So going by today's MaRo article and his mention of a Leshrac Planeswalker card, I think the other art we saw is possibly Leshrac.
Leshrac always was represented with those fireballs floating around his head tho. Could be a possibility in the set but i don't remember hin being in a mecha of wood/bones.
Also would like to see Tevesh Szat but maybe in the next modern horizons
Just the promise of this set (and its lack of Modern reprints) is triggering the Secondary Market already. Check out the price on Scalding Tarn. Just when I hope a set will make a format cheaper stuff like this happens. Oh well, c'est la vie. Looks like I will be playing a lot more Pauper. Hope there are some decent commons coming out.
Card price for high demand cards always tend to go up when a set is confirmed not to have them in it. And fetches don’t go down for reprint sets. MM17 didn’t dent the prices of enemy fetches at all, hell the reprints have the same price as the originals. Unless it they come in a 3.99 well printed set like allied fetches did enemy fetches won’t go down at all.
MM17 sure did dent the prices of fetches. Most of them dropped under $30 a piece. I know because I was bummed that I opened 4 (and nothing else worth jack) out of an almost $200 box. They just went up over time and it wasn't overnight either.
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Currently Playing: Standard:
Nothing, the format Bores me! Legacy: RBurn (Made on the Cheap!)R RGBelcherRG WSoldier StompyW BReanimatorB EDH: BUGRWSliver OverlordWRGUB BGeth, Lord of the VaultB
Mana Drain is likely the single most broken instant ever to see print. No, Force of will is not close. The card was a mistake and should have never seen print. Also an utter failure to the colour pie.
You have no clue what you're talking about, honestly. The color pie didn't exist during the printing of Alliances as it does today, it was perfectly in color (blue got everything, remember). Also, with mana burn, generating a bunch of extra mana that control decks likely couldn't spend was a serious drawback. Doing away with mana burn made it more powerful, but without the full blue toolbox that eternal formats enjoy, there's a real cap on just how powerful it can be in Modern.
You can't evaluate cards in a vacuum, you have to evaluate them based on how they'd slot into existing decks and what they'd enable. Force and Daze would be quickly banned, just like everything else that makes Storm too strong. Plus, they'd allow UR Phoenix to go all in while still having protection; the strongest deck in Modern does not need to get better.
Why would Force be banned immediately? It's sorely needed to offset combo. The only reason it's so played in Legacy is because it's needed. If you know how to play force you have to pick and choose where you use it because card disadvantage and life loss aren't a joke. Mana Drain is a one for one that most of the time gives you a free cast the next turn.
In a pinch FoW is indeed better, but imagine how bad Mana Drain would be in Miracles.
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Currently Playing: Standard:
Nothing, the format Bores me! Legacy: RBurn (Made on the Cheap!)R RGBelcherRG WSoldier StompyW BReanimatorB EDH: BUGRWSliver OverlordWRGUB BGeth, Lord of the VaultB
Yeah...Depending on the set list, if you can actually find an LGS selling these for $200 a box, buy them all right away. I'd expect 250-300 to be the likelier price range. Setting such a low markup is why LGSs go out of business.
So going by today's MaRo article and his mention of a Leshrac Planeswalker card, I think the other art we saw is possibly Leshrac.
Leshrac always was represented with those fireballs floating around his head tho. Could be a possibility in the set but i don't remember hin being in a mecha of wood/bones.
Also would like to see Tevesh Szat but maybe in the next modern horizons
I'd LOVE to see a Leshrac card. While we're at it, give us Daria, Taysir, and even Kristina of the Woods if plausible.
And Feroz.
'buster
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'buster
HR Analyst. Gamer. Activist | Fearless, and forthright | Aggro-control is a mindset. Elspeth and Jhoira rock my world.
However, how is WOTC planning to address the elephant in the room, ie, the manabases, Modern is pretty much a fetchland+shockland format, Tron notwithstanding. What is a Goblin deck going to do against those manabases?
Ruination could be backbreaking for Modern. In fact, I fear that might make monored too good. We might start seeing more Sacred Ground and Terra Eternal to prevent utter blowouts.
I strongly suspect Wizards will use this entire paradigm shift as a way to make Modern more like Legacy but without the things they don’t want in Magic any more. On very recent Drive to Work podcasts (“Designing Counterspells”), MaRo has talked about the fact that the three things that players least enjoy are counterspells, discard and land destruction. All three are things that entirely prevent the opponent from playing when they get too effective, and that doesn’t make for interesting gameplay.
