https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUU0j7gMYF0

Looks like we might be getting the 1 2 3 Game to start off the season? It would be absolutely amazing to see these guys try to tackle the game, with the meta of knowing how it played out and how it was won before.

Sounds to me like it's something with more of a random draw element to it where a pre-made alliance may be useless, a la Food Chain or Fruit Stand.

I wonder if the players knew that in this scenario they would just open the cards on the next round, rather than splitting the pot, an option to get additional chips, or some other exception to the general tied hand rule. I guess Jinho was aware, since he didn't instacall. Tough to find a fold against the nut low, but he should have.

Not sure what this means or if it's at all spoilery, but there's apparently something called a "Garnet Match" this season.

https://translate.google.com/transla...-text=&act=url

3 of the Main Matches will be "Garnet Matches", in which the winners are those with the most Garnets at the end of the game, and the loser is the person with the least garnets. I believe that a DM loser's Garnets are forfeited again (not given to the DM winner), so it'll be interesting to see how this affects escrows or if there'll be Garnet transfers to try to save anyone.

Death Match game selection will work slightly differently this year as well. The following 11 DMs are in play:

Tactical Yutnori
Indian Poker
Same Picture Hunt
Gyul! Hap!
Quattro
Black & White
Betting Rock, Paper, Scissors
Double Sided Poker
12 Janggi
Monorail
Same Number Hunt

Each DM player will remove 3 of the games from contention, and then one of the ones that weren't vetoed will be selected at random to play. No mention as to whether playing a DM removes it from the list for the rest of the season, but given that there are precisely 11, I'd imagine that's the case.

Pretty solid list IMO, only change I'd make is subbing Black & White II in for Black & White (superior leveling contest IMO), and maybe put in Truth Detector or Laser Chess instead of Double Sided Poker or Quattro. Hopefully the players studied optimal play for Monorail and 12 Janggi, which can be mastered easily with lots of practice.

ETA: 12 Janggi is strongly solved for sure. Some guy online claims that Monorail is solved but doesn't bother to prove it.

I read that 12 Janggi is solved in favor of the player going second. This knowledge made me laugh when I rewatched Hyunmin vs Jongbum, because there was a big deal made of the fact that the game nearly got reset with Jongbum giving away the first move.

In terms of Monorail, I'd have to see some proof but I would definitely not be surprised if it was solved. It seems like a pretty simple game, and Hyunmin in the bonus video seemed to have it down pretty well.

Since Betting RPS and Quattro involve the rest of the cast, does that mean that the entire cast will always be there in case one of those gets picked?

Quattro is such a horrible game, no matter how well you do you can be f'd in the last swap.

happy with new format. can't have yohwan donkeying his way to the finals. also happy with 2 players in the 1st death match and loser clearly was outsmarted

so stoked that Hyunmin and Dongmin are both in the F4. Really, really hoping that one of them can ship this. Also, I am totally in love with Yeonjoo.

Did not disappoint. I was smiling from ear to ear during the whole opening bit and got all giddy when the Melodie song kicked in.

Sangmin is almost a parody of himself lol - exactly the same as always

They're all like their previous seasons actually, it's wonderful to watch. And perfect result with the worst player getting booted Week 1. Also, good to see that they didn't collab against the previous winners as I had feared.

#TeamHyunmin

Solid. Fine with him going early.

How has Junghyun managed to learn nothing from getting destroyed in the same game in season 2?

Phenomenal TV but blatant FPS by Sangmin imo, even knowing he's historically been able to get away with murder as far as people not holding his previous betrayals against him.

Haha, yes, I was gonna say... I think Sangmin just has a vibe about him that people want to team up with him rather than go against him, so I reckon he's not a target next week despite his shenanigans.

In response to whoever was wishing for Jinho-Dongmin-Hyunmin alliance: That would indeed be awesome and even likely. I think Jinho and Dongmin are for sure gonna be inclined to work together, especially with their Crime Scene connection, and Dongmin and Hyunmin obv already have their S2 connection - and Jinho seems to like and admire Hyunmin, so yeah, it seems a likely (and awesome) trio.