Messages

[rating]

No seriously, that sounds exactly like canadian highlander.

Another idea I guess this is a good spot to throw out there: I'd like to see a slightly extended watchlist and each card with a rating on how likely it will get banned or unbanned, respectively. Perhaps votecounts.

Sounds reasonable

For me personally, none of the cards on the current watchlist make much sense to ban. Entomb is a very special card, but I'm not aware of it dominating anything. Oath of Druids also doesnt dominate anything ...

The problem with these kind of cards is, they can escalate pretty fast and need to observed pretty strict.

easy Jitte, Skullclamp unban

'Skullclamp' recently was removed again from the UNBAN-Watchlist, so it would take at least 15 month for an UNBAN

Since I'm a Blood player and I would profit alot from an UNBAN of those two cards, I would like to say it would make certain matchups more random ... who has the card or who don't has an answer wins or loses. I think it's not necessarily the powerlevel what holds those cards on the BANLIST it's more the random factor these cards will bring to the format. Furthermore cards who are on the BANLIST for a long time having some kind of stigma to the coucil it seems (f.e. 'Stoneforge Mystic') and they have difficulties to handle this.

For me 'Stripmine' is since quite a while the biggest contender on the BANLIST with an "easy UNBAN"-Factor.

[What if decks are only allowed to contain a certain amount of "watchlisted for BAN" cards?]

I had a discussion about the Watch-/Banlist system of our format with a friend and we came to an interesting idea which I wanna share herewith.

Since years now I have the feeling that our watchlist is becoming more and more meaningless with no effect at all. The question in our discussion was "How can we make the Watchlist more meaningful/useful?" and we came to this idea:
What if decks are only allowed to contain a certain amount of "watchlisted for BAN" cards? My first suggestion was 2-3.
Players have to decide now which watchlisted cards they want to play, which can change the meta slightly. The restriction should make it easier to see which watchlisted cards are more frequent played therefore deserve their place on the watchlist and what watchlisted cards are replaceable and could be removed from the watchlist.

Share your opinion on this idea, especially council members.

[tappedout.net Abzan (Midrange)]

tappedout.net Abzan (Midrange)

tappedout.net Jund (Midrange)

tappedout.net Mardu Knights (Midrange)

tappedout.net Naya Zoo (Aggro)

Sorry, I forgot to uncheck the 'private' box for the tappedout.net link, it should work now for everyone.

[ALL]

At least the first council member admit...

*the 3rd

Thanks for sharing the wall of text from those two.

I would recommend to get yourself a facebook account (does not have to be your real name) and head over to https://www.facebook.com/groups/HighlanderEurope/?ref=bookmarks to get all informations.[url]

I left facebook for a good personal reason and I don't think it should be necessary to make an account anywhere to gather ALL public informations. This forum is free to read wether you have an account or not.


The post of Dr. Opossum was kinda interesting to read.

"We do not currently play Highlander in my area."

I personally don't have a community for years, mostly only playing online on cockatrice and from time to time some kitchetable-highlander magic. I still manage to participate as much as possible in discussions.

"I write exams."

Voting for Watch-/Banlist don't take too much time.

"I actively participated 700 years ago."

This sounds like someone is not interested in participating anymore because of his engagement in the past.

Activity is measured by current engagement and collaboration and not by successes of x years ago

Exactly


On Payrons post I can only reapeat what I wrote before, I can understand if council members have no time to participate in every discussion because of "real life" stuff.
If you think nothing problematic has happened since the last voting, you can just stick with your last voting. This don't take too much time but it should be done within the deadline.

[In fact I have been lacking time personally to invest into my duties as a council member for some time now and my cards have been collecting dust as well.]

One possible solution could be a "modern" HL format that hopefully can attract players

The main reason why I chose to play highlander is because I can play so many fun cards from the history of magic which are too "bad" for vintage, legacy or modern. A drastic restriction of the cardpool would instantly kill the format for me.

Other theoretical options could be proxies

I was thinking about something like that, too. At the end I don't think this can be a real solution. Because it would be pretty unsatisfying for players who invested their money in real cards and losing against proxies in tournaments.

