Is that Dr. Light I See Or Just Some Silly Holo?

[En-Kur]

<img src="http://mindgamesonline.net/dave_personal/enkurbannernew.jpg">

Last week I had decided to write this week about the deck that won my local pcq this past Saturday. Having faith that Curve Sentinels would be stopped and that Green Lantern would bring about a strong meta change, I was sure that this week’s column would be a fun read. Imagine my surprise when the deck that won actually put two people in the finals of the Philly 10K also. A true Master of Holograms, Dr Light made his presence felt all across the tournament world this week. Is this a one hit wonder like Ffun or does something need to be done quickly to keep our sanity? Read on and let’s find out…

[En-Kur]

Fresh off his Sealed Pack 10K win and only showing up because he had to return my camera, Doug Tice’s choice for deck to play in the PCQ Saturday was meant solely for fun. He actually fielded a deck similar to the two you saw in the finals of the 10K, choosing to play the Press version over Cosmic Radiation. Doug will tell you that his version might not be the best, but after dropping one game through the swiss and sweeping the single elim portion, do you really need a “best” version? Here is his version:

Characters:
1x Black Cat, Master Thief
1x Robot Sentry, Army
1x Rama-Tut, Pharaoh From the 30th Century
1x Kristoff Von Doom, The Boy Who Would Be Doom
2x Boris, Personal Servant of Dr. Doom
4x Dr. Light, Master of Holograms
9x GCPD Officer
4x Sonar, Dastardly Discord
3x Henry King, Jr. <> Brainwave, Psionic Manipulator
4x Alfred Pennyworth, Faithful Friend
1x Harvey Bullock, GCPD Detective

Plot Twists:
4x Bat Signal
4x Devil’s Due
4x Press the Attack
1x Gone But Not Forgotten
1x Emerald Dawn
4x Millennium
4x The Ring Has Chosen

Locations:
3x Metropolis
4x Doomstadt

Almost everyone knew about the combotastic potential of Dr Light/Rama Tut/Devil’s Due/Gone But Not Forgotten/Some team-ups/Exhausted dudes with Press The Attack/Cosmic Radiation. But did anyone seriously think it was consistent enough to actually play? Did anyone seriously ever think you’d read this in a 10K finals match coverage report:

Craig began turn 3 with the initiative. He played a face-down resource and used Signal Flare to fetch Dr. Light. “I'm actually killing you this turn,” said Craig. “Really?” asked Stephen. “Yeah,” replied Craig. “Good game, though.”

You’ve probably hit the link from our site back to metagame to read the complete coverage, but if not, take a moment and go here (http://www.metagame.com/vs.aspx?tabid=46&ArticleId=2518).

For those of you unfamiliar with what’s going on, here’s sort of a break down of the Press version. You play out exhaustible dudes like Sonar, Robot Sentry, Alfred (because he comes into play exhausted already) and Brainwave. Get Dr Light out along with Rama Tut and Devil’s Due, fetch a Press, Gone But Not Forgotten doesn’t hurt either, mix it all up, and win. Confused? Here’s a good first four turns for you.

Turn 1: Play Brainwave
Turn 2: Play Rama Tut
Turn 3: Play Sonar and Kristoff Von Doom or Robot Sentry.
Turn 4: Play Dr. Light, and maybe a tapped Alfred. Flip up Gone But Not Forgotten and Devil’s Due. Exhaust Brainwave targeting himself. Exhaust Sonar targeting other random dude. Sac Rama Tut to Devil’s due, putting counter on Von Doom or Robot Sentry. Activate Dr. Light targeting Rama Tut. Chain Press The Attack. Rinse, repeat until you have infi life or infi big dudes.

I am not even going to discuss the even more broken Cosmic Radiation version. But let’s just say that it can go off a turn faster. I actually watched Doug’s finals match as he got Flametrapped on turn four and was able to recover for the win on turn five. How silly.

How can a combo with so many pieces be so broken? Well, it’s not really that hard to set up especially with fetch cards like Ring Has Chosen, Bat Signal, or Signal Flare. It can be disrupted a bit with say Overload if the person playing the deck is stupid and puts counters on his combo pieces first. They might be able to catch you with your pants down and put you in a position where you don’t have four exhausted characters in play. But realistically, if you are an adequate player, there is not a lot that can be done if it gets “the draw.”

