I read the excellent Downward Spiral Article. I agree with many of the sentiments presented. I see both sides. I really believe that the payment of points is the most critical way balance should occur. However I can see that things as they are cannot keep going the way they are.

I hate when a min/max piece is played during a what is intended to be a thematic tourney. However I love playing those min/max pieces when everybody knew ahead of time that the tourney would be that way. It is about how the tourney is "sold" ahead of time.

I feel that the primary solution is to have more tournament styles that are supported by Wizkids. Go ahead and have a Modern Age Open style with all of the continue to allow these crazy Min/Max to be produced. I do enjoy playing them as long as my opponent had a chance to build something equally crazy. Let your sharks run free. Crazy constructions are great. The imagination that it takes is wonderful and keeps the game going. This would allow Wizkids to keep going without letting the game get stale.

I also feel that there should be a Modern Age Restricted. Let the those who want a game that is more balanced happen. This is where the banned pieces would not be played allowing for a focus on pieces that are balanced for the points paid: No Bencrawler yanking your primary hitter to the killbox of doom, No Master Mold Spitting out 1 million sentinels, No TB hitting for 300 clix of damage, No HFH allowing a belted up flaming skulled freak driving up the building to sock your team for 12-14 damage..... This would all serve to give FUN teams as defined by RKJS a fighting chance. I am all for that!


Heck we could even have a Golden Age Open which would feature some of the most insane combinations ever imagined. Feats and BFCs, Resources and character cards. all to serve those players that love to come up with the most ridiculous combos... It would be about creating the most lethal combos ever and letting the dogs of war loose. Perhaps an extra set of Fellowship prizes would be more likely to be given out in this style because people would likely get blown out of the water 1st turn.

I also suggest that when a local store plays a tourney that a tournament 1st place champion gets to pick the format for the next week. This could be vetted by the venue judge and owner to check for repetition and then implement it.

Side Comment
Why would all of the World Championships have to occur at GenCon? Why not have a Golden Age Open on the west coast at SDCC before Comic-Con like say All day Monday/ Tuesday and wrap up Wednesday morning? It could allow for some excellent things to do instead of waiting in line for hours upon hours.

i said this in the Downward Spiral thread. You don't need official designations for events. if you're a good judge, you can set up tourneys and scenarios that make using certain things VERY detrimental. Do a tourney where TA's can't be used. Do a tourney with no multi base figures. Fliers only, grounded non transporters only, etc etc. If a judge can get creative, the "problem" items work themselves out of play. i know for a fact, as it's what i do all the time at my venue, and i really don't ever see the types of play that people complain about here.

I like creative tourneys. I think that they are awesome and add a lot of flavor. What I want to do is generate a win-win-win. A win for the players who don't want to get sharked out of a prize because they didn't pull the best stuff. A win for the Min-Max guys who want to go crazy with their builds and a win for Wizkids that gets to keep going with the game matrix that would otherwise run the risk of becoming stale.

Will it be extra effort... Yes... Is I worth it? I believe it is to keep fan interest high.

Creative tourneys are the way to go. Where I used to play our judge (SunDevil) used to have quite a few different scenarios setup that were usually always balanced and well thought out. We had all sort of things like the basic 'No I in team' where everyone had to share a non generic keyword to scenarios were there were outside monsters in play or we were all in dungeons laced with traps or what not. Was lots of fun.

Just for the record, I still believe it is worth the effort to have official designations on builds for tourneys like I suggested.

The problem with your Modern Age Restricted it doesn't solve the Watch List. For MAR to work for instance, WK would have to say "here's the list of what's not allowed in MAR". So it's STILL a ban list, just banned from certain tourneys, which let's be realistic, will only really apply to their BIG tourneys. A solution needs to be done at the VENUE level, where it's a problem for 98% of the players, not the few who go to GenCon or DragonCon.

And i honestly don't think your suggestions help keep the Min Maxers from winning. A good playing can win with whatever you give them. So you can take away a few weapons, and they'll still win. The more casual players will still call them cheesy. It doesn't matter what the competitive players play. I've seen it at my own venue. There are a couple guys, no matter what they play, they can/will win. And the ones who can't beat them will still cry "CHEESER!" at them.

I wouldn't mind a big banned list for the MAR. I'm under the impression that FUN type players would be ok with limiting a bunch of pieces for the sake of balance and giving non TB -theme teams a shot.

I believe it is not who wins or loses and the reaction to that outcome so much as if there is a clear opportunity to win. I would also look to augment theme team bonuses to further help theme teams. I'd also have great tournament scenarios like ones that would save the bystander or steal the noc list.

Agreed. Run events that alternate what is or is not allowed. This week team bases. Next week, no team bases. Modern, Floor, Golden Age. 300 points, 400 points, 500 points. Theme required, then No overlapping keywords. All pieces must have green on the sculpt for St Patrick's day.

The official designations would only open up more possibilities. They can be used at the local level in combination with scenarios. This idea, like the use of the unofficial Silver Age term, serves to define what will be allowed in a quick way. Basically it would be the jargon to set the parameters that no watch list pieces would be allowed.