CardShark

Hey everyone. Hopefully everyone has already listened episode 85, where we announced our new contest. We've started to get submissions, so we wanted to make sure that the rules were posted here where everyone could reference them when needed. These rules as they are posted here match those that we gave on the podcast, with the additional clarification as to where to send the submissions and the important update to the rarity rule regarding mythics, but otherwise this does not in any way represent a change in the rules or our policies. Without futher ado, here are the rules:

1. Only one submission per person.
- Each submission is two deck lists that conform to the rules below. Each deck is not a separate submission.
- Note that this is per person, not household (so multiple people in the same residence can each send a different submission if they so desire) and not email address (so the same person with two email addresses still only gets one submission).
- Submissions should be emailed to themanapool@cardshark.com Please put your submissions in the text body of the email itself rather than in attachments.
- Submissions that do not meet the rules other than the rule of one submission per person are disqualified, but if we have time, we will attempt to notify the sender of the problem and will allow them to send a replacement submission. This does not extend the final date of allowed submissions for that person.
2. Deck lists themselves are subject to the following construction rules:
2a. Each deck must be exactly 60 cards.
2b. Each deck may have up to four different rare cards, with up to one of those rares being a mythic rare.
- A deck does not have to have any rares in it. Nor does it have to have a mythic rare. If a deck has a mythic rare, it takes a rare slot (which means the deck can only have up to three more rares). There can be only one mythic rare per deck.
- If a card has been printed at different rarities, it will be considered to be at its highest rarity for this contest. For example, Rule of Law was a rare in Mirrodin and an uncommon in Tenth Edition, so it is a rare (even thought the last time it was printed was as an uncommon). Ajani Goldmane was a rare in Lorwyn and is a mythic rare in M10, so it is a mythic rare.
2c. Each deck may only have one copy of each rare card in it.
2d. Each deck may only have up to two copies of any common or uncommon card, excluding basic lands.
- There are no further restrictions on how many commons or uncommons each deck may have.
2e. Decks must be extended legal.
- M10 is considered extended legal for this contest, even if submissions are turned in before July 17.
- The following sets are now extended legal, per Wizards: Eighth Edition, Ninth Edition, Tenth Edition, M10, Onslaught Block, Mirrodin Block, Kamigawa Block, Ravinca Block, Time Spiral Block, Coldsnap, Lorwyn Block, Shadowmoor Block, and Alara Block.
3. Deck submissions must have themes, although the subject of those themes is open to creator.
- Decks that are based on already published or announced official Duel Decks are not allowed (Elves vs. Goblins, Jace vs. Chandra, Divine vs. Demonic, and Garruk vs. Lilliana).
- How closely the decks match the themes is the choice of the creator, but may be considered in judging.
4. Prizes as a whole are still to be determined, but the top three submissions will receive copies of Garruk vs. Lilliana.
5. This contest is open to any listener where not prohibited by law, except the hosts of The Mana Pool (Chewie, Mike, Brian, and Dirk).
6. All submissions become the intellectual property of The Mana Pool and its hosts upon receipt.
7. Criteria for judging is varied and depends on the taste of the judges, but every valid submission will be given attention.
8. All submissions must be received by 11:59 PM (American Eastern Standard Time) August 31, 2009 to qualify for consideration.
9. These rules may (but probably won’t) be changed by the consensus of the hosts of The Mana Pool at any time.
10. Have fun! This is a Magic contest, after all. Show us how creative you can be (within the rules, of course) and enjoy the challenge.

There you have it. If you have any questions that you feel that these rules don’t address, post your response here or send us an email at themanapool@cardshark.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false. Thanks for participating, and above all thanks for listening to The Mana Pool!

I'd like to comment that I'm really enjoying the limit to 2 of commons/uncommons, as it's forcing me to look into a lot of cards I wouldn't normally consider running. I'm running a few things that I consider sub-par but it's certainly nice to run cards based more on flavor than strength while making decklists.

I'm also running some otherwise unplayables that are surprisingly nice in my particular rivalry decks.

Do timeshifted cards count as rares?

Excellent question, Lamperouge. They will probably be rares, given the way that they were released and the number of rare cards they consist of. However, I will consult with the other hosts and have a final answer to your question this week.

That's what i thought. I'm not going to do what I was planning just in case

Should the decks be playtested to fight against each other to see if they are balanced? If it's not needed, then i wouldn't bother printing these proxies... hehe.

That's purely up to you

technically time shifted is a "special rarity" that is rarer then mythic rare if i remember the number crunching. but i would honestly say they should be as the original rarity is in other words, if it was rare, its rare, if its common its common. so squire does not take up a rare slot >.<

Heh, we always treated them as rares because they were one per pack.

Any other cards spoiled yet- beside the 2 obvious- from your Garruck v Liliana prize decks? Seems like Garruck is getting easier and easier to come by, almost no excuse not to get him. The GvL will offer 2 decks for about the same price as Garruck used to cost! But I would much rather get em for free, so let me get to work on your contest...

I really want to join this contest but I fail to find the time.

i am just glad i made sure to enter as soon as i could, is there any chance you guys can give confirmation for each person who has entered?

Any chance of the contest winners being announced in the near future? Or at least a pre-announcement listing of the deck submissions? I don't care about winning, I just want to see what everyone put and to see feedback on these decks.

Yeah, me too. I've heard about two others, and I'm really curious.

You know what'd be funny? If someone from Wizards entered Phyrexia vs. the Coalition with the real decklists in the contest, to make up for all the preview cards you guys haven't gotten.