[M:tG] Past Past League - No Netdecking Possible

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Traditional Games > [M:tG] Past Past League - No Netdecking Possible

Jonked: Feb 15, 2005

Come Join Us in the Past Past League!

You know that first week after rotation? Those precious few days where nobody is really sure which cards are good or bad, and deck brewing is full of endless possibilities? Imagine if that happened every month.

The PPL is a new thing a few of us have been trying out. The idea is a format that challenges your ability to brew decks as much as your ability to pilot them. We start with a randomly selected combination of two Blocks and two Core Sets from throughout Magic history, and every month one of each is going to rotate out. The challenge is figuring out just how exactly, say, Kamigawa block works with Ice Age block to create a good deck. By the time you've got it all figured out, whoops! Kamigawa is gone and is replaced by Mirage block. Better get back to brewing! Obviously, this is going to be a very casual format. However, there is a reward for being the best. At the end of the month, one Core Set and Block will rotate out. The person with the best record at the end of the month gets to choose what leaves. Then, two new randomly selected sets come in for the next month!

Sounds like fun? Great!

So How Do I Get In On This?
First, join #pastpastleague on Synirc.irc.net - you can find more information on IRC Here. This is where people discuss cards, test decks, and set up matches, all very useful things.
Second, download Cockatrice, a free Magic client that is very popular for playing games. It's similar to Apprentice.
Third, brew your deck! Legal cards and tournament rules are below, as are important dates.

Current Format:
Magic 2015, Shards of Alara, Odyssey, Magic 2013.
Any cards on the Vintage Restricted/Banned List are also restricted/banned in the Past Past League (ie, Sol Ring is restricted, Chaos Orb is banned).

Tournament Rules
October 17th, Midnight: Deadline for Deck Registration, League Play begins
October 31st, Midnight: End Tournament, Winner declared, Sets Rotate.

To register, you must submit a final decklist to me in order to be registered for the tournament. You must use the same deck for all scoring matches. Email or PM is fine.

Each match will be a best of 3 games. Matches should be at least 50 minutes before going to turns, but players can extend the games if they like.

Tournament will be Single Round-Robin - Everyone plays everyone once, Sorta.

Wins are worth 3 points, Draws are worth 1 point, and Losses are worth 0 points. Matches that aren't played are worth nothing, but do not count as losses.

The player with the highest overall score wins. Tie breakers will be number of losses, followed by direct match-ups.

To be the winner, you must play 75% of your matches. Players who play less than 25% of their matches won't be counted.

Past Formats:
September: Revised, Odyssey, M13, Scars
October: Magic 2015, Shards of Alara, Odyssey, Magic 2013

Current Leaderboards: (October Results)
1.) Brian Kibler

Past Champions:
September: The Lord of Hats

Jonked fucked around with this message at 05:39 on Oct 20, 2014

# ¿ Sep 10, 2014 04:37

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 17, 2024 14:51

Jonked: Feb 15, 2005

Jabor posted:

Any reason for the Vintage b&r list over the Legacy one? Only having one Brainstorm or Ponder when we get around to Masques or Lorwyn or whatever is going to be pretty naff.

Well, the main reason was to start at the most reasonably permissive level, and become more restrictive if people wanted to do so, while also having a pretty clear set of rules. Originally no cards were going to be Restricted/Banned, but having decks with 4 Balances or Fastbonds is going to be obviously problematic. The Vintage rules were the next step up, but if people still think it's too much, we can go to the Legacy rules, and Legacy+Modern bans after that.

I know it gets a little wonky with stuff like Brainstorm, but this seemed like a cleaner solution than coming up with a unique banned list. That said, I'm open to whatever people want to do. If most people want to go to Legacy rules, or create a special banned list, or even a third option, I'm fine with that. I have no problem with following the will of the people. I think we should see how September plays out first, and then re-evaluate the rules there, however.

# ¿ Sep 10, 2014 15:39

Jonked: Feb 15, 2005

All the cards in the current format, btw. This website is a bit better than Gatherer for card searching.

# ¿ Sep 11, 2014 03:36

Jonked: Feb 15, 2005

So there has been some discussion of the tournament rules, and how they would work. As a result, here's a more finalized version. We tried to balance all the different needs, and I think this is a fair version. Feel free to yell at me if you see a problem, however.

