What Is a Rogue Player
In case you do not know, the concept of a "rogue player" is that of someone who doesn't play competitive decks and instead focuses on more unknown, off-meta archetypes. There's obviously nothing wrong with playing rogue decks per se. You are free to play whatever you want and enjoy the game in any way you desire. I think most people agree with this sentiment. Even if you're the sweatiest, tryhard meta-only player, you will still enjoy playing something out there every once in a while. Sure, Ishizu Tearlaments is a really cool, fun, and strong deck, but who doesn't enjoy summoning
Now, here's where we need to start discussing tiers. Players group decks into tiers based on their dominance in a given format. Most commonly, the best deck(s) of a format are part of "tier one." Tier two decks, while not as dominant, will still show up consistently in top cuts. Rogue decks are a bit of a more vague term, however. Some people understand them as those decks that aren't really consistent but still have the potential to top and even win an event. Some other people simply call any non-meta deck "rogue," like Neos or Evil Eye.
Now, there's a very clear intersection between rogue decks and budget players. Since these decks are weaker than meta decks, they most commonly carry a much lower price tag (with certain exceptions). There's a whole world out there looking for ways to squeeze every last cent for the best results, and that would probably make for a great article, huh? And since most people cannot afford to drop between €200 and €800 every three months when a new meta deck comes out, these budget players make up the majority of the player base. Thus, most players are rogue players. A problem arises only when a rogue player becomes elitist.
Rogue Elitism
A common sentiment among rogue elitists is the idea that only they have realized how good a certain deck or card is. But they probably did not really uncover the way to push
Another issue I have with some rogue players is their lack of references to measure deck viability. When talking to these kinds of players, they'll brag about how strong their deck is, based on wins at their local events. That's fine. You should play a deck that enjoys good pairings in a given environment, be it at a YCS or smaller tournaments. But don't think that Cloudians are good because you won a local event filled with Krawler and pure Tenyi. There's a reason why people use top cut breakdowns as a measurement of which decks are the top decks. Because there's a consistency to tops and to a format. Because you can pinpoint oddities and draw conclusions from them. You can't really draw conclusions from smaller tournaments. They are shorter, and they often feature very different decks than those you'd find in a more competitive field.
Your experiences may differ, and I might sound like the opposite of what I'm complaining about, a competitive elitist. Still, in my personal experience, the "elitist" stereotype fits many more rogue players, which is harmful for the community at large. This kind of player is the pushy type who bothers others at locals. I imagine you've met the type; I know I have. That's a kind of player who annoys new players into being spiteful and hating any decent deck. It's great to mentor and help new players, but don't belittle them for enjoying the game in whichever way they desire.
The Heart of the Underdog
Now, bear with me, there's a lot of appeal to being a rogue-first player. Focusing on off-meta decks is a real challenge, but extremely rewarding. I played my first locals with Monarchs. In 2017. Right after True Draco came out. Yeah. And you know what? I still play that from time to time (in max rarity of course). There's no better feeling than spending a long time workshopping a weird brew and realizing that
The appeal of beating your opponent's
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