A Highlander fling
September 23rd 2009 02:47
I’ve often been asked why I hate Highlander or singleton formats so much. A fair question, when you can actually make an argument that they should actually have some aesthetic appeal to anyone. First of all, they have nostalgic value, being close in practice to how almost everyone started playing. Look at the decklists for a preconstructed deck from any set, say Alara Reborn. These are the products that are recommended for players just learning to play the game, and they rarely include more than two copies of any one card. Playing with preconstructed decks is intended to expose new players to a good range of the cards available, and gives you a chance to see cards in action that you would never play in more focused decks. Second of all, Magic incorporates many elements of randomness, from shuffling your deck at the beginning of games to cards that force your opponent to shuffle their deck during a game to cards whose rules text actually uses the card “random.” I myself have been in matches where my opponent played the exact same cards in two consecutive games, so if you like Highlander because this is less likely, I understand completely. Considering that there’s a Fourth Edition starter deck box on my desk that promises on its back “you’ll never play the same game twice,” wanting this puts you in company of the caliber of Richard Garfield himself.
So I have no philosophical problem with the format. I do, however, have a major problem with the way it’s been administered here in Australia. For many years, it was played with Vintage’s card pool, but overpowered or outright broken cards were subject to the most minor restrictions in history. Such cards were each assigned a point value and players were told to use no more than a certain number of points in their deck (the current value is seven). People were actually surprised to find that when people put unfair, broken cards in their decks, they make unfair, broken decks.
A couple of weeks ago, this finally occurred to a local tournament organizer, who held a “Lowlander” event with slightly modified deck construction rules: one of any card other than basic lands, but anything banned in Legacy is not allowed at all. This seemed like a step in the right direction: one of the appealing things about playing with preconstructed decks is that they’re designed specifically to be balanced against each other, show some ebb and flow during the game, and actually get an element of (gasp!) strategy involved. Clearly you can’t guarantee this entirely for constructed formats, but you can at least try and make a playing field where a variety of decks are somewhat viable, and one that locks out degeneracy rather than just making you commit to one degenerate strategy.
So, will you be seeing me and getting me to sign your Orb of Insight screenshots at the next Lowlander tournament? Not necessarily. There’s one other problem with Highlander’s administration, one which is not unique to it. The format only had a two-stage life cycle here in Australia: casual games between friends, and high-pressure cutthroat tournaments for expensive prizes (Moxes, even!). When you hold those kinds of tournaments – in Highlander, Standard, Vintage, Three-Card Blind, Mental Magic, triple Homelands booster draft, or any other format you can think of – it seems to attract players who are only interested in the prize, not the game. I have better things to do on a Saturday than sit around in a room and have social maladepts lecture me about how they don’t play Magic for fun, and so do you. Simpler games like bridge and chess are still going strong after God knows how many centuries with only low-pressure low-payout tournaments, and Wizards of the Coast has even started sanctioning this kind of tournament play with its new Play Network. As such, there is no good reason why tournament organizers haven’t shaken things up and scaled the “gravy train” down, other than that people haven’t demanded it yet. Change is possible, but it begins with you.
So I have no philosophical problem with the format. I do, however, have a major problem with the way it’s been administered here in Australia. For many years, it was played with Vintage’s card pool, but overpowered or outright broken cards were subject to the most minor restrictions in history. Such cards were each assigned a point value and players were told to use no more than a certain number of points in their deck (the current value is seven). People were actually surprised to find that when people put unfair, broken cards in their decks, they make unfair, broken decks.
What were you thinking, Mark Rosewater?
A couple of weeks ago, this finally occurred to a local tournament organizer, who held a “Lowlander” event with slightly modified deck construction rules: one of any card other than basic lands, but anything banned in Legacy is not allowed at all. This seemed like a step in the right direction: one of the appealing things about playing with preconstructed decks is that they’re designed specifically to be balanced against each other, show some ebb and flow during the game, and actually get an element of (gasp!) strategy involved. Clearly you can’t guarantee this entirely for constructed formats, but you can at least try and make a playing field where a variety of decks are somewhat viable, and one that locks out degeneracy rather than just making you commit to one degenerate strategy.
So, will you be seeing me and getting me to sign your Orb of Insight screenshots at the next Lowlander tournament? Not necessarily. There’s one other problem with Highlander’s administration, one which is not unique to it. The format only had a two-stage life cycle here in Australia: casual games between friends, and high-pressure cutthroat tournaments for expensive prizes (Moxes, even!). When you hold those kinds of tournaments – in Highlander, Standard, Vintage, Three-Card Blind, Mental Magic, triple Homelands booster draft, or any other format you can think of – it seems to attract players who are only interested in the prize, not the game. I have better things to do on a Saturday than sit around in a room and have social maladepts lecture me about how they don’t play Magic for fun, and so do you. Simpler games like bridge and chess are still going strong after God knows how many centuries with only low-pressure low-payout tournaments, and Wizards of the Coast has even started sanctioning this kind of tournament play with its new Play Network. As such, there is no good reason why tournament organizers haven’t shaken things up and scaled the “gravy train” down, other than that people haven’t demanded it yet. Change is possible, but it begins with you.
So stay the hell away from Meta Games.
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