Subject: Re: MTG Notation
Date: Fri, 8 May 1998 12:55:58 -0400
From: "Liskov, Moses" mliskov@securitydynamics.com
To: "'webmaster@classicdojo.org'" webmaster@classicdojo.org

In the wake of the recent cheating thread, the idea of a MTG Notation system has come up. I've been waiting for a while now to publicize my system, and now seems like the perfect opportunity.

I see the following as the requirements of any notation system.

So, here it is. This system meets these goals; I have been reasonably successful recording games as I watched them. Note: DCI floor rules would regard this as a playing aid, so it must never be used by players. However, in my opinion this would be an excellent tool for judges; with a scoresheet, they could halt a match and reconstruct it to determine if a player had played too many lands or drawn too many cards, or cheated on their life total. With the capacity to record everything either player sees (ie, what's in their hand, what they impulse for, et cetera) this can also be used to publish games. I tried to record a number of the games in the final 8 of PT:New York with moderate success; the coverage was often away from the board, so I missed seeing plays, I rarely got to see what cards the players drew, and furthermore, Finkel / Bachmann was played *very* fast! But nonetheless, if I had been there in the room with them I feel confident that I could've gotten it all.

The scoresheet is recorded as a 2 by x table, where x is the number of turns the game took. One column is for the player who plays first, the other is for the other player. Each row represents one turn for each player. The rows are numbered, to keep them separated. Basically put, every card is represented by an abbreviation. Some have standard abbreviations, while others are given abbreviations while recording a game. For instance, basic lands have the abbreviations 

f, i, m, p,
s
for forest, island, mountain, plains, swamp.

The best way to illustrate the system, I think, is to go in the same order Magic is often taught. The first action a player learns to take is to play a land. When a player plays a card during their main phase, the card is just written down. So, playing a basic land is written very simply.

                player A                        player B
1.              m
Playing other land requires an abbreviation to be defined. For instance, suppose instead of playing a mountain, player A plays a City of Brass. This might be written like this: 
                player A                        player B
1.              C. Brass {C}
This notation means that "
C
" will from then on refer to the card city of brass. 
COB
might be a better abbreviation, but since this is a land, it may be best to use a single letter. If player B then plays a city of brass on their turn, the notation would look like: 
                player A                        player B
1.              C. Brass {C}                    C
And so on. But back to our original situation. Suppose player A has played a mountain and now wishes to cast a spell, say Mogg Fanatic. The notation would look like this: 
                player A                        player B
1.              m, M. Fanatic {MF}(m)
The comma separates distinct actions from one another. The "
(m)
" indicates that a mountain was tapped to produce the mana to cast the spell. In general, anything in parentheses is a cost. This notation of course assumes that the mountain was first tapped for mana, then the Mogg Fanatic was cast, but it is not necessary (usually) to indicate those actions separately. Now suppose player A was a fool and immediately used the Fanatic to do a point to player B. 
                player A                        player B
1.              m, M. Fanatic {MF}(m),
                &MF-Pb
This is a bit more complicated. The & symbol indicates that the action is an ability of a permanent, in this case, the Mogg Fanatic. The cost of the Mogg Fanatic's ability is a sacrifice, however, this sacrifice requires no choices, so it can be omitted. The dash is the symbol for "targetting or choosing," and 
Pb
is the standard notation for Player B. (
Pa
is the symbol for Player A).

Let's assume for the moment that player A didn't want to do this right away, but rather they wanted to wait for player B's turn. 

                player A                        player B
1.              m, M. Fanatic{MF}(m)            i, X:*&MF-Pb
The asterisk indicates that the action was made by the nonactive player. The "x:" means the action was taken during the discard phase - X refers to the discard phase. U stands for untap, K for upkeep, D for draw, A for attack (before block), B for attack (after block), X for discard, and C for cleanup.

