DTB Selection process

[HammafistRoob]

Am I the only one who thinks 13 decks in the DTB section is way to many? Maybe we need to bump up the amount of points it takes to become a DTB? Discuss.

Or, more likely, tell me I'm an idiot because I honestly have no idea how the system works.

[Whippoorwill]

This post (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?5460-DTBF-Philosophy-amp-Deck-Selection&p=555464&viewfull=1#post555464) explains how the decks are selected.

[from Cairo]

I don't see how it matters. If there were less "DTBs" there would be more "Established Decks". I mean that where the threads are placed is of little matter. In this case Nihil's chosen a cut off indicating that the deck makes up, I believe, 4%+ of placings in the previous month. The information is made available both on this site and TCDecks breaking down what % of the T8 metagame each archetype represented. So if one is only concerned with the top 4-5 decks of the past month or decks that make up 10% of T8 finishes, etc., that information is readily available and individuals can elect to do with that information whatever they please.

Personally, I really appreciate that Nihil posts the charts showing T8 representation of the "DTBs" and most of the "Established Decks" as well, more information is always nice to have when going into larger events. Which subforum I have to click to read the thread is largely irrelevant.

[catmint]

Thought about it as well, but having a more dynamic entry level bar would require some good formula how the % is calculated (maybe also dependent on "top heavy" the score is). There was a time where maverick, stoneblade and canadian have been so dominant that a DTB section with only 3 decks would reflect what is going on (check out Jan-Mai 2012). Right now the meta is so diverse - it is tough to make a call so a larger DTB section with ~10 feels right to me.

Actually if you look at the table of June 2013 the data shown here (http://tcdecks.net/tierdecks.php)is quite different from our update (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?5460-DTBF-Philosophy-amp-Deck-Selection&p=738004&viewfull=1#post738004) - seems like many reports came in late.

The cutoff would be at 9 decks with D&T as the last DTB, which feels right.

[Star|Scream]

Am I the only one who thinks 13 decks in the DTB section is way to many?

On the contrary. I think it's indicative of a healthy format.

[HammafistRoob]

Thank you all for the well thought out replies, you bring up very good points. I also appreciate the time Nihil puts in, and he also does a good job of throwing in some laughs as well.

[Finn]

"Which decks are 'decks to beat'" was a huge controversy that took literally years to resolve. In the end, the format grew to the point where this method was possible after many ineffective ones before it. Lets let sleeping dogs lie.

[Justin]

The main point of having a list of "Decks to Beat" is that players can know what they should test against before playing a tournament with an unknown meta. Most people don't have the time to test against 13 decks. So I can see the OP's point. The best bet, I guess, is to test against as many of the top-ranked decks that you have time for.

[Barook]

The main point of having a list of "Decks to Beat" is that players can know what they should test against before playing a tournament with an unknown meta. Most people don't have the time to test against 13 decks. So I can see the OP's point. The best bet, I guess, is to test against as many of the top-ranked decks that you have time for.

I fail to see the problem here, though, since the thread also provides data about the overall performance of the deck. E.g. for the July update, RUG Delver and BUG Shardless were by far the top performers.