Good thing you haven't seen suntail hawks. Mega what you watched was limited play. They drafted three packs of the set and built 40 card decks

He's still learning.

Clues are lame. Doesn't mean they are unplayable, but I definitely think they are lame.

Regarding the rest... Herald is currently a wasted rare slot. I'll stand by that until someone manages to do well in a tournament with a deck that both features the card and gains some actual real benefit from its inclusion. I'm not going to hold my breath. Regarding the rest, I'm surprised you'd prefer losing to 4 moss over 4 Gideon, but okay, I guess to each their own, I was pretty sure you hated that card. A better option IMO, if it's even needed, would be a restricted list based on something other than just rarity, or for that matter, the occasional removal of problem cards, when and if needed - like they just did for moss.

Thematically, I love clues, because it gives Shadows over Innistrad a very "Arkham Horror" feel (which was almost certainly intentional).

I'll play again, Hakeem

Can't join as no Xbone (will not do a CGB lol) but yes the motivation behind the tourney and the content is solid and proved as expected popular.

We ran sideboards in iOS and I think it did work, at least you are not locked in. Agree with different builds based on core deck and exactly what I did in iOS personally.

I still think having your first round before a reveal of decklists would enhance it. I get why published decklists and people viewing and commenting or blogging about it is important but facing your first match blind! Just my 2penneth. I know Barney is anti sideboarding and he won the last so maybe sideboarding is a no go. You should though take a view from your partcipants.

It's cool too another feature will be shaping and deciding the meta, one downside (just my opinion) was that the meta was all but solved prior to the tournaments. It was still good to see some variety but on paper everyone should have rocked up with a mosstard ramp deck! I am glad they didn't. I still beast's 5cc converge was the boldest choice so I am sure there will be similar for next!

I'll say what iv said before. Sideboarding also makes it harder to cheat. As does making someone stream. Why would someone be against either of these things is beyond me.

Personally I prefer sideboards and they fit better with my type of deck and play style but I can understand why it wouldn't be included. I think people are missing a very big point ; A sideboard does not represent the "true" meta of Duels since in randoms there isn't any sideboard. I would submit a very different list in a tournament with sideboards as opposed to no sideboards. It encourages certain types of deck lists and discourages others. The thought process behind building a deck where sideboards are allowed drastically changes (at least for me), it's something that inherently affects the meta. If one of the goals is to shape the meta of duels, then I can see sideboards being a very possible hindrance by preventing a proper and true representation of the meta.

I respectfully disagree.

A best of 3 matching system isn't representative of Duels just like how sideboarding isn't either. In fact, if you wanted to be "fully representative" of Duels we would be having a single-game elimination tournament all the way to the top.

Sideboarding, would encourage a broader spectrum of decks. Imagine us tinkering with the new sets of cards. You've found this cool new tier-2 deck type and you'd run it if only 10/16 people weren't also playing RG Eldrazi Ramp. Say for instance, you really like Mono R but you fear it may become hated out. In your sideboard should be more of a focus on direct burn rather than creature-based damage to counter the sweepers and walls. In the random lobbies, Mono R is a very popular deck type but in these community run tournaments they are a rare sight. With sideboarding, it becomes a safer option.

And besides, Game 1 should be the same default deck you'd bring into a random lobby anyways. Especially so considering a higher card density making "main decks" more defined.

I think Duels is the casual Magic format. Side boarding belongs with the pro tour money events and MTGO. My favourite thing about Duels is that I can play Magic without having to deal with Magic players.

You want it ? Run your own tournament. Casual's casual.

Light said it good. Duels is no second chances. You bring the deck you got and hope for the best. You can take much bigger risks too.

Citing Mono-R is a bad example; the Showdown had 3 out of 24, with 2 of them more than likely making the finals.

To quote the opening post, "the Hakumite is about exploring and shaping the meta after each expansion". To me, that sounds like it wants to be done without sideboards to get as much raw data of viable archetypes as possible.

With that said, and as someone who is no more than a spectator, tournaments are much more interesting to watch with sideboards. That sideboards allow more decks to participate like Gemini said is a nice bonus.

I think you start the season with Hakumite - and no SB. Then later, toward the end of the season, you set one up with a shorter time frame, and SBs. Or at least that's what I'm going to propose, and even run if necessary. SBs make more sense when you've got some idea what the meta really looks like in any case.

Black barney last time I check this wasn't your tournament either? Why would you get to decide what happens. All this is is friendly banter no need to get rough. I'm also for sideboards as it makes things more diverse. It also makes it harder for people to cheat and I'm sure you would like things to be more interesting. I don't even have to ask if you like cheaters.... that should be common sense. I would hope atleast.

Okay, so on the real... How do SBs or broadcasts help stop cheating? I'm not following that at all. I guess with broadcasts you can see their hands, and try to second guess their decisions. But with SBs, I don't get the connection at all.

I have no problem with streaming. I've already said a million times over why I don't care for side boarding.

Sore about your loss?

Peeps,

Barney isn't getting rough...he's Canadian. He's stating his opinion and is being blunt. No worries. He's not big into safe zones.

Question...how does having sideboards make it harder for people to cheat? You have said that a few times and haven't qualified it. I could see it giving them less reason to cheat but it would not make it harder.

It's because of variance. You've got 15 extra cards to pick from and your opponent has 15 extra cards to play around.

If they play around that shady 1-of in your sideboard and detracted from that on-the-curve explosive play...well then you just know your being snipped.

Hey Hakeem, thanks for the invite. I would love to play again. It will be interesting to come up with a decent deck in such short time.

I'm pretty sure I figured out how to avoid all the twitch errors I was getting last tournament so that wouldn't be a problem, but I've never put a video on YouTube, is that fairly simple?