Obviously the communication this summer was lacking and I would like to ask for an apology on that on behalf for myself and my fellow council members. I understand this was a real bad timing of us to be so silent. In fact I have been lacking time personally to invest into my duties as a council member for some time now and my cards have been collecting dust as well.

At least the first council member admit that the communication with the community was not that good in the past few months. For sure I understand that council members having a job, friends and family who are demanding their time, too. What I don't understand is we have eight council members and for me it looks like some of them don't even do anything.

Just to show the forum activities of our coucil members ...

Vazdru: Last post 26-06-2018
Maqi: Last post 14-04-2018
Payron: Last post 06-07-2018
Dr. Opossum: Last post 08-07-2018
ChristophO: Last post 10-07-2018
pyyhttu: Last post 04-10-2017
Nastaboi: Last post 16-11-2016
Dalibor: Last post 21-09-2017

... by the way for sure this forum is kinda dead when not even some of the council members use it.

The finish part of our highlander community seem to have their own forum/messenger groups, the czech/slovakia part most likely have their own, too and it feels like every user of this forum is from germany/austria (and we still only post in english) ... for sure communication at all is lacking if we split up like this. Just let's hope for the sake of all who love this format we can make this better again, otherwise the future looks pretty grim.

Hey guys,
my feeling is that our beloved highlander format is slowly dying.

This has necessarily nothing to do with our highlander format, but more with the rising prices for (reserve-listed) eternal relevant cards. The same reason why Vintage died years ago and Legacy is struggling and will die soon, too.
Since our highlander format became more and more competitive over the years many casual players switched to commander, because it gives them more chances to play cheaper decks without getting stomped every time they play. The only competitive "budget" deck our format has at the moment is RDW.

What this format possibly needs is something what makes the format more attractive for beginners or players with a budget (for example budget-prices at tournaments).

the major tournament organized by JK

In my opinion JK is a bad TO anyways, for example kinda high entry fee and compared to that, a bad prize payout.
MGM or The "The-One" Series were showing us it can work the other way around.

I think the biggest difference is that over here people don't seem to put in effort to keep the format going, while over in Canada they do.

What we see over here: an inactive council with super questionable watchlistings that don't even get their own forum topic.

In my eyes this is another reason after the price issue for cards, why this format is going down at the moment.

Another example the Online-Highlander Tournament/League was once free to sign up, now it has an entry fee like a normal tournament. For sure the problem was as the tournament was free to sign up, many players were just joining and didn't showed up to their matches.

My suggestion on this topic would be:
- A free to sign-up Tournament with 8 or 16 slots running over 1 or 2 month
- Players who don't show up to their match for the first time recieve a loss, second time they getting disqualified and will not be able to join the next tournament.
- Playdays would be Saturday and Sunday 5-11pm (players can make an arrengement to play on any day/time before Sunday 22pm)
- The winner of this tournament will get free entry into the Online-Highlander League.

For sure this will take some time for coordination and organisation but for fuck sake this is what the council is for and should do.

Would like to see some responses on this topic or any other suggestions from council members respective the future of this format.

[(tappedout.net link 4c Blood decklist)]

October 2019 updated spreadsheet/decklist for my deck and I thought this could be interesting or maybe helpful for some other 4c Blood players, too ... so I transfered it from excel to google.docs to share:

4c Blood Google.docs decklist(s)/spreadsheet link

#1 Chart: Decklists of both versions I'm playing at the moment:
- (tappedout.net link 4c Blood decklist)
- (tappedout.net link Royal Blood decklist)
#2 Chart: Most of the card choices I made over the years since I'm playing this deck


Cheers and have fun!

Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants



Shield Mare

Kitchen Finks 2.0?


Runic Armasaur

Anti-Fetchland "Wall"


Tezzeret, Artifice Master



Alpine Moon

How to handle Valakut, Tolarian Academy, Maze of Ith, ...


Thud

1cc "Fling"

[Mono Black]

I decided to post some decklists here, open for discussions or for you to get some ideas for your own decks. Depending on the feedback I can post much more lists in the future (I think I have around 30 more highlander-decks stored on cockatrice).