Tournament Rules
Tournament begins on September 21st and runs until October 5th - in other words, 2 weeks.
Everyone must submit a final decklist in order to be registered for the tournament. You must use the same deck for all scoring matches.
Each match will be a best of 3 games.
Tournament will be Single Round-Robin - everyone plays everyone once in a match (we'll come back to this in a second).
Wins are worth 3 points, Draws are worth 1 point, and Losses are worth nothing. Matches that aren't played are worth nothing, but do not count as losses.
The contending player with the highest overall score wins. Tie breakers will be number of losses.
To be contending, a player has to play at least 75% of all matches. In other words, if 10 people are in the tournament, each player must play at least 7 matches to be contending. If this gets unwieldy, we'll separate people into pods and have the top scorers play each other.

Hopefully, the result is that everyone plays mostly everyone, and we don't have this wide range of games played. From that relatively level playing ground, the player with the best win percentage comes out on top. As we're all people on the internet, sometimes schedules will clash and you'll simply never get a chance to play someone. This way the rules won't punish you for that if you never touch base with a quarter of the players. I know this is a bit rough for AZNAC and Euro time zones, but hopefully schedules can align.

As for the decklists, it's pretty straight forward, assuming you're using Cockatrice. All you'll need to do is send me a copy of your decklist, I'll check that it's legal, and then I'll put hash code for it next to your name. When you load a deck for a game in Cockatrice, the hash code shows up next to your name, so it's easy to see whether your opponent is playing with the right deck or not. Sending me a decklist will also be how you register for the tournament, so two birds with one stone.

# ¿ Sep 15, 2014 06:21

Jonked: Feb 15, 2005

OfChristandMen posted:

How do we define "draw"? Normally you play rounds until the "round timer" but seeing as we're just playing on Cockatrice, I'm not sure there will actually be a round limit timer.

Cockatrice actually has a small timer above the chat window that could be used. I figured people would play for a minimum of 50 minutes, and then they could go to turns (5 turns, I understand, is the standard). But since this isn't a live tournament and we have fewer logistical issues, I figured games could be extended if both players wanted to keep playing - something along the lines of "Hey, want to play 15 more minutes, and then go to turns?" would be fine. That way people can keep playing, but nobody is locked into a 4 hour marathon match.

# ¿ Sep 15, 2014 07:05

Jonked: Feb 15, 2005

I think this particular build is a dead end, but it's fun enough deck and maybe it'll contribute to the conversation.

Deck: PPL Infected Midrange v2

//Main
4 Cathedral of War
4 Inkmoth Nexus
8 Swamp
4 Underground Sea
4 Tainted Isle
4 Plague Myr
4 Power Sink
4 Phyrexian Crusader
3 Hand of the Praetors
3 Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
4 Dark Ritual
4 Mental Misstep
4 Death Wish
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Vault
3 Cabal Therapy

//Sideboard
2 Howl from Beyond
1 Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
1 Hand of the Praetors
4 Chainer's Edict
1 Animate Dead
2 Winter Orb
1 Cabal Therapy
3 Cabal Ritual

Display deck statistics
This is, despite being v2, is actually the third iteration of infect decks I've been trying out. The first version combined Exalted cards from M13 with Infect, but the Duty-Bound Dead and Knights of Infamy made hands awkward more than they added to poison counters. The second iteration cut out the Exalted and focused on a more straight forward Infected mid-range in Mono-Black. This version added in blue for Power Sink (and Mental Misstep, to a lesser extent).

What does this deck do?
The concept is that infect creatures have effectively double Power against players, and that lets you close out games quickly. The ideal plan is to curve out, using some of the ramp to get Skithiryx down early before the opponent can come up with answers. The deck is heavy-black due to the multitude of double color mana creatures, which is strained a bit by Inkmoth Nexus and Cathedral of War. Those lands carry their own weight, however, as the Inkmoth lets you get around counter spells and Cathedral of War pumps Power. Ramping into a turn three 4/4 hasty flier with Infect feels amazing, but even playing fairly it feels like it doesn't take much to end the game. Phyrexian Crusader has protection from two relevant colors, and 2 poison counters a turn (3 if a Cathedral is down) is a very short clock.

