The "/" between the mana symbols was a typo, I meant UUBB.
That seems horrible, unless they do something else to it. I think they've stuck with "Counter target spell" being a slightly-below-3 mana effect (see Dissipate). I think people who are expecting an efficient counter will be disappointed. Based on Wizards' history, this is just a continuation of their overreaction to the dominance of a card they did not expect.
I definitely don't expect to see an efficient "exile target spell" card, because that's just silly -- if they wanted these things to be counterable, they would've made them so; they're not going to undermine that design... Then again, finding little loopholes to fix stupid cards is a bad habit of which Wizards is becoming extraordinarily guilty.
Given that checking for damage and toughness is a state based action, wouldn't that mean that any kill spell used on the Dryad wouldn't be exiled?
Destroy, exile, and bounce spells get her off the field before going to the graveyard, so not "any" kill spell. But any kill spell that relies on SBAs to do the actual killing.
what the hell is the point of a casual product if you cannot fit it in casual decks
You can call yourself what you want, but when you're looking for Pernicious Deed for your GB deck, you're not in the target audience for these decks any more.
They've made it clear in deck after deck, that these are meant for new players to have two decks to play against each other. Their goal with these is not simply to sell product -- they do that already -- they want to hook new players, and that doesn't happen when every experienced player out there buys out the store's stock of whatever vs whatever decks, because there's $50 of cards in a $20 package.
She had more reason to distrust Sorin than trust him. She went with what she believed to be true. Can you not say you have done similar?
'Stupid' is harsh, but I don't think 'naive' is the default explanation in someone as old and traveled as Nissa. Further, intent does not absolve her actions. Releasing the Eldrazi has consequences for which she is responsible. I'm curious how she intends to resolve this, and for that alone I hope we see her again (also because this means we'd see the Eldrazi again).
I will never understand the vehement hatred of Nissa. It is mostly based on misinformation.
Then I would correct her entry on this site's wiki, because it does not paint her in the light that you think it should...
The additions of Fettergeist, Lone Revenant, and Temporal Mastery are also pretty strong.
I don't see Fettergeist or Lone Revenant doing anything. They're not Delver; they play a creature beatdown game that blue can't possibly win. I don't see those two as high-impact cards.
Temporal Mastery has a ton of potential, and also the ability to completely fall flat (especially in Standard)... but obviously I can't make a decision on this until someone better than me at Magic has had enough time with it.
For the record, I don't mean to argue with your overall point, I mostly agree. But I do still fear for the immediate future...
Edit: I forgot Devastation Tide as well. Reprinting Upheaval at a cheaper cost with a reduced effect, and with an even cheaper conditional cost, seems like a very interesting inclusion going forward.
Devastation Tide doesn't hit lands, and that's a major downside. You could Upheaval, play Zombie Infestation or Psychatog, and your opponent has no lands to answer with. Devastation Tide is more of a board-sweeper than a finisher, and on that end, it probably loses to the likes of Terminus. It doesn't really allow for new gameplans, or new strategies, and it mostly doesn't add anything to existing strategies (except as yet another board sweeper -- although admittedly, the only one in blue...).
That's my point. A viable counterspell at CMC 2 is good for the format. Mana Leak doesn't have to be that card. Continued insistence that Mana Leak must be that card is what makes it a "sacred cow."
I think that what scares me most is that the arguments made against Mana Leak will apply to any CMC 2 counter, and that if Mana Leak is not brought back, the void simply won't be filled. Instead, we get to pray that we draw the right one out of Essence Scatter and Negate when the other guy plays an answer-me-now threat.
Personally, I like the anti-synergy between Snapcaster and Rune Snag. But I don't see that being a selling point to Wizards.
It wasn't. I didn't (and possibly still do not) know what a soft counter was.
A soft counter is any counter where the opponent can make a choice and possibly have his spell not countered (Mana Leak is the prototypical one: your opponent can pay 3 and have his spell resolve -- granted, he won't always have 3 available, but the choice exists). A hard counter is one where the effect itself does not allow your opponent a choice.
