Gemp-LotR Leagues - schedule, ideas, results, etc

[sgtdraino]

Expanded My Cards, really? Like there were any Expanded Dailys since the day they were announced.

With them scheduled at the same time as the more established Movie dailies, it's really no wonder.

I thought it was accepted by now that very few expanded players bother to collect My Cards decks.

Until very recently, there has been very little incentive for them to do so. Unfortunately, those habits can become ingrained. Gemp has led Expanded players think that it's pointless to bother with the My Cards stuff. It may be difficult to change those attitudes.

I get it that this is supposed to encourage them to do so, but dont get your hopes up too high, sgtdraino. Like someone said, if there are less than 4 people who sign for this, I'll join that League

Expanded My Cards is more difficult to build a good deck for, than Fellowship or Movie. That said, those with Movie decks should not find it that difficult to make your deck legal for Expanded... unless of course you are relying on broken stuff like Galadriel, LR or The Shire Countryside . But I would encourage folks to think of this as an opportunity: This league is likely to have fewer people competing in it, so the chances are better that you could get a bigger prize payout yourself.

And then, maybe once you've participated, the Expanded Dailies will finally see some action!

I would appreciate an Expanded All cards Legaue. As said before, it's very diffucult to build a deck in expanded only with your own cards. Maybe we could play also more than only 1 series.

Yeah, this! Maybe something like what the current All Cards FotR League has got. If you really feel a need to change it up, you could have the first series be Movie, the second and third series be Expanded, and the fourth series be Open!

Although frankly 4 series that are all just Expanded would suit me just fine!

[Gil-Galad]

Hello guys,

I have a wish. I would like to join the tournaments. But the problem is, in the country where I live, it is two hours later than you. So when you start at 19:30 it's 21:30 at my hometown. And then 4 hours playing makes it 1:30. That's far to late if you must go to work. And as it's not me but all the other players from my time zone, I had a proposal:
Could we play tournaments on saturday or sunday afternoon. Like it was in former times, when there was every saturday another tournament in the city. Beginning at 10 o'clock and then 4 or 5 rounds Swiss system. So perhaps more players would join and we could have tournaments with about 20 players. That would be big fun.
And if that works and many players join, we could build up a championship round for which you have to qualify yourself and have it like the old European Championship system (but that's maybe only dreaming...).
I know my english is not that good, but I hope you understand my apply. It's not just the time which I want to change. I want to make it a greater event. Hopefully you understand.
Let me hear what you think about it!

[Cthulhu]

Thre prizes for 4 Series All Cards Leagues are so miserable!

I get it that My Cards is supposed to have better rewards than All Cards, and i agree, BUT 4 Series League is a totally different animal than 1 series League. So you play like a month, using 4 decks in the process,  and place 5th or 9th, and you get 2 or 3 boosters? Well even dropping from a 8man Daily will give you that much, without having to play a single game, let alone 40 and a month to spend. No wonder so many people lose interest come Serie 3 and 4.

I say the prizes for all 4 Series Leagues (both My Cards and All Cards) need to be increased x3, otherwise there isnt much incentive to dedicate that much time and effort to a 4 Week All Cards League.

[munki17]

What he said ^^

[mars-L]

Agree with chutlu, i don't play the all card 2nd and more series if i start bad in the first, it's useless...
And I think i'm not alone...

And for the dailys tournaments i have the same problem than gil galad, most of the time i don't do them because it's finishing too late when i work the day after... one hour before for the first tournament would be better!

[JudgeDRG]

It seems like when the prices where decided all card league lasted one season,
the collectors as well, and the sealed lasted 4 seasons.
So when all cards and collectors started being longer, the prices stayed the same.
I 'd say for collectors and all cards leagues that last 4 seasons, prices x 4.
Its not reasonable to take the same price for movie my cards 1 season (last one)
and towers standard 4 season (current). Same for all cards where prices are pathetic even for 1 season, but at least you aim for the tengwars. But 4 season fight for just tengwars IF you manage to get to top 4 is just Crazyy!!

