Edit 1: New Prizes have been added to the contest by mtgotraders.com. Each Winner will also receive a complete set of Shards of Alara provided by mtgotraders.com!
Edit 2: Just a reminder, the contest ends at 11:59pm EST this Monday May 25th! Get your entries in as soon as possible!
Good afternoon and thanks for clicking the link to this little article! In order to properly celebrate the birth of a new format, we've joined up with Wizards of the Coast to bring you this deckbuilding challenge! Before I get into the actual contest rules and such, I would like to take some time to introduce the judges of this neat contest!
Judge 1: Joshua Claytor (JXClaytor) I'm the content manager of www.puremtgo.com, and I try to be a serious tournament player. I'm a former state champion in Kentucky, and have some high finishes in local PTQs. When I am not in school or at work, I spend a large amount of time on Magic the Gathering: Online, or playing video games. Mostly though, I'm on MTGO. I am involved in a lot of formats online from Singleton to Standard, Classic to Block Constructed, but sadly have not begun to look at the newest format outside of the articles here and some glances through out my account to see what I could build a deck with. This counts as 30 percent of the vote.
Judge 2: Andrew Nelms: (Neptune): He was the Kentucky State Champion for constructed in 2006 with a Magnivore deck that was built by Joshua Claytor. He has been playing magic for 9 years but competitively for 5 years now. He will be a good judge for a deckbuilding contest because he has seen the many different aspects of the game when it comes to building a deck. You have to make your deck powerful or stand out from the others, all at the same time you're building a deck to combat the rest of the format. This counts as 30 percent of the vote.
Judge 3: You! In the final stages of the contest, we will have a fan vote (this will be explained in a moment.) that will account for 40% of the final score.
This does not mean we are looking for tournament winning caliber decks. We are going to be judging on several different criteria which will be explained below. Both contests will be judged on those, and those alone.
Originality: I know it would be easy to just send in a netdeck, and yes we are all well aware that some do exist thanks to articles here on the site. We also recognize that several ideas are going to be repeated. We're going to be looking into unexplored deck ideas, and choose the ones that we think are the best!
Playability: You can not just slap together 60 cards and call it a day!
After we get all of the deck submissions in, Andy and I will be hard at work to bring to you the ten best decks in each category, those ten decks will then be put up for you, the reader, to look over and then vote for. Decks will be graded by the judges on a scale of 1 to 10, the highest score will of course be twenty. This score will be used with the weighted reader judge to come up with the final score, of that, the highest two scoring decks (One in each category.) will be declared the winner!
So what are you building this deck for? Prizes of course! These prizes are going to be awarded by Wizards of the Coast, and includes a bounty of booster packs! Here is what the winners of each category will receive!
Prizes for each format (provided by Wizards of the Coast): 1x Ravnica: City of Guilds, 1x Guildpact, 1x Dissension, 1xTime Spiral , 1x Planar Chaos, 1x Lorwyn, 1x Shadowmorr, 1x Eventide, 1x Shards of Alara, 1x Conflux, 10x(Ten) Alara Reborn! That is twenty booster packs!
*update Each Winner will also receive a complete set of Shards of Alara provided by mtgotraders.com
Well you've met the judges, you have seen the prizes, let's get to the rules of the contest!
Rule 1: Contest will open on April 25th, 2009. Any decks that are received before this date will be deleted, and not considered for prizes.
Rule 2: Contest will close on May 25th, 2009. Any decks that are received after this date will be deleted and not considered for prizes.
Rule 3: Contest enteries are to be emailed to this account : puremtgocontest AT gmail DOT com (of course there are no spaces and at and dot are the symbols.) with a subject that reads Budget Kaleidoscope or Kaleidoscope, this way we know which one you are entering. Along with the decklist that you submit, please be sure to include your name, MTGO Screen Name and email address. Yes, you can enter both!
Rule 4: The decisions that puremtgo's judging staff makes will be final.
Deckbuilding rules
Kaleidoscope is a new unofficial format that will be unveiled in April (exact date TBD). The overall multicolor concept of Prismatic is a popular one but the formats rules appear too complex and resource intensive for most players. This format’s rules are simple. Nonland cards in your deck must be multicolored. This includes split and hybrid cards that are more than one color (not cards like Spectral Procession or Dead/Gone). This format will follow the normal constructed rules with an optional 15 card sideboard. As a new Extended based format, there is a large pool of cards available and the tech of the game is wide open for new and experienced players to help determine together. This format will pay out a similar prize structure to what Extended offers. (This was taken from the announcements folder in the MTGO forums of the Wizards of the Coast website. This will be the guidline for the Kaleidoscope contest guidelines.)
Contest 1
Budget Kaleidoscope
Some people have been scared of the land base that this format will have. Pillar has jumped to high number and the extended staple shock lands are also pretty high. This contest was designed as a way to reflect what you would build if money was an object. We recognize that you are going to want to test ideas before you send them in, and expenses should not hold any one back from entering such an awesome contest! The rules for this one is very simple!
Rules
1. Must be a 60 Card Deck
2. May NOT have any rare lands (no shock lands, no Pillar, no Tribal lands from Lorwyn, you get the picture.)
3. The deck you submit may have up to 4 (Four) rares in it. It may contain zero, it may contain three, but if it goes above four it's not going to be judged! (The MTGO rarity will determine this, for example, Loxodon Warhammer was an uncommon in Mirrodin, but a Rare in Tenth Edition. If it has been a rare on MTGO, it's going to be a rare in this contest.)
