RE: Survival Not Guaranteed
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I tried Survival Mode when it first launched, then ended up botting it… and now, to be totally honest, I’ve stopped caring about it altogether. It just isn’t fun for me.
If the mode is necessary to give large cardholders something to do—so be it. But it should at least be fun and not just another ROI-focused min/max bot that benefits only a few. If that’s what we need to keep the economy rolling, I can accept it… but as a more casual player, it’s just not a mode that speaks to me.
Matt once mentioned that players should only need to buy what they actually want to play with—this direction seems to go against that principle.
As for soaking up excess cards, I still believe Land was designed for that. We’re only seeing about 30% utilized in Land so far, and that was always intended to be the core sink. So I keep asking myself—do we really need this mode?
Sure, it introduces an interesting tradeoff with losing a card for a while—but at the moment, it feels like only bots are making those decisions, not players with emotions (I might be totally off here, just a feeling i have).
All that said, I’ll stop the rant there 😅
I'm all for experiments testing new mode and different approaches 😁, even holding on to survival and test different methods like you suggested.
If there are players who genuinely enjoy Survival Mode, then we should look for ways to improve or refine it. I personally like Option 3—it makes the loss feel less punishing, and one might join with a single deck also not just multiple extra cards. But I also get that it's about making tough choices (you can use a card only once), so I’m still on the fence.
And just to be clear: I really appreciate you taking the time to put together these constructive suggestions. 😍
You’re not alone in feeling disconnected from the mode—I’ve heard similar things from a number of casual and mid-level players who just don’t see the fun in it and have clearly felt that same shift over the course of this test period, as well. If we’re building something meant to last, that feedback has to be part of the conversation.
Your point about emotional decisions vs. bot efficiency is also spot on. If it’s only bots making the “sacrifice,” we lose the human element—and that’s what makes tough decisions interesting.
And yeah—Option 3 (scaled cooldowns) feels like it could bring some real players back into the mix without gutting the identity of the format.
At the end of the day, it sounds like the general consensus is that Survival is not sustainable and appropriate for the long-term and we need to inject some fun & fairness into it in order to get there.
Anyway, thanks again for the thoughtful response as always, Beaker!
Let’s see where this whole thing goes!
P.S. where ya been in the T.P. chats of late?! We've missed ya, dude!
Yeah, I’ve been popping into the T.P. chats every other week—whenever the timing works out a bit better for me. 😅
One of the sessions falls right in the middle of the night for me, and the other’s around 8 PM my time… but I’m guessing you might be asleep by then! 🤣
Ah! Yes, we must miss each other then – I'm only able to attend the 10am EST session. Definitely sleeping during the other :)