[Suggestion] Add deck(s) to multiplayer starter shops that counter current meta

I was thinking; maybe there's a different way to silence complaints about certain cards or strategies being overpowered? And what I came up with is in the topic.

It would make good sense to add a new multiplayer deck to the starter shop once in a while, so why not make it one that people can point to as an example of how to counter certain, popular strategies? Instead of nerfing the strategy, I mean

You wouldn't even need to buy it if you were a free to play player, you could still be inspired by the combinations employed -- just like you can with the current set of multiplayer decks. And, of course, you could design it in a way to not use overly many rare cards, same as the other MP decks.

Once considered, maybe there's an overly popular strategy that cannot be reliably, or even at all, countered using reasonably common cards. So no such deck can be built for the starter shop. Then you could consider fixing or nerfing.

 

Here is my 2 cents,

If you assume that the complaints stem from a purely "I am not winning therefore I am not having fun" perspective then yes, its a good idea in my opinion.

On the other hand if you understand that the complaints come from more of a "I don't want to be pigeon-holed into using X strategy in a game that's biggest selling point (imo) is finding and customising your own style", then no.

In a game about choices, I would argue that cards need to be actively balanced in order to ensure that players are able to create a range a competitive strategies.

 

Well the thing is that the complaints are different depending on what rating people are at. I've chatted with people in the lobby who are 1200 or less and they think that there is nothing wrong with draw decks, they complain more about WWE and firestorm etc. If you talk to anyone in the top 100 they will tell you without a doubt that draw decks are the biggest problem and that the counter deck is to play draw deck yourself. In my opinion I don't think anything will dominate as much once draw decks are nerfed until they release more cards/maps that favor certain setups.

 

I would love to see someone come up with a reliable counter deck to the draw decks and put it in the shop because I sure can't come up with one. It's probably not even possible without using draw cards yourself. Right now I'm about at the point where I'll resign if I see 2+ priests and go do something else to wait out my "instant resign penalty"... saves me more time in the long run.

 

Draw decks are definitely top of the tree at the moment, at least for a large part. So that particular strategy might indeed be in the latter category I mentioned: not really counterable or possible to mitigate with reasonably common cards.

It has been my opinion for a long time that draw decks could use a little tuning (or rather, Demon Charm Of The 2nd Circle need a good, old-fashioned nerf), but I don't think that invalidates the idea of showing off possible strategies, or counters, as new multiplayer starter decks.

 

I like this idea. Heck, it could even be a 'deck of the month' type thing to inspire people. Like, the top player's deck, or something like that, with a reward for being king of the hill.

Edit: I wasn't specific - my bad. I wanted a deck of the month type feature ala dailymtg.com to see what the meta at the top looks like, and not have their decks available for pizza. I don't like the idea of buying a winning deck wholesale - that seems a little too much P2W for me. Thanks progammer for pointing that out.

 

This cause some bit of problems. If top player's deck is available to buy every now and then, its basically saying P2W. If you don't have his item, just pay some pizza. Of course there are skill involved with using a deck, but that can be minimized given time.

And also the issues with making specific legendary and epic available for pizza.

 

...Also providing that the winning guy isn't mixing it up on a regular basis. I know a lot of competative guys from my WoW PvP days who specifically logged out with total crap equipped just because you could inspect them for ideas. They seriously got that protective of their personal strategies.

I really like Gentlecow's idea, and think it would be very interesting to see a few pre-built pvp decks aimed more toward specific themes. The decks that I got when Gary encouraged me to buy a set as part of the SP campaign just felt all over the place to me and I really couldn't tell what I was meant to do with them. They didn't feel multi-purpose, they just felt derpy.