We waited three weeks to cool down and record an episode to be level-headed while discussing the big news. We haven't cooled down and aren't enthusiastic about the change.
Wow, where to start? This episode consists entirely of (terrible) hot takes and just straight anger. There doesn't really seem to be any rational thought or arguments in the entire hour plus of content. Let's take a look at some claims made.
1. Precon decks. While it is true that someone who just has the precons will not have enough cards to field a legal deck in any sort of tournament, that was always the case. The precons are short a few cards, even for the 40/20. Yes, the pamphlets for the precons specifically call out 40/20 minimum decks, that could be a small hiccup. But, if someone is coming to an LGS to play any sort of weekly event, and they have the incorrect deck size, I highly doubt the local group is going to look down on them. The people around this game are nothing but friendly and incredibly accommodating. I find it incredibly unlikely that someone in the weekly group wouldn't have some bulk cards and advice to help them get up to 50/30.
2. Throwing math off of opening draws. Seriously? Really grasping at straws for this one. "I'm mad I have to learn a couple new percentages". Come on.
3. Nothing stopping you from playing 60/40 now. Remember, 40/20 (or 50/30 in a few days) is the minimum deck size. You can absolutely start playing 60/40 decks today. While it is true most people do play the minimum deck size for various reasons, I have occasionally played against 100+ MTG card decks in tournaments. Playing more than the minimum deck size is not unheard of.
4. How many cards do we actually know about? We know about 10% of the cards in AL. We do not know what that other 90% contains. Maybe more drawing, more searching your deck, maybe cards that actually benefit having a large deck? Making sweepingly wide claims without knowing all the card pool (heck, not even knowing a quarter of the new card pool) is not a good look.
5. Original design of Sorcery. There is a competitive scene for Sorcery, along with many different tournaments, but at the end of the day, what has EC always said this game is, first and foremost? A kitchen table game. It was not designed to be a tight, hyper-competitive game. It's about having fun with and the stories told by the game. Yes, some people do, in fact, like to play games that involve big swingy turns and have large amounts of splash to them. Not everyone sits down and wants to play the sweatiest tightest game ever. What games do you reminisce about most? It's most likely not "oh man, I drew cards that helped my deck win." No, it's the swingy, wild plays.
Along with this, saying that you enjoy the mix of consistency and randomness? That is simply not true. Your episode complaining about the change of the mulligan is evidence of this. Most every episode you have put out, at some point, you are talking about how to make a deck more consistent. You enjoy mitigating the randomness as much as possible. Despite Bronte's claims, I honestly believe a game where he could fully eliminate randomness would be his favorite game.
6. Majority of deck/atlas is useless. Unless you are drawing every card of your atlas/spellbook every game, technically a percentage of your decks are always useless. This is even more true if you are running a very aggro deck that you want to finish off by turn 5-7. How many cards would you not see anyway and are functionally useless?
Honestly, this episode really feels like they are just lashing out because finely tuned meta decks are most likely irrelevant and will have to be redesigned. I will agree that yes, it's probably not ideal they waited until a few weeks before the release of a new set to drop this rule change.
Wow, where to start? This episode consists entirely of (terrible) hot takes and just straight anger. There doesn't really seem to be any rational thought or arguments in the entire hour plus of content. Let's take a look at some claims made.
1. Precon decks. While it is true that someone who just has the precons will not have enough cards to field a legal deck in any sort of tournament, that was always the case. The precons are short a few cards, even for the 40/20. Yes, the pamphlets for the precons specifically call out 40/20 minimum decks, that could be a small hiccup. But, if someone is coming to an LGS to play any sort of weekly event, and they have the incorrect deck size, I highly doubt the local group is going to look down on them. The people around this game are nothing but friendly and incredibly accommodating. I find it incredibly unlikely that someone in the weekly group wouldn't have some bulk cards and advice to help them get up to 50/30.
2. Throwing math off of opening draws. Seriously? Really grasping at straws for this one. "I'm mad I have to learn a couple new percentages". Come on.
3. Nothing stopping you from playing 60/40 now. Remember, 40/20 (or 50/30 in a few days) is the minimum deck size. You can absolutely start playing 60/40 decks today. While it is true most people do play the minimum deck size for various reasons, I have occasionally played against 100+ MTG card decks in tournaments. Playing more than the minimum deck size is not unheard of.
4. How many cards do we actually know about? We know about 10% of the cards in AL. We do not know what that other 90% contains. Maybe more drawing, more searching your deck, maybe cards that actually benefit having a large deck? Making sweepingly wide claims without knowing all the card pool (heck, not even knowing a quarter of the new card pool) is not a good look.
5. Original design of Sorcery. There is a competitive scene for Sorcery, along with many different tournaments, but at the end of the day, what has EC always said this game is, first and foremost? A kitchen table game. It was not designed to be a tight, hyper-competitive game. It's about having fun with and the stories told by the game. Yes, some people do, in fact, like to play games that involve big swingy turns and have large amounts of splash to them. Not everyone sits down and wants to play the sweatiest tightest game ever. What games do you reminisce about most? It's most likely not "oh man, I drew cards that helped my deck win." No, it's the swingy, wild plays.
Along with this, saying that you enjoy the mix of consistency and randomness? That is simply not true. Your episode complaining about the change of the mulligan is evidence of this. Most every episode you have put out, at some point, you are talking about how to make a deck more consistent. You enjoy mitigating the randomness as much as possible. Despite Bronte's claims, I honestly believe a game where he could fully eliminate randomness would be his favorite game.
6. Majority of deck/atlas is useless. Unless you are drawing every card of your atlas/spellbook every game, technically a percentage of your decks are always useless. This is even more true if you are running a very aggro deck that you want to finish off by turn 5-7. How many cards would you not see anyway and are functionally useless?
Honestly, this episode really feels like they are just lashing out because finely tuned meta decks are most likely irrelevant and will have to be redesigned. I will agree that yes, it's probably not ideal they waited until a few weeks before the release of a new set to drop this rule change.
This comment seems to be filled with more venom than the episode itself dude, they raise valid point. Doesn't mean you should denegrate them.