Suppose player B responds to the Mogg Fanatic's ability with a Brainstorm. This would be indicated: 

                player A                        player B
1.              m, M. Fanatic{MF}(m)            i, X:*&MF-Pb /
Brainst.{B}(i)
The forward slash indicates a response. The final piece of basic notation is needed for combat. 
                player A                        player B
1.              m, M. Fanatic{MF}(m)            i, Manta Riders{MR}(i)
2.              m, MF=
The "
MF=
" indicates that the Mogg Fanatic is attacking and is not blocked. If nothing is written, damage is assumed to occur as normal, so after the attack phase, player B would be at 19. A block is written this way: 
2.              m, MF=MR
If nothing else is written, there are assumed to be no other fast effects, so both creatures would be dead. However, player A might sacrifice the fanatic instead of letting the creatures mutual. 
2.              m, MF=MR, B:&MF-pB
Et cetera. This covers the basics. The only thing I haven't mentioned yet that's important is that this notation system as written only records what a casual observer would see. But it can be expanded to include what someone would see if they were allowed to look at all the secret decisions a player made. For instance, opening hands could be recorded, and which cards players draw could be recorded. Here is a sample game of CounterHammer beating the crap out of a Tradewind / Wall deck. 
        player A                                player B
OH: f, f, C. Brass{C}, Und. Par.{U},            i, i, m, Ref. Pool{R}, Ham.
Bog.{HB}
       Granger GM{GG}, Wall Bloss. {WB},        Dissipate {D}, Inspiration
{INS}
       Mana Leak{ML}
1.      f, GG(f)                                        D:d Dismiss{DS}, i
2.      D: d Incin.{I}, C, GG=, WB(fC)!d U
The exclamation point indicates a triggered effect. In this case, as a triggered effect of the Wall of Blossoms, player A draws an Undiscovered Paradise. Continuing - 
2.      D: d Incin. {I}, C, GG=, WB(fC)!d U     D:d Qsand{Q}, R
3.      D: d Wall Roots {WR}. f, GG=, WR(ff)    D:d Whisprs{WM}, m,
HB(imR)-GG
                                                // *ML(C,WR)-HB
This means that player A, as an interrupt to the Hammer, cast Mana Leak, tapping the City of Brass and getting the other mana from the Wall of Roots. Obviously, player B can't pay the 3 mana, so the Hammer is Countered. However, if player B could, this would be written 
                                                // ML(C,WR)-HB (iii)
if player B were to tap 3 islands to pay the cost. Continuing... 
4.      D: d f, GG=                             D: d R, Q
5.      D: d Tradwnd (TR), U, TR(ffCU)          D: d Cntrspll{CS}, i
        // *DS (iRmQ)-TR !*d Earthqk{EQ},
        GG=
6.      D: d f, X:*INS(iimQ)-Pb d i, R.         D: d Nev's Dsk{ND}, R
7.      D: I, X:*WM(BB:iiRRmQ) d m
This last means that Whispers of the Muse was cast with BuyBack; BB: indicates a mode choice made at declaration. 
7.      D: I, X:*WM(BB:iiRRmQ) d m              D: d I, i, ND(mqii)
8.      D: d Birds{BP}, GG=, U                  D: d I, R
9.      D: d BP, GG=, A:*I(mQ)-GG,              K: &HB (RrmQi), D: d ML,
I(mi)-pA
        X:*WM(BB:iiiRRR) d ND
10.     D: d Gem Mine{G}, BP(f)         D: d Capsize (CZ), &ND(Q)
*pg:BP,WR,WB,
                                ND(mmii)
The "
pg:
" stands for "sent from play to graveyard:" and it is there to indicate the order player A put their creatures in the graveyard. 
11.     D: d ML, f, BP(f)                               D; d R, R,
HB(mmQ)-pA
12.     D: d C, resigns.
At the end of the game, the life score is 11 (player A) to 15 (player B). Some other fine points of the notation system: the following are standard abbreviations, with examples. 
Notation        Explaination                    Example
pl:     sent from play to top of library                &ND(Q) *pl:BP,WR,WB
(there is a Mortuary                                            out)
hl:     sent from hand to library                       Brainstorm{B}(i) d:
i,i,i, hl: i, B.
Note - hl: i, B means the island is first put on top, then the brainstorm.
This is a common convention with all these.
lh:     sent from library to hand
bl:     sent to bottom of library                       X:*Impulse{IP}(ii)
lh: IP, bl: m, i, i.
lg:     sent from library to graveyard          &Millstone{MS}(Qi) - pA, lg:
i, f.
gh:     sent from graveyard to hand             C: gh: Mangara's
Blessing{MB}
rg:     removed from game                       // Force of Will{FW}(rg:IP}
x:      sacrifice                               &Altar of
Dementia{AOD}(x:GG)- pA, lg: i
xg:     sacrifice, but removed from game        &City of
Shadows{COSH}(xg:GG)
#       shuffles library                                Portent{P)(i)-pB #
(1)     first mode                              Funeral Charm{FC}(2)(s) - GG
(2)     second mode (et cetera)
Note: usually, specifying mode is not necessary, but in the case of Funeral
Charm, for example, it can be - both modes 2 and 3 target creatures.
=W=     Wins coin flip                          & Frenetic {FE} =W=
=L=     Loses coin flip                         &FE =L=
=H=     Coin flip = Heads
=T=     Coin flip = Tails                               Mana Clash{MC}(m)
=H= *=T=, =T= *=T=,
                                                =H= *=H=.

