I think a good way to look at Legacy material being in MH1 is to compare cards to the banlist. IfDark Ritualwas on the Modern banlist, would Wizards be ok to unban it ? The answer is obviously NO, and the most superficial reason is that a similar card, Rite of Flame, is on that banlist (of course you can analyse the card and its impact on the format). Check out all the powerful cards this way and you get a quick answer to your expectations.
On top of it, it's an entire set, so see it as a bunch of cards being unbanned : would Wizards unban 10+ powerful Legacy cards at once and let them FROLIC in Modern ? Even 5+ ? I don't believe so and noone should. Let's keep our expectations reasonable (= low).
On the other hand Cabal Therapist is a huge hint that we'll see nerfed Legacy staples. It could be any card you dream of on legs, either overcosted or slow af. One should expect cards that are just above standard powercreep, and that play fair in Limited.
Which leads to the strong chance of seeing huge tribal support. Wizards know tribal is popular amongst all categories of players and very functional in Limited, spreading power amongst several colors. The idea of old school fetchlands would be super smart as well, it's a cheap gateway for new players into Modern.
Now they said the most powerful card of the set is blue, so to those who think Counterspell couldn't be in, please reconsider. I believe the mystery card has chances to be way over the power level of Counterspell. Or they bluffed.
I don't know that counterspell would really do much despite looking good on paper. When I looked up the hard numbers for over a year of extended tournaments years ago, counterspell was legal with mana leak, memory lapse, and remand. All 3 saw more play than counterspell by a large margin. If you're going to argue that counterspell is too strong, you have to deal with that. So, what's been printed since lorwyn that would make people want to play counterspell now?
WotC said when Modern was first created that they would like Modern to be a turn 4-5 format; i.e. a format where game outcomes are decided by those turns at the earliest. They are willing to let a turn 3 goldfish go if it's linear and unlikely enough. Anything faster gets the hammer. Their bans have been consistent with this sort of environment.
So the idea of introducing Force of Will (which is a powerful, unfair card but also a crucial "safety valve" for a turn 2 or 3 format like Legacy) is bonkers, and unlikely. It is above the power level of Modern AND not necessary, as Wizards proactively manages the format to ensure people don't need the ability to play threats and still counter plays over the first 3-4 turns in order to compete.
In general I'd be surprised to see ANY "free" spells here. Certainly I think the old-school power ones (Fireblast, Force of Will, Land Grant, Gush) are just unacceptable for Modern, but free spells have burnt them in the past and I think even introducing something that seems innocuous like Contagion, Massacre, Submerge, Misdirection, Daze, or Pyrokinesis feels really questionable. Again, this isn't a format where you just die if you cast a turn 3 threat and don't have the ability to also cast an answer. I think the Coldsnap free spells are the power level they want in the format, so maybe - maybe! - we could see like Foil, Abolish, Bounty of the Hunt, and other "also rans". This extends to any of the "free" spells from Saga block like Snap, Cloud of Faeries, Treachery, Peregrine Drake, Frantic Search, and Palinchron (I am aware some of those are Reserved) - way too risky.
Similar deal with Mana Drain, Cabal Ritual, and Dark Ritual - these cards dramatically increase the speed of a format that Wizards generally think has the right speed now. Rituals are dangerous, and printing more rituals would be a mistake. I imagine even more "fair" rituals like Culling the Weak and High Tide are "too much" for Modern when Storm is already a relevant, playable archetype that is staying above water with "trash" like Desperate Ritual and Pyretic Ritual.
I also think WotC will avoid tutors. Tutors slow gameplay and increase consistency. Most tutors are banned in Legacy so it'd be silly to expect them in Modern. Grim Tutor is about where I think we could see it, maybe Diabolic Intent - and even then, I question.
