[How often do you play Highlander (highlandermagic.info rules)?]

This survey was handed out by Council member Thrias to the Vienna Community in October 2019. 18 people took part in the survey. (There are some differences to the previous survey versions, which are also noticeable in the evaluations. I will address it in the appropriate places.)

How often do you play Highlander (highlandermagic.info rules)?
(absolute frequencies)




How satisfied are you with the format currently on a scale from 1 to 10 (1=not at all, 10=very much)?
(absolute frequencies)




(mean)
(median -> resistant to outliers)




satisfaction according to how often Highlander is played
unlike in other regions, playfulness correlates positively with satisfaction




These card(s) should be banned:
(absolute frequencies)
(relative frequencies)




Reasonings (single cards):
(I tried to make the written reasonings as unadulterated as possible, even if there were synonymous formulations (eg "too strong" vs. "too powerful").)
survey had a different layout
-> complete banned list + additional specific cards were given
-> also comments on cards that are judged the same by the whole area (eg Black Lotus -> 12/18 comments, why it should stay banned)
-> because of the mass of comments/ workload I had to cut/ focus on the more important candidates

Demonic Tutor:
- acceptable tutor
- efficient
- always included II
- makes combos easier
- too strong II
- not too strong
- good but not broken
- sorcery speed
- costs one turn
- auto include in every black deck
- some tutors should be legal
- not overpowered
- format defining
- the reason to play black
- splashable tutor

Dig Through Time:
- have no problems with it
- too efficient
- important for control
- you rarely lose after DTT
- not too strong II
- if you want to weaken blue ban DTT
- + cards in hand -> too many choices/options
- good but not broken
- if you want to weaken blue ban delve cards
- control should stay playable
- too strong
- fair because of delve
- not problematic as a one off
- needs setup

Entomb:
- have no problems with it
- fifty fifty
- strong tutor
- tough but not as strong as demonic
- not too strong
- good but not broken
- no broken targets
- not format defining
- possibly fair enough in 100 cards
- combo enabler
- card disadvantage

Mana Drain:
- not fun but ok
- not as explosive as expected
- mostly not much better than counterspell II
- not too strong
- good but not broken
- auto include in nearly every blue deck
- control should stay playable
- really weak
- only really playable counterspell
- lack of counterspells
- just a counterspell
- much too strong
- wins random games

Tainted Pact:
- like it
- should not be banned
- difficult to play
- has disadvantages in some decks
- drawback big enough
- instant
- not too strong
- good but not broken
- interesting deck building
- 100 card singleton needs good tutors
- removes half of the deck anyway
- does hurt nobody
- deck requirement
- not so good as one thinks

Tolarian Academy:
- don't like it
- don’t understand card/deck good enough
- fifty fifty
- a meta correction would be necessary (more control or Aven Mindcensor / Ashiok effects)
- Imba combo shit
- too constant
- not too strong
- price of the deck shouldn’t be a reason for non-ban
- good but not broken
- …
- enough counterplay II
- power
- no autopilot
- needs skill to win
- too broken if you build the deck correct
- produce too much mana in the right color
- too fast, too much mana

Treasure Cruise:
- is ok
- one strong delve spell should stay
- weaker than DTT
- not sure
- not too strong
- good but not broken
- not strong enough
- = recall
- not op in 100 card singleton
- fair because of delve
- not problematic as a one off
- needs setup


Following cards were asked as well, even though they are currently not on the Watchlist

Karakas:
- don’t think it is strong
- has real costs in deck building
- important against reanimate
- want to play legendaries
- not too strong
- good but not broken
- too random
- often frustrating
- i like to play it xD
- maybe really too good, but necessary for some decks
- can be easily answered
- good answer card
- necessary maledy

Oath of Druids:
- strong and something to be looked at, but don’t really think it should be banned
- every deck has a lot of ways around it
- imba combo shit
- one card combo
- not too strong
- mostly needs a specific answer immediately
- good but not broken
- too oppressive against creatures
- power tutor
- for many decks an autolose
- one card combo is too strong
- one card combo bullshit with Emrakul
- deck requirements
- not as good as one thinks