This will be worth $10-$15 steadily for a long time once it leaves standard
Of the 4 cards you named, one is from a 6 year old set, one is from a 7 year old set, and one is from an 8 year old set. The last is from a 16 year old set, from a time when print runs were not nearly as extensive. In 16 years, Magic has produced far more than a few good uncommons, and yet so few of them have held these prices.
Dismember is good, but it's not good enough to be the main form of removal in a Legacy/Modern deck. Further, it's just removal. It doesn't excel any more than other removal in the way that the four cards you listed are the absolute best at what they do. Its only claim to fame is that it's colorless, but 4 life is non-negligible.
Of course, I'm not saying I won't be picking some of these up. Just that they might not be the great investments that buying a thousand Force of Wills would've been in 1996...
mental misstep helped this as well, and I wouldn't mind it coming back either.
Mental Misstep was banned in Legacy because matchups between MM decks were basically "who drew more Mental Missteps" and that deck won. Decks that didn't run MM were forced to build around it. It's really not a healthy card for a format. I believe it'll be as format-warping as it was in Legacy since Modern has plenty of powerful 1-drops as well.
"I think the format will always be mediocre - the biggest changes will just come from bannings or metagame changes(into a 6 way rock paper scissors). Any format that has to bad ponder has issues. If it just had Force of will or at least counterspell, it wouldnt need to just level bannings at the combo decks when they became good.
Also I think banning the sac lands might make it better. Theyre just too good."
As much as I respect Finkel, I can't help but disagree with some of this. I'm pretty happy with the state of the meta as far as what decks exist right now. "always be mediocre" seems a little harsh. Also, I don't really agree with banning fetches. I don't think they're the problem in any way, except the added shuffling time (I do admit I wish this didn't exist).
However, I do very much agree with a comeback for Counterspell. It was such an iconic spell for such a long time, and then they replaced it with Mana Leak. But Leak hasn't really changed anything, except that now it's much, much easier for decks to just splash blue a little bit and still have the same level of countermagic as a dedicated control deck. I don't think bringing Counterspell back to Modern would hurt, and it should balance the comparative strength of combo decks without having to attack cards like Ponder and Preordain. I don't want to see Force of Will though, I'd probably go with Foil for a mana-less counter (maybe too underpowered? I dunno).
Should've been clear on that elbrus doesn't, the demon does. So you are correct if you were asserting that artifact removal for elbrus when you stated standard removal earlier, if so apologies for some reason that didn't click in my head that hurp derp it's an artifact first.
The demon on the flipside doesn't have it either, assuming it's been spoiled correctly. The spoiler on this site lists its keyword abilities as flying, intimidate, and trample. No undying...
Have a source that says it does have undying?
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That seems horrible, unless they do something else to it. I think they've stuck with "Counter target spell" being a slightly-below-3 mana effect (see Dissipate). I think people who are expecting an efficient counter will be disappointed. Based on Wizards' history, this is just a continuation of their overreaction to the dominance of a card they did not expect.
I definitely don't expect to see an efficient "exile target spell" card, because that's just silly -- if they wanted these things to be counterable, they would've made them so; they're not going to undermine that design... Then again, finding little loopholes to fix stupid cards is a bad habit of which Wizards is becoming extraordinarily guilty.
Destroy, exile, and bounce spells get her off the field before going to the graveyard, so not "any" kill spell. But any kill spell that relies on SBAs to do the actual killing.
You can call yourself what you want, but when you're looking for Pernicious Deed for your GB deck, you're not in the target audience for these decks any more.
They've made it clear in deck after deck, that these are meant for new players to have two decks to play against each other. Their goal with these is not simply to sell product -- they do that already -- they want to hook new players, and that doesn't happen when every experienced player out there buys out the store's stock of whatever vs whatever decks, because there's $50 of cards in a $20 package.
