Messages

c) > b) > rest imho

as already mentioned get closer to the oficial formats, and punish greedy manabases. A 'free' mulligan is not too bad as well but I'd prefer c) over it.

The Reason why I think that Oath is overpowered and should be banned is pretty simple and I think Tabris's arguments are off target. Neither is it relevant what people perceive as a problem, but what can be deduced from logic thinking nor is Oath's undoubtedly strong effect in itself the true problem. Its what the card allows you to do in terms of deckbuilding that really makes it too strong.

First off the main problem with oath is, that it allows you to commit as ridiculously few as 3 slots to actually winning the game with damage. This is about 20-40 cards less than any regular Deck that tries to win the old fashioned way. And it is pretty obvious that cards like Emrakul and Griselbrand are insanely good at winning by themselves. With fetches in the format it is pretty likely, that you just have to smash once to win.

Your best and almost instantly winning Card Oath costs a meagre 2 mana which makes it fairly easy to proect and since you only play 3 "combo pieces" and maybe 4-7 Planeswalkers which are far from weak, you can stuff your deck with all the control cards you want. You are probably always in control of the match since every card except for the lands, the walkers and the Oath package are answers, tutors or card advantage generating.

It is laughably easy to activate the "combo". There is hardly a Deck that does not play creatures and almost none that do not need one on the board to kill you. And for those few decks that actually do not need one, you have the means to give them one. It's a one card combo at that. There is no setup required, no digging for parts. Its just the one card.

And lastly I doubt your sincerity when arguing for Oath. You are a highlander writer and a resourceful one at that. All these facts can not be new to you. You are throwing out some decoys and false reasons that sound convincing but do not withhold on further inspection.
I understand that you want to keep the card in the format, you obviously figured out, that it is the best deck at the moment. But the reason it does not get played more widely is most likely due to the casual appeal of the format. Most people do not like lame control decks like that. If this was a really competitive format, there would be a ton of oath decks and everyone would pack hate. But this is not a competitive scene. This is still a fun format. People play whatever the hell they please and that makes the format so diverse, despite most decks hardly being tier 2.
Maybe the deck is even hard to play but everyone can figure it out with some pracitice.

Imho you are missing two things:

1.) Oath is not allowed to play all these good (semi-)control creatures which makes Goodstuff decks so powerful. You have to pick the best control cards to compete versus these decks! Oath of Druids is one strong card by its own but it's very easy to handle as well. I remember UG playing Krosan Grip in the past and once they found it the Oath player never had a chance to win the games (since clock + control the game out). The new meta maybe doesn't allow ppl to play Krisan Grip again (not 100% sure though) but that's just an example of how easy you can stop decks that rely on single cards (even though Oath Decks shall not completely rely on this single card but anyways).

2.) As soon as ppl compete on a HL Grand Prix - ..ehrr sry Cup - the competetive nature of the format shines as well. Ofc ppl playing for fun but so do competetive Standard/Legacy players. Your argument about HL being a casual and fun only format ist not valid in my opinion!

This discussion about Oath being too powerful is going on since.. I can remember. And so far it was never too powerful not even before ET got banned, nor yet.

It's nice to read that your Highlander community can trust each other, so that decklists are not necessary at all. I would like to say the same for the tournaments I play. Even if this is "just Highlander" I think that some people in the tournaments I attend are so eager to win, that I would not swear that all of them would play fair. 

Oh, I hadn't wanted to make fun about the prices at all. They are fair in regards of the entry fee (and I personally don't care for prices that much at all).

But I don't get the point with the super secret decklists. I personally like to study winning decklists and search for new ideas which I could test in my decks and I am nearly sure that this is what everyone likes to do and also does. Posting winning lists is IMO an important part of the Highlander community. Studying other's decklists (to either metagame or to make general improvements) but wanting to withhold his own list seems quite egoistic to me. But hey, I can live with that   
...and what could be good on not knowing the opponent's deck list? 

I can only agree to this. And I think especially in HL there is not THAT much of net-decking or copying other ppl's lists because the metagame can be completely different even between communities inside one city! another point is that in HL ppl like to adjust their decks and play semi-optimal cards and/or pet cards which can be a reason for strange card choices. thus I don't think ppl have to hide their techs because imo HL is all about community. and deck lists do a great job to achieve this : )

I'm looking forward to read your next article as well. Good job!

60 cards + sideboard? 80 without? I don't know for sure but I'd guess that there will be more diversity in terms of different deck streategies? I always bring this point because some time ago I made Highlander decks with just 60 cards and it seemed to be more interesting because it is possible to build decks around even small strategies (tribals for example did way better). just want to throw it in again : )

The problem is that there are no control tools to unban

Maybe Balance, Library of Alexandria?


About LED: If LED gets unbanned I'd have a close watch on Auriok Salvangers, there seem to be quite some enablers for LED+Salvangers+Spellbomb.


About creature tutors: The one most powerfull imho is Green Sun's Zenith. I was just curious it did not get mentioned and is not watched like Worldly Tutor is.


