This guy was once a staple of Legacy, seeing play in decks like Butter Knives. Now, he has vanished from Modern. Is he the embodiment of the whole "dies to bolt" phenomenon? Is 8-rack too anti-creature to include him?
Since he's a 3-drop, you could run him in Abzan Company and tutor him out when you wanted a discard critter. When would we want to do this?
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Ideally you don't want to play creatures that don't have abilities that are relevent the turn you play it. Especially when you have access to ones that do. This is because if creature just gets removed next turn (or earlier) your tempo is lost. ETB effects, Haste, end of turn, beginning of each players upkeep or beginning of another phase triggers (ex. Goblin Rabblemaster are generally superior to on your upkeep, dealing combat damage and attacking triggers (unless its accompanied by haste or some sort of protection eg. Skullbriar, the Walking Grave and Geist of Saint Traft.
Even then attacking triggers are prefered over deals combat damage triggers and your upkeep triggers are even better than the former two.
The beauty of Specter lies in his three mana cost. The possibility of going Dark Ritual, Hypnotic Specter against the permission-heavy control decks of past times was just too good. Modern on the other hand has a) much more interactive decks (yes, even "control" decks play basically all Lightning Bolt or something similar) and b) has no natural way of setting up a Hypnotic Specter on turn 1. Another point is: His prime had Hypnotic Specter probably during the Black Summer. Even if your opponent managed to 2-for-1 you by getting rid of your Specter, Necropotence meant that you would win the attrition war at the end. Drawing their removal spells hurt your opponents often many times more than you. (You can get a feeling for this (if you haven't witnessed this first hand back in the day) by looking at Randy Buehler's Gauntlet of Greatness on Youtube. If I remember correctly, Necro wins the whole thing dismantling many of the most notorious offenders of Combo Winter. It's just ridiculous.) This blasphemy of card advantage is just not possible in modern Modern.
I prefer in every way Sedraxis Specter. When I did play it briefly in modern, no one EVER expected it to pop out of the grave. Ruined a lot of plans.
Agreed. Unearth means that even if removed it hasn't been completely nullified. The extra power is really nice too. Even though the discard effect is weaker it's a better card overall.
Even back in the day he wasn't bolt or swords proof and still managed to find a home. The problem I think Hypnotic has is he needs tons of support around it, and now it just isn't there.
Even back in the day he wasn't bolt or swords proof and still managed to find a home. The problem I think Hypnotic has is he needs tons of support around it, and now it just isn't there.
Totally different metagame and game context. I don't think Hypnotic would see play in Modern even if Bolt weren't in the format! It's just too slow and low-impact against too many decks.
If you want to revisit this cards glory days I do not think you can.
But you can finda shell to him. First you should back him up with thoutsieze etc. to make shure your oponents removal is gone. This is much the same way you cast hymn to tourach in the old days.
A turn 1 bird of patadise can also let you play him out faster then usual, much like dark ritual was before.
The beaty of him is that the discard is random. That word can destroy a lot of plans.
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This guy was once a staple of Legacy, seeing play in decks like Butter Knives. Now, he has vanished from Modern. Is he the embodiment of the whole "dies to bolt" phenomenon? Is 8-rack too anti-creature to include him?
Since he's a 3-drop, you could run him in Abzan Company and tutor him out when you wanted a discard critter. When would we want to do this?
Okay I'll bite. To play this card in modern. You want to play spellskite with it to save it from bolt. It may not be great but it's an option to protect it.
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well, this is what i as an economist call "creature inflation and spells deflation", in english, creatures are each day more powerfull and spells then to get weaker, or at least dont get better as much as creatures ( hard to win against a 1cc draw 3 cards XD). Hypnotic specter was a card, and now is meh, like spiritmonger, morphling, etc.
Is not garbage, but there are far better option nowadays
It sort of faces the redundancy that old time wonders like Shivan Dragon deal with. Creatures just got a lot better while spells got weaker. Hypnotic specter was insanely powerful when he was originally printed thanks to Dark Ritual and numerous other cards powering him through, and I lived through black summer so I can attest to how brutal it could be in the right hands.
