A format of Attrition

[thefreakaccident]

I think that the format is getting slower.

Since the format has been flooded with high-quality threats for little cost, one would think that games would simply get quicker, and therefore increase the speed of the format as a whole, but I have been seeing the opposite, which is strange.

People's threats may have gotten more efficient, but the answers for those threats have also increased in numbers, where it becomes a war of attrition where people get to their final threats they can protect and win with those.


With threshold now incorperating CB/top as its' primary control mechanism... everyone know how the game comes to a stop until one person blinks and actually trying to win the game.

And Landstill being a DTB once again, there are at least one in every top 8 that I see...


Even goblins has had to change its' strategy into a much slower one simply due to the fact that Tarmogoyf is such a wall... sure they are the same exact cards that have the ability to go for the win, but often they are not given that chance any more in the given meta, and have to build up and swarm.


Sure, someone could drop a phyrexian dreadnought turn two, but most of the times they will not... they will wait until they know it is safe, then go for it once they have control... therefore almost defeating the purpose, right? Of having the huge monster in their deck... just for the rare occasion of racing after turn two.


I am seeing far too much of agro-control deck playing draw go, just because they have 'goyfs looking at eachother with no way to get by... or them dispatching eachothers threats and looking for answers/kill-cons off the top...




I am not complaining, although it did sound like it... it just seems that there is something really strange going on with the metagame that nobody is pointing out. For some reason, because everything has more powerful early game potential, the games seem to have gotten much longer than they used to.


My question:

What do you think about all of this?

[georgjorge]

I agree with most the analysis, but I think the threats have changed: No-one is impressed by a second turn Goyf, but getting CBalance before your opponent does is very important (even if it's not on the second turn), and so is dropping Standstill before the opponent has threats on the table. Being able to Stifle the first land and Sinkhole the second one DOES enable you to out-tempo the opponent if you can follow it with a Goyf or 'Stalker. Playing a first turn Chalice or second turn Trinisphere can also destroy your game, while it wouldn't do so on the fourth or fifth turn.

But it's true that there are many games where you fight a war of attrition, which is why non-storm combo decks like Aluren or Painter have a hard time - you trade your cards one-for-one, and in the end the opponent will have one more card than you because you'll sit on a Grindstone or Recruiter after he has traded some disruption for your other combo piece.

[SpikeyMikey]

I was thinking the exact same thing. The tempo decks play more like draw-go than they do tempo. They're still capable of going aggressive with early critters and enough counters to get through for 20, but usually, it's "find CB, resolve CB" and then half your mana goes into playing permission to every card your opponent casts.

In fact, you can see the evolution of thresh; the deck is becoming more and more centered around CB. If you can execute that plan, you're doing great, but CB has become such a focal point for the deck that if you don't resolve it, you've actually got a pretty weak deck.

Strangely, despite the overall slowing of the format, the first few turns have become increasingly important. The tempo gained or lost early is such a huge swing that Daze and Stifle are almost auto-inclusions in anything blue. Daze is for certain and Stifle is close to it. The importance of 1 and 2 mana spells, and the loading of CB decks to prepare for it, makes CotV the best card in the format right now, IMO. The problem is, finding a deck that can effectively utilize it. That means not running any 1 mana spells and few if any 2 mana spells, which is difficult if you don't start with CotV or any accel in your opening grip.

It certainly makes for an interesting puzzle, and I'm never happier than when I have a metagame knot to gnaw at.