I think they are, at least in Standard. Imagine a UW tempo deck or a Bant control deck, against UW with Supreme Verdict you are pretty much screwed because you can´t do anything about it (except playing around it, which slows you down a ton) and same with Slaughter Games, you have zero control over it.
I honestly think the cycle was really well done. None of the cards are super strong outside of a specific need where they end up hurting strategies that are parasitic.
Anything think this cycle was a mistake? I think they are, at least in Standard.
"at least in standard..."
Wait. Stop right there. People are playing counterspells in standard? This is news to me.
(and don't say syncopate, that's not a real counterspell)
Okay, forreal though, abrupt decay has had a huge effect on legacy and modern. It hasn't broken those formats, but has certainly made B/G much more appealing.
And again, outside Standard I'd personally much rather have Wrath of God for the no-regenerate clause than Supreme Verdict for the no-counter clause.
I'd have to disagree with you there. The uncounterable clause on supreme verdict makes it the best board wipe there is, imo. Back when UWR delver and RUG delver variants were running rampant in modern, supreme verdict was a great addition to control decks over damnation and wrath of god (of course, real control was and still is rarely played in modern, but that doesn't matter). Though I hardly see board wipes played at all in legacy, I'd say the same probably goes for legacy as well. Neither modern or legacy have many regenerating creatures being played right now.
Wait. Stop right there. People are playing counterspells in standard? This is news to me.
(and don't say syncopate, that's not a real counterspell)
Okay, forreal though, abrupt decay has had a huge effect on legacy and modern. It hasn't broken those formats, but has certainly made B/G much more appealing.
The only one of these I really don't like is Slaughter Games. I know it's in every BR sideboard (or main) and it makes the game frustrating when they play it turn 4 and then again turn 5. Makes me long for the days that Mindbreak Trap was legal.
EDIT: To clarify, the other 4 are things that can be played around or dealt with. If you are playing a control deck and you encounter Slaughter Games, your win-cons are gone and it becomes an exercise in futility essentially to try and win.
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If that's your "casual," what on earth is required for "formal," a butler in livery shuffling the decks whilst a pianist plays Brahms in front of a tapestry?
Cycle was just an example of Wizard further dumbing down the game, just glad they didn't continue it into Gatecrash.
Printing narrow answer cards that are weak in a vacuum, but strong in specific metas, is dumbing down the game? Are you serious? Its the exact opposite of dumbing down the game. Printing narrow answers for you to get an edge on a known field is making the game deeper, not shallower. There's now an answer to counterbalance, how does this cheapen the game?
Printing narrow answer cards that are weak in a vacuum, but strong in specific metas, is dumbing down the game? Are you serious? Its the exact opposite of dumbing down the game. Printing narrow answers for you to get an edge on a known field is making the game deeper, not shallower. There's now an answer to counterbalance, how does this cheapen the game?
Agreed. WotC is doing what they always do: trying to weaken certain decks that have gotten too strong (in their mind). No deck should ever 'feel safe' or be able to deal with *every* situation. Players of decks affected will do what other players have done before: find solutions. Worried about Slaughter Games? Make certain you have more than one win condition (if anything, this card is anti-combo card). Worried about Supreme Verdict? Players without counterspells have been dealing with Day of Judgment for years and survived. Loxodon Smiter? Play removal. Counterflux? Are blue players actually mad because someone can counter their spells and they can do nothing about it? Every other color has to deal with that too, and yet people play other colors.
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():
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Things WotC cares about:
-making certain Standard cards can be played in Modern, therefore increasing their value and increasing WotC's profit margin
Things WotC does not care about:
-keeping the ban list as short as possible
-taking chances with an entire format for the benefit of a single card
-catering to play styles that newer players generally don't like and will lose them more players than it will gain
-keeping the meta balanced between archetypes/colors/whatever
-keeping cards on the secondary market cheap (available yes, but not cheap)
-keeping the meta diverse (as long as a single deck doesn't threaten the popularity of the format)
I think supreme verdict was a stroke of genius accross all formats. Not only that, but if day came back most people would probably just play just terminus, or terminus over day. The uncounterable clause actually gives you a really good reason to run it over terminus.
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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Supreme Verdict
Slaughter Games
Loxodon Smiter
Abrupt Decay
Counterflux
I think they are, at least in Standard. Imagine a UW tempo deck or a Bant control deck, against UW with Supreme Verdict you are pretty much screwed because you can´t do anything about it (except playing around it, which slows you down a ton) and same with Slaughter Games, you have zero control over it.
"at least in standard..."
Wait. Stop right there. People are playing counterspells in standard? This is news to me.
(and don't say syncopate, that's not a real counterspell)
Okay, forreal though, abrupt decay has had a huge effect on legacy and modern. It hasn't broken those formats, but has certainly made B/G much more appealing.
Modern Junk Primer
Legacy ANT Primer
L1 Judge
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
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I'd have to disagree with you there. The uncounterable clause on supreme verdict makes it the best board wipe there is, imo. Back when UWR delver and RUG delver variants were running rampant in modern, supreme verdict was a great addition to control decks over damnation and wrath of god (of course, real control was and still is rarely played in modern, but that doesn't matter). Though I hardly see board wipes played at all in legacy, I'd say the same probably goes for legacy as well. Neither modern or legacy have many regenerating creatures being played right now.
Modern Junk Primer
Legacy ANT Primer
L1 Judge
I play counter spells in type 2..
dissipate
essence scatter
syncopate as a 1 of
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=470036
Then again, I think Ancestral Recall was well designed so you can't go by me.
Seriously, IMO, the cards are fine. You just have to learn to play around them.
UBBreya's Toybox (Competitive, Combo)WR
RGodzilla, King of the MonstersG
-Retired Decks-
UBLazav, Dimir Mastermind (Competitive, UB Voltron/Control)UB
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EDIT: To clarify, the other 4 are things that can be played around or dealt with. If you are playing a control deck and you encounter Slaughter Games, your win-cons are gone and it becomes an exercise in futility essentially to try and win.
signature by rivenor at http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=329663
I'm a proud member of the Online Campaign for Real English. If you believe in capital letters, correct spelling, and good sentence structure, then copy this into your signature.
I hate the reserved list.
Mythic rares are fine.
Printing narrow answer cards that are weak in a vacuum, but strong in specific metas, is dumbing down the game? Are you serious? Its the exact opposite of dumbing down the game. Printing narrow answers for you to get an edge on a known field is making the game deeper, not shallower. There's now an answer to counterbalance, how does this cheapen the game?
Agreed. WotC is doing what they always do: trying to weaken certain decks that have gotten too strong (in their mind). No deck should ever 'feel safe' or be able to deal with *every* situation. Players of decks affected will do what other players have done before: find solutions. Worried about Slaughter Games? Make certain you have more than one win condition (if anything, this card is anti-combo card). Worried about Supreme Verdict? Players without counterspells have been dealing with Day of Judgment for years and survived. Loxodon Smiter? Play removal. Counterflux? Are blue players actually mad because someone can counter their spells and they can do nothing about it? Every other color has to deal with that too, and yet people play other colors.
-making certain Standard cards can be played in Modern, therefore increasing their value and increasing WotC's profit margin
Things WotC does not care about:
-keeping the ban list as short as possible
-taking chances with an entire format for the benefit of a single card
-catering to play styles that newer players generally don't like and will lose them more players than it will gain
-keeping the meta balanced between archetypes/colors/whatever
-keeping cards on the secondary market cheap (available yes, but not cheap)
-keeping the meta diverse (as long as a single deck doesn't threaten the popularity of the format)
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
(Image by totallynotabrony)
We will rebuild.