Exactly what it says. (Highlander means no more than one copy of any given card per deck.)

We all know that Legacy contains some of the most fun cards ever printed... But we also know it has a dark side: NPE and ridiculously powerful combinations.

Highlander, by and large, addresses these issues, by making it much less likely that overpowered combinations are found. Players may also find a need to play more attacks than usual, as they can't count on getting their recursion/discard-tutors out reliably. Deck construction requires a lot more thought, and the games play a bit more like they did back in Set 1.

I recently put together some 9 or 10 highlander decks, and I'm really pleased. I managed to maintain a lot of theme-y-ness. They weren't great to start off with, and they're all worse in highlander form, but since they were playing against each other, the games were surprisingly well-balanced. I think they may do okay in a highlander tournament, but I want folks to build some decks and give me some competition.

The only downside I'm aware of? Remy sucks used cowbell in highlander.

Will you join my campaign? It only takes a simple pledge:

"If I run one or more legacy tournaments each month, I will make at least one of them a Highlander tournament each month. If I don't run tournaments, I will pressure my scout to run Highlander legacy tournaments."

Even if you disagree, please share your thoughts.

I will choose not to join because I believe that legacy IS the place for degenerate stuff to happen. If it wasn't supposed to be, it would have it's own ban list. And its always fun to see how much a person can just break the format, because there will probably always be 1000 other ways to do it with all of the card selection you have access to. I like legacy as is.

I personally like the idea, as long as Promo Hugo stays banned even in legacy. If he's not, he'll win probably 99% (at least) of the time through his vitality and his ability to tutor answers.

We have already started this and everyone seems to like it only since its limited for the one card per deck we take a lot of the cards off the ban list to have some fun with them again .

For our highlander tourney(s) we've unbanned EVERYTHING except for banned characters and unreleased cards. We've also made deck size exactly 100 cards.

I feel that highlander should be an optional format but not the standard legacy format. There really is no need for that change. Legacy should stay legacy and those that want to run highlander legacy events can run highlander legacy events.

aslum said:

It would be kool if FFG would acutally make an official format and maybe have some events for this in the future.

FFG already has a highlander legacy style format for its other TCG (or did when it was a TCG) that being A Game of Thrones. Quite popluar too.

So I give this idea a +1. Its already a thing I try to motivate others to do from time to time, as I have, at my location, the original highlander legacy (three resource) legend.

if our scout would ever run legacy maybe...

My scout's trying it out a week from Monday. We play a pretty large amount of Legacy up here, so I'm sure there'll be some strong opinions on the matter...

One quip: Double Dealing needs to stay out of this format, whatever happens. It's too much stronger than anything else, and makes Tycho too good.

Columbus DOES have the original Highlander.

I don't think that Highlander should be THE Legacy format, but it is a very fun way to play it. I think that Legacy is the place for degenerate combos to reign, but I think that Highlander should be instituted more often as a special tournament style, a bit more often than it is. It helps with learning to play the cards that come up, and make the best of them.

vermillian said:

...as I have, at my location, the original highlander legacy (three resource) legend.

say "hi" to Mr Highlander for me!

Don't forget Quick To Anger.

Otherwise... I'll be running Promo Sakura and every available searching and draw card I can find ever.

quarzark said:

I still think that some cards should be banned along with some characters.......like hugo because hes still unfair, or enlightenment because its still broken when in play, kubi ori loop isnt any better itll just be harder to draw the cards needed

So wait... what?

Do we then do the opposite of ban due to power concerns for the following? :

Remy, Haohmaru (promo), Collecting Data, Heel Stomp, etc...

Some things are good in standard. some things are good and perhaps more advantageous in highlander. That's just how it works, and we roll with it.

For legacy highlander I support AT MOST removing the banned list on non-character cards. But characters that are banned should probably stay banned. Other wise, if that's not enough STICK TO THE NORMAL BANNED LIST!

Why make this any more complicated than it already is?

Im just saying alot of cards could possibly come back and yes there might even be some cards that need 2 be banned in a highlander format

I honestly dislike this idea. I'm for leaving legacy as it be.

Granted the ban list could do with an update! ( In legacy of course)

I will pass. Thank you. One of the reasons legacy is so fun, is because of the crazy powerful combos and cards that are available. However, the Highlander style is fun, and i look forward to having a highlander event in the near future. To me it seems (AGAIN, TO ME IT SEEMS) that Legacy gets no love and that this could be another attempt to move the "historical format" of UFS to a more modern understanding and playstyle. Now please don't take this the wrong way, this is just my opinion given in the context of the given question and salted by my own readings into the forums and the current meta of the game. The reason that i am being so blatant about this is because the beauty of block 1 was how dynamic it was. Yes there were a ton of powerful cards and combos that we all grew tired of seeing, but the game always retained the feeling of an arcade style fighter. Some characters are pure cheese, some attacks are pure cheese, but isn't that how moves and characters are in the video game?? To me (AGAIN, TO ME), this Highlander arguement smells like a "baby with the bathwater" approach to fixing things or dealing with some game mechanics that are, to some, unwanted. Please do not take this as a flame, or rant, but currently, Legacy is the current form of the game that TO ME still feels like a video game fighter. Well, that is my two cents worth, thank you for bearing with me.

