http://www.themanadrain.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=18804Even though we cannot respond in that forum, Kerzner is bringing up some valid points every monday that we should also chime in on here.
To just jump in and start posting opinions....
No, I don't believe we have optimized 5D GAT on these forums. I am of the opinion (as I have seen on our own TH forums) that most teams that are working on 5D GAT lists would likely be waiting until post Gencon to release them. Why?
Because as mentioned by Steve Menendian, Stax is at the forefront of the field right now due to the new toy in crucible. What was originally built to beat GAT? Stax. And Gush as been restricted since then, with Stax receiving a HUGE boost in land D element/recursion via CoW. Teams that are working on the new GAT would feverishly be trying to keep their tech secret, as to publishing a GAT deck that would *theoretically* have favorable results against the current Crucible Control decks would then allow Stax players time to adjust before the big tournament.
The other, completely opposite point of view is that people are not bothering to adjust and construct GAT decks DUE to the sudden rise in Stax decks. Why waste time making an unfavorable matchup against a deck (that will most likely be in abundance at most power tournaments) when you can pick a deck that can already beat it, and adjust it to beat its other weak matchups which will not show up in the same numbers?
To answer more to the point as to his numbers:
1) The deck is most likely strong enough to post consistent numbers. I figure this from a blind perspective; if GAT before 5D was consistently making top 8s, then GAT post 5D (which is stronger with Night's Whisper) should easily be able to accomplish the same on a level playing field. Lack of appearences is most likely due to metagames.
2) I would agree/disagree as I have previously written; it hasn't been adjusted open source, but has most likely seen many transformations on closed team forums.
3) People may or may not have given up on it, but I doubt any Type 1 player would say "I'm giving up on GAT because it doesnt have enough
power" as it is commen knowledge this deck does broken things. It has been put aside, waiting to see its time to come forth.
As to living up to its potential; that is a VERY large shadow to fill. People who originally said "This rivals 4 Gush GAT" compared a possible 5D GAT list to a monstrosity that caused a restriction. I doubt GAT will ever achieve the power 4 Gush gave it, BUT some fine tuning under the hood will most certainly speed up current GAT lists.
I hope to see the open community chime in on these discussion; we gotta step up![/url]
