Now is there a blue deck which could be put over the top(broken with) by preordain?
I don't believe so, it's possible, but i am also not a huge fan at looking at unbans at the angle of "could this break something" because, well, the card was banned for a reason of course it could break something
I much prefer weighing the risk vs reward, and also checking if the decks is would most likely help actually need help
Ex. AV: format is fast so the delayed advantage is not very powerful, but drawing 3 can win the game on the spot. Would help fair blue decks which were non existent
Risk:medium (could be to strong)
Reward : high (let's an entire color be playable)
Bbe: format is fast so four drop 3/2's that might produce value aren't necessarily the best. Would help jund almost exclusively
Risk : very high (jund is the most played deck)
Reward : low (only improves the most played deck)
As for Preordain i leave it here: combo decks have been virtually exterminated from the format, and fair blue decks really need to find the exact right cards at the right time since they can't just end the game at instant speed anymore. Helps any deck that can run islands
Risk: very High (could improve combo decks without adding anything to actually combat them)
Reward: medium (helps fair decks, but it isn't really that much of an upgrade from serum visions, and still leaves blue with no solid finisher)
I feel modern will continue to have linear decks until fair decks are pushed. I like the possibility of unbanning bloodbraid elf, stoneforge, maybe jace. I still feel that jund is too clunky despite having a larger meta game share now.
I could be opening a can of worms here, but why isn't sinkhole played more in legacy? Maybe land destruction could be better in modern. Stronger stone rains or ghost quarters could be good.
I feel modern will continue to have linear decks until fair decks are pushed. I like the possibility of unbanning bloodbraid elf, stoneforge, maybe jace. I still feel that jund is too clunky despite having a larger meta game share now.
I could be opening a can of worms here, but why isn't sinkhole played more in legacy? Maybe land destruction could be better in modern. Stronger stone rains or ghost quarters could be good.
Double black on turn 2 is rough, and the attrition decks that would want sinkhole would rather be casting a Hymm, Jund just wants to rip your hand apart and beat face with a goyf, Shardless wants to do borderline unfair things with agent, Maverick has the rough mana base, and plays a hatebears game. DnT cant do the mana base needed for that.
I agree that having ghost quarter as our default LD is really lame, but good LD is "unfun", and symmetrical effects are always the most broken.
I have already said this, but Jace may be too powerful AND is very expensive, blue decks start to cost 400 dollars more from that point on.
Also, i was brainstorming a little bit of how a new card could make "Pure Blue-Based Reactive Control" Tier 1, and i came up with only two, that wouldn´t make Combo Decks completely broken.
This cards are Sensei´s Divining Top and some form of counterspell ála Abrupt Decay, let´s say, "Counter target spell that costs 3 or less" or something like Prohibit.
SDT has the already known problem of being too slow. I´m actually a bit light on this, i think we could give it a shot. HOWEVER, i tremble with the idea of a Jeskai Miracles deck with 4 one-mana Wrath of Gods. This may be too powerful in the end.
I would like someone to give SDT a thought and not rely on the idea that UW Miracles is the most played deck in Legacy.
I have already said this, but Jace may be too powerful AND is very expensive, blue decks start to cost 400 dollars more from that point on.
Also, i was brainstorming a little bit of how a new card could make "Pure Blue-Based Reactive Control" Tier 1, and i came up with only two, that wouldn´t make Combo Decks completely broken.
This cards are Sensei´s Divining Top and some form of counterspell ála Abrupt Decay, let´s say, "Counter target spell that costs 3 or less" or something like Prohibit.
SDT has the already known problem of being too slow. I´m actually a bit light on this, i think we could give it a shot. HOWEVER, i tremble with the idea of a Jeskai Miracles deck with 4 one-mana Wrath of Gods. This may be too powerful in the end.
I would like someone to give SDT a thought and not rely on the idea that UW Miracles is the most played deck in Legacy.
Top is banned for logistics. It's unlikely they will unban anything banned for logistics.
That said, I could see top in a format that can't also use brainstorm or counterbalance. Top probably becomes the best thing to do turn 1 in many decks. However, now you run the risk of "Does this make combo too good?" As soon as that logic enters the conversation it ends on "do not unban."
