MTG Salvation

It's the return of everyone's favorite polls! So, vote away! And be sure to check out the banning poll and vote in there also!

Per mod request, please keep actual discussion of the banlist in the banlist discussion thread, not here.

Voted for nothing. I know AV is the popular choice, but we really don't need a card that further encourages people to play unfair decks.

I do find it a bit funny that Wizards won't allow Sword/Foundry in the format because it oppresses aggro while at the same time a card that locks aggro out of the game for 3 mana is legal. But I'm not sure it's the right time to unban Sword. I think it would hurt the more fair interactive aggro decks like Zoo and push aggro players toward stuff like Merfolk and Burn.

Yeah I dont want to hit Zoo at all, I think it may be creeping up on the meta. I voted for AV though, I think it would be safe to come off, and would boost up Control strategies a bit. Maybe it helps combo to, but its not like the Combo decks are running wild right now either. Only issue to me, is would it ramp up Twin too much (all 3 or 4 shades).

My issue with it is that it encourages linear strategies that aim to end the game before AV resolves. It helps Control decks, but in the matchups they are already good in.

Voted for the following:
ancestral visions: remand is too present in modern for anyone other than a dedicated control deck to play more than one or two copies, and it could be the edge needed to push grixis away from its midrange build to a more stable, true-control deck. It also incidentally helps solidify UW into tier two.

Jace, the Mind Sculptor: I know it won't be unbanned. That doesn't change my opinion that it's pretty much unplayable in anything but a hard control deck. It *might* give the lantern deck a new toy, but mostly I think it'll be a boon for the more dedicated control decks once again. Twin probably won't use it--Jace, AOT already is barely playable out of the board and he stops lingering souls and opposing twin combo. Tapping low for JTMS in the twin mirror is probably doom.

preordain: I want this unbanned, coupled with a serum visions ban. That preserves the cantrip density in the format, while giving a better cantrip to the fair decks and giving storm combo a slight boost. It's the kind of spell that increases the interactivity of fair matches while enabling fair decks to more efficiently dig for answers against unfair ones.

Sword of the Meek: You can't even justify this being on the ban list when abrupt decay AND kolaghan's command exist to keep it severely in check, and it basically ONLY empowers an esper-shard control deck or 3-4 color gifts/loam decks, things which could quite frankly do with a boost. No reason to keep this on the ban list.

Basically voted for bloodbraid elf and the storm cards.
Storm's pretty weak right now and giving it better fast mana wouldn't push it over the top imo
I'm using CoCo to justify a bloodbraid elf unbanning. They're pretty similar cards if you think about it.

control needs card selection to be good. it doesn't necessarily need to draw cards (but of course that's good as well). so i voted for preordain. sure, it helps twin be slightly more consistent, but it'll help control be more consistent as well. plus it'll give real tempo strategies a shot in the arm, which run over the tempo variant of the twin deck.

i voted for dig through time for the same reason. twin doesn't get that much better with it, but pretty much every other Uxx midrange and control deck does. once again, selection over draw.

i also voted for the artifact lands. affinity doesn't get that much better, like sure, they can go all in more easily, but it also opens them up to a lot more hate. plus disciple of the vault isn't suddenly going to be good. hangerback sort of lets you already do that (albeit a bit slower) and no one is running it. it'll also enable a ton more decks as well, such as metalcraft and UBx tezzeret.

sword of the meek because it should have been unbanned a year ago.

stoneforge mystic because if you can cheat 2 creatures of cmc 3 or less onto the field, i should be able to cheat a batterskull or sword. sure, it tutors as well, but hey, people like doing powerful things.

I voted for deathrite shaman because im sick of snapcaster/goyf owning the format...

I think the correct answer is none. I voted for Jace, Preordain and AV because we can dream

Quote from amalek0 »

Sword of the Meek: You can't even justify this being on the ban list when abrupt decay AND kolaghan's command exist to keep it severely in check, and it basically ONLY empowers an esper-shard control deck or 3-4 color gifts/loam decks, things which could quite frankly do with a boost. No reason to keep this on the ban list.

Quote from germanturkey »

sword of the meek because it should have been unbanned a year ago.

I voted only for this one. I think it's the safest unban, the format is pretty good right now, and we don't need to make too many changes at once (or it gets tough to judge them).

Quote from MasterQuestMaster »

Voted for Storm cards, but not Seething Song.

Do you think seething song would make storm too strong? I can see it being good in ascension versions but what makes seething song so much more powerful than rituals?

Ancestral Vision has never seen modern play but I highly doubt it's broken since the quickset it draws you cards is turn 4. It was great in standard faeries but some forget that faeries had a lot more tools than AV , like ,Ponder, Cryptic Command, Remand, Damnation, Mistbind Clique Vendillion Clique and so on.

I just want SFM, simply because Paladin.dek has never had a chance in modern and I'd like to try it out, even if SFM ends up getting banned again.

