About | 7 Point Highlander

Our Mission

This is the mission statement of the Highlander Points Committee. This statement is dynamic and will change in time with the committee’s collective beliefs. The purpose of this statement is to guide point change decisions.

It is also important to note that this is intended more as a descriptive statement and not a prescriptive one.

The committee’s ultimate goal is to make Australian Highlander as enjoyable as possible. There are many factors which make this format enjoyable. We have identified some of those factors and assigned levels of importance to them based on our combined experience. Below are those factors in our current order of priority:

– Fun

– Archetype Diversity

– Deck Diversity

– Game Diversity

– Accessibility

in detail

Let's elaborate on the meaning of each factor on our Mission Statement.

Fun

The most important thing for the committee is that highlander should be a format people enjoy playing and want to play more. Even if a format has excellent diversity, some games may still not be fun due to a card being too powerful or due to one player not being able to actively participate in the game. A Black Lotus or a Time Walk in your opening hand drastically increases your odds of winning the game, and can be very unenjoyable for your opponent. These un-fun cards can be disincentivised by being pointed.

Non-interactive matches are for most people less fun than interactive matches. A card or deck which tends to significantly reduce interaction is more likely to be pointed than a card which sees play primarily in fair decks.

Archetype Diversity

If the top ten best decks are all combo decks, then the format has strong deck diversity but poor archetype diversity. Not everyone wants to play combo. All archetypes should be at least somewhat viable: combo, aggro, midrange, prison and control and hybrids thereof.

Deck Diversity

Highlander games tend to be naturally diverse due to the format’s one-of nature, which makes it awesome but deck diversity is still important. If there are only one, two or three good decks in a format, matches are going to feel repetitive, which leads to less enjoyment. If the committee believes that there is only a very narrow range of ‘good’ decks, we will act to correct this. A higher number of competitive decks also increases the likelihood that new cards will be playable.

Game Diversity

If every game is a flurry of tutors that lead to paths to victory learned by rote, that’s not great for a singleton format. Similarly, if every game is a build up to the same basic win condition, then even if it is in 10 different decks it’s not an ideal situation.

Accessibility

Most players want to play the best version of a deck that they can. If it is a close decision whether a card should change points or not, and that card is very expensive, then price can be the tiebreaker in rare cases.

Our committee

Emeritus Committee Members

Our Mission