Kryptik Coliseum is on its way! Kicking off a series of events from KG, and while we’ve been focusing on a variety of formats and tournament experiences,[1] honing the best of what this particular game mode can offer, we are excited to get cracking with multideck formats.
We’ve seen a pretty nice diversity of decks on ladder, where a deck often needs to be focused on winning as many kinds of matchups as possible, but the lurking consideration of tournament deck presents an interestingly different challenge. While obviously you need to be prepared for many matchups, selecting decks which can consistently execute game plans in a best of three round often pushes toward strategies which are less likely to misfire, and which offer as many outs as possible.
The Yellow Green Boogeyman
The looming threat of Yellow Green Volition,[2] which had haunted beta through nerfs and a shifting landscape of aggressive decks, came to fruition in Flashpoint II. While Valkyries could fend off many of them, the sheer prevalence of the deck in the tournament scene saw an expertly piloted YG deck take Gerren to a rather smooth victory. While we should be careful to note[3] that deck diversity isn’t necessarily a goal unto itself, so much as a tool which may help see a more vibrant and fun tournament scene, in addition to a competitive one, the proliferation of this deck led me to consider the tools available to tournament organizers.
Multideck Formats as an Answer
Multideck formats seemed like a pleasing solution to the problems presented by bo3 series, especially when YG mirrors were lengthy affairs on their own. While faction-based games like Hearthstone or Shadowverse can readily establish multideck formats by simply having each deck belong to a different faction, the question of how to approach the concept of a “different” deck in Mythgard was elegantly addressed by the foundational rules of these formats. The player is required to consider all three decks as though they belong to one large pool of cards, paths, and powers, and thus their total aggregate of decks are subjected to the deckbuilding restrictions set out by the rarity of cards, having no more than four of any common, three of any uncommon, two of any rare, and one of any mythic among all three decks. Similarly paths and powers must be unique for all three decks,[4] and this ensures that we do not simply see three copies of the same list with minor changes, but instead three completely different decks.
KG Test I
Testing out the Conquest format, in which the deck that wins a match within the round can no longer be played, KG Test I, on September 25th, was a rousing success. Deck Diversity in the Top 4 was pretty exciting! We saw not only a variety of Color patterns, but even within similar color combinations, there were many possibilities for diverging strategies, seeing both variations on the concepts of Yellow Orange Control, but completely different decks in a GP spirit burn versus a focused GP Necromantic.
KG Test I Top 4:
GP Spirit Burn
GP Necromantic
BR midrange
YO Control (rainbow)
YO Control (fires)
RO Valuetown
BY Control (rainbow)
R Aggro
G Spells
B Valkyries
B Valkyries
RG Valueville
While there were many classics represented in this list, mono Blue Valkyires, RG and RO value-based midrange decks, and newcomers like GP Spirit Burn, L0gick won his rounds by bringing some more exciting tricks. GP Spirit Burn fulfilled a lot of aggressive needs in punishing slower builds, but YO Rainbow Control[5] provided exceptional board-based control tools to trip up Valkyries and RO Minions alike. A heady BR Midrange deck similarly afforded the tempo tools that are common to RO and RG midrange decks, but backed by Einherjar Thanes and Valkyire Enforcers to maintain this tempo and to facilitate more two-way play from minions that can play both offense and defense. [6]
L0gick noted well that while the Spirit Burn was largely a fun deck, we can see that by freeing up the Blue cards that would normally go in Valkyries in a more traditional aggro option, BR Midrange became an option for something different in third slot. Keeping the Control slot with YO, but in a more vibrantly board-based deck,[7] which utilized Hammam Retreat to protect Minion even from their own Misanthropia, these decks offered a variety of options, all of which saw play as L0gick went undefeated in five rounds of Swiss.
KG Test II
Test II, held a week later, saw the same sort of deck diversity, with some tightening in archetypes but now we had excellent examples of the shifting and maneuvering of competitors in these events which will, with any luck, become quite regular. While KG’s own LendoKaar brought a stable of utterly reliable and orthodox decks,[8] L0gick had even more interesting and peculiar decks, making counterpicks that much more difficult. Lendo opened with Valkyries, an excellent choice to catch an opponent off-guard, but L0gick met this with a YO deck that bathed our poor Valkyries in toxic chemicals and defensive Minions that couldn’t quite be vroomed past. Then Lendo’s masterful YG Spells deck clashed with L0gick’s famous pet project, OP Disk, known affectionately as The Impossible Deck[9] ultimately leading to a draw via Plague Maidens after L0gick’s continuous stream of chumps and Smite blasts put YG Spells just out of lethal range many times.[10] Lendo sent back the old reliable YG Spells but ran into an even greedier deck if you can believe this, and L0gick was given ample time to go over the top with an insane BG Spellflux deck!
