A bit crazy to talk about dig isnt it? Like, am i alone in thinking that card would be nuts?
I recognize that Dig is powerful. I'm just not sure if it would be powerful enough to break the format. Can you please give an argument against unbanning it?
Thats the thing, I do not realistically believe we will get FoW, or any new pitch cards. Free things are powerful things, and likely too powerful for Standard now.
We need a real control deck that can help slow the format, and I think we are getting closer by every release. If Jace is free from the banlist, well some high level control players think that will be too good. So lets just see what happens.
Preordain, boosts combo, far more than Jace does, so if the answer is 'we want to empower Control' Jace is the only realistic answer for now.
i dont think jace answers our largest problem though, we need better card filtering, and also better generic answers.
if we unban preordain and it breaks a combo deck or 2 than maybe the combo decks need to be nerfed not control.
after all, these are the very decks that require better policing in this game.
also, if we cant get a free counter spell, than why can combo get free mana? opal/ssg
A bit crazy to talk about dig isnt it? Like, am i alone in thinking that card would be nuts?
I recognize that Dig is powerful. I'm just not sure if it would be powerful enough to break the format. Can you please give an argument against unbanning it?
what combo decks would this boost alot in consistency?
Thats the thing, I do not realistically believe we will get FoW, or any new pitch cards. Free things are powerful things, and likely too powerful for Standard now.
We need a real control deck that can help slow the format, and I think we are getting closer by every release. If Jace is free from the banlist, well some high level control players think that will be too good. So lets just see what happens.
Preordain, boosts combo, far more than Jace does, so if the answer is 'we want to empower Control' Jace is the only realistic answer for now.
How would Preordain boost Combo in a way that would break the turn 4 rule?
also, if we cant get a free counter spell, than why can combo get free mana? opal/ssg
I feel like the free counterspell conversation always ends up gravitating towards Force of Will (and sometimes Mental Misstep), but I really think Daze is worth talking about too. I can't see it being degenerate in Standard, and in Modern it could put in some good work policing greedy, all-in combos without being too niche or too expensive. If nothing else, you can make a player respect Daze just by having an Island in play and a card in hand, which is a big deal.
Agree? Disagree?
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WUBRG Humans BRW Mardu Pyromancer UW UW "Control" UR Blue Moon
A bit crazy to talk about dig isnt it? Like, am i alone in thinking that card would be nuts?
I recognize that Dig is powerful. I'm just not sure if it would be powerful enough to break the format. Can you please give an argument against unbanning it?
what combo decks would this boost alot in consistency?
thats my only concern personally
Scapeshift and Ad Nauseum would get a lot more consistent, but neither of those decks breaks the turn 4 rule. Ritual Gifts would get more consistent, but it would still need to keep a creature that dies to every removal spell in the format in play for a turn. I don't think any other combo decks could easily use it.
Thats the thing, I do not realistically believe we will get FoW, or any new pitch cards. Free things are powerful things, and likely too powerful for Standard now.
We need a real control deck that can help slow the format, and I think we are getting closer by every release. If Jace is free from the banlist, well some high level control players think that will be too good. So lets just see what happens.
Preordain, boosts combo, far more than Jace does, so if the answer is 'we want to empower Control' Jace is the only realistic answer for now.
How would Preordain boost Combo in a way that would break the turn 4 rule?
Scapeshift and Ad Nauseum would get a lot more consistent, but neither of those decks breaks the turn 4 rule. Ritual Gifts would get more consistent, but it would still need to keep a creature that dies to every removal spell in the format in play for a turn. I don't think any other combo decks could easily use it.
You keep repeating this line of thinking that combo (or maybe any deck?) is A-OK as long as it doesn't violate the Turn-4 Rule. That's not how it works; numerous banlist decisions debunk that idea. "It wouldn't break the Turn-4 Rule" doesn't overrule any concern of balance, consistency, oppressiveness, etc. You need to find other rebuttals to have an argument.
[edit] OR, alternately, present a compelling case that "Doesn't break the Turn-4 Rule" does invalidate all other concerns.
Thats the thing, I do not realistically believe we will get FoW, or any new pitch cards. Free things are powerful things, and likely too powerful for Standard now.