I saw Intuition+Loam package making it's way into goodstuff decks. I think loam helps good stuff just as much as control (at least with intuition as enabler).

LoA won't get unbaned. Especially not after LftL. Apart from that LoA won't solve the problem because it neither helps Control vs. Aggro nor gives it an advantage against Goofstuff (they can use LoA as well btw) and it can make Control matchups very boring and random.

Second thing to mention is that I don't think Bomberman strategies will dominate the HL meta in any way. Ofc you can play it in Oath decks but if you resolve Oath it's over most of the times anyways. It will help TPS builds way more (hi @ infernal tutor etc.) but even there I don't think it's OP because most decks are actually too fast or can handle combo pretty well while putting pressure through a good clock.

Last thing to say is about Green Sun's Zenith. It's a very strong card but it has some downsides to be better than Worldy Tutor. It is a bit slower and it fetches only green creatures. Although green creatures are probably searched most of the time anyways there are so many 3-5c decks that would like to find non-green answers as well (Flametongue Kavu/Phantasmal Image/Venser etc pp). GSZ is still a VERY strong card but Worldy Tutor is just nuts.

€dit: GoblinPiledriver was already faster.

@Tiggupiru: I don't think Appetite for Brains will see any play because the difference between this card and Duress/Thlughseize/Inq. of Kozilek is that it will happen quite some times where you don't even trade 1 for 1. I mean Duress for example may be bad against some sort of decks but it trades at least 1 for 1 _most_ of the times. This card won't do so imo. The other upside on the named cards is to prevent decks from getting explosive starts but getting their CC4+ card is not good enough most of the time. I'd rather play Blackmail before Appetite for Brains and Blackmail doesn't even make the cut.

So far I am not very excited about Avacyn Restored (thus I'm quite disappointed because at least for me Innistrad and Dark Ascension are awesome sets for Highlander and Cube at least) but there is still more than 2/3 of the set to be revealed.

One card I do like is this:


+2/+0 haste and vigilance for 3 mana seems to be absolutely fine even in the early turns. It makes late 1-drops a threat and just "needs" the land spot. I don't know whether it will see much play outside of Boros or maybe Naya but I will give this card some love at least : )

Allright, fair enough. Seems I was alone with this one. It's not like I think the current system is bad, so I am fine either way =)

Just out of curiosity, it would be nice to hear if somebody knows the origins of this rule.

Well the origin is, as you already stated before, the game "Spoils". There you are allowed to put away any number of cards in your starting hand and draw the exact amount. This is only allowed once and there are no other additional mulligan rules. Giving the fact that there are already specific mulligan rules in magic, adding the spoils mulligan as a one-time thing in HL is still a big thing. In "Spoils" you start the first turn with some resource already in play. The difference to MtG is that spells in Spoils require a specific amount of resource in play AND still got "mana cost". This number does not need to be the same though. So it's not that easy to compare both games, but the addition of the Spoils mulligan to the HL standard Magic mulligan had and has pros and cons. And maximizing output by minimizing the changes should always be a goal to achieve : ).

Adding another way to mulligan your hand is already a big change so I think the combination of spoils and magic mulligan would be too much of interfering with the original game. I hope I could help question even if I do not fully know whether my answer is correct in it's conclusion.

Realms uncharted does not count imo. This card can be played in combination with LftL but it does not tutor the combopart. While LftL was legal i played Realms Uncharted in my UG Aggro/Control and it did okay but nothing game breaking.

If your answer was ironic just forget my reply : )

Cons are:

- Boring game states with lots of dredging and CA through cycle-lands
- Shutting down several decks through Wasteland-locks
- Hard to counter for some LD focused strategies and/or in control mirrors

Pros are:

- Re-enabling some strategies (Land.dec, Graveyard based decks, maybe as well as buff Staxx + Oath a bit)
- One card less on the Ban list

Short explanation on my point of view:
I don't think it's that strong in our actual meta to enable CA strategies with cycle-lands. This can be annoying in control mirrors but come on.. lots of stuff can be annoying in control mirrors ; ). Intution barely sees play atm (probably more after LftL unban) and Gifts are banned anyways (same is true for LoA ofc). LftL will buff all green midrange decks (midrange in form of aggro-control or just chunky beatdown) but won't give the edge in most matchups. I think the only real issue with LftL is the CA and/or Wasteland-recursion plan while the first one is too slow in our actual meta (imho) and the latter is just fine because once again heavy multicolored nonbasic decks will suffer more. And as usual.. it's 1:100 and not 4:60 so you cannot count on it as a straight deck plan.

I definetly vote for unban LftL because I do not see any harm coming from it but on the other hand it's a good addition to some "tier 2" decks (although ofc t1 decks will benefit from it as well).

Well I don't think Propaganda and friends are needed atm because 1.) they don't protect your PW and 2.) except very fast Aggrodecks most decks can easily handle them either by removal or by just paying colorless mana. TBH i don't think Oath is the best Strategy at all and playing good creatures is the real deal. The best way to counter Creature based decks are.. creatures : ). At leats nowadays.

