Mark Rosewater confirmed that Infernal Judgment was intended for Modern. Neat to see more confirmation that they are willing to design specifically for Modern.
i agree that confirmation is nice. more access to hate cards aimed at specific decks is good and all, but unless they hit enough targets to free up sideboard space it isnt going to accomplish much.
modern continues to be a great format, particularly in smaller scale settings where you can leverage good sideboarding. the 'issues' that people tend to cite show themselves when the diversity of modern is in full force. in those cases its simply easier to fight against opposing hate rather than playing it yourself.
a promising sign nonetheless.
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Modern: UWGSnow-Bant Control BURGrixis Death's Shadow GWBCoCo Elves WCDeath and Taxes (sold)
Nicol Bolas, the Ravager 1UBR
Legendary Creature - Elder Dragon
Flying
When Nicol Bolas, the Ravager enters the battlefield, each opponent discards a card.
4UBR: Exile Nicol Bolas, the Ravager, then return him to the battlefield transformed under his owner's control. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.
4/4
[flip]
Nicol Bolas, the Arisen
Legendary Planeswalker - Bolas
+2 Draw two cards
-3 Nicol Bolas, the Arisen deals 10 damage to target creature or planeswalker
-4 Put target creature or planeswalker card from a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control
-12 Exile all but the bottom card of target player's library
[7]
wizards really has a hard-on for flip cards. ETB trigger guarantees a 2-for-1, but shrug worthy otherwise.
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Modern: UWGSnow-Bant Control BURGrixis Death's Shadow GWBCoCo Elves WCDeath and Taxes (sold)
Nicol bolas is viable in modern. Specifically I like it in the grixis pyro shell, it advances their GP, makes the opponent lose resources, and if they get flooded. Turns into a powerful PW tool, maybe a 1-2 of in the SB.
the planeswalkers from pre-constructed 'planeswalkers decks' are meant to be expensive to cast and suck, even for standard. only ajani, adversary of tyrants and vivien reid are from the actual core set.
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Modern: UWGSnow-Bant Control BURGrixis Death's Shadow GWBCoCo Elves WCDeath and Taxes (sold)
Bolas could be the 4-drop of Grixis lists. I mean, Kalitas and P&K have already seen play there. With a specific build, 1x Bolas might work out in the main deck. It reminds me of Kess in a few Legacy Grixis lists.
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Pioneer - A bunch of stuff Modern - Humans Legacy - Grixis Phoenix / Death & Taxes
Bolas could be the 4-drop of Grixis lists. I mean, Kalitas and P&K have already seen play there. With a specific build, 1x Bolas might work out in the main deck. It reminds me of Kess in a few Legacy Grixis lists.
Yeah, the new Bolas is pretty decent as a Grixis midrange/control finisher. The only way you'll go even on cards in a trade is if they've got a Planeswalker that kills him or a 4/5 or bigger flying blocker. Plus, most Grixis builds run Kolaghan's, making these trades way more favorable to you.
The new Ajani at 4 cmc is a borderline case I think. It's -2 pretty good with Snapcaster Mage, though.
i dunno if id rate bolas on the same level as kess, or even near it. its certainly a value 4-drop, but i dont think grixis in the market for those at the moment.
ajani is pretty lackluster. even if there are a bunch of good 2-drops to get back, it just suffers from being another 4-drop walker in white.
edit: also i sorta get why they made the bolas flip sorcery speed, but i think it was unnecessary. its not like walkers entering the field at instant speed is entirely unheard of.
The point of bolas is already in a discard heavy mid-range like pyromancer. We can always see a 4-C pyromancer with field of ruin everywhere, fetch a basic island and play bolas after using the plethora on discard spells to dissolve them of resources.
Even if you don't sink the mana, 4 for a 4/4 flying with upside is hard to denounce as unplayable that adds to the game plan for that type of deck.
It is not a control finisher at all, since you need mana along with casting him to protect him. Which is why I preferred the pyro discard strategy. I rather think of it as if you got 6 Mana, you can flip for a bigger upside, otherwise running it into the face for 4 is also never bad, the flip shouldn't be seen as "I must be able to flip this every game" into "I flooded out while trying to grind my opponent and got enough to flip Nikky B for turning the game around."
