (3/4) - no protection needed, as AHE is only a late game plan and then hopefully winning, creature control not a big problem, but again non-creature permanents...
3x Supreme Inquisitor
4x Information Dealer
4x Thought Courier
3x Aphetto Grifter
4x Krovikan Sorcerer
3x Patron Wizard
2x Grixis Battlemage
3x Intruder Alarm
Spells
3x All Hallow's Eve
4x Buried Alive
4x Unearth
1x Mystical Tutor
1x Demonic Tutor
4x Tainted Isle
3x Dimir Aqueduct
4x Underground Sea
4x Watery Grave
3x Island
3x Swamp
the fun-factor (8/9) - apart from being defenseless, I'd totaly play this.
consistency (1.5/3) - the problem is again not getting what you need, but to stay alive, and your AHE will probably kill you if you can't win the turn it goes off.
"protection/controll/disruption" (1/4) - Nothing, apart from the Patron.
-1 for the Battlemages - why not a classis Looter??
4 Watery Grave
4 Polluted Delta
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Underground River
8 Swamp
4 All Hallow’s Eve
3 Isochron Scepter
3 Buried Alive
4 Tolarian Winds
3 Dark Ritual
2 Avatar of Woe
4 Golgari Thug
4 Stinkweed Imp
4 Angel of Despair
4 Laquatus’s Champion
2 Darkblast
2 Damnation
the fun-factor (7/9) - efficent deck, I'd enjoy playing it, but that's not really fun-fun.
consistency (3/3) - you'll dig through your lib. very fast and have speedbumps inform of dredge creeps.
"protection/controll/disruption" (2.5/4) - Angel, Imp, Darkblast, Damnation. you get minus for Angel only working with AHE.
4 sulfurous springs
2 graven cairns
14 swamp
4 Dark Ritual
4 Cabal Ritual
3 Pithing needle
3 Lethal vapors
4 Leyline of the Void
3 Mindslicer
3 All Hallow's Eve
4 Exhume
4 Buried Alive
4 Entomb
4 Bogardan hellkite
the fun-factor (8/9) - WANT TO PLAY THIS, my inner Dave wants to make others cry with Needled Vapor goodness. -1 because it's Dave-fun.
consistency (3/3) - Apart from counterspells and Disenchant not much to say, as speed should be on your side.
"protection/controll/disruption" (3/4) - No way to deal with non-creature permanents.
3 Terramorphic Expanse
4 All Hallow’s Eve
4 Dark Ritual
3 Tendrils of Corruption
3 Phyrexian Arena
3 Leyline of the Void
2 Damnation
4 Grave Defiler
4 Korlash, Heir to Blackblade
4 Twisted Abomination
2 Festering Goblin
the fun-factor (6/9) - dry MBC, not to much fun.
consistency (3/3) - MBC what to say...
"protection/controll/disruption" (2.5/4) - again no way to deal with non-creature permanents.
first: nevinlarry's disk would have fit into most of these decks, imo...
when parabola posted his judgement we'll update the ranking and name the winner (highest # of points) of the first round - who then has 24h time to either post here or PM us the card for the next round.
Creativity: 7
There are as many obscure choices as there are expected choices. I expected seeing Survival to fill the graveyard, but many of the creatures you picked are very different from what I envisioned.
Effectiveness: 3
I got stuck on 4 lands, a lot. Sometime it took a few extra turns to hit 4 mana, too. Everytime I drew Cabal Coffers, I just wished it was some other land, as it just sat around without a reliable way to search up Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. Also, any starting hand without Survival was difficult to get going. Once the deck started up, it was a beast, but it was sometimes difficult to get to that point.
Fun: 3
Basically only because of how effective the deck was. Sitting around waiting for lands/Survival was not fun.
Protection: 2
Gravestorm, Leyline, and Nezumi keep the opponent from beating you at your own game. Ground Seal keeps them from messing with your plans. Shriekmaw can deal with threats before the combo. If the cards hit the table, it's pretty well protected.
Format: 0
Not any special format I recognize.
Points: 15
Creativity: 9
Cycling creatures was a brilliant move. This was something I had not expected.
Effectiveness: 4
I did get manascrewed a few times, but, due to the draw power built into the deck, it didn't happen as often as I expected. Krosan Tusker was a surprising star of my solitaire games, often finding a new land to play and drawing a card for only G. Fluctuator is the real star of the deck, of course, and there were a good number of options to search it out. I went off consistantly around turn 7, and got back at least 5 creatures each time, and suaully many more.
Fun: 5
Cycyling a card into another card with cycling was quite fun. I was always able to do something, even on few lands, and I did enjoy cutting the size of my library in half by turn 7.
Protection: 1
Shred Memory keeps the opponent from one-upping you. Other than it and Shriekmaw, the deck didn't have a lot to make sure it did it's job.
Format: 0
Nothing special.
Total: 19
Creativity: 9
Very flavorful. I mean, Childhood Horror? I laughed when I saw that.
Effectiveness: 2
As a beatdown deck, it worked ok. But as a deck based around All Hallow's Eve, I often was left without certain cards I needed. And with no tutors and no card draws, it was all left to the topdeck.
Fun: 5
While it was a little frustration dealing with the topdeck, the idea of slamming a creature and yelling "Trick or treat" appeals to me.
Protection: 1
Lots of creature destruction and Mortiphobia.
Format: 0
Not enough Horrors for Tribal.
Total: 17
Creativity: 10
Completely unexpected and way out there. A deck that wins by giving the opponent more creatures is thinking outside of the box.