Counterspell: This does increase the "speed" of the format somewhat, as suddenly stuff that costs 4+ is much worse. WotC also notoriously dislikes counterspells, and this does "lock in" the power of counters in the format, in the same way Lightning Bolt sets the pace for burn and Fatal Push/Path to Exile anchor what removal is playable. That being said, at this moment in Modern it helps decks that feel like they need help like Azorius/Esper/Jeskai control. Counterspell is impressive, but it slots poorly into Izzet Phoenix (too reactive, bombo with Phoenix) as well as Humans, Spirits, and Grixis Shadow (where UU is too heavy a cost and again it is too reactive). Perusing other blue decks we see it mostly helps other T2 lists like Sultai Teachings and Mono-blue Tron. What it really comes down too is if WotC WANTS UWx control to be a Tier 1 deck in the metagame. This card is a perfect partner with Teferi and makes such decks infinitely more likely to always have the "right" answer, and it makes for a Tier 1 deck packing 8-10 counterspells maindeck. I don't know if Counterspell gets the deck there alone, but it means all future standard sets have to contend with possibly banning Teferi or re-banning Jace in Modern if they print any more powerful tools.
Lotus Petal: This card was mentioned, and I am surprised. It's free mana! Wouldn't this just be an automatic 4-of in Storm, 4-color Prison, Ad Nauseum Combo, Hardened Scales, Dredge, and "Shadow" builds? Well, maybe - but maybe not. The format isn't necessarily fast enough that these can just replace lands in those lists, and those are all linear decks that can't really afford to just drop stuff. Many of those lists run Mishra's Bauble because it replaces itself, and it'd be interesting to see if folks are willing to go down a card to gain a mana on a key turn - I imagine most decks other than Storm and AdNauseum are not. I think this card is inanely dangerous, but is the right level of dangerous to experiment with. More interesting is if this would be "enough" to bring back eggs (using Faith's Rewards and possibly Open the Vaults since Second Sunrise is banned) as a new way to generate mana for nothing now that Krark-clan Ironworks is banned.
True-name Nemesis: This card is by itself a 7-turn clock (but realistically, probably 5 or 6 with all the fetches), which is within keeping of the spirit of Modern. It is also the definition of "unfun" - a card they designed to be amusing in Commander that ended up taking eternal formats by storm as it is effectively unstoppable. It would force Modern to adapt, as the format currently spins on powerful single-target removal which is all blank against it. Counterspells are also no guarentee to stop it, not in a format with Cavern of Souls where Merfolk is on the bubble of being competitive. I think the card's saving grace is, again, that it helps decks that aren't currently Tier 1. Humans and Spirits don't want this; wrong tribe. Phoenix and Shadow don't want this; mana cost is a bit tough and it doesn't play into their fundamental synergies. Merfolk will be thrilled with this, but Merfolk isn't even in the top 30 of decks in the format currently. Thus, this card does something different - it sculpts the metagame and hopefully spawns new decks.
I'll also say that I'm betting now we see at least one of Toxic Deluge, Chainer's Edict, and Diabolic Edict - these cards would serve as a safety valve for TNN if he gets in while also giving the format more answers to Bogle and Spirit decks full of hexproof threats.
I'm also skeptical of the impact of Counterspell, other than clearly making UW control better. Its barely played in Legacy, because when it comes to paying mana for answers you just can't beat free, which counterspell is not.
Counterspell would not necessarily make U Tron much better because UU is too heavy a mana cost for the deck to play more than one or two copies of. It would work well only if they printed something like a blue Urborg to go with it, or some other fixer that could make colorless into U with no significant tempo loss/investment.
I think a good way to look at Legacy material being in MH1 is to compare cards to the banlist. IfDark Ritualwas on the Modern banlist, would Wizards be ok to unban it ? The answer is obviously NO, and the most superficial reason is that a similar card, Rite of Flame, is on that banlist (of course you can analyse the card and its impact on the format). Check out all the powerful cards this way and you get a quick answer to your expectations.
