First off, if you think WotC could ban 5 of the most played, most expensive cards in the format without a major portion of players up and leaving, then you're delusional.
Second off, multicolored manabases are far from overpowered or too consistent. Blood Moon alone is enough to keep mana in check, but there's also Tec edge, Spreading seas, ghost quarter, molten rain, etc. And to be quite honest, I (and most players I know) see no problem with Modern having good manabases.
Regarding your complaints about the supposed horde of 4 and 5c decks, there are only 2 tier decks in the format that play 4c (Naya pod and Ajundi) and one rarely-played 5c deck (tribal flames zoo). Everything else is 3 or fewer colors. Hell, theres plenty of 2c anc Cx decks in the format.
Seriously, what's wrong with good mana?
You do realize that the reason those cards are heavily played and expensive is because they're overpowered compared to the rest of available lands, right? And for that reason, they are absolutely necessary.
What you are right about is that I don't think they'll ever have the balls to make that move simply because people would complain about the money they paid for them. They made a huge mistake in the beginning of the format by not having the foresight and understanding of just what those two would do together. And now they're stuck with either having fetch+shock being the ONLY viable lands for the entire life of the format, or getting rid of the 5 fetchlands to make the rest competitive again.
As I said, it is inertia. People don't want to lose what they already have (and they have it because they HAVE to have it.) This problem would not exist if it they had been smart and never allowed them both from the get-go.
It's the other way around, a worse manabase means a more constricted metagame.
I hope you're not arguing that a modern manabase minus fetches is bad by any stretch of the imagination.
Mana would still be superb in modern. Different decks would just use different lands instead of just the same mix of fetches/shocks used for every deck.
Wizards has said that they are now supporting all ten colour combinations. So if they are going to reprint the Zendikar fetchlands then they're also going to include the Onslaught fetches as well.
If the onslaught fetches became modern legal, then we might as well bow down and welcome our 5-color goodstuff overlords. Push comes to shove, I think WotC will maintain 10 color-combination quality by banning zen fetches from modern. People would get up in arms for a whole cycle of $$$ cards getting banned, so I would imagine the ban coming a season or two after a zen fetchland reprint drastically lowers their cost.
Although I think the far more likely outcome is that zen fetches will remain legal as an exception to the 10 color-combo equality rule. Decks are doing fine with just zen fetches already. Afterall, with shockland aid, the fetchlands are less dual lands and more like quint-lands.
I hope you're not arguing that a modern manabase minus fetches is bad by any stretch of the imagination.
Mana would still be superb in modern. Different decks would just use different lands instead of just the same mix of fetches/shocks used for every deck.
How many other dual lands are there in modern besides the fetches and shocklands? And how many of them ever see play.
Most of the same decks would still exist. They would just play a more fair land base. It would put some strain on the 3-4 color midrange and control decks, as they'd possibly have to cut some of the cards that they already greedily splash for.
Dual lands are supposed to be DUAL lands, as in "two." That all goes out the window when you can lay down a fetch and grab anything. I'd just like to see fair mana again.
I think they could ease a lot of the problems if they reprinted the Zendikar fetchlands and/or gave a 1 year warning that fetches were about to hit the curb. At least it would be a smoother transition.
The problem isn't really about mana as much as it is about threats, mainly creatures, being better than the answers to a far larger extent than most other formats.
This means that when the manabase is made less consistent, which removing fetchlands would do, you end up with a more aggressive - and less diverse - metagame.
This, to me, would be bad as I find RDW to be right up there with Dredge on the fun scale. Like I said, YMMV.
Modern could certainly work perfectly well without fetchlands but to keep a diverse metagame that would require printing stronger answers, bringing back good filtering and/or considering banning some of the more efficient threats.
Given that the above would require a lot of balancing, and more likely than not end up opening an entirely different can of worms, I'd rather they reprint the fetchlands in quantity. Preferably all 10 of them and soon, like last year soon.
I'd argue that getting rid of fetchlands would allow for the possibility of getting other cards off of the banlist.
You're making the assumption that the loss of fetchlands would directly lead to nothing but aggressive strategies. However, this is counter-intuitive in at least one way, since getting rid of fetches would lead to less matches where a player hits himself for 5-6 damage from lands.