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1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
The beauty of Specter lies in his three mana cost. The possibility of going Dark Ritual, Hypnotic Specter against the permission-heavy control decks of past times was just too good. Modern on the other hand has a) much more interactive decks (yes, even "control" decks play basically all Lightning Bolt or something similar) and b) has no natural way of setting up a Hypnotic Specter on turn 1. Another point is: His prime had Hypnotic Specter probably during the Black Summer. Even if your opponent managed to 2-for-1 you by getting rid of your Specter, Necropotence meant that you would win the attrition war at the end. Drawing their removal spells hurt your opponents often many times more than you. (You can get a feeling for this (if you haven't witnessed this first hand back in the day) by looking at Randy Buehler's Gauntlet of Greatness on Youtube. If I remember correctly, Necro wins the whole thing dismantling many of the most notorious offenders of Combo Winter. It's just ridiculous.) This blasphemy of card advantage is just not possible in modern Modern.
Necropotence won the whole thing (though when they later redid it, it lost to Black Devotion in the quarterfinals and the winner of the whole tournament was Mythic Conscription of all things), but I think you've overvaluing Necropotence and Dark Ritual a bit. Yeah, those are crazy good cards, and they were critical to the success of that deck, but they're not the most broken thing in that deck. The most broken thing was the 4 copies of Strip Mine.
Necropotence also never had to deal with Stasis in the Gauntlet of Greatness (wasn't in the original and when it was added in a later one, it never was matched up against Necropotence), and Stasis was pretty good against the deck--indeed, that's part of the reason the deck was popular back then; it was favored against Necropotence (though admittedly I think this was after Strip Mine and Hymn to Tourach got restricted).
All that said, I do find it hilarious that Hypnotic Specter was banned in Extended. Further note that this was three years before Dark Ritual got hit and four years before Necropotence was gone. It was basically the Bloodbraid Elf of its day to the Deathrite Shaman that was Dark Ritual and Necropotence.
The beauty of Specter lies in his three mana cost. The possibility of going Dark Ritual, Hypnotic Specter against the permission-heavy control decks of past times was just too good. Modern on the other hand has a) much more interactive decks (yes, even "control" decks play basically all Lightning Bolt or something similar) and b) has no natural way of setting up a Hypnotic Specter on turn 1. Another point is: His prime had Hypnotic Specter probably during the Black Summer. Even if your opponent managed to 2-for-1 you by getting rid of your Specter, Necropotence meant that you would win the attrition war at the end. Drawing their removal spells hurt your opponents often many times more than you. (You can get a feeling for this (if you haven't witnessed this first hand back in the day) by looking at Randy Buehler's Gauntlet of Greatness on Youtube. If I remember correctly, Necro wins the whole thing dismantling many of the most notorious offenders of Combo Winter. It's just ridiculous.) This blasphemy of card advantage is just not possible in modern Modern.
Necropotence won the whole thing (though when they later redid it, it lost to Black Devotion in the quarterfinals and the winner of the whole tournament was Mythic Conscription of all things), but I think you've overvaluing Necropotence and Dark Ritual a bit. Yeah, those are crazy good cards, and they were critical to the success of that deck, but they're not the most broken thing in that deck. The most broken thing was the 4 copies of Strip Mine.
Necropotence also never had to deal with Stasis in the Gauntlet of Greatness (wasn't in the original and when it was added in a later one, it never was matched up against Necropotence), and Stasis was pretty good against the deck--indeed, that's part of the reason the deck was popular back then; it was favored against Necropotence (though admittedly I think this was after Strip Mine and Hymn to Tourach got restricted).
All that said, I do find it hilarious that Hypnotic Specter was banned in Extended. Further note that this was three years before Dark Ritual got hit and four years before Necropotence was gone. It was basically the Bloodbraid Elf of its day to the Deathrite Shaman that was Dark Ritual and Necropotence.
Dark ritual is one of the most busted cards in the history of the game. It's not being overrated whatsoever.
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Dark ritual is one of the most busted cards in the history of the game. It's not being overrated whatsoever.
Dark Ritual is so goshdarn broken it's not actually banned in Legacy (or restricted in Vintage) and sees play in like one deck (two if you count the Tier 2 Reanimator, though some Reanimator lists eschew it) that's not even the best combo deck. It's a great card, and certainly more powerful than it has any right to be, but is not "one of the most busted cards in the history of the game" as a quick look at the Legacy banned list will attest. It's certainly nowhere near as broken as a zero mana Instant speed uncounterable Stone Rain that can also produce mana for you.