I will start with mono colored "budget" highlanders ideal for highlander-beginners, people who don't want to spend endless money on their decks or maybe players who want to have multiple decks.

The headline from every deck is a tappedout.net link of the decklist.



Mono Black

[36 Creature]
1cc
1 Carnophage
1 Cryptbreaker
1 Diregraf Ghoul
1 Dread Wanderer
1 Gravecrawler
1 Hex Parasite
2cc
1 Dark Confidant
1 Dauthi Slayer
1 Death's Shadow
1 Gifted Aetherborn
1 Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
1 Graveyard Marshal
1 Highborn Ghoul
1 Kitesail Freebooter
1 Nantuko Shade
1 Nezumi Graverobber / Nighteyes the Desecrator
1 Pack Rat
1 Scrapheap Scrounger
1 Shepherd of Rot
1 Skittering Skirge
1 Stromgald Crusader
1 Vampire Hexmage
1 Withered Wretch
3cc
1 Ammit Eternal
1 Drana, Liberator of Malakir
1 Dread Shade
1 Isareth the Awakener
1 Liliana, Heretical Healer / Liliana, Defiant Necromancer
1 Nightveil Specter
1 Plague Belcher
1 Stillmoon Cavalier
1 Vampire Nighthawk
1 Yahenni, Undying Partisan
4cc
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
1 Phyrexian Obliterator
5cc
1 Shriekmaw

[5 Enchantment]
1cc
1 Evil Presence
2cc
1 Arguel's Blood Fast / Temple of Aclazotz
1 Bad Moon
1 Bitterblossom
3cc
1 Phyrexian Arena

[11 Instant]
1cc
1 Ghastly Demise
2cc
1 Cast Down
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Doom Blade
1 Fatal Push
1 Go for the Throat
1 Malicious Affliction
1 Shadow of Doubt
1 Ultimate Price
1 Victim of Night
3cc
1 Dismember
1 Hero's Downfall

[33 Land]
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Field of Ruin
1 Leechridden Swamp
1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse
27 Swamp
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Wasteland

[2 Planeswalker]
3cc
1 Liliana of the Veil
1 Liliana, the Last Hope

[13 Sorcery]
1cc
1 Unearth
1 Duress
1 Thoughtseize
1 Inquisition of Kozilek
2cc
1 Collective Brutality
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Hymn to Tourach
1 Night's Whisper
1 Profane Command
1 Sign in Blood
1 Sinkhole
3cc
1 Never / Return



Mono Blue

[3 Artifact]
1cc
1 Bonesplitter
2cc
1 Smuggler's Copter
3cc
1 Vedalken Shackles

[33 Creature]
1cc
1 Artificer's Assistant
1 Cloudfin Raptor
1 Cloud Pirates
1 Cloud Sprite
1 Faerie Miscreant
1 Flying Men
1 Galerider Sliver
1 Gudul Lurker
1 Hope of Ghirapur
1 Hypnotic Siren
1 Jace's Phantasm
1 Judge's Familiar
1 Mausoleum Wanderer
1 Mist-Cloaked Herald
1 Siren Stormtamer
1 Slither Blade
1 Thought Nibbler
1 Zephyr Sprite
2cc
1 Briarberry Cohort
1 Cloud of Faeries
1 Dimensional Infiltrator
1 Inkfathom Infiltrator
1 Looter il-Kor
1 Quickling
1 Rattlechains
1 Spellstutter Sprite
1 Storm Fleet Aerialist
1 Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
1 Warkite Marauder
3cc
1 Kira, Great Glass Spinner
1 Tempest Djinn
1 True-Name Nemesis

[3 Enchantment]
1cc
1 Curious Obsession
2cc
1 Favorable Winds
3cc
1 Back to Basics