And even if that were the case, all they'd need to do is print another pyroclasm sweeper variant, possibly in black or white.
Edit: suddenly Tarmos and Deathrites are a lot weaker
The former suggestions are very minor. The latter are not a bad thing. Tarmogoyf would be strong regardless, and DRS is possibly too strong as is anyway.
For an alternative solution that tickles the troll in me:
1. Announce that all 10 fetchlands will be released in the next expansion.
2. Wait for applause.
3. Immediately announce that shocklands are banned from modern.
It isn't an ideal situation, since fetchlands are more problematic simply with regards to shuffling and time, but it would solve the land problem, while also giving players what they want.
The problem isn't really about mana as much as it is about threats, mainly creatures, being better than the answers to a far larger extent than most other formats.
This means that when the manabase is made less consistent, which removing fetchlands would do, you end up with a more aggressive - and less diverse - metagame.
This, to me, would be bad as I find RDW to be right up there with Dredge on the fun scale. Like I said, YMMV.
Modern could certainly work perfectly well without fetchlands but to keep a diverse metagame that would require printing stronger answers, bringing back good filtering and/or considering banning some of the more efficient threats.
Given that the above would require a lot of balancing, and more likely than not end up opening an entirely different can of worms, I'd rather they reprint the fetchlands in quantity. Preferably all 10 of them and soon, like last year soon.
And yet most standard meta-games are quite diverse despite lacking the near-perfect mana fixing fetches provide....and the standard mana-bases that have been available for the past few years are FAR weaker than modern-manabase minus fetches.
I do have to admit that the suggestion that people would just up and quit an entire format because of 5 lands, actually did cause me to laugh out loud. Likewise when people suggest banning cards they obviously dislike for some arbitrary reason.
The truth is, that people would complain for a few weeks. The metagame would diversify, and entirely new decks would sprout. There would be less redundancy in terms of card selection, and eventually people would accept it as a necessary positive change for the format.
A card should only be banned if its doing something completely unfair or pushing entire deck types out the format, neither of those factors apply to the Fetchlands. So it's kind of wishing thinking on your part, but I will hold up to my end of the deal.
In fact, I'd argue that the ONLY reason to keep fetchlands is inertia. It will make some people angry that paid for them. But that happens all the time with other banned cards.
Price alone would not be the sole factor why so many people would quit Modern. Modern's reputation would be tarnished and people wouldn't want to commit to a format where anytime their cards could be banned for some arbitrary reason.
Also, people tend to rage at stupid bans. Anyone with common sense knows why Jace, the Mind Sculptor was initially banned during the start of Modern, but players were upset when Wild Nacatl was banned because WotC believed it would diversify aggro in Modern.
At the moment Fetchlands + Shocklands is simply too strong, particularly for a format that lacks the type of nonbasic punishment that Legacy does. Having those 2 lands is nearly STRICTLY BETTER than any other nonbasic land in the format. The existence of both of them singlehandedly undermines all other dual lands from having a chance of serious competitive play.
I do agree that nonbasic hate is needed. Is it going to happen anytime soon? Probably not given WotC current stance on land destruction and that all cards basically have to go through Standard to reach Modern.
I disagree that it pushes all other nonbasic dual lands out of the format. The fact that these lands with or without Shock/Fetches are lackluster at best is why they're not seeing play. They are not going to get rid of a good thing simply because Scrylands don't see any play in Modern. If they want new dual lands to be playable in Modern they will design them to be more appealing, not just cutting off the competition.
In addition, it allows mana bases to be too consistent. And for this reason, 3, 4, or 5 color decks are normal, and there is very little reason to NOT run them. It makes it easy for decks to run silver-bullet style cards without even worrying about the mana base. In effect, this nearly makes fetchlands necessary. Which, if I'm correct, is something that should not happen, particularly in a format that encompasses thousands and thousands of cards.
