With a big prize pool up for grabs, and top players and teams facing off, Archon’s Tournament is starting off with some exciting matches with some big names. Here we have an article by a Hearthstone and Magic the Gathering player Brian Kibler on BMKGaming.com, who just so happens to be playing in the tournament himself, and happily won his first week match playing on Team Value Town. Here is something I found interesting comparing the seasoned card game of Magic to the new card game from Blizzard:
Team events are a ton of fun. While there are teams in both Magic and Hearthstone, collectible card games are traditionally played 1v1 in a competitive environment. Teams are generally more about shared practice and preparation, or even just about having a group of popular individuals with no real relationship or interaction under the same banner for the sake of sponsorships. In team events, though, the success of any individual rests with the team as a whole.
There used to be a yearly team Pro Tour in Magic, which was widely regarded as the most skill testing format in the game’s history. Kai Budde, the most successful player in the history of the game, won an incredible three team pro tours in a row under the Phoenix Foundation banner. While any individual game may have a significant element of luck involved, in a team tournament in Magic, any team needs to win two out of three matches, and it’s simply much easier to leverage superior skill over a larger sample size.
The format for team Conquest in the Archon Team League isn’t quite the same, but has the same elements that make any team event so exciting. You have teammates to root for and with whom to celebrate your victories, and the entire burden of your success doesn’t rest on your shoulders alone. Sure, you have to win with your classes once each, but you could even lose five games yourself and have your team still come out on top.
Different games, yet one thing stays the same, you still win as a team. There is great stuff here from a seasoned card game player you gotta check out. Read the full article and get Team Value Town’s full decklists here.
