MTG Salvation

When is the next announcement again?

Quote from Lord Seth

When is the next announcement again?

27 brah, be patient

I am hoping that Reid Duke wasn't off his rocker with what he was suggesting to be banned and unbanned today in is SCG article. I know that the last time one of their writers did a piece on that topic it was Todd Anderson who was going on about how he wanted Modern to basically be Legacy and how this format needed Force of Will.

Quote from Bigeyes1992

I am hoping that Reid Duke wasn't off his rocker with what he was suggesting to be banned and unbanned today in is SCG article. I know that the last time one of their writers did a piece on that topic it was Todd Anderson who was going on about how he wanted Modern to basically be Legacy and how this format needed Force of Will.

It's not like we want you to share premium content, but what were his thoughts on the banned list?

I've said it before like 3 pages back, but I'll say it again. Mental Misstep would warp the format so much that, well, it would only be in for 3 months. Unless it gets unbanned at a large set B&R announcement, and then we're SOL for an extra month. Misstep just cannot be unbanned. The format would immediately shift to all blue based. Only "upside" is Living End is more playable, but oh wait, that's a combo deck, and I hear blue is pretty good vs combo. For those who care enough, you can go back a few pages and see my list of RELEVANT, PLAYED one-drops in the format, many of the ones toward the top arguably define this format.

Quote from Drekavac

It's not like we want you to share premium content, but what were his thoughts on the banned list?

I don't have premium so I couldn't read the article. That's why I'm saying that I'm hoping he wasn't just typing down the ravings of a mad man like Todd.

Although, I give Reid more credit than doing that. I think he has his head more on his shoulders about the format than Todd does.

Here's a good article from Pierre Dagen on MTGMadness.com discussing the possibilities of the next ban/unban. I actually agree with him more than I do with Reid, though they share some similar ideas. Anyway, worth a read:

http://blog.mtgmadness.com/index.php/food-for-thought-grand-prix-prague-the-evolution-of-modern/pierre-dagen

As for the unbanning of Mental Misstep: That sounds like the least fun idea of them all. If you didn't get the chance to play Legacy during MM's reign, then I can assure you it was absolutely stupid, unfun, and beyond frustrating. If you did play Legacy during that time and you want to return to such a wacky format, well you were probably having too much fun playing Zoo or NO RUG or something, or you're just crazy.

Mental Misstep ruins the color pie, forces everyone to play the same colorless spell to stay on top of the format, and warps the rest of the decks to be made of only 2-drops, or attempt to flood the Misstep decks with a 1-drop-only shell (difficult to do without Nacatl in the arena, and still frustrating at best). Spell Snare then becomes wayyyy better, and you have decks looking to Misstep/Snare/Leak/Cryptic/Snapcaster everything in your deck. Basically, Delver would probably be the best deck, followed by U/W/R Control. Which is obviously a big change to the current format, but far from what I would call healthy.

Personally, I'd like to see maybe Ancestral Visions, Wild Nacatl, and mayyyybe Sword of the Meek come off the banned list. I don't really want to see anything else banned, as I think midrange is in a good place right now, and just needs Control and Aggro to catch up again. Visions/Nacatl would probably be enough to boost Aggro/Control again, while still keeping the existing midrange decks generally at parity.

My 2 cents.

I was reading through the September 2011 ban announcement. Mainly, I wanted to see their reasoning behind the ban of the card in Legacy. While I haven't found much of that I have come across something interesting:

Green Sun's Zenith is banned

On turn one, this can give the acceleration of a Llanowar Elves by getting a Dryad Arbor. On later turns, it can get a large creature or a one-of "toolbox" creature such as Gaddock Teeg. While this is interesting, it is also too efficient. If one intends to build a deck that has turn-one accelerants, Green Sun's Zenith is a great choice. If one wants to more access to utility green creatures, Green Sun's Zenith is a great choice. If one wants to more reliably get a large green creature, such as a Primeval Titan, onto the battlefield, Green Sun's Zenith is a great choice. However, this ends up with fewer different decks being played in practice, as Green Sun's Zenith is such a good choice that there are fewer green decks that do anything else. The DCI hopes that banning Green Sun's Zenith increases diversity among Modern green decks.

In all honesty, did they achieve this stated goal of making green decks diverse? I'm thinking it did about as much as the Wild Nacatl ban did to diverse aggro decks.

As for MM, I'm personally not against it getting off the banned list (although I do think that it's more then a little risky), but I see the point in the argument that it would help blue decks way to much that it would help anyone else. Modern isn't as heavy on one drops right now as Legacy was when the card first appeared so my reasoning was that it wouldn't affect Modern as badly.

Quote from germanturkey

1. sorry you can't autopilot your deck to victory when you have to think about what your opponent is doing.

2. that cements the point about DRS more than MM.

2.5. if God actually killed a cat every time you used "not your format" or "not your type of magic" there would be no cats left in the world.

Who said anything about auto piloting? If the format is that easy for you, why do you play it? You say I say the format isnt for you, yet you want the format different then it is. Sounds like the format doesnt fit your play style. Must everyone play your game/style so you can be happy?

By the way, not a fan of cats...at least the 4 legged kind.

Quote from Drekavac

It's not like we want you to share premium content, but what were his thoughts on the banned list?

Unban Ponder, Bloodbraid Elf, Green Sun's Zenith, Wild Nacatl, and Bitterblossom.
Ban nothing.

Quote from Smooth Criminal

Unban Ponder, Bloodbraid Elf, Green Sun's Zenith, Wild Nacatl, and Bitterblossom.
Ban nothing.

