I made a alt Poly that only costs 
Excited to see it do a thing
After pulling some sample 'random' hands from Swamp Song and playing them out against each other, I'm beginning to see some interesting, general, 5A design considerations, which may be applicable to larger pools.
In this specific meta, random 5A hands lead to very off balance games. The variance is HIGH, the games are NOT close at all. Why?
My first thought is because there are 'combos' in the meta. Which in this case are the extremely good opening lines, ie Archfiend + Undying Evil, or Vexing Devil + Vapor Snag... etc. When these lines are being chosen in roto, you basically NEED to do some hate picks or grab answers or you are at a big disadvantage...and so you do, and thus the gameplay gets 'balanced' in the roto-draft. However, When a strong line comes together from a random hand, the opponent might not have the answer and the game is over.
This makes the roto-draft really sweaty and fun (for some), but does kinda negate the 'fun-ness' of random hands.
On the flip side of this, my other 5A list 'No Masters' is just a ton of super low power creatures, each with 2 different effects, which may or may not be useful at any moment. This meta is terrible to roto-draft because there are NO LINES. (if there are, I can't immediately see them, you tell me). Thus, (in theory) as a consequence, this list is totally fine to pull random hands from. Spells are cheap, fixing is high. The gameplay is balanced by the extremely flat low power level, and the 'fun' comes from when those stupid little abilities actually matter.
In the middle is my third list, 'Shockland'. It has a few opening lines that feel good, (ie Stomping Grounds + Kird Ape and others), but these lines don't get you THAT far ahead. The interaction between cards is wild and fast, and the game switches rather quickly from being about killing some one with damage, to being about killing them by decking. This meta can be dealt out randomly but the fixing might not work. Definitely doable via some kind of 'regular' draft, or roto.
And so...
What I am beginning to see is a spectrum of 'power level/synergy' and 'ability to choose cards/draft'.
- Roto-draft has high agency (ability to pick any card, and thus make combos/synergy)
- Regular draft has mid agency
- Random deal has zero agency
- 'Power Delta' is the difference between the the best stuff and the common stuff. Like in Swamp Song, the difference between T1 Vexing Devil and T1 Putrid Imp, is a lot different. But in No Masters, all T1 plays are more of less the same.
Potentially all these combination of factors can be put into a table which we can fill with opinions :
agency v pow delta | Roto | Regular | Random |
|---|---|---|---|
| Large Delta | Low Var | Medium Var | High Var |
| Medium Delta | Low Var | Medium Var | Medium Var |
| Low Delta | Low Var | Low Var | Low Var |
.
Does that make sense? A low power delta meta will always have low variance???
Thoughts?
Did some sample random hands (I know that's not what this was built for, but it reveals overlooked things none the less) and have decided that handing your opponent a 3/3 is just too dangerous.
If Sleeper Agent also made a 0/1 for you, then it would be manageable, but as it is, you open yourself up to lethal. Also, I don't like the interaction with Polymorph.
Trying out Force Spike, because this is a tap out meta for sure, and it gives the splash of blue some more fire power which I like.
Also, upgrading Salt Marsh to Temple. Went with the Theros temple because it has the reminder text on it.
Things just got weird
These might have some interesting balance.
Fledgling Djinn might be the perfect trade off.
Very interested in Sleeper Agent with it's counter play of taking Phyrexian Tower
Joe and I played an insane little game of this last night. I went with the Archfiend line, and he went with a niche graveyard disruption line. It did not go well in the beginning for him.
Somehow, he flipped the tides by Vapor Snagging my 5/5 flyer, doing wild stack tricks with Beckon App, and getting the Gravelord online, to win the day.
Turns out the meta is not solved, and the 'classic' opening lines have enough little holes for luck and wild skill to get through.
Dropping in Dank Coffee for another Polymorph top deck. We will see this line win, I will die on this hill
I feel like I should move this a little more towards the Polymorph payoff. Whereby including cards that might be downsides like Blood Scrivener and Asylum Visitor, which could backfire on you if an opponent hits a well timed Polymorph.