There’s been some debate lately about the influence of the Overload/Savage Beatdown combo on the environment. While one faction thinks the combo is fine, others believe that it is holding back the Golden Age format and that the errata should be given to cards like Flying Kick and Savage Beatdown, so that they could only be used on your own characters, in order to solve the problem. With so much talent and opinionated individuals on hand at $10K LA, I was eager to see what some of the staff and attendees thought of the ongoing debate. I posed the question—do you think cards like Savage Beatdown and others need to receive errata?

“I like to see people exploit the secondary uses of cards. It shows versatility and creativity in players to come up with alternate uses like that.” —Josh Wiitanen, Main Event Player

“Is this an issue? Are you serious? Isn’t that what Nice Try is for? Maybe if everyone played Spider-Friends we wouldn’t have this ‘perceived’ problem. That’s something to grow on.” —Bill Zonos, Main Event Player

“No, but I see the combo incorrectly timed a lot.” —Gary Haynes, Judge

“In my opinion, yes. It would force players to free up space in their decks and use more unique plot twists and locations. Perhaps then some Curve Sentinel decks may venture into Primary Directive territory!” - Mike Rosenberg, Main Event Player

“Yes, I think they should be given errata in that way. Every deck plays them, the counters aren’t very good and aren’t nearly as versatile (as Savage Beatdown, Nasty Surprise, etc.), and it’s a complete NPE. Most games boil down to who can pull off the most vicious overload combo, and I find that rather boring myself.” —Ryan Jones, Main Event Player and PC:LA Champion

“It’s not format-warping, but it really makes curve-based combat stupid. If I was the only person in charge, I’d errata those cards to make combat less risky and therefore more decks would become viable.” —Adam Prosak, Main Event Player

“I think the combo should be left as is. Having cards’ official text not match their printed text is hard on players and judges alike. Although popular, the cards haven’t stopped a healthy, diverse format. Additionally, it can create interesting strategic decisions. As long as you play faster!” —Matt Tabak, Head Judge (he added in “Please, play faster!” at this point)

“Nah. I think they’re fine. It’s a two card combo and situational. Besides, R&D tests the cards before they come out. Don’t they?” —Alexander Sacal, Main Event Player

“I’ll leave that to UDE” —Vidianto Wijaya, Main Event Player

“Yes. The combination is keeping other good cards from seeing play.” —Jason Dawson, Main Event Player

“Personally, I don’t think it hurts the environment. If you start to errata one thing, more will follow. Once we see Savage Beatdown/Overload in a small deck, maybe I will change my position on this one.” —Carl Perlas, Main Event Competitor