Post by goldensandslash on Sept 26, 2017 22:24:09 GMT
Can you imagine this (hypothetical) conversation in #mtg?
<mainstreet> Anyone want a game?
<mainstreet> GoldenSandslash Slime
<GoldenSandslash> Sure.
<GoldenSandslash> Format/division?
<mainstreet> edh
<GoldenSandslash> Okay, sure.
<GoldenSandslash> !set 40
<JaceBot> GoldenSandslash: 40 Life
<GoldenSandslash> !roll 1d20
<Q> GoldenSandslash rolled 6.
<mainstreet> Slime: You in?
<GoldenSandslash> My commander: Atarka, World Render.
<mainstreet> Ugh, really?
<Slime> Sure.
<Slime> I'll go ahead and use Karador.
<GoldenSandslash> Ugh, really?
<Slime> !set 40
<JaceBot> Slime: 40 Life
<mainstreet> XD
<Slime> !roll 1d20
Seems plausible. The problem is: WyvernIRC games are boring now. Why? Because we all know what's coming. We've spent so long playing against each other that we've just learned each other's decks. And we also seem to (for EDH at least) play at wildly different power levels. Various attempts have been made to fix this, such as my Draft-Set-League and mainstreet's Co-Op League, to varying degrees of success. But the problem with all of them is we lost interest before too long.
And I think that's just a problem that we're going to naturally face. All formats will eventually become boring and monotonous. So, may I present to you the one format that can never get boring: Whacky Format.
What is Whacky Format? That answer will vary. And that's what makes it whacky.
Here's my proposal: Every month (or however long we want, really, "month" is just an example), we get a new whacky format to play. These formats will be fun off-the-wall goofy stuff. They aren't meant to be taken seriously, but you can just have fun with it. Anything goes! That way, the format constantly stays fresh, as we get a new weird one right when the previous one was getting old, and by forcing players to constantly be innovative with their decks, it allows us to not learn each other's decks so easily.
There are two points that I want to stress here. First, this is meant to SUPPLEMENT regular Magic, not replace it. If you want to play "traditional" Magic games, that's fine. Going to Whacky Format is just an option.
Second, I want this to be collaborative. If you have an idea for a whacky format, feel free to post it here, and we'll see what we can do about making it an "official" Whacky Format. Anyone can contribute!
"Now, hold on," I hear you say, "How are you going to come up with a new format every month?"
And to that, I say, here are a whopping THIRTY-SIX examples. At one per month, I could use this to last for three years. Note that I am not saying that all of these are going to be Whacky Formats, but these are examples to give you an idea of what I'm kinda looking for and what I'm talking about:
Valentine: All legendary creatures gain Partner.
Back to Basics: No lands can be included in your deck this month, unless they're basic lands.
Vanilla Flavor: Creatures with rules text cannot be used. Muraganda Petroglyphs is banned.
They Unbanned WHAT!?: One card of your choice gets taken off the Legacy banlist this month, allowing you to use up to four copies of it in your deck. (Decks must still remain Vintage-legal.)
It's Alive!: All permanents become creatures with power and toughness equal to their converted mana cost, in addition to their other types.
End of Turn: All nonland cards gain flash.
Colorblind: You may spend mana as though it were mana of any color to cast spells.
Mana Screw? No problem.: Before the game begins, separate your deck into two piles: lands and nonlands. Each time you would draw a card, choose which pile to draw from. The same goes for revealing a card, looking at a card, or searching a library. If you would shuffle your library, shuffle both. No mulligans allowed.
Doubled Up: Whenever a permanent enters the battlefield, create a token that is a copy of that permanent. Doubling Season and Dual Nature are banned. "Flicker" effects do not cause "enters-the-battlefield" effects to trigger.
Blood Ritual: Each player starts with 50 life. Each player has the ability "Pay 1 life: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool." Mana may not be added to your mana pool any other way. Cards with {X} in their mana costs are banned.
Suicide Game: Your goal is to lose the game. The "Pact" cycle from Future Sight is banned. You cannot use any card that requires Phyrexian mana. Your deck must remain Modern-legal. Bonus points if you do it without using any black cards.
One Trick Pony: Excluding lands, your deck may only have one spell in it. You may have as many copies of that spell as you like. Banlist: Battle of Wits, Champion of the Parish, Chancellor of the Dross, Chancellor of the Forge, Chancellor of the Spire, Hada Freeblade, Knight of Meadowgrain, Lightning Bolt, Lobotomy, Meddling Mage, Memnite, Memoricide, Reap Intellect, Shimian Specter, Slaughter Games, Stain the Mind, Surging Flame, Surging Sentinels, Thought Hemorrage, Vexing Devil, Virulent Sliver.
