If built right just about any faction has a chance given that they have more than 10 charaters and more than 10 support cards. Not meeting those require ments doesn't shut down the possibility of a team up deck though! tier one only exists because mindless people rip the deck of the newest 10k winner!

There are decks that always had a great chance at winning but didn't have a chance to because of the rip artists!
What exactly do I mean? These rippers spend there time either looking for and completely ripping decks or they are the "honest ripper" and try to change a third of the cards so they can say, I added my own touches!

People like these are hurting this game! Rippers are not bad people, do not mistake what I am saying! It is the desire to win that make people do this, competitiveness is always a good thing! It is the mentality of all that can win has won! This is just not true! Please experiment be original you will be surprised at what you might find!

In all fairness, some people cannot be original. The nicities of what makes winning decks is not always easy to grasp, and some teams just seem to be a lot harder to understand than others. I don't mind when people do that sort of thing for a few reasons. First, they're more likely to be suprised by some of my decks. Second, it ends up being easy to beat them since I know their deck's tempo and they cannot often fathom mine.

The way I see it, a strong player can make a stronger showing regardless of the deck being played by his opponent or himself, since a better grasp of the game at large allows for a better knowledge of how to exploit or disrupt any manner of strategy.

Finally, since UDE has no rule stating that decks built for you by someone else are illegal in sanctioned events, there's no real reason somebody who's going to want to win without the extra effort to make a unique deck would do otherwise. I'd pity the TO's who'd have to do deck-checking if that was made into a rule, too...

Thor, if I believe that rant you will probably try to tell me that Puerto Rico can beat the United States in basketball in the Olympics or something. No way, I don't buy it. LMAO...

Here's the thing... I don't think we can dump on people who play the game to win, even if they get their decks from the winners lists. They still need to practice and learn how the deck works. They still need to understand strategy and they still need to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous top-deck fortune. They still need to buy enough cards to finance future expansions that will bring more variety to the game.

Sure, I think it is more fun to experiment and be creative. The bottom line is the bottom line, however, and if my monstrosities are to have any legitimacy in the metagame they must run the guantlet through the best decks. When the Pro Circuit comes along, I would be just wrong to try something too experimental. The wild stuff is fun for casual play and for trying to put some spice into the metagame, but the traditional netdeck has its place too.

Since I haven't bpught more than a few packs of VS I can only comment on my experiences with the Start Trek 2nd Edition CCG:
Because my decks tend to suck a lot I decided to try an existing deck (it was placed 1st or 2nd somewhere).
In a small tournament I played with this deck I didn't place that well.
But now I'm learning to understand the deck and I'm adjusting it to my liking. All I needed was a start.

Bottom Line:
good deck is not automatically a good player
good deck can help player learn.
good deck can be adjusted to your own playstyle, so it gets personalized.

2nd Bottom Line:
Mindless copying is annoying

ok herer my 2$:

i understand the frustration with the netdecking trend, but it is an unavoidable part of competitive gaming. there will always be those who play for the sole reason of winning, and the easiest way of doing this is emulating those who have already won. on the flip side of this however, it is not completely fair to bash on all the people who play decks that happen to closely mirror a current meta favorite decktype, as who really has claim on design? just because player A won a 10k with TNB, doesnt mean that there is no one else on the planet who thought of that deck type. with a limited card pool available, idea overlap can and will happen. and just because someone is the first to hit it big with a deck, in no way seals the idea to them for eternity, making all others "rippers." i guess what im trying to say is with say a thoretical 10,000 players,and a card pool of 500 odd, there is no way people are going to be able to come up with 10,000 unique deck ideas.
/end rant :)

I really didn't mean for my post to sound like a rant or to bash any one, but I am sick of people complaining they wanted to play a certain deck but couldn't because it didn't have what it takes! How many times have we all heard ..." I've tried every possible build for X-Men, and they just can't win! ". Well our own team realmworx member WARMACHINE showed us otherwise, now didn't he!?!

Stu you so crazy! lol!

