A Closer Look at Ikoria's Companion and Formats in general

I do not think Companion as is is broken.

Even as we see Lurrus run amok initially, there are signs that the other Companions are starting to see play. And more than that some decks are still 5-0  without companions (slivers?? and Gifts Storm and an Izzet Control deck, there could be more).

On the third point some may counter that 3 decks (unconfirmed but I think the number is really moot but I'll play along) is a pittance....

But my counter to that is that there are like half of those so-called broken Companion decks that are LOSING as well. Why don't ppl count them?? 0.o

Seriously ppl the bias is really comical. Bruces keep saying that Companion decks are winning and non-companion decks are losing but they keep cherry picking and mashing data to suit their narrative. Just like Eldrazi winter I guess.

Anyway.

I do not think Companion as is is broken.

In fact I think Companion is a very compelling concept.


I always felt the sideboard is a luxury. Thats what people do not realise, a sideboard is kinda already cheating. So if you feel a particular mechanic is broken... ermm yo'll wanna get rid of your sideboard and play fair? Sounds ridiculous right? Exactly. :P

Anyways ARENA kinda took care of that with the best of one with no sideboards. So I am a happy man.


Now why talk about sideboards, Companion obviously.


But thats why Companion feels broken.


It is your sideboard concept on steroids!


Now rewind back to Karn the Great Creator (henceforth KGC).

KGC is like a reverse companion, he literally fetches you a card from the sideboard at will!

BUT you still need to draw naturally into KGC to get the card. That is the "drawback" of being a card in your library (60 cards). That is the drawback of KGC

Fast-forward to Companion... do you see that they removed KGC and you straight up TUTOR the sideboard card?

That is the power inherent in the concept of Companion.


I know I know, I said I like companions and do not want them ban so why am I highlighting a very potentially bannable approach to looking at it.

I am highlighting because I do not think it is broken... yet. I do not think being able to play Lurrus at will once you hit 3 mana is very powerful. It is being able to play Lurrus once you hit 3 mana at will when your opponent's strategy is to board wipe you and hope you have no recourse after you stupidly overextended. Lurrus lets you come back!

What was the point of the para above? Lurrus is only good against certain decks in certain situations. At best, it lets you come back after being wiped, one permanent a turn. At worse it is a 3/2 with lifelink. Don't get me wrong, its a good card. But it is not the end of the world. It can be exiled, the graveyard can be hated on etc.

Aside:
(another point of irritation, ppl.... the sideboard is for you hate out stuff, yes sometimes a deck is dominant you hate on it, maybe an anti-deck arises... its not broken... it is exactly as it should be, it was like that since Necro, since Combo winter, thats what the bloody sideboard is for. And if you say players left then, well players are leaving now too! Thing is the people who cannot adapt will leave, and really this is for Hasbro and WOTC, do you think these people who will never change their deck will buy new products? Or the people who adapt? Seriously.)
End Aside.


So ya I am still pretty pro Companion and like the concept.

But I cannot deny that it is very powerful. So Lurrus is powerful because it is a tutorable effect that does not need a tutor !! Like you can now fetch a card at will without an in between card (like a tutor, e.g. vampiric tutor, demonic tutor etc). It is powerful when it is played against decks that are weak against it.

Now. What if for every sideboard option, you have a companion equivalent.

Thats why companion in its most pushed form, becomes a sideboard on steroids. If we think of a sideboard as a mechanic. You essentially bring in new cards (not in your 60) and you can only play them in your next game and you have the draw back of having to naturally draw into it (and at the cost of a card in your starting 60). Companion lets you have the card immediately.

Now. This is balanced by the fact that you can have only one companion (phew!). So at best you can only have one tutorable sideboard card. (I checked this here, https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Companion).
Now if you can have multiple Companions.. that would be interesting but would likely make more people unhappy :P

But as it is , you can only have one Companion and I think that is a good decision, else it will be even more powerful.

But as it is I think Companion is not broken, it is an advantage at the cost of a sideboard option. If you use Lurrus for example as a sideboard, then yes Lurrus is strong. But you play a random Companion, you get a tutorable creature, not the most impressive. So it is highly dependent on the ability of the Companion.

And again as is... it does not seem brroken yet. And Companion is a rather compelling design space that I hope will not fall victim to the Bruces out there 0.0

Over the next decade perhaps? WOTC should be able to make some really interesting cards using Companion. And conceptually it like a pet 0.0  I think that kinda is appealing too.



Now about Formats (now is just random rambling). This is something that came out as I thought about Companion. If people really hated it that much they could announce before a tournament will it be Standard or Standard+Companion. It will be essentially two formats =D

But why stop there? I believe eventually you will have custom formats. Already you can do this at a casual level with house rules etc. Imagine if the LGS can have its own ban list, and to not kill value, it can regularly shuffle up the list every few months. Now what about all them broken decks!! Should they not burn forever in Magic's Hell? Being a custom format means you can easily have a rule that says a deck cannot contain a certain combination of cards, so for instance if Hogaak and Faithless Looting are too broken together, you can ban this combination rather than ban the cards wholesale. So you diminish the deck. but you do not kill it. And you do not cause collateral damage to other decks.

Of course this would be a royal mess in terms of global deck building and more importantly for global tournaments. I mean if the format is so fluxxy, how are people going to prepare? Well first of all, remember in my last post, I hinted that part of the problem with the data and the meta in general is people just netdeck blindly. You see it in the Lurrus situation, people blindly netdeck and create and artificial bump in the meta numbers.