So why is it a dead end?
This deck does amazing against its good match-ups, and poorly against everything else. Unfortunately, the top decks in this meta up are bad matches. The worst match-up seems to be Reanimator - a lot of the great reanimator targets (Elesh Norn, Sheoldred) really hurt against a narrow, power-focused deck. The second bad match up is U/x control - the deck isn't quite explosive enough to consistently get a threat down on turn 2 before shields go up. Finally, a lot of people are playing at least some black, and every creature dies to Dismember. Against other Infect decks, the creatures are just bigger and better. Against slower decks that let creatures get on the field, Phyrexian Crusader is painfully hard to get rid of - Burn the Impure and Swords to Plowshares are both useless.

So what do you recommend?
If you're going to go Infect, go all in on the Aggro - I've seen a very strong Jund Infect deck that has done well. Otherwise, I think a control deck is the way to go. Reanimator decks seem to be stronger in this meta than people anticipated, so a deck that can beat it through disruption will do well. I have a psychatog deck that has done well... but I'm just not really as good at piloting control decks. Either way, mid-range is a poor choice for this particular standard. Maybe if SOM stays in and Revised goes out, this deck might have a chance.

# ¿ Sep 16, 2014 06:17

Jonked: Feb 15, 2005

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN! Send your finalized deck list to <my username>@gmail.com with the subject line of "Past Past League <Your Username>". A deckstats link is nice but not required. I'll take a quick look over it to make sure it's all legal cards, and then I'll add your name to the Tournament Spreadsheet, so you can see who has beaten whom. I'll also post the current top 3 players in the OP. Next to my name you'll notice a hash code - that's the hash cockatrice assigns to a deck, and I'll include it for everyone else as well. This way, if you play someone in cockatrice, you'll know that they're playing the correct deck.

From there, it's a simple matter of posting here when you win/lose a match with someone. Every day or so, I'll check the thread and update the spreadsheet.

Now, in the interest of fairness, here's the deck I'll be playing with. You don't need to post your deck publicly. This is only because, when putting together the spreadsheet, I would get a chance to see everyone's deck, so everyone should get a chance to see my deck.
Deck: Psychatog v2

# ¿ Sep 20, 2014 20:13

Jonked: Feb 15, 2005

Ramos posted:

Starts tomorrow, so I'll just sign up. Deck sent by PM.

Silver2195 posted:

I've also sent my deck.

Got them both, you should be on the spreadsheet now.

# ¿ Sep 20, 2014 20:18

Jonked: Feb 15, 2005

2SiBi posted:

Sent! I sent it under my IRC/cockatrice name, which is JooSiBi.

Got it, you're all good.

# ¿ Sep 22, 2014 02:48

Jonked: Feb 15, 2005

eatenmyeyes posted:

Mono black looks crazy. Does Worldgorger combo still work?

Not a lot of time to test it, but you could take a shot at it.

# ¿ Sep 22, 2014 05:11

Jonked: Feb 15, 2005

Namagem, sorry I missed your question on IRC. To answer, yeah, you can totally still submit a deck! You just won't have a lot of time to test it. I haven't given a hard deadline for registering, but it'll be at least a couple more days. Wednesday probably!

The Lord of Hats posted:

I've seen it done, seems reasonable albeit a bit vulnerable. Also, decks sent.

Got it, you're in.

# ¿ Sep 22, 2014 19:17

Jonked: Feb 15, 2005

Null1fy posted:

If I post my deck list Wednesday will that be too late? I'm out of town

Yeah, I think Wednesday would be fine.

Also, The Lord of Hats won his first match against... me. Congrats, TLoHs, you're in first place!

# ¿ Sep 23, 2014 02:01

Jonked: Feb 15, 2005

Null1fy beat me 2-1

# ¿ Sep 24, 2014 18:39

Jonked: Feb 15, 2005

I'll update the spreadsheet after class but I wanted to announce that I'm closing registration at midnight. Please get your decks to me by then.

# ¿ Sep 24, 2014 23:42

Jonked: Feb 15, 2005

Yes, that is correct, the deadline is EST Midnight, aka 1 hour! There have been a couple different decks posted here, if you don't want to build your own you can always send me one of those instead!

