[Chris Perkins]

No offense taken at all; I think this is an interesting/important discussion (and one I've had with a few other people since ScapeCon, actually, so having it here on a public forum is probably a good thing).

So there's a few things to un-pack in there, and I'll try to separate them as best I can.

1) Who enjoys those armies?
I can't/shouldn't speak for others, but I definitely do enjoy playing them; to me, adding another level of complexity (harder OM decisions and planning ahead more) is enjoyable. I will say that I believe I've learned at least as much about individual figure placement tactics & OM decisions in the 3 main events I've played (GenCon '18, '19, & ScapeCon '21) playing pod armies (mostly x1 of common) than in almost all other competitive tournaments I've played in that time because the armies are so unforgiving they force you to really learn tiny placement details that would otherwise compose 1% of the win rate but compose > 20% of the win rate with these armies. I.e. all other things aside, I believe playing these types of armies has made much a much better overall 'Scape player.

2) Why would I play such an army instead of x4 of a bad common?
It's harder for other people to play and induces them to make more types of mistakes. If I enter a tournament I'm trying to win it (that level of competition is fun for me) and I see these types of armies as a way to increase my edge. Specifically:
- these armies require better planning in round 1, which is harder if you haven't played that specific combo before
- these armies are less forgiving to a mistake, which lowers variance (a good thing, for me at least as I see lowering variance against all but, like, 5-10 players as a way to increase the chance I win that game, all other variables being equal at least).
- these armies negate the matchup-roulette, to an extend at least. Imagine, say, 4x McDirks; some armies matchup well with that, some matchup terribly, and I prefer to avoid getting a terrible matchup (also consider how big of an effect the matchup has in, say, 4x400). Having Raelin + 1x of each 'type' of figure (screen, high offense, ranged, etc.) means I'm much more likely to avoid any unwinnable matchups. It's not perfect, but I think the matchup roulette is much lessened by these types of armies.

I've got plenty of additional thoughts on this topic, but I'd like to leave these thoughts a bit briefer to let them be digested / disagreed with / agreed with / etc. on their own for now.