[30 Instant]
1cc
1 Dispel
1 Force Spike
1 Opt
1 Spell Pierce
1 Spell Snare
1 Stifle
1 Unsummon
1 Vapor Snag
2cc
1 Blink of an Eye
1 Boomerang
1 Censor
1 Counterspell
1 Daze
1 Deprive
1 Echoing Truth
1 Into the Roil
1 Mana Drain
1 Mana Leak
1 Memory Lapse
1 Miscalculation
1 Negate
1 Remand
1 Shadow of Doubt
1 Withdraw
3cc
1 Dismember
1 Psionic Blast
5cc
1 Force of Will
1 Gush
1 Misdirection
8cc
1 Dig Through Time

[27 Land]
1 Blinkmoth Nexus
25 Island
1 Wasteland

[5 Sorcery]
1cc
1 Gitaxian Probe
1 Ponder
1 Preordain
1 Serum Visions
8cc
1 Treasure Cruise

[MAYBOARD]
1 Gilded Drake



Mono Green

[4 Artifact]
2cc
1 Heart of Kiran
1 Smuggler's Copter
1 Thorn of Amethyst
1 Winter Orb

[45 Creature]
1cc
1 Arbor Elf
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Deathrite Shaman
1 Elvish Mystic
1 Experiment One
1 Fyndhorn Elves
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Narnam Renegade
1 Noble Hierarch
2cc
1 Avatar of the Resolute
1 Duskwatch Recruiter
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Garruk's Companion
1 Greenwheel Liberator
1 Kalonian Tusker
1 Merfolk Branchwalker
1 Plant Elemental
1 Resilient Khenra
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Strangleroot Geist
1 Swordwise Centaur
1 Terrain Elemental
3cc
1 Courser of Kruphix
1 Deathgorge Scavenger
1 Dungrove Elder
1 Groundbreaker
1 Jadelight Ranger
1 Kitchen Finks
1 Leatherback Baloth
1 Nissa, Vastwood Seer / Nissa, Sage Animist
1 Prowling Serpopard
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Rhonas the Indomitable
1 Runic Armasaur
1 Steel Leaf Champion
1 Thrashing Brontodon
1 Tireless Tracker
1 Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers
4cc
1 Chameleon Colossus
1 Crocodile of the Crossing
1 Polukranos, World Eater
1 Ripjaw Raptor
1 Vengevine
8cc
1 Khalni Hydra
12cc
1 Ghalta, Primal Hunger

[4 Enchantment]
1cc
1 Mirri's Guile
1 Rancor
2cc
1 Sylvan Library
3cc
1 Song of the Dryads

[7 Instant]
1cc
1 Aspect of Hydra
1 Blossoming Defense
1 Vines of Vastwood
3cc
1 Beast Within
1 Chord of Calling
1 Dismember
4cc
1 Collected Company

[34 Land]
1 Field of Ruin
30 Forest
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Wasteland

[2 Planeswalker]
3cc
1 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
5cc
1 Garruk, Primal Hunter

[4 Sorcery]
1cc
1 Green Sun's Zenith
2cc
1 Nature's Way
1 Rabid Bite
1 Rhonas's Last Stand

[MAYBOARD]
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Titania, Protector of Argoth
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Windswept Heath



Mono Red

[3 Artifact]
1cc
1 Black Vise
2cc
1 Ankh of Mishra
1 Shrine of Burning Rage

[29 Creature]
1cc
1 Bomat Courier
1 Goblin Guide
1 Grim Lavamancer
1 Figure of Destiny
1 Monastery Swiftspear
1 Rakdos Cackler
1 Soul-Scar Mage
1 Spark Elemental
1 Stromkirk Noble
1 Vexing Devil
1 Zurgo Bellstriker
2cc
1 Earthshaker Khenra
1 Eidolon of the Great Revel
1 Hellspark Elemental
1 Kari Zev, Skyship Raider
1 Kiln Fiend
1 Satyr Firedancer
1 Stigma Lasher
1 Stormblood Berserker
1 Young Pyromancer
3cc
1 Ahn-Crop Crasher
1 Ball Lightning
1 Boggart Ram-Gang
1 Chandra's Phoenix
1 Goblin Chainwhirler
1 Hell's Thunder
1 Lathnu Hellion
1 Magus of the Moon
1 Rampaging Ferocidon