So, what should be done about it? Well, changing Dr Light to say “once per turn” certainly fixes things but that might screw with some other fun combo decks that are not so explosive. This game needs combo decks…it can’t all be about turning guys sideways and swinging in. So why not change Rama to trigger upon recruit instead? That neuters this combo while still allowing others to be fleshed out with Dr. Light. I personally would like a couple of weeks to see what the real deck builders out there can do to combat this sudden degenerate meta. Surely there are some answers out there that don’t require you to have a third resource in play.

The beauty of this game is that like comics and the variety in what you can read, there are so many choices to be made when building your deck. Some may argue that there isn’t, especially considering how popular Curve Sentinels was at the PC. But, I’ll argue that the PC isn’t really a good gauge of what is dominant. You have to understand that for the most part, you pick your deck at the PC only with making day two in mind. Even an average, easy to play deck can get you the 7-5 finish you need to play on Saturday. I think a lot of people went that route because it was certainly the safest play. I know a few capitalized on this kind of thinking with some pretty wild decks. Hager’s deck and certainly Michael Barnes’ Xavier Dream deck are perfect examples going into a field full of robots. But do you think these two decks are solid choices for your local PCQ or 10K? Probably not. Because there isn’t that much on the line at a PCQ or 10K, it’s a pretty safe bet that you are going to get wrecked by random pet decks.

I am actually a huge fan of cutting the release schedule to three sets a year so some options are given a chance to bloom. Maybe I could instead just ignore new cards and focus on a pet team and just win with that. But who has the discipline to do something like that? Certainly not me. I really think if people had more time with new cards, that there would be some really interesting deck choices being made.

So, in all of this rambling, where do I stand? Well, I think that probably something needs to be done but I hope we get an opportunity to correct it ourselves before UDE has to step in and fix things. And I think the one game format is a total failure, tournaments are not really shorter, and if we go to single game formats in the top eight like they did in the pcqs at New York, that not even non-casual players will take this game seriously anymore. It’s already too hard for the casual player to embrace. You want one game formats? Then let each player set his first twenty cards and let the best deck win. Why regulate the game to coin flips? I miss the balancing over time that the two out of three format gave us. I know I just completely jumped into this topic, and it has nothing to do with the rest of the column, but damn it, we have to keep saying something about it if we want things to change.

No drama this week although I promise you, it is probably coming in a few days. For those of you that care about this kind of stuff, I am through with my three day mourning period from the 22 year old girlfriend break up and am now happy to say, extremely into this new girl person that I met last week. She’s old by my standards (like 25 or something) but she is exceptional cool, very sexy, and so passionate about her beliefs that she inspired me to register to vote. That’s a big ####ing step for getting me involved in society. I am thirty-three and had never met someone that could convince me that voting was nothing but a waste of time. Just know that she is pretty damn awesome, she cusses which is very sexy, and yes, she is way more mature than me. And she kicked my ### at poker. And she has the best tan ever.

See you next week. I might or might not have controversial things to talk about.

[johnnyp84]

LOL Gratz on the ladyfriend!!!!! Made my night with that story!

[GodsSon^^]

dont tell us how sexy she is, just give us a photo.

[DBM]

you're so on the money about the one-game matches, it's not even funny. Matches still take almost an hour with timed wins and waiting for pairings, and it's a lot fairer to let that hour be best 2-of-3 anyway. If the environment ever boils down to something like PCNY again, or even if its just a mirror match at another event, the game is essentially a coinflip, especially with the lack of draw correction in this game besides a mulligan.

Seriously though UDE (if you're reading this for some reason), I understand that you dont' want to appear shaky with your one-game match plan -- but keep in mind it was supposed to be a test from the start. I'm pretty sure its been a failure, as players simply cringe at the thought of 12 rounds of coin-flip play. Until your rules on slow-play, timed games, and the overall system get ironed out, one-game matches are pointless and simply frustrate good players with bad luck.

[peterparker1897]

I like the one game format, I like to see more decks and play against a few more people in swiss.

[MagnetoXX]

Haha, you called Fantastic Fun a one hit wonder.

And off somewhere, Dean Sohnle sheds a tear.

[kamiza]

And she has the best tan ever.

Meh. Forget the tan. The fun stuff is checking out the "white bits" where the sun doesn't get to. :p

[dawnyoshi]

kamiza's post made me smile, and Dave is keeping me from doing my metagame work...well, blame is being shifted to Dave. Thanks.