We need a real control deck that can help slow the format, and I think we are getting closer by every release. If Jace is free from the banlist, well some high level control players think that will be too good. So lets just see what happens.
Preordain, boosts combo, far more than Jace does, so if the answer is 'we want to empower Control' Jace is the only realistic answer for now.
How would Preordain boost Combo in a way that would break the turn 4 rule?
Scapeshift and Ad Nauseum would get a lot more consistent, but neither of those decks breaks the turn 4 rule. Ritual Gifts would get more consistent, but it would still need to keep a creature that dies to every removal spell in the format in play for a turn. I don't think any other combo decks could easily use it.
You keep repeating this line of thinking that combo (or maybe any deck?) is A-OK as long as it doesn't violate the Turn-4 Rule. That's not how it works; numerous banlist decisions debunk that idea. "It wouldn't break the Turn-4 Rule" doesn't overrule any concern of balance, consistency, oppressiveness, etc. You need to find other rebuttals to have an argument.
The second, unstated part of my argument is this. Preordain and Dig Through Time would help interactive blue decks more than they help combo decks. Those decks would help keep the combo decks in check. And I really doubt that either of them is individually powerful enough to cause blue interactive decks to dominate the entire format. How do you think Dig Through Time would break the format?
also, if we cant get a free counter spell, than why can combo get free mana? opal/ssg
I feel like the free counterspell conversation always ends up gravitating towards Force of Will (and sometimes Mental Misstep), but I really think Daze is worth talking about too. I can't see it being degenerate in Standard, and in Modern it could put in some good work policing greedy, all-in combos without being too niche or too expensive. If nothing else, you can make a player respect Daze just by having an Island in play and a card in hand, which is a big deal.
Agree? Disagree?
I think your absolutely right, maybe merfolk could be a better policing deck in this format.
A bit crazy to talk about dig isnt it? Like, am i alone in thinking that card would be nuts?
I recognize that Dig is powerful. I'm just not sure if it would be powerful enough to break the format. Can you please give an argument against unbanning it?
what combo decks would this boost alot in consistency?
thats my only concern personally
Scapeshift and Ad Nauseum would get a lot more consistent, but neither of those decks breaks the turn 4 rule. Ritual Gifts would get more consistent, but it would still need to keep a creature that dies to every removal spell in the format in play for a turn. I don't think any other combo decks could easily use it.
as long as it doesnt either
a: break a combo deck
b: give a fair deck too high of a meta %
The problem for me is that the upper tier of the format is full of these decks. Legacy's got more power and speed but has safety valves. BG as the police deck has not really slowed the format down. Since Twin, it's been an alien nightmare followed up a format almost as fast as Philly to another set of bannings which doesn't seem to have slowed it down all that much.
Serum Visions is literally only ever played when there is absolutely no possible better option.
You're in a format where people play shocklands because dual lands are not allowed. Get over it.
Does anyone go around talking up about how Shocklands are "sooooo goooood" and how they'd be used in addition to regular duals in Legacy/Vintage because of that fact?
I'm not complaining about Serum Visions. I'm simply arguing that it is not "sooooo goooood", as claimed by "ashtonkutcher" before going on to essentially say why Serum Visions is good enough for Modern when it really isn't.
Shocklands are good enough however, making that analogy irrelevant.
I'm not sure it would help a ton (I do believe that Preordain would help Storm, that IS a Turn 3 deck right now) but they are both cards that enable combo, and make it very consistent. There is a point that Wizards tolerates for combo, and I think both of these cards pass that point. UU dig 7 pick 2 INSTANT...is hardcore.
Preordain I'm not against as much, I think Dig is mega powered compared to it.
To those who are worried about DTT and/or Preordain: what are the specific decks that will break these cards? Why does the current or recent metagame share of those decks suggests they will be poised for brokenness after a potential DTT/Preordain unban? For instance, I would be very worried about Preordain in Cheeri0s... if Cheeri0s had any tiered results to speak of. Similarly, Ad Nauseam definitely gets better with Preordain, but a) it doesn't violate the T4 rule even with Preordain and b) is Preordain really going to push 2%-3% Ad Nauseam much higher? These are the kinds of questions we should be asking, and the questions I pose to all of you who don't want to see DTT/Preordain in Modern.
Note that I strongly prefer Preordain to DTT, but they cover similar arguments.