Leave it to Chance: Cards with a positive effect ("target creature gains first strike") are errata'd to say that they only affect cards you control ("target creature you control gains first strike"). Cards with a negative effect ("deal 3 damage to target creature") are errata'd to say that they only affect cards you don't control ("deal 3 damage to target creature you don't control"). With that done, all targets are now chosen randomly.
Save it for Later: Mana pools don't empty as steps and phases end.
Completely Inhuman: Creatures with the "Human" creature type cannot be used. Bonus points if you make your whole deck without ANY humanoid creature types. Extra bonus points if there are no humans anywhere in the artwork of your deck.
Mana Reversal: Start with all your lands in play. At the beginning of your upkeep, you must exile a land you control. Play your big stuff early and your weak stuff late.
In the Footsteps of Giants: Your decklist, including sideboard, must perfectly match someone's deck who Top 8'ed at the most recent Pro Tour. (If you personally Top 8'ed at the latest Pro Tour, you may not use your own deck.)
That's All You Get: Your deck may only contain 15 cards. Make 'em count. You do not lose as a result of failure to draw a card. All cards other than basic lands are restricted to 1 per deck.
God Loves Me: Whenever you would draw a card, you may instead search your deck for whatever card you need. You may only draw one card per turn as a result of your own card effects. (You may draw as many cards as you like as a result of an opponent's card effects though - to prevent Wheel of Fortune effects from being too overpowered.)
It's Good Art: All cards in your deck, other than basic lands, must share an artist. Bonus points if the basic lands also match. Extra bonus points if the entire deck is signed and/or altered by the artist.
Sign in Blood: At the beginning of your end step, you may pay any amount of life to draw that many cards.
One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure: You may cast cards from your opponent's graveyard and spend mana as though it were mana of any color in order to do so. If a card cast this way would go to the graveyard, exile it instead.
Perfect Curve: If you control a creature with converted mana cost 1, a creature with converted mana cost 2, a creature with converted mana cost 3, a creature with converted mana cost 4, a creature with converted mana cost 5, and a creature with converted mana cost 6 or higher, you win the game.
Hmm... Nah.: The player who goes second begins the game with an enchantment token in play with "Sacrifice this enchantment: Counter target spell. That spell's controller creates a token that is a copy of this token."
Limited Budget: You begin the game with 20 mana in your mana pool. Mana pools do not empty as steps and phases end. You may not gain mana at any point during the game except for this. If each player agrees that no further plays can be made, the game ends. Higher life total wins. If tied, the game is a draw.
The Meek Shall Inherit: No cards with converted mana cost 3 or higher can be used.
Go to Extra Turns: The first turn of the game counts as "Turn 0". The second turn counts as "Turn 1", and so forth. When you finish Turn 5, whoever has the higher life total wins. If tied, the game is a draw.
Sudden Death: Each player has a starting life total of 1. Bonus points if your deck has no lifegain in it.
Tribal War: Choose a creature type. At least one-third of all cards in your deck must be creatures of that creature type. At least 10 creatures in your deck of that creature type must be Standard-legal. Your entire deck must be Legacy-legal.
Horde of Rats: Each player has an infinite number of cards named Plague Rats outside the game. Players may cast cards named Plague Rats from outside the game. Players may not include Plague Rats in their decks aside from this.
They're All I Need: Your deck cannot include any nonland noncreature cards.
It's A Conspiracy: You may choose up to three Conspiracy cards and use them during the game. You are not allowed to name Relentless Rats or Shadowborn Apostle with a hidden agenda or double agenda ability. Sovereign's Realm and Worldknit are banned. Advantageous Proclamation is restricted to one per deck.
By Your Powers Combined: At the beginning of each combat, if you control a creature with flying, all creatures you control gain flying. The same is true for first strike, double strike, deathtouch, haste, hexproof, indestructible, lifelink, menace, reach, trample, and vigilance.
Randomness Ensues!: At the beginning of each game, roll a six-sided die. If you roll a 1, nothing happens. If you roll a 2, you start the game with only 10 life. If you roll a 3, remove a card from your deck before shuffling. After shuffling, put that card on top of it. If you roll a 4, spells you cast this game cost {2} less to cast. If you roll a 5, your starting hand size is three. If you roll a 6, exchange your deck with that of target opponent during this game. Use their cards instead.
Shapeshifting Powers: Each time you cast a creature spell, go to Gatherer and click "Random Card" until you get a Creature. The creature spell you cast becomes a copy of that creature.
Pain or Pleasure?: Whenever a source you control inflicts damage to a player or planeswalker, do the following process X times, where X is the amount of damage. Go to Gatherer and click "Random Card" until you get an Aura, instant, or sorcery that can target a player. That spell instantly resolves and targets you. It is considered to be controlled by the player that you damaged. However, any damage dealt by it will not cause this rule to trigger. Anything can happen. You could get lucky and get Time Stretch, or get unlucky and get Worst Fears!