I figured the press version could do well. This weekend's PCQ should be...well...somewhat hopefully...fun. =/

[Tamahome]

Dave this article talks too much about vs... I am sad.

But happy to say that Dave Spears = Loveboat.

[GaryW]

Originally posted by MagnetoXX
Haha, you called Fantastic Fun a one hit wonder.

And off somewhere, Dean Sohnle sheds a tear.

Why? He's the one hit:)

As for the one game format, I'm not sure I entirely agree. At tournament levels, this is a grueling game and 2/3 turns it into a contest in physical fitness. It also plays well to the clock managers, who have three games to utilize in a 2/3 format instead of one.

Of course, if you really want proof the system works, just take a look at the NY top 8. Jones and Vidi are amongst the most repected players in the game, Hans could be argued for as the best player in Europe, Hager is everybody's favorite deckbuilding genius, Bernstein plays with one of the best teams in the world, Barnes brought and succeeded with the revolutionary metagame deck of the tournament, DeRosa is top 5 in the world in my opinion and Shvartsman is a long time professional gamer. That they made top 8 suggests that the present format is rewarding skill.

Do bad draws happen? Sure, but the single game format gives us a larger sample size. All indicators suggest that, while the 2/3 format is better at determining the better player in a given match, the single-game shows who the better player in the tournament was.

[WalterKovacs]

One point about 1-game formats ... it is one of the reasons that CS was so succesful ... when you can pack enough of your 'optimal' 2-4 drops, your 1 drop fills out your curve and your 4-drop can double as a 5 drop ... it's one of the most 'forgiving' decks in terms of getting a bad draw ...

Thus, choosing a deck which can be forgiving of the luck factor is important in the format. [And conversely, it gives a chance to rogue decks to use their suprise value, since it will often give up it's suprise the first time it wins, and then has to pull the same thing off again, against the same player and deck, immediately.

Also, if in 1-game format mirrors 'he who gets iniative wins' ... i.e. it's decided on a coin flip ... wouldn't it end up the same in three game format?

I win coinflip, I get the right iniative and win ... you get to pick iniative and win ... I get to pick iniative and win ... the only thing that can help you here if it's that much of a foregone conclusion is a 'better' draw than your opponent ... in other words ... it punishes for bad draws more.

[kamiza]

Originally posted by GaryW
Why? He's the one hit:)

Not wanting to sound pedantic, but lets call him a two hit wonder, as he took the london and amsterdam 10k titles with ffun

After reading the article on metagame by Mr. Humphreys, I find myself wondering if we as players can neuter the threat of this new abomination. Examples used of Sentinels, Titans etc do not really hold up against this new deck. With the aformentioned favourites you can at least have a pop at them and try to make a fight of it. This new combo deck doesn't even give you time to strap on you gloves ready for round one. Hardly Marquis of Queensbury is it? I do agree that banning is a non-starter, and in the majority of cases, errata should be only used in desperate circumstances. but this deck really walks the tightrope between flukey-insane-combo and Broken.

Back on to the most important part of this article. So Dave, is she really gorgeous?

[sheranosuke]

I usually don't reply to often but i think the one game format is fine especially since you don't have a sideboard in this game. If your pet deck get's owned what can happen in game two that would dramatically change the results? It's not like you can bring in tech. As far as the dr. light combo nothing needs to be errata'd It's fragile to certain cards. I was playing my fun deck and a first turn bad press and a fourth turn dominus naming dr. light wrecked the combo. When do you here of dominus winning the game? The meta will adjust the decked will be hated out fast andour world will be back to normal. Don't fret.

[cmacbgoode]

Dave Spears, you inspire me on so many levels.

[CapNJay]

Originally posted by En-Kur

Turn 4: Play Dr. Light, and maybe a tapped Alfred. Flip up Gone But Not Forgotten and Devil’s Due. Exhaust Brainwave targeting himself. Exhaust Sonar targeting other random dude.

Unfortunately that wouldn't work... Sonar's power can only be used during your attack step. Goes off fine with the Robot Sentry, though.