[sgtdraino]

I get it that My Cards is supposed to have better rewards than All Cards, and i agree,

I don't agree. I think the prizes should be higher in situations where the playing field is more even. Where there is more of an equal chance for any player to win, so long as that player plays well. Those situations are Sealed Deck, and All Cards. My Cards is never a balanced playing field, because there are always going to be players with more cash who have better access to cards than players with less cash. IMO the current system, awarding bigger prizes for My Cards games, simply increases the disparity between people with more cash and people with less, because the people with more cash are more likely to do well, therefore get the bigger payoff, and therefore get even more cash.

[Legion]

I'm with sgtdraino on this one: All Cards Leagues are a better test of skill than My Cards Leagues (though sealed obviously tops the lot.  Oh, and I'm not just saying that because I'm currently winning both the Sealed and All Cards Leagues

However, I do not really take issue with this.  I don't like that the 1 week leagues are given the same prizes as the 1 month ones.  In my opinion dominating Sealed Leagues is much more impressive than dominating My Cards leagues.  However, there are many more My Cards Leagues than Sealed ones because several My Cards Leagues are only for 1 Serie.  This results in at least 2x the number of Tengwars being given out for My Cards Enthusiasts than to those who xcel at Sealed Leagues.  I really feel that either giving out 10 Tengwars in a 1 week competition is too many or only 10 in a 4 serie one is far too few.  (I am at the stage where I have completed all of my FotR decks, so only really care about Tengwars for showing off).

[JudgeDRG]

Well, I strongly disagree that all cards need more skill.
This is a tcg, building a deck with every given card is a lot easier than building a deck with limited cards.
Cash in gemp is actually experience and skill, it's not a fat wallet as in most games. Even if you are rich, you can not buy all cards, you just have to play.
Also, mycards have more realistic metagame, and it changes slower, but in all cards anything can happen, as you can switch decks pretty easily.
So to sum up,
+1 for better pices in all cards, +1 for multiplied prices in 4 season tournaments (except sealed),
Mycards >All cards pricewise.

P.S.  Sealed indeed needs skill to be succesfull, although luck has a more important role than other formats, as a greenleaf or a gorn's bow might be the winning factor if both players are equally skilled

[Legion]

To do well at All Cards, you have to be better than the rest.  To do well in My Cards you you can get away with having better cards than the rest.  If you are more skillful, it is easier to get a better collection, but that is not the only way.  Often you can get 2 boosters by just joining a daily.  If you did that twice a day, every day you would have a much larger collection than most.  That is not skillful, yet it has given you an edge in My Cards Leagues.  It certainly is more prestigious to have a cool My Cards deck, but in my opinion that just takes away from the skill of those leagues.

[JudgeDRG]

To do well at All Cards, you have to be better than the rest.  To do well in My Cards you you can get away with having better cards than the rest.  If you are more skillful, it is easier to get a better collection, but that is not the only way.  Often you can get 2 boosters by just joining a daily.  If you did that twice a day, every day you would have a much larger collection than most.  That is not skillful, yet it has given you an edge in My Cards Leagues.  It certainly is more prestigious to have a cool My Cards deck, but in my opinion that just takes away from the skill of those leagues.

2 boosters per day translates to experience for me, not cheeting or taking the easy way.
You also get boosters from leagues, even more exp that is.
And you are not concidering deck building as skill, which actually is hald of this game.
It takes skill to make a good deck, so it takes even more to make with limited card collection.

Another thing to concider is that people can't easily afford to change deck in my cards, which means that metagame is more stable and decks are much stronger and solid.

[sgtdraino]

There has still been no reset from the last time various people were duping gold. Having cash does not translate to experience, having cash translates to having cash. The bottom line is, someone with more cash, can afford better cards than someone who doesn't have much cash. They can afford things like Ulaire Nertea, Dark Horseman, Ranger of the White tree, The Witch-King, Captain of the Nine Riders, Morgul Brute, Saved From the Fire, and Goblin Armory, whereas people with less cash cannot afford those things. People with better cards will tend to win more games against people with crappier cards. It has nothing to do with skill, and everything to do with access.

