KrazyCaley's Deckbuilders' Challenge- A is for Artifacts (and results from Lucre!)
Deck Challenges
KrazyCaley
3 March 2011
2346 views
Oh, hello.
3 March 2011
2346 views
Oh, hello.
What? You say I've disappeared since December? That these results were due THREE MONTHS AGO? I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about. Maybe I've cast Time Stretch one too many times. Or is that two too many times?
Results from Lucre
Some very nice decks in this challenge, where the idea was to build a deck of nothing but Mythic Rares, as you may recall. Let's begin with some honorable mentions.
Honorable Mention - MythicWalker by Zazi
Straight up Planeswalkers. I respect that. Now, it's a hell of a time trying to get this deck to work with its limited mana base, but man did it screw you over if it lived. Nothing like having to keep track of the loyalty of eight different planeswalkers at once. Which is why you had best just scoop if this deck even gets that many out.
Honorable Mention - The Sweeter the Juice by Zanven
PITLORD.
And now, on to the finalists.
Three-way tie for 10:
Mythic Life Gain by mistergreen527
Score- 20
- Our own Mr. G submits a solid lifegain deck based on Felidar Sovereign. Annoying and time consuming to play against, like any good lifegain deck, and it makes very efficient use of Zuran Orb to boot. Good times. This is the first time we've seen the Green One since the very first Deckbuilder challenge of Monoblue Aggro.
Mama Always Said Life Was Like a Box of Chocolates by Legendinc
Score- 20
Legend's submission was strikingly similar to that of Mr. Green's. The design space for this challenge was pretty limited, so we did see some repetitions, but Legend gets big-time cred for this impressively-effective deck, which had even more of the Zuran Orb shenanigans. Legend is on the board with his first top 10.
Mythic Speed Deck by zerotimestatechamp
Score- 20
To put it plainly- in a format dominated by 6-mana creatures an artifacts, sometimes it was pretty awesome to win on turn 4. He Whose Name Cannot Be Seen Unless You Highlight It is on a roll; this is his fourth consecutive and fourth overall top 10 appearance.
9 - Only Mythics Need apply by DeckBuilder345
Score- 20.5
The aptly-named Deckbuilder comes at us with one of the more soundly-balanced decks of the challenge. It has a very healthy mana curve and a very well-rounded number of ways to beat your face into the ground. The deck was a well-thought-out work of Magic deck engineering, and I was impressed by its smooth performance. Deckbuilder has an initial top-10 appearance with this deck.
8 - Tell Me What You Hold Dear by Crosthelm
Score- 22
Crosthelm weighs in with what he modestly claims to be a "Grixis Hodgepodge," but what in actuality is a pretty frightening and quick-running control deck. This deck boasted more answers than virtually all our other decks, and could defend itself in the short term before dropping one of its many impossible-to-answer bombs. Crosthelm has a sophomore appearance in the top 10.
7 - Mythic tricolor metal craft by Battlecry1986
Score- 22.5
Fearsome! Don't let the name fool you; metalcraft isn't a dominant theme. But trickiness is. This deck's wide variety of creatures, ramp, and the ever-popular-for-this-challenge Lux Cannon made it a difficult opponent. Omnath, Locus of Mana and even Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon won it more than one game. With this 7th-place finish, Battlecry has a freshman top 10.
6 - Bantserk (Lucre Contest) by Zanven
Score- 23.5
Master Deckbuilder Zanven had one of the best Berserk decks, and that's saying something given the number of quality Berserk decks that were submitted. How? Well, as with all instants, everything's better with Isochron Scepter. And when you add in a Sun Titan to bring back your Berserk'd dead, well, it's like a rock. A ROCK THAT YOU CANNOT STOP. Zanven has his seventh top 10 appearance, and reseizes the fourth-place spot on the leaderboard away from veteran $ªmHεiπ, who was inactive for this challenge.