Scapeshift:
- is ok but should be watched
- turn 6 kill is Ok in Highlander
- in Highlander very fair
- would ban the whole deck
- not too strong
- good but not broken
- too consistent for speed
- in my opinion at the moment not op
- one card combo is too strong
- cool card
- made an own deck -> deck diversity
- needs set up


These card(s) should be unbanned:
(absolute frequencies)
(relative frequencies)




Reasonings (single cards):
(I tried to make the written reasonings as unadulterated as possible, even if there were synonymous formulations (eg "too strong" vs. "too powerful").)
survey had a different layout
-> complete banned list + additional specific cards were given
-> also comments on cards that are judged the same by the whole area (eg Black Lotus -> 12/18 comments, why it should stay banned)
-> because of the mass of comments/ workload I had to cut/ focus on the more important candidates

Skullclamp:
- please no
- fifty fifty
- would make Aristocrats and Elves decks more playable, but very strong
- imba
- totally fine
- makes new archetypes possible
- card advantage too strong
- pushes creature decks
- power
- too strong
- format defining
- only helps Elves (not T1)
- probably too good
- stupid card
- too abusable
- nope!!!

Survival of the Fittest:
- could be interesting
- not played before
- maybe not necessary
- could be tried out IIIII
- fifty fifty
- strong tutor
- creature tutor on a stick
- it’s fine
- creature decks with tool boxes could be made interesting
- too strong
- fair tutor
- brakes singleton
- too conditional
- don't know why banned
- power tutor
- makes games repetitive
- too good card selection in 100 card decks
- brakes

True-Name Nemesis:
- didn’t really bother me
- doesn’t matter for combo and control
- he was not too bad
- free TNN
- doesn’t care let’s test it
- totally fine
- CMC 3 creature
- just doesn’t matter
- fair card
- warped deck building
- don't know why it was banned
- not format defining
- not op
- format defining in my opinion
- depends on general banning policy
- just bought one in foil
- because it is a fucking 3/1 creature, what the fuck
- there are worse things
- there is some counterplay

Umezawa’s Jitte:
- should be tested
- warped the battlefield
- creature fights are fun
- totally fine
- rather than skull clamp
- nope!!!
- fair card
- inhibits creature strategies
- irrelevant in enough match ups
- power
- too strong
- format defining
- strength creature decks
- destroys creature decks
- gives midrange decks a little bit more edge
- i don't know


Following cards were asked as well, even though they are currently not on the Watchlist

Library of Alexandria:
- NO
- fifty fifty
- can you still play so slow
- ...
- conditionally strong
- strong, but ok
- OP II
- slow enough for eventuelly few impact
- test it
- slow enough for HL
- only on starting hand good?
- little bit op II
- does not have to be
- too expensive

Gifts Ungiven:
- do not really know
- could be ok, but maybe busted
- test it
- effect and combo too slow
- combo bullshit
- instant win tutor
- NOPE!!!
- too strong II
- breaks Singleton
- 4 mana combo, which does not win immediately is ok
- power
- format defining
- too good card selection in 100 card decks
- combo enabler
- good card for blue decks
- enough counterplay
- CMC 4

Mind Twist:
- would be fun (says the black mage in me), but kind of busted
- can be cast easier than Hymn, but can be stronger
- barely better than Hymn
- totally fine II
- there is already enough good discard
- frustrating
- is ok I think
- meh
- wins at random
- test it
- surely not a problem
- random discard is not cool

Mystical Tutor:
- it depends if we want to unban all tutors
- Mystical and Vampiric could be unbanned
- Miracles, UR with Ruination and Combo decks profit too much
- not sure
- not too strong
- fair tutor
- too strong
- format defining
- bad enough
- tutor
- makes Control more playable
- no additional tutors (especially not for blue!)
- too good card selection
- setup for Miracles
- seaches answers
- does not hurt anyone
- too efficient
- too good in Combo


These card(s) should be watchlisted
(all cards were named once)

Ankh of Mishra
Emrakul the Aeons Torn
Fastbond
Griselbrand
Hymn to Tourach
Inventors’ Fair
Price of Progress
Rings of Brighthearth
Wasteland
Zuran Orb


