Topics

[Modern Horizon II]

Recently I saw the spoilers of 'Modern Horizon II' and I'm considering a comeback to the European-Highlander Format on Cockatrice after around two years inactivity, because some cards looking pretty much fun and could power up some niche decks.
But if the community is still like two years ago I think I will remain staying inactive, because I don't wanna spend the time in deck construction to play always against the same 1-2 players with the same 1-2 decks again.

[Today by coincidence I received a link to a massive thread with criticism on the council]

Around 6 month ago I decided to temporary quit the format until changes in the structure (BANs & UNBANs, council, transparency, ...) will be made.
Today by coincidence I received a link to a massive thread with criticism on the council.
Because the thread was deleted in the facebook group as far as I heard, I won't post the link here or will post my further opinion on the different points of critic now.

Just to remember, here some of my posts with criticism on the format structure (mostly banlist related) for those who are interested in my point of view in the past:

Critic on the handling with banlist changes
Suggestions for changes on banlist votes


Another problem I want to point out again is, since my Facebook BAN I saw it's hard to follow whats happening in the format/community, because kinda no one use the forum or discord nowadays for whatever reasons.
In my opinion an independent platform which don't require a log in is necessary to read and follow up whats happening in the community (tournament results/reports, decklists, discussions, announcements, ...).

I will look forward on how this thread of criticism will change the structure of the format, maybe it's worth to start playing and participate in the community again if changes will be made.

I posted my first idea of a new Online Highlander Tournament format like a month ago and this thread now is to ask you guys if enough players are interested in this to pursue this idea.

Some of this stuff is already known from the Online Highlander League:

- Monthly tournament free to join, post your deck code to join.
- The tournament is intended for 8 players single KO-System, Best of Three.
- Games will be played on Cockatrice (Server: Rooster Ranges)
- Rounds end every week Sunday 11 pm (players can arrange their match from Monday 6 pm - Sunday 11 pm).
- I would suggest to arrange your matches via PM or Discord.
- Players who don't show up to their match, receive a loss and can't join the next monthly tournament.
- Winner posts a short report of the match.

If you have questions or ideas feel free to post or contact me via PM or discord.

Entreat the Dead

Miracle reanimate your graveyard


Ravenous Slime



Crash of the Rhino Beetles



Varchild, Betrayer of Kjeldor



Reality Scramble

Maybe 'Retrace' makes this card some kind of viable


Gyrus, Waker of Corpses



Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow



Endless Atlas

[Allwissenden]

Da die ausländischen Communities dieses Forum ja scheinbar eh nicht nutzen, wieso schreiben wir dann immer noch zum Großteil auf englisch? Eine Änderung der Hauptkommunikationssprache auf deutsch wird sich in diesem Forum wohl kaum negativ auf die Aktivitäten auswirken (vielleicht sogar eher positiv), da soweit ich weiß jeder derzeitig aktive Nutzer deutsch kann. Auf gezielte Fragen kann man bei Bedarf ja immer noch auf englisch antworten bzw. den Allwissenden fragen.
Bis auf ein paar Ausnahmen zum Beispiel Ban-/Watchlist Änderungen und Online Highlander League ist meiner Meinung nach die englische Sprache in diesem Forum mittlerweile völlig unnötig.

Falls es dennoch gute Gründe für die englische Sprache gibt, könnt ihr mir diese gerne Mitteilen, vielleicht ändert sich meine Meinung.


Hab den ganzen Text aus Faulheit nochmal durch den Translator gejagt falls es wider erwartend Nutzer geben sollte die kein deutsch können:

Since the foreign communities seemingly do not use this forum anyway, why do we still mostly write in English? A change in the main communication language in German in this forum will probably have little negative impact on the activities (maybe even more positive), as far as I know every currently active users German. If you have any questions, you can still answer in English or ask the omniscient.
Except for a few exceptions, for example Ban-/Watchlist changes and Online Highlander League is in my opinion the English language in this forum meanwhile completely unnecessary.

If there are good reasons for the English language, you are welcome to tell them, maybe my opinion will change.

[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)

[(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

[WARNING!!! WALL OF TEXT INCOMING!!!]

WARNING!!! WALL OF TEXT INCOMING!!!

Because on Facebook there was asked for a consideration to unban 'Skullclamp' and the council already set 'Birthing Pod' on the unban watchlist.
I think it's time for the community to deeper discuss some cards on the banlist and unban watchlist. I know many guys of the highlander community are lazy facebook junkies but I hope we can find a constructive discussion here in the forum about that subject.

Here is my opinion about some cards ...

BANNED CARDS

Birthing Pod (Banned since: 15.04.2012)
Reason:

Birthing Pod:
Spätestens ab dem Zeitpunkt als Survival of the Fittest gebannt wurde, haben wir besonderes Augenmerk auf Karten gelegt, die durch ihre Funktionsweise einen konstanten Kartenvorteil garantieren und außerdem Zugang zu den jeweils situationsbedingt besten Kreaturen der jeweiligen Toolbox gewähren. Dies wurde damals wie heute als schädlich für unser Format erachtet, insbesondere wenn die Karte sowohl wenig manaintensiv ist und gleichzeitig den Spieler mit weiterer Boardpräsenz versorgt. Birthing Pod war im Format für fast ein Jahr. Während dieser Zeit wurden viele Turnierergebnisse gesammelt und ausgewertet. Birthing Pod war in fast allen multi-color midrange decks enthalten. Das Artifakt kann sowohl dazu benutzt werden, um Kombos den Weg zu ebnen als auch um z. B. recht zügig in Titanen hineinzurampen. Mit dem Phyrexian Mana unterliegt es zudem nicht den herkömmlichen Mana-Restiktionen und kann somit noch universeller eingesetzt werden. Außerdem kristallisierte sich bei den Beobachtungen heraus, dass der Spieler, der den Pod zuerst aktiv bekam, immer einen extremen Vorteil im Spiel gewann (insbesondere dann, wenn die Kurve nach einen T1 Mana-Tier gelegt werden konnte) und nach ein paar Aktivierungen das Spiel für den Gegner kaum noch zu gewinnen war. In einem Meta, wo mehr Kreaturen als je zuvor gespielt werden, machte oftmals der Pod auf der Starthand den entscheidenden Unterschied aus. Deshalb haben wir uns für das gleiche Vorgehen wie damals bei Survival of the Fittest entschieden.

TL;DR:
Banned because the mechanic is similar to 'Survival of the Fittest' and generate card advantage and tutoring answers permanently for everything

My opinion:
I'm playing green based 3-5c midrange/aggro decks in highlander now for around 15 years (yes I already played highlander before magicplayer.org) and before the release of 'Birthing Pod', 'Survival of the Fittest' was an auto-inculde in all of my decks so was 'Birthing Pod' since it's release until it's ban.
The dominance of this card is kinda like 'Survival of the Fittest' and will not be healthy for the format at all, especially with the growing powerlevel of creatures nowadays.

My vote would be BAN



Gifts Ungiven (Banned since: 15.10.2011)
Reason:

Gifts Ungiven
Als wir diese Karte vor drei Monaten auf die Watchlist gesetzt haben, haben wir zuerst das generelle Powerlevel des Formats näher untersucht und Gifts Ungiven als stärkste Karte des Formats identifiziert. Die Karte ist außerdem leicht splashbar sowie auch in entsprechend vielen Top8-Listen zu finden. Mit der Einführung des Snapcaster Mage werden Decks mit Gifts Ungiven sicherlich auch nicht schlechter werden.

TL;DR
At the time of the ban the council had the opinion that 'Gifts Ungiven' was the best card in the format and with 'Snapcaster Mage' coming this card had too much potential

My opinion:
As far as I can remember it was banned because 'Gifts Ungiven' for example on 'Life from the Loam', "Cycle Land", 'Wasteland' and '?Maze of Ith?' was one of the biggest threats at this time in the format. My knowledge about that kinda decktypes is not that deep, but because of the better graveyard removal we have now (example: 'Deathrite Shaman', 'Scavenging Ooze', 'Rest in Peace', ...).

My vote would be UNBAN



Library of Alexandria (Banned since: 01.07.2010)
Reason:

Library of Alexandria

"Der Unban der Library ist als testweiser Unban zu verstehen. Wir werden den Effekt, den das auf das Format hat, sehr genau beobachten [...]"
Library of Alexandria wurde am 01.10.2008 entbannt, zusammen mit Mind Over Matter, wirksam wurde der Unban zum 15.10.2008. LoA war also ein Jahr und 9 Monate lang Bestandteil unseres Formats. Warum also erfolgt nun der Ban?
Es gibt hier keinen einzelnen, ausschlaggebenden Grund, wie auch bei Survival of the Fittest in der letzten Banning Season. Gründe haben sich hier auch nach und nach akkumuliert:

• Das Zugänglichkeitsproblem: LoA ist eine sehr teure Karte, die aber an sich jeder Highlanderspieler, der nicht nur Aggro- und Kombodecks spielen will, braucht.


• Das Frustrationsproblem: Der Gegner präsentiert Dir die Lucky Starhand-LoA. Wenn Du nun nicht der super Aggromann bist oder die sofortige Lösung am Start hast, fühlst Du Dich scheiße - auch wenn die LoA vielleicht garnicht unbedingt den Sieg bedeutet für Deinen Gegner.


• Das "ich hab keine LoA, ich spiel kein Control"-Problem: Jeder will ja ein möglichst optimal konstruiertes Deck pilotieren. Daher wird jeder, der auf einem Turnier ein Control-Deck ohne LoA pilotiert, dies mit dem bitteren Beigeschmack tun, dass sein Deck nicht optimal ist. Viele Spieler greifen aus genau diesem Grund nicht zu einem Control- oder Midrange-Deck. Und Leute, die keine Lust haben, Aggro oder Kombo zu spielen, spielen u. U. deswegen garnicht mehr mit...


• Das "Typ 1"-Problem: Die Außenwirkung des Formates auf Interessenten - mal abgesehen von den Eternal-Jungs, die keine Spielpartner mehr finden - leidet unter der Legalität von LoA, das haben wir in sehr vielen Einzelgesprächen bspws. mit Legacy-Spieler auf Turnieren immer wieder gehört.


• Das "Randomness-im-Mirror"-Problem: Wenn auch die Randomness im Control Mirror durch LoA m.E. bei weitem nicht so groß ist wie es bei Jitte im Aggro-Mirror der Fall ist, so ist dennoch nicht von der Hand zu weisen, dass die Starthand-LoA die Siegchancen beträchtlich erhöht.

Zusammenfassend ist zu sagen, dass die Legalität von 'Library of Alexandria'...
a) nicht notwendig ist
b) das Format beschädigt, da es eine nicht kleine Anzahl von Spielern vom Highlandern abhält.
Dies konnten wir wie gesagt immer wieder aus Einzelgesprächen und auch Forenbeiträgen entnehmen. Letztlich handelt es sich hier innerhalb des Rates auch um eine Mehrheitsentscheidung, vier von fünf Ratsmitgliedern stimmten eindeutig für einen Ban.

Zuletzt ist noch darauf hinzuweisen, dass die LoA von Beginn an auf der Watch List stand.

TL;DR
- Expencive card.
- Frustration against 1st turn 'Library of Alexandria', if you don't play a very aggressive deck.
- Playing control decks without 'Library of Alexandria' feels so much weaker so players could consider not to play control because they don't have a 'Library of Alexandria'.
- In mirror control Match-Ups this card is kinda like 'Umezawas Jitte' in creature based Match-Ups, the player who has it first has a big advantage.

My opinion:
I think over the last years the decktype who can abuse this card pretty good nearly vanished from the highlander format, furthermore the meta has shifted to be much faster these days. So why is this card still banned? Sure this card has some potential to be broken in some situations, but as I said before in my opinion the decktype who can abuse this card nearly disappeared over the years.

My vote would be UNBAN



Sensei's Divining Top (Banned since: 01.04.2016)
Reason:

Sensei's Divining Top
A powerful tool for many decks, which continually smooths draws to a degree like no other card can, while also being almost indestructible.
However, the problematic part of playing this card is the time issue, which it often creates when used repeatedly over a long game. By banning this card, we would like to come to less stressful tournaments and lower the amount of unfinished games, which in turn should create a happier environment for everyone.

TL;DR
Almost indistructible. Annoying to play against in tournaments, because of the time management.

My opinion:
This is most likely an only tournament relevant decision and I think I am fine with that.

My vote would be BAN



Skullclamp (Banned since: Forever?)
Reason:

My opinion:
I think a card like 'Skullclamp' which is banned since "forever", should closely considered to be rewatched just because the powerlevel has shifted so much since the ban decision. I think we should give this card one or two seasons to show at some tournaments if a ban is still justified.

My vote would be UNBAN



Strip Mine: (Banned since: Forever?)
Reason:

My opinion:
Since 'Wasteland' is an auto-include in every highlander deck today and most decks revolving around Non-Basiclands (example: 'Karakas', 'Maze of Ith', ...) anyway, in my eyes an unban would just give us a better second 'Wasteland' option (instead of 'Tectonic Edge') which is not that big of a deal in my opinion so maybe we can discuss about that, too.

My Vote would be UNBAN



Survival of the Fittest (Banned since: 01.04.2010)
Reason:

Survival of the Fittest

Survival steht schon seit sehr langer Zeit auf der Watchlist, und die Gründe für seinen Ban haben sich im Laufe der Zeit langsam, aber sicher kumuliert. Wenn die Karte das Format auch nicht gebrochen hat, so war sie in den letzten Monaten ohne Frage formatdefinierend, was zu einem sehr festgefahrenen Metagame geführt hat, in dem man Survival durchaus als dominant bezeichnen kann. Der Rat hatte mit dem Banning von Enlightened Tutor bereits begonnen, um die Karte drumherum zu bannen. Ebenfalls in Betracht gezogen wurde das Banning von Squee, Goblin Nabob. Wir sind diesen Weg an dieser Stelle bewusst nicht weitergegangen, sondern wollen durch das Banning von Survival of the Fittest wieder Raum für Decks schaffen, welche bisher nicht in Betracht gezogen wurden seitens der Spielerschaft aufgrund deren schlechten Survival-Matchups. Die Möglichkeit, Squee einfach zu ersetzen durch qualitativ nicht einmal zwingend schwächere Karten - Krovikan Horror (der mit entsprechend viel Mana doppelt soviel Kartenvorteil generiert wie ein Squee), Gigapede - der gerade in Kombination mit Wonder auch einfach mal gern das Spiel gewinnt, nachdem man mit seiner Hilfe Crap auf der eigenen Hand in die besten Kreaturen verwandelt hat, zeigt bereits, dass das Problem hier an der Wurzel gepackt werden muss. Andere bekannte und valide Argumente sind:

• Loyal Retainers // Iona, Shield of Emeria: Die aus Legacy bekannte Reanimator-Tech ist auch im HL sehr gut spielbar.


• Ein-Karten-Kombo, die sich selbst beschützt, indem sie als Antwort auf Removal Eternal Witness/Venser, Spellshaper Savant/Mystic Snake sucht.


• Combo-Enabler mit Karten wie Body Double, Reveillark etc.


• Survival hat einen relevanten Anteil daran, dass im HL of mit 60 Minuten Rundenzeit nicht mehr ausgekommen wird.


• Survival gibt zu jedem Spielzeitpunkt dem ausspielenden Spieler einen derart drastischen Vorteil, dass selten Spiele mit liegendem Survival verloren werden.


• Survival-Decks mit Toolbox spulen fast immer das gleiche, monotone Schema ab:
  - Squee suchen, Wall of Roots/Birds/Sakura-Tribe Elder suchen (Phase "Ans laufen kriegen")
  - Harmonic Sliver/FTK/Bone Shredder holen, Antworten suchen (Phase "den Druck abbauen")
  - optional, falls nötig: Loxodon Hierarch, Kitchen Finks etc suchen und Life gainen (Phase "restabiliseren und außerhalb der Burn-Range gelangen")
  - Letzte Phase: Antworten des Gegners neutralisieren und eigene Finisher suchen (Mystic Snake, Venser, oder gleich Doran, Baneslayer, Rampaging Baloths etc.).


• Survival blockiert das Format in seiner Entwicklung.


• Survival ist zudem ein hoher Frustrationsfaktor.

Über den Ban von Enlightened Tutor sind wir dennoch weiterhin glücklich, da der Archetyp, der von Survival bislang in Schach gehalten wurde - Oath of Druids - nun sicherlich in den Fokus der Spieler rücken wird, erst Recht dank der Eldrazi-Monster.

Keiner der genannten Gründe rechtfertig für sich genommen ein Ban von SotF. In der Summe aber sind wir der Meinung, dass auch die Stärksten nicht ewig leben können. Wir sind uns bewusst, dass wir keine andere Karte hätten bannen können - außer vielleicht Demonic Tutor - welche das Format derart stark verändert hätte. Wir sind jedoch auch der Ansicht, dass heutige Survival-Decks auch ohne ihren Namensgeber spielbar sind, da die Tiere in der heutigen Toolbox - anders als früher - selbst auch noch eine gute Power/Toughness-Mana-Kosten-Relation mitbringen. Anders als bei Demonic Tutor, welcher nahezu ausschließlich positive Auswirkungen auf das Format und seine Diversifizität hat, führt Survival zu einer Decklandschaft von Survival-Decks und Anti-Survival-Decks (siehe die Turniere der letzten Monate in Iserlohn und Dülmen).

TL;DR
- Time management in tournaments, because of permanently tutoring.
- Because mostly always running the same pattern resulting in monotone and boring gameplay.
- 'Survival of the Fittest' is blocking the development of the format, because of it's dominance.
- High frustration factor playing against 'Survival of the Fittest', because the Survival-Player always finds the perfect answer.

My opinion: Same as on 'Birthing Pod' see above.

My vote would be BAN



Umezawa's Jitte (Banned since: Forever?)
Reason:

My opinion:
I look at this card with mixed feelings. At first I really would like to see how this card would perform in the meta nowadays but the potential to be broken in certain Match-Ups is kinda big. So probably it's better to stay on the banlist for now.

My vote would be BAN


Watchlist opinion follows ....

[Now my question for you guys is, are here enough players who are interessted in a Highlander meeting day(s) on Cockatrice?]

Since the Highlander-Community in my hometown is kinda dead, I thought I can play Highlander on Cockatrice more frequently. But in the last few weeks I saw the Highlander-Community on Cockatrice is kinda small and it's sometimes difficult to find other players.
I can understand players who say it is unattractive at the moment, if you don't have that much time (family, job, ...) but you are interessted in playing some Highlander games for few games in the afternoon/evening and no one is online.
Maybe this is a reason why the community of players who play Highlander on Cockatrice regulary is still kinda small.

Now my question for you guys is, are here enough players who are interessted in a Highlander meeting day(s) on Cockatrice?

I would like to see a growing active online community beside the local communities for players who don't have access to a local Highlander-Community like me or maybe players who wants to play against decks out of their local meta.

[Oath of Druids]

After the last banlist change announcement and again no changes to the bans/unbans, I rewatched the bans/unbans and watchlist changes of the last 5 years. Because I had the feeling some of the watchlisted cards standing there for years now, without changes.
Here is the result ...



I highlighted the most frequent watchlisted cards
Oath of Druids: Watchlisted April 2013 - January 2014; Removed from Watchlist January 2014; Watchlisted April 2015 - October 2016 (Over a year now under permanent observance with no action)
Natural Order: Watchlisted October 2012 - October 2013; Banned October 2013; Watchlisted October 2014 - October 2015; Unbanned+Watchlisted October 2015 - April 2016: Banned+Watchlisted April 2016; removed from Watchlist July 2016
Stoneforge Mystic: Watchlisted October 2011 - April 2013 (over two years under observance with no action); Banned April 2013; Watchlisted October 2014 - October 2015;Removed from Watchlist October 2015 - April 2016; Watchlisted April 2016 - October 2016
Tolarian Academy: Watchlisted April 2013 - October 2013; Unban+Watchlisted October 2013 - October 2014; Removed from Watchlist October 2014; Watchlisted April 2015 - January 2016; Removed from Watchlist January 2016: Watchlisted April 2016 - October 2016
Mystical Tutor: Watchlisted October 2012 - April 2014 (Over a year under permanent observance); Unban+Watchlisted April 2014 - October 2014: Removed from Watchlist October 2014; Watchlisted October 2015 - October 2016 (One year under permanent obsevance with no action)
Fastbond: Watchlisted October 2014 - April 2015; Unban+Watchlisted April 2015 - October 2016 (Over a year now under permanent observance with no action)

It wasn't that bad as I thought at first, but still in my eyes the watchlist is becoming more and more a list of strong cards witout a serious consideration of ban/unban (maybe because non councilmembers have no insight at the votes and/or discussion).

In my opinion cards which were not affected by new released cards should be banned, unbanned or removed from the watchlist after a given time; for example one year and maybe rewatchlisted after another year, if necessary.
Few examples how new released cards affected older cards and leading to bans 'Natural Order' at first was affected by the release of 'Progenitus', 'Grindstone' was affected by 'Painter Servant', 'Flash' by 'Protean Hulk', ...


Another point of criticism is the pretty new card  'Eldritch Evolution' which is not on the watchlist yet but should be in my opinion. Because of the similarity to 'Natural Order' which is already on the banlist. Yes I know this card is very new but found some play in recent top tournament-decks.
Cards that have a strong similarity with cards which are already on the banlist should be watchlisted as soon as possible in my opinion, to ban them in the next banning announcement if necessary.
An example from the past in my opinion is the ban of 'Birthing Pod' which was not directly watchlisted but banned a year after release. The strong similarity to 'Survival of the Fittest', which proofed to be a broken card in the format, should have been a wake up call.


Next point and don't get me wrong, I think the idea of the council by itself is fine, but give the community a chance to VOTE for their bans/unbans.
Vazdru as councilmember is asking for feedback to the bans/unbans in forum threads or on Highlander-Cups now for years.

For example last feedback thread:



Unsure votes are counted as 0.

My question/suggestion is, why isn't it possible to count the feedback votes for ban/unban of cards together and count them as 1 or maybe 2 votes for the final result. To prevent abuse from multiple accounts maybe only verified users are able to vote ... for example verifying via DCI number PM'ed to a trustful councilmember.
I think the decision which card should be watchlisted is ok to be dicided by the councilmembers only, but the community should have a vote for the final ban/unban, too.
Maybe you would get much more and better feedback on the bans/unbans if the feedback has the chance to change something.

In addition it would be nice with the banning announcement the result of the votes would be posted too (without names of course), to see which cards being considered as strong or weak.
Furthermore for example a vote with +90% (or whatever %) of YES or NO votes could lead to be removed from the watchlist, too.


TL;DR:
I wish that the community has a bit more access to the ban/unban voting.
I would like to see if the council act more decesivly while watchlisting, banning and unbanning cards.


At the end of course I would like to thank all councilmembers for the work on this format.

[Hey my fellow Cockatrice Highlander players,]

Hey my fellow Cockatrice Highlander players,
because I was asked why I use different endings on my tokens (for example VampireLL, VampireF, ...), I thought it is time to share how I and how you easy can customize cockatrice for a better visual experience.

[1] Changing the shown version of cards





[2] Changing the appearance of your board/table.

- Enter the Cockatrice folder (For example: C:\Program Files\Cockatrice)
- If it doesn't exist create a folder named 'themes' in this folder
- In the 'themes' folder you create a subfolder named for example 'Custom Theme'
- In this folder you copy your cardback.svg which is changing the appearance of the backside of your deck and face-down cards on the board like sleeves.
- To change the table/board appearance you create in the 'Custom Theme' folder another subfolder named 'zones'



Measurements I use (I never found official recommended measurements):
handzone.jpg: 1500x225
stackzone.jpg & playerzone.jpg: 225x750
tablezone.jpg: 1200x440
- To activate your 'Custom Theme', change under Settings -> Appearance 'Current theme:' to your theme, restart Cockatrice


For example this is how my board/table looks like:




[3] Change Sounds for different steps/phases
This helped me alot to realize what my opponent is doing at the moment without always watching the steps/phases at the left side or reading the messages at the right side
- Enter your Cockatrice folder
- Enter the folder 'sounds' and create again a subfolder named for example 'Custom Sounds'
- In this folder you can directly can copy your step/phase sounds as .wav file
- The files should be named like this for whatever you want to use them:
all_mention.wav
attack_step.wav
block_step.wav
chat_mention.wav
damage_step.wav
draw_card.wav
draw_step.wav
end_combat.wav
end_step.wav
life_change.wav
main_1.wav
main_2.wav
play_card.wav
player_disconnect.wav
player_join.wav
player_reconnect.wav
private_message.wav
roll_dice.wav
shuffle.wav
start_combat.wav
tap_card.wav
untap_card.wav
untap_step.wav
upkeep_step.wav
- To activate your 'Custom Sounds', change under Settings -> Sound 'Current sound theme:' to your theme, restart Cockatrice


[4] Create Tokens
- If there is a 'tokens.xml' in your Cockatrice folder, but you want to use your own customized tokens delete the existing tokens.xml. In my opinion the standard tokens.xml is sh*t anyway.
- You create a new tokens.xml as soon as you create new tokens via 'Card Database' -> Edit Tokens, with the tokens you use the most
- The destination for your custom tokens is for example the folder \Cockatrice\pics\downloadedPics\TK you can save the pictures as .jpg or .png files for tokens
- Name the token image in the 'TK' folder exactly like the token you created via Card Database -> Edit Tokens for the tokens.xml (for example you created a 'VampireLL' token you have to name the Image 'VampireLL.full'



If you have questions about customizing Cockatrice feel free to ask me in this thread, on Cockatrice or Discord.