# ¿ Sep 25, 2014 04:01

Jonked: Feb 15, 2005

a dozen swans posted:

This sounds really cool and there's ten minutes to the deadline. I want to play that sweet sweet Temur infect deck.

Just to clarify, you're registering with this deck, right?

# ¿ Sep 25, 2014 04:56

Jonked: Feb 15, 2005

Won against Asymmetrikon.

# ¿ Sep 29, 2014 02:47

Jonked: Feb 15, 2005

Just as a heads up for what's going on, people wanted to rotate the format a little early. Feel free to keep playing your matches, but the top 3 players agree to rotate OUT Scars of Mirrodin and Revised Edition. They have been replaced by Shards of Alara and Magic 2015.

# ¿ Sep 29, 2014 05:47

Jonked: Feb 15, 2005

VibeBox posted:

wish ya'll would post decklists, even if after the rotation. this is impossible to spectate rn without knowing what people are playing.

: -(

Careful what you wish for.
Deck: PPL Jund v2

//Lands
4 Ancient Ziggurat
3 Dragonskull Summit
3 Forest
2 Llanowar Wastes
4 Mountain
4 Rootbound Crag
3 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

//Spells
4 Bituminous Blast
4 Blightning
3 Browbeat
4 Terminate

//Creatures
4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Bloodhall Ooze
2 Enlisted Wurm
2 Jund Hackblade
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Sprouting Thrinax
2 Thragtusk

//Sideboard
3 Chainer's Edict
2 Enlisted Wurm
3 Rancor
3 Magma Spray
2 Thragtusk
2 Jund Hackblade

Display deck statistics
First off, yeah, it's not really Jund since it's splashing into white for Enlisted Wurm. Sure, it seems a little greedy, but in reality it's actually a very painless splash - I'm already running Noble Hierarch and Ancient Ziggurat, and getting the Wurm down can potentially cascade into an unbeatable board state. The worst case scenario is still something I'm very happy about. For the rest of the creatures, Bloodhall Ooze has the potential to become hilarious big very fast with a Jund Hackblade. Sprouting Thrinax and Thragtusk can be very sticky on the board, and Bloodbraid Elf is just great value. Mana-wise, it's actually a lot less janky than it looks - I can usually get Sprouting Thrinax down on curve more often than not. I think there's room for improvement, but it's not an anchor on the deck. Spells have taken on a very Burn-ish bent - Browbeat has been almost exclusively a 3-mana Lava Axe, and I'm perfectly fine with that. Blightning has been pretty painful, especially off of a turn 3 or 4 BBE. Terminate and Bituminous Blast have been side-boarded out more than a few times in the face of Shroud creatures or Protection from Black, but I think they justify their mainboard slots. Finally, the sideboard is very rough, and trying to hedge bets. Edict gets around Shroud and Protection, Rancor helps me add punishment if my opponent isn't answering my creatures, Magma Spray adds a bit of burn, and finally the creatures let me shift my curve up or down as needed.

# ¿ Oct 7, 2014 07:10

Jonked: Feb 15, 2005

Usually I like to leave my saturdays open, but you know what? Mark me down as your 8th man if you only get 7 people together, and I'll show up.

I feel like I should also post that Deck Registration is Friday at Midnight EST. You've still got some time, and quite a few decks have been posted here that could use a bit of polish, if you want to play.

# ¿ Oct 13, 2014 07:15

Jonked: Feb 15, 2005

OH CRAP THE DEADLINE!!!!

Hey, relax! Yeah, I said the deadline was today at Midnight, but considering I've only gotten 1 decklist, and that I've forgotten to remind me people, I'm extending the deadline. Get me your decklist by Sunday, Oct. 19th at Midnight if you want to play!

I'm going to be basically running the Jund deck I posted from earlier, btw.

# ¿ Oct 17, 2014 22:27

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 17, 2024 14:51

Jonked: Feb 15, 2005

The Spreadsheet is up. With 4 people we might be able to get two tournament in this month!

# ¿ Oct 20, 2014 05:36

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Traditional Games > [M:tG] Past Past League - No Netdecking Possible