This survey was handed out in the area around NRW as a online version in June 2019. We had 19 participants.
How often do you play Highlander (highlandermagic.info rules)?(absolute frequencies)
Where are you from?(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
in contrast to the Berlin area: those who play the most are on the average more satisfied
These card(s) should be banned/ unbanned:(absolute frequencies)
(relative frequencies)
put ban/ unban candidates in the same table because I expect that every brave Highlander player knows the banned list by heart
Karakas was added by 2 players
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:having unrestricted access to your silver bullets should be more reasonably priced
there is a reason we have never seen an effect of a card like this printed for such low cost again
in general a fair card, but tutoring in 100 card singleton feels too strong
enables a lot of Combo decks
even if splash B is worthy, this would be greedy
too good
too much impact
is fine
Combo decks have already a hard time in the meta
without DT Combo decks become unplayable
auto-include
finds every card x2
disregards the highlander concept
unsure x2
CMC2 x2
sorcery-speed
this is the only card that makes black an interessant color
highest individual powerlevel of cards
should be legal, but if format evolves to be combo-heavy -> re-evaluate
Dig Through Time:blue decks heavily profit from delve card draws
heavily undercosted
refuel for decks, that can fill the grave with cantrips already
gives a lot of digging
feels too good at times
instant speed is strong, but double U makes it kind of fair
too much advantage by a feasable card
Midrange is unplayable without blue, mainly due to the card advantage of Dig and TC
blue is too strong
advantages, that non-blue decks work for long time get eradicated so easily
either dig or cruise
not too strong in our high power level format
backbone of blue decks
on the stronger side of cards
requires setup (graveyard)
might be necessary to weaken blue a bit by cutting one of the delve spells
is ok
Entomb:exceeds the average power of comparable cards
brings an unnecessary variance into the games
not fair
CMC1
instant-speed
not strong enough on its own
multiusable card which requires setup
does not do enough on its on
sees not really much play anyway
it has to be watched with Echo of Eons
too strong
Reanimator is still ok without this
frustrating
fine right now
maybe abusable by Combo decks
fair tutor
Mana Drain:unnecessary, because there are a lot of similar cards for the Counterspell slots
overpowered
U is still the strongest colour
not a fair card at all
too strong
tempo boost
randomly unfair
making an already good card just strictly better (and even beyond)
too strong, even if you can only use 1 or 2 mana
turn 2 drain -> game over
power level too good
single best turn 2 play
increases variance for non-blue decks
blue has enough substitutes but one could argue, that countering with an upside for 2 is too good
isn't too broken
must stay
important CMC2 hardcounter
not too powerful in our format
Blue is strong enough
Counterspells with massive upsides are stupid
there are enough good counters
sometimes do absolutely broken things
Scapeshift:don't see too many decks running around with Scapeshift
keep combo alive
requires dedicated engine
not that dominant
would kill an archtype if banned
problematic with tutors in the format (tutors as a whole)
fine right now
can win outright
is a 1-card combo with your library
Tainted Pact:fair card
possibility to f%&k up everything, but is ok
tutoring with a downside is fine
strong tutor, but only for greedy decks, that get punished fast
requires dedicated engine
instant-speed tutor x2
without real drawback
autoinclude in every 3+ color deck with black
this must go
ban please
very good tutor
requires a bit of build-around x2
Tolarian Academy:enables a very solitaire-like archetype
strong but niche deck currently
too much impact in decks that are already highly synergetic
broken, but you can interact (just play non-basic hate)
if the Combo deck was cheaper it would be more oppressive
extremely unfun to play against
20-minutes-turns
very powerful, but not played by too many though
too easy to find
kind of hard to interact with
should be legal, but if format evolves to be combo-heavy -> re-evaluate
Treasure Cruise:blue decks heavily profit from delve card draws
heavily undercosted
refuel for decks, that can fill the grave with cantrips already
too cheap to refuel
almost the same as DTT -> TC is more 'fair'
sorcery and dependence
Midrange is unplayable without blue mainly due to the card advantage of Dig and TC
blue is too strong
advantages, that non-blue decks work for long time get eradicated so easily
might be necessary to weaken blue a bit by cutting one of the delve spells
either Dig or Cruise
requires setup (graveyard)
If you want one blue draw delve spell gone, take this, though. Unban Mystical Tutor in return then.
weakening blue
is ok
True-Name Nemesis:too broken for 1-vs-1-games
Blue doesn't need the probably best creature/3-drop in paper
played in 99% of blue decks
counterintuitive in its color
non-interactive card
too easy to play
finishes games as a 1-of
double blue
not fun to play against
A nice beater but allows only two ways of interaction: counter and sac. For my taste this is too narrow.
