Even though only a couple of die-hard regulars are still posting on the forum, the fact is that I still have fun playing Duels atm.

It seems like lots of people jumped ship because of the lack of future updates, especially the people of a more spiky inclination, but taking some of my favourite decks to versus is still fun for me. Match making on steam is about the same, so I guess people are still playing, although I do see a bit more jank, especially the few control builds that show up.
Giocher's deckbuilder's contests are still fun and are about the only interesting thing still going on here on the forum which is a shame really...

There are still some decks to try out and others that I can tune a bit to make even better, even without new cards. I might revisit older arch-types too, that I haven't played in a while. I get that people may want to check out other card games and spend their time doing that, but personally, I Can't be bothered to learn the Ins-and-outs of another ccg that is probably just a mtg rip-off/spin-off. That and the grind of being a newbie or having to invest lots of money to be competitive, so I'm happy to just get in a couple of games now and then on Duels and clear my daily quests, even though I don't need the gold for jack-sh/t...

I guess it may be a phase and after a while nostalgia will kick in and people will get tired of playing other games and gradually return to Duels... Maybe. I've played thousands of hours of this game, I've even unlocked all the achievements... What I liked about the game then is still pretty much there, it hasn't gone anywhere.

Sure, new cards always Created hype and got people all excited and enthustiatic and glued to the spoiler sites eager to see the new revealed cards and discuss how Broken/crap they looked. So that's gone... Maybe that's what drew some people to this game, sure... But we are left with a pretty big card pool and there are still plenty of deckbuilding possibilities to be explored, especially for the more johnnyish players.
I'll probably only quit when match-making becomes a chore, but I don't think that'll be anytime soon. If I was new player, the fact that the cardpool is finite would be an incentive, because I'd know that sooner or later I'd catch-up to the folks with complete collections. So I can see this as a way to draw new players. If We travel to Magic christmas fairy Land, we could even dream that if the player-base continues to grow... Maybe WotC could even reconsider their decision and perhaps give us some updates even if they aren't whole sets as such... Who knows?
All this ranting to say, the game hasn't changed, it hasn't lost anything so why not keep playing?

Still having fun, even though rank 40 is now full of Goblin Arsonists...

LOL I've been seeing arsonists and glory chasers everywhere too

Still having fun playing as well, no reason To stop until Next comes out unless matchmaking goes in the crapper

Goblin arsonist rocks.

New players need to grind, I say let 'em...

I'd be worried if R40 was full of Goblin balloon brigades.

Btw Giocher when's the next round of the deckbuilder's clue?

Imagine if this were cross-platform... I play control decks at R40 on the iPhone and the meta is split like a pie. Maybe a little more aggro and less control, but midrange is about a quarter of what I see.

I'm having tons of fun with Esper. It fills the role for me that Miracles did pre-top ban (which killed my interest in Legacy).

I am still enjoying Duels. This meta suits me well. Diverse and mostly balanced.

I took a bit of a break from it but I'm back to playing and still having fun as well. Our card pool is pretty big and rather than look for the strongest builds I'm looking for the most enjoyable and intricate

I'm still playing, still enjoying it. Still can't help myself from obsessively clearing my quests, even tho I have everything unlocked except foiling (which I'll never do). SUCKS I CANT SPEND MY GOLD ON THE OTHER HALF OF THE LAST BLOCK THO

I´m salty about HOU but the game is still fun, besides this place makes it shine on a different scale

Cucho,

I'm a go off topic and say that Can't Touch This 2.0 is the best mono-blue deck of all time!

But seriously, the deck has all the cards I liked from Esper in all the right ratios, but without the mana base issues.

Edit: if this keeps performing, I'm deleting my Esper pile. This is a fun deck to pilot, so many options and synergies. Cycling off Jace Emblem is gross.

Glad you are enjoying it
I have made a few changes to that list and I think they are performing good
- 2 pull from tomorrow for 2disperse
- 3 unsubstantiate for 3 Hieroglyphic Illumination
That way you get 6 draw spells to ensure card advantage in the mid game when our hand can be shrinking and the ability to cycle 3 of them when they come to early.
Thanks for the good vibes man!

First time playing the list and I'm up to 4-0 with the deck (iOS R40); just made the card swaps you listed to smooth the draws even more. Baral's Masterpiece!

Cucho,

I deleted the rest of my decks because this deck is a blast; after making the recommended changes I have a few notes:

- Whir of Invention and Disperse are bad if both copies draw early. Also, even a single Whir is often a bad draw after Memory is cast.
- Hieroglyphic Illumination was often cycling/drawing me into cards that weren't applicable to the board/stack.

I am testing without Whir, Disperse, or Hieroglyphic:
+ 3 Telling Time since it draws the best card in top 3 for less mana than Hieroglyphic. More realistic to dig for a game winning spell and cast same turn. With Baral, TT becomes instant-speed preordain (broken). TT also increases the range of keepable starting hands.
+ 2 Insidious Will allows curve out on hard counters while increasing density for mid to late game counter digging. Adds new dimensions to the deck: redirect Cruel Reality or Unmaking, copy ramp/draw spell, T3+ protect Baral with 2 for 1, redirect lethal Firecraft etc.
+ 3 Unsubstantiate because there isn't much better in blue to buy tempo. Pulled one essence scatter to make this happen.

Also testing 1 Westvale Abbey in place of a Sanitarium.

This deck is probably 20% to win against commonly seen good aggro.
- T1 1 drop (no response in deck)
- T2 vehicle/scrounger (under 33% to have dispel)
- T3 1 drop and 2 drop in bait spell order (monkey boy or 4/3 discard), or harvester.
Dead near turn 5. Op holding up removal and bomb/burn, gets card advantage through scrounger or courier. Even with Baral on T2 the deck gets run over.

I'd like to continue discussing this deck, but I didn't see the deck in mono-blue decklist forum.

Aggro is dificult for that deck, in the tourney I added a flash aura that worked just fine but when you draw it after you had the board clean it was a dead card. I also tried with thing in the ice and with confiscation coup. They both perfomed ok, but I end up splashing red to this deck and that has worked really good.

Now that i remember I did try with the 1cmc gargoyle with decent results, I dusted off this deck and Im testing it again on the ladder It still has a pretty good winrate. I honestly think aether meltdown is not bad in this deck it is our only instant speed answeer to t2 coppter or scrapy

I've been busy with life lately but I very much plan on getting back on and having some fun.

There are so many decks I have yet to try.