EDIT: After thinking about it more, Top+ fetches would probably be TOO good. Then you just run our newly released Thopter/Sword and all of a sudden you have an outstanding deck with stupid consistency. So ya, no top.
I feel modern will continue to have linear decks until fair decks are pushed. I like the possibility of unbanning bloodbraid elf, stoneforge, maybe jace. I still feel that jund is too clunky despite having a larger meta game share now.
I could be opening a can of worms here, but why isn't sinkhole played more in legacy? Maybe land destruction could be better in modern. Stronger stone rains or ghost quarters could be good.
Double black on turn 2 is rough, and the attrition decks that would want sinkhole would rather be casting a Hymm, Jund just wants to rip your hand apart and beat face with a goyf, Shardless wants to do borderline unfair things with agent, Maverick has the rough mana base, and plays a hatebears game. DnT cant do the mana base needed for that.
I agree that having ghost quarter as our default LD is really lame, but good LD is "unfun", and symmetrical effects are always the most broken.
Really? Sinkhole? This thread is hard enough to follow with the bounces between banning Company, unbanning GSZ (that's such a bizarre back-to-back shift), unbanning BBE to help Jund, unbanning blue cards to help blue, and hypotheticals about reprints and new cards. Let's at least try to keep it on bans and unbans on the actual list, not custom card creation or reprints. This is a rule in the first post but we haven't been strictly enforcing it because too many people would get warnings/infractions otherwise, but that might change if this thread keeps derailing.
So----Blood Braid Elf and Stoneforge Mystic, and Twin are too powerful, but Jace isn't? Give me a break, guys. The card was a design mistake across every format
Also, Abzan Company feels nothing like Twin. The philosphies aren't the same minus a combo plan that can beat you down. Twin was a tempo deck that bluffed the combo often, and pinged for little bits of damage. It also played out so differently for every matchup and became a transformative deck, too
Company is WAY more linear and only interacts through chording for silver bullets
I don't think Jace, the Mind Sculptor should stay banned on the basis of price. I'm not saying it should be unbanned but price should not factor into the decision at all.
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So----Blood Braid Elf and Stoneforge Mystic, and Twin are too powerful, but Jace isn't? Give me a break, guys. The card was a design mistake across every format
Also, Abzan Company feels nothing like Twin. The philosphies aren't the same minus a combo plan that can beat you down. Twin was a tempo deck that bluffed the combo often, and pinged for little bits of damage. It also played out so differently for every matchup and became a transformative deck, too
Company is WAY more linear and only interacts through chording for silver bullets
I never said jtms is not powerful, in fact because he is powerful is why he is the correct unban if blue doesnt rise from the ashes in about a years time. Modern is a powerful format full of broken interactions between broken cards, thats what makes the format so appealing to a lot of us.
The fact that jace IS powerful is why it would be successful at powering up blue fair decks. Obvious this is not something that should be done lightly, as it is certainly risky, even making the announcement with a sub announcement that he may not be here to stay, and ONLY if blue doesnt make a comeback. If we have 2+ blue decks in tier 1-2, this would not be a very good move. All i am saying is if the goal is to boost blue fair decks, jace is THE unban. Unbanning cards that really didnt belong on the list anyway wont do anything to improve blue.
Now, as it stands, blue just got new toys, people are still trying to figure them out. this is not a move that should be made at the next banlist announcement, and prob not even the one after that
White does still need something. I am also not convinced blue needs anything. Twin is red.
I am not convinced anything needs anything until we get both the Grand Prix results from this weekend, and then we get results from the August triple GP weekend. If those five Grand Prix cannot produce a viable Tier 1 blue strategy, or if they all see Jund sucking, then we can return to our discussion of unbanning JTMS/insert-blue-card-here and unbanning BBE. Similarly, if some other Modern deck is a problem and dominates in those five events (winning them all, sending 3 players to the T8 of all of them, etc.) then we can talk about metagame diversity bans. Or, if a turn four violator consistently performs even if it isn't making Tier 1, then we can talk about banning that too.
For now, we don't have enough information to claim anything needs to be banned or unbanned. We still have people believing RG Tron is dead when it just got 2nd at the SCG Open and got 10th at the same event. This kind of uncertainty needs to settle before we can figure out what is fair and what is not, as well as what needs help and what needs to be left alone.
White does still need something. I am also not convinced blue needs anything. Twin is red.