4 and 5 are kind of pushing it, don't you think? Sure Jund and UWR run 3, but you're forgetting that Affinity and GR Tron compete just as well without fetches. When has a 5c deck won a GP or placed really high lately? Merfolk are also doing well and that's mostly mono colored. Fetchlands do add flexibility to multiple colored decks, but that is why WotC is likely reprinting them rather than deciding to cut off a good opportunity to make money. I don't think you understand this, but a lot of people like to run multiple colored decks, so obviously they are going to cater to those players.
Add in the fact that 5 of them are missing actually makes this problem even worse, and hurts certain color combinations.
Again this is more of reason for them to reprint all ten, not ban the five currently available.
There is already more than enough manafixing in the format to allow for a diverse (and fair) format by disallowing the two lands from coexisting. Either one would be fine for the format. Both? Not so much.
I don't see how it would allow for a more diverse and fair format. However, this can't be proven unless it actually happens and I will leave it that, theoretical.
So you fundametally agree with the part about needing better answers, filtering and/or mandating the banning of too efficient threats under a fetch-less metagame.
It's altogether likely that a fetchless Modern metagame would end up looking a lot like some of the Standard decks from last season, running zero basics.
Which would put cards like Blood Moon, Anathemancer or even Burning Earth up on the chopping block. It's either that or accept that 3C (or more) decks aren't likely to be competitive.
No, I never agreed with that. I was simply making a point that IF aggressive decks become too rampant, it is an easy problem to mitigate by adding a non-red sweeper to the mix.
And I heavily disagree that taking fetches out would make for a zero-basic metagame. For one, standard doesn't have the (already mediocre) nonbasic hate that modern does. They would never ban nonbasic hate in a format that CRAVES even better nonbasic hosers.
BMillz1341
They made a huge mistake in the beginning of the format by not having the foresight and understanding of just what those two would do together.
I'd argue that getting rid of fetchlands would allow for the possibility of getting other cards off of the banlist.
Fetches and Shocklands existed in Extended and Legacy together for years before Modern was even though up as a format. They already knew how powerful they were together when they made Modern.
Do you even know what's banned in Modern? I'm serious, do you have any clue? Because Wild Nacatl would be the only card that would get a consistent boost with fetches. And even them getting a first turn forest, second turn Sacred Foundry without a fetch was still consistent. Everything else banned has absolutely nothing to do with fetches. So banning fetches would only add to the banned list, not help anything come off.
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No, I never agreed with that. I was simply making a point that IF aggressive decks become too rampant, it is an easy problem to mitigate by adding a non-red sweeper to the mix.
And I heavily disagree that taking fetches out would make for a zero-basic metagame. For one, standard doesn't have the (already mediocre) nonbasic hate that modern does. They would never ban nonbasic hate in a format that CRAVES even better nonbasic hosers.
Standard has access to a total of what? 3 different dual lands per color?
Modern has access to like 5 better versions, not counting fetches (and shocks balance out). Filter lands, scars fast lands, check lands, the manlands from Zendikar.... Granted, some of these would need their cycles completed, but any 3 color deck would basically be forced to run almost zero basic lands (maybe 1 or 2 because of path and ghost quarter). It would be a lot like the 3 color decks of last standard, there was no reason to really run basics so pretty much nobody did.
in a format where life counts more so than legacy and standard - bolting your self to fix you mana base is a fair cost - many a time i have died because i cracked to many fetches and took to much damage for the gouf to pop over and kill me
(the defining difference between legacy and modern mana bases is that Modern pays more life for the same mana base, and wasteland)
the whole argument about banning fetches is stupid - why - because it would make mana bases harder to fix - great lets downgrade all decks - While were at it lets ban path to exile and lighting bolt because lets be honest here the removal is too good!!! all Jokes.
All wizards need to do is introduce more supply of fetches to down the price - whenever it be allied or zen fetches it dose not really matter as both sets of fetches can fetch basically any shock land you want.
The argument for banning fetches is not because mana is too good. There are two reasons to ban them.
1. They greatly slow down game play. Not to the level of Top, but they have banned cards for tgis reason in the past.
2. More importantly, they limit the decks you can play. Restrictions breed creativity, and there are nearly no restrictions on mana right now. You ban Fetches and the dominant decks become less dominant because mana gets worse, and the format opens up. Arguing that only aggro would benefit, as was done earlier, is moronic. Aggro decks benefit from insane mana bases even more than control as they can splash the best cheap cards of every color (see 5 color zoo at the beginning of format).
