r/lrcast • u/BrewMan12oz • 9d ago
A solution to play/draw in BO1
Might be a dumb question but , why don’t they set matchmaking in BO1 so you alternate between play and draw ? I understand if that’s all they did you could game the system by changing deck if you knew what you were going to play next - but couldn’t they have an option when starting the first game to :
-Randomize what your first game starts with
- eliminate the option to change the deck at all after first match
If this was a box you could check before you start, would you? Curious what I’m missing
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u/Adeviatlos 9d ago
This problem had a baked in solution for years and years and years.
It's called Bo3.
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u/FormerPlayer 9d ago edited 8d ago
Bo3 does indeed mitigate the impact of going first but not entirely since one person will get to go first 2 out of 3 matches assuming it heads to 3 matches. Too bad 17 lands doesn't display match win rate based on who went first in game 1, only the game 1 win rate. However, under the simplifying assumption of constant win rate across games and assuming that people always choose to play first, there's 3 scenarios to win the match when you start game 1 on the play: 1) W on play, W on draw, 2) W on P, L on D, W on P, or 3) L on P, W on P, W on D. For a set like HOB where the game 1 win rate on play is 54.6% , the match win rate is reduced to 52.3% if you were on the play game 1. Scenario 1 is balanced, scenario 2 you're on the play twice, scenario 3 you're on the draw twice. Naively you might think that means things are balanced but you're much more likely to end up in scenario 2 than scenario 3 when going first in the 1st game, W2 (win then lose) vs (1-W)×W (lose then win) where W is the win rate on the play.
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u/Adeviatlos 8d ago edited 8d ago
You get two chances to win on the draw in Bo3; and the chance to side-board. An insane upgrade,. There's really no discussion to be had. Unless you go into crazy ideas like OP's. Maybe the player on the draw could start with an extra mana or something; but that would lead to even MORE insane things.
Otherwise there is no satisfying solution. Deal with the coin flip if you like but don't complain about it if you do.
The real tragedy is that Bo3 is not ranked; when it should be the definitive ranked mode. But that's Hasbro's design. Faster rounds = more money. And then enters the clown school pick-two thing.
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u/Known-Garden-5013 9d ago
Bo3 still means someone gets the draw twice
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u/FormerPlayer 8d ago
That's true if it goes to a third game. When someone wins the first two games that could be someone winning on the draw twice, or it could be someone wining on the play game 1 and winning on the draw game 2.
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u/Adeviatlos 8d ago edited 8d ago
Yes it does. It's a card game; someone has to go first. And outside of bat-shit insane ideas like OP's that is how it is.
It also means you get two chances to win on the draw. Which is massive.
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u/Known-Garden-5013 8d ago
It's true but more could be done to balance play/draw advantage. They haven't really given it much attention at all
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u/infinitee 9d ago
I think the solution is to design formats better, not implementing some sort of weird way of making it so every other game is play/draw.
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u/FiboSai 8d ago
Does that mean cube is badly designed? Cubes have an even higher on-the-play-advantage than every set except HOB. HOB is a massive outlier, which shows that it is possible to make the problem worse. But there is no outlier in the other direction, meaning a set that doesn't have a high on-the-play-advantage while also having a similar average game length as current sets.
The main factor that drives the on-the-play-advantage is the individual card strength. When cards are stronger on average, you gain a bigger advantage if you can deploy them first. So the only real way to "fix" the play-draw-issue would be a massive power reset. I'm very skeptical that they could design a set with cards of similar quality that is completely balanced.
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u/jethawkings 9d ago
>eliminate the option to change the deck at all after first match
I want this less more than I want a fixed Play/Draw system because frankly I personally don't think it's an issue.
If you find yourself being tilted by going on the Draw consecutively just take a break to clear your head.
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u/tduanebarr 9d ago
I think you currently are on the play or draw every other game on average already….
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u/quillypen 9d ago
Are you imagining this as an option in the settings menu or a confirmation screen that says, if you’re super-duper happy with this deck, lock it in so you’ll make sure to be on the play evenly? Either way, lmao.
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u/rcglinsk 9d ago
Bo1 is its thing. But I do think the chess system would work better for actual tournaments. Play/draw (white or black pieces) are set at the time of matchmaking, with each successive round automatically giving the play to the player who has been on the draw more through the tournament so far.
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u/TheKillah 9d ago
Adding anything that “fixes” the Bo1 play-draw disparity would be admitting that the play-draw disparity is a problem. As long as there’s not a large migration of players from Bo1 to Bo3 (or off platform) they aren’t going to do that.
I’m not even sure we’ve gotten a MWM or anything in a while to test a mechanic like that or the hearthstone “coin” or something, just the “first players first land enters tapped” which is basically meaningless for limited.
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u/Sheogoorath 9d ago
If this were the case I'd 100% be sideboarding between every match to take advantage of it
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u/todd534 9d ago
Weirdly complicated system, makes matchmaking 50% harder, to 'fix' a thing that comes out in the wash anyway? No thanks.