You could argue that we've completed the first leg of the AoP season and, though many Top 8s have been filled with some astonishingly creative decks, the conclusions that I've drawn from this first wave of tourneys are simple: Hugo is a beast; control is alive and well; and fast aggro, especially Fire, has become on par or better with it of late.

But really, who cares? Not to be flippant, or diminish the efforts of the champions, but I find it real hard to give a damn about the current state of standard when a complete sea change will occur in less than 3 months.

That seems to be my problem lately. Don't get me wrong, I still love the game and enjoy playing it as much as ever, maybe even more than ever. This despite the fact that my most-frequented local store, and the one I scouted at, just went out of business all of a sudden and has kinda left me and most of my playgroup in the lurch for a bit. Ah well, such is life. No, even with this minor bump in the road, we still keep playing. My issue has less to do with any specific problem than a general sense of apprehension for the upcoming format in my players, and I've noticed it's not limited to the locals either. Some have raised the question, and a valid one at that - why even bother to have a rotation at all?

It's a natural response - most of us don't like change, especially not wholesale. There's a thread in the Scout forums that wants Yoga Mastery and Impetuous watermarked, two excellent choices because of their versatility and perceived necessity. Notice I said "perceived", because up until the release of Set 7 and seeing it's impact on the format I was probably inclined to agree with both choices. Now...I'm not so sure we need either. The whole purpose of rotation is to get rid of ingrained thinking and old irritants and test the limits of a new card pool, right? So who really wants to see YM in this? I don't, and I'm a control player at heart. It seems to me that people find it difficult to accept that the ability to cancel large, destructive Enhance abilities is still available to them, just in more limited and selective methods. And there's plenty of ways to deal with problem foundations and assets too, just no one wants to utilize them.

Yoga Mastery -> Spiritual Center/Stone Mail (speed or damage bonus), Constant Training/Beautiful Friendship (multiple negation), Pieces of Eight/Seal of Cessation (one-shot universal negation)

Impetuous -> Grim Stride/Soul Wave (asset hate), Final Countdown/Cursed Blood (selective control), Oral Dead/Instant Success (Form negation/destruction) 

...and Trade Your Passion For Glory along with Roam the World allow for whole swaths of answers to problem foundations and assets, along with Megalomania which thankfully remains legal in Block 2, despite some initial grumblings.Those abilities didn't disappear, they merely shifted to specific targets over multiple cards and I like that. It forces you to work harder instead of having relatively easy and permanent answers, which is clearly one part of what STG is trying to accomplish with the format change. It also helps define resources a bit better and encourages dual resource deck construction, another good reason for creating a new format. This might make the AoPs themselves more valuable, aside from the ubiquitous Seal of Cessation, since they can help alleviate that somewhat (having Infinity) or push an enterprising player to really try something never seen before with a playset of one AoP and No One's Ever Gonna Keep You Down. I have to believe that it's much easier to pull something like that off in the new block than the old, owing to the speed of the current game.

Which brings up another common concern - minus the obvious Death/Void control pieces, most expect Block 2 to be even faster, while I think it will be the opposite, and played at a more reasonable pace. STG has often stated that the goal is to make most games last to at least turns 4-6 or beyond, and I applaud that target and welcome it should it come to pass. If you've been paying attention to the last two sets - and really with the coverage so far on this very site, you should be - it's already apparent that there are more ways to mitigate damage than ever before and they should be around for a long time to come. The other half of the equation is the low number of elite throws that have a 3CC, Chain Throw being the most notable if not the only exception. STG is telling us they want us to block more often, take less damage, and work to deal our opponents massive chunks at once. If only they would consider my proposal of negative block modifiers, we'd be all set! But I digress... 

The last point I want to make on this topic is the subject of deckout, or "mill", or whatever you wish to call it. Before Blind Stance and Set 7, it was a quirky and little seen method of victory outside of a few characters best suited to maximize it's potential, but now it is a completely legitimate and powerful victory option that any number of characters can really exploit. I think that while it may assert itself onto the current metagame, it's arguably too risky a strategy to be completely successful in an aggro-dominated format. Perhaps mill will be more successful if given greater time to develop, and I feel that Block 2 will offer that if your deck is built correctly. Contemplation and Lure the Enemy are two terrific examples of the raw power that the new cycling cards provide, yet they aren't of much use if you're dead. Without as many crazy damage pumps, the sheer volume of damage reduction and fewer massive throws, this should be markedly easier to pull off. Just watch out for Infiltrating!

In short, I am really looking forward to the new era of UFS play and I embrace the change, though I acknowledge that many do not feel the same. Hopefully, some of the arguments I've presented will change your mind. I know that most of you haven't even begun thinking about what options are out there for the next block, but I strongly encourage you guys and gals to at least mess around with it before you knock it and see what you can come up with. Ask your scout if they're willing to run Block 2 events and you'll see it's much more fun than you might think. Chances are you'll be surprised at how differently it plays and yet still enjoy it for what it is, a strategic variation in the game. Either way, get ready. As always, send me any comments/questions/criticisms to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or on the boards via PM. Till next time...

-Vik