Have a good one!
Cap'n Jay

[EvilBaby]

the rounds aren't shorter? I guess everyone forgot the two hour long matches that used to happen in the early PCQs. Someone(usually different people every round) is taking the half hour long one game matches to time, almost every round. A best of three could never finish a full three games in an hour. I remember the best of three early PCQ's where four or five matches were decided by endurance totals at the end of the third turn of the third match. To me that is worse then any luck factor.

The rounds are also getting shorter and players are definitly learning to play faster. The PCQ at DiCon in Illinois had a couple of twenty five minute rounds in the constructed, and of course Dr. Light really helps since most of those matches take about ten minutes! Go Team Light!

[profparm]

Okay, in one of the threads discussing Dr. Light, I threw in the notion of 2/3 game matches and it was just flat out ignored. (I also like sideboards, but maybe that's just me.) This is just too weird.

Hehe, also, Kamiza spelled it, "Favourite". You bloody rock, ya git.

Don't worry, Dave, you're still the one TRUE git.

[GaryW]

Originally posted by kamiza
Not wanting to sound pedantic, but lets call him a two hit wonder, as he took the london and amsterdam 10k titles with ffun




I guess I wasn't too clear. I think Dean should continue to play and will continue to thrive with FFun, because he knows it far better than everyone else. The one hit I was referring to wasn't a single tournament success for the man, but the man himself.

[kamiza]

Aaah, I see. My apologies. You right about the few that have taken the deck on. The only other noteable foray that I have heard of is Rich Edbury using it in the 'Dam 10K. I seem to remember Dean beat him in the final. Oohh. Creepy chaos majik coincidences. New weenie combo decks comes on to the scene and takes both final spots in 'Philly. Where's Mr. Fike when you need him!?

[DBM]

Originally posted by EvilBaby
the rounds aren't shorter? I guess everyone forgot the two hour long matches that used to happen in the early PCQs.

I'm pretty sure the player base has gotten better at this game and the staff at pro circuits has gotten better at running events. Face it, we were hella dumb back before Indy.

[CosmicCops]

Dave, that's like 4 articles in a row that you've mentioned me. You're my #1 fan and I love you for it!

CapNJay is right - Sonar isn't part of the recruit step exhaust engine, but Millenium is. You can still play it from your hand to exhaust a guy and draw a card.

Ideally as with almost any Alfred deck, you want to spend your first few turns searching out your missing pieces.

And I do think that the Cosmic Radiation builds are better in general, but my version was able to fix worse draws. I also won a mirror match by attacking 3 times with a 7/7 Robot Sentry via Press the Attack and Devil's Due tokens (he was a 10/10 on the last attack). That was obviously a bad draw that I wasn't able to fix.

Well, Dr Hump has given us what is probably until the end of the month to enjoy this ridiculously powerful combo. Enjoy!

[VOLCOM]

haha, ive played 1` game format for so long i cant even member the last time i played 3 games besides the top eights...3 games sound weird now. theyve done it, ude has brainwashed me...haha

[WalterKovacs]

Originally posted by DBM
I'm pretty sure the player base has gotten better at this game and the staff at pro circuits has gotten better at running events. Face it, we were hella dumb back before Indy.

Still ... if people go to time in the 1 game format ... it will mean that:

They will likely go to time before finishing their second game in the 3-game format

Now, if Light Show sticks around, we could have 3 games in less than half an hour during the mirror matches ... but when normal decks duke it out, it will take at least twice as long as it currently does, not to mention you need time for a third game. With people going to time in half hour games ... three games in an hour will mean even more people going to time ... as those 'second and third' games will not suddenly pick up the pace.

Unless of course judges start throwing out losses for game errors to speed things up ...

[EvilBaby]

Originally posted by WalterKovacs
Unless of course judges start throwing out losses for game errors to speed things up ...

Ahh now this idea is a dream made manifest. i really really really want to do this! This will finally put the fear of god into those pagan players! And that god's name is MODOK!!

:cheeky:

by the by: Dave's new avatar....truly frightening:eek:

[Green Light]

you know he just wanted to brag about his new girl...the rest of the article was written to drag you all in...insert photos next time;)

[richjwood]

Originally posted by En-Kur
if we go to single game formats in the top eight like they did in the pcqs at New York, that not even non-casual players will take this game seriously anymore.

Yes at the Dallas pcq I went to last weekend there WAS 1 game format in top 8....it was crap.