Now that I think more about it, in the Bloodbraid Elf/Deathrite Shaman comparison, Dark Ritual is more like the Bloodbraid Elf (i.e. the card that was a scapegoat for the actual problem card but was still, even after the banning of the actual problem card, powerful enough that unbanning it could be chancy), though Necropotence remains Deathrite Shaman. Hypnotic Specter is more like, I don't know, Wild Nacatl? Valakut?
Dark ritual is one of the most busted cards in the history of the game. It's not being overrated whatsoever.
Dark Ritual is so goshdarn broken it's not actually banned in Legacy (or restricted in Vintage) and sees play in like one deck (two if you count the Tier 2 Reanimator, though some Reanimator lists eschew it) that's not even the best combo deck. It's a great card, and certainly more powerful than it has any right to be, but is not "one of the most busted cards in the history of the game" as a quick look at the Legacy banned list will attest. It's certainly nowhere near as broken as a zero mana Instant speed uncounterable Stone Rain that can also produce mana for you.
Now that I think more about it, in the Bloodbraid Elf/Deathrite Shaman comparison, Dark Ritual is more like the Bloodbraid Elf (i.e. the card that was a scapegoat for the actual problem card but was still, even after the banning of the actual problem card, powerful enough that unbanning it could be chancy), though Necropotence remains Deathrite Shaman. Hypnotic Specter is more like, I don't know, Wild Nacatl? Valakut?
Your post ignores so much history behind this card that it's not even worth talking to you about. Did you forget that the card powers a TIER 1 combo deck in legacy/vintage (storm).
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Your post ignores so much history behind this card that it's not even worth talking to you about.
Okay, here's some history. The card never got banned in Standard, hard to believe for "one of the most busted cards in the history of the game." Someone might point out the same is true for Necropotence, but Necropotence wasn't Standard legal for as long; Dark Ritual stayed around and never got banned. In fact, if you look at older Standard decks (once the initial Necro-Summer was over), Dark Ritual, while seeing play, wasn't really dominant. For example, if you look at the top two decks in the 1997 World Championships (and I believe this was back when they were more open than they are now and thus not just an inbred FNM), neither ran it, even though the first place one is filled with Black cards that a Dark Ritual would power out more quickly (4x Black Knight 4x Fallen Askari 4x Knight of Stromgald 1x Necratog 4x Nekrataal 4x Choking Sands). The only format "one of the most busted cards in the history of the game" ever got banned in was Extended and that was mostly in a last-ditch effort to avoid banning Necropotence.
The idea that Dark Ritual is somehow on the level of cards like the Moxen, Black Lotus, Ancestral Recall, Demonic Consultation, Strip Mine, and so on is fairly laughable. It's a really darn good card, but it sure is not "one of the most busted cards in the history of the game." All you have to do is look at the actually busted cards to see the dramatic difference.
Did you forget that the card powers a TIER 1 combo deck in legacy/vintage (storm).
Uh, no, I didn't forget, considering I mentioned that, even if not by name. But you ignore a few things. First, sure, it powers a Tier 1 deck (well, usually Tier 1, Storm kind of flits in and out of that category). That doesn't make a card "one of the most busted cards in the history of the game" it just makes it a good card. Infernal Tutor powers it too, is that one of the most busted cards in the history of the game? You also conspicuously ignored my other point, which is that while Storm is good, the deck's not dominant or anything, and it's not even the best combo deck (which is Show and Tell). Please explain how "one of the most busted cards in the history of the game" is not only not busted enough to warrant banning, but doesn't have that big a presence in the format (Storm is about on the level of Death & Taxes) and the only major deck it's played in isn't even the best deck in its category.
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This guy was once a staple of Legacy, seeing play in decks like Butter Knives. Now, he has vanished from Modern. Is he the embodiment of the whole "dies to bolt" phenomenon? Is 8-rack too anti-creature to include him?
Since he's a 3-drop, you could run him in Abzan Company and tutor him out when you wanted a discard critter. When would we want to do this?
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Sin Collector is better in Abzan Company.
| Ad Nauseam
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Big Johnny.
Even then attacking triggers are prefered over deals combat damage triggers and your upkeep triggers are even better than the former two.
