That's right, dear reader - your friend Badger has all the hot takes on the newest rules the IATF presented to us yesterday here. Let's see what's on the menu, hmm?
BIG AXE CLUTCH ATTEMPTS
In the before times, looooong ago (Thursday), people in both Standard and Premier could go for the clutch in big axe as long as they wanted, so long as they "bulled in" to start. Well, no more! Now, throwers can only attempt the clutch three consecutive times.
Badger Rating: sure.
I mean, this is already how Meduseld did it for leagues, and I reckon a lot of leagues had this "soft" rule, anyway, or some variation of it. So no biggie.
PREMIER TOUCH CLUTCH
The Premier clutch has resulted in a net increase of around 96% in swears. Globally. The IATF, recognizing this trend, has introduced the Touch Clutch. If you hit a Premier clutch, you get a full 7 points. But now, if you only hit the clutch in a Premier match, but DO NOT hit a Premier clutch, you still get a very satisfying 5 points. AND HOPEFULLY YOU DON'T SWEAR AS MUCH, WITH YOUR FILTHY, FILTHY MOUTH.
Badger Rating: Nice.
I think one of the big turn-offs to Premier (for me, for me), was how Premier-Clutch dependent every match became. Once you got proficient at hitting Premier bulls, it became a kinda boring dance just to get to the point of trying for the clutch itself. Like, most throwers could get the same net result by just going for 3 Premier clutches and then seeing what the outcome was.
Now, hopefully, there'll be a bit more variety and excitement for throwers and fans (hahaha, I know, I know) alike. I'm excited to see how much this impacts higher-level play in the sport.
ROUND 1: NOW WITH REQUIRED CLUTCHES
Every fifth throw in round 1 MUST be a clutch throw - and the new Touch Clutch rule will be in affect.
Badger Rating: Yeah, okay.
I think this is a good change. I think the Premier Clutch is one of the things that helps decide the best throwers in the sport. Also, having that touch clutch rule in place helps take some of the sting out. At least for me.
Not that I think I qualified this year. It's been a rough one, ya'll.
QUALIFYING FOR ROUND 1: NOW, AN AVERAGE OF 70+ IN CONCURRENT LEAGUES IS COOL.
Previously, one had to have an average of 70+ to qualify in non-concurrent leagues. Now, one can in theory be in leagues that are running at the same time, achieve that 70+ average, and qualify with no issue.
Badger Rating: Didn't even know this was an issue.
I mean, yeah. That sounds great. I was entirely unaware this was a path to qualifying for round 1. Now I know.
SURVEY FINDINGS
I think the results of the survey (as part of deciding these new rules) is interesting, and I'm just gonna repeat them here with my own delightful commentary:
To understand if we need to address a near-bullseye and a clean-three being equal.
Survey does not indicate this is a priority.
Solve the problem of a touch-Clutch (unsuccessful Premier) and a total miss, or dropped axe, being equal in Premier rules.
Survey indicates addressing this is a priority.
Do we need to unify the ruleset to allow for larger league communities to exist?
Survey does not indicate this is a priority.
Survey indicates this would actually be detrimental.
Recognize that different skill levels exist, how are we addressing that if we unify the ruleset?
Survey suggests maintaining separate rulesets is servicing the needs of different skill levels.
Maintaining separate rulesets also supports tournament circuit skill differentiation.
OVERALL THOUGHTS ON THE NEW IATF RULES AND SURVEY RESULTS
Overall, there are only two things that surprise me the most from the survey results. First, that the opportunity to have a score difference between a near bullseye and a clean three wasn't important to throwers, and that of unifying the ruleset.
I like the idea of having multiple paths to a win. And having a four point option for a near-bullseye is interesting and sounds fun to me. I'm not saying this was a miss on the part of the IATF (after all, it was a decision made by IATF members), but I'd be more delighted with variety.
I am really surprised that there won't yet be a unification of the rulesets. Like, I get that Standard is not seen as "high-level" and Premier is seen as difficult to start with for a new thrower, but that's, you know, only because we have two rulesets to start with. If we had only one ruleset, WITH touch clutches and WITH a recognition (points-wise) for a near-bullseye, any concern of Premier being too difficult kinda go to the wayside.
It allows for growth WITHIN a single ruleset, rather than a graduation from one to the other. PLUS it lets players more naturally get experience with Premier rules while still having a very real chance of winning matches (rather than a Standard-only thrower not getting experience in the Premier ruleset and then jumping into it. Creating a unified ruleset would serve "different skill levels," in that it would allow people who are still learning to learn from higher-level throwers, and higher-level play, all without a false emphasis on matriculation between Standard and Premier.
Again, I'm not super grump about it, but I do think the responses from the community show opinions that think about Premier as it is now, and not how it would be after unification.
This is one of the less "what are they doing?!" new IATF rules updates, due in large part to the open communication and opinion-seeking that the IATF did before making any decisions. So axe taps all around.
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