wotc_Cromulous

Of course it matters. But both players matter, including the person who wants to play with Engine. In a casual format, players getting to do things they like carries extra value. It doesn't scale to all situations, but at least for the moment, we believe it applies here.

This comes up every now and then, so I don't mind checking in on the subject.

We currently have no plans to ban Paradox Engine in Historic Brawl.

Paradox Engine is banned in Commander (a format that shares a lot with HB), but the primary reasons for that banning do not directly carry over. The primary reasons for that ban were, one, Commander decks play a high density of mana rocks as a baseline due to other elements of the format. That means that having enough things to untap with Engine wasn't really a deckbuilding cost - everyone was doing it already. Historic Brawl has lower life totals and more aggression in general, so these cards are not as prevalent or "required" - it's an intentional choice for players to build a deck that can take advantage of Engine.

Two, when a Commander player starts comboing off, they are taking up three other people's time, who are all under social pressure to stick around even if they aren't enjoying themselves. The ...

Myrel uses they/them pronouns. It's not being "politically correct," it's being actually correct.

I agree it's easy to miss, and I also like that it's smoothly integrated and not overly dwelled on when it's not a main point of the story. I don't necessarily think it's an edged anything, though! If someone accidentally uses the wrong pronoun or identifier because they didn't know, it's pretty easy to just let them know, and then they can correct themselves going forward.

(Of course, if it's done maliciously or repeatedly, that's a very different situation with lots of edges.)

Myrel is actually nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns. They appear in the Brothers' War story, starting here, if you want to read more about them! https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/magic-story/the-brothers-war-episode-1-the-end

There is always some tension involved in wanting players to participate in a thing that requires work from them, either in deckbuilding or collection building or both. That is the nature of the game. We mitigate that in some ways - for instance, we do use All Access somewhat regularly, like in The Gathering this week - but it's never going to be the default expected procedure.

Precons absolutely help, but as of now, we aren't able to combine free-use precons with a normal queue. We stumbled over this issue last time we had Gladiator up, you may recall. It is, if you'll pardon the meme, a technology issue. (Which, of course, doesn't mean it's impossible or that it can't ever happen - we just haven't built out the system to make it work yet, and it has to fight for priority with other features, like Golden Packs.)

It adds focus, since the MWM event appears on the billboards for players who might not otherwise think about the normal queue. It also adds incentive, for the players who collect the weekly MWM rewards. I understand if those are not things that you personally value, but we do.

Oh hey, I was coming to say basically this.

We choose Midweek Magic formats for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it's novelty, and sometimes it's to put focus on a particular format. Players on this subreddit are among the game's most invested, and therefore the most likely to be a little weary of our evergreen offerings. I sympathize, but there are lots of other players who appreciate a little incentive to try something they usually don't, especially when the format has recently changed.

And even on the other hand, MWM being a format that you already play means that you already have decks ready for it. Variant constructed formats see less participation because of the friction of having to build a deck. For players who are already familiar with the format - who are already prepared and even may get to have an advantage from their expertise - a week where you already know the ropes can be an upside.

gg :)

This is a bug, and we're on the case.

I am seeing Revoker in the deckbuilder when my deck is set to Explorer, and I am able to queue up in Explorer with a deck containing Revoker. What indication are you seeing that it's not legal?

Hmm. It's probably nothing.

The main Cube run will last until the 15th. I think that entry and the Midweek Magic entry - which does end after 2 days, because that's how MWM works - got crossed up.

🌍👨‍🚀🔫👨‍🚀 Always has been

A little trivia for you - that symbol in the center is Avacyn's Collar, the symbol of her church.

Wolves may hate collars, but this doggo is pretty okay with it.

We have taken steps to level the playing field.

Well, maybe not level. More like turn sideways.

But...this is just a regular Legitimate Businessperson. Why would someone use Witness Protection on a creature so innocuous? It doesn't seem worth it.

OHHH oh sorry, I get it. You only play Legitimate Businesspersons, so someone having a WP against you is basically a wasted card! Clever strategy, for sure.

This weekend's Open takes place in October, so it provides entry to the November QW (Opens always qualify for the next month's event). I'll see about the incorrect text.

It is not so much XP that you will be worried about missing it. It's more like just a checkbox for each deck. If you don't feel the play experience is worth the fee (and aren't skipping the fee by playing in the Open), I'd definitely recommend sticking to your usual play modes.

A little XP, but no currency or cards. It's an opportunity to kick back and jam mixed-up decks for the whole weekend, not really a grindable mode. (To be clear since some folks aren't sure: you only have to enter the Open or pay the Sealed entry fee one time. After that, you'll keep getting back a token that you can use to re-enter the event as often as you want.)