I am not convinced anything needs anything until we get both the Grand Prix results from this weekend, and then we get results from the August triple GP weekend. If those five Grand Prix cannot produce a viable Tier 1 blue strategy, or if they all see Jund sucking, then we can return to our discussion of unbanning JTMS/insert-blue-card-here and unbanning BBE. Similarly, if some other Modern deck is a problem and dominates in those five events (winning them all, sending 3 players to the T8 of all of them, etc.) then we can talk about metagame diversity bans. Or, if a turn four violator consistently performs even if it isn't making Tier 1, then we can talk about banning that too.
For now, we don't have enough information to claim anything needs to be banned or unbanned. We still have people believing RG Tron is dead when it just got 2nd at the SCG Open and got 10th at the same event. This kind of uncertainty needs to settle before we can figure out what is fair and what is not, as well as what needs help and what needs to be left alone.
How does this weekend affect the Modern meta? Is there a big event at the GPs?
White does still need something. I am also not convinced blue needs anything. Twin is red.
I am not convinced anything needs anything until we get both the Grand Prix results from this weekend, and then we get results from the August triple GP weekend. If those five Grand Prix cannot produce a viable Tier 1 blue strategy, or if they all see Jund sucking, then we can return to our discussion of unbanning JTMS/insert-blue-card-here and unbanning BBE. Similarly, if some other Modern deck is a problem and dominates in those five events (winning them all, sending 3 players to the T8 of all of them, etc.) then we can talk about metagame diversity bans. Or, if a turn four violator consistently performs even if it isn't making Tier 1, then we can talk about banning that too.
For now, we don't have enough information to claim anything needs to be banned or unbanned. We still have people believing RG Tron is dead when it just got 2nd at the SCG Open and got 10th at the same event. This kind of uncertainty needs to settle before we can figure out what is fair and what is not, as well as what needs help and what needs to be left alone.
How does this weekend affect the Modern meta? Is there a big event at the GPs?
Blue is fine in its current state. Having a tier 1 blue deck is not required for a healthy format. Jeskai and Grixis are both tier 2 now, and the collective u/r/x archetype is doing just fine. It's certainly not dire enough to even consider adding something like JTMS to the format.
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Current Modern decks BGW Junk / URB Grixis Shadow / RGB Lantern Control / WUBCBant Eldrazi
Current Legacy decks BUG Shardless BUG / UWR Predict Miracles / RUG Canadian Thresh / WRBG 4c Loam UB Reanimator
Blue is fine in its current state. Having a tier 1 blue deck is not required for a healthy format. Jeskai and Grixis are both tier 2 now, and the collective u/r/x archetype is doing just fine. It's certainly not dire enough to even consider adding something like JTMS to the format.
As a dedicated mono blue player, Jace is too busted. EVERY blue deck just suddenly has a new type of win condition and card advantage engine in one. Players have always underestimated Jace and it would be no different in modern.
Blue is fine in its current state. Having a tier 1 blue deck is not required for a healthy format. Jeskai and Grixis are both tier 2 now, and the collective u/r/x archetype is doing just fine. It's certainly not dire enough to even consider adding something like JTMS to the format.
Disagree about Tier 1 blue decks. Modern at its healthiest does need a viable, Tier 1 blue deck that is on the midrange and control spectrum. The format cam definitely be healthy without such a deck, but it will never reach its full potential otherwise. As for JTMS or specific cards, I dont want to speculate on any of them without a more complete picture of the new Modern format.
The thing is, it's not realistic to expect every strategy to be tier 1. We don't have a tier 1 graveyard based deck, we don't have a tier 1 spell based combo deck, etc. Blue control is not special in any way, if it's tier 1 great otherwise but if it isn't, action shouldn't be taken just because of that if the format is healthy otherwise.
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Current Modern decks BGW Junk / URB Grixis Shadow / RGB Lantern Control / WUBCBant Eldrazi
Current Legacy decks BUG Shardless BUG / UWR Predict Miracles / RUG Canadian Thresh / WRBG 4c Loam UB Reanimator
The thing is, it's not realistic to expect every strategy to be tier 1. We don't have a tier 1 graveyard based deck, we don't have a tier 1 spell based combo deck, etc. Blue control is not special in any way, if it's tier 1 great otherwise but if it isn't, action shouldn't be taken just because of that if the format is healthy otherwise.
