Thursday, December 23, 2010

New EDH Commander House Rules and Banned List

So with occasional breaks we will be playing EDH/Commander one on one matches (one game long) on Monday evenings. There are three ways to earn league points aside from the automatic two that come from showing up and completing three rounds. You can be the overall winner, you can be the top standard legal player, or you can have the deck that is voted most fun by your opponents in a secret ballot. These all will receive equal prizes and one additional league point. You can not win more than one category. If you are unfamiliar with the general (that was an unintentional pun) rules then check here: http://forum.mtgcommander.net/Forum/ We play with a few slight modifications in an attempt to keep it casual and fun.

1)Players with decks only using standard legal cards start matches at 8 cards and 45 life.

2) There is a free mulligan you can take at the beginning of each round regardless of what your hand is. After that you mulligan to six and then five and so forth.

3)No sideboards. 100 cards is enough and we are only playing one game a round anyways.

4)Cards that trigger off life totals such as serra ascendant and felidar sovereign are legal but will trigger only if you gain the amount it would normally take to trigger them. So serra ascendant will get bigger after you have gained 10 life from whatever your starting life total was.

5)If the same general tops the overall standings two events in a row they will be banned for one week. If the same pilot was playing them, the will be asked to replace or drop one or more of their colors during the "timeout" week. We will "reset" after that and anyone can play whatever general and/or colors they want the following week (the fourth week in the sequence).

6)To win through 21 general damage it must all be from your general and it must all be combat damage.

The Following is the Banned list we are using for now at ColumbiaFreeMagic

o Amulet of Quoz
o Bronze Tablet
o Contract from Below
o Darkpact
o Demonic Attorney
o Jeweled Bird
o Rebirth
o Tempest Efreet
o Timmerian Fiends

o Chaos Orb
o Falling Star

o Ancestral Recall
o Black Lotus
o Crucible of Worlds
o Gifts Ungiven
o Grindstone
o Karakas
o Mana Crypt
o Mind Twist
o Mindslaver
o Mox Emerald
o Mox Jet
o Mox Pearl
o Mox Ruby
o Mox Sapphire
o Necropotence
o Protean Hulk
o Sol Ring
o Staff of Domination
o Time Walk
o Time Vault
o Tinker
o Upheaval
o Yawgmoth's Bargain

Plus

Armaggedon
Balance
Bazaar of Baghdad
Biorhythm
Cataclysm
Channel
Earthcraft
Emrakuul
Fastbond
Flash
Hermit Druid
Library of Alexandria
Limited Resources
Lion's Eye Diamond
Mana Drain
Mana Vault
Memory Jar
Metal Worker
Mishras Workshop
Oath of Druids
Skullclamp
Stripmine
Sway of the Stars
Survival of the Fittest
Tolarian Academy
Timespiral
Ulamog
Wheel of Fortune
Windfall
Worldgorger Dragon
Yawgmoth's Will

Banned as Generals
Braids
Rofellos
Vendillion Clique

Note: Sensei's Divining Top is NOT banned.

Questions, Comments? Send me a message at ominoj37@yahoo.com.

Top Decks Feature (Legacy)

Legacy is a really fun format that lets you play cards from any set in magic except for the silver bordered Unglued and Unhinged. This can be a little intimidating if you are a new player. Here are some of the decks that have been doing well lately at Columbia Free Magic. Feel free to copy them or make your own monster that will crush them. Happy building!

1)G/W/B Rock or "Junk". This deck uses efficient creatures like tarmogoyf and Knight of the Reliquary along with card advantage spells like Hymn to Tourach to grind out advantageous board states where they have at least one morethreat than their opponents has answers. Here is a decklist http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=37047 Potential Weaknesses: Hyper aggressive decks like Mono Red Burn or glacially slow decks like Landstill

2)Dredge. This deck abuses it's graveyard by using a card called Bridge from Below that makes zombie tokens even when it is in the graveyard and several "dredgers" like Golgari Grave Troll that repeatedly put useful cards into the graveyard. Decklist: http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=37034 Potential Weaknesses: Anything that can repeatedly remove graveyards. Once is not enough.

3)Affinity. This deck makes lots of artifacts very quickly and boosts their power using an equipment called Cranial Plating or sacrifices some to make one huge creature using an artifact creature called Arcbound Ravager. They also play a card called disciple of the vault that hurts their opponent whenever an artifact dies. Decklist: http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=37037 Potential Weaknesses: Decks with both pinpoint removal like Swords to Plowshares to deal with Disciple and mass removal to destroy lots of artifacts at once.

4)Landstill. This control deck plays lots of counters and an enchantment called Standstill that lets a player draw three cards if their opponent plays a spell. By playing lots of lands that can turn into creatures like Mishra's Factory, Landstill can win if neither person plays spells. Decklist:
http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=36639 Potential Weaknesses: Decks that win quickly without relying on one key spell to resolve and/or decks that feature creatures with island walk that its lands can't block.

