I've seen in a number of other threads digress into discussion about leaving certain things legal for the first little while after rotation... Some examples of stuff I've seen floating around are:

- Characters

- Some of the later sets (11? even 10?)

- Select cards or promos that belong to set 12 (shadowar promos)?

I know that my Scout is determining what to keep around a) as incentive to players that have recently lost their 'favorite' characters to still play, as often and as competitively come rotation b) keep the card pool a manageable size such that we don't see the same techs all the time, risking redundancy and boredom for the game, and c) to keep the players that recently bought a lot of these packs happy with their purchases.

He suggested keeping Flames of Fame and Warriors Dream stuff legal, and at first I thought - 'might work'. But then I got to thinking about certain cards in those sets that (although not as powerful as some other stuff in block 3) would still have a drastic impact when together with block 4 stuff. One example, Hugo's support, gives symbols draw and interaction with PotM that others would otherwise not have. Many other examples exist but going into the details isn't the point of the post.

The point of the post is to have other players and Scouts summarize in one thread what everyone will/is going to be playing for the Month of September (let's say until the release of the SCIV set) and why.

My personal opinion is that set rotation is like breaking up with a significant other (or vice versa). Namely, part of you misses what you had, some people even still stay friends with their exes, calling them frequently and not truly parting with their past, sometimes people even let their ex determine or play a large role in who they form a relationship with next or see their ex as a barrier between themselves and their next relationship...

Without fleshing it out any more (i.e. talking on phone with ex and new girlfriend overhears = pain , is the equivalent of looking at your 4 point for techniques that no longer exist in 5 point territory and feeling the pain come a 5 point only tourney that doesn't offer you the same experience you are used to with your mixed bag meta back home) my opinion involves cutting all ties with anything with a 4 point shuriken, solely playing 5 point cards (and hopefully only against 5 point cards). Of course, the only time you look back is when you play legacy, and that is a whole different analogy - one that I won't bring up right away ^^

- dut

dutpotd said:

Bah you just want to keep dark force....

lol, only if they 5 point it. Otherwise - good bye baby!

dutpotd said:

now you actually have to play a regular game other than solitare... though I still need to find characters to play though since I'm going to need to play in order to get the promo characters that I want to play when they come out...

oh and they need to watermark singing and dancing musical sisters

kiit said:

Agreed. We will make sure you have the characters you need, I'd lend you if I win it, etc.

Also - I think the one that best suits your playstyle is probably going to be Christie... She is my fav though, but I'll lend her to you ^^

- dut

dutpotd said:

fixed a couple typos you made I might be there sunday, depends if I can get Tanner to help sort out and search out block 4 cards (everything has been tossed together and put into the closet since regionals) also I preordered 4 boxes of tekken (even though I have no intrest in the characters. too bad it wasnt bloody roar instead)

I think Tekken will surprise you, the characters have more depth than what it seems on the surface. Bloody Roar would be cool of course lol -

I think you are going to want to go with Astrid and stack said promo, or the other way around, they have great synergy.

Kisheri or whatever - also known as the black popsicle (seriously, from a distance that is what she looks like) - has wonky abilities.

- dut

As a scout myself, I'm still trying to figure out how to make this work for my players. I'm trying to contact them to see what sets/promos they want to keep or if they'd prefer going strict rotation. Likely a mix of the above. Personally, I'd like to try 'Pure' Legacy once a Month. One month would be Street Fighter, the next Soul caliber, and so on.

"The" card pool to go with is the one given to you, the 5-star only one.

If you want to play with older cards, find new, fun ways to do legacy. How about a Samurai Showdown-only event? A format where only boss characters and support can be used? 4-shuriken only?

Find fun and innovative ways to play Legacy.

Otherwise, just play with the standard.

I thought for a while about Set 11 in the new format but I kept coming back to Hugo and Sogetsu's support bringing in way too much card draw.

Edit: And too much killing power from stuff like Lunar Slash, Spinning Beat, and Neo Raging Storm.