5- Offer me anything I ask for. by Selsenay
Score- 24
Master Deckbuilder Selsenay, the champion of our last challenge, weighs in with this most-impressive U/W Control deck. Personally, I love few things more than horrible, horrible abuse of Mirror-Sigil Sergeant. You've got to love using Jace, the Mind Sculptor to activate the Sergeant. It's like pouring an expensive vintage wine onto your tomato plants to help them grow. Also Selsenay here makes his fourth top 10 appearance.
4- Grixis Mythic hell by squire1
Score- 26
Guys, honestly, I really am looking for ways to keep squire1 out of the top 10. Believe me, I know, his run of top 10s is preposterous, really, and I should pick at any excuse I can find to exclude his damn deckbuilding genius for a while. But this deck is, as miinor_threat has been known to say, legit. It is SO DAMN ANNOYING to play against. It casts one Time Warp, or gets enough time with a Nevinyrral's Disk, and it's just....agh. It makes me feel like this guy:
squire1 , the Deckbuilder Lord (gives other deckbuilders +1/+1 and Intertubes-walk) has his sixteenth top-10 appearance, and this is the sixth-straight challenge in which he has had a top 10.
3- You Ain't Seen Broken Yet by IronHead
Score- 27.5
IronHead is a relative newcomer to the challenges, but proves with this deck that he knows exactly what he's doing. What made this deck function with superior efficiency to others like it was the inclusion of Time Reversal, which translated to a whole new set of wrath/control tools for IronHead's deck. Inspired, and sufficient to give Ironhead a second top 10 appearance.
2- Mwahaha Mythics by exarkun809
Score- 28
Fact: Sith Lords build magic decks. Fact: They laugh maniacally while doing so. Fact: OH GOD SUNDERING TITAN. This beastly collection of artifacts, planeswalkers, and a menagerie of creatures proved extremely effective, nearly going undefeated in its run through during playtesting, earning it a perfect 10 in effectiveness score. Mad props to Exarkun, who makes his first top 10 appearance at an impressive second place.
1- I Play for Cheats - Siegfried
Score- 29
We haven't seen Siegfried for a while, not since all the way back during the Duel-Wielding challenge. But here he returns with a vengeance with a deck that abuses Aether Vial like no other. There were a few decks that used Aether Vial, or at least included it, but few were so singularly built around it as a key artifact. And one of the things it cheats out can be Hellcarver Demon. And then, well....sad things happen to you if you're playing against it. With this, his fourth top 10 appearance, Siegfried claims the title of Master Deckbuilder. Well done!
Leaderboard
Minimum four top ten appearances.
1 - squire1 - 16 top 10s, 2 Master Deckbuilder Titles, Average Finish of 6.06
2 - TAMA - 9 top 10s, 1 Master Deckbuilder Title, Average Finish of 3.89
3 - Blueclay - 8 top 10s, 1 Master Deckbuilder Title, Average Finish of 5.88
4 - Zanven - 7 top 10s, 1 Master Deckbuilder Title, Average Finish of 6.00
5 - $ªmHεiπ - 7 top 10s, 0 Master Deckbuilder Titles, Average Finish of 5.71
6 - Illiad - 5 top 10s, 0 Master Deckbuilder Titles, Average Finish of 5.60
7 - Dr. McMeen - 5 top 10s, 0 Master Deckbuilder Titles, Average Finish of 6.00
8 - Siegfried - 4 top 10s, 1 Master Deckbuilder Title, Average Finish of 3.75
9 - Selsenay - 4 top 10s, 1 Master Deckbuilder Title, Average Finish of 4.50
10 - I_Call_BS - 4 top 10s, 0 Master Deckbuilder Titles, Average Finish of 6.75
11 - zerotimestatechamp - 4 top 10s, 0 Master Deckbuilder Titles, Average Finish of 7.50
Next Challenge - A Is For Artifacts
Eyes on the prize this time, folks, because the winner this time around will receive a $25 credit to Coolstuffinc.com. Personally, I use no other site for my Magic cards because they have a most excellent loyalty program where you get some pretty impressive discounts if you stick with them a while. I heartily recommend it, and they support us here at TappedOut, so head on over and show some love to them.
