Why can't we have T1 and T2 and keep standard for the 5 players who actually like playing it.

The thing is, when people have a choice between restricted characters and non-restricted characters, they'll go for open-ended almost every time. Right now, with four (Count 'em, four!) Extended areas and only two Survivor, and no extra rewards for Standard play, there's just no incentive for most people to go there. (I do, but I'm weird.)

The radical sugestion I have comes in two forms.

1) Remove Fights Extended from the DT rotation. This means that DT is only in the Fights Standard room. If you want to participate in DT, you have to do it in Standard. This will push people to play there and use the ongoing push towards new stuff ... play there, get credits to buy new stuff. It's the good kind of treadmill.

2) Remove Fights Extended altogether and replace it with a Survivor 25 room. This one's a much more radical thought, obviously, but it would serve a similar purpose.

(I'll detail the new rotation in my next post.)

Never played in standart never will

Jesus, that amount of Skeelz is unnessecary. and the lose of Fuzz and Dreen will be missed severly. i like my 8 damage

All-Stars lose Asparov, a huge threat, and Cesare, their only SoA. Vicious hit.

Bangers lose a hard-hitting Shogunn and Coolio, two staples that'll shake the rafters.

FPC loses Fei. Ouch.

Freaks lose Grudj, an absolute staple.

Ghiest loses three of their best, but, at the same time, most clans are using their Stop: characters that were made to counter them. A net loss, but not as bad as it seems at first.

Jungo takes it in the heart. Nyema the super-vampire? Game-winning Askai> Both of their DR characters? Worst-hit clan.

Junkz lose Dreen, a staple low-star.

Junta lose Archie, who is in every deck.

Montana lose some of their DR-slipping guys.

Nightmare lose Arzgoth (Rare these days, unless you play the 35+ star range), Ghumbo (Ditto), and Phllis, who's in every Nightmare deck, ever.

Pitranas lose Kristen. That smarts a bit.

Pcats lose Noemi, another absolute staple.

Rescue lose Sledge, but he's back in ELO, so they'll live.

Sak lose probably their top 2-star. Small decks are getting hit hard out there.

Sentinel lose ... well, enough to stop being played. The only clan hit as hard as Jungo. Coby alone cripples them, then Melvin and Tobbie? Harsh.

Ulu Watu and Uppers shrug a bit. Both cards are used, but aren't core to their strategies.

Skeelz... everyone's talking about Skeelz. No need for me to chip in.

Interesting in how much DR is lost, meaning that big swings are more likely to win. (More later)

I've said it before and I'll say it again -- you can't achieve game balance by excluding cards based on date. That is as good an idea as excluding cards based on color. I know it would take a little bit of work, but I don't believe we will ever see Standard succeed unless the rules are changed. Cards that are allowed to remain in the game need to be picked in a much less arbitrary way, with game balance in mind.

I'm sure there are developers, and maybe even a small handful of players that are trying to convince themselves that Standard was a great idea that's just taking a while to catch on. But, it's not -- we already have game modes where some clans arbitrarily do better than others, and certain power cards rule. Standard offers nothing new. I wish it was either revamped, or done away with once and for all. I'm sure those resources could be put to better use elsewhere.

So Ghumbo and Caelus are dead, but Nightmares still have Oshitsune...

I've gotta agree that Standard is kinda pointless. I suppose it gives newer players a chance because they can just pick up some cards and be somewhat competitive. But for most players it's pretty pointless, especially considering that the last couple of times I went Standard the stupid system couldn't even find me an opponent half the time. Totally screws your Tourney score...

Killing T1 as a DT format switched me from being an every day player spending money every few months to a 2-3 times a week player with an ax to grind.

I hope UR got what they wanted out of this.

I dont know what all the fuss is about rarely anyone plays standard anyway. The eliminated 1/2 the Skeelz from standard woopie now they have about as much standard playablility as the rest of the clans. They should just change the name from standard to battle of the newest clans tho that maybe a little long.

Woo! first ban list/ format update that nobody cares about. Bring it on