It's special because it's an important type of regulatory deck. I agree that a graveyard deck and a spell-based combo deck would not be important for format health. But it is important that we have diverse Tier 1 regulators to keep other powerful strategies, and potentially problematic strategies, in check. The unique pairing of countermagic and efficient removal isn't matched anywhere else, and our current Tier 1 only has one fundamentally regulatory deck (Jund). Any of the blue-based control/midrange spectrum decks can fulfill this role which puts a long-term safety brake on the format.
The thing is, it's not realistic to expect every strategy to be tier 1. We don't have a tier 1 graveyard based deck, we don't have a tier 1 spell based combo deck, etc. Blue control is not special in any way, if it's tier 1 great otherwise but if it isn't, action shouldn't be taken just because of that if the format is healthy otherwise.
The difference is here that you're not talking about 1 archetype being bad and that being ok, which it is. You're saying it's fine for 1/5th of the game being not in the top tier. People railed against white because it lacked power outside of sideboard cards at the beginning of the year right before the Twin ban, but at least it has that. Naya burn and Abzan have always been right on the cusp of tier 1 or solidly there so even when people were angry about the overall power of the color white, there was still white cards being played in the top tier. The best blue card in the top tier right now is arguably Blighted Agent. I don't think that's where we want to be.
The thing is, it's not realistic to expect every strategy to be tier 1. We don't have a tier 1 graveyard based deck, we don't have a tier 1 spell based combo deck, etc. Blue control is not special in any way, if it's tier 1 great otherwise but if it isn't, action shouldn't be taken just because of that if the format is healthy otherwise.
It's special because it's an important type of regulatory deck. I agree that a graveyard deck and a spell-based combo deck would not be important for format health. But it is important that we have diverse Tier 1 regulators to keep other powerful strategies, and potentially problematic strategies, in check. The unique pairing of countermagic and efficient removal isn't matched anywhere else, and our current Tier 1 only has one fundamentally regulatory deck (Jund). Any of the blue-based control/midrange spectrum decks can fulfill this role which puts a long-term safety brake on the format.
But collectively wouldn't you consider the Uxx strategies together to fulfill that role? So some people like Tasigur, some people like Path, and some people like Sphinx's Rev, they're all effectively policing the same subset of decks in the role that you're advocating for, there just isn't 1 specific deck that's doing it on it's own.
The thing is, it's not realistic to expect every strategy to be tier 1. We don't have a tier 1 graveyard based deck, we don't have a tier 1 spell based combo deck, etc. Blue control is not special in any way, if it's tier 1 great otherwise but if it isn't, action shouldn't be taken just because of that if the format is healthy otherwise.
It's special because it's an important type of regulatory deck. I agree that a graveyard deck and a spell-based combo deck would not be important for format health. But it is important that we have diverse Tier 1 regulators to keep other powerful strategies, and potentially problematic strategies, in check. The unique pairing of countermagic and efficient removal isn't matched anywhere else, and our current Tier 1 only has one fundamentally regulatory deck (Jund). Any of the blue-based control/midrange spectrum decks can fulfill this role which puts a long-term safety brake on the format.
But collectively wouldn't you consider the Uxx strategies together to fulfill that role? So some people like Tasigur, some people like Path, and some people like Sphinx's Rev, they're all effectively policing the same subset of decks in the role that you're advocating for, there just isn't 1 specific deck that's doing it on it's own.
It's better than nothing but it's not optimal. The collective share of Tier 2 decks is tenuous. There are plenty of people on this forum alone, let alone in LGS's and other boards across the internet, who claim URx is struggling despite that collective share. This perception can move people away from the decks because they think they aren't good when, in reality, they are pretty decent. This reduces the blue-based share and removes the regulatory force. A solid Tier 1 representative would shore up that share, ensuring that perceptions can't drag down the collective prevalence in future months. A Tier 1 blue deck would encourage people to stay on the archetype (and its many faces) and prop up that collective share.
The thing is, it's not realistic to expect every strategy to be tier 1. We don't have a tier 1 graveyard based deck, we don't have a tier 1 spell based combo deck, etc. Blue control is not special in any way, if it's tier 1 great otherwise but if it isn't, action shouldn't be taken just because of that if the format is healthy otherwise.