Would you really play Bolas over another copy of Kolaghan's Command in a Grixis deck? Command has the same discard mode, but is cheaper and more flexible. If you use it to bring back and cast a Tasigur, the Golden Fang, you've spent 4 mana for a discard and a 4/5 mana sink. That's pretty close to 4 mana for a discard and a 4/4 flying mana sink.
I think the floor on Bolas is about the same as Command, but the ceiling on Command is a lot higher due to its multiple modes.
Elvish Clancaller likely replaces Elvish Visionary in Elves. Stat-wise it's worse than the Merfolk equivalent (1/1 and doesn't grant evasion), but the ability is basically a Gavony Township activation (plus vulnerability to be undone by removal, minus the cost of playing a colorless-producing land).
Volley Veteran is...Gempalm Incinerator? Flametongue Kavu? Not quite either of those, but it does serve a role as a removal spell with the "creature" type in an Aether Vial-based goblin deck. Also, this would be a good time to bring up Goblin Instigator again, which, while mostly being a worse Mogg War Marshal, can be Vialed in (unlike Krenko's Command or Dragon Fodder) and provides two extra damage for Veteran. I think it's probably better than Goblin Grenade just by being a 2-for-1 instead of a 1-for-2, despite the higher mana cost.
Would you really play Bolas over another copy of Kolaghan's Command in a Grixis deck? Command has the same discard mode, but is cheaper and more flexible. If you use it to bring back and cast a Tasigur, the Golden Fang, you've spent 4 mana for a discard and a 4/5 mana sink. That's pretty close to 4 mana for a discard and a 4/4 flying mana sink.
I think the floor on Bolas is about the same as Command, but the ceiling on Command is a lot higher due to its multiple modes.
Comparing Bolas to Kcomamand is incorrect. If you run Bolas, you're running 4 Kcommand. He should be compared to P&K, Olivia, Thought-Knot Seer, or Kalitas- or even Tasigur. He'd be used in a slower, more discard focused version of Grixis as a finisher in place of Angler or Tasigur. In that context, I think he's pretty viable. He's extremely difficult to trade efficiently with. There's no targeted removal spell that trades well with him, his owner always ends up ahead a card.
After testing Militia Bugler in Death and Taxes and Humans, he's better than I thought. Tangible advantages this guy has over Foul Emissary include not dying to Kolaghan's Command or Collective Brutality, brick-walling Snapcasters instead of dying to them, and needing an inordinately high number of Lingering Souls tokens to kill him off. Both he and Foul Emissary whiff shockingly often, though.
Is Viashino Pyromancer viable in Burn? It's an immediate 2 damage to the opposing noggin, which is a pretty good rate when it's got cheap legs--too bad the damage is targeted!
Alpine Moon
R
Enchantment
As Alpine Moon enters the battlefield, choose a nonbasic land card name. Lands your opponents control with the chosen name lose all land types and abilities, and they gain "T: Add one mana of any color."
yooooo.
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Modern: UWGSnow-Bant Control BURGrixis Death's Shadow GWBCoCo Elves WCDeath and Taxes (sold)
Finally, a 2-drop Elf lord, didn't think I would live to see it!
It's probably reserved for the grinding, value versions of Elves but makes a good Ezuri impression there. EoT company for Clancaller and Archdruid threatens an immediate +3 / +3 on the following turn, and even alone she can quickly break stalemates.
Combo versions will skip on her since Devoted druid and Visionary are more useful but still glad to see a honest attempt at helping the archetype since Marwyn was disappointing.
Alpine Moon is also Valakut vs Valakut savvy. It hits only the opponent.
Edit: This card accomplishes a whole host of things... I'm actually really impressed. I do want to poke the bear a bit and ask though... Blood Moon ban? Might be more realistic with this thing in print.
Got another card that's pretty clearly aimed at Modern in Alpine Moon.
Seems like a solid SB choice for red decks that can't afford to run Blood Moon.
