This was initially going to be a fuller article, but I gave up on it. Still, I put some work into it so I thought I'd leave it here.
One of the fundamental problems with any TCG is the concept
known as the ‘power creep’. In order to drive players to buy new cards, Konami
needs to do one of two things. First, they can create more diversified cards
that allow for a greater number of play styles and more deck diversity. Second,
and perhaps more obviously, Konami can develop more powerful cards. Convincing
players to drop their previous decks is as easy as releasing a new deck that is
even stronger. It’s simple stuff, though there is one problem: some players
don’t want to switch decks.
Spending money is…well, expensive! This hobby can get very
pricy if you jump from deck to deck; following the trends set by the rest of
the metagame. In a perfect world players would find a strategy they enjoy using
and stick with it. However, that outlook isn’t ideal for Konami. In order to
make more money they need to convince players that they haven’t bought enough product. Again, it’s all about
releasing more powerful and diversified cards. The problem is that this trend
can’t continue forever.
Solutions – Lists and
Counters
In order to keep competitive play from being oversimplified
into FTKs, the forbidden and limited list is Konami’s most powerful tool for
maintaining balance. Cards that are detrimental to the game are completely
removed, while those that are simply too powerful at three per deck are knocked
down to two or one. It’s simple, effective, and kills two birds with one stone.
In addition to balancing, the list also promotes large swings in the metagame.
The return of Heavy Storm had a strong influence throughout all levels of
competition. Running nearly ten traps was common before the September 2011, but
afterwards it was rare to see more than five. More importantly, these changes
in the direction of the game help to push product. It’s hard to deny that
Konami had a secondary agenda in limiting and banning four of the best tuners
and one (if not the) best synchro in
the game. Xyz monsters, and cards that support them, are much higher in demand
as a result of the March 2012 list.
There are two aspects of the banlist that negate the power
creep:
11.
The banning of a card that is simply too
powerful to remain legal
22.
Introducing inconsistency by limiting the number
a card or its supporters
I already mentioned the first part, so I’ll focus on the
second. Lightsworn is a great example of balancing via inconsistency. Judgment
Dragon is absurdly strong, but it requires a great deal of luck to summon it.
This is compounded by the fact that Charge of the Light Brigade and Lumina,
Lightsworn Summoner are on the banlist. Both cards were placed there in order
to make Lightsworns inconsistent. It certainly worked, and the deck rarely tops
at highly competitive events. Most of the time hitting a critical combo piece
or a card or a key recruiter will drop the consistency of a deck dramatically.
Notice that some of the best cards that let you search your deck are somewhere
on the list. Things like Reinforcements of the Army, Stratos, Emergency
Teleport, and Sangan are good examples of this.
The final way that Konami fixes the power creep is to
introduce counters. Special summoning decks were countered with Royal
Oppression and Maxx “C”. Monster Effects lose to Skill Drain, Fiendish Chain, and
Effect Veiler. I could go on with examples, but needless to say nearly every
aspect of this game can be countered in some form. Given enough ways to counter
a card, anything can cease to be a threat. Decks rise and fall based on what
counter-techs are popular at the time. Players tend to exaggerate the effects
of this balancing method. Strong, consistent strategies will naturally rise to
the top of the metagame. Those decks become a target for players to try and
beat by running specific counter-tech, usually in the side deck. In fact, the
side deck has become increasingly important over the last few formats. Back in
2010 players were calling that summer a ‘side-deck’ format. Interestingly
enough, having counters on the side that would completely dismantle opposing
strategies was a relatively new phenomenon.
The Flaws of Konami’s
System
Let’s recap: The power creep is the result of Konami needing
to convince players that they need to buy new product, and thus more diverse
and incrementally stronger cards must be developed. To solve the problems
presented by the power creep, the forbidden and limited lists remove extremely
problematic cards from the game and reduce the consistency of other strategies.
In addition, new cards are released that counter existing strategies in an
effort to weaken them.
Unfortunately, these solutions overlook something very
important: luck. The ways that
Konami tries to balance this game do not account for random chance that helps a player. Let’s go back through
the methods listed earlier. To start with, creating artificial inconsistencies would
be a great way to limit the effectiveness of a strategy…in theory. Real life
results are often very different. Cards like Gateway of the Six and Black
Whirlwind were limited to reduce the likelihood that players would open with
them. Yet, it’s still possible for a Samurai duelist to star the duel off with
United, Gateway, and an easy way to get Shi En. A Lightsworn player can still
mill Wulf consistently and drop Judgment Dragon whenever they like so long as
they are lucky enough.
Remember that the second method for creating balance is to
introduce counters. There’s a catch here too: if you don’t have that specific
counter then you’re out of luck. Sure, there are a number of cards that can
stop a first turn Wind-Up loop. Effect Veiler, Maxx “C”, D.D. Crow and a few
others can put an end to it. But what happens when you don’t open with those
cards? Yep, you’re down to one card in hand. Likewise if other heavily
combo-oriented decks like Infernity or Inzektor go off and you lack the
appropriate counter, you’re going to lose. There’s nothing you can do about it,
the plays are just too good. You cannot crack an Infernity setup which has
Infernity Barrier, Void Ogre Dragon, and other backrow. It’s been said before,
and it needs to be said again: counters are not a valid argument when
discussing the power of a card. Chaos Emperor Dragon loses out to Effect Veiler
and Bottomless Trap Hole, but I’d be hard pressed to find someone who would
argue that it should be legal.
This poses an important question. Why should I be punished
because I didn’t draw into a hand trap in the first two turns? The first six
cards you draw are the most important, even more so than the rest of your deck.
Skill is minimized in the place of luck in many cases. Power cards require only
that you draw into them, and explosive combos make themselves available
randomly rather than through planning. One analogy that I’m found of is the
power weapons in Halo (yes, as in the video game). Weapons that dominate the
battlefield and give a huge advantage to the team that controls them are not
randomly distributed. Instead they are claimed by players who have the best
planning and skill.
Sure, being a better player is going to get you more wins
overall, but how many matches will the better player lose to sheer luck? Yes,
this is a card game and luck will always be a huge factor but minimizing it
should be Konami’s biggest priority.
Patching Holes
In order to reduce luck as much as possible Konami needs to
do two things: ban more cards, and introduce more game mechanics that promote
resource management or acquisition rather than OTK combos. Making more cards
forbidden helps to deter the luck factor of drawing into those ‘game-winners’
like Black Luster Soldier, Monster Reborn, Dark Hole, Heavy Storm, or Future
Fusion. A Dragon player who opens with Future Fusion will almost always win
against one who does not. It’s just that good. Once again you have a player
being punished because he/she was not lucky enough. By eliminating those cards
altogether the opening hand decreases in importance.
Drawing cards is simply too slow for the current metagame.
In fact, it was never really a viable option for players. If you want to win,
you’re going to have to generate advantage on your own. This causes conflicts
with the idea that counters help to balance other powerful cards. If you don’t
draw the counter you’re bound to get stomped on. Many combos are only stoppable
through unsearchable.
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