Unless this set signals a paradigm shift. I think there’s a very real chance they’re aiming to bring Modern more in line with Legacy and they could use this product to raise the power level across the board.
Would True-Name Nemesis be ok in Moderm? Curious at the candidates for that spot of the strongest blue card.
If you look back over this thread, you will see a lot of predictions both for and against TNN. I’m in the “no” camp, with my biggest reason being the recent Gavin Verhey interview where he stated very clearly that the card never should have been printed. I don’t think they want it anywhere near Modern.
Would True-Name Nemesis be ok in Moderm? Curious at the candidates for that spot of the strongest blue card.
No, no it would not. Only two colors can deal with it, and only with mass removal. And since it is likely to be protected with counter magic, it is not going to happen.
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It's about time for the reserved list to die, for the sake of Vintage and Legacy (And Commander).
Honestly, if cabal therapy was deemed too strong for this set, what kind of chance do dark ritual, TNN, daze and other powerful legacy staples have?
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How i feel about competitive players and casual players in EDH: The competitive are german tourists, the casual are italian tourists, both in a italian beach. The italians asking themselves "why are the germans here?" make a legitimate question, the answer is because the beach is beautiful, no matter the country you came from. The italians wanting to ban the germans are dumb, because if the germans pay for their stay and follow the rules like everyone else, they have the right to be in the beach. Hovewer, if the germans started to ask themselves "why are the italians here?"... they would be dumb as hell.
TNN is just an extremely boring card that more often than not reduces both back and forth play and the decisions each player needs to make. its only interaction with other merfolk is its shared creature-type, and in general it isnt something you build around or try to leverage because its one dimensional. you sleeve it up because protection from players happens to be good at dominating the battlefield.
then there is the possibility that its inclusion comes with the caveat of hijacking other slots because wizards might consider appropriate answer cards like councils judgement, toxic deluge, or whatever else as a requirement. maybe they would have included some of those cards regardless, but considering what i said above; why bother? let those cards make it in or not based their own merits and just forget TNN is a card.
i dont think its on the table for inclusion, even if its 'power' (effect, rate, p/t, etc) is within the bounds of what is going on in modern.
a round up of all the rares that i think would be interesting additions to the modern cardpool
(idgaf about the reserved list, so i dont know if any of these are in it, but i'd guess that the large majority isn't)
I don't know that counterspell would really do much despite looking good on paper. When I looked up the hard numbers for over a year of extended tournaments years ago, counterspell was legal with mana leak, memory lapse, and remand. All 3 saw more play than counterspell by a large margin. If you're going to argue that counterspell is too strong, you have to deal with that. So, what's been printed since lorwyn that would make people want to play counterspell now?
Counterspell would absolutely be played in control decks.
Unless your deck has a lot of blue, mana leak might be a better option because it doesn't need UU on turn 2. Memory lapse is strong but not modern legal (currently) so irrelevant. Remand is strong because like leak needs on 1 blue and cycles itself at worst.
However these days the main '2' mana counters in modern are logic knot, mana leak, remand and negate. Negate is situational. Logic knot loses a lot of power if you're siding in rest in peace or facing rest in peace/leyline. Mana leak is a dead draw in later games. Remand is not a good long term answer for a control deck that isn't applying pressure.
It's 100% a given that every control deck running logic knot would swap it out for counterspells and very likely take out negate and mana leak for counterspell too. Let's not forget Teferi. Turn 5 teferi, untap 2 blue and hold up a hard counter? That will be really hard for most decks to come back from.
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.
Goblins is hard to save. It’s not much of a thing in Legacy anymore, right? I don’t follow Legacy closely, but I do look at tournament results from time to time and I haven’t seen much Merfolk or Goblins since Delver became a thing years ago. It’s just the better small creature agro-tempo plan and the same will be true in Modern, I assume.
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.
Goblins is hard to save. It’s not much of a thing in Legacy anymore, right? I don’t follow Legacy closely, but I do look at tournament results from time to time and I haven’t seen much Merfolk or Goblins since Delver became a thing years ago. It’s just the better small creature agro-tempo plan and the same will be true in Modern, I assume.