The second, unstated part of my argument is this. Preordain and Dig Through Time would help interactive blue decks more than they help combo decks. Those decks would help keep the combo decks in check. And I really doubt that either of them is individually powerful enough to cause blue interactive decks to dominate the entire format. How do you think Dig Through Time would break the format?
Ah, I see where you're coming from.
I almost agree with you. But IMO, as long as the format lacks an adequate, main-deckable way of spell-based combo decks, I'm afraid that Dig Through Time will push those decks much further than the decks that would keep them in check. Really, what keeps combo in check is aggro; Control's tools are too weak or too niche to do an adequate job. Otherwise, I think you'd be spot-on.
I guess there's a chance that access to Dig would make more traditional permission-based blue control (like your Esper Draw-Go) viable in the wider meta, which would increase the number of decks that could keep spell-based combo in check. But without better ways of interacting with the stack, I think combo benefits way more than control. Especially when Control would be digging for Five-Turn Clock and/or Negate, while combo would be searching out I Win Right Now and/or Force of Will With No Downside.
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WUBRG Humans BRW Mardu Pyromancer UW UW "Control" UR Blue Moon
To those who are worried about DTT and/or Preordain: what are the specific decks that will break these cards? Why does the current or recent metagame share of those decks suggests they will be poised for brokenness after a potential DTT/Preordain unban? For instance, I would be very worried about Preordain in Cheeri0s... if Cheeri0s had any tiered results to speak of. Similarly, Ad Nauseam definitely gets better with Preordain, but a) it doesn't violate the T4 rule even with Preordain and b) is Preordain really going to push 2%-3% Ad Nauseam much higher? These are the kinds of questions we should be asking, and the questions I pose to all of you who don't want to see DTT/Preordain in Modern.
Note that I strongly prefer Preordain to DTT, but they cover similar arguments.
Despite my reservations, I'd be open to entertaining the idea of a Dig Through Time unban. My main argument against it is more that I doubt WotC would entertain the notion, whereas Preordain seems like a pretty safe target.
I do think Dig would be a much bigger boon to combo than to anyone else - hence thinking WotC probably won't touch it. It's a much bigger risk than giving Ad Nauseam the ability to say "no" to both of the top two cards. But do I see it really breaking anything? Possibly, but IMO not likely. Not when we have strong aggro and aggro-combo decks to keep combo in check.
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The second, unstated part of my argument is this. Preordain and Dig Through Time would help interactive blue decks more than they help combo decks. Those decks would help keep the combo decks in check. And I really doubt that either of them is individually powerful enough to cause blue interactive decks to dominate the entire format. How do you think Dig Through Time would break the format?
Ah, I see where you're coming from.
I almost agree with you. But IMO, as long as the format lacks an adequate, main-deckable way of spell-based combo decks, I'm afraid that Dig Through Time will push those decks much further than the decks that would keep them in check. Really, what keeps combo in check is aggro; Control's tools are too weak or too niche to do an adequate job. Otherwise, I think you'd be spot-on.
I guess there's a chance that access to Dig would make more traditional permission-based blue control (like your Esper Draw-Go) viable in the wider meta, which would increase the number of decks that could keep spell-based combo in check. But without better ways of interacting with the stack, I think combo benefits way more than control. Especially when Control would be digging for Five-Turn Clock and/or Negate, while combo would be searching out I Win Right Now and/or Force of Will With No Downside.
Given that Modern does not have, and will never have, a free counterspell that fair decks can use (Force of Will), and that blue counterspell-based control decks are suffering, it seems to me that a reasonable course of action would be to unban Preordain and, if necessary based on the 'rise of spell-based combo'*, ban Pact of Negation. PoN's pact cost makes is usable only in combo decks, and makes it more difficult for the fair control decks that should be good against spell-based combo to fight back (Nice Negate you have there. I have three Pact of Negations, and won't even have to pay for them!)
* An as yet unsubstantiated yet ever-present fear for many players, it seems. I disagree, though, and think that -- in short -- a large part of the problem that blue has in Modern is due to the following: (1) aggro (a reasonably difficult matchup) is so much better than combo (should be a reasonably good matchup); and (2) 'midrange' threats are soefficient that control can often fall to aggro and midrange-aggro, without any spell-based combo that is faster than aggro but easier to disrupt to prey upon.