Really though, modern should have started with no cards banned, even if they could forsee those cards being extremely problematic. They should just have started from scratch and let the cards find their way into the list on their own merit even if just to silence all the people who clamor for the unbanning of some those cards.

Atm I'm happy with the Format as it is (hence, nothing). However, sooner or later I want to see those cards unbanned:

Sword of the Meek, AV, Seething Song, Bloodbraid Elf, Dread Return (very unlikely), the artiact lands (all of them), Dig through Time, Jace or maybe Stoneforge.

Greetings,
Kathal

I want sword of the meek to give a boost to non-grixis (the current builds) control lists a boost. UW decks have been doing decent recently and I think that it's just the card to have it show up a little stronger.

I actually voted nothing this time. I took a while to think it over. Blue decks are dominating. Green black decks are doing perfectly fine. Red decks are likewise fine. What we'd really like to see in modern is some white based decks. I mean "real" white based. Stoneforge is probably only safe if you get rid of batterskull. Don't wanna kill the aggro decks that are finally around without pod.

I kinda like how new decks are starting to pop up i feel by unbanning cards we might hinder that or even prevent that from happening again. I'm looking forward to seeing the meta continue to evolve.

I would like to see the following cards back in modern:

Birthing Pod
Bloodbraid Elf
Deathrite Shaman
Dig Through Time
Green Sun's Zenith (ban Arbor in instead)
Jace, the Mind Sculptor

Especially Deathrite though there is no good reason for it being banned other than its a good card.

My own reckless abandon:

* Bloodbraid Elf - Because let's face it, Deathrite Shaman was the real problem in Jund. BBE is a four-drop, and also Birthing Pod is gone now too, so there's less worry over broken creatures.

* Ponder or Treasure Cruise - I have played with and against these cards in every format possible, and I love that meta game and want it back. What really got them banned was killjoys with $10-billion gold-foiled decks getting salty because a $30 deck beat them for a change. Neither is so oppressive that you can't possibly play around them or answer them. I am not quite in favor of unbanning both at the same time, but one or the other of these will enable new decks, possibly finally some control decks, and a more diverse format in which you can play four commons and still win.

* Second Sunrise - Seriously, I've played Eggs in Modern, it's one of the weakest decks ever. Easily shut down out by splash from anti-Affinity sideboarding. So irritatingly slow that half the time you blow the game from trying to race the clock. Faith's Reward is still legal, and at only one mana more I don't see KCI Eggs being discussed anywhere as oppressive.

* Sword of the Meek. I'm actually tentative about this one. But yes, Abrupt Decay is a card and many other answers exist too. I'm tentative because I've played Thopter Sword enough in other formats to know just how eeeeeasy it is to get off an infinite combo with this engine. It doesn't matter that you need a three-card combo; That's a cakewalk when two parts of the combo gain you life and flying bodies for almost nothing.

I voted for Bloodbraid Elf. The card would be no where near as broken now as it was. That two toughness really hurts it as a beater in a diverse meta. Maybe I'm making the wrong call here. Maybe I just made myself look like an idiot. But with Pod gone, I think it's safe to say that this can come off.

Ancestral Visions and Sword of the Meek.

Neither card would even be good in modern, so being on the banned list is silly.

8 diff archetypes in last GP and you want to change things?

no changes please, i´m very happy with the format.

Quote from amalek0 »

Voted for the following:
ancestral visions: remand is too present in modern for anyone other than a dedicated control deck to play more than one or two copies, and it could be the edge needed to push grixis away from its midrange build to a more stable, true-control deck. It also incidentally helps solidify UW into tier two.

Jace, the Mind Sculptor: I know it won't be unbanned. That doesn't change my opinion that it's pretty much unplayable in anything but a hard control deck. It *might* give the lantern deck a new toy, but mostly I think it'll be a boon for the more dedicated control decks once again. Twin probably won't use it--Jace, AOT already is barely playable out of the board and he stops lingering souls and opposing twin combo. Tapping low for JTMS in the twin mirror is probably doom.

preordain: I want this unbanned, coupled with a serum visions ban. That preserves the cantrip density in the format, while giving a better cantrip to the fair decks and giving storm combo a slight boost. It's the kind of spell that increases the interactivity of fair matches while enabling fair decks to more efficiently dig for answers against unfair ones.

Sword of the Meek: You can't even justify this being on the ban list when abrupt decay AND kolaghan's command exist to keep it severely in check, and it basically ONLY empowers an esper-shard control deck or 3-4 color gifts/loam decks, things which could quite frankly do with a boost. No reason to keep this on the ban list.

Do you not know the sword combo? And yeah unban jace $1500 play sets are pretty sweet man.

Regardless of what I voted for, I feel that white is the weakest (mainboard) color in Modern. Is that really a bad thing for the format? I don't know. But maybe a Stoneforge unban would help. Black gets Bob, red gets young pyromancer, blue gets snappy, green gets goyf, white gets.. Nothing?

I really wish Wotc would come out and sticky a post somewhere telling the player base which cards they are not going to ever unban in the format so some would stop asking for them off the ban list.