I drafted a 'nothing but Manhunters' deck with 2 Spacecraft, 2 Plans Within Plans, and the right characters to pull off some of their nicer stunts. I had a bad draw the first game and lost easily to my opponent....then that was it! That was the only time I got to play the awesome deck i drafted....a one game match....in top 8. What crap. I left early, but I'm hoping Travis won that pcq. He was drafting right next to me, and with me taking Manhunters he was getting some NICE cards passed from me.

1 game format is fine for weeding out in swiss, but when you get in Top-8 I think 2 out of 3 games is a better judge of who should move on.

[erick]

1-game matches... bleh.

I'm not sure if GW's assessment of "best player in the tournament" vs "best player in the match" is all that accurate... those darn Metagame spinmasters.

1GM just puts more emphasis on luck than skill. It's not just about who wins the initiative, it's also about being able to in-match meta against your opponent. I would go into it more but mostly every player I know agrees that 2/3 is a much better indicator of skill.

As for the time issue, just time each game. You can do 20 or 25 minute games (on average, most games should NOT last longer than that) and just enforce it during the match. Any time over their 1st match, will leave them less time in their 2nd and 3rd match. Sure, this may give those clock-killers more ability to get a match win via the game 2 turn 3 sudden death scenario but at least the opponents get more than 1 game to try and beat it... and... it provides a more trackable way of catching the stallers. I really think some type of game/match time management system could facilitate the return of the 2/3 format.

Ack... I'm already soap-boxing... sorry.

So for for the next 3 weeks of PCQs, we are going to see Rama-Light or anti-Rama-Light decks... fun. Looks like Titans and Common Enemy may see a resurgence. Well... at least that means more players in the Sealed Format.

[Mike Mikaelian]

3GM favors the top players—expert metagamers. Assuming they can win their match on time (or be in winning position when time is called), they get to bury their losses in a winning match. All they need to do is go 2-1 every match to be undefeated. If they did that in 1GM, suddenly they’re not undefeated. And we’re talking about guys who have trouble accepting any loss, even if they’re still in the top eight.

1GM levels the field, because it takes every loss a player gets into account, not just the ones that happened back-to-back. It puts less of a gap between the “losing” bracket and the “winning” bracket.

1GM’s main drawback is that it’s less strategic—unless you’ve scouted your opponent (or he’s scouted you) you can only assume what he’s playing. In 3GM, you at least have strategic options at your disposal for games 2 and 3.

These guys say some good things about 1GM

Originally posted by peterparker1897
I like the one game format, I like to see more decks and play against a few more people in swiss.

Originally posted by GaryW
As for the one game format, I'm not sure I entirely agree. At tournament levels, this is a grueling game and 2/3 turns it into a contest in physical fitness. It also plays well to the clock managers, who have three games to utilize in a 2/3 format instead of one.

*snip*

That [PCNY’s top eight players] made top 8 suggests that the present format is rewarding skill.

Do bad draws happen? Sure, but the single game format gives us a larger sample size. All indicators suggest that, while the 2/3 format is better at determining the better player in a given match, the single-game shows who the better player in the tournament was.

Originally posted by WalterKovacs
Also, if in 1-game format mirrors 'he who gets iniative wins' ... i.e. it's decided on a coin flip ... wouldn't it end up the same in three game format?

I win coinflip, I get the right iniative and win ... you get to pick iniative and win ... I get to pick iniative and win ... the only thing that can help you here if it's that much of a foregone conclusion is a 'better' draw than your opponent ... in other words ... it punishes for bad draws more.

Wally’s best unspoken point—3GM are essentially 1GMs with a 2-game warmup.

Originally posted by sheranosuke
I usually don't reply to often but i think the one game format is fine especially since you don't have a sideboard in this game. If your pet deck get's owned what can happen in game two that would dramatically change the results?

Originally posted by EvilBaby
the rounds aren't shorter? I guess everyone forgot the two hour long matches that used to happen in the early PCQs. Someone(usually different people every round) is taking the half hour long one game matches to time, almost every round. A best of three could never finish a full three games in an hour. I remember the best of three early PCQ's where four or five matches were decided by endurance totals at the end of the third turn of the third match. To me that is worse then any luck factor.

Originally posted by WalterKovacs
Still ... if people go to time in the 1 game format ... it will mean that:

They will likely go to time before finishing their second game in the 3-game format

[Miaka]

Cussing is bad, Dave. Boo the new lady. (but I'm only saying that because I am jealous)

[Speed_Demon05]

are you kidding me? one game matches in the top 8?! I hope they only did this in NY pcqs to speed things up.