The second, unstated part of my argument is this. Preordain and Dig Through Time would help interactive blue decks more than they help combo decks. Those decks would help keep the combo decks in check. And I really doubt that either of them is individually powerful enough to cause blue interactive decks to dominate the entire format. How do you think Dig Through Time would break the format?
Ah, I see where you're coming from.
I almost agree with you. But IMO, as long as the format lacks an adequate, main-deckable way of spell-based combo decks, I'm afraid that Dig Through Time will push those decks much further than the decks that would keep them in check. Really, what keeps combo in check is aggro; Control's tools are too weak or too niche to do an adequate job. Otherwise, I think you'd be spot-on.
I guess there's a chance that access to Dig would make more traditional permission-based blue control (like your Esper Draw-Go) viable in the wider meta, which would increase the number of decks that could keep spell-based combo in check. But without better ways of interacting with the stack, I think combo benefits way more than control. Especially when Control would be digging for Five-Turn Clock and/or Negate, while combo would be searching out I Win Right Now and/or Force of Will With No Downside.
Given that Modern does not have, and will never have, a free counterspell that fair decks can use (Force of Will), and that blue counterspell-based control decks are suffering, it seems to me that a reasonable course of action would be to unban Preordain and, if necessary based on the 'rise of spell-based combo'*, ban Pact of Negation. PoN's pact cost makes is usable only in combo decks, and makes it more difficult for the fair control decks that should be good against spell-based combo to fight back (Nice Negate you have there. I have three Pact of Negations, and won't even have to pay for them!)
* An as yet unsubstantiated yet ever-present fear for many players, it seems. I disagree, though, and think that -- in short -- a large part of the problem that blue has in Modern is due to the following: (1) aggro (a reasonably difficult matchup) is so much better than combo (should be a reasonably good matchup); and (2) 'midrange' threats are soefficient that control can often fall to aggro and midrange-aggro, without any spell-based combo that is faster than aggro but easier to disrupt to prey upon.
pact of negation is most definately busted in modern I agree. but it would only be a worthy ban if something like ad nauseum made like the top 4 decks in the game, AND if we didnt have something of a fair equivalent.
The second, unstated part of my argument is this. Preordain and Dig Through Time would help interactive blue decks more than they help combo decks. Those decks would help keep the combo decks in check. And I really doubt that either of them is individually powerful enough to cause blue interactive decks to dominate the entire format. How do you think Dig Through Time would break the format?
Ah, I see where you're coming from.
I almost agree with you. But IMO, as long as the format lacks an adequate, main-deckable way of spell-based combo decks, I'm afraid that Dig Through Time will push those decks much further than the decks that would keep them in check. Really, what keeps combo in check is aggro; Control's tools are too weak or too niche to do an adequate job. Otherwise, I think you'd be spot-on.
I guess there's a chance that access to Dig would make more traditional permission-based blue control (like your Esper Draw-Go) viable in the wider meta, which would increase the number of decks that could keep spell-based combo in check. But without better ways of interacting with the stack, I think combo benefits way more than control. Especially when Control would be digging for Five-Turn Clock and/or Negate, while combo would be searching out I Win Right Now and/or Force of Will With No Downside.
Given that Modern does not have, and will never have, a free counterspell that fair decks can use (Force of Will), and that blue counterspell-based control decks are suffering, it seems to me that a reasonable course of action would be to unban Preordain and, if necessary based on the 'rise of spell-based combo'*, ban Pact of Negation. PoN's pact cost makes is usable only in combo decks, and makes it more difficult for the fair control decks that should be good against spell-based combo to fight back (Nice Negate you have there. I have three Pact of Negations, and won't even have to pay for them!)
* An as yet unsubstantiated yet ever-present fear for many players, it seems. I disagree, though, and think that -- in short -- a large part of the problem that blue has in Modern is due to the following: (1) aggro (a reasonably difficult matchup) is so much better than combo (should be a reasonably good matchup); and (2) 'midrange' threats are soefficient that control can often fall to aggro and midrange-aggro, without any spell-based combo that is faster than aggro but easier to disrupt to prey upon.