It's special because it's an important type of regulatory deck. I agree that a graveyard deck and a spell-based combo deck would not be important for format health. But it is important that we have diverse Tier 1 regulators to keep other powerful strategies, and potentially problematic strategies, in check. The unique pairing of countermagic and efficient removal isn't matched anywhere else, and our current Tier 1 only has one fundamentally regulatory deck (Jund). Any of the blue-based control/midrange spectrum decks can fulfill this role which puts a long-term safety brake on the format.
But collectively wouldn't you consider the Uxx strategies together to fulfill that role? So some people like Tasigur, some people like Path, and some people like Sphinx's Rev, they're all effectively policing the same subset of decks in the role that you're advocating for, there just isn't 1 specific deck that's doing it on it's own.
It's better than nothing but it's not optimal. The collective share of Tier 2 decks is tenuous. There are plenty of people on this forum alone, let alone in LGS's and other boards across the internet, who claim URx is struggling despite that collective share. This perception can move people away from the decks because they think they aren't good when, in reality, they are pretty decent. This reduces the blue-based share and removes the regulatory force. A solid Tier 1 representative would shore up that share, ensuring that perceptions can't drag down the collective prevalence in future months. A Tier 1 blue deck would encourage people to stay on the archetype (and its many faces) and prop up that collective share.
So what you're saying is, the decks are fine and Uxx IS policing a healthy part of the format, but because players are too stupid to add the collective meta shares of a few different decks (that all play alllllmost identically but run a few different cards and thus have different classifications) then we should all continue to hope that one specific color combination should rise to be tier 1. Dumb. YOU'RE not dumb, but the playerbase certainly is.
So what you're saying is, the decks are fine and Uxx IS policing a healthy part of the format, but because players are too stupid to add the collective meta shares of a few different decks (that all play alllllmost identically but run a few different cards and thus have different classifications) then we should all continue to hope that one specific color combination should rise to be tier 1. Dumb. YOU'RE not dumb, but the playerbase certainly is.
Yep, players can be dumb and metagames react to such perceptions. But two things to be clear. First, it's not just a perception based on my Nexus articles. It's a widespread perception that would exist regardless of whether I labeled them Tier 1 or Tier 2. That perception might prevent players from sleeving up the deck to up its metagame share. Second, we don't know to what extent it's a perception issue versus an issue of any individual deck lacking the resources to succeed beyond its Tier 2 share. We just need more data at this point.
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I don't believe so, it's possible, but i am also not a huge fan at looking at unbans at the angle of "could this break something" because, well, the card was banned for a reason of course it could break something
I much prefer weighing the risk vs reward, and also checking if the decks is would most likely help actually need help
Ex. AV: format is fast so the delayed advantage is not very powerful, but drawing 3 can win the game on the spot. Would help fair blue decks which were non existent
Risk:medium (could be to strong)
Reward : high (let's an entire color be playable)
Bbe: format is fast so four drop 3/2's that might produce value aren't necessarily the best. Would help jund almost exclusively
Risk : very high (jund is the most played deck)
Reward : low (only improves the most played deck)
As for Preordain i leave it here: combo decks have been virtually exterminated from the format, and fair blue decks really need to find the exact right cards at the right time since they can't just end the game at instant speed anymore. Helps any deck that can run islands
Risk: very High (could improve combo decks without adding anything to actually combat them)
Reward: medium (helps fair decks, but it isn't really that much of an upgrade from serum visions, and still leaves blue with no solid finisher)
UWRjeskai nahiri UWR
UBRgrixis titi UBR
UBRgrixis delverUBR
UR ur kikimite UR
EDH
RUG Riku of Two Reflections RUG
UBR Marchesa, the Black Rose UBR
UBRGYidris, Maelstrom Wielder UBRG
UBRJeleva, Nephalia's ScourgeUBR
I could be opening a can of worms here, but why isn't sinkhole played more in legacy? Maybe land destruction could be better in modern. Stronger stone rains or ghost quarters could be good.
Double black on turn 2 is rough, and the attrition decks that would want sinkhole would rather be casting a Hymm, Jund just wants to rip your hand apart and beat face with a goyf, Shardless wants to do borderline unfair things with agent, Maverick has the rough mana base, and plays a hatebears game. DnT cant do the mana base needed for that.