[xcalibre0]

I'm confused about this 1 game match discussion. Having a best 2 out of 3 would reduce variability between the 2 opponents but would greatly increase variability for matchups. The latter seems more important. In a 2 of 3 pc there were 7 rounds instead of the 12 we have now. Those extra 5 rounds help to reduce the likelyhood that someone will luck out and only play their best match up (or conversely their worst).
Sure it still happens (barnes cough cough), but clearly, it happens less.

I still think that FFun is the best non dr light deck in the format, and as far as one hit wonders go, Cory Eisenhard piloted the deck to a 9-3 finish day one and a 2600 pay out for the PC. I'm not sure if Dean made it in the money. This isnt to say that Dean is not a master, I just dont think its a one man deck by any stretch.

[CosmicCops]

What is the argument for 1-game matches in the top 8? It sounds to me like the only people who benefit from 1-game matches in the top 8 are lazy TOs who want to go home to crack their can of Chef Boyardee an hour sooner.

Seriously, in a top 8 draft the better drafters and better players stand more of a chance to make it to the finals if the top 8 is best 2 out of 3.

In sealed pack play, the initiative decides fewer results than in constructed. Sealed can hinge on missing drops and better card-pools (unfortunately), but all things considered equal, deck construction, card evaluation, and solid play skill are still big factors in the swiss of a sealed pack event.

The good news is that even with the one-game format you can afford to lose once, twice, or maybe thrice in the swiss of an event, whether it's losing to your own missed drop, your opponent's ridiculous card-pool, your own misplay, your opponent's good plays, or whatnot while still having a solid bid at a top 8 slot.

The draft is supposed to be the decider in sealed events. It's what everyone has been fighting for. Inevitably one or two of the top 8 competitors will have been carried on the wings of an exceptional card-pool. Maybe that player is the best player in the top 8, maybe just the luckiest and possibly the worst - only the draft will decide.

Drafting the top 8 puts everyone on a relatively level base being that players can only open so many bombs. Changing the semifinals and quarterfinals to one-game matches would be a HUGE mistake.

A decision to do so would be a gesture by policy-makers to say "We want luck (or lack thereof) to be THE major deciding factor in this otherwise wonderful strategy game we have designed."

Please, DO NOT change the quarter and semifinal matches of single elimination top 8 to one-game matches. I know I speak for the majority of VS system players in asking this.

Finally, Dave - Here's hoping the best for you and your newest love interest. Pictures please...

[Nevest]

I really agree about wanting only 3 sets per year. 4 sets per year really seems to flood the card pool. I don't think the cards from each set get enough attention. Also with the new rotating of golden and modern age formats some sets will get the short end of the stick with playing time. I also want to see this game last as long as possible and for the designers/developers of the game to put out the best product possible. It seems like that would be a lot easier with one fewer set per year.

I'm fine with the one game format for anything constructed. As has been pointed out, if it's initiative that's winning games then there's no difference between the two formats. On top of that too many games get ended on time in the three game format.

I think that anything sealed/draft should be best 2 of 3 games. Bad draws play a much bigger factor there and it takes more tournament time to build/draft your deck so only playing 1 game seems to really cut you short. I kind of doubt that we'll see best 2 of 3 game format for sealed events and 1 game format for constructed events, but I think it would be ideal.

[Nevest]

I also feel that the rather easily and consistently acheivable Dr. Light infinite combo needs to be fixed with errata. Combo decks are great but this one is a bit extreme. Most decks just can't come up with answers fast enough to deal with this deck. I don't think everyone should be forced to play Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius. As has been mentioned, I agree that the best fix would be changed Rama Tut to only fire when recruited/played from your hand. That still allows Dr. Light to do some fun tricks, but nothing infinite.

[rticul8]

I think that new combo can be dealt with but it will take some creativity and a little luck.;)
It may also mean alot of different deck types seeing alot more play. I heard alot of talk about Mono Xmen being run in my store to deal with it. heck I may even run Clone Superman or Curve revenge squad to deal with it. See, IMO, that's what make this game fun, someone get creative and it forces someone else to get that much more creative, and the next big deck is born.:cool:

[GDE]

1GM are perfect for Swiss.