So it wound't hurt to reprint them to modern then. Also Legacy is diferent from Modern so who knows what could happen.
Agh. I am so hyped for this, the most important set Modern has ever seen, I think. Here's hoping we get functional reprints (even if they're nerfed) of some things I've been wanting! Like a version of Serra's Sanctum that I can combine with Enchanted Evening for a realm of pure magic!
Think Zombie Master might make the cut? With a lot of great Zombies lately, and stuff like Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, it could be quite dangerous. But I suppose the landwalk bit hurts it, since they've more or less retired that particular thing. Although hey, if we're doing reprints.... I have an Abzan Zombie deck that abuses Song of Freyalise to help speed out lots of Zombies with stuff like Plague Belcher turning sweepers to my advantage, and Zombie Master would find a great home there!
Other than that, I'm hoping for some reprints or new cards that support my dreams of making strong Dinosaur and Angel decks.
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She was made of November rain
Pleasure and pain
Scorpion stings
Pretty things
and the flames of Phoenix wings
—Michelle Schaper
So it wound't hurt to reprint them to modern then. Also Legacy is diferent from Modern so who knows what could happen.
100% agree. I didn’t intend to imply otherwise. I only meant it may be hard to really help Goblins. If they’re underpowered either way, it may not be very satisfying to get those reprints. But they definitely can print them, and in fact underpowered reprints are likely to be the bulk of a set. There isn’t a single set newer than Legends where the cards aren’t mostly bulk priced. This will be no different. So we can expect lots of niche cards and outright garbage (hello, Mon’s Goblin Raiders!).
Frankly, Wizards needs to deliver with this set. I’m not one to obsess over what’s in the next set, kind of, but the idea behind this one has me all kinds of excited.
Do I think they do deliver based off their past efforts? Nope.
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.
Goblins is hard to save. It’s not much of a thing in Legacy anymore, right? I don’t follow Legacy closely, but I do look at tournament results from time to time and I haven’t seen much Merfolk or Goblins since Delver became a thing years ago. It’s just the better small creature agro-tempo plan and the same will be true in Modern, I assume.
My prediction: Fireblast and Chain Lightning get reprinted so Modern has it now. Also has a new bolt variant that will be their way of throwing a bone to Legacy.
Unless this set signals a paradigm shift. I think there’s a very real chance they’re aiming to bring Modern more in line with Legacy and they could use this product to raise the power level across the board.
It's not how you do it cleverly though. Even though they tested the set in the Modern environment, they're aware they can't really figure out the meta, the same way they can't know that No-Ban List Modern is impossible to figure out without several tournaments. They're cautious enough for one single card unbanned, there's no chance they add several cards that would be logically banned in the first place. If one Legacy staple is injected, that's already quite a bald move.
I can't believe they would ignore the phrase "it's not broken, don't fix it". Modern is one of their Poppins Money Bag, you don't unify Modern and Legacy by forcing Modern to walk the plank.
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Pioneer - A bunch of stuff Modern - Humans Legacy - Grixis Phoenix / Death & Taxes
On top of it, it's an entire set, so see it as a bunch of cards being unbanned : would Wizards unban 10+ powerful Legacy cards at once and let them FROLIC in Modern ? Even 5+ ? I don't believe so and noone should. Let's keep our expectations reasonable (= low).
On the other hand Cabal Therapist is a huge hint that we'll see nerfed Legacy staples. It could be any card you dream of on legs, either overcosted or slow af. One should expect cards that are just above standard powercreep, and that play fair in Limited.
Which leads to the strong chance of seeing huge tribal support. Wizards know tribal is popular amongst all categories of players and very functional in Limited, spreading power amongst several colors. The idea of old school fetchlands would be super smart as well, it's a cheap gateway for new players into Modern.
