Burned out on Constructed? Luckily Crisis draft is a great format (second or third best IMO).

Don't like netdecks? Play your own creation.

People play Vs for different reasons, some purely for the thematic experience, others for competition. As someone who plays the game for the competition aspect, I enjoy having the PC usher in a new format. I like testing wide open formats rather than tuning decks to the expected meta. I like seeing decks that I didn't even consider, like Checkmate, doing well at the highest level.

I like formats with Enemy of My Enemy, since it adds an additional layer of complexity to an allready complex game.

That is one of the many effects of opening the format with the PC. Do you feel that you will be able to contribute to the silver meta, when your thoughts are about getting points? If the PC was in the middle of the Format season, then you could do both.

I understand that using established decks will help some to qualify. Does the current schedule cause one's interest in Silver (or whatever the current format is) wane after the PC? It seems from many in this discussion the answer is yes.

I think all parties can be satisfied with having several PCQs leading into the format of the PC, and then several other PCQs trailing it. This would allow the meta to grow at least in local areas, and allow players needing to qualify to be rewarded for creativity with that rougue "chair-esque" emerging pre-PC and sweeping for the 10points. Following the PC, those needing points can use the decks featured there as "inspiration" forgetting qualified in the trailing PCQs. This will still allow for creative decks to emerge that take advantage of people who will net the PC decks.

In this senario, I see no negatives to the vs community.

Great example of the problem. You need some PC points. Most of us non-mega team players have to replenish those every once in a while;) . So, you are trying to scrape out the 4 PC points you need, and to do this, you need to play Silver. Even if you say you are testing DCMA, you have to put a significant amount of effort and testing into Silver, even with a netdeck, to assure you give yourself the best chance to get those 4 points.

The pro from mega-team however doesn't have to give Silver another thought. They are pouring all their team resources to breaking modern as we speak. So, you may get your points and goto Indy, but you will go woefully underprepared and likely get smashed by the teams that didn't have to give Silver age a second thought after the PC.

Now, if the events leading up to the PC were DCMA, some form of meta will begin to take shape just as it did for Golden age last year. Regardless of whether Avengers and Squad were 2nd choice plays in those 10K's, they in large part shaped the PCLA meta. You could have gone to LA with Avengers or Chicken and had a reasonable shot at Day 2. You would at least have a better chance of putting something together that was likely to be competitive in the format. The current shooting blind system turns it into a guessing game and a battle of resources. So basically you need to guess right, or be on a large pro team to have a realistic shot at doing well.

Yup it's not always easy to get the points you need, especially when you're not able to travel to various PCQ's like some. Playing this game competitively while having a family is not easy. I've done enough testing to understand the deck I'm playing and what the field is going to look like. I even swapped out two cards with someting else that I prefered. :) It's actually easier now that their is minus one decktype. :)

I think if the PC was in the middle or end of the season then partificipating in the format may be a little easier. But it's also up to individual tournament organizers to make the format available to the players. I have ONE SA PCQ to attend and that's it. With a PC around the corner and PCQ's past that it's not worth it for me to put any additional effort into something original, I'd rather be prepared for Indy.

Something else that no-one has brought up (and I only thought of while stuck in traffic) -- the release schedule. While it doens't affect Indy since all of its sets were out prior to San Fran, if the proposed PCQ-leading-to PC idea were put into place there would be some major issues.

Silve Age PCQ's prior to San Fran would have been DC Origins - X-Men, and switched to Spiderman - Crisis on June 1st (LCQ day).

The last Marvel Modern PCQ season (looking at PCQs in that format PRIOR to Atlanta) would have been Marvel Knights - Avengers and switched to Avengers - X-Men 3 weeks prior to the PC, on April 1st.

How does this make it easier for anybody?

Uhm, they could have changed at which point the sets become legal or when the formats switch, thus meaning you will still have the same format for the PCQs and PCs ?

I don't get what point you are trying to make here :ermm: .

