All That Glitters Is Stardust
The road to Worlds began a long time ago for many players this season. Unlike other games with a competitive format, we only had a couple week break between the 1st and 2nd Seasons after the first World Championship ended. There were several reasons for this, notably due to the fact that
Exodus does not rotate old sets out or stop to evaluate a possible ban list. But also because each new expansion set releases at a prime time aligned with Gen Con in the Summer; we want players to be able to experiment right away with the new cards while earning points at their local tournaments. Sure enough, most players didn't skip a beat!
On the topic of experimentation, we do want to address concern regarding the topic & tone of
the previous blog post here on the
Organized Play column. There was a lot of mixed feedback on the last post and reactions ranged from hopeful excitement to disagreement and offense. If the post was upsetting to you in any way, chances are you are not the portion of the player base it was talking about. If you've tried playing different decks at some point since the release of Set 4 (even if you deferred back to an old deck later), you've succeeded! Remember, one of the two points of the "test" was to see if, at the very least, players would use new cards to improve old decks. We know some players who met both criteria took offense, when in fact they should be the last to worry about it at all. If you did one or both of those things, then the post was not speaking to you, and chances are, nor your local community. The post stemmed from reports by some pockets with active
Exodus communities saying that their tournament attendance was down due to their players thinking that only one deck is competitively viable. Upon further digging, we discovered that those sub-communities hadn't in fact explored nearly enough of the latest expansion set to simply write-off the format with certainty. Other locales (like the West Coast & East Coast in the USA, specifically Fresno & NY/NJ) are good examples of the active community that has done an excellent job of both trying new combinations as well as revamping older decks that've succeeded in the past.
The truth of the matter is that Converging Chasms was Exodus' largest expansion set to date, and with it came more options than there have ever been before. There are more than a couple competitively viable decks right now, and some of those have up to 5 or so variants.
One of the major goals of Organized Play is to grow the tournament scene. If certain sub-scenes are experiencing issues, we want to know why. We work very closely with game stores and distributors who carry the Exodus TCG to ensure their players are engaged with the larger community. It is saddening for us to hear when some players are discouraged from going to tournaments because they assume that they don't have a chance at winning. All in all, the post was meant as a playful way to spur on those players who think they've "solved" the format when there are still other options they are unaware of. Everyone should remember that we truly appreciate the support of each and every player no matter what, however they choose to enjoy the game! Re: There is no right or wrong answer. We apologize to anyone who felt hurt by the wording of the last article—we are very proud of our player base and are excited to see how you continually innovate with the growing card pool.
The final thing we will add on that note is that we are a tiny bit perplexed as to why there aren't a few more decks topping weekly events in terms of sheer variety. Even decks that are less powerful in a pure competitive sense can out-maneuver and beat top tier decks when piloted by skilled players. It made us realize that starting next season, there needs to be some sort of bonus points awarded to Most-Creative-Deck-of-the-Week, for example. We see now that an alternate way to earn additional points such as playing decks that use a "bounty card" (one that updates each week or month) would really help mitigate the risks some players face when considering, "Should I try a new deck this week or should I stick with what I know has the best chance of winning?"
It is fun to try new decks, but we also understand that players don't want to potentially miss out on points and fall behind in Rankings. For these reasons, you can count on some exciting opportunities to explore the game creatively next season without the sacrifice!
The Road to Worlds
Whether you've been participating in your local tournaments & booster drafts all year long or your journey is just beginning, Qualifiers are finally upon us! Rather than the usual big regional tournaments and stateside championships some card players are used to,
Exodus TCG Qualifier Events are your gateway to the World Championship. These events offer a
10X Point Multiplier, meaning you'll get at least 10 points just for attending, and much more for ranking higher.
Entry fees are surprisingly affordable (only $15 this year for the West Coast one) because we know players will be traveling from all over to compete in these events. Our hope is that you get more than your money back in value out of these tournaments, regardless of how you place. Each participant will receive playsets of more than a dozen different Promo cards (over 30 cards total) for their buy-in, not to mention all of the sealed product and other prizes that will be on the line. 1st, 2nd & 3rd Place at each Qualifier tournament will automatically secure their spot at this year's World Championship, where even bigger prizes and glory will be at stake.
More than that, Qualifiers are the perfect event for Exodus players to do some buying, selling & trading. We saw some impressive collections last year, and as long as you are mindful of your belongings, you may just be able to find that Rare card you're after. Altogether, they provide a great chance to meet players from beyond your immediate local area while getting a full day's worth of games under your belt!
Let's cheer on those competing in the East Coast Qualifier this weekend on Saturday, May 11th (today) at Computer and Gaming Universe in Newark, NJ! The West Coast Qualifier will go down in 2 weeks on Saturday, May 25th at the Hilton LAX in Los Angeles, CA during Gamex Strategicon gaming convention (single event badges are available). We hope all attendees stay hydrated, play their best and have an absolute blast!
The New Sub-Column Shall Return: "Deck Tech"
Last time, we introduced a new little sub-column called "Deck Tech". Moving forward, it will henceforth be renamed "Deck Doctor". Our intention with it all along was for us to present a deck list with a solid idea, but lacking in some areas so that you, the community, can work together to doctor it up. Apparently, some readers thought we presented the Starbringer deck list as our idea of an undiscovered competitive deck. They were partially right, but we should have been more clear with the presentation. The deck is unique, but it's agreeably a mess competitively. The main card that the deck revolves around, Starbringer, has the potential to become competitive, but it needs a bit of help getting there—and that's where you come in! Imagine if the whole community puts their minds together...it may produce some high-tier decks (perhaps not the highest, but still high) for people to play without stealing a deck that's already out there. These deck lists with be presented with room to be improved. This will be a separate column from "Deck Profiles" which will strictly present other player's decks to break down how they function and why.
Ranking News
Congratulations to our current Top 10 players:
1st: Lucas R. — 61 points
2nd: Edward B. — 58 points
3rd: Zachary M. — 58 points
4th: Alex P. — 54 points
5th: Anthony S. — 54 points
6th: Victor M. — 44 points
7th: Zach C. — 43 points
8th: Sean P. — 41 points
9th: Bellah B. — 39 points
10th: Tom H. — 31 points
2nd & 3rd Place are tied on the Leaderboards along with 4th & 5th. Congrats to Tom H. for beating out the player who was there last week for a spot in Top 10. With Qualifiers about to get underway, the points are about to change rapidly! Who will come out on top?!
Good luck to everyone who is playing in their respective Qualifier and regular weekly events. We'll see you next column!
— Exodus TCG Organized Play Team
Existence Games