Hits Tron lands (they care about the suptype, not the cardname!), hits Valakut, hits Cavern of Souls, hits manlands (think Collonades in the Jeskai Mirror or Inkmoth Nexus) and other relevant utility lands like Azcanta the Sunken Ruin. And all that for only 1 mana!
This is by no means a Tron killer (between O-Stone and Nature's Claim it's more like a speedbump) but the low mana cost, versatility against other decks, the low cost and lastly the fact that the only deck building restriction it asks you for is playing red (unlike Damping Sphere) make me think this has high chances of seeing SB play in Modern. Solid card Wizards, nice!
It's a very narrow sideboard card but yes finally something that hits BOTH big mana strategies, unlike Sphere which only hit Tron and Blood Sun which only hit Valakut
Alpine Moon
R
Enchantment
As Alpine Moon enters the battlefield, choose a nonbasic land card name. Lands your opponents control with the chosen name lose all land types and abilities, and they gain "T: Add one mana of any color."
yooooo.
Ho-lee ***** that card is great. Like, REALLY great. This hits so many significant and unfair Modern staples across top-tier strategies:
Tron lands
E Temple
Valakut
Inkmoth and Blinkmoth
Inventor's Fair
Colonnade
Cavern of Souls
Township
Azcanta
It's rarely dead and is relevant in many matchups. The 1 cmc is CRITICAL here, as it allows decks to establish disruption early and then pivot to their primary game plan immediately. 10/10, thank you Wizards and Play Design.
This would still be good as A 9/9 or even an 8/9... but they made it a 10/10. Powerrcreep is scary.
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modern continues to be a great format, particularly in smaller scale settings where you can leverage good sideboarding. the 'issues' that people tend to cite show themselves when the diversity of modern is in full force. in those cases its simply easier to fight against opposing hate rather than playing it yourself.
a promising sign nonetheless.
UWGSnow-Bant Control
BURGrixis Death's Shadow
GWBCoCo Elves
WCDeath and Taxes(sold)Legendary Creature - Elder Dragon
Flying
When Nicol Bolas, the Ravager enters the battlefield, each opponent discards a card.
4UBR: Exile Nicol Bolas, the Ravager, then return him to the battlefield transformed under his owner's control. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.
4/4
[flip]
Nicol Bolas, the Arisen
Legendary Planeswalker - Bolas
+2 Draw two cards
-3 Nicol Bolas, the Arisen deals 10 damage to target creature or planeswalker
-4 Put target creature or planeswalker card from a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control
-12 Exile all but the bottom card of target player's library
[7]
wizards really has a hard-on for flip cards. ETB trigger guarantees a 2-for-1, but shrug worthy otherwise.
UWGSnow-Bant Control
BURGrixis Death's Shadow
GWBCoCo Elves
WCDeath and Taxes(sold)Liliana, Ajani 1, Ajani 2, Vivien Reid.
There are also a bunch of overcosted ones as well: Vivien 2, Sarkhan, Tezzeret.
the planeswalkers from pre-constructed 'planeswalkers decks' are meant to be expensive to cast and suck, even for standard. only ajani, adversary of tyrants and vivien reid are from the actual core set.
UWGSnow-Bant Control
BURGrixis Death's Shadow
GWBCoCo Elves
WCDeath and Taxes(sold)Yeah, the new Bolas is pretty decent as a Grixis midrange/control finisher. The only way you'll go even on cards in a trade is if they've got a Planeswalker that kills him or a 4/5 or bigger flying blocker. Plus, most Grixis builds run Kolaghan's, making these trades way more favorable to you.
The new Ajani at 4 cmc is a borderline case I think. It's -2 pretty good with Snapcaster Mage, though.
ajani is pretty lackluster. even if there are a bunch of good 2-drops to get back, it just suffers from being another 4-drop walker in white.
edit: also i sorta get why they made the bolas flip sorcery speed, but i think it was unnecessary. its not like walkers entering the field at instant speed is entirely unheard of.
UWGSnow-Bant Control
BURGrixis Death's Shadow
GWBCoCo Elves
WCDeath and Taxes(sold)Given how hard it is to hit and sink 7 mana at sorcery speed, I don't think Kid Bolas is viable.