That's about it. And honestly, I'm fine with either. I think Modern would be a healthier format if the fetches never existed. DRS, Goyf, and Nactal wouldn't be so powerful, which is a plus. On the flipside, Landfall Boros would die, and that makes me sad.
But you see, the problem is that the fetches do exist. They have existed for awhile, and people are used to them. I completely agree with Bmillz about the inertia concept. If they were banned from the start, or better yet, never printed, this wouldn't have been an issue. People would have happily played with the other great lands in the format, and all deck types would have still been competitive.
So it comes down this: Which decision makes Wizards the most money while upsetting the least amount of people?
For me, that decision is clear. Reprint all the Fetches in a core/expansion set.
Prices drop, supply increases, people cheer, and the cycle is completed in Modern. Yes, they would have went back on their "loading screen" policy, but Zendikar was well liked, so who cares. They break their own policies all the time. They know that they will rake in the doe, increase Modern participation, and make players happy all at the same time. Win, Win, Win.
Not even remotely the only options. There is not a single reason that ONS fetches NEED to be reprinted. They are only played in largely irrelevant formats for tournaments. There is what 4 Legacy GPs a year? If you can't play because you can't afford ONS fetches you probably have larger issues for getting into Legacy anyway (Duals).
ZEN fetches need to be reprinted or banned for long term survival of Modern, the relevant "eternal" format.
Not even remotely the only options. There is not a single reason that ONS fetches NEED to be reprinted. They are only played in largely irrelevant formats for tournaments. There is what 4 Legacy GPs a year? If you can't play because you can't afford ONS fetches you probably have larger issues for getting into Legacy anyway (Duals).
ZEN fetches need to be reprinted or banned for long term survival of Modern, the relevant "eternal" format.
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Maybe you are right, and they may take that route, but I feel like they have nothing to lose from reprinting them, and everything to gain.
I can't even imagine how having all 10 fetches in Modern would really effect the game all that much anyway. In Jund, for example, you can already grab anything you need with a Verdant Catacomb. Marsh Flats can still grab Overgrown Tomb and Blood Crypt. If we get Bloodstained Mire and Wooded Foothills, what's effectively happening is that mana bases are getting ever so slightly better. Now the second fetchland in your deck can grab Overgrown Tomb, Blood Crypt, and Stomping Grounds. Better, yes, but not a drastic change.
On top of that, they are upping the availability of fetches all around. Maybe somebody doesn't have 4 Verdant Catacombs, but they have 2 Wooded Foothills, 2 Bloodstained Mires, and 2 Verdant Catacombs. That's still a very good spread, and you could easily build a Jund deck with those lands.
Then again, I see your view point. I'm just looking at the $$$.
I really doubt Wizards cares about fetch/shock obsoleting other duals in modern. Fetch/dual has been a non-standard thing for half the game's life. The other duals will still sell packs for standard and it leaves tons of budget duals for casual. As long as there's millions of dirt cheap duals, they can't be accused of screwing over casual with expensive rare lands. You'll probably even get to have scry lands for a buck in a couple years.
Not even remotely the only options. There is not a single reason that ONS fetches NEED to be reprinted. They are only played in largely irrelevant formats for tournaments. There is what 4 Legacy GPs a year? If you can't play because you can't afford ONS fetches you probably have larger issues for getting into Legacy anyway (Duals).
ZEN fetches need to be reprinted or banned for long term survival of Modern, the relevant "eternal" format.
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There's also an SCG Open Legacy tournament pretty much every weekend, and 0 Modern ones. Legacy is far from "irrelevant" as an eternal format.
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Not even remotely the only options. There is not a single reason that ONS fetches NEED to be reprinted. They are only played in largely irrelevant formats for tournaments. There is what 4 Legacy GPs a year? If you can't play because you can't afford ONS fetches you probably have larger issues for getting into Legacy anyway (Duals).
ZEN fetches need to be reprinted or banned for long term survival of Modern, the relevant "eternal" format.
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Maybe you are right, and they may take that route, but I feel like they have nothing to lose from reprinting them, and everything to gain.
