WhyGamesMatter

So I wrote last week about the modern two-headed giant tournament.  We did it, and the planeswalker decks won the tournament.  What started as a joke to see just how many planeswalkers I could get onto the table at the same time evolved into a very effective pair of decks.

In fact, they were almost too effective.

Before I go too deep into this, I want to talk about a comment that I heard recently from a UFC fighter.  After losing a fight, he was asked if he thought he should fight a few lower-level fighters to build his way back up.  His answer was “No. I’m not going to fight someone that I know I can beat.  I’m not a bully.  I only want to fight the best.”  I actually appreciated this comment.  While it’s always possible to win with a bad deck or lose with a great deck, certain decks will tend to do better on most occasions.

Now, during the two-headed giant tournament, the decks generally held off the opponents until about turn 4 or 5, at which point they started taking turns over and over again until they won.  This can be fun when you and your partner are the ones navigating the decks, but it’s not fun at all for the opponent that has to just sit there and watch it happen.  The worst part came after we won the final match; after 6 turns in a row in the last game, we had blown up virtually all of our opponents permanents.  We passed the turn, they drew their cards, and passed it back to us.  We then quickly got 4 more turns, and won before the 2nd was done.

When the game ended, we shook hands, and our opponents said “Good game.  Wish we could have played in it.”  I didn’t take this to be sour grapes; it had to have been an bad experience for them.  As someone who loves the two-headed giant format, I hated being the cause of people disliking it.  I don’t want people shying away from the format because of an unfun deck.  I’m not saying the decks can’t be beaten; they can, and they have.  But I do think they might be too strong for the local metagame.   Once you get past the head shaking surprise of seeing so many planeswalkers hit the table, it can get kind of boring.  I found that when other players lose to it, they are bored, and when they win against it, they are relieved rather than triumphant.  Either scenario isn’t good for the health of the game and the format.

I don’t want to be a bully with those decks at the local tournaments.  Yes, I want to play to win, but I want to do so in a more fun, more interactive way.  With that in mind, I will pull these deck out occasionally, but I don’t think I will play them often.