Remember back in October of last year, when I made a little wager with the Magic community? Well I’m still paying that debt off in spades. Expect the grand conclusion to my remaining nine thousand or so words over the next two weeks.
But I’m not here today to talk about the past. I’m here to see into the future.
You see, y’all think you’re better at me at predicting what might or might not get played in new formats. Well, it’s time to put your money where your mouth is – and win yourself a fabulous prize!
On March 21st, Onslaught Block Constructed will have its big coming out party at Pro Tour Venice. I sent in my predictions for PT Houston and Extended a few weeks before the big game, and you’ll have to do the same. The deadline for this contest will be February 28th at 11:59 p.m. central time. Any entries received after February 28th, 11:59 p.m. central time will be declared null and void by yours truly.
“Ah”, you may ask yourself,”but what is the contest?”
Contest Instructions:
1) This contest is free to enter. Winner gets a free booster box of product (their choice of Onslaught or Legions)!
2) Rank the top fifteen cards that will see play at Pro Tour: Venice for Onslaught Block Constructed, in order of quantity appearing. This includes main deck and sideboard.
3) The following cards are excluded from this contest. Do not include the following cards on your list; doing so will render your entry void! They are the basic lands (Forest, Island, Mountain, Plains and Swamp), the fetchlands (Bloodstained Mire, Flooded Strand, Polluted Delta, Windswept Heath, and Wooded Foothills), and the cycling lands (Barren Moor, Forgotten Cave, Lonely Sandbar, Secluded Steppe, and Tranquil Thicket). The”tribal” lands, like Starlit Sanctum and Contested Cliffs, are open for listing.
4) As mentioned in #1, quantity is most important. Four Shocks that appear in one deck count as much as one Aphetto Alchemist which appears in four decks. Sideboard and main deck are counted equally.
5) Ah, the scoring. Put your top fifteen cards in order on the list that you think they’ll be used – but the order will not matter, unless the contest goes into tiebreakers. Once Venice is over, we’ll tally up how many of each card ended up getting played. The points will be as follows:
Most Played: 15 points
2nd Most Played: 14 points
3rd Most Played: 13 points
4th Most Played: 12 points
5th Most Played: 11 points
6th Most Played: 10 points
7th Most Played: 9 points
8th Most Played: 8 points
9th Most Played: 7 points
10th Most Played: 6 points
11th Most Played: 5 points
12th Most Played: 4 points
13th Most Played: 3 points
14th Most Played 2 points
15th Most Played: 1 Point
If you name a card on your list that ends up being one of the fifteen most played, you get however many points that card is worth. So, let’s say Shock ends up being the most played, and you had it listed as the twelfth-most played; it would be worth fifteen points regardless.
Tiebreakers: Tiebreakers will be determined by seeing who got closest to the exact order, using one-point differentials. For instance, if you name a card to come in 8th and it came in 10th, you get minus two points. If you miss a card entirely, you get minus fifteen points. Lowest differential wins the tiebreaker.
6) Send all entries to [email protected]. ONE ENTRY PER PERSON! All entries should be formatted as follows:
Name (First and last)
E-mail address
Pick 1)
Pick 2)
Pick 3)
Pick 4)
Pick 5)
Pick 6)
Pick 7)
Pick 8)
Pick 9)
Pick 10)
Pick 11)
Pick 12)
Pick 13)
Pick 14)
Pick 15)
That’s all there is to it! It’s free, it’s fun, and you could show up big bad Ben Bleiweiss at his own game!
Ben Bleiweiss
[email protected]
(My picks will appear on Monday, March 3rd, after the deadline has expired. However, I will not write 18,000 words if I’m wrong.)