As much as I like 1GM, I now agree they are not appropriate for Playoffs(Top 8/Top 4/Top 2).

[Concede2me]

is gone but not forgotten really needed, it seems just a stupid Look at me i've got infinite life!

[WebDev]

And I think the one game format is a total failure, tournaments are not really shorter,

I don't know that the one game format is a total failure, but the tournaments sure aren't any shorter, that is a definite. If the goal of the one game format was to shorten tournament play it definitely has not succeeded.

[Concede2me]

blah, ignore

[Concede2me]

It seems like 12 matches day 1 is a little overboard.

[Captaincarl]

I’ve seen the aforementioned picture of the newly acquainted 25 year old...

She should be on a swimsuit calendar with her looks and her tan.

Today I can honestly say I am jealous of you Mr. Dave Spears and jealousy is not in my nature.

CP-

EDIT: I can't believe im jealous of one of my barns.

[xcalibre0]

Originally posted by Concede2me
It seems like 12 matches day 1 is a little overboard.

excellent argument i am now swayed

:(

[frzamonkey]

controversial would be telling us which party you registered for...
:)

[Jonesy]

no humor, no insults, what was the point of this article?

[mark venhaus]

Here is my 2 cents on the 1 game format. at first i did'nt like it at all. but i've come to really like the 1 game format for 2 main reasons. 1 in vs system there is almost no way to finish a 2-3 in 1 hr it does not work. 2 with 1 game format it prevents alot of stalling. (for anyone thats played pro magic. they know what im talking about)
Also about this new dr.light deck i like it for now cause im just plain sick of cs.

[Ertai87]

I read the first page of this thread.

1) Post a pic of your GF and let us decide how hot she is (although unless you're REALLY off the mark we'll probably agree with you because she sounds pretty damn sexy).

2) Re: Broken Combo? Yes, I think the Dr. Light combo is broken, if it's as consistent as everyone says. I have not had the opportunity to play against it myself, as my store is way off the metagame mark (there's only one other guy at my store who consistently plays a metagame deck other than me, and I'm not even sure if B&B counts as metagame anymore), so I can't really judge, but from what I've heard it's in serious need of a neutering.

3) Re: 1-game format: I think WotC did the best job of making tournament formats. Best of 3 with sideboards. The only thing I don't like about WotC's SB system is I wish it were 16 cards instead of 15 so I can put 4 full playsets on my board instead of 3 playsets and a 3-of. This would be good for the format because it no longer comes down to "he who lucksacks the best wins" nor "he who has the best broken-assed combo that loses its surprise after one game wins". Most of the metagame decks today would be easily dealt with if SBs were allowed. Try to Bastion? How about I Overload you? Try to Tamaran your Redstar? How about I Kaboom!? Try to flip TNBs? Foiled! shoud take care of that. Seriously, I think SBs would be good for the game. It would seriously neuter a lot of the current metagame and let more versatile but overall weaker decks like BBH, MBH, TNB, X-Stall, etc. back into the fold where they belong.

[erick]

Originally posted by Jonesy
no humor, no insults, what was the point of this article?
Did you miss the part where a 25-year old is actually dating Dave?

Oooooooooooooooooooooooh!

[leeb]

I have not posted before. here is my suggestion for rounds. I usually play fast, but if i play someone who plays slow my rounds usually go the time limit. If they had 3 game matches and gave each player 30 minutes and a clock. you could finish in 1 hour everytime. If you run out of time in the round you lose the game you are in and any remaiing games. This would also prevent people from stalling which I have encountered before if time is running out on the round.

thanks for reading,
Lee

[A-Rod]

Originally posted by erick
Did you miss the part where a 25-year old is actually dating Dave?

Did YOU miss the part where Ryan has absolutely no room to comment on this? ;)

[Jonesy]

you're just jealous because you have an older instead of younger woman.

[A-Rod]

Perhaps, but at least she can stay out late on school nights.

[Jonesy]

this isn't fair, i actually know kim so I can't rag on her.

[A-Rod]

Yeah. That must suck for you. Sorry ;)

[Captaincarl]

You back in town yet Alex?

[GaryW]

Originally posted by A-Rod
Perhaps, but at least she can stay out late on school nights.

Why anyone ever says anything to Alex is beyond me. It's like trying to brush a lion's teeth.