For this reason, I don’t think we will see Ruination. I also don’t think Hymn to Tourach is likely.
Counterspells are the trickiest, but I’m guessing we won’t see the entire Legacy suite of counters dumped in at once. I like the prediction of Counterspell itself but I’d bet against Daze and Force of Will making an appearance in this first Modern expansion set. Maybe later, depending how things evolve. I doubt we will ever see Mana Drain added to Modern.
So there's no MSRP, but online packs are $6.99 and boxes are sold to LGS at a price that also suggests a $6.99 pricetag to maintain their margins. The de factor $7 MSRP is of course contingent on playability and scarcity/print run size. A complete lack of impact cards will tank the price, while a short print run and highly playable modern staples will drive MM1-like markups.
Meanwhile I'm just sitting here and hoping for some sweet P3K reprints.
Serra is cute though.
I'm absolutely getting that Serra card, but I'm with you on the P3K reprints. That set has been painfully neglected over the years, there's so much quirky flavor just begging to be reprinted.
Also, regarding the five basic lands, anybody want to lay odds that they're a cycle of older full art basics that never got reprinted? Maybe the ones from the original Unglued?
they could do full art snow lands to dial up the hype to 11. /shrug
but yeah i wouldnt expect the basics to just be vanilla. its a great opportunity to do something a bit different as a little extra incentive to boost sales.
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Modern: UWGSnow-Bant Control BURGrixis Death's Shadow GWBCoCo Elves WCDeath and Taxes (sold)
I had that hope too, but them saying 249 out of 254 cards are new to modern ... leads me to believe it’s just the normal basics. I don’t think they’re about to make *every* land a snow land in what doesn’t seem to be a snow-centric set...
At least not if the packs keep the dedicated-land-slot format. Maybe if the set doesn’t have dedicated land slots at all, and the five snow lands are just peppered in as random commons?
Mana Drain is likely the single most broken instant ever to see print. No, Force of will is not close. The card was a mistake and should have never seen print. Also an utter failure to the colour pie.
You have no clue what you're talking about, honestly. The color pie didn't exist during the printing of Alliances as it does today, it was perfectly in color (blue got everything, remember). Also, with mana burn, generating a bunch of extra mana that control decks likely couldn't spend was a serious drawback. Doing away with mana burn made it more powerful, but without the full blue toolbox that eternal formats enjoy, there's a real cap on just how powerful it can be in Modern.
You can't evaluate cards in a vacuum, you have to evaluate them based on how they'd slot into existing decks and what they'd enable. Force and Daze would be quickly banned, just like everything else that makes Storm too strong. Plus, they'd allow UR Phoenix to go all in while still having protection; the strongest deck in Modern does not need to get better.
Completely wrong. Maro himself has identified Mana Drain as one of the worst mistakes ever to see print. And yes the colour pie did exist in alliances, design just ignored it for blue cards for some unknown reason.
The 5 cards are not a mystery. They were very clear that the only cards in the set not already in Modern are basic lands. They are in the set, everything else IS new to the format. The snow basics are basics, they could absolutely be what we get, I hope they are. But for the 'it could be Zendikar fetches' people. No, it could not, this is not one of the mysteries about the set. Although I would be shocked if they were boring. Definitely hoping for snow instead of or in addition to full art. Just full art needs a break for a bit.
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Project Booster Fun makes it less fun to open a booster.
So going by today's MaRo article and his mention of a Leshrac Planeswalker card, I think the other art we saw is possibly Leshrac.
Leshrac always was represented with those fireballs floating around his head tho. Could be a possibility in the set but i don't remember hin being in a mecha of wood/bones.
Also would like to see Tevesh Szat but maybe in the next modern horizons
I'd LOVE to see a Leshrac card. While we're at it, give us Daria, Taysir, and even Kristina of the Woods if plausible.
“Who is the most requested character(s) to get a card that has never had one”
There’s are the ones
Urza (maro said despite unstable now their asking for a black border version)
Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar (from Dominaria, author of the Underworld Cookbook)
"Curse Guy" (from Commander (2017 Edition))
Fblthp
Feather
Gix
Hal and Alena
Khallist Rhoka
Massacre Girl
Pashalik Mons
Serra
Shadowblayde
Unnamed white-black Angel sister (forth-sister)
Yawgmoth
A bit obvious these guys are the most requested but here’s the kicker part
A number of these characters, by the way, are currently in files in upcoming products.
