Announcement here: http://www.magicplayer.org/forum/index.php?topic=1164.0
The last watchlist changes are somehow confusing to me. During the last banning season the councils statement regarding Tolarian Academy was:
"Tolarian Academy always stays under close observation, as its potential as a key card for non-interactive combo is known.
The game has slowed down with the introduction of the free mulligan and it is not as easy as it was under spoils conditions to sculpt a perfect hand, but with the tutoring power present in the format, building a combo shell around Tolarian Academy is perfectly possible, and we want to see, what kind of new archetype this possibly brings forth. Should it be harmful for the metagame, we have to think again about Academy. The latest developments regarding the Eggs deck demand a reintroduction of Tolarian Academy to the ban watch list."
First of all, you said that TA ALWAYS stays under close observation. Then you also bring up all the good reasons why it should be watched. And last but not least you mentioned the EGGs-Deck. But if you followed the tournament results (Berlin and recently also Erfurt) you should have noticed, that there is also a second, even stronger deck that abuses the TA. Furthermore, the biggest part of the Berlin HL Community is constantly pointing out that this deck is really strong and should be observed.
So, please tell me, why is this card not even on the watchlist anymore? And please don't tell me, that only Berlin has this problem and that they have to deal with this because the meta in other regions don't have this problem. The fact, that a copy of this deck, the first time it was played somewhere else than in Berlin, instantly won the Erfurt Qualifier should at least justify that TA stays on the watchlist.
Especially this decision has caused a great shock and a huge discussions inside the berlin community. And as far as I get it, the B community feels ignored by the HL council.
I think you made a big mistake with this decision and I'm really looking forward to your explanations.
Edit by pyyhttu: Added announcement URL and split this post as its own topic titled "Feedback on January 2016 bannings"
The last watchlist changes are somehow confusing to me. During the last banning season the councils statement regarding Tolarian Academy was:
"Tolarian Academy always stays under close observation, as its potential as a key card for non-interactive combo is known.
The game has slowed down with the introduction of the free mulligan and it is not as easy as it was under spoils conditions to sculpt a perfect hand, but with the tutoring power present in the format, building a combo shell around Tolarian Academy is perfectly possible, and we want to see, what kind of new archetype this possibly brings forth. Should it be harmful for the metagame, we have to think again about Academy. The latest developments regarding the Eggs deck demand a reintroduction of Tolarian Academy to the ban watch list."
First of all, you said that TA ALWAYS stays under close observation. Then you also bring up all the good reasons why it should be watched. And last but not least you mentioned the EGGs-Deck. But if you followed the tournament results (Berlin and recently also Erfurt) you should have noticed, that there is also a second, even stronger deck that abuses the TA. Furthermore, the biggest part of the Berlin HL Community is constantly pointing out that this deck is really strong and should be observed.
So, please tell me, why is this card not even on the watchlist anymore? And please don't tell me, that only Berlin has this problem and that they have to deal with this because the meta in other regions don't have this problem. The fact, that a copy of this deck, the first time it was played somewhere else than in Berlin, instantly won the Erfurt Qualifier should at least justify that TA stays on the watchlist.
Especially this decision has caused a great shock and a huge discussions inside the berlin community. And as far as I get it, the B community feels ignored by the HL council.
I think you made a big mistake with this decision and I'm really looking forward to your explanations.
Edit by pyyhttu: Added announcement URL and split this post as its own topic titled "Feedback on January 2016 bannings"