What Mulligan do you prefer?
(absolute frequencies)
(relative frequencies)
survey had a different layout
-> only dichotomous answer categories
-> differences in the conclusion (potential other options could not be named + potential dissatisfaction with LM (whether in combination with FM or not) not interpretable)
BUT: according to own statement Viennese community does not know other Mulligan variants anyway / is uniformly interested in the LM (whether in combination with FM or not)




Reasonings (Mulligan):
(I tried to make the written reasonings as unadulterated as possible, even if there were synonymous formulations (eg "too strong" vs. "too powerful").)

FM + LM:
- there should be a FM in every Singleton format because variance is high
- maybe advantages for Combo II
- to counteract the variance II
- nice games
- requirement for a fair setup in Singleton formats
- more non-games because of land-spell-ratio with LM only
- decks with fewer ressources can barely catch up
- want to have as many games as possible in a casual format
- better for RDW
- less non-games
- LM is good, but card disadvantage decides games
- unification argument falls away because of Brawl
- not that much important for me
- does not make a big difference
- 100 cards format -> often take Mulligan -> card disadvantage is significant
- Midrange format -> card disadvantage is significant

LM:
- LM already makes Combo extremely good
- do not miss the FM
- fewer variance -> more games (Combo not strong enough)
- I like it now and do not miss FM
- constructed formats also use it

11.01.2020
Highlander Mind Game Mages

Location: Der Andere Spieleladen
Prenzlauer Allee 192, 10405 Berlin
Format: Highlander
Start: 11:00 Uhr
Entry: 15,00 EUR

Prizes:

1. Savannah
2. Scalding Tarn
3. Misty Rainforest
4. Misty Rainforest
5-8. 25 EUR Store credit
9.-14. 1 Promobooster (3 FOIL-cards)

[Matthias]

We warmly welcome our newest addition to the Council: Matthias from Vienna! Matthias has already shown great commitment and attracted attention with his keen interest in the format and his constructive, reflected and always friendly contributions in various social media groups. We look forward to working together and would like to thank the Austrian community for their recommendations.

Freunde des einzigartigsten Formats! HLMW geht in die 11. Runde! Zum dritten mal dürfen wir uns im schönen Münster um den begehrten Thron des Highlander Masters Westfalen Titels duellieren !!!
Der Comic Planet in Münster bietet ausreichend Plätze für uns an, sodass auch weit anreisende (Berlin?!?) auch spontan eine Möglichkeit bekommen können, den Westfalentitel zu erlangen.

Turnierstart: Samstag, 26.10.2019, 12:00
Anmeldung: 11:00-11:50
Ort: Comic Planet Münster
Format: Highlander (http://www.highlandermagic.info/)
Startgeld: 10,-
Runden: 5 x best of 3 (unabhängig von Teilnehmerzahl)
Rundenzeit: 60 Minuten, 3 Extraturns
Mulligan: London
Preise: Einzelkarten, Booster - Ab 9 Punkten gibt es garantierte Preise, Alle Spieler mit gleicher Punktzahl bekommen soweit möglich gleichwertige Preise.

[Changes to the present banned list, effective 10/15/2019:]

Changes to the present banned list, effective 10/15/2019:

Banned:  
                                              
• True-Name Nemesis

Unbanned:
                                                  
-

Current watchlists:

Ban watchlist:                                                    
• Demonic Tutor
• Dig Through Time
• Entomb
• Mana Drain
• Tainted Pact
• Tolarian Academy
• Treasure Cruise
                                    
Unban watchlist:                                                    
• Skullclamp
• Survival of the Fittest *new*
• True-Name Nemesis
• Umezawa's Jitte


Single cards explanations (parenthesis -> voting result):

Ban True-Name Nemesis (Ban 4x / Unban 1x / Abstain 1x)

This card has been legal in Highlander for a long time and there have been many discussions about it.
Now we have finally come to the conclusion that the card should be put onto the banned list in order to improve the format.

Those in favor of keeping TNN in the format often state its powerlevel wouldn't justify a ban compared to other cards.

