Doomtown Shakeup League?

[deputy_melnyk]

So one of the nifty things I liked about Magic:Arena is that they had occasional events that banned a modest set of powerful cards that were current format legal.

If we were to do something like that for Doomtown, what would that list look like? And would there be interest in a short casual league in that format?

If you suggest cards to ban, please supply your reasoning, not just because you hate something. =D

Off the top of my head, I'd probably start the banned list off like so:
1) Full Moon Brotherhood
-While I am hesitant to ban a home, I think FMB deserves it. The ability to shut a dude down at an adjacent location prevents playing around it. And blanking Jake Smiley at no cost can really hinder interesting new starter options. If it wouldn't complicate things, I'd probably recommend errataing for the league to same location only.

2) Soul Blast, Legendary Holster, Shotgun, Point Blank
-Automatic acing effects are extremely strong and often feel unearned. A properly constructed LH deck will never fail the pull. Shotgun doesn't even require a pull. Point Blank is usually trivial to trigger. These are pretty non-interactive, in my opinion.

3) Unprepared
-Shocking coming from me, I know. The ability to boot a dude, give them -1 bullet, and boot and blank their attachments for just the cost of a card from hand is a bit strong. My only hesitation is there may not be enough other attachment hate to keep Voltron decks in check. If it wouldn't complicate things, I'd probably recommend errataing for the league to boot the dude and one attached card.

4) A Slight Modification
-With Unprepared gone, countering an action for essentially no cost seems a bit much.

5) Longwei Fu
-Blanket +1 stud bonus that sits at home. I considered lumping in Forster Cooke, but he at least to be somewhere other than home and can be called out there.

Am I missing something, probably yes. I considered adding Calling the Cavalry and Force Field for the excessive hand rank manipulation, but I think there are enough answers in the card pool now.

[Neramoor]

We did something like this in Edinburgh. Everyone participating submitted the names of three cards to be banned prior to the tournament that formed the tournament banned list then everyone built decks as normal without the banned list.

Decimator array- I have spoken about this at length in other fora but its a sidekick, and money, and value protection, and influence, and unbooting and it lets you turn most hands into a dead mans hand or a straight flush for 2 ghost rock and none of the hand rank counters stop it..

Thunderboy - he's a 3 stud 3 influence dude for 3 ghost rock. There are lots of other interesting law dogs who don't get a look in because he is so far off curve.

[Will]

I all most never pay thunder boy lol kidnapping would be a good choice lol or how about just banning the entire base setting only playing with expansions?

[davido4015]

Put me down for Kidnappin' hate. And yeah, have fun stopping slide without it.

[Doomdog]

I like this idea. Definitely add Decimator Array to the list. To really shake things up I think it will need expanding a bit further than just those cards (it's not like everyone is playing decks that use them) but it's a good starting point.

[zenarchist]

I think seeing the game without Kidnappin' could be really interesting. It's been the dominant forced aggro card since the base set, despite various attempts to offer alternatives. I'm curious to see what people choose to replace it.

I would suggest Sun in Yer Eyes as well, as it's been the primary card for turning dudes into draws, except there's not really much of an alternative to it.

[Findegil]

Is restricting to max 1 copy per deck a workable halfway house for cards that are overpowered but also serve important functions? Or does that just reduce games to the luck of drawing/not drawing your single Kidnapping/Unprepared at the right time?

I'm generally a big fan of Derringer construction rules (max 1 of any card), but I guess that would skew things too far in favour of Slide/non-combat?

[Neramoor]

Three of any given value also restricts power cards as well as loosening draw structures.

[Harlath]

Three of any given value also restricts power cards as well as loosening draw structures.

We did this at Euro 2019, Mark won as a preview of his dominance in the main event! While I like 4x for normal play (3x doesn't reward setup as shootouts can be quite variable) it was a really fun and different experience and a good alternate format.

[deputy_melnyk]

Decimator Array is a good call. No arguments there.

My original idea was to target cards that are a bit too high on the power curve.

Is Kidnapping a problem card? There are other spot removal options. Kidnapping also only discards the dude if it succeeds, so you could theoretically get your dude back.

I see the point about Thunder Boy, but by that logic, should we also ban Randall, Irving Patterson, Ike Clanton, and Alexander Sequoia? TB at least has upkeep. He's also less than stellar if he isn't opposed by a wanted dude.

What about Morgan Regulators? Does it suppress slide too much to make slide viable? Costless unbooting and making a stud is pretty durn powerful. Anarchists require money or a card to unboot.

[Neramoor]

Is Kidnapping a problem card? There are other spot removal options. Kidnapping also only discards the dude if it succeeds, so you could theoretically get your dude back.

The problem is that it squeezes out other removal jobs. It has low entry requirements and no cost. If you are not playing Jia Mein why would you ever play forced quarantine rather than kidnap? Banning it means people have to play other spot removal.

I see the point about Thunder Boy, but by that logic, should we also ban Randall, Irving Patterson, Ike Clanton, and Alexander Sequoia? TB at least has upkeep. He's also less than stellar if he isn't opposed by a wanted dude.

Thunderboy is a teir above all of these though banning some or more of these is also not a bad shout

What about Morgan Regulators?

Works for me.
.

[Doomdog]

Add Amazing Grace to the list? I've played games that have dragged on far longer than they should have thanks to that spell, and giving all your dudes +1 influence for controlling deeds is really, really good.

[Pr0digy]

Sounds fun, and whatever the result for the house rules, count me in!

I guess if I had to vote, it'd be the 'only 1 of any particular card allowed' option. That doesn't stop problematic starting posse dudes, so maybe add some bans in there, but that idea appeals to me most of all.

Maybe 2 different leagues, one with a big list of banned cards, and another with 'only 1 of any certain card allowed' ?

[Will]

The Highlander format sounds great to me