Now they said the most powerful card of the set is blue, so to those who think Counterspell couldn't be in, please reconsider. I believe the mystery card has chances to be way over the power level of Counterspell. Or they bluffed.
So the idea of introducing Force of Will (which is a powerful, unfair card but also a crucial "safety valve" for a turn 2 or 3 format like Legacy) is bonkers, and unlikely. It is above the power level of Modern AND not necessary, as Wizards proactively manages the format to ensure people don't need the ability to play threats and still counter plays over the first 3-4 turns in order to compete.
In general I'd be surprised to see ANY "free" spells here. Certainly I think the old-school power ones (Fireblast, Force of Will, Land Grant, Gush) are just unacceptable for Modern, but free spells have burnt them in the past and I think even introducing something that seems innocuous like Contagion, Massacre, Submerge, Misdirection, Daze, or Pyrokinesis feels really questionable. Again, this isn't a format where you just die if you cast a turn 3 threat and don't have the ability to also cast an answer. I think the Coldsnap free spells are the power level they want in the format, so maybe - maybe! - we could see like Foil, Abolish, Bounty of the Hunt, and other "also rans". This extends to any of the "free" spells from Saga block like Snap, Cloud of Faeries, Treachery, Peregrine Drake, Frantic Search, and Palinchron (I am aware some of those are Reserved) - way too risky.
Similar deal with Mana Drain, Cabal Ritual, and Dark Ritual - these cards dramatically increase the speed of a format that Wizards generally think has the right speed now. Rituals are dangerous, and printing more rituals would be a mistake. I imagine even more "fair" rituals like Culling the Weak and High Tide are "too much" for Modern when Storm is already a relevant, playable archetype that is staying above water with "trash" like Desperate Ritual and Pyretic Ritual.
I also think WotC will avoid tutors. Tutors slow gameplay and increase consistency. Most tutors are banned in Legacy so it'd be silly to expect them in Modern. Grim Tutor is about where I think we could see it, maybe Diabolic Intent - and even then, I question.
Finally, MaRo just said that this set adheres to the Modern color pie, so I wouldn't count on Sinkhole, Swords to Plowshares, Elvish Spirit Guide, Sylvan Library, Land Tax, Song of the Dryads, or Chaos Warp popping into Modern any time soon.
The cards "on the bubble" are...
Counterspell: This does increase the "speed" of the format somewhat, as suddenly stuff that costs 4+ is much worse. WotC also notoriously dislikes counterspells, and this does "lock in" the power of counters in the format, in the same way Lightning Bolt sets the pace for burn and Fatal Push/Path to Exile anchor what removal is playable. That being said, at this moment in Modern it helps decks that feel like they need help like Azorius/Esper/Jeskai control. Counterspell is impressive, but it slots poorly into Izzet Phoenix (too reactive, bombo with Phoenix) as well as Humans, Spirits, and Grixis Shadow (where UU is too heavy a cost and again it is too reactive). Perusing other blue decks we see it mostly helps other T2 lists like Sultai Teachings and Mono-blue Tron. What it really comes down too is if WotC WANTS UWx control to be a Tier 1 deck in the metagame. This card is a perfect partner with Teferi and makes such decks infinitely more likely to always have the "right" answer, and it makes for a Tier 1 deck packing 8-10 counterspells maindeck. I don't know if Counterspell gets the deck there alone, but it means all future standard sets have to contend with possibly banning Teferi or re-banning Jace in Modern if they print any more powerful tools.
Lotus Petal: This card was mentioned, and I am surprised. It's free mana! Wouldn't this just be an automatic 4-of in Storm, 4-color Prison, Ad Nauseum Combo, Hardened Scales, Dredge, and "Shadow" builds? Well, maybe - but maybe not. The format isn't necessarily fast enough that these can just replace lands in those lists, and those are all linear decks that can't really afford to just drop stuff. Many of those lists run Mishra's Bauble because it replaces itself, and it'd be interesting to see if folks are willing to go down a card to gain a mana on a key turn - I imagine most decks other than Storm and AdNauseum are not. I think this card is inanely dangerous, but is the right level of dangerous to experiment with. More interesting is if this would be "enough" to bring back eggs (using Faith's Rewards and possibly Open the Vaults since Second Sunrise is banned) as a new way to generate mana for nothing now that Krark-clan Ironworks is banned.
