jonnyb815 wrote:
I was only good because I knew the maps and that edge is gone. Now I am just as good as the 15 year old that is amazing at his local meta.
Thanks for changing and destroying the meta because you all are bored.
It's just hard to get old players back with all the changes that's all I am trying to say. The learning curve is way too hard to over come and people just give up coming back.
I started around GenCon 2010, and while a bit simplistic, my impression was that there were two maps that 90% of the players used (Ravaged Base and Throne Room) and five basic squad archetypes that made up the entirety of the top and which were probably the only realistic contenders for the title (Solo Charge, Yobuck Swap, Lord Vader or Cad Bane with Mitt'Thrawn, Lancers, and Han Cannon). I like the current meta, with maybe 30-40 builds capable of winning a Regional, a lot better. In New Zealand we're generally seeing well established players with good records do well at the big events - you put the work in, you get the results. And I've never met any of you guys, but I recognise the names winning Regionals - it's people like Tim Ballard, Jason Kiernan, and Graham Bingham, not the 15 year old local kid.
Really, you wouldn't have been able to leave the game after say, The Force Unleashed set, play a couple of games, and compete at GenCon 2010. A lot changed - Dodonna, Yoda on Kybuck, Lancer, Mitt'Thrawn, Cad Bane, Jarael, Ganner, Anakin Solo - and plenty of other meta-changing pieces were released in that time period and would have taken some catching up with. Maybe the volume of top quality pieces has increased, but that's better than stuffing sets full of pointless filler that nobody cares about like Wizards did.
Really, I think the reason the v-sets have been so popular in New Zealand is that we don't have people who feel slighted that they were left out of the design/decision-making process - we mostly began playing towards the end of Wizards' run and don't feel like we have the expertise to contribute at a high level so we just sit back and enjoy the finished product, and enjoy being able to do our part in play-testing. I think it's hard to argue that the game isn't richer and more immersive than ever - most factions have a bunch of good squads now and you can play anything that suits your playstyle, rather than just the game revolving around tempo control and mass killers. 8 piece squads are good, 30 piece squads are good, Universe Kyle Katarn just won a Regional; the meta's great if you ask me. If there's a problem IMO, it's that a lot of the most dedicated American players are tied up producing (great) product rather than being able to promote the game locally and recruit players.