I've been playing Merfolk for a couple years now: it's kind of remained in an odd Tier 1 / Tier 2 limbo depending on the meta, but honestly at no point has it been the the deck to beat during my time as an on-again, off-again Modern player.
I have been tempted to build some tier one decks in the past, though, including Birthing Pod and Treasure Cruise Delver. I didn't, and for which, I'm kinda glad. Now I've never been drawn to build Twin, but if I had been, well, we all know that news by now.
That being said, I play Modern mostly a couple times per month, and just for fun on the FNM level. The biggest thing I've done is 4-0ing an FNM and that's as far as I'd ever want to go: while I like competitive decks. I'm not fundamentally a tournament player.
It's striking me lately, for people like me ... are tier two decks a better idea? Given that iconic, format defining cards can easily get banned, is playing less than the very best actually prudent if you're not a tournament player?
To give an example, I've thought of building RG Tron (mostly because my Karns are just kinda hanging out in their trade binder), but if some key piece gets banned from that deck, I'd hate to be in the situation a number of my friends are in just now with their decks. It seems like building something like Green Devotion, while clearly a weaker deck, might be something I'd get more longevity from.
(Please note, I'm not trying to start a discussion on the bans themselves: there are multiple threads on that just now. I'm speaking of, going forward, the best way forward in deck-building for a non-tournament player.)
It's not about tiering but about being on the right side of synergy vs power. If you're playing on a budget and want something that can last years you should play something that's full of individually powerful cards. That way when a card gets banned, even if it's an important namesake card, your other cards are still good and can probably make a deck. Twin was full of individually powerful cards, pod was the same (but pods 1-2 of's were an issue). Something like Eggs or Storm on the other hand fell onto the synergy side.
In the current T1 I would say that Jund, Abzan, and Burn are safe while Tron and Affinity are not.
In T2 Infect, Merfolk, Zoo, Grixis Control, and Abzan Company are safe while Eldrazi, Scapeshift, Living End, Bogles, and Ad Nauseum are the decks where you risk a blowout with a banning.
I have been tempted to build some tier one decks in the past, though, including Birthing Pod and Treasure Cruise Delver. I didn't, and for which, I'm kinda glad. Now I've never been drawn to build Twin, but if I had been, well, we all know that news by now.
That being said, I play Modern mostly a couple times per month, and just for fun on the FNM level. The biggest thing I've done is 4-0ing an FNM and that's as far as I'd ever want to go: while I like competitive decks. I'm not fundamentally a tournament player.
It's striking me lately, for people like me ... are tier two decks a better idea? Given that iconic, format defining cards can easily get banned, is playing less than the very best actually prudent if you're not a tournament player?
To give an example, I've thought of building RG Tron (mostly because my Karns are just kinda hanging out in their trade binder), but if some key piece gets banned from that deck, I'd hate to be in the situation a number of my friends are in just now with their decks. It seems like building something like Green Devotion, while clearly a weaker deck, might be something I'd get more longevity from.
(Please note, I'm not trying to start a discussion on the bans themselves: there are multiple threads on that just now. I'm speaking of, going forward, the best way forward in deck-building for a non-tournament player.)
Your thoughts?
UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU's prison: blue is the new orange is the new black.
Mizzix Of The Izmagnus : wheels on fire... rolling down the road...
BSidisi, Undead VizierB: Bis zum Erbrechen
GTitiania, Protector Of ArgothG: Protecting Argoth, by blowing it up!
GYisan, The Wanderer BardG: Gradus Ad Elfball.
Duel EDH: Yisan & Titania.
In Progress: Grand Arbiter Augustin IV duel; Grenzo, Dungeon Warden Doomsday.
In the current T1 I would say that Jund, Abzan, and Burn are safe while Tron and Affinity are not.
In T2 Infect, Merfolk, Zoo, Grixis Control, and Abzan Company are safe while Eldrazi, Scapeshift, Living End, Bogles, and Ad Nauseum are the decks where you risk a blowout with a banning.
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/662745-current-modern-banlist-discussion-1-18-2016-update
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/662689-how-do-you-feel-about-the-banning-of-splinter-twin
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/662800-post-bloom-twin-ban-modern-metagame-thread-keep