We got Serra so
We could be seeing some of them here and commander 2019 and war of spark (ones in ravnica) and core 2020
Mana Drain is likely the single most broken instant ever to see print. No, Force of will is not close. The card was a mistake and should have never seen print. Also an utter failure to the colour pie.
You have no clue what you're talking about, honestly. The color pie didn't exist during the printing of Alliances as it does today, it was perfectly in color (blue got everything, remember). Also, with mana burn, generating a bunch of extra mana that control decks likely couldn't spend was a serious drawback. Doing away with mana burn made it more powerful, but without the full blue toolbox that eternal formats enjoy, there's a real cap on just how powerful it can be in Modern.
You can't evaluate cards in a vacuum, you have to evaluate them based on how they'd slot into existing decks and what they'd enable. Force and Daze would be quickly banned, just like everything else that makes Storm too strong. Plus, they'd allow UR Phoenix to go all in while still having protection; the strongest deck in Modern does not need to get better.
Completely wrong. Maro himself has identified Mana Drain as one of the worst mistakes ever to see print. And yes the colour pie did exist in alliances, design just ignored it for blue cards for some unknown reason.
You guys are arguing about which of two format-defining, top-10 power level cards is better. I'm not sure that's an argument worth having.
Big picture, I think Wizards has done the right thing by designing a modern-only set. But as mentioned, there are some things that people truly hate which Wizards would do well to avoid. They include:
Completely busted cards, in terms of power level: Swords to Plowshares is a good example of this. Path to Exile actually makes modern intriguing because of its "ramp your opponent" effect. StP just makes things boring by providing universal removal for an essentially-irrelevant game state change. Hymn to Tourach is probably in this group of cards as well, and clearly Mana Drain / Force of Will are, too. Fireblast is probably way too good for modern as well. Gamble, Exploration, Brainstorm, Wasteland, Dual lands, etc.
Cards that probably aren't busted, but people hate playing against them: Counterbalance is a great example of this. So is Daze, and probably even basic Counterspell. Giving blue decks access to 2 mana counter-anything makes formats stale REALLY fast. This list is probably much shorter than the "much too good" list, but it's an equally-important part of modern. Modern is, at heart, a fun format full of diversity in deck construction and archetype. Cards like Counterspell or Daze threaten that diversity by being way too good against way too many current decks. Sort of the same problem Splinter Twin had.
Cards that aren't busted, people don't hate playing against them, but they're just plain stupid. I'd put Sneak Attack in this boat. Sure, there are plenty of ways to beat a Sneak Attack. There's enchantment removal. There's discard effects to get rid of creatures. There's quick decks like humans and burn that get going before a Sneak Attack deck could pull off its magic. But still, Sneak Attack in Modern would be completely dumb. I'd accept the power level argument for Sneak Attack too, but hopefully you get the idea. Part of keeping Modern fun means getting rid of negative play experience stuff like Sneak Attack.
Based on these three criteria, I think there are a lot of sweet cards that would make sense to have in Modern. Baleful strix, as an example, is just a good card. It's not too powerful, it's easily removed, it doesn't have much of an effect outside of "good blocker / 1 damage unopposed in the air", but the sum of its parts makes it super-high value, and I think it would make an intriguing addition to Modern. I would put Diabolic Edict into this boat, as well. We've already got Doom Blade and Devour Flesh. Is Edict really much better than those two cards? If they're interested in pushing the envelope a bit, Toxic Deluge might be an interesting idea. Gaddock Teeg seems decent but not overwhelming, and I might argue that Pendelhaven is pretty fair, as well.
Can't wait for more spoilers to start so we can see if there's any interesting reprints!
Countspell is a 1-for-1 answer. It’s a healthy answer for a format, similar to fatal push or inquisition of Kozilek.
I laugh when people say counterspell would be bad for modern, when modern has discard, cavern of souls, uncounterable spells, and spells that can be played from the graveyard.
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Modern
JundBGR
RW Blood MoonRW
Pauper
Delver U
Elves G
Control B
Commander
Edgar Markov BRW
Captain Sisay GW
Niv-Mizzet, Parun UR
Tymna and Ravos WB
Countspell is a 1-for-1 answer. It’s a healthy answer for a format, similar to fatal push or inquisition of Kozilek.
It also lowers the curve of viable creatures and other spells. Anything costing four or more becomes a big risk when your opponent has two Islands untapped.
