[FORMAT] - Rainbow Stairwell

[orgg]

I've tried this after Abe Sargent did a little article that my at-the-time playgroup found interesting.

It is pretty fun, and it's kinda wacky, too.

The basics of this format are this: highlander, twenty-four lands. One card with the converted mana cost of One in each color+artifact, One card with the converted mana cost of Two in each color+artifact, One card with the converted mana cost of Three in each color+artifact, One card with the converted mana cost of Four in each color+artifact, One card with the converted mana cost of Five in each color+artifact, One card with the converted mana cost of Six in each color+artifact.

It's fairly easy and quick to build one on MOL, and it's pretty fun. The appeal is much like 5-color/Prismatic's appeal, though the decks are easier to shuffle IRL.

 

[Notepad]

I see landcyclers being very attractive in that format...

 

[train]

Landcyclers, fetch lands, and the new land-friendly artifact soon to be ravaging the formats!...

 

[13NoVa]

you seem to be forgetting ONE thing though, train.

ravager is a oinky....

 

[train]

not ravager...

land-friendly artifact - the one that lets you bring them back from the gy, and play them... (name eludes me...)



"crucible of worlds" maybe?...

 

[Rooser]

He was using ravage as a verb.

Anyway, I think it might could be some fun.

 

[matthewneski]

My local play group got into rainbow stairwell a month or so ago and it turned out to be so fun and addictive that it became our main format of choice.

We set up the rules a little differently. Everything goes the same for the casting costs and required cards. Multicolored cards are strictly banned as are ALL non-basic land. We figured that regardless what they do, non-basic lands can alone make the game retarded. We settled on identical mana curves. We've allowed all cards with X in the casting cost (X counts as 0).

There have also been a number of upsets that have led to a new wave of banning. Both Worship and Ensnaring bridge are completely banned. There have also been talks to ban any and ALL cards with buyback. Somethings just shouldn't be done multiple times. 5th dawn helped a lot to make these decks stronger as it thrives off of a 5 color combination. For that, the beacons are on the verge of being banned. Many argue that they aren't 'that' broken for this format, but they do hold a lot of potential as you'll see with my deck build. Other bannings include power nine junk.

I think that while some theme decks like slivers are inventive, i'm not sure how they would function in practice. The format does thrive off of reusable resources and enchantments are key.

My deck list is as follows:
5 of each basic land

Birds of Paradise
Joiner Adept
Nullmage advocate
Dawn's Reflection
Seedborn Muse *
Symbiotic beast

Land Tax
Ray of Revalation
Pulse of the Fields
Decree of Justice
Glory
Beacon of Immortality (don't laugh, it's good)

Vampiric Tutor
Demonic Tutor
Cruel Tutor
Diabolic Tutor
Promise of Power
Silent Specter

Soothsaying
Mana Leak
Complicate
Discombobulate
Aquire
Quicksilver Dragon

Fireball
Starstorm
Rakavolver (volvers are great for this format)
Ruhk Egg
Beacon of Destruction *
Rorix Bladewing

Skullclamp
Lightning greaves
Sword of light and shadow
Solemn Simulacrum
Guilded Lotus (all those playing Mind's Eye can bite me)
Planar Portal*

*These three cards put together a combo so devastating, nobody wants to play me any more.

It's a little light on creature as I removed a large number. I focused on reusable resources and found some combos that worked well, but were somewhat noncommital. Try out whatever you like and see what works. Mass removal is good, but I tended to opt out and instead run some counters. Artifact and enchantment destruction are still problematic for me. The advocate is versatile but a big target once he gets churning.

I think that as more and more people start to get into this format, especially in multiplayer games and large scale tourney's, this format will become one of magic's most popular and most recognizable.

 

[Captain Caveman]

This looks fun.

Here's my attempt at Magic Online decklist.

Artifact
1cc Pyrite Spellbomb
2cc Sun Droplet
3cc Darksteel Ingot
4cc Solemn Simulacrum
5cc open
6cc Planar Portal

Black
1cc open
2cc Chainer's Edict
3cc Dark Banishing
4cc Insidious Dreams
5cc open
6cc Twisted Abomination

Blue
1cc Condescend or Serum Visions
2cc Compulsion
3cc Complicate
4cc Deep Analysis
5cc Allied Strategies
6cc Shoreline Ranger

Green
1cc Birds of Paradise
2cc Wild Mongrel
3cc Sprouting Vines
4cc Nantuko Vigilante
5cc Genesis
6cc Krosan Tusker

Red
1cc Firebolt
2cc Lightning Rift
3cc Thunderscape Battlemage
4cc Flametongue Kavu
5cc Tephraderm
6cc Slice and Dice

White
1cc Weathered Wayfarer
2cc Master Decoy
3cc Sunscape Battlemage
4cc open
5cc open
6cc Noble Templar

5 each basic land and 4 Mirrodin's Core.

 

[train]

Has anyone looked at this outside of MOL?...

If so I was surpried capsize wasn't in any decklists...