I can't even imagine how having all 10 fetches in Modern would really effect the game all that much anyway. In Jund, for example, you can already grab anything you need with a Verdant Catacomb. Marsh Flats can still grab Overgrown Tomb and Blood Crypt. If we get Bloodstained Mire and Wooded Foothills, what's effectively happening is that mana bases are getting ever so slightly better. Now the second fetchland in your deck can grab Overgrown Tomb, Blood Crypt, and Stomping Grounds. Better, yes, but not a drastic change.
On top of that, they are upping the availability of fetches all around. Maybe somebody doesn't have 4 Verdant Catacombs, but they have 2 Wooded Foothills, 2 Bloodstained Mires, and 2 Verdant Catacombs. That's still a very good spread, and you could easily build a Jund deck with those lands.
Then again, I see your view point. I'm just looking at the $$$.
You are forgetting that basics very much matter for various reasons. Reprinting ONS fetches makes the limites amount of nonbasic land hate in Modern even worse. Right now there can be a real cost to grabbing an Overgrown Tomb with your Marsh Flats in Jund if you get Fulminator Maged or Tec. Edged. If you add ONS fetches, it not only makes searching out the right dual easier, it further obsoletes a piece of the metagame and only makes the current decks better.
There is no upside to adding ONS fetches to Modern, only downside.
Not even remotely the only options. There is not a single reason that ONS fetches NEED to be reprinted. They are only played in largely irrelevant formats for tournaments. There is what 4 Legacy GPs a year? If you can't play because you can't afford ONS fetches you probably have larger issues for getting into Legacy anyway (Duals).
ZEN fetches need to be reprinted or banned for long term survival of Modern, the relevant "eternal" format.
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There's also an SCG Open Legacy tournament pretty much every weekend, and 0 Modern ones. Legacy is far from "irrelevant" as an eternal format.
When SCG Opens start awarding pro points we'll consider it relevant.
The only disaster reprinting all 10 fetches would cause is to the price tags of said lands. Going from 5 to 10 in modern is only a small marginal benefit in power, but it would spread out the fetch choices since decks would pick the slightly more ideal option.
Everyone who is against ONS reprints because it will "break" modern, please show me how it will do so, as I am completely lost.
Yeah, same here. I kinda got lost in the arguments for and against Onslaught reprints a couple of pages back from all the back-and-forth between both sides.
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You do realize that the reason those cards are heavily played and expensive is because they're overpowered compared to the rest of available lands, right? And for that reason, they are absolutely necessary.
What you are right about is that I don't think they'll ever have the balls to make that move simply because people would complain about the money they paid for them. They made a huge mistake in the beginning of the format by not having the foresight and understanding of just what those two would do together. And now they're stuck with either having fetch+shock being the ONLY viable lands for the entire life of the format, or getting rid of the 5 fetchlands to make the rest competitive again.
As I said, it is inertia. People don't want to lose what they already have (and they have it because they HAVE to have it.) This problem would not exist if it they had been smart and never allowed them both from the get-go.
I hope you're not arguing that a modern manabase minus fetches is bad by any stretch of the imagination.
Mana would still be superb in modern. Different decks would just use different lands instead of just the same mix of fetches/shocks used for every deck.
If the onslaught fetches became modern legal, then we might as well bow down and welcome our 5-color goodstuff overlords. Push comes to shove, I think WotC will maintain 10 color-combination quality by banning zen fetches from modern. People would get up in arms for a whole cycle of $$$ cards getting banned, so I would imagine the ban coming a season or two after a zen fetchland reprint drastically lowers their cost.
Although I think the far more likely outcome is that zen fetches will remain legal as an exception to the 10 color-combo equality rule. Decks are doing fine with just zen fetches already. Afterall, with shockland aid, the fetchlands are less dual lands and more like quint-lands.
How many other dual lands are there in modern besides the fetches and shocklands? And how many of them ever see play.
Most of the same decks would still exist. They would just play a more fair land base. It would put some strain on the 3-4 color midrange and control decks, as they'd possibly have to cut some of the cards that they already greedily splash for.
Dual lands are supposed to be DUAL lands, as in "two." That all goes out the window when you can lay down a fetch and grab anything. I'd just like to see fair mana again.