I agree that having ghost quarter as our default LD is really lame, but good LD is "unfun", and symmetrical effects are always the most broken.
Death and Taxes
Pauper
UB Teachings
Tortured Existence
Murasa Tron
Modern
Pod (RIP)
Bloom(RIP)
Merfolk
Also, i was brainstorming a little bit of how a new card could make "Pure Blue-Based Reactive Control" Tier 1, and i came up with only two, that wouldn´t make Combo Decks completely broken.
This cards are Sensei´s Divining Top and some form of counterspell ála Abrupt Decay, let´s say, "Counter target spell that costs 3 or less" or something like Prohibit.
SDT has the already known problem of being too slow. I´m actually a bit light on this, i think we could give it a shot. HOWEVER, i tremble with the idea of a Jeskai Miracles deck with 4 one-mana Wrath of Gods. This may be too powerful in the end.
I would like someone to give SDT a thought and not rely on the idea that UW Miracles is the most played deck in Legacy.
Top is banned for logistics. It's unlikely they will unban anything banned for logistics.
That said, I could see top in a format that can't also use brainstorm or counterbalance. Top probably becomes the best thing to do turn 1 in many decks. However, now you run the risk of "Does this make combo too good?" As soon as that logic enters the conversation it ends on "do not unban."
EDIT: After thinking about it more, Top+ fetches would probably be TOO good. Then you just run our newly released Thopter/Sword and all of a sudden you have an outstanding deck with stupid consistency. So ya, no top.
Really? Sinkhole? This thread is hard enough to follow with the bounces between banning Company, unbanning GSZ (that's such a bizarre back-to-back shift), unbanning BBE to help Jund, unbanning blue cards to help blue, and hypotheticals about reprints and new cards. Let's at least try to keep it on bans and unbans on the actual list, not custom card creation or reprints. This is a rule in the first post but we haven't been strictly enforcing it because too many people would get warnings/infractions otherwise, but that might change if this thread keeps derailing.
Also, Abzan Company feels nothing like Twin. The philosphies aren't the same minus a combo plan that can beat you down. Twin was a tempo deck that bluffed the combo often, and pinged for little bits of damage. It also played out so differently for every matchup and became a transformative deck, too
Company is WAY more linear and only interacts through chording for silver bullets
RGTron
UGInfect
URStorm
WUBRAd Nauseam
BRGrishoalbrand
URGScapeshift
WBGAbzan Company
WUBRGAmulet Titan
BRGLiving End
WGBogles
I don't want Jace, or Preordain or anything but Twin.
And honestly maybe a Turn 1 AV would be too much for Modern, but correct me if I'm wrong there is no Legacy Twin...
Spirits
I never said jtms is not powerful, in fact because he is powerful is why he is the correct unban if blue doesnt rise from the ashes in about a years time. Modern is a powerful format full of broken interactions between broken cards, thats what makes the format so appealing to a lot of us.
The fact that jace IS powerful is why it would be successful at powering up blue fair decks. Obvious this is not something that should be done lightly, as it is certainly risky, even making the announcement with a sub announcement that he may not be here to stay, and ONLY if blue doesnt make a comeback. If we have 2+ blue decks in tier 1-2, this would not be a very good move. All i am saying is if the goal is to boost blue fair decks, jace is THE unban. Unbanning cards that really didnt belong on the list anyway wont do anything to improve blue.
Now, as it stands, blue just got new toys, people are still trying to figure them out. this is not a move that should be made at the next banlist announcement, and prob not even the one after that
UWRjeskai nahiri UWR
UBRgrixis titi UBR
UBRgrixis delverUBR
UR ur kikimite UR
EDH
RUG Riku of Two Reflections RUG
UBR Marchesa, the Black Rose UBR
UBRGYidris, Maelstrom Wielder UBRG
UBRJeleva, Nephalia's ScourgeUBR
Spirits
I am not convinced anything needs anything until we get both the Grand Prix results from this weekend, and then we get results from the August triple GP weekend. If those five Grand Prix cannot produce a viable Tier 1 blue strategy, or if they all see Jund sucking, then we can return to our discussion of unbanning JTMS/insert-blue-card-here and unbanning BBE. Similarly, if some other Modern deck is a problem and dominates in those five events (winning them all, sending 3 players to the T8 of all of them, etc.) then we can talk about metagame diversity bans. Or, if a turn four violator consistently performs even if it isn't making Tier 1, then we can talk about banning that too.