Multiple copies of the same card in play are numbered as they come into
play; numbers
are not reset unless all copies are removed.  Thus

        Granger{GG}(f), GG2(f)                          GG3(C)
        GG=GG3, GG2, GG4(f).

Multiple copies of cards in the graveyard are numbered from 1 starting from
the top.  Thus,
        Animate Dead{AD}(Cs) - GG2
targets the second Granger Guildmage from the top in the active player's
graveyard.  A Granger could be animated from the other player's graveyard
like this:
        AD(Cs) - *GG2

Funky Mana Pool calculations can use the following abbreviations:
c:      a point of colorless mana
b:      a point of black mana
u:      a point of blue mana
g:      a point of green mana
r:      a point of red mana
w:      a point of white mana
z:      a point of special purpose mana
MB:     a player takes mana burn (ie MB:2 - player takes 2 mana burn, or
*MB:2 - nonactive
player takes 2 mana burn)

example:
        Mishra's Workshop{MW}, &MW, Candelabra{CT}(z), Mana Vault{MV}(z),
        &MV, &CT(c) - MW, Clockwork Beast{CB}(zccMW)

example 2:
Mox Jet{MJ}, MW, &MW, MV(z), MV2(z), MV3(z), Mox Sapph{MS}, Mox Pearl{MP},
CT(MP), &MV, &MV2, &MV3, &CT(MJ)-MW, Hurkyl's Recall{HR}{cMS}-pA, MJ, MP,
MS, &MW, MV(z), MV2(z), MV3(z), Black Lotus{BL}, &BL - rrr,
Fireball{FB}(MJ,MP,MS,MV,MV2,MV3,ccccccccrrr) - pB

Thus, fireballing player B for 22.
That just about covers it. Anything not covered can be jotted down on the fly, but really this works pretty well. So far, I've had the hardest time with 2 things. First, Scroll Rack. This card, especially when used many times, requires a lot of writing. Technically you should write down all the drawn cards and all the replaced cards and the order they're replaced in, but this is difficult to do as fast as people make the decisions. Second, explosion decks. It's really hard to keep up with a ProsBloom deck; once the explosion starts, players play very quickly. Two things I've found that help are (1) if possible, give cards abbreviations before the game starts - in some matches, you may be able to get deck lists, for example. And, (2) define "macros." For instance, the Sylvan / Island Sanctuary trick might be written 
        D: &SL / &IS d:f, hl:f.
But writing this every turn would be tedious, so once it occurs, you might write 
        D: Sylvan Trick {SLT} = "&SL / &IS d: {card}, hl: {card}"(f)
Where the "(f)" indicates that the card was a forest. Then, from then on you would simply write 
        D: SLT({card})
Anyway, that's quite enough for now. If anyone has any comments or improvements to the system, please share them! I think this would be quite a useful tool.