GEMP Leagues

[Merrick_H]

Hello all!
After some comments in the game hall about leagues, I thought I should take some time to share some  of my league administration philosophy.
  
In general:

• There will only be one league of each type (Constructed, Sealed, Draft) running at a time.
• Each series is 10 days to ensure that there is at least one weekend in each series and to allow all 10 matches per series to be played if desired.
• Aside from Sealed, leagues are only one 10-day series each as in the past the longer leagues had a significant drop off in the number of games played in the later series.

Draft:
As there are only 3 functional Draft formats (Fellowship Draft Pack, Towers Draft Pack and Fellowship Block booster draft) there will be one of each a month.  Once The Hobbit Draft is fixed, that will be added to the rotation.

Constructed:

• This is the perfect place to get some of the formats that cannot be enforced in the game hall.  I have options to allow only a certain set and combinations of sets (usually Base + Expansions for block formats) or other fun one-off and often requested formats such as Movie with no GLR.
• If I see requests for specific leagues in popular free play formats, I will try to prioritize them, however as the game hall postings have a tendency to be serious and/or competitive decks most of the time, I think the need for that type of competitive environment is served by the game hall at this time.

Sealed:
Sealed is on a rotation with 6 different formats.  Each league lasts 40 days, so each sealed league will be seen approximately 3 times every two years.  It is a long cycle, but people seem to enjoy the sealed leagues a fair amount and they have pretty consistent participation (except for War of the Ring Block).

I'd love to hear feedback from players about what they would like to see in leagues to keep the site fresh and enjoyable, so please reply if you have something you would like to say.

[DarthMaeglin]

• Aside from Draft, leagues are only one 10-day series each as in the past the longer leagues had a significant drop off in the number of games played in the later series.

I certainly hope you meant "Aside from Sealed"

[Merrick_H]

• Aside from Draft, leagues are only one 10-day series each as in the past the longer leagues had a significant drop off in the number of games played in the later series.

I certainly hope you meant "Aside from Sealed"

Correct and fixed in the original post.  Thanks!

[Wyrden333]

At the moment I feel Draft is a bit too repetitive but I guess that'll change when new Draft formats are added.
As for constructed, I think it'd be fun to make some leagues that have some kind of challenge for the deck builders. Just like the poormans or the tower standard+Reflections etc we did a while ago. Maybe a certain combination of sets every now and then to create an open field and we can enjoy some creative deck building. Or make special limits like poormans. I'm sure there are a lot of interesting combinations yet to be made!

Also: whats about a Austrian format league? There is no other way to play the format.

[TazzLocc]

Hi! Viggo here. Great thread, Very informative on the reasoning for your choices for league selection. I for one only had one request as to include Open format in the rotation every now and then. As we all know Open format are where the most broken combos exist, and I personally play card games for broken combos. 

I feel there are others who play a lot of the Expanded format frequently on GEMP who would agree with me. Some of us like to dip into the card pool where we are free to use everything at out disposal with little to no limitation list. Some card games are most enjoyable in their rawest and fastest form.

I'm all for one for a long drawn out slobber knocker of a game, but it's also very fun to play a long stream combo and win against your opponent in a single turn. This is why i enjoy the Open format very much, and i know there are others out there who enjoy the broken combos that exist in that format too, and would love to play in a competitive league for it.

Anyways, that's just my two cents on the matter. I hope Open will be included in the next rotation. Plenty of players who enjoy the format, and it might be even fun for new players to get to see the insane combos that exist in the card pool for Open.

Oh, one last thing! I would also like to see Poormans available for play again for league. That was a VERY fun league last time around, and the decks people came up with were very creative! We only had it for fellowship block last time around, but I would like to see it used for towers,movie,and even expanded block too. It would be very interesting to see what people can come up with with a bigger card pool for Poormans.

[Phallen Cassidy]

I think that the overall frequency is a bit much, but I'm not able to commit to any leagues for the foreseeable future so don't put much stock in that opinion. I know that for some players 10 games in a week is not nearly enough and for others, 10 games in a month is about all that's doable, so it's hard to balance both sides. For all the griping, I think it's worthwhile that all leagues aren't always available; keeps them special.

Austrian has been requested a few times before. Because there are multiple and conflicting legal ways to build an Austrian-legal deck, it's a challenge to create that format (for me). I plan to give it a shot, but don't expect to see it anytime soon.

Speaking of Poorman's and Towers Standard + Reflections, how are those "alternative" leagues handled? All those formats not available in the game hall. They're technically constructed leagues, but some of them have a very different meta from their closest casual game mode and they're always a "rare" game mode. I imagine some of them don't have a ton of demand or participation (WotR Block sets 11-12, for example), but others seem fairly popular.

[dmaz]

I think that the overall frequency is a bit much, but I'm not able to commit to any leagues for the foreseeable future so don't put much stock in that opinion. I know that for some players 10 games in a week is not nearly enough and for others, 10 games in a month is about all that's doable, so it's hard to balance both sides. For all the griping, I think it's worthwhile that all leagues aren't always available; keeps them special.

I can definitely understand where you're coming from here. Personally,  I'm fine with them not being all the time, or at least having buffers between different types (constructed, sealed,  draft), so there's always something going, but not everything going nonstop.
Overall thoughts on that?

There are always a couple that will ask what the next league is within a few days of one expiring,  but I'm not sure that's the majority...

[dmaz]

On another note....

It was probably noticed years ago, but we do have some legacy Decipher sealed material for both Fellowship and Towers, in the form of the "Deluxe" starters. I'll list them here. I noticed some significant potential balance issues, as well as incongruities,  maybe you can see them too. I feel like if these were included,as-is, in Serie 1, they may get overwhelmingly selected just to grab a couple key cards for later series.

