Hmm…I’m not sure how I failed to communicate my points, as it seems as if you did not understand them, or at least didn’t think they were worth addressing. Fine, let’s try again.
So, my argument is that the format differences between ladder and tournament play alter the performance levels of various decks. Your argument appears to be that because people are using identical decklists in both formats, there is no meaningful distinction between the formats. Am I correct in my interpretation of your position?
With that in mind, my first question is: are the decklists identical between ladder and tournaments? I’d be interested to know if people have compared a pro’s exact decklist for laddering against their decklist for the tournament to see if there are any tech swaps made with the narrower tournament meta in mind.
My second question is related to my explanation including a hypothetical example of why I felt that the inclusion of a ban option would alter the matchup spread of a tournament deck compared to a ladder deck. Could you elaborate on why you don’t think this distinction is justified?