The Mythgard Open
The possibilities of these multideck formats settled a little in the Mythgard Open, as the expansive prize pool pushed players to more tried and true decks, but there was still room for tricks among the decks present, for GP Spirit Burn and Purple Necromantic alongside the staples of Valkyries and YG Spells, and even Madoka’s upstart YR Aggro making appearances!
Deck Bans
The newest component of this equation, showcased in the Mythgard Open, were deck bans, and this is still something that I am considering carefully for future formats.[11] While the ability to simply not face YG Spells or any other deck that is perceived as a disproportionate threat can help make more decks actually playable in this competitive environment, it can also clash with the rules of the multideck formats. If your control tools are primarily tied up in a Blue Yellow Control deck, for example, an opponent with many aggressive options could simply remove all of your Thunderclaps and Misanthropias from appearing and now to simply roll over your remaining decks.
Conquest Vs Last Deck Standing
In the Conquest format, this is particularly difficult as the player who loses the first match needs to win with both of their decks, giving the player who has already won the advantage of testing multiple matchups and needing to win only once with their remaining deck to succeed.[12] Last Deck Standing on the other hand, a format which features the same rules for deck construction as Conquest, but in which the deck that loses is taken out of rotation can make better use of the ban function. When selecting decks for Last Deck Standing, you have the advantage of a potential counterpick, that is to say that in Conquest, if you lose to Valkyries with RO Valuetown, that Valkyries deck is now gone and your Control deck that would have matched well into it will have to hope that it matches well into something else. On the other hand in Last Deck Standing, you get to pick the new deck into your opponent’s winning deck, and if you have banned properly the things that you don’t have strong counters to in your three decks, you will have a fighting chance to make up for that loss in the first match.
Looking to the Future
All of this is to say that in kicking off our official events, we expect to evolve and grow with the community and will be looking forward to any and all feedback! While we know that competitive play has a lot to offer in Mythgard we want to showcase the best that we have to offer in terms of competitive balance and fun. We will be running a Test Event on Thursday October 22nd to get everyone prepared for this new format and excited about The Boneyard Shuffle so bring your best decks and let us see who will be the last one standing!
Footnotes
[1] KG’s original 2v2 league as well as my pauper tournaments here. [2] Mercifully the days of Boneyard Abomination dealing dozens of damage from hand are behind us, and may version of this deck now have moved beyond the use of Volition to sneak out a “quick” win on turn 20.
[3] As Daysundoing frequently points out [4] Though I am interested in relaxing this restriction as I’m not sure it necessarily contributes to the fun and effectiveness of promoting deck diversity.
[5] path: rainbow's end power: impel 2 clay effigy
3 maze of iyatiku 3 beimeni falls 4 hyperfit ultragym 4 venomfang mutant 4 meso libre 2 ollama ring 2 misanthropia 1 twin blanque 1 twin junah 1 xiomara, earthshaper 1 sapo, the devourer 3 hammam retreat 1 lamp of wonders 1 desertification engine 1 jaza'eri arquebus 2 peri at the gates 1 scion of pride 2 guardian plateau 1 herald of pestilence
[6] path: coliseum of strife power: infuse 4 einherjar thane 3 higher ground 1 black hatter 2 bragi's ballad 2 fossegrim 1 bragi runesinger 1 kara mourningwives 2 valkyrie enforcer 1 magnus thorsson 2 allfather's horn 1 extract life 4 ironflesh performer 4 daring trapezists 2 ichor feast 3 vampire historian 1 the oak of dodona 2 wings of abaddon 2 magmataur 1 gigantomachia 1 seven ring ritual
[7] L0gick didn’t even play Armageddon Angel in this deck because its own boards were so massive!
[8] YG Spells, RO Valuetown, and Mono Blue Valkyries
[9] Listed in official records as number 2, but I recall there being many more iterations.
[10] We may have to scour VODs to see if we have anything from this incredible match. *Editors Note* The VOD does catch the last few minutes of this match!
[11] Though presently, all multideck formats must include deck bans so some consideration will need to wait to see if that option is changed.
[12] L0gick, I believe can explain this more lucidly and I can only assure you that all decisions are made in consultation with top players.