I think they could ease a lot of the problems if they reprinted the Zendikar fetchlands and/or gave a 1 year warning that fetches were about to hit the curb. At least it would be a smoother transition.
Edit: suddenly Tarmos and Deathrites are a lot weaker
I'd argue that getting rid of fetchlands would allow for the possibility of getting other cards off of the banlist.
You're making the assumption that the loss of fetchlands would directly lead to nothing but aggressive strategies. However, this is counter-intuitive in at least one way, since getting rid of fetches would lead to less matches where a player hits himself for 5-6 damage from lands.
And even if that were the case, all they'd need to do is print another pyroclasm sweeper variant, possibly in black or white.
The former suggestions are very minor. The latter are not a bad thing. Tarmogoyf would be strong regardless, and DRS is possibly too strong as is anyway.
1. Announce that all 10 fetchlands will be released in the next expansion.
2. Wait for applause.
3. Immediately announce that shocklands are banned from modern.
It isn't an ideal situation, since fetchlands are more problematic simply with regards to shuffling and time, but it would solve the land problem, while also giving players what they want.
And yet most standard meta-games are quite diverse despite lacking the near-perfect mana fixing fetches provide....and the standard mana-bases that have been available for the past few years are FAR weaker than modern-manabase minus fetches.
A card should only be banned if its doing something completely unfair or pushing entire deck types out the format, neither of those factors apply to the Fetchlands. So it's kind of wishing thinking on your part, but I will hold up to my end of the deal.
Price alone would not be the sole factor why so many people would quit Modern. Modern's reputation would be tarnished and people wouldn't want to commit to a format where anytime their cards could be banned for some arbitrary reason.
Also, people tend to rage at stupid bans. Anyone with common sense knows why Jace, the Mind Sculptor was initially banned during the start of Modern, but players were upset when Wild Nacatl was banned because WotC believed it would diversify aggro in Modern.
I do agree that nonbasic hate is needed. Is it going to happen anytime soon? Probably not given WotC current stance on land destruction and that all cards basically have to go through Standard to reach Modern.
I disagree that it pushes all other nonbasic dual lands out of the format. The fact that these lands with or without Shock/Fetches are lackluster at best is why they're not seeing play. They are not going to get rid of a good thing simply because Scrylands don't see any play in Modern. If they want new dual lands to be playable in Modern they will design them to be more appealing, not just cutting off the competition.
4 and 5 are kind of pushing it, don't you think? Sure Jund and UWR run 3, but you're forgetting that Affinity and GR Tron compete just as well without fetches. When has a 5c deck won a GP or placed really high lately? Merfolk are also doing well and that's mostly mono colored. Fetchlands do add flexibility to multiple colored decks, but that is why WotC is likely reprinting them rather than deciding to cut off a good opportunity to make money. I don't think you understand this, but a lot of people like to run multiple colored decks, so obviously they are going to cater to those players.
Again this is more of reason for them to reprint all ten, not ban the five currently available.
I don't see how it would allow for a more diverse and fair format. However, this can't be proven unless it actually happens and I will leave it that, theoretical.
No, I never agreed with that. I was simply making a point that IF aggressive decks become too rampant, it is an easy problem to mitigate by adding a non-red sweeper to the mix.
And I heavily disagree that taking fetches out would make for a zero-basic metagame. For one, standard doesn't have the (already mediocre) nonbasic hate that modern does. They would never ban nonbasic hate in a format that CRAVES even better nonbasic hosers.
Fetches and Shocklands existed in Extended and Legacy together for years before Modern was even though up as a format. They already knew how powerful they were together when they made Modern.
Do you even know what's banned in Modern? I'm serious, do you have any clue? Because Wild Nacatl would be the only card that would get a consistent boost with fetches. And even them getting a first turn forest, second turn Sacred Foundry without a fetch was still consistent. Everything else banned has absolutely nothing to do with fetches. So banning fetches would only add to the banned list, not help anything come off.
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Standard has access to a total of what? 3 different dual lands per color?