I think net decking is an important part to any game. It is the fastest way for a bad player to get good. By playing a net deck, you begin to understand what makes a card good and what it takes for a deck to be competitive in tournament play.

A good example for me was the card Overload. For the longest time, I thought that card was complete junk. I couldn't figure out why any deck would want it. Then I used a few netdecks and I understood why it was a good card and how to use it.

Just because a person is net decking, doesn't mean they'll win. I have beaten many net decks with my junk decks, just because I was a better player than them. I think a good player always has the advantage no matter what decks are used.

After playing with a few netdecks and understanding the card choices, I'm able to start building a League of Assassins deck that can hopefully be competitive.

lasuther

I am a semi-net decker. I use the net to see trends in the metagame and then try to beat them. Right now it is almost an undeniable fact that common enemy is the best deck in the field. (pre WOS) Not because it is a deck from the PC, but because that in the hands of a skilled player it has all the tools to beat any given deck. and it can be adjusted by 1 or 2 cards to fare well in the field.

A lot of people need to reaalize that the "tier 1 mentality" is in fact a real thing. There is a tier one. there is a tier two. they actually exist. The only way to truly delinate what deck lies where is to sit down, build a crap load of decks, and play them all. then you will know.

Right now under my desk I have an ultra-pro deck bag with 10 different decks in it. I play all of them. Some are good (common enemy), and others cannot get the job done very well (LOA) this is a result of the cards available to them in the current format, not because of a net influnced control over what decks are played.

Akso keep in mind that the formatting of an event makes a big diferance in what decks will win. If there is a small turnout, or a large amount of rouge decks, this will scew the results. Possibly in favor of decks that do so well. Or, if an exceptional player uses a sub-par deck they can ussually pull out wins that other players dont even see.

Mabe I should wrte an article about this.........

Personally, I don't concern myself with this Tier 1 mentatlity because:

TIER 1 is what WE make it to be.

Latuki Joe you hit it on the head! Ripper is probably the worst word I could have used, it just sounds so negative! L.J.'s post is the bigger point I am trying to make!

With the way the metagame evolves in VS, anyone who tries to netdeck to stay at the top will spend a lot of time doing so.... and a lot of money too. You have to pay attention. Its not as simple as "play Brotherhood with Lost City and Avalon" to win anymore. Strategies are becomming limitless. Now, when someone says "Skrull won't be tier 1!" what they probably mean is you won't see them in the top 8 at a lot of PCQs. But one did get up there, right? Everything is possible- except maybe Negative Zone. :P

when you go to a tournament, most people want to win, so they play with what they think gives them the best chance to win. and usually the best chance for that, is the deck that helped alot of other people win, hence the netdecking.

which is not bad at all, i belive that netdecking speeds up the metagame, once everyone knows how to beat a certain deck, by netdecking it and then playing with it and against it, you learn how to beat it, and eventually this great top tier 1 deck is not that much of a threat anymore.

secondly, rogue decks have a bigger importantce in a netdeck enviroment. if most people only play what is winning, and do no real testing and experimenting on their own, they will be at a loss against new and strange, to them at least, decks.

tiers do exist, and some teams cannot do well right now, sure warmachine had great success, but he said so himself that the deck was a metagame choice, to beat common enemy. if that deck was played in a field of big-hood what would happen then?

so in my opinion, teirs do exist for 2 reasons, the current metagame, if no one ran flametrap, sentinel would be kings. and the teams existing cards, even with warmachines success, x-men were still severly weaker in MOR.

dont speak too soon..murderworld is coming out :)
feel free to net-deck that t3ch heh

Amen to that. case in point: IQ at wizardworld chicago, and craig edwards rigged at pcindy.

Why do people copy?

Here is an absurd example of why.

1. I have a stick I'm bringing to the fight. It's fun to fight with sticks.
2. My opponent brings an Uzi. Uzi's are killing machines. It's fun to win the battle.

Who is going to win that fight 99% of the time?



Almost anything can win. Tier 1 decks win more consistently. That is what makes them Tier 1.

Next time you go to fight, you will bring something as good as or better than an Uzi.