I'll clarify, then :)

Pretend that the PCQ-leading-to-PC setup had been in place for the last 2 PCs. So PCLA just finished, and the set immediately switches to Marvel Modern so as to help players come up with decks for the next PC (Atlanta) while simultaneously trying to qualify for it. This is one of the main points being offered, that people trying to qualify wouldn't have to work on 2 different formats in order to both qualify AND do well in the PC. So PCQ players start working on coming up with Marvel Knights / Avengers decks, since those are the last 2 Marvel sets at that time. However, once qualified, they now have to start working on Avengers / X-Men decks, since that's actually the set makeup for the PC which becomes legal on 4/1. Players are still having to work on 2 different formats leading up to the PC with one of them never seeing the light of play in any PC or 10K event, existing only for the PCQ's from December - March.

Silver Age would be even worse -- the entire PCQ season between Atlanta and San Fran would be DC Origins - X-Men. Then, the day before the PC starts, it would switch to the current Silver Age. Players would STILL have to work on 2 different formats.

Obviously the format-legal sets would switch when the new sets became legal, but it would still result in PCQ players having to test in essence 2 separate formats, one of which is ONLY to be used for PCQ's. If the argument is being stated (and it is) that shifting the PCQ's to reflect the upcoming PC instead of the one that just past would mean that PCQ players would only have 1 format and get in some practice with what they're planning to take to the PC, that wouldn't work for most of the formats due to the release schedule.

That would be true under the current schedule, but like I said, but isn't extremely easy to say - "We're shifting the change of formats by a month or so, thus PCQs and the PC that follow them will always be the same format." Your problem would only occur under the current schedule. It should be relatively easy to work out a new one.

Really, I just think that everybody needs to accept that not everybody is going to be on the same format. For those that have problems with netdeckers, deal with it. Netdecking doesn't mean a lack of originality. Like in my case, I have to allocate my time and $$$ accordingly and trying new stuff for Silver Age doesn't make sense for me right now. However, I still have to qualify for Indy and I need to play something that is already established because I just don't have time for something new. The answer is not, "play sealed" either because I hate sealed. I have horrible luck with packs and always pulls tons of legacy #### and usually have a horrible pool of cards to choose from. Now if there were Draft PCQ's that would be a different story, drafting is fun as hell.

Everything is relatively easy in theory. Sitting at a keyboard tends to do that for everything. This is a huge, difficult, and very well run business. All this theory may help guide the future of the game, it may not. One things is certain, it is realitively difficult to actually run a venture as massive as Vs. System and the people who make it their career are doing an amazing job.

Would it? This would really involve pushing the entire PC format schedule back one stop, because UDE can't adjust the dates of its PCs due to GenCon and they obviously can't push their set release dates up 2+ months. While this would give them the opportunity to do one gimmick PC format (TEAMS), now it's six months or more between the release of the sets and their presence in the PC, especially for draft. Remember that the PC is an advertising vehicle and not much else. How much good is it doing, as an advertising vehicle, if the sets it's featuring have already been out for three or four or five months?

To get back in the spirit of this thread, I just figured out why I am feeling a bit blah about the game. Gas prices. UDE should start giving gas vouchers so we could all travel to more tournaments.

EVERYONE should start giving gas vouchers.

i love this game more now then i ever have before.

I love playing this game more then anything & I especially love touranment play.

I was burned out after pc la & i just couldn't get myself to practice at all for atlanta.

I actually started playing just casual games of starwars minis!
that really helped me alot.

Then X-men came out and i realized how foolish i was for spending to much money on mini's. THe versus bug bit me again!

I really like limited format in versus. I can play limited all day & night.

This also works in reverse for the off brand set that's not being drafted or in Modern. During Marvel Modern... DGL died and now running up to DC Modern... the only thing keeping X-men alive is EoME. I think this upcoming PC is the first one that totally excludes the other brand (as previous PCs either had the off-brand or were mixed for draft),

UDE just needs to re-evaluate their formats. As a player and a retailer... these formats wreak havoc on how product is bought and sold.