Even if you don't sink the mana, 4 for a 4/4 flying with upside is hard to denounce as unplayable that adds to the game plan for that type of deck.
It is not a control finisher at all, since you need mana along with casting him to protect him. Which is why I preferred the pyro discard strategy. I rather think of it as if you got 6 Mana, you can flip for a bigger upside, otherwise running it into the face for 4 is also never bad, the flip shouldn't be seen as "I must be able to flip this every game" into "I flooded out while trying to grind my opponent and got enough to flip Nikky B for turning the game around."
I think the floor on Bolas is about the same as Command, but the ceiling on Command is a lot higher due to its multiple modes.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
Volley Veteran is...Gempalm Incinerator? Flametongue Kavu? Not quite either of those, but it does serve a role as a removal spell with the "creature" type in an Aether Vial-based goblin deck. Also, this would be a good time to bring up Goblin Instigator again, which, while mostly being a worse Mogg War Marshal, can be Vialed in (unlike Krenko's Command or Dragon Fodder) and provides two extra damage for Veteran. I think it's probably better than Goblin Grenade just by being a 2-for-1 instead of a 1-for-2, despite the higher mana cost.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
Comparing Bolas to Kcomamand is incorrect. If you run Bolas, you're running 4 Kcommand. He should be compared to P&K, Olivia, Thought-Knot Seer, or Kalitas- or even Tasigur. He'd be used in a slower, more discard focused version of Grixis as a finisher in place of Angler or Tasigur. In that context, I think he's pretty viable. He's extremely difficult to trade efficiently with. There's no targeted removal spell that trades well with him, his owner always ends up ahead a card.
No ?
Is Viashino Pyromancer viable in Burn? It's an immediate 2 damage to the opposing noggin, which is a pretty good rate when it's got cheap legs--too bad the damage is targeted!
Modern - Cheeri0s (building), Belcher (building), Lantern (building), UW Control (building)
RIP Magic Duels. Wizards will regret what they did to you.
R
Enchantment
As Alpine Moon enters the battlefield, choose a nonbasic land card name. Lands your opponents control with the chosen name lose all land types and abilities, and they gain "T: Add one mana of any color."
yooooo.
UWGSnow-Bant Control
BURGrixis Death's Shadow
GWBCoCo Elves
WCDeath and Taxes(sold)It's probably reserved for the grinding, value versions of Elves but makes a good Ezuri impression there. EoT company for Clancaller and Archdruid threatens an immediate +3 / +3 on the following turn, and even alone she can quickly break stalemates.
Combo versions will skip on her since Devoted druid and Visionary are more useful but still glad to see a honest attempt at helping the archetype since Marwyn was disappointing.
Edit: This card accomplishes a whole host of things... I'm actually really impressed. I do want to poke the bear a bit and ask though... Blood Moon ban? Might be more realistic with this thing in print.
"Reveal a Dragon"
Seems like a solid SB choice for red decks that can't afford to run Blood Moon.
Hits Tron lands (they care about the suptype, not the cardname!), hits Valakut, hits Cavern of Souls, hits manlands (think Collonades in the Jeskai Mirror or Inkmoth Nexus) and other relevant utility lands like Azcanta the Sunken Ruin. And all that for only 1 mana!
This is by no means a Tron killer (between O-Stone and Nature's Claim it's more like a speedbump) but the low mana cost, versatility against other decks, the low cost and lastly the fact that the only deck building restriction it asks you for is playing red (unlike Damping Sphere) make me think this has high chances of seeing SB play in Modern. Solid card Wizards, nice!
Ho-lee ***** that card is great. Like, REALLY great. This hits so many significant and unfair Modern staples across top-tier strategies:
Tron lands
E Temple
Valakut
Inkmoth and Blinkmoth
Inventor's Fair
Colonnade
Cavern of Souls
Township
Azcanta
It's rarely dead and is relevant in many matchups. The 1 cmc is CRITICAL here, as it allows decks to establish disruption early and then pivot to their primary game plan immediately. 10/10, thank you Wizards and Play Design.
Dunno if it merits maindeck inclusion but for now it's great.Doesn't belong too much here but props for the Scapeshift and Crucible reprints.