Modern has access to like 5 better versions, not counting fetches (and shocks balance out). Filter lands, scars fast lands, check lands, the manlands from Zendikar.... Granted, some of these would need their cycles completed, but any 3 color deck would basically be forced to run almost zero basic lands (maybe 1 or 2 because of path and ghost quarter). It would be a lot like the 3 color decks of last standard, there was no reason to really run basics so pretty much nobody did.
The argument for banning fetches is not because mana is too good. There are two reasons to ban them.
1. They greatly slow down game play. Not to the level of Top, but they have banned cards for tgis reason in the past.
2. More importantly, they limit the decks you can play. Restrictions breed creativity, and there are nearly no restrictions on mana right now. You ban Fetches and the dominant decks become less dominant because mana gets worse, and the format opens up. Arguing that only aggro would benefit, as was done earlier, is moronic. Aggro decks benefit from insane mana bases even more than control as they can splash the best cheap cards of every color (see 5 color zoo at the beginning of format).
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1. Print all the fetches.
2. Ban the fetches.
That's about it. And honestly, I'm fine with either. I think Modern would be a healthier format if the fetches never existed. DRS, Goyf, and Nactal wouldn't be so powerful, which is a plus. On the flipside, Landfall Boros would die, and that makes me sad.
But you see, the problem is that the fetches do exist. They have existed for awhile, and people are used to them. I completely agree with Bmillz about the inertia concept. If they were banned from the start, or better yet, never printed, this wouldn't have been an issue. People would have happily played with the other great lands in the format, and all deck types would have still been competitive.
So it comes down this: Which decision makes Wizards the most money while upsetting the least amount of people?
For me, that decision is clear. Reprint all the Fetches in a core/expansion set.
Prices drop, supply increases, people cheer, and the cycle is completed in Modern. Yes, they would have went back on their "loading screen" policy, but Zendikar was well liked, so who cares. They break their own policies all the time. They know that they will rake in the doe, increase Modern participation, and make players happy all at the same time. Win, Win, Win.
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Not even remotely the only options. There is not a single reason that ONS fetches NEED to be reprinted. They are only played in largely irrelevant formats for tournaments. There is what 4 Legacy GPs a year? If you can't play because you can't afford ONS fetches you probably have larger issues for getting into Legacy anyway (Duals).
ZEN fetches need to be reprinted or banned for long term survival of Modern, the relevant "eternal" format.
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Maybe you are right, and they may take that route, but I feel like they have nothing to lose from reprinting them, and everything to gain.
I can't even imagine how having all 10 fetches in Modern would really effect the game all that much anyway. In Jund, for example, you can already grab anything you need with a Verdant Catacomb. Marsh Flats can still grab Overgrown Tomb and Blood Crypt. If we get Bloodstained Mire and Wooded Foothills, what's effectively happening is that mana bases are getting ever so slightly better. Now the second fetchland in your deck can grab Overgrown Tomb, Blood Crypt, and Stomping Grounds. Better, yes, but not a drastic change.
On top of that, they are upping the availability of fetches all around. Maybe somebody doesn't have 4 Verdant Catacombs, but they have 2 Wooded Foothills, 2 Bloodstained Mires, and 2 Verdant Catacombs. That's still a very good spread, and you could easily build a Jund deck with those lands.
Then again, I see your view point. I'm just looking at the $$$.
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There's also an SCG Open Legacy tournament pretty much every weekend, and 0 Modern ones. Legacy is far from "irrelevant" as an eternal format.
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You are forgetting that basics very much matter for various reasons. Reprinting ONS fetches makes the limites amount of nonbasic land hate in Modern even worse. Right now there can be a real cost to grabbing an Overgrown Tomb with your Marsh Flats in Jund if you get Fulminator Maged or Tec. Edged. If you add ONS fetches, it not only makes searching out the right dual easier, it further obsoletes a piece of the metagame and only makes the current decks better.
There is no upside to adding ONS fetches to Modern, only downside.
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When SCG Opens start awarding pro points we'll consider it relevant.
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Check out http://www.mtgbrodeals.com/author/john-murphy/ for my EDH articles!
Yeah, same here. I kinda got lost in the arguments for and against Onslaught reprints a couple of pages back from all the back-and-forth between both sides.