Now then. The rules.
1- Your deck must be legacy-legal.
2- Your deck must contain only artifacts and basic lands.
3- Artifact lands are banned.
4- You may have no more than 8 cards that are creatures or may be turned into creatures using an activated ability of that card a la Chimeric Mass.
5- All the cards in your deck, other than basic lands, must start with the same letter of the alphabet.
6- You will be judged on the usual three criteria of effectiveness, theme adhesion, and creativity.
7- Limit TWO (That's right, TWO) entries per username.
8- The deadline will be the end of March 9th, 2011. Only one week! So get those suckers in!
Good luck, and remember, X is for Xanthic Statue.
uhhh guys....My Pee is infected
just had to let you all know that. you know, since we're a community and all.
March 3, 2011 5:22 a.m.
theemptyquiver says... #6
Here's my proliferating deck: The Engine
Let me know what you think.
March 3, 2011 6:04 a.m.
What about cards that create creatures card:Master's Call as an example.
March 3, 2011 7:02 a.m.
What about cards that create creatures card:Master's Call as an example.
March 3, 2011 7:02 a.m.
Your basic thropter combo, updated to look like a standard deck.
March 3, 2011 7:34 a.m.
Beware of Arty's Gansta Gang, they are a bunch of Goons.
Working on a second entry without token generator, in case this one isn't accepted.
March 3, 2011 8:16 a.m.
exarkun809 says... #14
ARGH! So close...
At least I can (almost) start chanting "UN-DAH-FEE-TID" clap, clap, clap-clap-clap
March 3, 2011 12:26 p.m.
KrazyCaley says... #16
To answer questions:
Token-generating artifacts are fine. The limitation is on artifact creatures or artifacts that can be turned into creatures via an activated ability of their own.
card:Master's Call is not legal for this challenge because it is not an artifact. See rule 2 above.
March 3, 2011 12:54 p.m.
DeckBuilder345 says... #22
And a second submission.
F is for fun with artifacts hope it is ok. pushes the boundaries a little bit of this contest.
March 3, 2011 2:52 p.m.
entry numbah 1:
March 3, 2011 4:55 p.m.
For KrazyCaley's A is for Artifacts Deck Challenge.
Jim: That's kind of blurry....puts on glasses...That's better. Question. What kind of bear is best?
Dwight: That's a ridiculous question.
Jim: FALSE. Black bear.
Dwight: Well that's debatable. There are basically two schools of thought.
Jim: FACT: Bears eat beets. Bears, Beets, Battlestar Galactica.
Dwight: Bears do not....What is going on? What are you doing??
March 3, 2011 6:56 p.m.
zerotimestatechamp says... #26
March 3, 2011 7:09 p.m.
Here is my first entry for this challenge: Puppets of the Phyrexian
March 3, 2011 11:15 p.m.
mossflower says... #31
My second entry for this challenge (which I like more): deck:tarry-thrive-triumph
March 4, 2011 12:10 a.m.
deck:n-is-for-nuisance totally random idea. If you can call it an Idea. Entry Numbah 2.
March 4, 2011 12:42 a.m.
Please sir, can I have some myr?. Because legacy myr combos are cute AND awesome.
March 4, 2011 10:09 p.m.
mossflower says... #37
I was rather displeased with my first entry(deck:rings-of-ruin). I would like to remove it from the contest and replace it with E for Energized Evolution.
March 5, 2011 2:35 p.m.
Nevermind my entry, I didn't read past "all cards on your deck must be artifacts".
March 5, 2011 5:21 p.m.
Alovestrnd says... #42
deck:arcbounding-to-ashnods-altar
WEEEEEEEEE. MODULAR!
March 5, 2011 8:40 p.m.