We have made balance alterations to sealed material in the past,  but I just wanted to get some overall thoughts.

Thanks!

Fellowship - Hobbit/Nazgul

Ring-bearer (2 cards)
    Frodo, Son of Drogo
    The One Ring, The Ruling Ring

Adventure Deck (9 cards)
    East Road
    Bree Streets
    Ford of Bruinen
    Moria Stairway
    The Bridge of Khazad-dûm
    Lothlórien Woods
    Anduin Wilderland
    Anduin Banks
    Emyn Muil

Free Peoples (25 cards)
    Boromir, Son of Denethor x2
    Bounder x3
    Halfling Deftness x2
    Hobbit Appetite x2
    Hobbit Intuition x3
    Hobbit Party Guest x2
    Hobbit Stealth x3
    Hobbit Sword x3
    Merry From O'er The Brandywine
    Pippin, Friend to Frodo
    Sam, Son of Hamfast
    Stout and Sturdy x2

Shadow (24 cards)
    Black Breath x2
    Blade Tip x2
    Forces of Mordor x2
    Morgul Skulker x3
    Orc Cheiftan x3
    Orc Scimitar x3
    Orc Soldier x3
    Sword of Minas Morgul x2
    Úlairë Lemanya, Lieutenant of Morgul x2
    Úlairë Nertëa, Messenger of Dol Guldur x2

[dmaz]

Continued...

Towers - Gandalf/Raider

Ring-bearer (2 cards)
    Frodo, Tired Traveller
    The One Ring, The Ruling Ring

Adventure Deck (9 cards)
    Western Emyn Muil
    Wold of Rohan
    Streets of Edoras
    White Rocks
    Hornburg Parapet
    Hornburg Armory
    King's Room
    Wizard's Vale
    Palantír Chamber

Free Peoples (24 cards)
    Éomer, Sister-son of Théoden x2
    Éowyn, Lady of Rohan x2
    Gandalf, The White Wizard
    Gimli, Unbidden Guest
    Have Patience x2
    Hobbit Sword x2
    Legolas, Elven Comrade
    Long I Fell x3
    Sam, Samwise the Brave
    Severed His Bonds x2
    Swiftly and Softly x2
    Sword of Rohan x2
    Under the Living Earth x3

Shadow (25 cards)
    Desert Soldier x3
    Desert Spearman x3
    Easterling Axeman x3
    Easterling Guard x2
    Easterling Infantry x2
    Easterling Lieutenant x3
    Gathering to the Summons x2
    Men of Rhûn x2
    On the March x2
    Southron Scout x3
 

[Valtor]

For what it is worth, I think having 12 days to play the Draft Leagues as has happened recently under dmaz's stewardship is a really good idea.  It is less pressured than having to play an average of a game a day. And the Draft Leagues are basically fun leagues anyway. 

[Phallen Cassidy]

On another note....

It was probably noticed years ago, but we do have some legacy Decipher sealed material for both Fellowship and Towers, in the form of the "Deluxe" starters. I'll list them here. I noticed some significant potential balance issues, as well as incongruities,  maybe you can see them too. I feel like if these were included,as-is, in Serie 1, they may get overwhelmingly selected just to grab a couple key cards for later series.

We have made balance alterations to sealed material in the past,  but I just wanted to get some overall thoughts.

Thanks!

I don't play a ton of sealed, but here's my piping hot take: I say let 'em roll.

For the Fellowship Block one, pulling just a few more Nazgul makes that Morgul Skulker look really attractive. As the league goes on and more packs are opened, that could easily be the foundation of the strongest Shadow side. But those other cards are gonna need to be cut out ASAP, so it's a more haphazard pick: if it makes sense for the cards you've pulled you'll do well, but for anyone else it'll be tougher to win games with the Shadow side until you get the cards you need from packs. Its Free Peoples looks even more dependent on what you grab, and comes with no condition discard. You might give your opponent a tough time at the start, but these guys aren't going to be able to outrun an opponent without a lot of help -- a real problem considering the shadow side. So you potentially wager failure at the start against success in later series, which adds a really interesting layer to the scene.

The Towers Block one looks more self-sustaining, but I still don't see this usurping the Aragorn starter. I don't see any reason the Free Peoples player shouldn't just pile on burdens without Enquea (or really any non-rare concern, except perhaps Gate Trooper). It's totally deprived of powerhouses, but those Easterlings are all but guaranteed to be fierce all game and might do a better job of punishing support characters than the other decks. Wingfoot is a better fighter than The White Wizard, but The White Wizard isn't possession-dependent and comes with damage prevention and healing.

That's my ignorant opinion. Which cards were your concerns?

[dmaz]

Thank you Valtor! It's good to hear some positive feedback on that change

Phallen, I think your opinion here is far from ignorant.  You brought up a lot of good examples of how that pick has a lot of risk to it.  Looking again at the pool of minions there, it certainly has an overall weaker foundation than the Uruk shadow, particularly.  Even with the extra stealth cards (one of my thoughts for potential concerns, as they are frequently used when pulled), the hobbits would be fighting a potential uphill battle, from serie one without any other "big" companion pulls.

The card I was worried about in particular was Nertea, as it can also be very powerful in later series, as the shadows get more refined. However, as you pointed out, you're starting out with a less centralized shadow strategy, and won't benefit from a starter base of strong Uruks or Moria cards. 

After I finish working on Hunters sealed, I'll dive into this. Thanks for the feedback!