[2 Enchantment]
3cc
1 Blood Moon
1 Sulfuric Vortex

[18 Instant]
1cc
1 Burst Lightning
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Shard Volley
2cc
1 Chain of Plasma
1 Incinerate
1 Lightning Strike
1 Magma Jet
1 Price of Progress
1 Searing Blaze
1 Searing Blood
1 Searing Spear
1 Skullcrack
3cc
1 Char
1 Flame Javelin
1 Flames of the Blood Hand
1 Pulse of the Forge
6cc
1 Fireblast
1 Thunderous Wrath

[33 Land]
1 Barbarian Ring
31 Mountain
1 Wasteland

[1 Planeswalker]
1 Koth of the Hammer

[14 Sorcery]
1cc
1 Bonfire of the Damned
1 Chain Lightning
1 Forked Bolt
1 Lava Spike
2cc
1 Arc Trail
1 Breath of Darigaaz
1 Fire Ambush
1 Flame Rift
1 Incendiary Flow
1 Volcanic Hammer
3cc
1 Browbeat
1 Exquisite Firecraft
1 Rift Bolt
4cc
1 Fiery Confluence



Mono White

[4 Artifact]
1cc
1 Aether Vial
1 Bonesplitter
2cc
1 Thorn of Amethyst
3cc
1 Spear of Heliod

[42 Creature]
1 Dryad Militant
1 Figure of Destiny
1 Isamaru, Hound of Konda
1 Kytheon, Hero of Akros / Gideon, Battle-Forged
1 Mother of Runes
1 Rustwing Falcon
1 Soldier of the Pantheon
1 Soltari Foot Soldier
1 Topplegeist
2cc
1 Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
1 Grand Abolisher
1 Leonin Arbiter
1 Leonin Skyhunter
1 Knight of the White Orchid
1 Kor Aeronaut
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Remorseful Cleric
1 Selfless Spirit
1 Serra Avenger
1 Silverbeak Griffin
1 Silver Knight
1 Soltari Monk
1 Soltari Priest
1 Soltari Trooper
1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 White Knight
3cc
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Benalish Marshal
1 Blade Splicer
1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
1 Kitchen Finks
1 Mirran Crusader
1 Porcelain Legionnaire
1 Recruiter of the Guard
1 Resplendent Angel
1 Shield Mare
1 Silverblade Paladin
1 Stillmoon Cavalier
1 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
1 Vryn Wingmare
4cc
1 Hero of Bladehold
1 Leonin Warleader

[8 Enchantment]
1cc
1 Cartouche of Solidarity
1 Hyena Umbra
1 Legion's Landing / Adanto, the First Fort
2cc
1 Crusade
1 Honor of the Pure
1 Seal Away
3cc
1 History of Benalia
4cc
1 Parallax Wave

[6 Instant]
1cc
1 Brave the Elements
1 Path to Exile
1 Swords to Plowshares
2cc
1 Celestial Flare
1 Unexpectedly Absent
3cc
1 Dismember
5cc
1 Act of Aggression

[33 Land]
1 Cathedral of War
1 Field of Ruin
1 Flagstones of Trokair
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Karakas
24 Plains
1 Rishadan Port
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Wasteland
1 Windbrisk Heights

[3 Planeswalker]
3cc
1 Ajani, Caller of the Pride
1 Gideon of the Trials
4cc
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant

[3 Sorcery]
3cc
1 Council's Judgment
4cc
1 Armageddon
1 Ravages of War

4. Even as a non-/ barely active member i can vote for each nonsense survey with one click and also see how many voted and who voted. FB is simply smoother/ needs no effort. Even posting and answering is easier if you take a platform that you use every day anyway.

Exactly this point is why I have a problem with the FB group ... even if you are barely active you can vote or post your opinion for every shit even if you don't really care, because its too easy.

The people who look at this forum or maybe post here from time to time at least showing some interest, which is in my opinion eligible. I don't say at all that a FB group isn't useful for some reasons, but for discussions around ban-/watchlist, cardchoices or posting of decklists the forum should have the highest priority. Sure this forum is pretty old and it's difficult to find the right threads/posts, but there was once a discussion about a new website/forum ... which never came.