Previous entry #1 "Building with S" has been renamed deck:sen-tenced-to-failure
March 5, 2011 10:11 p.m.
mossflower says... #47
I've been thinking about this contest too much; I want replace deck:tarry-thrive-triumph with S is for Salvage Swamp.
Basically, ignore all my previous posts, and my two entries are Energized Evolution and S is for Salvage Swamp.
I promise I won't make any changes from now on.
March 6, 2011 7:41 p.m.
Still working on this deck, but I think it can be good with some more tweeks! XD
March 7, 2011 11:39 a.m.
Since no one has used H yet Horny artifacts
and I will throw my take on myr in myr work well
March 7, 2011 12:51 p.m.
deck:sssands-of-time. can't play spells when you can't untap!
March 7, 2011 2:20 p.m.
exarkun809 says... #51
March 7, 2011 2:25 p.m.
March 7, 2011 3:37 p.m.
My second entry is known as the Master Control Program.
March 7, 2011 5:16 p.m.
exarkun809 says... #54
March 8, 2011 12:02 p.m.
deck:how-has-nobody-used-memnarch-yet crap. somebody did. but my version is a little different.
March 8, 2011 6:33 p.m.
The ever so challenging w.
1# submission. When will waldo wonder why we want wins?
I'm calling myself Waldo here btw
March 8, 2011 9:53 p.m.
My first entrance! http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/e-is-for-etherium-1/
March 9, 2011 10:56 p.m.
Micahs decks: T is not for thopter, E is for etherium
March 10, 2011 12:05 a.m.
KrazyCaley says... #63
Or should I say, final judging now in progress, as I finish playtesting these later-entrant decks.
March 10, 2011 12:57 a.m.
just wondering about these Deck Challenges and how you grade them.
- Do you actually build the deck with proxies (if need be) and playtest them with your friends?
- Do you pit the submitted decks against each other or each submitted deck is played against some random deck that has nothing to do with the challenged itself
March 10, 2011 1:01 a.m.
theemptyquiver says... #65
He writes the names of each of the deck names on a Plinko chip from the Price is Right, and drops each one of them onto the Plinko board.
Whichever deck gets the highest points wins, and re-drops occur for each tie.
Bob Barker supervises. Drew Carey opted not to be involved.
March 10, 2011 1:08 a.m.
KrazyCaley says... #66
- Yes, though it's usually using the playtester on the site. Sometimes I don't use other people to play against and just play out the game how I think two skilled players would use it. It's not a perfect system. I used to play other people with proxies, but it just took way, way too long.
- Both, usually. Some challenges, it would be weird to do too much internal or external playtesting, so I do one or the other alone, but most decks get tested against both other decks from the challenge (helps to gauge a bit of a pecking order), and against "normal" exterior decks (to prevent too much meta-gamesmanship).
March 10, 2011 1:10 a.m.
KrazyCaley says... #69
@theemptyquiver - Actually I tend to play Axis and Allies using the decks as players, and whichever ones perform best win. While this happens, I tend to scream at the decks for missing obvious strategies and getting poor rolls on the dice. Then I hurl shattered glass bottles at them. I'm not sure what happens after that, but eventually I have a top 10 list.
March 10, 2011 3:05 a.m.
lol create a DND character for each deck submitted.
a natural 20 automatically gets that deck into the top ten.
March 10, 2011 3:07 a.m.
theemptyquiver says... #71
i like that.
Axis and Allies seems just as good a way as any.
I think that the bottle hurling sounds like an integral part of the proceedings.
March 10, 2011 4:51 a.m.
DeckBuilder345 says... #72
The real question however is before said bottle was empty and hurled... what was it filled with?
March 10, 2011 11:59 a.m.
I have an idea for a new challenge : WWII Contestents must make two standered/extended legal decks, one side being the allies, and the other being the axis powers. Also each of the decks must belong to one of the two mirroden factions. A little explaination could helpful
phyrexianpotater says... #1
entry 1!
C is for Cookie.. er.. Colossus
March 3, 2011 3:26 a.m.