I actually think that's pretty fair, now that you mention it. Pact of Negation hasn't really worked its way into my banlist calculus because it's not doing anything worth banning, but it is a really good safety valve if giving Blue new tools ends up pushing combo too far. Given no one else ever even thinks about running PoN, the collateral damage would be minimal, and I imagine it would also be enough to reign in decks that were made too oppressive or degenerate by the better card selection.
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WUBRG Humans BRW Mardu Pyromancer UW UW "Control" UR Blue Moon
While I don't think you'd usually bring him in for matches where you keep Delver, Jace absolutely does help flip Delver. Topdeck manipulation of top 3 + whatever is in your hand does way more to flip Delver than you'd get from running 2-3 more instants and/or sorceries.
For Jace, the Mind Sculptor to be useful in transforming a Delver of Secrets, you'd have to be in the situation where you have un-transformed Delvers on your fourth turn AND the top card of your library on turn 5 wouldn't have already been an Instant/Sorcery. That seems rather rare to happen for a Delver deck.
The reason Brainstorm proper is great is because you can cast it on turn 2 to ensure a Delver transformation the next turn (in addition to casting a second Delver if you drew it). Heck, you can even do it during your Upkeep to all but ensure a second turn transformation.
I can't believe dig through time is even being entertained, although for very different reasons, that card was too powerful for legacy. I played my jund deck against a standard deck with ddt and it absolutely stomped me. It can look through 7 cards at the end of my turn for 2 mana. Like, are you kidding me? You can forgot about those combo decks taking a crap on them.
Just because a deck doesn't violate the turn 4 rule doesn't mean it can't be oppressive. If ddt I would be furious, that's the only unban that would make me want to leave modern
I can't believe dig through time is even being entertained, although for very different reasons, that card was too powerful for legacy. I played my jund deck against a standard deck with ddt and it absolutely stomped me. It can look through 7 cards at the end of my turn for 2 mana. Like, are you kidding me? You can forgot about those combo decks taking a crap on them.
Just because a deck doesn't violate the turn 4 rule doesn't mean it can't be oppressive. If ddt I would be furious, that's the only unban that would make me want to leave modern
Honestly, I think it's because people are realizing that Preordain and Jace will do too little to actually help the reactive blue decks in today's meta and they're looking for ANYTHING ELSE that's not Splinter Twin.
For some perspective: I would take DTT over Twin ALL DAY EVERY DAY. Dig Through Time is stupid good. Maybe too good? Would definitely better than Twin ever was.
I can't believe dig through time is even being entertained, although for very different reasons, that card was too powerful for legacy.
Trinisphere and Lodestone Golem are restricted in Vintage but are barely a blip on the radar in Legacy. Something being too good in a more powerful format doesn't mean much if the elements that made it so powerful in that format do not exist in a less powerful format. For example, Dig Through Time was totally fine in Standard (much weaker than Legacy). Heck, in Standard, Sphinx's Revelation was probably more powerful than Dig Through Time. How much play does Sphinx's Revelation see in Modern or Legacy?
Or, let's take a more direct Modern to Legacy comparison. Delver of Secrets is the third-most-played creature in Legacy and is an all-star. In Modern? It's not even in the top 50 creatures.
I played my jund deck against a standard deck with ddt and it absolutely stomped me. It can look through 7 cards at the end of my turn for 2 mana. Like, are you kidding me? You can forgot about those combo decks taking a crap on them.
Someone once took a Standard deck to a Legacy tournament at my store (which I should mention is quite competitive) and went 4-0. Sometimes, you can just get a bit lucky with a much weaker deck and also benefit from how some decks in Modern or Legacy are heavily metagame'd against their own format but not others.
I can't believe dig through time is even being entertained, although for very different reasons, that card was too powerful for legacy. I played my jund deck against a standard deck with ddt and it absolutely stomped me. It can look through 7 cards at the end of my turn for 2 mana. Like, are you kidding me? You can forgot about those combo decks taking a crap on them.
Just because a deck doesn't violate the turn 4 rule doesn't mean it can't be oppressive. If ddt I would be furious, that's the only unban that would make me want to leave modern
Honestly, I think it's because people are realizing that Preordain and Jace will do too little to actually help the reactive blue decks in today's meta and they're looking for ANYTHING ELSE that's not Splinter Twin.