I laugh when people say counterspell would be bad for modern, when modern has discard, cavern of souls, uncounterable spells, and spells that can be played from the graveyard.
Discard which will likely see play alongside Counterspell in UB decks, making control even more miserable to face than it already is. Cavern is expensive, making it an option only for players willing to shell out the money. Uncounterable spells are few and far between, and limited mostly to burn and big green stompies. Graveyard spells are susceptible to Tormod's Crypt, which blue control can easily run.
It's not that there aren't answers to Counterspell, it's that Counterspell will warp the format around cards that can effectively answer it.
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MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
Countspell is a 1-for-1 answer. It’s a healthy answer for a format, similar to fatal push or inquisition of Kozilek.
I laugh when people say counterspell would be bad for modern, when modern has discard, cavern of souls, uncounterable spells, and spells that can be played from the graveyard.
i dont think the point was that counterspell is too strong but rather it removes deckbuilding decisions because its the best at what it does. if you are playing 2cmc permission you would just default to counterspell. this translates to gameplay because unlike before where there was some push and pull with playing around or through various conditional counter magic its just 'well they have 4x counterspell that hits anything'.
that was my takeaway anyways. i dont personally agree with the argument because 2cmc counters have sucked for a while now. digging through the garbage heap to play some mixture of them is pretty stale, and honestly choosing the perfect mixture of them from my experience has never been that engaging or even fruitful for that matter. some amount of the time they just dont work because how the game has played out and what you drew, and at that point its just 'yeah these cards work sometimes, and i gotta play them, but their power level on average just isnt competitive' most of the time with the opponent not even actively playing around anything. at no point are the suite of 2cmc counters going to be changing your game plan or overall build, with the exception being Remand because of its tempo in addition to dig (ie storm probably would still play remand over counterspell).
there is also the UU cost, which goes unremarked on the majority of the time. getting UU online isnt a sure thing; even for the premier 2-color blue control deck - UW miracles. the colored cost is admittedly not huge or anything, but its nonzero.
in short counterspell seems a reasonable inclusion into the format
----------------------
that outa the way. one card that i remembered today that i think would be perfect is Fire//Ice. i really hope that is one of the additions.
what do you guys think of Back to Basics? too obnoxious (even though blood moon is a thing that props up multiple decks)? too powerful? too hateful, to the point of seriously limiting deck diversity? would it make UW control too good?
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Modern: UWGSnow-Bant Control BURGrixis Death's Shadow GWBCoCo Elves WCDeath and Taxes (sold)
If you want to compare Back to Basics to Blood Moon, then I would say Back to Basics is more okay than Blood Moon because I at least get a chance at using a land when I draw it. The game actually continues if you don't have any basics in play.
Are they okay to have in the same meta? Or would there be some decks running around running both? Somehow, I think no one would run both.
I would like cards that could help tier 2 or lower moderm decks like for example the goblin decks. Reprinting Goblin Lackey, Goblin Matron and/or Goblin Ringleader would be great for the goblin decks without breaking it.
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Leshrac always was represented with those fireballs floating around his head tho. Could be a possibility in the set but i don't remember hin being in a mecha of wood/bones.
Also would like to see Tevesh Szat but maybe in the next modern horizons
MM17 sure did dent the prices of fetches. Most of them dropped under $30 a piece. I know because I was bummed that I opened 4 (and nothing else worth jack) out of an almost $200 box. They just went up over time and it wasn't overnight either.
Currently Playing:
Standard:
Nothing, the format Bores me!
Legacy:
RBurn (Made on the Cheap!)R
RGBelcherRG
WSoldier StompyW
BReanimatorB
EDH:
BUGRWSliver OverlordWRGUB
BGeth, Lord of the VaultB
Why would Force be banned immediately? It's sorely needed to offset combo. The only reason it's so played in Legacy is because it's needed. If you know how to play force you have to pick and choose where you use it because card disadvantage and life loss aren't a joke. Mana Drain is a one for one that most of the time gives you a free cast the next turn.
In a pinch FoW is indeed better, but imagine how bad Mana Drain would be in Miracles.
Currently Playing:
Standard:
Nothing, the format Bores me!
Legacy:
RBurn (Made on the Cheap!)R
RGBelcherRG
WSoldier StompyW
BReanimatorB
EDH:
BUGRWSliver OverlordWRGUB
BGeth, Lord of the VaultB
Yeah...Depending on the set list, if you can actually find an LGS selling these for $200 a box, buy them all right away. I'd expect 250-300 to be the likelier price range. Setting such a low markup is why LGSs go out of business.