[whydoesithurt]

Dave,

You should have scrapped this entire article save for that final paragraph. F*** Dr. Light. F*** this stupid metagame. We wanna read more about our buddy Dave getting LAID.

[En-Kur]

Originally posted by Captaincarl
You back in town yet Alex?

You mean back in the country since he got deported? ;-)

[A-Rod]

Originally posted by En-Kur
You mean back in the country since he got deported? ;-)

Speaking of which, I need a place to hide once I'm back Dave, in case they come for me. Can I come stay with you?

I can pay my way and everything. I'm trained and qualified in taxidermy (mounting dead animals) so I should fit in really well down there in Alabama.

[GaryW]

Say ahhh...**brush****brush****brush**

[A-Rod]

Originally posted by Captaincarl
You back in town yet Alex?

Next month, mate (if by 'town' you mean 'USA'). You going to be at Gencon, or are you leaving for the 'pines before then?

Gary - As a general rule, ribbing people tends to mean they're okay with me. It's all done with a wink and a nod. Unless they try to brush my teeth, that's way out of line (I am british after all).

[Ertai87]

Hey GaryW, does the "W" happen to stand for "Wise"? I'm an ex-Magic Player, and somehow I remember a pro player on the circuit who's last name was "Wise" and forst was "Gary"

[GaryW]

Originally posted by A-Rod
Next month, mate (if by 'town' you mean 'USA'). You going to be at Gencon, or are you leaving for the 'pines before then?

Gary - As a general rule, ribbing people tends to mean they're okay with me. It's all done with a wink and a nod. Unless they try to brush my teeth, that's way out of line (I am british after all).

You must be ok with everyone then! While living in England, my roommate refused to use dental floss because of his admittedly irrational fear of splitting his head in two with it.

Ertai, I am that Gary. I do some writing for www.metagame.com now

[GaryW]

Originally posted by A-Rod
Next month, mate (if by 'town' you mean 'USA'). You going to be at Gencon, or are you leaving for the 'pines before then?

Gary - As a general rule, ribbing people tends to mean they're okay with me. It's all done with a wink and a nod. Unless they try to brush my teeth, that's way out of line (I am british after all).

You must be ok with everyone then! While living in England, my roommate refused to use dental floss because of his admittedly irrational fear of splitting his head in two with it.

Ertai, I am that Gary. I do some writing for www.metagame.com now

[markslack]

Originally posted by A-Rod
Speaking of which, I need a place to hide once I'm back Dave, in case they come for me. Can I come stay with you?

I can pay my way and everything. I'm trained and qualified in taxidermy (mounting dead animals) so I should fit in really well down there in Alabama.

If you weren't a taxidermist you would be my hero.

[DDRMaster]

I've only beaten this jar deck once and it's because I made the deck to beat it. I have Talia and Boris its turn 3 and he says "That's the kill" I reply "Really? Well let's play it out just for kicks eh?" He tries to set-up by flipping Devil's Due before I have set a resource fairly sure he's safe from have a blast. I flip Doomstadt then flip Demon's Head exhausting Talia to find Latveria, flipped Latveria and Have A Blast blew up his only chance of winning. Next turn I had the Dr. Doom to seal the deal. My point is the combo is beatable but still needs to be changed because keep in mind the deck that beat it was a deck I made to do so.

[MadTitanFan]

I dont know if this has ben mentioned But you need to use Sonar during your Attack Step and Dr. Light can only be used during your Recruit Step... I hope someone else caugt that.

[markslack]

Originally posted by DDRMaster
I've only beaten this jar deck once and it's because I made the deck to beat it. I have Talia and Boris its turn 3 and he says "That's the kill" I reply "Really? Well let's play it out just for kicks eh?" He tries to set-up by flipping Devil's Due before I have set a resource fairly sure he's safe from have a blast. I flip Doomstadt then flip Demon's Head exhausting Talia to find Latveria, flipped Latveria and Have A Blast blew up his only chance of winning. Next turn I had the Dr. Doom to seal the deal. My point is the combo is beatable but still needs to be changed because keep in mind the deck that beat it was a deck I made to do so.

So when you both god-draw you win, except that your god-draw only beats his deck and his beats every other deck in the format?

[DDRMaster]

Originally posted by WarWolf
So when you both god-draw you win, except that your god-draw only beats his deck and his beats every other deck in the format?
Exactomundo and thats why we need an eratta :)