By the way we have/had our own section for posting decklists here http://magicplayer.org/?id=decks, but it's unused for years now for whatever reasons.

Since I don't use Facebook anymore, I really see how inactive and unmotivated the community looks like from outside the facebook group.
I'm not surprised that tournament attendance and publication of decklists are decreasing ...

For me everything looks normal on the woogerworks server. My complete friendlist is available.

[BAN WATCHLIST]

BAN WATCHLIST

Back to Basics: I'm fine with this card in the format, at the moment.

Blood Moon: I think this card should be banned, for a few reasons. For example there are only a few options if you are on the draw playing a Non-Basicland heavy deck to interact with a turn 2-3 Bloodmoon. In addition with Magus of the Moon, Price of Progress and Ruination there are just three more cards against Non-Basiclands in RED. RDW and UR decks showing us since quite a while now, by tournament appearances and performances that we should adress any kind of BAN in this direction and in my opinion 'Blood Moon' should be that BAN.

Demonic Tutor: Still don't understand why this card is on the watchlist.

Dig Through Time: I'm fine with this card in the format at the moment.

Entomb: Didn't saw an overwhelming increase of decks, who played that card since the UNBAN, so I'm okay with it at the moment.

Imperial Seal: Same as Entomb.

Mana Drain: This card in my opinion should stay at least at the watchlist for closer observation. It's a two mana disruption+ramp two-in-one spell, if it don't get BANNED there are enough reasons to justify this card for being on the watchlist.

Oath of Druids: I told my opinion about this card for too long and too many times I think so. BAN

Tainted Pact: Same as Demonic Tutor.

Tolarian Academy: I'm too lazy to write something down about this card so i quote myself ...

My opinion:
The most common deck which plays this card at the moment is "Eggs" which is not even close to be a normal highlander deck it's more like Solitaire ... one player is playing an endless turn and finishs with a rediculous combo. This card should be banned just to remove those kind of decks from the format where only one player is playing and the other is just watching.

Treasure Cruise: I'm fine with this card in the format at the moment.

Yawgmoth's Will: I'm fine with this card in the format at the moment.



UNBAN WATCHLIST

Gifts Ungiven: As far as I know one of the main reasons for the BAN was the rediculous synergy with 'Life from the Loam' but since quite a while Wizards likes to print more and more strong graveyard removal so I don't know how threatening this "combo" still is. So I think this card on the UNBAN watchlist is just fine for me.

Mystical Tutor: This BAN in my opinion was one of the biggest fails of the council. UNBAN

I dont want to hijack that thread with my nonsense more than necessary but I was kind of referring to OPs weird hate for facebook (where we have a lot of discussions nowadays because it is easy to reach and convinient for a lot of people)

... I know many guys of the highlander community are lazy facebook junkies ...

My facebook related quote was not meant to be against the facebook-group at all, but more against some of the people posting there or even insulting other players with other opinions.
For sure facebook is easier to reach but easier to troll, too. In my opinion if you are not willing to visit the forum and discuss certain subjects in more than 2 sentenses, you shouldn't expect to change something what you wanna change and you shouldn't cry if your opinion is not considered at all.
How could I take someones opinion serious if he/she wrote it down in two sentenses without any research or details or insults players with different opinions on a subject (f.e. 'Mystical Tutor' BAN)

Regarding your wishes for Skullclamp/Library/Jitte. Those 3 cards in my opinion are the worst offenders if you are looking at cards that break mirrormatches.
In Control mirrors Library on Turn 1 is simply not beatable. It is extremely disheartening and unfun for most players. Skullclamp and Jitte are two cards that make attacking and blocking basically impossible. Keep in mind that creature tokens are plentiful nowadays due to planeswalkers, CitP effects and so on. While I believe Jitte to be the smaller problem of the two, Jitte really shines vs aggro. Aggro has a tough stand in our meta (except RDW) and Jitte would make matters a lot worse.     

This is why I wanted to start a discussion around the cards I mentioned (there are few more cards on the banlist), I wanted to see other opinions and perspectives.