True-name Nemesis: This card is by itself a 7-turn clock (but realistically, probably 5 or 6 with all the fetches), which is within keeping of the spirit of Modern. It is also the definition of "unfun" - a card they designed to be amusing in Commander that ended up taking eternal formats by storm as it is effectively unstoppable. It would force Modern to adapt, as the format currently spins on powerful single-target removal which is all blank against it. Counterspells are also no guarentee to stop it, not in a format with Cavern of Souls where Merfolk is on the bubble of being competitive. I think the card's saving grace is, again, that it helps decks that aren't currently Tier 1. Humans and Spirits don't want this; wrong tribe. Phoenix and Shadow don't want this; mana cost is a bit tough and it doesn't play into their fundamental synergies. Merfolk will be thrilled with this, but Merfolk isn't even in the top 30 of decks in the format currently. Thus, this card does something different - it sculpts the metagame and hopefully spawns new decks.
I'll also say that I'm betting now we see at least one of Toxic Deluge, Chainer's Edict, and Diabolic Edict - these cards would serve as a safety valve for TNN if he gets in while also giving the format more answers to Bogle and Spirit decks full of hexproof threats.
RCRDaretti: Superfriends Forever RCR
WGBDoran: Ent-mootWBG
GGGMultani: Group Bear HugGGG
GB(B/G)The Gitrog Monster: Dredgefall DurdleGB(B/G)
RGWGahiji, the Honored Group Hug MonsterRGW
UB(U/B)Yuriko, Ninja Trinket AggroUB(U/B)
WUBRGAtogatog: Assembling a OHKOWUBRG
Counterspell would not necessarily make U Tron much better because UU is too heavy a mana cost for the deck to play more than one or two copies of. It would work well only if they printed something like a blue Urborg to go with it, or some other fixer that could make colorless into U with no significant tempo loss/investment.
Unless this set signals a paradigm shift. I think there’s a very real chance they’re aiming to bring Modern more in line with Legacy and they could use this product to raise the power level across the board.
If you look back over this thread, you will see a lot of predictions both for and against TNN. I’m in the “no” camp, with my biggest reason being the recent Gavin Verhey interview where he stated very clearly that the card never should have been printed. I don’t think they want it anywhere near Modern.
No, no it would not. Only two colors can deal with it, and only with mass removal. And since it is likely to be protected with counter magic, it is not going to happen.
---
Numquam evolutioni obstes. Solum conculceris.
Pascite draconem, evolvite aut morimini.
then there is the possibility that its inclusion comes with the caveat of hijacking other slots because wizards might consider appropriate answer cards like councils judgement, toxic deluge, or whatever else as a requirement. maybe they would have included some of those cards regardless, but considering what i said above; why bother? let those cards make it in or not based their own merits and just forget TNN is a card.
i dont think its on the table for inclusion, even if its 'power' (effect, rate, p/t, etc) is within the bounds of what is going on in modern.
