YES! I have never audibly shouted YES so much from a podcast as when Clark talked about getting tired of dealing with Cindra. I'm appalled how LSS used Gravy as a sample of a hero not getting enough LL points where in fact Cindra is right there who should have LL'd so long ago without the 50% multiplier. I'm just so done with dealing with a hero that has a value proposition that says, "oh so this game is going 15 turns, I guess you start at 25HP since I'll be dealing 1 guaranteed damage every turn. Also, you already gave 2 cards so I can't draw with mask? here's throw dagger now give me a 3rd card".

Another amazing podcast! Thank you!

On the discussion at 60 mins - LSS did specifically mention they’re going to be way more aggressive at managing the silver age meta bc they are doing it without caring about the cost of decks, which is something that really limits them with CC.

the refresh pull!

I think lss acknowledging that they are looking into LL points gained by heroes is diverting the focus to that, I think all these bans and restrictions are being reactive to both, meta orientation and new sets/heroes, the LL control I think is still there, example, Jacob Clements not playing Marionette in order to not LL him, that is control that, to be honest, only the 2% of players really have

22:34 katsu is immune to support but also let's restrict katsu's power card and keep nerfing him with generics answers that screw him really badly...

I definitely agree that it’s much more satisfying when a hero is strong and LLs naturally at a big tournament or because they were a major force at PQ, etc., and a hero limply going out like OG Dash did is really anticlimactic. At the same time though, they do have to consider the overall meta health. Brand got a ban along with cards for multiple top decks, and in my group we thought Brand was disproportionately large against Cindra, rather than thinking LSS wasn’t going far enough.

LSS has also admitted they thought Cindra and Fai would be gone months ago, so I don’t fully buy the argument that the brand ban/unban is them just manipulating the LL system to do what they want. Otherwise, they could’ve acted months ago. In fact, they’ve only unbanned brand when it was looking fairly likely that they would rotate this PQ season anyway. Maybe you can argue that this is them ensuring it, and maybe that’s secretly the case more so than the argument about control decks they made, but reality has already diverged from their internal models, and this PQ season is looking to be extremely cool and historic because of how many rotations there will be.

I guess ultimately it’s really hard for them to find the balance. If they don’t ban cards and let the LL system handle decks that are too good, people will complain that the meta is bad and LSS is being lazy. If they ban cards from the strong decks to shake up the meta and open things up, they’ll be arbitrarily manipulating the LL system. Theres definitely room to improve and I don’t always love the choices they make, but hopefully they get even better about threading the needle.

Really enjoyed this episode, as usual!

So much whining about the bans is exhausting. I think that topic was discussed for too long. To counter your point: you’re being biased simply because you don’t want to play against those heroes. Banning cards lets people play their heroes for longer: which is a good thing. People get attached to their heroes and it can be a very long time before a hero is reprinted after LL. Wide metas are good for most players.

Re Cindra and Oscillio, I am literally here in my office cheering at your video. HEAR HEAR! Let the strong heroes do their thing and GTFO of the meta! Artifically turning knobs to alter the exit point for heroes is against the spirit of the Living Legend system, which was one of THE BIGGEST DRAWS to me when I started playing Flesh and Blood. I have been screaming about this since they first banned Volzar.

100% with Clark, LSS removing the agency of the playbase by modifying the acquired points for Living Legend and then minor bans to slow the deck for a year so it hangs around, then gasses it up to launch it off.
However some changes like forcing oscillio's identity I do like, I just wish they'd do something like unban Volzar so Oscillio can do his magic bullshit then fly off to the living legend realm. But if they do that in response to "now he can go, he's been around for 2 years, let's gas him up and fire him off"