Hello again everyone!
It has been just over a year since this proposal, and the support for this format has been fantastic. I'm deeply grateful to everyone who has contributed in some way to this project's development.
This is an update post to cover the new change to the ban list - the banning of the combination of Diablo and BD145.
While the overall response to the format has been very positive, a lot of people have rightly voiced concerns about aspects such as the extreme power of Attack in the format, the almost equally concerning defensive abilities of wheels like Death, and the relatively limited pool of top-tier Metal Wheels, especially as compared to the exceptionally diverse Metal Fight Limited format. Over the last months of testing, it seems that a major point of overlap for these issues has crystallized as Diablo BD145, particularly combos such as MF-H Diablo Kerbecs BD145RF. Diablo BD145's ability to throw its titanic weight around has been disturbingly effective, pulverizing Flash Attack combos and Stamina types as expected, but also being surprisingly effective against opponents intended to check or counter it, with its ability to reach past BD145 to KO short combos being particularly unexpected and terrifying (Scythe 85RS will stop Wyvang in Standard but falls to Diablo in 4D). Critically, Diablo also monopolizes BD145 away from other potential options that would benefit from the big disk Track, with the biggest non-Diablo uses of BD145 being combos specifically designed to stop Diablo BD145 such as Death BD145. Diablo's nearly 5-gram lead over the already exceptionally heavy Basalt leaves the rest of the field struggling to catch up, and so much of the time it's better to play to Diablo's strengths and give it the big circle instead of trying to improve the power of a lighter wheel somewhere else in the Deck.
Banning Diablo BD145 brings Diablo's immense bulk back down to earth
slightly, as Diablo with other heavy Tracks like R145 is still about on par with Basalt BD145 in weight. This means Diablo is forced to play a more aggressive role as it can't hide behind the safety of BD145's bulk and LTAC-blocking ability, and sets up Diablo and Basalt to be two
separate options to cover the ground Diablo BD145 did as one - Diablo post-ban is pushed further towards Attack without BD145 to further boost its Defense, while Basalt BD145 is still heavy and aggressive enough to be a superb combo, but not nearly as deadly as Diablo could be with the same Track. This should significantly benefit most other combos as a result, as the alternatives that can match Diablo BD145's aggression can't match its Defense, and those that can match its Defense can't match its aggression, leaving more ambiguity over what combo should try to fill the same role, and opening up more avenues to exploit those replacements' weaknesses.
I have updated the OP with the new ban, and I also have updated the proposal's rulebook draft; I also made sure to update the non-4D content of the proposal rulebook to reflect the current official rules as of today (11/11/22). The rulebook can be found
here.
I hope that people will continue to play and test this format - I believe that this change should be the last piece of refinement that it really needs, and I eagerly await further feedback.
Thank you all!
![[Image: jFAMV2B.png]](https://i.imgur.com/jFAMV2B.png)