I'd LOVE to see a Leshrac card. While we're at it, give us Daria, Taysir, and even Kristina of the Woods if plausible.
And Feroz.
'buster
HR Analyst. Gamer. Activist | Fearless, and forthright | Aggro-control is a mindset.
Elspeth and Jhoira rock my world.
I strongly suspect Wizards will use this entire paradigm shift as a way to make Modern more like Legacy but without the things they don’t want in Magic any more. On very recent Drive to Work podcasts (“Designing Counterspells”), MaRo has talked about the fact that the three things that players least enjoy are counterspells, discard and land destruction. All three are things that entirely prevent the opponent from playing when they get too effective, and that doesn’t make for interesting gameplay.
For this reason, I don’t think we will see Ruination. I also don’t think Hymn to Tourach is likely.
Counterspells are the trickiest, but I’m guessing we won’t see the entire Legacy suite of counters dumped in at once. I like the prediction of Counterspell itself but I’d bet against Daze and Force of Will making an appearance in this first Modern expansion set. Maybe later, depending how things evolve. I doubt we will ever see Mana Drain added to Modern.
So there's no MSRP, but online packs are $6.99 and boxes are sold to LGS at a price that also suggests a $6.99 pricetag to maintain their margins. The de factor $7 MSRP is of course contingent on playability and scarcity/print run size. A complete lack of impact cards will tank the price, while a short print run and highly playable modern staples will drive MM1-like markups.
Rancored Elf will cancel your order if prices go up. Read about him and other shady vendors here.
My Trade Thread!
I'm absolutely getting that Serra card, but I'm with you on the P3K reprints. That set has been painfully neglected over the years, there's so much quirky flavor just begging to be reprinted.
Also, regarding the five basic lands, anybody want to lay odds that they're a cycle of older full art basics that never got reprinted? Maybe the ones from the original Unglued?
but yeah i wouldnt expect the basics to just be vanilla. its a great opportunity to do something a bit different as a little extra incentive to boost sales.
UWGSnow-Bant Control
BURGrixis Death's Shadow
GWBCoCo Elves
WCDeath and Taxes(sold)Hands to the sky
Give a round of applause
For the great Miss Y!
At least not if the packs keep the dedicated-land-slot format. Maybe if the set doesn’t have dedicated land slots at all, and the five snow lands are just peppered in as random commons?
Completely wrong. Maro himself has identified Mana Drain as one of the worst mistakes ever to see print. And yes the colour pie did exist in alliances, design just ignored it for blue cards for some unknown reason.
Just one factor you guys are not considering
Commander product
Oh by the way speaking of which
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/making-magic/you-know-who-2019-03-04
There’s a question that asks
“Who is the most requested character(s) to get a card that has never had one”
There’s are the ones
Urza (maro said despite unstable now their asking for a black border version)
Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar (from Dominaria, author of the Underworld Cookbook)
"Curse Guy" (from Commander (2017 Edition))
Fblthp
Feather
Gix
Hal and Alena
Khallist Rhoka
Massacre Girl
Pashalik Mons
Serra
Shadowblayde
Unnamed white-black Angel sister (forth-sister)
Yawgmoth
A bit obvious these guys are the most requested but here’s the kicker part
We got Serra so
We could be seeing some of them here and commander 2019 and war of spark (ones in ravnica) and core 2020
You guys are arguing about which of two format-defining, top-10 power level cards is better. I'm not sure that's an argument worth having.
Big picture, I think Wizards has done the right thing by designing a modern-only set. But as mentioned, there are some things that people truly hate which Wizards would do well to avoid. They include:
Completely busted cards, in terms of power level: Swords to Plowshares is a good example of this. Path to Exile actually makes modern intriguing because of its "ramp your opponent" effect. StP just makes things boring by providing universal removal for an essentially-irrelevant game state change. Hymn to Tourach is probably in this group of cards as well, and clearly Mana Drain / Force of Will are, too. Fireblast is probably way too good for modern as well. Gamble, Exploration, Brainstorm, Wasteland, Dual lands, etc.
Cards that probably aren't busted, but people hate playing against them: Counterbalance is a great example of this. So is Daze, and probably even basic Counterspell. Giving blue decks access to 2 mana counter-anything makes formats stale REALLY fast. This list is probably much shorter than the "much too good" list, but it's an equally-important part of modern. Modern is, at heart, a fun format full of diversity in deck construction and archetype. Cards like Counterspell or Daze threaten that diversity by being way too good against way too many current decks. Sort of the same problem Splinter Twin had.