BChainer, Dementia Master(Big Mana/Reanimator)
BRRakdos, The Showstopper (Mass Life Loss/Ramp)
BUThe Scarab God (Zombie Tribal/Control)
BWKarlov of the Ghost Council (Life Gain)
BGJarad, Golgari Lich Lord (Stompy/Dredge)
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher (Tokens/Non-infinite Combo)
BChainer, Dementia Master(Big Mana/Reanimator)
BRRakdos, The Showstopper (Mass Life Loss/Ramp)
BUThe Scarab God (Zombie Tribal/Control)
BWKarlov of the Ghost Council (Life Gain)
BGJarad, Golgari Lich Lord (Stompy/Dredge)
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher (Tokens/Non-infinite Combo)
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Totally different metagame and game context. I don't think Hypnotic would see play in Modern even if Bolt weren't in the format! It's just too slow and low-impact against too many decks.
But you can finda shell to him. First you should back him up with thoutsieze etc. to make shure your oponents removal is gone. This is much the same way you cast hymn to tourach in the old days.
A turn 1 bird of patadise can also let you play him out faster then usual, much like dark ritual was before.
The beaty of him is that the discard is random. That word can destroy a lot of plans.
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Current Decks
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Okay I'll bite. To play this card in modern. You want to play spellskite with it to save it from bolt. It may not be great but it's an option to protect it.
Decks I'm playing in Modern right now:
URB Grixis Reveler (http://www.mtgvault.com/supast4r7/decks/modern-grixis-reveler/)
UB Faeries (http://www.mtgvault.com/supast4r7/decks/ub-fae-2/)
UW Azorious Control (http://www.mtgvault.com/supast4r7/decks/modern-ojutai-control-2/)
Is not garbage, but there are far better option nowadays
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Necropotence also never had to deal with Stasis in the Gauntlet of Greatness (wasn't in the original and when it was added in a later one, it never was matched up against Necropotence), and Stasis was pretty good against the deck--indeed, that's part of the reason the deck was popular back then; it was favored against Necropotence (though admittedly I think this was after Strip Mine and Hymn to Tourach got restricted).
All that said, I do find it hilarious that Hypnotic Specter was banned in Extended. Further note that this was three years before Dark Ritual got hit and four years before Necropotence was gone. It was basically the Bloodbraid Elf of its day to the Deathrite Shaman that was Dark Ritual and Necropotence.
Dark ritual is one of the most busted cards in the history of the game. It's not being overrated whatsoever.
Decks I'm playing in Modern right now:
URB Grixis Reveler (http://www.mtgvault.com/supast4r7/decks/modern-grixis-reveler/)
UB Faeries (http://www.mtgvault.com/supast4r7/decks/ub-fae-2/)
UW Azorious Control (http://www.mtgvault.com/supast4r7/decks/modern-ojutai-control-2/)
Now that I think more about it, in the Bloodbraid Elf/Deathrite Shaman comparison, Dark Ritual is more like the Bloodbraid Elf (i.e. the card that was a scapegoat for the actual problem card but was still, even after the banning of the actual problem card, powerful enough that unbanning it could be chancy), though Necropotence remains Deathrite Shaman. Hypnotic Specter is more like, I don't know, Wild Nacatl? Valakut?
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Your post ignores so much history behind this card that it's not even worth talking to you about. Did you forget that the card powers a TIER 1 combo deck in legacy/vintage (storm).
Decks I'm playing in Modern right now:
URB Grixis Reveler (http://www.mtgvault.com/supast4r7/decks/modern-grixis-reveler/)
UB Faeries (http://www.mtgvault.com/supast4r7/decks/ub-fae-2/)
UW Azorious Control (http://www.mtgvault.com/supast4r7/decks/modern-ojutai-control-2/)
The idea that Dark Ritual is somehow on the level of cards like the Moxen, Black Lotus, Ancestral Recall, Demonic Consultation, Strip Mine, and so on is fairly laughable. It's a really darn good card, but it sure is not "one of the most busted cards in the history of the game." All you have to do is look at the actually busted cards to see the dramatic difference.
Uh, no, I didn't forget, considering I mentioned that, even if not by name. But you ignore a few things. First, sure, it powers a Tier 1 deck (well, usually Tier 1, Storm kind of flits in and out of that category). That doesn't make a card "one of the most busted cards in the history of the game" it just makes it a good card. Infernal Tutor powers it too, is that one of the most busted cards in the history of the game? You also conspicuously ignored my other point, which is that while Storm is good, the deck's not dominant or anything, and it's not even the best combo deck (which is Show and Tell). Please explain how "one of the most busted cards in the history of the game" is not only not busted enough to warrant banning, but doesn't have that big a presence in the format (Storm is about on the level of Death & Taxes) and the only major deck it's played in isn't even the best deck in its category.