Convocation Notes: Jul 24, 2109
Pacific Old School Council
Convocation 1
July 24, 2019
Attendees:
Mith Maya: Beasts VR, Chairperson
Brian Urbano: Deep Spawners VR
Aaron R.: Horde VR
Shawn Sullivan: Trolls VR
Jeremy Chien: Secretary (member of Beasts)
Maze of Ith: feedback on unrestriction
-The Horde: Maze is borderline
-The Trolls: Maze is powerful but not game breaking. Interesting brewing opened up. Maze helps combo
-The Deep Spawners: Maze has been manageable.
Recall: feedback on unrestriction
-The Horde: people seem to be ok.
-The Trolls: recall no issue
-The Deep Spawners: Recall isn’t an issue.
RESOLUTION: Restrict Shahrazad. Proposed by Deep Spawners
Discussion notes:
-The Horde: this card ruins tournament play where rounds are timed. You end up in orb flips
-The Deep Spawners: two guys at the Risk knew what they were doing, and the card is fine when that’s the case. But it’s got potential to be counterproductive and non-fun. Same with Divine intervention.
-The Trolls: nobody in Seattle plays it, but its worth discussing.
VOTES:
Horde: Aye
Beasts: Aye
Deep Spawners: Aye
Trolls: Nay
RESOLUTION PASSES. Sharazad is restricted. We want remove spikiness and create a fun format. In a structured format this card is often unfun to play against.
RESOLUTION: Mishra’s Factory Errata. Proposed by Trolls
Details: Errata Mishra’s Factory to only target “other target Assembly Worker” with the +1/+1 ability.
Discussion notes:
-Concerns for card being overpowered and dominant in the format, appearing as a 4-of in most decks. Current mechanic also out of original design balance.
-Other possible change: change game rules so tapped blockers deal no damage. This is in line with game mechanics during the 93/94 era, which would affect the power level of multiple cards (Icy Manipulator, Relic Barrier). Potential very large disruption, seems bad.
VOTE DEFERRED: VRs to collect feedback from individual groups to vote errata of “only +1/+1 to other factory” and reconvene.
UPDATE: July 28, 2019:
VRs have collected feedback and are ready to vote.
VOTES:
Horde: Aye
Trolls: Nay
Beasts: Nay
Deep Spawners: (no vote – vote moot)
RESOLUTION DOES NOT PASS. No change to Mishra’s Factory.
DISCUSSION: Unrestrict Time Vault
Discussion notes:
-Other groups have unrestricted Time Vault and VRs not aware of major negative feedback
-Watch list for unrestriction
DISCUSSION: Restrict Workshops
Discussion notes:
-Workshops archetype has surged in prevalence at tournaments, capturing a large number of high finishes
-Deck is powerful, though has had a relatively short amount of time in its current position. Strong hate cards like Energy Flux, Damping Field, Crumble, and even possible fringe playables like Haunting Wind or Powerleech exist. The metagame may yet respond given a bit more time
-Not watchlisted yet
DISCUSSION: Edits to bylaws
-Change voting procedure and don’t use a chair tiebreak yet. Vote of 51% or above to decide instead (currently, 3 of 4 must vote Aye). Once we reach a certain size then may add a tiebreaker at the Chair level.
-Would Desert Twisters from AZ want to join? What’s the bar for entry? Create two types of memberships. Voting member: certain size, hold events, participate, etc. Affiliate members: join at will, no vote but want to use PAC rules.
Other items
-Tiebreakers in general: some dissatisfaction with Orb flips because it’s pretty random. Consider other options like breaking tie based on fewest Strip Mines, fewest P9 cards, or other method of giving the win to “the underdog.” To be discussed by VRs with their groups.
-Slow players are a problem. However, we don’t have much of a mechanism to prevent it, and it may be something happening more often with the growth of the player base and competitiveness in the format. Shahrazad is related, but other cards (e.g., Divine Intervention) are also capable of slowing games or trying for Orb flips as a strategy.
-We need to finalize and publish a full rules document that people can reference
-Obtaining domain: PACOldSchool.com
-Collect feedback and discuss Mishra’s Factory by the 1st week of Sept (after player ball)