Tagrineth said:

I agree with you on the first part on the draw

but the second part isn't really true. Are you to tell me that Lunar Slash, Spinning Beat, and Neo Raging are "too much killing power" when you've already got Menuet Dance, Siegfried's Earth Divide, Launcher-Breaker, Dragon's Flame, and any attack + Dual Wielding + Hilde?

At least SB and NRS are balanced, and Lunar would enter an environment where momentum generation (esp. in its symbols) is neigh existent, and it would be the only attack in the block sporting a 1 check.

I s'pose that's true, well I dunno, the card draw is definitely a problem though.

I think the main problem would be from hugo. Death/Earth are already good right now and don't need card draw. Sogetsu gives void/order/water draw, and they're all pretty low symbols right now, and god knows water needs everything it can get. It's pretty give or take. I'd say just try it at your local area, see how it goes ,and post results here.

Void had 7 characters in Set 11, might be too good. Order/Water could definitely use the hand tho, seeing as they have absolutely no cards to themselves now.

plus there's Lynx Tail back from the grave to haunt our metas with Hilde decks.

It could definitely work with a middling-length banlist

*sigh* Unfortunately Hilde doesn't even need Lynx Tail. She's the queen of T2 kills, something that just shouldn't happen, and man...she's already causing some NPE for my newbie roommate (so I've had to switch chars).

=/

Not everyone that breaks up with their girlfriend stays away from them... some wind up seeing them at a later time, getting back together, and then staying together for another 10+ years...

We ran Block 3 this past Tuesday, with several players playing Block 4 decks. At least one player was complaining about how Block 4 doesn't have answers to the Block 3 stuff... but for our crazy meta I think it's half hogwash. Here are the basics for the tournament:

• 10-person tournament.
• 1st place was a Block 3 R. Mika centered around triple-reversaling with Wrath of Heaven for the Combo on the opponent's turn.
• 2nd place was a Block 4 Astrid (mostly theme).
• 3rd place was a Block 3 Terry looping pumped Neo Deadly Raves.
• A reversal Yoshitora was like 4th or 5th: it had an epic game against the R. Mika, with like 2 or 3 reversals being played on each side in the same turn (in the same form, even!)

Now I was running a themed Astrid Ragnar. I lost to the Terry deck, but it wasn't a total beat-down. We played another game for fun, and I took him down. Granted, as I said, we have a crazy meta. A lot of our players play really off-the-wall fun decks in Block 3.

At any rate, our Legacy night is always the last Tuesday of the month (next Tuesday); Highlander is encouraged, but not required. Then we have the Tekken Pre-release on the following Saturday. So over the course of next week we'll be deciding what we'll be running. Here's what I'd like to see:

1. First tourney of the month: New Standard (Block 4, 5-point shurikens only). I love mini-block and want to play it.
2. Second tourney of the month: Extended Standard. This would include Set 11, to get some pretty balanced SF, KoF, and SS characters in the mix. This would also include all Block 3 characters, but not their support. (Kim running Zi Mei kicks is fun.) This might also include Block 3 (4- or 5-point) League Promos, which are pretty balanced, shiny, and cool.
3. Third tourney of the month: Old Standard (Block 3, 4- and 5-point shurikens). Decks like that R. Mika deck, my themed Fatman (Hugo/E.Honda) deck, etc. are fun, and I want a chance to play with/against them. Likewise, my Huitzil theme deck, my Pharaoh theme deck, my Yun/Yang theme deck, my Alex/Makoto theme deck, etc., etc.
4. Fourth tourney of the month: Legacy (Highlander encouraged, but not required unless the playgroup wants it so).
5. If we have a fifth tourney, maybe a Jigs & Reels.

Thank you for the info Armed, we have ours on Sunday and I'm eager to see what people decide to use in a semi-open format. I'm rotating but some may not.

- dut

vermillian said:

Honestly, wasn't thinking of anyone in particular when making my original analogy. Although I guess you could construe my analogy (followed by my opinion on how to cycle) to mean - don't look back... lest you suffer an improved future.

Anyways, your description is coming really close to my analogy for those that can't stop playing Legacy ^^

- dut