4. Deck must be extended format, it is Kaleidoscope after all!
5. Glittering Wish is also banned here.
I have mentioned a second contest as well, here are the rules for it
Kaleidoscope Contest:
Consider this one the Dream deck contest. There is no real restriction outside of the banned list Glittering Wish. There is no land restrictions, no rare restrictions, none of that. This contest is going to be a chance to show off your own personal 1992 USA Basketball team, but in Magic card form!
Rules
1. Glittering Wish is banned. Do not put this card in your deck. It will get your submission disqualified.
2. You must build a 60 card deck.
3. Deck must be extended format.
And there you have it! Two contests, two great prizes. You have all the rules, and you know where to send decks too! You've met the judges, and now the only thing that is left is to build the decks! We eagerly await your submissions!
48 Comments
No sideboard I assume?
No sideboard.
In the deck construction it says "This format will follow the normal constructed rules with an optional 15 card sideboard" I'm confused. For submissions do you want no sidebard at all, or is it optional?
It's optional because it's not going to get graded with the deck.
I didn't quite understand how the decks will be judged. 50% for originality and 50% for playablility?
Also, do I have to submit a 100% home made pure Johnny deck in order to win or do I have a chance of winning if I submit an obvious, say, R/G aggro deck build around that R/G Liege?
One of them would be very interesting and original but wouldn't win against serious decks. The other can win even tournaments but may not be that original.
So what are you exactly looking for? A pure Johnny deck or a tier-1 Spike deck?
LE
can we enter decks for both Kaleidoscope and budget Kaleidoscope contests?
yes
um you used loxodon warhammer as an example, does that mean we're allowed to use artifacts?
no. Warhammer was the first example that sprung to mind
It isn't clear if one can use, say, 4 Ajani Vengeant for the budget contest (it seems 4 Figure of Destiny is a valid choice ;) )
Ivo.
This one's a very interesting question. Is a deck with 4x Figure of Destiny as rares acceptable for Budget Deck (the article says it should have only 4 rares. But can we consider Figure of Destiny as a budget rare?)?
And do the mythic rares count as rares?
LE
yes to both
Can I retroactively submit my Kaleidoscope columns? ;)
This contest definitely appeals to me, and it so happens I have a deck or two here that fit the criteria nicely. Good luck to all who compete.
Do timeshifted cards count as rare? Namely, Assault / Battery?
Are Alara Reborn cards legal or Illegal for the purposes of this contest?
So as in the case of Loxodon Warhammer, we use the highest rarity on MTGO?
Warhammer isn't multicolored =D
Warhammer was clearly an example. :)
Is this a comp. for one vs one decks or Can you submit deck for multiplayer kaleidoscope purposes that will be considered on those merit (awesome as an emperor deck, good for 2hg)
how many times can you enter?
You can enter as many times as you would like. I did not actually say how many times you could in the article.
Is there a way to search only multicolored on gatherer or in Magic Online?
Copy pasted from lower in the thread
If you search under Kaleidoscope in the MTGO Field and search your collection at <=0 you can see what's legal in the format.
or descriptions/explanations, too ?
I will do my best too add a detailed explanation into why we went with a deck.
Nah, I'm not going to read too much into descriptions. I'm a smart enough player to see what is going on after picking up the deck to play, or looking at the list and running it myself.
If you happen to submit a list with explanations though, I will use them when (if) I reveal your deck as a top ten selection.
Is each person limited to only one entry per contest?
you can enter as many times as you would like.
If you search under Kaleidoscope in the MTGO Field and search your collection at <=0 you can see what's legal in the format.
I have an okay UG deck that I have been trying to improve steadily, but I am curious. While it's not hard to replace some of the duals with basics, am I permitted a single copy of Pendlehaven? Otherwise, I can toss in an easily constructed aggressive deck for the budget side. I am also interested in if the packs received are online, or paper? I play online exclusively, so I am curious if I would receive effectively "useless" paper packs.
Pendelhaven is legal for the contest as a land, it counts as a rare
The booster pack prize will be awarded on MTGO.
The rules clearly state "no rare lands" for the budget contest. You are allowed rare lands in the non-budget competition, but that does not limit number of rares at all. Even if you are not using Shocklands or Pillars, rare lands are rare lands. I did not use Academy Ruins in my submission because it was rare. What is going on here?
The rules for the non-budget contest don't have any restriction on rares, land or otherwise. Therefore, the aforementioned UG deck could only be submitted for the non-budget contest.
In the budget deck contest, are we designing a deck that is meant to beat OTHER budget decks? Or should we design it to beat unrestricted decks?
you'll be designing to beat other budget.
MY budget deck has been beating rare and dual land filled decks all day in the two player queue : P
how many tix this tournament costs? and is this only a tournament to show decks or we have to play each other as a real tournament too?
from what i read and understood decks may be submited only on the 25th of May on the email: puremtgocontest@gmail
? or did i misunderstood anything?
This contest has been open to entries since April 25th, the last day we are taking entries for the contest is may 25th.
what is the email i should send the deck
puremtgocontest@gmail.com
? please type it down i would not like to miss it i think i really created something inventive:)
Nnow the spambots will be able to find it. Why do you think they didn't post as a link in the first place?
The spam bots can have it, we will not be using this email again until the next contest runs :)
No harm no foul :)
yes that is the email you send it to
Hi, I missed the deadline, is it possible you guys could extend the deadline? Thanks.
I'm sorry, we can not extend the deadline, judging has already begun for the contest.
Is there any timeframe on when the community judging portion will begin?
The first part is scheduled to start on Monday.
It will go over the decks that had no rare restrictions.
The fan voting will also happen during that week.
The Monday after next, I plan on having the Budget decks up and ready to vote on.
196 decks is a LOT of stuff to for 2 peeps to go through, but you guys did an excellent job!
This was an awesome contest.
I wish there were also cons planned for this year, I'd definitely take part in one.
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