'Stupid' is harsh, but I don't think 'naive' is the default explanation in someone as old and traveled as Nissa. Further, intent does not absolve her actions. Releasing the Eldrazi has consequences for which she is responsible. I'm curious how she intends to resolve this, and for that alone I hope we see her again (also because this means we'd see the Eldrazi again).
Then I would correct her entry on this site's wiki, because it does not paint her in the light that you think it should...
I don't see Fettergeist or Lone Revenant doing anything. They're not Delver; they play a creature beatdown game that blue can't possibly win. I don't see those two as high-impact cards.
Temporal Mastery has a ton of potential, and also the ability to completely fall flat (especially in Standard)... but obviously I can't make a decision on this until someone better than me at Magic has had enough time with it.
For the record, I don't mean to argue with your overall point, I mostly agree. But I do still fear for the immediate future...
Devastation Tide doesn't hit lands, and that's a major downside. You could Upheaval, play Zombie Infestation or Psychatog, and your opponent has no lands to answer with. Devastation Tide is more of a board-sweeper than a finisher, and on that end, it probably loses to the likes of Terminus. It doesn't really allow for new gameplans, or new strategies, and it mostly doesn't add anything to existing strategies (except as yet another board sweeper -- although admittedly, the only one in blue...).
I think that what scares me most is that the arguments made against Mana Leak will apply to any CMC 2 counter, and that if Mana Leak is not brought back, the void simply won't be filled. Instead, we get to pray that we draw the right one out of Essence Scatter and Negate when the other guy plays an answer-me-now threat.
Personally, I like the anti-synergy between Snapcaster and Rune Snag. But I don't see that being a selling point to Wizards.
A soft counter is any counter where the opponent can make a choice and possibly have his spell not countered (Mana Leak is the prototypical one: your opponent can pay 3 and have his spell resolve -- granted, he won't always have 3 available, but the choice exists). A hard counter is one where the effect itself does not allow your opponent a choice.
Of the 4 cards you named, one is from a 6 year old set, one is from a 7 year old set, and one is from an 8 year old set. The last is from a 16 year old set, from a time when print runs were not nearly as extensive. In 16 years, Magic has produced far more than a few good uncommons, and yet so few of them have held these prices.
Dismember is good, but it's not good enough to be the main form of removal in a Legacy/Modern deck. Further, it's just removal. It doesn't excel any more than other removal in the way that the four cards you listed are the absolute best at what they do. Its only claim to fame is that it's colorless, but 4 life is non-negligible.
Of course, I'm not saying I won't be picking some of these up. Just that they might not be the great investments that buying a thousand Force of Wills would've been in 1996...
Mental Misstep was banned in Legacy because matchups between MM decks were basically "who drew more Mental Missteps" and that deck won. Decks that didn't run MM were forced to build around it. It's really not a healthy card for a format. I believe it'll be as format-warping as it was in Legacy since Modern has plenty of powerful 1-drops as well.
As much as I respect Finkel, I can't help but disagree with some of this. I'm pretty happy with the state of the meta as far as what decks exist right now. "always be mediocre" seems a little harsh. Also, I don't really agree with banning fetches. I don't think they're the problem in any way, except the added shuffling time (I do admit I wish this didn't exist).
However, I do very much agree with a comeback for Counterspell. It was such an iconic spell for such a long time, and then they replaced it with Mana Leak. But Leak hasn't really changed anything, except that now it's much, much easier for decks to just splash blue a little bit and still have the same level of countermagic as a dedicated control deck. I don't think bringing Counterspell back to Modern would hurt, and it should balance the comparative strength of combo decks without having to attack cards like Ponder and Preordain. I don't want to see Force of Will though, I'd probably go with Foil for a mana-less counter (maybe too underpowered? I dunno).
No. Humility removes all abilities of all creatures. It also loses its ability to tap for mana.
The demon on the flipside doesn't have it either, assuming it's been spoiled correctly. The spoiler on this site lists its keyword abilities as flying, intimidate, and trample. No undying...
Have a source that says it does have undying?