For some perspective: I would take DTT over Twin ALL DAY EVERY DAY. Dig Through Time is stupid good. Maybe too good? Would definitely better than Twin ever was.
'Definitely better than Twin'
Enough said no?
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I recognize that Dig is powerful. I'm just not sure if it would be powerful enough to break the format. Can you please give an argument against unbanning it?
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
i dont think jace answers our largest problem though, we need better card filtering, and also better generic answers.
if we unban preordain and it breaks a combo deck or 2 than maybe the combo decks need to be nerfed not control.
after all, these are the very decks that require better policing in this game.
also, if we cant get a free counter spell, than why can combo get free mana? opal/ssg
decks playing:
none
what combo decks would this boost alot in consistency?
thats my only concern personally
decks playing:
none
How would Preordain boost Combo in a way that would break the turn 4 rule?
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
I feel like the free counterspell conversation always ends up gravitating towards Force of Will (and sometimes Mental Misstep), but I really think Daze is worth talking about too. I can't see it being degenerate in Standard, and in Modern it could put in some good work policing greedy, all-in combos without being too niche or too expensive. If nothing else, you can make a player respect Daze just by having an Island in play and a card in hand, which is a big deal.
Agree? Disagree?
WUBRG Humans
BRW Mardu Pyromancer
UW UW "Control"
UR Blue Moon
Scapeshift and Ad Nauseum would get a lot more consistent, but neither of those decks breaks the turn 4 rule. Ritual Gifts would get more consistent, but it would still need to keep a creature that dies to every removal spell in the format in play for a turn. I don't think any other combo decks could easily use it.
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
You keep repeating this line of thinking that combo (or maybe any deck?) is A-OK as long as it doesn't violate the Turn-4 Rule. That's not how it works; numerous banlist decisions debunk that idea. "It wouldn't break the Turn-4 Rule" doesn't overrule any concern of balance, consistency, oppressiveness, etc. You need to find other rebuttals to have an argument.
[edit] OR, alternately, present a compelling case that "Doesn't break the Turn-4 Rule" does invalidate all other concerns.
WUBRG Humans
BRW Mardu Pyromancer
UW UW "Control"
UR Blue Moon
The second, unstated part of my argument is this. Preordain and Dig Through Time would help interactive blue decks more than they help combo decks. Those decks would help keep the combo decks in check. And I really doubt that either of them is individually powerful enough to cause blue interactive decks to dominate the entire format. How do you think Dig Through Time would break the format?
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
I think your absolutely right, maybe merfolk could be a better policing deck in this format.
decks playing:
none
as long as it doesnt either
a: break a combo deck
b: give a fair deck too high of a meta %
decks playing:
none
Does anyone go around talking up about how Shocklands are "sooooo goooood" and how they'd be used in addition to regular duals in Legacy/Vintage because of that fact?
I'm not complaining about Serum Visions. I'm simply arguing that it is not "sooooo goooood", as claimed by "ashtonkutcher" before going on to essentially say why Serum Visions is good enough for Modern when it really isn't.
Shocklands are good enough however, making that analogy irrelevant.
Preordain I'm not against as much, I think Dig is mega powered compared to it.
Spirits
Note that I strongly prefer Preordain to DTT, but they cover similar arguments.
Ah, I see where you're coming from.
I almost agree with you. But IMO, as long as the format lacks an adequate, main-deckable way of spell-based combo decks, I'm afraid that Dig Through Time will push those decks much further than the decks that would keep them in check. Really, what keeps combo in check is aggro; Control's tools are too weak or too niche to do an adequate job. Otherwise, I think you'd be spot-on.
I guess there's a chance that access to Dig would make more traditional permission-based blue control (like your Esper Draw-Go) viable in the wider meta, which would increase the number of decks that could keep spell-based combo in check. But without better ways of interacting with the stack, I think combo benefits way more than control. Especially when Control would be digging for Five-Turn Clock and/or Negate, while combo would be searching out I Win Right Now and/or Force of Will With No Downside.
WUBRG Humans
BRW Mardu Pyromancer
UW UW "Control"
UR Blue Moon
Despite my reservations, I'd be open to entertaining the idea of a Dig Through Time unban. My main argument against it is more that I doubt WotC would entertain the notion, whereas Preordain seems like a pretty safe target.