There are lots more decks, but these are a good starting point to consider. Have fun!

Winter Invitational Winners

Winter Invitational Winners
Congrats Everyone!

Summer League Winners

Summer League Winners

One of the Summer League Prizes

One of the Summer League Prizes

And Another...

And Another...

Yeah he's back too

Yeah he's back too
In addition to the "regular" top 8 trophies and prizes, the top three in this summer's invititational event will pick from these top three planeswalkers!

Top Trios Teams

Top Trios Teams
Congrats to Allen, Jeff and Steven. It's still Amandas world though and we all just live in it...

Spring League Top 8

Spring League Top 8
Over $500 in trophies and prizes were given out to the Spring League Top Eight. Congrats to winners Gelli,Dahl,Thompson,Lombardi,Davis,Nuzum,Greer and Mayo!

Happy Baneslayer Invitational Players

Happy Baneslayer Invitational Players
They're all winners! Or bad counters, either way...

Crazy Top Seven from another Big Turnout

Crazy Top Seven from another Big Turnout
Congrats to Andy, Evan, Jacob, Amanda!,Captain,Jay, and Geoffrey for their great adaptation skills in making the most of new decks and new rules. Thanks to everyone who came out and mafe this a huge fun event!

Zen Block Multiplayer=Massive Fun

Zen Block Multiplayer=Massive Fun
Don Dahl's playtest group put three in the winner's circle. Dahl narrowed the gap to just three points behind Gelli. Davis moved safely into 7th. Jacob made one of his rare appearances count. Newcomer Jolly demonstrated serious multiplayer skillz. Stormy got solidified his top four spot and Marsi continued his late run to the top 8.

Top 5 Standard Finishers

Top 5 Standard Finishers
The Top Two tightened again as Don Dahl narrowed the gap on Joe Gelli. Cory Hill kept moving up the standings and Andrew Davis snuck ever closer to a top 8 berth. Charles Murphy made his first final photo and ensured that vampires will have to continue to be on top players radars.

Worldwake Gameday Fearless Five Finishers

Worldwake Gameday Fearless Five Finishers
Top 8 in league standings saw a sizeable shakeup as Cory Hill and Rick Nuzum made big jumps. Michael Mayo and Cody Church are just outside the magic 8 spot and don't count out the diabolical Robin Dial as he picks up points in bunchs as we head towards the final few weeks of Spring League.

Top 4 Zen Block Multiplayer Finishers

Top 4 Zen Block Multiplayer Finishers
Aaron Blomberg shows that years of multiplayer practice pay off. Dahl closes the gap on first place. Mr. Mayo sneaks back into the top 8. Amanda Davis looked innocent and unassuming until it was too late for her opponents round after round. Nicely played one and all!

First FNM Top Four

First FNM Top Four
Gelli puts up a top finish to match infinite participation points. Captain Thompson returns triumphantly from her Olive Garden Exile. Victor also returns to the top four after an overhaul of his trusty vamps. Cory meanwhile may have unleashed a monster with the new Open the Vaults deck...

Worldwake Box Tournament Top 8

Worldwake Box Tournament Top 8
The top 8 was a great mix of longtime and new players. Nuzums took two slots as did the Buchanans. Recenct addition Robin Dial represented the Columbia Magic League well. The Double D and Andrew Davis connection remained strong and Mr. "Double F" Marsi added another top 8 to go with his Champs near miss.

Top 4 Two Headed Giant Teams and Updated League Standings

Top 4 Two Headed Giant Teams and Updated League Standings
A great tournament and a great top 4. Allen and Jeff Folk said preperation, smeperation as their last minute team up took first. Don Dahl dispalyed the classic silver medal face but moved closer to first overall. Andrew Davis smiles as he knows he is now in a tie for the all important 8th and last playoff spot. The Driggers continued the succes of Columbia Magic League members. They also were the top finishing couple (Mr. Mayo and I are just friends...)Stormy made a triumphant return with Karen in tow to keep hopes for first place alive.

Congratulations League Winners

Congratulations League Winners
Congrats Billy, Joe, Jay and Greg on making top 4 in the winter league! Congrats Shannon and Victor on winning the ironman awards for most tournaments rocked out at!

Winter League Prize Buffet

Winter League Prize Buffet
One league ends and hundreds of dollars of prizes go to the worthy winners. Make sure you're a part of the bigger and even better Spring League starting Sunday.

Christmas is ... Draft Time!

Christmas is ... Draft Time!
Drafting, Two Headed Giant play, Free Pizza and Soda. It was an "okay" evening for C.F.M. players...

Two Headed Giant Winners

Two Headed Giant Winners
Really everyone who came was a winner. One of the most fun tournaments we (or anyone) has had.

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