Beyond the Wall, Season 2 Episode 11

I went through a whole journey there:

"Alex is right, mill is awful" -> "Woah Alex, you're laying it on a bit strong here" -> "I'll show you! I'll build a mill deck, using this new guy as he was intended to be used, and it'll be great!" -> "oh wait no it won't, mill is awful, let's not bother".

Byes are silly prizes anyways IMO. I used one at Worlds in 2013 and regretted it. Why do I want to sit around when I could be playing Thrones? Byes create the temptation to scout, and furthermore I don't think that one tournament should have any bearing on another tournament. Everyone should be on equal footing each time. 

On the byes, I won 4 last year and made a deliberate point of not using a single one. I TO'd our local tournament, so I'd travelled a good way to attend the ones I participated in (including travelling across the Atlantic for one), so why would I want to go all that way and not play? I then proceeded to make only 1 cut out of 4 in the regionals, so I'm not sure what that says.

Many see the bye as the main prize at these events. If everyone should be on equal footing (and i like that idea) then they need to change their SC prize structure or just change their organized play in general. For me AGoT is about fun but when i go to a major event i want to also play to win and i hope my opponents are playing to win as well. I don't want to get a win from someone just because they did not care enough about the tournament to play a competitive deck. My very favorite games are the hard fough ones win or lose.

Original article updated with links to the card images!

I was pretty surprised to learn about the change in byes this year, especially since it didn't seem like FFG announced it anywhere. I think that this rule change disincentivizes players who win SCs from traveling to play in more. I'm not a fan of the "everybody gets a prize" school of thought. Frankly, I would rather gain a prize by winning than by being runner-up to someone who has already won.

I was pretty surprised to learn about the change in byes this year, especially since it didn't seem like FFG announced it anywhere. I think that this rule change disincentivizes players who win SCs from traveling to play in more. I'm not a fan of the "everybody gets a prize" school of thought. Frankly, I would rather gain a prize by winning than by being runner-up to someone who has already won.

That's exactly what happened in every LCG I play this year in Montreal, win one SC, stop attending others. So, the earlier you hosted, the more players you got.

I played in 4 AGoT SC, 3 Star Wars SC, 3 Conquest SC and 2 CoC SC. I won all 3 Conquest and the 2nd AGoT one, but I enjoy the games and kept going to every tournament I could go to. 

But the reality is that FFG OP is terrible, it has been for years, and until they do a 180 on how OP prize support should be done, we are stuck with the system.

Even Asmodee emulates FFG's OP strategy now.

That's exactly what happened in every LCG I play this year in Montreal, win one SC, stop attending others. So, the earlier you hosted, the more players you got.

I played in 4 AGoT SC, 3 Star Wars SC, 3 Conquest SC and 2 CoC SC. I won all 3 Conquest and the 2nd AGoT one, but I enjoy the games and kept going to every tournament I could go to. 

 

But the reality is that FFG OP is terrible, it has been for years, and until they do a 180 on how OP prize support should be done, we are stuck with the system.

 

Even Asmodee emulates FFG's OP strategy now.

What does OP stand for in this context?  I think I figured out the "P" stands for prize, but in a card game thread, OP can stand for multiple things and I can't shake "over powered" and "original poster" out of my head.

OP = Organized Play

The frist SC around here got 21 or 22 players for AGoT the last one only had 11. I know for a fact that at least 2 players did not come since they had already won SCs and these may have effected some of their friends from going too.

OP = Organized Play

 

The frist SC around here got 21 or 22 players for AGoT the last one only had 11. I know for a fact that at least 2 players did not come since they had already won SCs and these may have effected some of their friends from going too.

Thanks Jon!

I won my first SC, then stopped taking tier 1 Jaime decks to the others and mysteriously my results dried up. But I'd have totally been more ruthless in my deck selection if the plaque had been more Magali art rather than that Tyrion.
 
(no offense to Sebastian Giacobino, you did a great job of making Tyrion look hideous, it's just I don't want it on a plaque)

I also took a jank-ish deck to a store championship after winning a previous one. I don't care for the bye either way, but the lack of other incentives to win (I only need so many playmats and deckboxes) meant I was just playing to have fun. 

What kind of prize support would add incentive to winning multiple Store Championships? 

Damphair's Drowned may as well be a tricon, but yes, it's nice to have another one available even if the ability is garbage.

I did not talk about this on the show but i wish ffg would do a point system for prizes where you could use your points to get everything from deck boxs to card design depending on how many you had. I think it would really make every SC, regional or national count for something.

CCG-era prize support would be awesome. I've heard about the Golden Dragon system before and it's a shame that they discontinued it. The reboot would be an excellent time to bring it back.

I agree i think that the old prize support would be so cool. You can use your points right away to get small stuff or save up for the big prizes.....would be so cool.

Many see the bye as the main prize at these events. If everyone should be on equal footing (and i like that idea) then they need to change their SC prize structure or just change their organized play in general. For me AGoT is about fun but when i go to a major event i want to also play to win and i hope my opponents are playing to win as well. I don't want to get a win from someone just because they did not care enough about the tournament to play a competitive deck. My very favorite games are the hard fough ones win or lose.

Anyone can win with a solid deck play-tested 100 times. The fun for me is winning with a deck I put together in the moment and find interesting to play or set personal restrictions on myself to make things more challenging.

Anyone can win with a solid deck play-tested 100 times. The fun for me is winning with a deck I put together in the moment and find interesting to play or set personal restrictions on myself to make things more challenging.

I am not sure if that is true. Two players both with decks they have played 100 times playing each other makes the game come down to skill in that given match. Know that being said i love challenges i once took a different house / agenda to every regional i played one year just to push my self and have a good time.

Anyone can win with any deck really because everyone can get lucky. Building a solid deck for any tournament is a skill it self. Building a solid deck no one has ever taken to victory before is even harder and takes a ton of work.

great podcast guys! makes my commute much better.

The best part about mill is how most players still hate their guts out when they get milled, when in reality you are doing absolutely nothing with the mill. Mill can really work only in a slow control filled environment where they will let you have the room to do the milling and then win the game after their deck is done, I don't think the meta will go there anymore in 1.0.

Now I do wish Greyjoy had some more selfmill since I have always liked cards like priest of the drowned god.

i don't mind the concept, but playing against it feels like a chore and therefore isn't very fun.