Cactuar Correspondence - Weekly FFTCG Chat 2/28/19

let's talk fftcg!

Every week, there is something new to discuss and analyze in this game. In this feature, we answer your questions and respond to recent developments, new meta decks, specific cards we like or don't like -- you call it, we'll answer.

This week we are just talking to several participants in the RVA Petit Cup, as well as Sam Prime who was the overall winner.

If you want to join the conversation, send us your thoughts! We would also love to hear the questions you have next week, so please shoot us a message at Facebook or on Twitter. Thanks for reading!

How was the RVA Petit Cup?

TREVOR: The Petit Cup was fantastic, I didn't get quite the result I wanted, but the event ran without a hitch and it seemed like everyone truly enjoyed themselves.

SAM: The Petit Cup was absolutely amazing. I’m probably bias because a lot of my feelings towards it is how my team performed. If you look at the numbers 3 of us are 100% for top 8ing Petit Cups this year, and as a team we are 100% for taking the trophy home (even though this one was a final split). That might not seem like a big deal if you look at it from “Petit” standards, but the two we happen to play in and win are also two of the biggest events we’ve ever seen in North America, so I’m still riding a high from that.

But even if I separate those feelings out, man did the RVA Returners run a hell of an event. The community, COI, SE, and the shop contribution towards the prize pool made this a tournament you didn’t want to miss.

CHRIS: The Petit cup was an absolutely amazing event! It was great to see everyone! Being able to entertain the masses at the event and those watching the stream was a pleasure!

ADAM D: A true joy. It ran smoothly, people mostly behaved without drama taking a front seat at the table, and the competition really showed up. I ended X-2 and missed Top 8 significantly, which was my only gripe, but I also lost my first two rounds so I know where the blame truly lies.

What matchups did you face and what did you think of the meta?

TREVOR: Mono Wind, Wind Water, Mono Fire, Mono Earth and whatever Austin was playing...With it being so close to opus 8, I think the meta has become a bit stale.

SAM: Probably much easier to watch my cast on the subject for the first part.

The meta has slowed way down and allowed for decks’ like my own and Ian’s to take control of grindy games. I have a feeling that this won’t stay true in the future and we will see a swing back towards decks that punish control decks.

CHRIS: My favorite matchup of the day was sitting with Trevor on the confession couch, and the Meta was exciting to watch from my seat!

ADAM D: I started off with a tight game versus Wind/Water where my opponent had the big turn I never got to have, then got absolutely wrecked by Lady Prime’s Mono Fire list on what looked like a nut draw for her. The next two matches were more Mono Fire that I was able to handle, then another coin-flip Wind/Water match where Nick S had me dead to rights looking for an ideal top deck that I ended up finding to win. My final match was Mono Water Yuri and it was pretty smooth sailing. As predicted in my responses last week, Mono Fire showed up and there were also Scion players bringing a lot of speed to the meta. I heard some gripes that Wind / Earth was heavily represented, too.

Is Madeen gonna be worth it?

TREVOR: As of right now, no. Having to be done on your turn forces to much of drawback.

SAM: I mean, Zodiark already kills every one of their forwards for cheaper right? Of course without Gabranth it’s a different story. I’m not saying the card is unplayable, not at all. But these huge summons seem risky when one of the best forwards in the game just shuts it down. But who knows. Maybe you just jam a ton of these dark summons together with cards like Gabranth/Jecht and Shadow/Meeth and always have a way to clear your opponents board. Obviously I’m the kind of player that will try it. I’m also the same player that is trying to make Dorgann work. So perhaps I’m not the best person to trust on this answer.

CHRIS: That's hard to say, but on an initial glance I say no. It cost too much and just seems like it could be clunky being a total wipeand it still doesn't kill yshtola. Could be good for ff9 in title format though.

ADAM D: I think it really depends on what speed the meta trends towards. Right now, I don’t see it in our current meta so I’m inclined to say that it won’t be a big factor.

From what we've seen from spoilers so far, do you think Opus VIII meta is going to be faster or slower?

TREVOR: It definitely feels like it is going to be faster. Stuff like Sherlotta and Ark Angel HM are just going to accelerate already fast decks.

SAM: I think faster, but not necessarily because of Opus VIII cards are more aggressive. I think as the quality of cards gets higher, you will have to increase your aggro plans or get punished by cards that just take over the late game, cards like Prompto.

CHRIS: Man I don't know. There is still so much to unpack here. I think it has the potential to go either way.

ADAM D: I do not know for sure, but I absolutely hope so. All I want to do is keep jamming some good Mono Wind games and if the meta slows down, that deck will have its place and potentially get better.

If you could make any one change to the way tournaments are structured, what would it be?

TREVOR: I don't think I would, I enjoy the BO1 Swiss/BO3 Cuts format we have. I think it is a lot of fun.

SAM: Untimed. Top. Cut.

Really… how is this still a thing? How do we have matches that barely finish in 30 minutes expected to be completed up to three times in 70 minutes? The logic is baffling. And without a proper judge program in place to keep players in line, I can’t believe this is still a point of contention. I was slow played out of Nationals, and it wasn’t intentional or malicious. But had we had 90 minutes, I believe we would have had an actual match. Fix this before anything else. I was VERY tempted to quit the game after Nats. I’m hoping to not go through that again.

CHRIS: Honestly I like the way things are run. I'm pretty content!

ADAM D: I don’t think Petit cups should be a strict cut to Top 8. For a majority of the Petit cup, I had a feeling I was going to be X-2 and make what would have been normal cuts, but miss Top 8 because of breakers. It turns out my breakers were so ridiculously poor that I ended up X-2 and finished 17th — missing what would have been Top 16 anyways! So, I can’t gripe too bad, but I still think SE should future proof Petit cups that end up drawing a ton of people with a clause that says you can cut beyond Top 8.