I'm not saying the player who has done the most damage. That would be the current system, which removes healing from the equation. I'm saying count damage remaining on the mages when time is called. I would prefer life remaining because that would allow the priestess to take advantage of her Divine Reward ability on her card. But as I've stated before I don't feel that is a viable tiebreaker anymore. It is a shame her best ability can't be much of a factor in tournament games.
Tacullu, I guess I don't agree that the player who has done the most damage deserves to win, because the major strategy control books use is to spend life points as a resource to gain control.The agro book almost always does the most damage in the beginning, that doesn't mean that the agro book always starts the game winning.
My main premise is that a tiebreaker should be as simple and fair
as possible. The current is neither, although it is fairly simple. If there really is an imbalance in tournament play the biggest culprit is the time limit not the tiebreaker. There is a chance that the imbalance will correct itself as control players perfect their style of play. It has been shown in game after game that aggro has an early advantage and that control has to play catch up for a while. It is also my contention that MW may not be at the stage where control players have reached their potential and caught up to aggro players. However if the tools do not already exist to correct the imbalance my preference would be to release new cards to even the playing field in a 60-75 minute game. If there is an imbalance control players need cards that will let them get to their endgame quicker not a complicated tiebreaker system to even the playing field. That is how MW was meant to be played, in the arena, not on the score card. It would be better to reduce the number of ties to a number so small that any tiebreaker will suffice, not build the perfect tiebreaker. Failing that, reduce the number of ties to the point that even the current tiebreaker is a non-issue.
A quick summary of my points/hopes for the game.
1. Games should be decided in the arena not on the scorecard. In my opinion that is both the spirit of the game and the intent of the game.
2. If control can't finish the game in 60-75 minutes that build needs cards to get them to their end game quicker. If players have the tools and don't take advantage of them that's on the players.
3. A tiebreaker should be simple and as fair as possible. I put simple first for a reason.
Personally, I would hate to see Mage Wars become a euro game where we are counting victory points to determine who wins. I realize this is a personal preference that may not be shared by all.
@ringkichard.
It is possible we just can't agree on this and that is ok. While its nice when people find consensus, the world would be a boring place if everybody thought the same.