Effectiveness: 3
The deck was pretty slow, going off at around turn 10 or so. Maybe I just got a few bad hands. When the deck worked, though, it was pretty brutal. Even though I only did solitaires, I can image games were the opponent would have to sac all their creatures and lands, and that's hard to come back from.
Fun: 5
While I didn't enjoy waiting on the occasional card from time to time, the deck had it's ways of tutoring up an answer. Most fun was killing the opponent by giving them creatures; it's the Magic equivalent to "Stop hitting yourself".
Protection: 1
Faerie Macabre removes cards in the graveyard, and Tainthed Æther and Ascendant Envicar keep creatures under control.
Format: 0
Nothing special.
Total: 19
Creativity: 7
Sacrificing Zuberas isn't exactly new, but I do like that you stopped after a few colors, instead of streching it to 5. The remaining Spirits help remove some of the reliance off the Zuberas. I will say, kudos for making mask of the Mimic not feel like deadweight. Saccing a Zubera to search up another Zubera was great, and helped fuel All Hallow's Eve.
Effectiveness: 4
Here's how it broke down: if I drew Goblin Bombardment early, the deck was quite fast and powerful. One game, I drew 8 cards and dealt 11 damage on turn 5. All Hallow's Eve seals the deal. Without Bombardment, however, the deck starts to fall apart. Some carefull mulliganing, and the deck seemed to work ok.
Fun: 4
I had fun saccing the little 1/2s and reaping big rewards. So much fun, it was even better the second time with All Hallow's Eve, which often meant game. I also liked Mask of the Mimic, which made some surprisingly big plays, like turning what would have been 9 damage and 3 draws into 11 damage and 8 draws. What wasn't fun were the games without Goblin Bombardment. I just sat there topdecking, hoping the next card would be it.
Protection: 1
Tormod's Crypt right before All Hallow's Eve seems like a good play.
Format: 1
Tribal: Spirits.
Total: 17
Creativity: 8
A Wizard Tribal shell is nothing new, but it usually something you see in Mono-U decks, not UB decks dedicated around mass reviving creatures.
Effectiveness: 5
Even without Intruder Alarm, it was able to set up decently, although it was slow. With the Alarm, things just went nuts, drawing and discarding several cards a turn. All Hallow's Eve didn't make it infinite, but it made it large enough that I didn't want to count that high.
Fun: 5
Intruder Alarm made the deck crazy. When it hit the table, it was a blast. Drawing lots of cards and setting up more draws, building up for the big finish. Without the Alarm, it was a little boring, just digging each turn and passing.
Protection: 1
Patron Wizard might deter the opponent from playing a spell or two.
Format: 1
Tribal: Wizards.
Total: 20
Creativity: 6
A dredge isn't terrible new or exciting from a creativity stand point.
Effectiveness: 6
The deck did what it should do each time. And why shouldn't it? There's a metric ton of card sifting built into the deck. As long as I drew into All Hallow's Eve, I was set.
Fun: 6
What's not fun about picking up my deck, turning it over, and putting it in my Graveyard?
Protection: 1
Some cards to stop creatures.
Format: 0
No special format.
Total: 19
Creativity: 9
Reanimation may not be new, but the approach is. With Pithing Needle/Lethal Vapors, you aren't reanimating for a body, but for a CITP effect only.
Effectiveness: 4
I had trouble with mana only a few times, but other than that, it worked rather well. The lack of draw hurt, when a pivital piece was missing, and drawing a Hellkite was really bad, but there is enough recurrsion in the deck to kill anyways.
Fun: 4
Reanimating Hellkites for a win was fun, but when left without a needed combo piece or mana, it got kind of boring. Just topdecking for a bit until something came up.
Protection: 2
Lots of cards to help make sure the opponent can't mess with it.
Format: 0
Nada.
Total: 19
Creativity: 5
It's MBC, a well known deck type, with some card choices changed.
Effectiveness: 5
A decent amount way was to stall the game, right up until the All Hallow's Eve beatdown finish. The games without Arena hurt, but were very playable.
Fun: 4
A toolbox of card advantage and removal that's tutored with a card the helps All Hallow's Eve. The amount of card advantage itself was key, as well, as it kept me playing cards and interactive at all times. Sometimes, though, the first 4 turns could be rough if I didn't get Dark Ritual.
Protection: 1
Leyline and Damnation.
Format: 0
2 Zombies shy from a Tribal deck.
Total: 15
If you read them in order, you can slowly watch my grammar and wordiness fade as my attention turns to football.
Edit: Wish I could have used Artful Looter lol
Favorite decks:
:symu::symb::symr:Spike Mishra:symr::symb::symu:
:symb::symr::symg:Timmy Kresh:symg::symr::symb:
:symw::symu::symb::symr::symg:Johnny Conflux:symg::symr::symb::symu::symw:
Neon-Chan: 36
No Name Maddox: 36
Anansi: 38.5
kruemel: 33
Post Affinity: 37
Night Child: 39.5
Arc-logger: 39.5
FoggManatic: 41.5
dragoonbot: 33.5
That means FoggManatic is the winner of this week. Please send your card choice to either Blutsau or myself, and, if approved, it will be the next contest.
grats to FoggManatic
Favorite decks:
:symu::symb::symr:Spike Mishra:symr::symb::symu:
:symb::symr::symg:Timmy Kresh:symg::symr::symb:
:symw::symu::symb::symr::symg:Johnny Conflux:symg::symr::symb::symu::symw: