Subject: article [Issues] Date: Tue, 01 Dec 1998 09:06:56 PST From: "Jeff Phitch" To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com Type II - Time for a change. Okay, I've heard all the arguments, read all sides, The Academy is not good for type II, I don't personally think so though, but that is not my intention here, if you want to beat Academy - play Academy, play Lab, use Abundance, use Meltdown, how about using Annul, they work very well. The reason I am writing this is because I have a point I'd like to get across about Type II - it needs to be changed. I am not here to debate whether Type I is superior to Type II, or that thanks to Tolarian Academy, Type II is nothing more then a Type I junior. Want a first turn kill combo, it's is almost to ridiculous to pull off, but it could be pulled off with a lot of luck. Mountain, Lotus Petal, Lotus Petal, Dark Ritual, Sneak Attack, Serra's Avatar. There you go a silly first turn kill, yes we have a possible 1st turn kill here. Type II, has become quite popular thanks to what most player perceive as fair or equal playing grounds. Type II doesn't have any power 9 cards but they have a ton of broken cards, especially Cursed Scroll and Tolarian Academy. I don't think the problem lies with cards like Tolarian Academy, in fact if I were to use, Birds of Paradise, Ornithopters, and Llanowar Elves I'd get pretty much the same result with a Cradle, albeit off color. How bout Stroking Crabs Deck, Blue/Green using Crabs/Fertile Ground/Earthcraft as the combo instead of MoMa/Academy/Tons of Artifacts. Banning cards has become the easy solution to all the players crying foul, the DCI has found the easy way out, ban cards. Type II is very limited as is, banning cards just makes it easier to limit it further. I have instead come up with a couple alternate solutions to the problem we have on our hands right now. They are Expand, Require, and Stop. Expand - when I say this I simply have one idea in mind, expand the number of sets encompassed by Type II. I have harked on this notion for a long time and I truly believe it is a good idea. The main idea behind this is to give players access to the latest basic set, the latest expansion set, and the last 2 expansion sets, this would mean that are current type II would be 5th Ed., Mirage block, Tempest block, and Urza's Saga block. Pros - Allows a wider amount of cards to be used. - Allows players an extended amount of time to get used to certain cards. - Deck Ideas will be enhanced. - Allows players to buy cards at a slower pace. Cons - Certain deck types would become recurring themes. - Would hurt new types vs. established types. Require - this simply means that the deck that is being played would be required to have an on-color or artifact card from each expansion set, and from the basic set. Cards that have appeared in two or more sets, such as Counterspell or Disenchant would qualify as coming from the latest set they appeared in or if they appear in the basic edition, they would qualify from that set. Pros - Decks would become more evened out. - Many decks would have to become more well balanced out. Cons - Many players might find this a little restrictive. - Players who rely upon a couple sets would have to become more aware of what they are playing with. Stop - when I say this I refer to the earlier argument against banning cards. This is perhaps the most important part since it would allow players to play those cards that other deem broken. Pros - Wider use of certain cards. - No more limits on what a person can use in their decks. - People will start coming up with ways to stop certain cards. Cons - Many people complaining about how broken certain cards are. - Players will abuse certain cards until people find a way to stop them. This is not a perfect explanation as to why Type II should change, or even if it should change at all, but it does go a ways into some possible solutions to problems Type II has. If you need clarification on something or would just like to ask me question feel free to, e-mail me at phitch@hotmail.com and thank you for reading. Jeff Fitch ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com