We agree that there certainly are more powerful, more explosive or more frustrating cards legal in Highlander than TNN. Most of those come with deckbuilding restrictions though, enable archetypes or are important for the format’s balance (B2B or Blood Moon for example). TNN is not even too strong in all matchups. Against Combo decks it’s mostly a clunky threat and control decks tend to have less problems with it. Where it warps the format in an unhealthy way are other “fair” matchups (Aggro, Midrange, Tempo) where the card often wins games on its own without any setup requirements.

While constructing a deck, players will often have to ask themselves what their plan against certain archetypes is. Fair decks however also need to have a plan against TNN in particular – a single card. This way, TNN influences deckbuilding more than any other single card in the format we can think of.

Another argument that comes up regularly when talking about TNN is that there is enough removal in the format for it and it can be raced easily. There are only a few removal spells however that handle TNN and are not otherwise situational or bad in most other scenarios (sacrifice effects) and most decks only have two to three of those at most and have to be quite lucky to draw them at the right time. Racing is often only possible with flyers or a clearly dominant board position. Furthermore, this way of arguing also implies the creature is problematic – those points don’t have to be made for any other creature in the format.

We do not think that TNN adds anything meaningful to the format, but instead takes a lot away from it, as it allows the player to go into an autopilot mode with it, resulting in non-interactive games. The card has been mentioned by Wizards in their Developmental Mistakes article.
Opinions on TNN within the community seem to be split. We acknowledge that there has been a survey on Facebook where more people voted against a ban of TNN than in favor of it. The last four survey results from Continental Cup Halle 2018, MGM # 15, Highlandermasters Westfalen and Helsinki however show that TNN is the card with the most votes for a ban currently, so we are sure that we do not act against a clear majority here.

Survival of the Fittest (Add to WL 5x / Not to WL 1x)

SotF has been banned for more than 9 years now. It was banned because it was format-dominating in an unhealthy way during these days. Lots of decks played a creature-toolbox, many a creature-based combo where Survival fits quite well obviously. Nowadays the meta looks quite different and it is doubtful if the powerful synergies of the past using Squee, Genesis or Reveillark are still viable in any way. However this card could offer new space for deck-building and would push some green-based Midrange decks, an archetype which seems to be a bit behind. Maybe it could also serve as a new tool for Reanimator decks but comes at the cost of playing more creatures like in the current tier-1 builds.
We have had some test-sessions with this card and had to recognize that it is has lost some of its former power, so we decided to put Survival of the Fittest up for discussion with the community.
It should be added, that when looking at other Singleton formats where you are allowed to play this card, it doesn’t seem to have a dominant impact, as far we can see.


Current state of discussion:

Skullclamp (Stay banned 2x, Unban 2x, Abstain 2x)
Pro Ban:
card seems too oppressive
another busted combo-piece
aggro would be pushed further which isn't a good idea

Con Ban:
needs a special setting
needs time and ressources to grant card-advantage
offers some new room for deck-construction

Umezawa's Jitte (Stay banned 6x, Unban 0x)
Pro Ban:
shuts down creature-decks
games center around this card as soon it is online
would be another auto-include in every deck with enough creature to carry it

Con Ban:
equipment is not an inherently good archetype
lower power level than cards on banned list
equipments do not see much play recently

Demonic Tutor (Ban 1x, No ban 5x)
Pro Ban:
incentivizes player to splash black
negates the one-of-highlander-thing as it is basically a second copy of the best card in you deck at the given situation
stronger than vampiric and mystical which are banned already

Con Ban:
iconic card
enables deck with plan
combo & control needs it to compete with aggro

Dig Through Time (Ban 1x, No ban 5x)
Pro ban:
seals the deal on even matches
Delve is not a real cost in decks where this card is good

Con ban:
UU makes it somewhat restrictive
can realistically only be played during late mid-game or lategame, where other cards have powerful effects, too

Entomb (Ban 0x, No ban 6x)
Pro ban:
in Reanimator it enables broken t1 or t2 plays that end the game on the spot

Con ban:
has sweet but not broken synergy with many other cards like Bloodghast, Hogaak, Life from the Loam, Echo of Eons etc.
also serves as a special tutor for non-reanimator combo decks which forces some creativity in deckbuilding

Mana Drain (Ban 1x, No ban 5x)
Pro Ban:
generates unfair tempo-swings
enhances randomness of the game

Con Ban:
often just a counterspell
highlander has powerful cards, where else can you play your Mana Drain?