Cards that aren't busted, people don't hate playing against them, but they're just plain stupid. I'd put Sneak Attack in this boat. Sure, there are plenty of ways to beat a Sneak Attack. There's enchantment removal. There's discard effects to get rid of creatures. There's quick decks like humans and burn that get going before a Sneak Attack deck could pull off its magic. But still, Sneak Attack in Modern would be completely dumb. I'd accept the power level argument for Sneak Attack too, but hopefully you get the idea. Part of keeping Modern fun means getting rid of negative play experience stuff like Sneak Attack.
Based on these three criteria, I think there are a lot of sweet cards that would make sense to have in Modern. Baleful strix, as an example, is just a good card. It's not too powerful, it's easily removed, it doesn't have much of an effect outside of "good blocker / 1 damage unopposed in the air", but the sum of its parts makes it super-high value, and I think it would make an intriguing addition to Modern. I would put Diabolic Edict into this boat, as well. We've already got Doom Blade and Devour Flesh. Is Edict really much better than those two cards? If they're interested in pushing the envelope a bit, Toxic Deluge might be an interesting idea. Gaddock Teeg seems decent but not overwhelming, and I might argue that Pendelhaven is pretty fair, as well.
Can't wait for more spoilers to start so we can see if there's any interesting reprints!
Am kinda hoping for Chainer’s Edict and Contagion. But they don’t like counters like those Contagion uses, sadly.
I laugh when people say counterspell would be bad for modern, when modern has discard, cavern of souls, uncounterable spells, and spells that can be played from the graveyard.
JundBGR
RW Blood MoonRW
Pauper
Delver U
Elves G
Control B
Commander
Edgar Markov BRW
Captain Sisay GW
Niv-Mizzet, Parun UR
Tymna and Ravos WB
It also lowers the curve of viable creatures and other spells. Anything costing four or more becomes a big risk when your opponent has two Islands untapped.
Discard which will likely see play alongside Counterspell in UB decks, making control even more miserable to face than it already is. Cavern is expensive, making it an option only for players willing to shell out the money. Uncounterable spells are few and far between, and limited mostly to burn and big green stompies. Graveyard spells are susceptible to Tormod's Crypt, which blue control can easily run.
It's not that there aren't answers to Counterspell, it's that Counterspell will warp the format around cards that can effectively answer it.
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
none
Modern
UBG B/U/G control
BBB MBC
WUR Control
WWW Prison
RRR Goblins
Legacy
BBB Pox
UBG B/U/G Control
UWU StoneBlade
UW Miracle Control
i dont think the point was that counterspell is too strong but rather it removes deckbuilding decisions because its the best at what it does. if you are playing 2cmc permission you would just default to counterspell. this translates to gameplay because unlike before where there was some push and pull with playing around or through various conditional counter magic its just 'well they have 4x counterspell that hits anything'.
that was my takeaway anyways. i dont personally agree with the argument because 2cmc counters have sucked for a while now. digging through the garbage heap to play some mixture of them is pretty stale, and honestly choosing the perfect mixture of them from my experience has never been that engaging or even fruitful for that matter. some amount of the time they just dont work because how the game has played out and what you drew, and at that point its just 'yeah these cards work sometimes, and i gotta play them, but their power level on average just isnt competitive' most of the time with the opponent not even actively playing around anything. at no point are the suite of 2cmc counters going to be changing your game plan or overall build, with the exception being Remand because of its tempo in addition to dig (ie storm probably would still play remand over counterspell).
there is also the UU cost, which goes unremarked on the majority of the time. getting UU online isnt a sure thing; even for the premier 2-color blue control deck - UW miracles. the colored cost is admittedly not huge or anything, but its nonzero.
in short counterspell seems a reasonable inclusion into the format
----------------------
that outa the way. one card that i remembered today that i think would be perfect is Fire//Ice. i really hope that is one of the additions.
what do you guys think of Back to Basics? too obnoxious (even though blood moon is a thing that props up multiple decks)? too powerful? too hateful, to the point of seriously limiting deck diversity? would it make UW control too good?
UWGSnow-Bant Control
BURGrixis Death's Shadow
GWBCoCo Elves
WCDeath and Taxes(sold)Are they okay to have in the same meta? Or would there be some decks running around running both? Somehow, I think no one would run both.
"Reveal a Dragon"