<mainstreet> Anyone want a game?
<mainstreet> GoldenSandslash Slime
<GoldenSandslash> Sure.
<GoldenSandslash> Format/division?
<mainstreet> edh
<GoldenSandslash> Okay, sure.
<GoldenSandslash> !set 40
<JaceBot> GoldenSandslash: 40 Life
<GoldenSandslash> !roll 1d20
<Q> GoldenSandslash rolled 6.
<mainstreet> Slime: You in?
<GoldenSandslash> My commander: Atarka, World Render.
<mainstreet> Ugh, really?
<Slime> Sure.
<Slime> I'll go ahead and use Karador.
<GoldenSandslash> Ugh, really?
<Slime> !set 40
<JaceBot> Slime: 40 Life
<mainstreet> XD
<Slime> !roll 1d20
Seems plausible. The problem is: WyvernIRC games are boring now. Why? Because we all know what's coming. We've spent so long playing against each other that we've just learned each other's decks. And we also seem to (for EDH at least) play at wildly different power levels. Various attempts have been made to fix this, such as my Draft-Set-League and mainstreet's Co-Op League, to varying degrees of success. But the problem with all of them is we lost interest before too long.
And I think that's just a problem that we're going to naturally face. All formats will eventually become boring and monotonous. So, may I present to you the one format that can never get boring: Whacky Format.
What is Whacky Format? That answer will vary. And that's what makes it whacky.
Here's my proposal: Every month (or however long we want, really, "month" is just an example), we get a new whacky format to play. These formats will be fun off-the-wall goofy stuff. They aren't meant to be taken seriously, but you can just have fun with it. Anything goes! That way, the format constantly stays fresh, as we get a new weird one right when the previous one was getting old, and by forcing players to constantly be innovative with their decks, it allows us to not learn each other's decks so easily.
There are two points that I want to stress here. First, this is meant to SUPPLEMENT regular Magic, not replace it. If you want to play "traditional" Magic games, that's fine. Going to Whacky Format is just an option.
Second, I want this to be collaborative. If you have an idea for a whacky format, feel free to post it here, and we'll see what we can do about making it an "official" Whacky Format. Anyone can contribute!
"Now, hold on," I hear you say, "How are you going to come up with a new format every month?"
And to that, I say, here are a whopping THIRTY-SIX examples. At one per month, I could use this to last for three years. Note that I am not saying that all of these are going to be Whacky Formats, but these are examples to give you an idea of what I'm kinda looking for and what I'm talking about:
Valentine: All legendary creatures gain Partner.
Back to Basics: No lands can be included in your deck this month, unless they're basic lands.
Vanilla Flavor: Creatures with rules text cannot be used. Muraganda Petroglyphs is banned.
They Unbanned WHAT!?: One card of your choice gets taken off the Legacy banlist this month, allowing you to use up to four copies of it in your deck. (Decks must still remain Vintage-legal.)
It's Alive!: All permanents become creatures with power and toughness equal to their converted mana cost, in addition to their other types.
End of Turn: All nonland cards gain flash.
Colorblind: You may spend mana as though it were mana of any color to cast spells.
Mana Screw? No problem.: Before the game begins, separate your deck into two piles: lands and nonlands. Each time you would draw a card, choose which pile to draw from. The same goes for revealing a card, looking at a card, or searching a library. If you would shuffle your library, shuffle both. No mulligans allowed.
Doubled Up: Whenever a permanent enters the battlefield, create a token that is a copy of that permanent. Doubling Season and Dual Nature are banned. "Flicker" effects do not cause "enters-the-battlefield" effects to trigger.
Blood Ritual: Each player starts with 50 life. Each player has the ability "Pay 1 life: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool." Mana may not be added to your mana pool any other way. Cards with {X} in their mana costs are banned.
Suicide Game: Your goal is to lose the game. The "Pact" cycle from Future Sight is banned. You cannot use any card that requires Phyrexian mana. Your deck must remain Modern-legal. Bonus points if you do it without using any black cards.
One Trick Pony: Excluding lands, your deck may only have one spell in it. You may have as many copies of that spell as you like. Banlist: Battle of Wits, Champion of the Parish, Chancellor of the Dross, Chancellor of the Forge, Chancellor of the Spire, Hada Freeblade, Knight of Meadowgrain, Lightning Bolt, Lobotomy, Meddling Mage, Memnite, Memoricide, Reap Intellect, Shimian Specter, Slaughter Games, Stain the Mind, Surging Flame, Surging Sentinels, Thought Hemorrage, Vexing Devil, Virulent Sliver.