Tainted Pact (Ban 0x, No ban 6x)
Pro Ban:
instant Demonic in some builds
strengthens multi-color-decks

Con Ban:
weaker than Demonic Tutor
only good in a few decks

Tolarian Academy (Ban 0x, No ban 5x, Abstain 1x)
Pro Ban:
enables busted starts
unfun to play against, especially for newcomers

Con Ban:
enables specific archetypes which is good for format diversity
Tolarian Arcademy wasn't oppressive based on latest tournament results

Treasure Cruise (Ban 1x, No ban 5x)
Pro Ban:
in some scanarios feels unfair like an Ancestral Recall
too good when already ahead

Con Ban:
still needs resources and setup

Birthing Pod (Add to WL 2x, Not to WL 4x)
Pro Ban:
reusable onto-the-battlefield tutoring has been broken ever since
instant you-win combos exist
creatures are getting better as time goes on which makes this card always dangerous

Con Ban:
green midrange relatively weak at the moment
creatures are getting better but not necessarily ETB-abilities
instant you-win combos require whacky creatures, which might be too steep a deckbuilding cost


Council:

The current council members are:

Bobz0rd - Max, Germany, Erfurt, * 1991
Dalibor - Dalibor, Slovakia, Senec, * 1979
Dr. Opossum - Stephanie, Germany, Berlin, * 1987
Maqi - Thomas, Germany, Mannheim, * 1982
pyyhttu - Tuomas, Finland, Helsinki, * 1982
Vazdru - Gerry, Germany, Karlsruhe, * 1975

We are currently planning to add new council members. If you would like to join us, please contact us. The council can be reached now via mail too: hlcouncil.eu@gmail.com


Roadmap:

We want to enhance the transparency of the council-work and the discussions which lead to our ban-/unban-decisions in a better way. As first steps we decided to
- publish the voting-results to each card discussed and give some insight to the main pros/cons mentioned by the community and council.
- We wanted to raise the effectuality of community feedback too. As you can see by the current banning/unbanning-decisions the surveys and the feedback of the community has a big impact on the voting process.
- Council members will post a short introduction of themselves during the next days right here in this announcement-board, so it is easier to find for the community.
- We added an E-Mail-address in order to make it is easier to reach the council as a whole.

As next steps we would like to discuss with you the following topics as well:
- We would like to reformulate the current guidelines which give direction to our decisions on banning or unbanning a card. Therefore we would like to hear your feedback on this, how your vision of our format looks like and how you would frame this vision. These guidelines are really important to us and are meant to reflect the idea of what Highlander should be like.
- We are thinking about creating regular polls and surveys to better orientate our decisions and in order to provide everyone with an easily accessible way of participating on issues.
- We would like to discuss if there's a good possibility for a "community vote" within the banning/unbanning process.
- We want to find out if there's a good possibility for an institutionalized rotation of council members.

Last but not least, we want to thank the community for all the feedback, which really helps us to improve our work!

[ruin all thundergods]

TBH I am more in the "ruin all thundergods" mood now. Please don't destroy it!

Poor Keranos

TBH I am more in the "ruin all thundergods" mood now. Please don't destroy it!

As already stated in FB, "Pilaa kaikki railut ukkodekit" [sic] translates into "ruins all fair creature decks".

railu = misspelled (or copied) reilu = fair
ukko = an old man (any nicknames for men can refer to creatures in Magic) or Karelian Finnish weather god; ukkonen = thunder

[How often do you play Highlander (highlandermagic.info rules)?]

This survey was handed out by Council member pyyhttu at the Finnish Championships tournament in Helsinki, Finland, Sept. 21th. There were 62 players and 33 participated in the survey.

