I won't bother laying out the argument for why auto-pilot point-slam monster decks are (1) garbage to play against, and (2) probably bad for the game (see point 1): most rational people will probably not need convincing.
Frankly, I don't understand how people above rank 10 can even bear playing this essentially mindless deck (play thrive units, play larger units, play even larger units, then consume, rinse, and repeat - truly some Bobby Fischer-level stuff right there). Don't get me wrong: I understand if you're new to the game and trying to hold your own, accumulate some scraps for cards that are actually interesting, etc., or even if you're just doing it to troll the game for a little bit purely for the "lulz." But seriously: is anyone out there actually fooling themselves that this deck requires any skill to play?
It seems to me that the real reason this type of deck exists is simple economics. CDPR is not running a charity; they obviously need to provide enough entry-level, low-skill, and zero-learning-curve options to keep a good-sized portion of their player base playing. I don't blame them, but it would unfortunately seem that the number of players leaving the game or playing less of it due to this poisonous type of deck is smaller/less economically significant than the number of people playing it...
And yes, I understand that there are literally over a dozen simple and surefire ways to tech against point slam, from scorch and resets to banishing and other forms of "graveyard hate" to fighting fire with fire with equally mindnumbing point-slam variants like Mourntart and immune slyzzard. Believe me, nothing gives me greater joy than setting off Schirru on a bunch of synchronized thrive units or scorching for 35+ points in round three. The problem is that tech'ing for point-slam garbage decks tends to leave you vulnerable to other decks that actually require half a brain to play and to counter...
Anyway, this concludes the salty rant portion of the post. I'd like now to propose a few potential work-arounds to alleviate the boredom of queuing into more point slam. (I literally now look forward to Usurper.)
1. Give all players 1 to 3 "flex spots" in their decks (maybe standardized, maybe leader-dependent, like provisions). Basically, players would have 15 to 20 seconds to swap up to three cards for cards of equal value at the beginning of each match-up. The obvious drawback here is the (additional) delay before the match, hence option #2...
2. Allow the player who lost the previous match to optionally substitute their current deck for an alternate, already built and saved deck at the beginning of the match-up (i.e., after the winning player's leader is revealed). This obviously wouldn't work if both players lost their previous match, so maybe it could be MMR based. I don't know, maybe it's insane to give one player this kind of an advantage, hence option 3...
3. Just increase the provision costs on Ozzy and ghouls already. Counters notwithstanding, these cards are just not expensive enough given the value they achieve. As a point-slammer you'd be foolish not to run them...
4. Just insta forfeit whenever you see Woodland or Gernie in casual until people get the message. (That's a joke, but I've actually done this due more to boredom than frustration...)
Frankly, I don't understand how people above rank 10 can even bear playing this essentially mindless deck (play thrive units, play larger units, play even larger units, then consume, rinse, and repeat - truly some Bobby Fischer-level stuff right there). Don't get me wrong: I understand if you're new to the game and trying to hold your own, accumulate some scraps for cards that are actually interesting, etc., or even if you're just doing it to troll the game for a little bit purely for the "lulz." But seriously: is anyone out there actually fooling themselves that this deck requires any skill to play?
It seems to me that the real reason this type of deck exists is simple economics. CDPR is not running a charity; they obviously need to provide enough entry-level, low-skill, and zero-learning-curve options to keep a good-sized portion of their player base playing. I don't blame them, but it would unfortunately seem that the number of players leaving the game or playing less of it due to this poisonous type of deck is smaller/less economically significant than the number of people playing it...
And yes, I understand that there are literally over a dozen simple and surefire ways to tech against point slam, from scorch and resets to banishing and other forms of "graveyard hate" to fighting fire with fire with equally mindnumbing point-slam variants like Mourntart and immune slyzzard. Believe me, nothing gives me greater joy than setting off Schirru on a bunch of synchronized thrive units or scorching for 35+ points in round three. The problem is that tech'ing for point-slam garbage decks tends to leave you vulnerable to other decks that actually require half a brain to play and to counter...
Anyway, this concludes the salty rant portion of the post. I'd like now to propose a few potential work-arounds to alleviate the boredom of queuing into more point slam. (I literally now look forward to Usurper.)
1. Give all players 1 to 3 "flex spots" in their decks (maybe standardized, maybe leader-dependent, like provisions). Basically, players would have 15 to 20 seconds to swap up to three cards for cards of equal value at the beginning of each match-up. The obvious drawback here is the (additional) delay before the match, hence option #2...
2. Allow the player who lost the previous match to optionally substitute their current deck for an alternate, already built and saved deck at the beginning of the match-up (i.e., after the winning player's leader is revealed). This obviously wouldn't work if both players lost their previous match, so maybe it could be MMR based. I don't know, maybe it's insane to give one player this kind of an advantage, hence option 3...
3. Just increase the provision costs on Ozzy and ghouls already. Counters notwithstanding, these cards are just not expensive enough given the value they achieve. As a point-slammer you'd be foolish not to run them...
4. Just insta forfeit whenever you see Woodland or Gernie in casual until people get the message. (That's a joke, but I've actually done this due more to boredom than frustration...)