Isn't that a bit excessive? I would be happy with any two of those.

I don't think you can unban GSZ anymore. With Ooze and DRS in the format it's probably too good. At least before without Ooze and DRS, AND with Bloodbraid in the format, it could have lead to some interesting deck choices; ie 'Do I play a more aggressive Jund with BBE and no GSZ, or do I go for a slower, more consisten Junk with GSZ and a toolbox, including Gaddock Teeg and stuff'

I wouldnt expect more then one card to come off if there is an unban. People listing multiple cards are going to be disappointed.

Unban Ponder, Bloodbraid Elf, Green Sun's Zenith, Wild Nacatl, and Bitterblossom.

Of these 5, I would expect zero to come off.

I personally expect zero changes.

seething song doesn't really seem too bad, the worst that could really happen is an early Titan. Burn is pretty much done by 3 mana, Goblins likewise, rite of flame is probably still too much, but am of the opinion that they should unban it all and let the players just find new answers. the list is to prevent a stale meta,but getting rid of the list would give us all of the decks that used these cards. we have enough answers for something to get too oppressive. think about it, a banned card could be answered by a banned card we have stuff to directly kill Jace, for the love of Serra! or just seething song

Quote from Drekavac

As for MM, I'm personally not against it getting off the banned list (although I do think that it's more then a little risky), but I see the point in the argument that it would help blue decks way to much that it would help anyone else. Modern isn't as heavy on one drops right now as Legacy was when the card first appeared so my reasoning was that it wouldn't affect Modern as badly.

Mental Misstep would certainly have a different effect on Modern than it did on Legacy, but I don't think the fact that there are less 1-drops in Modern is going to make Misstep any less oppressive. If anything, the decks in Legacy that had the most 1-drops were often better positioned against Misstep, especially since they had access to better cantrips. Meanwhile, in Modern, Misstep would be hitting primarily the best Removal spells, the early aggressive creatures, and the few cantrips that do matter.

Picture something like DRS out of Jund: it's one of their key cards. Now picture them losing their best starts because whether they lead with Thoughtseize or DRS, they are gaining no value on turn 1 in the face of an opposing Misstep. Meanwhile the opposing deck gains all the tempo, whether they are on the play or the draw. Finally, picture a deck like Jund using Mental Misstep in place of a few discard spells. Now they resolve DRS, untap, play Liliana or Thoughtseize/Bob, all while holding up a free counterspell to protect some of their best cards.

Misstep warps the format in ways that will surprise you, and not in all the ways you might expect. I would actually be willing to live through a short 4-month season with it in the Format, just to see what would happen, and so people could see how format-warping it really is. I think there are other cards that are better candidates for coming off the banned list that still keep the format somewhat healthy. Ancestral Visions seems like a much better option to help out the Blue decks without destroying the existing interactivity between most archetypes.

Quote from Smooth Criminal

Unban Ponder, Bloodbraid Elf, Green Sun's Zenith, Wild Nacatl, and Bitterblossom.
Ban nothing.

To clarify a bit. He suggested ponder, BBE, Green Sun, Nacatl would come off if wizards did a larger unban of 4+ cards at once. He did say the only true candidate for a 1 card unban would be Bitter blossom.

Then again he mentions GGT on the same power level as Second Sunrise and Seathing Song... so I personally take the article with a large grain of salt.

Could they just ban grapeshot instead if storm is too good? They could even take out warrens too if they want. Then rituals would all be fair

Quote from Hinotama

Could they just ban grapeshot instead if storm is too good? They could even take out warrens too if they want. Then rituals would all be fair

Until the next way to abuse them comes along... I'd rather have less bans in general, but for where we are right now, I think they made the right choice.

They're trying not to outright ban an archetype out of the format if they can avoid it. (Nerfbatting it instead.)

Quote from Hinotama

Could they just ban grapeshot instead if storm is too good? They could even take out warrens too if they want. Then rituals would all be fair

And then you wouldn't have a storm deck, regardless of how many rituals they unban.

You might have All-in-Red though, if only they unbanned Seething Song. A deck that can consistently punish the greedy mana bases of Modern is always welcome.

I was BSing with my buddy last night and now I REALLY want to see Wild Nacatl come offof the banned list. I love playing aggro I would would jump on the Naya Zoo deck in a second.

Even though my wallet would take a hit since I would have to get the 2 Goyfs I need for my playset... Oh well! RELEASE THE KITTIES!

Quote from Drekavac

And then you wouldn't have a storm deck, regardless of how many rituals they unban.

You might have All-in-Red though, if only they unbanned Seething Song. A deck that can consistently punish the greedy mana bases of Modern is always welcome.

Well, you'd still have Ignite Memories. And Dragonstorm.

AIR needs a LOT of stuff to be good. Rituals (especially Rite, because you can cast it off just 1 mana, while Desperate/Pyretic need a minimum of 2), Chrome Mox, and even Empty the Warrens.

Quote from Kirblar

They're trying not to outright ban an archetype out of the format if they can avoid it. (Nerfbatting it instead.)

They pretty much killed the AIR archetype though

Maybe they'll give us mox back?

Quote from Hinotama

They pretty much killed the AIR archetype though

Maybe they'll give us mox back?

Unlikely. Mox is one of those cards that can just be absurdly stupid, and I think somebody posted a way it can be used to consistently win on turn 3 earlier, though I can't remember what.

That's it. I'm ****ing fed up to the point that I'm just gonna say it. Ban Cranial Plating. Kill affinity. Kill it outright.