How often do you play Highlander (highlandermagic.info rules)?
(absolute frequencies)




How satisfied are you with the format currently on a scale from 1 to 10 (1=not at all, 10=very much)?
(absolute frequencies)



(mean)
(median -> resistant to outliers)



satisfaction according to how often Highlander is played




These card(s) should be banned/ unbanned:
(absolute frequencies)
(relative frequencies)
Ban wishes:



Unban wishes:




Reasonings (single cards):
(I tried to make the written reasonings as unadulterated as possible, even if there were synonymous formulations (eg "too strong" vs. "too powerful").)

Demonic Tutor
- 2 mana, sorcery is ok
- cool card
- card is too powerful
- we have enough tutors
- it usually finds answers 2x
- if banned, several archetypes lose to combo / aggro
- tutors are fine as long as there is non-basic land hate to keep the decks in check
- auto-include 2x
- makes games way too long (have to think a lot of lines)
- vampiric and mystical are not legal but demonic is?
- all black decks play this but dont feel unfair
- iconic
- needed to give control/ combo its tools against aggro
- enables boring games
- makes blue way too strong color to play
- is just a copy of best card in deck
- combo can manage without it
- repetitive game play

Dig Through Time
- staple in U decks, but not oppressive
- ban this or cruise
- just value
- against ban but this is closest to bannable
- UU instant too effective
- like playing with them
- first to cast this in blue mirror wins
- oppressive
- good when ahead
- fair control card
- needs setup
- easy to play against -> risk vs. reward

Entomb
- needs build around
- too easy to find combo pieces
- Reanimator is not too prominent
- fair card (for reanimator) 2x
- only benefits “the best deck” -> Animate
- too fast
- enables weird decks

Mana Drain
- ok I guess
- just another counterspell with upside
- creates unfun games when cast early
- too big swings in game state for very little cost
- 99% of the time just counterspell
- makes one-sided games
- blue is too strong color -> one blue ban is good
- too different of a powerlevel
- sometimes loppsided
- too randomly powerful
- randomly annoying, not too good
- most of the time just counterspell, sometimes rarely broken
- needed for control, otherwise combo gets too good
- can go if entomb goes, but requires commitment

Tainted Pact
- can’t be used so well in combo
- requires good deckbuilding
- is a bit too strong in midrange
- gives multicolor decks instant Demonic Tutor
- fair tutor as requires to build deck around x2
- should not because power level
- instant speed tutor for answers is too good
- instant speed tutor that often wins the game
- after resolving finds the needed combo piece
- this card is actively bad
- low basic count to be really good
- instant demonic
- crazy tutor, broken instant speed
- no drawback tutor for combo

Tolarian Academy
- totally ok
- card is busted
- if not this -> ban mishra’s workshop
- too powerful
- requires full build around
- maybe
- does too unfair things and reduces interaction
- should not as enables archetype
- unfair decks cant be beaten when on the draw
- deck not powerful enough
- academy decks would not exist without
- don’t feel too unfair
- just fair
- random deck
- strong but not op
- stupid and uninteractive

Treasure Cruise
- totally ok
- blue is strong enough
- ban this or dig, not both
- just value
- a lot fairer than DTT
- cost is reasonable large and cards are random
- like playing with them
- first to cast this in blue mirror wins
- oppressive
- format is currently to focused on resolving this or dig
- good draw, too good when ahead
- needs setup
- easy to play against -> risk vs. reward

True-Name Nemesis
- enough ways to deal in format  2x
- a lot of decks don’t even care about Nemesis
- unsure about this card
- stupid non-interactive card
- should be banned in all 2-player formats
- not because it’s “powerfull”, but just plain awful game design
- fair blue beatdown
- blue is too strong color -> one blue ban is good
- does not have enough answers in HL
- often “i win card” without interaction
- every time this resolves, game turns to stupid and has no interaction
- plain stupid x2
- lot of decks in format dont have answer for the card that has protection from player
- really oppressive card to play against
- way to oppressive and random
- some decks don’t have answers
- come on WTF? Seriously?
- dies to everything
- can be raced
- non-interactive