Oh okay I think I'll try it again. I remember I cut it back 15 months ago due to the inefficiency against my control meta, so I think you're SO right: It should have another go in my deck. I'm not sure I'll play Propaganda though. I might try Collective Restraint but I really dislike the fact that it don't protect my PW's. I think Moat, Humility and The Abyss are enough. Won't you agree? Do you think I should play Propaganda over Collective Restraint? Do you think I need 2x Propaganda (Ghostly Prison)? I did play Firespout but I'm trying Barter in Blood instead. Which would you play first if you had a choice to include only one of these: Firespout, Slagstorm or Rolling Earthquake? I have all 3 available in my collection. The only one I've never tried is Slagstorm, but it actually looks really interesting.

Lash do you think Concentrade would work instead of Mind Spring? I mean we both know the upsides and downsides of those cards so the way I see it: You would never want to cast Mind Spring for 4 (x=2) and you rarely cast it for 7 (x=5), so is Concentrade not just the right middle ground? I used Deep Analysis a few months ago and it was actually pretty good. After Oathing you rarely needed it for the win but I always felt like it was a decent card at all times and never a dead draw, which I fear Mind Spring could be. It's been two years since I've had Mind Spring in my Staxx deck, so I feel pretty rusty about my info on this card, so don't take my words for any good "Kozilek is better than duress atm, because of the aggro meta." I totally agree

It's about the casting cost and not the effect by itself why you should/may play Propaganda and Firespout. CC3 is so important because you want to survive the early turns to reach midgame and with CC4 spells like barter moat abyss and friends you won't have enough cheap game stretchers imo. Another issue why I always recommend enough <cc4 removal is Geddock Teek. He's just nuts against Staxx.

You should try Tiding and/or Breakthrough as carddraw. Concentrate never made the cut for me tbh but I think Breakthrough can be quite good because of it theoretical low cost.

hes playable in most decks imo. aggressive decks may not profit as much as goodstuff/control but 4 mana for a +1 power emblem as worst case scenario isn't THAT bad at all. and split mana cost are easier to pay than double single colored in most 3-5c decks

And the pure combo decks :p

Because Strip Mine is banned just like Sol Ring and Enlightened Tutor. This link for the complete Banlist.

Sturmgott played something like a mono W Control deck 2 years ago:

Code Select Expand

// Mono White Stax with a Twist
// Lands
    1 Flagstones of Trokair
    1 Darksteel Citadel
    1 Blinkmoth Well
    1 Wasteland
    1 Flooded Strand
    1 Windswept Heath
    1 Ancient Tomb
    1 Horizon Canopy
    1 Ancient Den
    1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
    1 Tundra
    1 Scrubland
    6 Plains
    1 Maze of Ith
    1 Rishadan Port
    1 Karakas
    1 Library of Alexandria
    1 Dust Bowl
    1 Kor Haven
    1 Mishra's Factory
    1 Deserted Temple
    1 Vesuva
    1 Academy Ruins
    1 Mishra's Workshop
    1 City of Traitors
    1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
    1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
// Creatures
    1 Magus of the Tabernacle
    1 Argivian Archaeologist
    1 Aven Mindcensor
    1 Kitchen Finks
    1 Leonin Abunas
    1 Windborn Muse
    1 Sundering Titan
    1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
    1 Wall of Reverence
    1 Auriok Salvagers
    1 Karn, Silver Golem
    1 Exalted Angel
    1 Eternal Dragon
    1 Weathered Wayfarer
// Spells
    1 Worn Powerstone
    1 Moat
    1 Timetwister
    1 Tangle Wire
    1 Oblivion Ring
    1 Pulse of the Fields
    1 Ghostly Prison
    1 Wrath of God
    1 Crucible of Worlds
    1 Darksteel Ingot
    1 Scepter of Dominance
    1 Coalition Relic
    1 Well of Knowledge
    1 Sculpting Steel
    1 Static Orb
    1 Decree of Justice
    1 Rout
    1 Mind Twist
    1 Martial Coup
    1 Roar of Reclamation
    1 Mindslaver
    1 Catastrophe
    1 Gilded Lotus
    1 Thran Dynamo
    1 Scourglass
    1 Mind's Eye
    1 Smokestack
    1 Faith's Fetters
    1 Ravages of War
    1 Armageddon
    1 Icy Manipulator
    1 Swords to Plowshares
    1 Ivory Tower
    1 Tithe
    1 Land Tax
    1 Path to Exile
    1 Pithing Needle
    1 Sensei's Divining Top
    1 Phyrexian Furnace
    1 Argivian Find
    1 Dispeller's Capsule
    1 Enlightened Tutor
    1 Scrabbling Claws
    1 Prismatic Lens
    1 Ring of Gix
    1 Winter Orb
    1 Talisman of Dominance
    1 Talisman of Progress
    1 Candelabra of Tawnos
    1 Mind Stone
    1 Coldsteel Heart
    1 Marble Diamond
    1 Grim Monolith
    1 Mox Diamond