UWGSnow-Bant Control
BURGrixis Death's Shadow
GWBCoCo Elves
WCDeath and Taxes(sold)(idgaf about the reserved list, so i dont know if any of these are in it, but i'd guess that the large majority isn't)
Winds of Change
Unexpectedly Absent
Unmask
Sulfuric Vortex
Solitary Confinement
Skullscorch
Shared Triumph
Seahunter
Saprazzan Heir
Rising Waters
Reprocess
Reins of Power
Purgatory
Pardic Miner
Paradigm Shift
Pale Moon
Null Brooch
Noetic Scales
Natural Selection
Mana Severance
Mages' Contest
Keldon Necropolis
Impatience
Hunting Grounds
Hidden Herd
Hidden Gibbons
Guided Passage
Goblin Spymaster
Goblin Pyromancer
Goblin Bomb
Glory
Embargo
Elkin Lair
Eternal Flame
Ertai's Meddling
Do or Die
Dimensional Breach
Dense Foliage
Delraich
Damping Engine
Cornered Market
Chaos Moon
Carrion
Bubble Matrix
Breathstealer's Crypt
Bifurcate
Bend or Break
Barrin's Spite
Bargaining Table
Awakening
Ashen Powder
Arboria
An-Zerrin Ruins
Antagonism
Ancestral Knowledge
Aether Barrier
Aegis of Honor
Act of Authority
Abeyance
Counterspell would absolutely be played in control decks.
Unless your deck has a lot of blue, mana leak might be a better option because it doesn't need UU on turn 2. Memory lapse is strong but not modern legal (currently) so irrelevant. Remand is strong because like leak needs on 1 blue and cycles itself at worst.
However these days the main '2' mana counters in modern are logic knot, mana leak, remand and negate. Negate is situational. Logic knot loses a lot of power if you're siding in rest in peace or facing rest in peace/leyline. Mana leak is a dead draw in later games. Remand is not a good long term answer for a control deck that isn't applying pressure.
It's 100% a given that every control deck running logic knot would swap it out for counterspells and very likely take out negate and mana leak for counterspell too. Let's not forget Teferi. Turn 5 teferi, untap 2 blue and hold up a hard counter? That will be really hard for most decks to come back from.
Goblins is hard to save. It’s not much of a thing in Legacy anymore, right? I don’t follow Legacy closely, but I do look at tournament results from time to time and I haven’t seen much Merfolk or Goblins since Delver became a thing years ago. It’s just the better small creature agro-tempo plan and the same will be true in Modern, I assume.
So it wound't hurt to reprint them to modern then. Also Legacy is diferent from Modern so who knows what could happen.
Think Zombie Master might make the cut? With a lot of great Zombies lately, and stuff like Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, it could be quite dangerous. But I suppose the landwalk bit hurts it, since they've more or less retired that particular thing. Although hey, if we're doing reprints.... I have an Abzan Zombie deck that abuses Song of Freyalise to help speed out lots of Zombies with stuff like Plague Belcher turning sweepers to my advantage, and Zombie Master would find a great home there!
Other than that, I'm hoping for some reprints or new cards that support my dreams of making strong Dinosaur and Angel decks.
Pleasure and pain
Scorpion stings
Pretty things
and the flames of Phoenix wings
—Michelle Schaper
100% agree. I didn’t intend to imply otherwise. I only meant it may be hard to really help Goblins. If they’re underpowered either way, it may not be very satisfying to get those reprints. But they definitely can print them, and in fact underpowered reprints are likely to be the bulk of a set. There isn’t a single set newer than Legends where the cards aren’t mostly bulk priced. This will be no different. So we can expect lots of niche cards and outright garbage (hello, Mon’s Goblin Raiders!).
Do I think they do deliver based off their past efforts? Nope.
Goblin Recruiter?
It's not how you do it cleverly though. Even though they tested the set in the Modern environment, they're aware they can't really figure out the meta, the same way they can't know that No-Ban List Modern is impossible to figure out without several tournaments. They're cautious enough for one single card unbanned, there's no chance they add several cards that would be logically banned in the first place. If one Legacy staple is injected, that's already quite a bald move.
I can't believe they would ignore the phrase "it's not broken, don't fix it". Modern is one of their Poppins Money Bag, you don't unify Modern and Legacy by forcing Modern to walk the plank.
http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/183255271988/can-i-get-a-maybe-on-the-other-five-and
Brace yourselfs for possibly at long last getting the ally colors of the swords