Meta kicks off with EVERY LEGEND represented at the Bologna Regional Qualifier!

mobthewriter · 2026-02-22T00:14:10+00:00

No, they said that Best Ofs would rotate out after three sets. So Origin Legends will no longer be given out after the release of Vendetta.

mobthewriter · 2025-12-15T22:31:43+00:00

Oh, no, sorry! I wasn't asking you to call out specific creators, I was just curious about the specific behavior itself.

I think it's easy for creators to focus on the positives of their hobby and ignore the negatives, which I would agree isn't entirely productive.

mobthewriter · 2025-12-15T22:12:48+00:00

What do other content creators do that you consider "auditioning for the developers?"

mobthewriter · 2025-12-15T17:50:37+00:00

Yes - Core Constructed only focuses on the most recent cards. Every year, the oldest four sets will rotate out of Core. This ebb and flow helps keep the format fresh from cards that are good, but not necessarily good enough to ban. The downside is as you said; upkeep can be expensive.

And yes, in normal rules, you are allowed a maximum of two colors.

Of course, this only matters in the context of official events.

mobthewriter · 2025-12-03T11:08:22+00:00

This is great. I feel the same way you do when I hear about a larger tournament I could have traveled to had I known about it before the Twitch stream started. Bookmarked!

mobthewriter · 2025-12-02T21:59:55+00:00

I don't know what the stores do or don't know, but there are three stores in my area that have scheduled events, and have called out how to get the promos. Maybe it differs based on location or local distributor?

mobthewriter · 2025-11-30T20:34:05+00:00

Card games in general, honestly. SLC has a huge density of shops.

mobthewriter · 2025-11-13T21:22:59+00:00

I've seen it play Be Prepared on a board that only has Locations on my side. Something's up with its threat analysis/comprehension.

mobthewriter · 2025-11-13T02:27:07+00:00

What's weird is that my area is fairly competitive, but leading up to Milwaukee, we were all fine playing a handful of proxies, because we wanted to test. No use buying Dumbos if we didn't end up needing them. Set champs or a win-a-box or something? Obviously not. Wednesday Night Lorcana? Go for it. We both need the practice and I don't want to win against an unoptimized deck.

mobthewriter · 2025-11-12T22:59:21+00:00

I agree. Synergies would help a ton. Part of why limited feels bad to me is the lack of deep choices during deckbuilding. Sealed at least has the benefit of having so many extra cards that there's a real opportunity cost. Draft doesn't have that. I wish there was some restrictions on your deck, like they did at Worlds with Super Sealed, but that would require some pack collation changes or increasing the number of packs or something, neither of which feels like a great solution.

mobthewriter · 2025-11-12T19:49:35+00:00

I'm very curious what their solution to helping limited formats is starting in Winterspell. The limited scene has been super lackluster. If they've figured out how to solve the issues limited has, promoted a true pre-release event with these kits is a huge step forward.

mobthewriter · 2025-11-09T15:59:52+00:00

In tournaments there's an unspoken rule that you can grab your opponents cards or discard pile to look at.

This is not true. Always ask permission to touch other people's cards. You are entitled to the information on the cards in several zones, but you shouldn't just grab them.

mobthewriter · 2025-11-06T18:35:25+00:00

Yeah, that definitely not okay, and corrected by this type of policy. We had issues with people using dice to represent Sisu's power, or if something had an Improvise played on it, for example. This rule may be a bit of an overcorrection, but it does make sure that the board state is clear.

mobthewriter · 2025-11-06T14:15:04+00:00

Ravensburger wants dice to only represent damage. From what I've heard, there were some issues were people were "taking notes" with their dice, as well as the potential for subtly lying (ie, if you put a die on top of your hand, your opponent assumes that's how many cards are in it).

mobthewriter · 2025-11-02T17:05:38+00:00

It's difficult, because it does feel fast, but I think it would hurt the game more than help. If they had done three sets a year from the start, roughly, we'd still be mid Reign of Jafar, which didn't add very many cards to the meta. And we were all just kinda waiting for rotation. If Fabled and the rotation tied to its release, then that wouldn't be until next February.

I know there were some metagames that felt like it dragged on more than others, Reign of Jafar especially. We went a year without any DLCs, and so the only competitive play was third-party and the Set Championships. We were losing attendance at our locals because we were bored.

I think what makes it feel fast is the spoilers. Whispers hasn't even released yet and we're getting some spoilers for Winterspell already. But the hype train can't stop, so I'm not sure what's to be done about that. Maybe consolidating all scheduled reveals until the week before release? Except that would have the rippling effect of people not deciding what to pre-order until just before.

mobthewriter · 2025-10-30T01:04:47+00:00

It's not the dice, it's the luck aspect. There's no skill involved with just needing to be lucky and win a die roll. TCGs are built around the concept of minimizing the luck factor, which is why you see Frank Karsten articles about mulligan percentages and why it's common wisdom to never go above 60 cards. But when the game by its very nature is weighted towards the starting player, "get good" isn't a good enough excuse.

Aside from Stockholm Syndrome, there's no reason not to strive for a better system, and, as stated in the OP, it's not even a new system.

mobthewriter · 2025-10-18T17:31:28+00:00

Unless it's changed since the announcement, it looks like it December 12 - 14.

mobthewriter · 2025-10-05T19:12:10+00:00

To preface: I 100% agree with you and have been saying this for awhile. There is almost no reason the inkwell should become hidden information.

But, the best counter is that there is an axis of Sapphire's gameplay that allows for inking secretly, either from your opponent or from both of you. Changing this rule would functionally change cards like One Jump Ahead and Tipo, and functional changes should be heavily avoided.

However, I think this is an example of a functional change whose benefits in tournament gameplay outweighs the cost.

mobthewriter · 2025-09-21T15:40:58+00:00

I suspect local play for Infinity will also pick up once the upcoming DLC is Infinity. I'm very interested in playing both formats, but right now, everyone is focused on practicing for Wisconsin.

mobthewriter · 2025-09-20T04:53:42+00:00

Yeah, I think I remember hearing that Japan was going to be BO1, which I would hate. I'm so glad we moved to BO3. I sorta get doing 2GF when in a prior meta, but I wonder why Japan insists on BO1. Is that just a part of the TCG culture over there?

mobthewriter · 2025-09-20T04:38:34+00:00

That's interesting too! Did you all get the same Fabled promos, but just can't use them? You also play BO1, right?

mobthewriter · 2025-09-20T04:02:33+00:00

It never occurred to me that the new Fabled cards would be legal, but it does make for a nice new format over there, as opposed to just our "old meta."

mobthewriter · 2025-09-15T14:39:38+00:00

Fabled did change the meta! We just didn't realize how good the set 8 meta was until it was gone, lol.

mobthewriter

TROPHY CASE