~b

highlander would be horrible to be standard legacy. highlander is awesome. but leave legacy alone and let it be broke, LIKE it's supposed to be.

Scott Gaines said:

I agree I need my tira reverse shoulder rush fix every year against scott's start over ibuiki .

But doing EDH Legacy is still a lot of fun we play it all the time but we should have them separate .

I guess I'm the only guy who NEVER liked degenerate combos. I didn't think the game needs any place for them, but I guess I was wrong.

I still think the game should not have a place for degenerate combos in serious tournament play.

As for the argument about legacy feeling "most like the fighting games"... No. Stupidly sick one- or two-turn kill decks don't feel like fighting games. When I play fighting games, they're never over that fast. Stupidly sick control decks don't feel like fighting games--I've never played a fighting game with so little action, followed by a one-hit kill. (Yes, one-hit kills exist in games like GG, but they're very rarely used, because attacking in fighting games is more effective.)

The reason I suggest Highlander is precisely because the result feels more like Set 1, and more like the video games.

• Because you have to diversify your attack (and foundation) base, you end up using a full suite of moves instead of just three moves over and over.
• In order to include enough attacks to remain viable, I suspect players will end up adding "bad" (or less-than-stellar) attacks that work for the symbols; hence the feel of Set 1, when bad cards and 2-checks were still common.
• The game moves a bit more slowly, and has more dramatic turn-arounds.

Straight-up, I think it just makes legacy a hell of a lot more fun, cuts out the BS NPE, and simultaneously forces players to build and play smarter.

I don't see a downside, but like I said, I never enjoyed degenerate combos.

-----------------------------------

As far as banned list goes: I stick with the full banned list. I think those cards (all of them) were banned for a very good reason, and I don't think Highlander takes away from there bustedness. Rather, it just makes it less likely that the opponent will draw into answers. How likely is it you'll draw you're one asset-hate card when Enlightenment hits the table?

As far as deck size goes, I stick with the 60-card decks (rather than the Magic Elder-Dragon Highlander 100-card format). I have two reasons for this: 1) they're easier to build, and 2) it's ****-near impossible to build a character theme deck with 100 cards, while 60 is quite doable.

I agree only insofar as some things do not belong in Legacy, but then again that's exactly what makes it "Legacy" 90% of the time. YWNE combos are a prime example... YWNE in the new Chun-Li has potential fo great sickness. Highlander Legacy should be perfectly fine in a more casual area that "fights" the NPE; however, many players like that playset of Overwhelming Strength (actually has/had decent popularity locally), Shoulder Rush (me), Gyulkus, Impetuous, and so on. Half the joy of Legacy for these players is coming up with the next silly combo, like my Anakaris + Size Matters & mill + lulz (Treachery for one XD). I know some players like innovating, reinventing, or reintroducing combos that can just blow minds. The only tournament where players actually play 100% dedicated competitive Legacy decks should be Legacy Worlds.

Unfortunately for some, this idea, like many other calls for change, will probably fall by the wayside; but for those disappointed few, they can still advocate the format. I just hope they don't enforce it on their players without concensus.

FYI: Wandering Monk + Self-Blocking your attack is the best recursion tactic (minus Hugo) bar none, especially with the latest (sizeable) batch of non-player specific block generators.

Personally I feel like Legacy should be left as is. Leave it broken.

However most UFS players would like to use a lot of older cards, either cards that didnt see much play or cards they loved, which is why legacy has a following. I think FFG really needs to instate a reprint policy on all following sets. I know steve said we can expect somethign like 5 reprints when the next league kit hits, but personally I would almost like to see balanced and game defining cards reprinted in sets. Take some of the good generic stuff like Overhand Claw, Genkotsu stamp, Ground Fighter, so on and so forth, update the art, and rerelease them in packs.

I sign your campaign. After reading your post, I realized...

Holy crap...legacy IS a HUGE solution to possible boredom! And I don't just mean generic, "hey I'm bored" boredom; I mean all those people who have constantly complained "this game is getting boring, waah waah"! Reading your post made me think about how, with only 1 copy of anything, games are as inconsistant as possible, which means every match is a surprise. With Legacy, too, you've got a whole harem of awesome cards at your disposal, so nobody can say, "oh, it's just a stallfest/grey army".

Good show, sir, good show.

*signed*

As cool as Highlander is, I don't think it really matters if it replaces the current Legacy format because FFG doesn't support Legacy worth a ****.

On a slightly different note... I did think of another Legacy format that could be interesting (maybe even in Standard too). Every card gains the Unique keyword. With the multiple uses every card has you could still fairly safely run 2-3 of your favorite foundations/assets, especially if they have blocks, good checks or an attack/action on their split side.