Aside rant:
 (and some idiots will say the meta is saturated with 30%, it stupid disingenious or moot, pick one. Even if it is 100%, it is moot until a few months and even then it is dependant on players not netdecking -- I have faith that in a few months the REAL brewers will actually come out with something - Hey during ELdrazi winter they actually did it in a few weeks, so ya, I do have faith in some of the Magic Community, kudos to those who keep the game alive by continuing to express your creativity! Go TEAM OATH ;))
End aside rant


So back to how it will be messy globally, well we can still keep standard, modern, legacy or whatever we have in future, and it is important to have these formats to allow WOTC to have a presence. But at the local level, maybe the LGS can be allowed to sanction custom formats. This will allow more flexibility and freshness in the meta. And most importantly. You cannot netdeck. haha. You can still look at the global lists and build a deck and if it fits the custom format, good for you. But if not? You gotta tweak it. I think this will force people to put more effort in deckbuilding and encourage more exploration of cards. It will also kinda obviate globally available lists to the point that you should be able to make the data irrevlevant. Why is that good? You cannot netdeck. haha. Really. Killing netdecking will save the game. It will also divide and conquer the bruces. Having flexible local custom formats will also allow LGS to make every one happy, ban hogaak for a month then next month is a hogaak special etc. Now this concept should not be that strange to gamers. Its like the old online game "mage" something where you build your kingdom, you can PVP other players but at the end of the year thhe server is reset. Think of the meta shifts as reset. (I think this is partly why alot of people get upset when their meta resets... it is normal to online oldish tech people (like myself)... imagine if Chess changed rules every few months !!)

Anyway thats about all I have to rant about today.

Is Ikoria broken?

The correct answer should be :

Currently nobody knows.

However already you already have the bruces baying for blood.

As per expectation, anything playable is deemed broken.

Even if nothing in particular is dominating... incredulously 0.o




Now my opinion:

Ikoria cards are NOT broken.


Now I feel that Ikoria cards can go two ways:

Current mass playing of cards is actually normal, sincefor every new set for the first month or two, people will use it willy nilly.

Whats more, the playbook s almost already written for how to use these cards, so its easy to use them.

Is that a problem? Apparently the usual whiners think so :(


Now the only difference between the past sets and now is that, the decks utilising the new cards are winning.

Does it mean the cards are good? Maybe.


Thing is, some decks are still not playing the cards but are 5-0.

And in fact for Vintage it looks like after thhe initial salvo of decks, there seems to be a drop in the number of decks actually sporting the new companion cards.

For legacy it is less clear.

But again this can g two ways and both with companion cards looking like the way they are now.

1) Its a fad. People are just testing it out.

Now I cannot tell you the number of times a new card is used does well, supposedly fits with a deck. The inexplicably, it is dropped about a month or two later.

I suspect this is what is happening with some decks in modern and legacy. Certainly in vintage.


2) It is actually good.

Now this seems to be the case for some decks in legacy. And I suspect this to be true too. But heres the thing, just because it beats the current decks does it mean it is broken?

Just because you need to play it to win, does it mean it is broken.

Just because you need to adapt, does it mean it is broken.

Now. We are only 2 weeks into Ikoria. Please... what adaptation has there been?

But yet you have jokers that are collating data to say the decks are broken.

Please read the post before this, to know my thoughts on that.

Esseentially, the data is just reflecting current interest in the new cards, and given the net decking addiction, you will see big numbers playing these decks.

Now I think Ikoria decks are truly not broken.

It is just that the companion cards are the new planeswalkers.

The only difference is that back in the days of Lorwyn, the whiners have not become thhe vocal minoriy that we see now. Back in the days of Lorwyn, the data of decklists are not ABUSED. Yes I use the word ABUSE. Because the way we use data is abnormal. Data should be used to finetune your decks. But we are just COPYING the decks.

Magic will DIE not from seemingly "broken" cards, but from the addled minds that cannot build new decks or adapt new decks.

Now why I think companion is not brooken? It is the new planeswalker. there is nothing to answer it. Already you can tell from what players are saying. It cannot be removed by standard modes of interaction, you cannot discard it, you might be able to counter it.  You cannot even cap it.

That it what makes it look "powerful". The fact that it is a new zone literally.

The solution is really to build answers.

The so called broken portion is thhe ability to play it from the sideboard. Once it can be interacted with , it will no longer be "broken" ....

So its not so much that companion is broken, it is more that a new zone of play has been opened and it is not fully developed. (Hence it currently cannot be interacted with).

Now.

Asumming the ability to play from sideboard, and hence "not being able to be interacted with" is so powerful. ANd you have to play it to remain competitive.

Does that mean it is broken 0.o ??


I mean this change in attitude is so strange and defeatist.

1) You have NOT demonstrated desire to adapt.

2) You refuse to play the new mechanic. Is'nt it normal that sometimes new mechanics come and people use it?

This is abit like Oko. Oko was just a little too flexible for its own good.

If it were to cost 1GG or  1UU rather than 1GU, it might have been slightly harder to fit and hence be deemed less ubitiqous.

Its really sad when Oko was banned, UG was still rampant in all the formats that it was banned. What this means is that either URO is equally broken, OR its just that UG has been powered up. :/

So banning Oko does nothing really, except now you do not need to play Oko to have the BEST version of your deck. Now you have to play URO .

You realise how STUPID that sounds. but that what everyone (at least the vocal minority) is asking for.

Its sad really.


Anyways, if anyone reads this. I beseech you to wait at least 3-4 months before banning anything.

The banning of Breach the Underworld in legacy was particularly stupid.


Or don't listen keep banning.


Modern is in a sad state for its bannings, there are more slots in the grave for other formats :)