The crowd bustled and clamored, filling the village square with noise and excitement. A traveler had arrived! With the events of the past year fresh in mind, the villagers had been wary at first, determined not to fall prey to some wandering charlatan's trickery. The last such intruder to their rather isolated settlement had made off with the Head Farmer's prized cockatrice eggs! However, upon hearing the newcomer's profession, their fears were allayed, and much rejoicing was to be had. Bells were rung, flags were waved, and various articles of food were quietly snatched up by the local urchin gangs. What could cause such a spontaneous celebration, one might ask? A storyteller was here! "A story!" they shouted. "A story!" they demanded, and their worldly visitor acquiesed. With a jug of horned frog milk in hand and a pipe in mouth, he began his tale.
"There lies an island in the Abyssal Ocean, where a great city once ruled over the waves and held sway over the lands of the Elements. We call this city Zanzarinopolis, though nobody alive today knows what name its denizens used. It is said that on its founding, the Oracle himself appeared before ScaredGirl, who held primacy among the elementals of his time, blessing him with the strength and wisdom needed to rule wisely. Accepting the Mark of the Oracle, ScaredGirl founded a settlement, what would one day grow to become the reigning power of the elemental realms, and bestowed upon himself the title of Executive Administrator of the Official Elements Community Fora. Under his reign, the people grew strong and propserous, hunting the native creatures and tending to the land. Those strong in arms and quick in flight honed their skills in his armies, whilst those of great wit and tinkering ability crafted spells and enchanted artifacts with great care. A system of laws was set into place, and as the years went by, the wise elders began to pass down their knowledge in the temples, which initially numbered twelve-- one for each element.
When the Executive Administrator erected the first Oracular temple, elemental energy blossomed in this new city, an entire quantum's worth for each of its dozen pillars, and this bounty was approved by the Gods as they threw a nova into the sky. At this, the thinkers rejoiced-- and the captains marched. With this energy the admin set off on an unparalleled expansion, putting into place many of the modern and standard elemental traditions as we know them today, among them the Naming of the Staff Positions and the Trials of Mastery. Yes, I see you recognize these titles! Perhaps slightly diminished appellations in the modern age, but it is a testament to the Executive Administrator's legacy that even his captains are worshipped today as mini-Moderators in their own right. Yes, the False Gods themselves kneeled before ScaredGirl on that fateful day, and at dusk they rode out to expand the borders of Zanzarinopolis. Soon rumors spread of this great new leader, carried by messengers in all directions, rumors of the strength of his captains, of the splendor of his cities, of the power of his feats. Elementals of all types flocked to his banner, eager to share in the glory of SG. From fallen druids to firefly queens, from hungry otyughs to firey lava golems, from powerful dual turn sundials of the desert to the barren cold wastes of dead graveyards, all came to know the might of SG. As the armies spread, cities threw open their gates and cheered, eager to receive the blessings of the High King. The flag of Zanzarinopolis soon flew over all nations, and for the first time in history, all elementals served a single Administrator. Thus began the Golden Age of Elements.
But this utopia was not to last. As the decades passed, so too did the unity of the people. In the Oracle's Temple, the wisest of the elementals gathered to address the growing discord and dissent, but their efforts only served to exacerbate the problems as they processed the incoming streams of complaints.
'Life is better than Fire!'
'T50 gave me too much free stuff! I want a real opponent, damnit!'
'How do I beat AI-2?'
'World of Elements coming: Soon™'
'Only noobz use Dim shield! Pls nerf!'
At this, the Master of Aether grew incensed. 'Dim shield is not OP! There exist a plethora of counters to it. Not a day goes by when some sneaking darkness elemental doesn't steal a dozen or two, or the fire elementals lobbing fire bolts and explosives into our domain! Dim shield is fine as is!'
At this, the wise Idea Guru interjected, 'The existence of a counter does not necessarily prove or disprove the OP-ness of a card. What is truly important is the impact such a card has on the metagame, the number of cards and strategems it suppresses and counters, compared to the number of cards that it is weak against.'
The Aether elemental replied, 'The complaint in question has no legitimate basis! Plenty of decks can deal with dim shield. Does not the poison of death elementals bypass our shields? The momentum of the gravity elementals? What of those masters of defense, the wielders of miracle and shard of gratitude? Dimensional shield has no effect against stalls. Dimensional shields are also expensive; quantum denial has spelt the doom of many an aether wielder. It is clear that even decks that lack those direct counters of pulverizer, explosion, and steal can be effective against decks using dimensional shield. Therefore, it is not OP.'
'It should be noted that the presence of dim shield completely counters an entire classification of deck-- The rush deck. Do you deny that dim shield oppresses and dis-incentivizes the use of far more deck combinations than would counter it? The size of the metagame is surely smaller because of it.' The old thinker pointed out.
'Those decks that would be blocked completely by dim shield are interchangeable; in my view, it is only one deck that truly suffers, the generic 'rush-and-put-out-creatures-asap' deck.' The Aether Master retorted.
'Let us then compare the effect of dimensional shield to that of other shields, using titanium shield as a baseline comparison. Titanium costs four units of quanta, and blocks two damage per creatures per round of battle. Dimensional shield costs six units of quanta, blocks all physical damage, but lasts only three rounds.' suggested the Idea Guru. 'If we take titanium shield as an example of a well balanced artifact, then if dimensional shield blocks more damage for a cheaper price, it is OP.'
'Very well. Dimensional shield requires recharging-- it must be replaced every three rounds, and each replacement costs 6, versus titanium shield's 4. To simplify for the purposes of our debate, let us say that dimensional shield costs 5 times titanium shield. 6 to 4 is a 1.5 times cost, and the average duel sees at least three to four uses of dimensional shield. Against three emerald dragons, dimensional shield blocks 30 damage a turn, versus titanium shield's 6. That ratio seems fair to me.'
'Well--'
The discussion continued in this manner, first for days, then weeks as the two defended their positions. The Council of Elementals engaged heavily with this discourse, applauding well made points and ridiculing poorly reasoned ones. It is said that in these final hours, the Council received enlightenment on the nature of balance. Unfortunately, this did nothing to reduce the number complaints, which began to pile up, scroll after scroll after scroll, until finally, Zanzarinopolis collapsed under the weight of the increasing demands, and fell under the waves. Thus ended the First Age of Elements. Thus ended the Age of ScaredGirl.