For now, we don't have enough information to claim anything needs to be banned or unbanned. We still have people believing RG Tron is dead when it just got 2nd at the SCG Open and got 10th at the same event. This kind of uncertainty needs to settle before we can figure out what is fair and what is not, as well as what needs help and what needs to be left alone.
How does this weekend affect the Modern meta? Is there a big event at the GPs?
Typo. May 20 is the weekend.
BGW Junk / URB Grixis Shadow / RGB Lantern Control / WUBCBant Eldrazi
Current Legacy decks
BUG Shardless BUG / UWR Predict Miracles / RUG Canadian Thresh / WRBG 4c Loam
UB Reanimator
As a dedicated mono blue player, Jace is too busted. EVERY blue deck just suddenly has a new type of win condition and card advantage engine in one. Players have always underestimated Jace and it would be no different in modern.
Disagree about Tier 1 blue decks. Modern at its healthiest does need a viable, Tier 1 blue deck that is on the midrange and control spectrum. The format cam definitely be healthy without such a deck, but it will never reach its full potential otherwise. As for JTMS or specific cards, I dont want to speculate on any of them without a more complete picture of the new Modern format.
BGW Junk / URB Grixis Shadow / RGB Lantern Control / WUBCBant Eldrazi
Current Legacy decks
BUG Shardless BUG / UWR Predict Miracles / RUG Canadian Thresh / WRBG 4c Loam
UB Reanimator
It's special because it's an important type of regulatory deck. I agree that a graveyard deck and a spell-based combo deck would not be important for format health. But it is important that we have diverse Tier 1 regulators to keep other powerful strategies, and potentially problematic strategies, in check. The unique pairing of countermagic and efficient removal isn't matched anywhere else, and our current Tier 1 only has one fundamentally regulatory deck (Jund). Any of the blue-based control/midrange spectrum decks can fulfill this role which puts a long-term safety brake on the format.
The difference is here that you're not talking about 1 archetype being bad and that being ok, which it is. You're saying it's fine for 1/5th of the game being not in the top tier. People railed against white because it lacked power outside of sideboard cards at the beginning of the year right before the Twin ban, but at least it has that. Naya burn and Abzan have always been right on the cusp of tier 1 or solidly there so even when people were angry about the overall power of the color white, there was still white cards being played in the top tier. The best blue card in the top tier right now is arguably Blighted Agent. I don't think that's where we want to be.
But collectively wouldn't you consider the Uxx strategies together to fulfill that role? So some people like Tasigur, some people like Path, and some people like Sphinx's Rev, they're all effectively policing the same subset of decks in the role that you're advocating for, there just isn't 1 specific deck that's doing it on it's own.
It's better than nothing but it's not optimal. The collective share of Tier 2 decks is tenuous. There are plenty of people on this forum alone, let alone in LGS's and other boards across the internet, who claim URx is struggling despite that collective share. This perception can move people away from the decks because they think they aren't good when, in reality, they are pretty decent. This reduces the blue-based share and removes the regulatory force. A solid Tier 1 representative would shore up that share, ensuring that perceptions can't drag down the collective prevalence in future months. A Tier 1 blue deck would encourage people to stay on the archetype (and its many faces) and prop up that collective share.
So what you're saying is, the decks are fine and Uxx IS policing a healthy part of the format, but because players are too stupid to add the collective meta shares of a few different decks (that all play alllllmost identically but run a few different cards and thus have different classifications) then we should all continue to hope that one specific color combination should rise to be tier 1. Dumb. YOU'RE not dumb, but the playerbase certainly is.
Yep, players can be dumb and metagames react to such perceptions. But two things to be clear. First, it's not just a perception based on my Nexus articles. It's a widespread perception that would exist regardless of whether I labeled them Tier 1 or Tier 2. That perception might prevent players from sleeving up the deck to up its metagame share. Second, we don't know to what extent it's a perception issue versus an issue of any individual deck lacking the resources to succeed beyond its Tier 2 share. We just need more data at this point.