... my playgroup is actually thriving... ... ... finally...

This is because of two things:

1) Tapout made Top 4 at Team Worlds.
2) FFG started rotation after Gencon.

Because Chubbs/Hughes/myself made top 4 in Team Worlds, all 3 of us got those binders with one of each card from ShadoWar and SC4. Combining the 3 of each card we got from Worlds with our own resources, we were able to build tons of decks to give out to our playgroup. Yesterday, Chubbs and I recruited 5 players who dropped out in 2008. I even got one of them to buy 2 starter decks and a box of ShadoWar. To some players, just looking through an organized complete set of every card in the current sets wanted them to start playing again.

After we got our binders on Friday after Teams, Hughes and I sat down at a Denny's by our hotel to have a bite and look through our binders. I remember we talked something like this:

Shane: "You know, because this set has 18 cards per character, you can take 4 of every character's support and make a decent deck with that character."
Hughes: "It's just like starting a new game again."

I can guarantee that if we didn't top 4, we would have gotten total **** for prize support and would have brought back absolutely nothing for our playgroup to survive and thrive.

Thus said, I believe these binders that FFG constructs are the best prize for growth in this game.

I put forth a request:
Make these binders more accessible than top tournament prizes.

I dunno how, but make them more accessible. Maybe 1 binder per prize support every two months? As long as they get circulating, I'm sure it would improve this game's growth.

I do not believe the binders will hurt overall sales at all. As long as the binders stay sporadic, people will still buy boxes of cards to obtain resources like ultra rares of multiple copies of uber good un/commons. Besides, people still splurge on new sets whenever they drop. In that case, send binders of previous sets whenever a new set drops? Those binders cost what? Under $10 to produce? The production cost of a TCG card is like... whut... a penny? Plus $.50 for the binder at the most I guess.

Why do card games die? One top reason is poor card accessibility.

I dunno. Maybe I'm longshotting with this post. I only post this because I am 100% sure that our group would be dead if we didn't top and get those binders. Without them, I would never see my boy band again, never ragg on Jon Herr again (tho he may be happy with that), never see my adoptive father Steve Horvath again, never see my fellows from the west coast again, never see Foxhound or any of the Canadian's again, and probably nobody else from the community ever again.

100% agree with you. We haven't run a UFS tourney IN TWO WHOLE MONTHS! Not a single one. Tekken 6 dropped on Saturday and we get 11 people to come out and that's with like 5 or 6 others that just couldn't make it on the back of prior engagements. Our playgroup is really revamping itself, as is the Fort Myers, Florida group from what i understand.

As far as accessibility of cards in the new format i think it is incredibly well done. Cards in block 4 are designed to support a specific character and not a symbol. This cuts down on the presence of auto-include ultras, makes every character very unique, and makes character specific support very affordable and very playable. The new sets are designed very well in that they are not forcing you play several symbol centric cards and instead allow you to pick and choose what UR's and rares you want to play rather than pigeon holing you into them. For instance Knight Breaker/Launcher decks. The combo is great. But is it better to run that in fire than it is to run Dragon's Flame, or Phoenix Smasher, or Odin's Wrath w/ pump, or Fury of the Ancients. Every character has sooooo many options in deck building now and it is really going to create for an interesting meta.

Not only that, but sometimes, you can find little gems that fit well in another character's theme.

Homme Chapeau said:

Yup like pommel smash... in everything that can play it.

Or a lot of the weird synergies with nightmare's support and other character. The game is very cool right now.

ShippuJinrai said:

I was thinking Evil Mist + Void Ivy + Valentine *

I don't think Pummel Smash counts as a gem. I think from the get-go everyone knew that card was awesomesauce.

ROTBI said:

Zi mei's wheel kick is the red headed step child by comparison.

Another weird litlte synergy: Hilde and Astrid seem to play very nicely together, at least my not-entirely-Dual-Wield-centric Hilde

I agree with you Shane. Sounds like you got one hell of a prize. As such having such a unique prize for prize support would be quite affordable and appreciated. Hell, if not two months than three that way we can get them four times a year. BTW, call me Shaneth...got a new cell and lost your number.