[UnPapayaCoconut]

There has still been no reset from the last time various people were duping gold. Having cash does not translate to experience, having cash translates to having cash. The bottom line is, someone with more cash, can afford better cards than someone who doesn't have much cash. They can afford things like Ulaire Nertea, Dark Horseman, Ranger of the White tree, The Witch-King, Captain of the Nine Riders, Morgul Brute, Saved From the Fire, and Goblin Armory, whereas people with less cash cannot afford those things. People with better cards will tend to win more games against people with crappier cards. It has nothing to do with skill, and everything to do with access.

+1
Alot of people took advantage of the "zool-situation"
I think there should've been another reset after that, but seeing that alot of people protested against it (very likely those who made huge profits of his abuse), it doesn't seem very likely atm.

Also agree with legion about the mycards<->allcards thingy

[Eukalyptus]

Draino: You have a Ranger of the White Tree ^^

What doesn't help the situation are the non-existant starters for Hunters and Rise of Saruman. You pull one of those S cards as foil and one card gives you at least 1,000 gold, in some cases even 3,500. Add those starters AND reset the prices for those cards immediately and stuff like that isn't going to happen anymore. Or just reset the S card prices by themselves. Just the fact that there is a site nobody can use without being broke after buying should be reason enough to implement those cards already.

And while we're at it... I said this numerous times: Its not about the R cards, its about the player. What use does it have when a player has a bunch of super expensive cards and doesn't know how to use them? This of course counts not for cards like Gondor Bowmen, Aragorn's Bow, Double Shot, PATHS. Those are no-brainers anyone can use. There is a reason most direct damage cards are expensive ^^

[sgtdraino]

Draino: You have a Ranger of the White Tree ^^

Yep! One of the first singles I ever bought. Thankfully it was cheap(er) then. But this raises a good point: Many folks know that my favorite Expanded deck is a Madril deck (which uses Ranger of the White Tree). The best all-around counter for Madril is Ships of Great Draught. Any deck has a reasonable chance against a Madril deck, if they pack at least TWO Ships of Great Draught. But Ships of Great Draught currently costs 162g. Many players can't afford to invest in a single card that high, let alone in multiple copies of that card, just to counter one deck strategy. You, of course, have four of them (foiled if I recall), because you had the cash to get them. I'm not saying you came by that cash by any sort of foul means. In fact, I believe you came by it legitimately. But the point is this: Because Ships of Great Draught is so expensive, I have an advantage over other players who can't afford it. Because you have as much cash as you do, you have an advantage over me, and also over those other players who can't afford it. This has nothing to do with strategy, and everything to do with access. Because of our access to cards, we are more likely to do well in My Cards events than players who do not have that same access. Thus, success breeds success.

What doesn't help the situation are the non-existant starters for Hunters and Rise of Saruman. You pull one of those S cards as foil and one card gives you at least 1,000 gold, in some cases even 3,500. Add those starters AND reset the prices for those cards immediately and stuff like that isn't going to happen anymore. Or just reset the S card prices by themselves. Just the fact that there is a site nobody can use without being broke after buying should be reason enough to implement those cards already.

That would help with the S-cards, but not with the other stuff. The argument I keep hearing is that deck lists for those decks are not available, but with a little searching I easily found them in three different places:

http://lotrtcgwiki.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=6077

http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,2527.0.html

http://lotrtcgwiki.com/forums/index.php/topic,8330.0.html

...so maybe we should just start emailing MarcinS and asking him to please implement these?

And while we're at it... I said this numerous times: Its not about the R cards, its about the player. What use does it have when a player has a bunch of super expensive cards and doesn't know how to use them?

And what use is a masterful player, who only has crappy cards available? Clearly both things are important. Winning games comes down to being a good player and having good cards.

This of course counts not for cards like Gondor Bowmen, Aragorn's Bow, Double Shot, PATHS. Those are no-brainers anyone can use. There is a reason most direct damage cards are expensive ^^

...which is exactly my point. The people with more cash have a "no-brainer" advantage over those who have less. That means, as I said, that My Cards events are not an even playing field. All Cards is, Sealed is, but My Cards is not. I think higher prizes should be reserved for events where more players have an even chance of winning those prizes. With My Cards events, those with cash have a distinct advantage.