There's rarely a moment in the competitive scene where it skews negative, but we've run into one of those situations today, regarding the current format. Recently ZapdosTCG went into detail regarding the current situation, and how players like Alex Schemanske and AzulGG are dropping out of the rat race, but he (and I) mostly whittle it down to a few problems bogging the game down.
Culprit A: Dusknoir. This card could easily kill anything within 110 HP, or at the very least, weaken something to get it within killing range. Sure, getting knocked out might be a bit of a detriment for some, but...
Culprit B: Briar. Tera-Centered decks like Charizard, Terapagos, and Dragapult were quick to run this supporter in tandem with Dusknoir in order to lure the opponent into 2 Prize Cards, and then have something weaker (preferably a double prize card) get killed to effectively take up to 3 prizes!
Culprit C: Fezandipiti ex. The fact that this was a bulkier Oricorio GX that could compromise hand disruptors like Iono and Unfair Stamp basically made those comeback cards effectively useless.
At least Japanese players find ways to make otherwise mundane cards like Scolipede (TWM) look cool. But outside Japan, there's only a handful of decks that seem to be going anywhere. Dortmund is a great example ZapdosTCG explored. Despite the Top 8 decks being different, a recurring pattern emerged: Dusknoir was what won decks, not the stars of the decks themselves. A good chunk of these decks, even non-Tera decks like Palkia VSTAR ran this abomination. At least ADP GX decks, despite the stupid OP GX attack was balanced out in their Meta with other solid decks like Centiskorch, Eternatus, and Pikarom taking up space with it. But now, it feels like the game is actively punishing you for not following the Meta.
This was not something I actually thought would be detrimental to the game, but a lot of players are taking issue with how going first effectively wins you the game. What happened to decks like Future Box, where going second was also a good thing?
I'm just typing into the void.
1. Broken Nature of Some Cards
Culprit A: Dusknoir. This card could easily kill anything within 110 HP, or at the very least, weaken something to get it within killing range. Sure, getting knocked out might be a bit of a detriment for some, but...
Culprit B: Briar. Tera-Centered decks like Charizard, Terapagos, and Dragapult were quick to run this supporter in tandem with Dusknoir in order to lure the opponent into 2 Prize Cards, and then have something weaker (preferably a double prize card) get killed to effectively take up to 3 prizes!
Culprit C: Fezandipiti ex. The fact that this was a bulkier Oricorio GX that could compromise hand disruptors like Iono and Unfair Stamp basically made those comeback cards effectively useless.
2. A Homogenized Meta
At least Japanese players find ways to make otherwise mundane cards like Scolipede (TWM) look cool. But outside Japan, there's only a handful of decks that seem to be going anywhere. Dortmund is a great example ZapdosTCG explored. Despite the Top 8 decks being different, a recurring pattern emerged: Dusknoir was what won decks, not the stars of the decks themselves. A good chunk of these decks, even non-Tera decks like Palkia VSTAR ran this abomination. At least ADP GX decks, despite the stupid OP GX attack was balanced out in their Meta with other solid decks like Centiskorch, Eternatus, and Pikarom taking up space with it. But now, it feels like the game is actively punishing you for not following the Meta.
3. Going First Basically Guarantees a W
This was not something I actually thought would be detrimental to the game, but a lot of players are taking issue with how going first effectively wins you the game. What happened to decks like Future Box, where going second was also a good thing?
4. The Modern Tournament Qualification
This is what's driving Azul and Schemanske to quit. The number of Qualifiers for Tournaments after Worlds '24 has basically shrunk. The 6-2 ratio no longer guarantees you getting into Regionals. That ratio basically sends you into a lottery. If few enough players don't show up, the number of rounds played shrinks too.What now?
Best case scenario: TPCI listens to the barrage of support tickets these fans have and does something. Worst Case scenario: Nothing happens and Azul leaves.I'm just typing into the void.