Personally I’m enjoying it! I generally tend to prefer pretty formats with a decent amount of complexity, which WOE doesn’t have a ton of, but certainly it has enough to keep things interesting and plays quite smoothly once the patterns are picked up. It’s a format where the archetypes flow into each other nicely, which is particularly appreciated, imo.
I know it’s only been out a week so far, but what are all y’all’s feelings on it? Yay? Nay?
I’ve only played sealed once and draft once so far, so this opinion is subject to change. But I like it. What stands out to me is the role tokens. For as long as I can remember, the advice has just been “don’t draft auras; you’re opening yourself up to card disadvantage.” Roles are finally playable auras. They’re fun and they seem pretty well balanced. The fact that a creature can only have one role at a time makes for interesting gameplay decisions and unique opportunities to generate value. [[Cursed Courtier]] in particular is a great design, really fun to make it work.
I agree with what you say about the archetypes flowing into each other, and I think roles are a big part of that. [[Unassuming Sage]], for example, fits in RW celebration and BW enchantment sacrifice and GW auras.
I really like roles, too! They seem to have hit the mechanic just right. They’re not powerful enough to completely derail a game on their own, but they definitely shake things up. I think the restriction to one role at a time that you mentioned has a lot to do with that. It also really helps that they play so well with the other mechanics, like you said. It all just works so well.
[[card name]] to call