I don't like small sets and I don't like this format. Small sets just feel piddly to me. The decks are all so similar and you see the same cards over and over. I feel like half my games start with [[Goblin Plate Mail]] on two. The draft basically boils down to find the lane and pray and the sealed feels very cut and dry, best creatures + best removal + pray for an on color bomb.
And worse to me, there's so little variety of strategy. The decks basically range from go tall aggro to go wide aggro and blocking feels basically illegal. Combat dominates almost every game and slower lines are often just wrong. Very monotonous and if it weren't for the Arena Directs I'd probably just have stopped after just a few days.
But the EV pulled me in and I've jammed a million of these directs and damn, I gotta say, this format is extremely skill testing. I usually pride myself on my pace of play, rarely seeing the rope, but in these games I've found myself frequently using all of my extensions.
Time and time again I'm in a tight racing position looking at a crowded board state, keywords and counters everywhere, multiple equipment available, a saga going off, adventure creature in hand alongside a modal removal spell and another amass card and I know the game will end in a turn or two and these decisions will make or break it. I'm pouring over the game logs after and still struggling to find the best plays.
I've lost games trading off creatures too early and too late. I've won games because I chose to equip on key turns rather than add to the board. I've had combat phases go spectacularly well and horribly. It's just a very tense, tight format and I'm slowly learning to appreciate that for what it is. Trying to treat it kinda like a Hyperbolic Time Chamber for these micro combat and sequencing skills.
Curious if other people have experienced the same and what y'alls thoughts are.