Decks without boardwipes can't handle it at all
not a card that breaks the format
not too strong but uninteractive
warps the game completely around in fair-decks-matchups
weakens blue
there are many other cards that must be banned
fair card in essence
People complaining about this card tilt too fast instead of searching for ways to beat it. There are many ways.
Gifts Ungiven:combodecks are already pretty strong
blue too strong
already proofed to be extremely strong in the past
needs a lot of time on the clock (searching + seperating cards + choosing)
dislikes shuffling because of time aspects
whatever you need plus x
too many redundant cards which could get tutored already
could give Combo a higher chance
too strong
not broken
CMC4 -> no ban
another instant-tutor for Combo players
just made the games go the same route when it resolved
it was broken in the slow meta in the past
nowadays should stay banned because of combo decks probably
We have tons of good tutors already.
too broken with the grave-filling
Umezawa's Jitte:power has creeped
times have changed
at least worth a try
fair card now
creature decks need more support
not too strong
uninteresting gameplay with TNN in the format
more reasonably priced now
value of equipment has dropped
Although, I was born in a meta without it. Haven't seen it in all its glory, but am familiar with its brokeness.
might be too strong
heavily creature-based decks are not existing
enough artifact + creature removal to handle this
would not help the creature decks as people think it would
could be fine
fair decks matchups are decided by whoever draws this first
Karakas:too good
too much play
makes for high variance games
Other Remarks (not directly added as a single card):ALL cards/mechanics from multiplayer sets shouldn't be allowed in the HL format (e.g. Palace Jailer, Councils Judgement, Machesa etc)
Birthing Pod could give more creature-based decks a chance.
Mystical Tutor. Consider unbanning that as a tradeoff if you want one blue delve spell gone.
On a side-note: Don't unban Skullclamp either, please. It's ridiculous.
What Mulligan do you prefer?(absolute frequencies)
(relative frequencies)
"others" -> some persons voted for different Mulligans (FM+LM or LM, Spoil M or FM+LM) or the current Mulligan or nothing
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:felt very good
not too broken for Combo decks
London alone is too weak (FM + LM > FM + VM > LM)
makes for a low number of non-games
without FM you have too many non-games cause of the high variance
you need a solid hand in 100-cards-singleton x2
50% of the games with =<6 cards is no fun
still needs to be tested further
makes games possible
healthy games of Magic
prefer playing fair games instead of random winning/ losing to bad draws (spells/lands)
I do like the FM
not sure it favours combo decks or could lead to decks with lower land counts
makes it easier to find a keepable hand
6-cards-starting-hands = huge disadvantage
I at least see the potential of abuse as a small risk in this.
LM: less non-games x2
more flexibility
better and more fun plays because both can do plays
it is easy
good enough
leads too less non-games without pushing greed too much
It lets us play more healthy games of Magic without one player sitting on otherwise unplayable hands
more close games
Other Remarks: Free 7 is fine. With an additional London after that too strong maybe.
we should not shape the format because of preferences (What should a Mulligan do? -> concrete definition)
overall I would like to see the format a bit slowing down
we should consider to go for a "weaker" mulligan probably
How many lands did you play? Did you or would you adjust your deck to the mulligan?(absolute frequencies)
(relative frequencies)
I would adjust...1 less land
depending on the deck
most likely a land less when we have a stronger Mulligan
few more lands
all decks profit from this Mulligan, maybe Combo a bit more (and is not as strong as the Spoil Mulligan that you can greed much more)
lowered the land count
mulligan doesnt change enough to justify making deck building changes
(not adjust) going down to 6 or less cards is still horrible for a Midrange type of deck which relies on 1:1 trades and most times just slowly outvalues the opponent in the mid to late game