Leave it to Chance: Cards with a positive effect ("target creature gains first strike") are errata'd to say that they only affect cards you control ("target creature you control gains first strike"). Cards with a negative effect ("deal 3 damage to target creature") are errata'd to say that they only affect cards you don't control ("deal 3 damage to target creature you don't control"). With that done, all targets are now chosen randomly.
Save it for Later: Mana pools don't empty as steps and phases end.
Completely Inhuman: Creatures with the "Human" creature type cannot be used. Bonus points if you make your whole deck without ANY humanoid creature types. Extra bonus points if there are no humans anywhere in the artwork of your deck.
Mana Reversal: Start with all your lands in play. At the beginning of your upkeep, you must exile a land you control. Play your big stuff early and your weak stuff late.
In the Footsteps of Giants: Your decklist, including sideboard, must perfectly match someone's deck who Top 8'ed at the most recent Pro Tour. (If you personally Top 8'ed at the latest Pro Tour, you may not use your own deck.)
That's All You Get: Your deck may only contain 15 cards. Make 'em count. You do not lose as a result of failure to draw a card. All cards other than basic lands are restricted to 1 per deck.
God Loves Me: Whenever you would draw a card, you may instead search your deck for whatever card you need. You may only draw one card per turn as a result of your own card effects. (You may draw as many cards as you like as a result of an opponent's card effects though - to prevent Wheel of Fortune effects from being too overpowered.)
It's Good Art: All cards in your deck, other than basic lands, must share an artist. Bonus points if the basic lands also match. Extra bonus points if the entire deck is signed and/or altered by the artist.
Sign in Blood: At the beginning of your end step, you may pay any amount of life to draw that many cards.
One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure: You may cast cards from your opponent's graveyard and spend mana as though it were mana of any color in order to do so. If a card cast this way would go to the graveyard, exile it instead.
Perfect Curve: If you control a creature with converted mana cost 1, a creature with converted mana cost 2, a creature with converted mana cost 3, a creature with converted mana cost 4, a creature with converted mana cost 5, and a creature with converted mana cost 6 or higher, you win the game.
Hmm... Nah.: The player who goes second begins the game with an enchantment token in play with "Sacrifice this enchantment: Counter target spell. That spell's controller creates a token that is a copy of this token."
Limited Budget: You begin the game with 20 mana in your mana pool. Mana pools do not empty as steps and phases end. You may not gain mana at any point during the game except for this. If each player agrees that no further plays can be made, the game ends. Higher life total wins. If tied, the game is a draw.
The Meek Shall Inherit: No cards with converted mana cost 3 or higher can be used.
Go to Extra Turns: The first turn of the game counts as "Turn 0". The second turn counts as "Turn 1", and so forth. When you finish Turn 5, whoever has the higher life total wins. If tied, the game is a draw.
Sudden Death: Each player has a starting life total of 1. Bonus points if your deck has no lifegain in it.
Tribal War: Choose a creature type. At least one-third of all cards in your deck must be creatures of that creature type. At least 10 creatures in your deck of that creature type must be Standard-legal. Your entire deck must be Legacy-legal.
Horde of Rats: Each player has an infinite number of cards named Plague Rats outside the game. Players may cast cards named Plague Rats from outside the game. Players may not include Plague Rats in their decks aside from this.
They're All I Need: Your deck cannot include any nonland noncreature cards.
It's A Conspiracy: You may choose up to three Conspiracy cards and use them during the game. You are not allowed to name Relentless Rats or Shadowborn Apostle with a hidden agenda or double agenda ability. Sovereign's Realm and Worldknit are banned. Advantageous Proclamation is restricted to one per deck.
By Your Powers Combined: At the beginning of each combat, if you control a creature with flying, all creatures you control gain flying. The same is true for first strike, double strike, deathtouch, haste, hexproof, indestructible, lifelink, menace, reach, trample, and vigilance.
Randomness Ensues!: At the beginning of each game, roll a six-sided die. If you roll a 1, nothing happens. If you roll a 2, you start the game with only 10 life. If you roll a 3, remove a card from your deck before shuffling. After shuffling, put that card on top of it. If you roll a 4, spells you cast this game cost {2} less to cast. If you roll a 5, your starting hand size is three. If you roll a 6, exchange your deck with that of target opponent during this game. Use their cards instead.
Shapeshifting Powers: Each time you cast a creature spell, go to Gatherer and click "Random Card" until you get a Creature. The creature spell you cast becomes a copy of that creature.
Pain or Pleasure?: Whenever a source you control inflicts damage to a player or planeswalker, do the following process X times, where X is the amount of damage. Go to Gatherer and click "Random Card" until you get an Aura, instant, or sorcery that can target a player. That spell instantly resolves and targets you. It is considered to be controlled by the player that you damaged. However, any damage dealt by it will not cause this rule to trigger. Anything can happen. You could get lucky and get Time Stretch, or get unlucky and get Worst Fears!