I do think Dig would be a much bigger boon to combo than to anyone else - hence thinking WotC probably won't touch it. It's a much bigger risk than giving Ad Nauseam the ability to say "no" to both of the top two cards. But do I see it really breaking anything? Possibly, but IMO not likely. Not when we have strong aggro and aggro-combo decks to keep combo in check.
WUBRG Humans
BRW Mardu Pyromancer
UW UW "Control"
UR Blue Moon
Given that Modern does not have, and will never have, a free counterspell that fair decks can use (Force of Will), and that blue counterspell-based control decks are suffering, it seems to me that a reasonable course of action would be to unban Preordain and, if necessary based on the 'rise of spell-based combo'*, ban Pact of Negation. PoN's pact cost makes is usable only in combo decks, and makes it more difficult for the fair control decks that should be good against spell-based combo to fight back (Nice Negate you have there. I have three Pact of Negations, and won't even have to pay for them!)
* An as yet unsubstantiated yet ever-present fear for many players, it seems. I disagree, though, and think that -- in short -- a large part of the problem that blue has in Modern is due to the following: (1) aggro (a reasonably difficult matchup) is so much better than combo (should be a reasonably good matchup); and (2) 'midrange' threats are so efficient that control can often fall to aggro and midrange-aggro, without any spell-based combo that is faster than aggro but easier to disrupt to prey upon.
pact of negation is most definately busted in modern I agree. but it would only be a worthy ban if something like ad nauseum made like the top 4 decks in the game, AND if we didnt have something of a fair equivalent.
decks playing:
none
I actually think that's pretty fair, now that you mention it. Pact of Negation hasn't really worked its way into my banlist calculus because it's not doing anything worth banning, but it is a really good safety valve if giving Blue new tools ends up pushing combo too far. Given no one else ever even thinks about running PoN, the collateral damage would be minimal, and I imagine it would also be enough to reign in decks that were made too oppressive or degenerate by the better card selection.
WUBRG Humans
BRW Mardu Pyromancer
UW UW "Control"
UR Blue Moon
For Jace, the Mind Sculptor to be useful in transforming a Delver of Secrets, you'd have to be in the situation where you have un-transformed Delvers on your fourth turn AND the top card of your library on turn 5 wouldn't have already been an Instant/Sorcery. That seems rather rare to happen for a Delver deck.
The reason Brainstorm proper is great is because you can cast it on turn 2 to ensure a Delver transformation the next turn (in addition to casting a second Delver if you drew it). Heck, you can even do it during your Upkeep to all but ensure a second turn transformation.
Just because a deck doesn't violate the turn 4 rule doesn't mean it can't be oppressive. If ddt I would be furious, that's the only unban that would make me want to leave modern
Honestly, I think it's because people are realizing that Preordain and Jace will do too little to actually help the reactive blue decks in today's meta and they're looking for ANYTHING ELSE that's not Splinter Twin.
For some perspective: I would take DTT over Twin ALL DAY EVERY DAY. Dig Through Time is stupid good. Maybe too good? Would definitely better than Twin ever was.
UR ....... WUBR ........... WB ............. RGW ........ UBR ....... WUB .... BGU
Spells / Blink & Combo / Token Grind / Dino Tribal / Draw Cards / Zombies / Reanimate
Trinisphere and Lodestone Golem are restricted in Vintage but are barely a blip on the radar in Legacy. Something being too good in a more powerful format doesn't mean much if the elements that made it so powerful in that format do not exist in a less powerful format. For example, Dig Through Time was totally fine in Standard (much weaker than Legacy). Heck, in Standard, Sphinx's Revelation was probably more powerful than Dig Through Time. How much play does Sphinx's Revelation see in Modern or Legacy?
Or, let's take a more direct Modern to Legacy comparison. Delver of Secrets is the third-most-played creature in Legacy and is an all-star. In Modern? It's not even in the top 50 creatures.
Someone once took a Standard deck to a Legacy tournament at my store (which I should mention is quite competitive) and went 4-0. Sometimes, you can just get a bit lucky with a much weaker deck and also benefit from how some decks in Modern or Legacy are heavily metagame'd against their own format but not others.
'Definitely better than Twin'
Enough said no?
Spirits