Oath of Druids
- ruins all fair creature decks
- 1 card win
- stops aggro from progressing
- way too powerful

Wasteland
- autoinclude
- wins randomly too many games
- silver bullet
- non-games

Fetchlands
- funds delve
- makes stupidly good manabases
- makes games super long and round time becomes an issue
- shuffling is not fun
- no thought to be put in building manabases
- too much shuffling takes time

Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
- 1 card win, no need huge build around it
- 1 card combo in midrange/control deck that does not require specific deck building around it
- can’t be interacted with removal
- unnecessary and unfair 1-win-the-game card
- land ramp in that deck is completely optional, can play value spells instead

Savage Knuckleblade
- too stronk

Teferi, Time Reveler
- breaks control mirror matchups
- who ever has this wins
- static ability way too strong

Karakas
- getting better and better
- hoses pretty much all decks randomly

Blood Moon
- makes red in 3 color decks to dominant

General
- all of those cards are so high on powerlevel that they decide games by themselves
- legacy banlist would be a decent start
- format is in a good place -> no need for bans / unbans currently
- Highlander needs a sideboard
- Blood Moon and Back to Basics should NOT be banned -> otherwise 3c+ decks would dominate and format would become worse without 1-2 color decks

Skullclamp
- no please
- no thanks
- card is busted
- dont unban, horror midrange mirrors
- too much stupid combo potential
- more power for aggro
- card still broken, no need
- have tested -> too oppressive
- this one is tilting
- might create new decks
- are you in your right mind?
- i don’t know but this card looks broke
- no simply just no
- never unban Skullclamp please

Umezawa's Jitte
- no please
- on the fence
- disruptable, many good artifact hate cards
- would be willing to test/ try this out
- dont unban, horror midrange mirrors
- easy to answer
- interesting decisions for both players
- creature matchups become a race to get Jitte
- card still broken, no need
- have tested -> too oppressive
- would be too decisive top deck in aggro mirrors
- way too strong and makes Stoneforge too
- Jitte could have try

Natural Order
- can also be used in fair decks
- Oath is legal while this is banned
- unban makes green decks better
- the card is expensive and fair since the cost of 4
- no reason to keep it banned
- power level of decks can compete with this nowadays
- the card is just fine
- 4cc sorcery with drawback of being green

Gifts Ungiven
- slow and decent control draw
- very slow card
- disruptable
- good unban if Academy gets banned
- worse than Cruise or Dig
- powerlevel of other cards is far beyond this
- was never ban worthy, again 4cc card

Library of Alexandria
- slow in a format that’s fast and puuatol (?)
- so slow nowadays

Mystical Tutor
- there are better tutors now legal 2x

Birthing Pod
- this might be stretching but would like to see

Balance
- symmetrical and fair

Mind Twist
- Why not? Slow, strong but really good

Shahrazad
- just learn to play fast

Flash
- too random to be powerful


What Mulligan do you prefer?
(absolute frequencies)
(relative frequencies)




Reasonings (Mulligan):
(I tried to make the written reasonings as unadulterated as possible, even if there were synonymous formulations (eg "too strong" vs. "too powerful").)

FM + LM:
- less non-games
- current mulligan is weaker than Vancouver
- HL is inconsistent due to 100 cards, even with London there are too many non-games due to increased variance of 100 card decks

LM:
- efficient and strategic
- better for new players
- fast
- removes non games 4x
- it’s ok
- least shuffling
- same in all formats for clarity 5x
- easy to explain
- the best mulligan ever
- it’s balanced
- seems fair and gives games even when going down to 5 and below
- is very fine
- is good 4x
- same as official by WotC 3x
- makes the format more approachable
- while it helps combo decks a little, it also makes mulliganing much easier
- great mulligan

FM + VC:
- I liked the previous rule better, since it obviously gave more games with 7 card hands


How many lands did you play? Did you or would you adjust your deck to the mulligan?
(absolute frequencies)
(relative frequencies)




I would adjust...

- added lands x7
- check landcount
- more land tutors
- cut 1-2 lands



Edit: fixed some spelling errors
fixed some translation errors