No because the Kaladesh Standard, prior to the banning of Copter, Emmy, and Mage, the top deck was UW Flash, which was only 15-20% (or more but probably not >30%).
Hrm... looking back, you're right. It was around 22% but it wasn't quite at 30%. So okay, I'll give you that. But that lasted for only three months and ended thanks to the massive bannings. The point is, the bulk of the last 4 or so years has been a Standard in which at least one deck occupied 30% (or more!) of the metagame.
However...
Even back when the fetchlands were in Standard, Abzan, Atarka Red, Esper Control, etc. also didn't have 1 deck comprising 30%+ of the meta.
Are you kidding? Abzan was at or close to 30% of the metagame for pretty much the entirety of Khans of Tarkir being legal in Standard.
Let me rephrase some things because perhaps I'm not being fair. Marvel got the ax when emrakul was banned (debatable point at best) but we still have around 5 months to deal around it. It's not the craziest thing old time players have seen in standard, so yes a lot of us are desensitized to some of the crap. I just made a comment to a friend of mine that resonates to this thread, and that is that there are so many flavorful cards this season deemed unplayable due to a *****ty meta. That much is undeniable. However I can't stand bans, they ruin the game almost more than the cards themselves. Wotc apparently finally employed a team that will keep problems like these from haopening in the future so hopefully next season will be the best in a long while.
Is that as far back as you can remember? Mono black devotion I'm pretty sure comprised of over 30% of the meta. Junk angeltusk decks took up well over 30% of the meta. Affinity took up over 30% of the meta. Do I need to keep going? Welcome to standard. Things will change pretty drastically this fall.
Monoblack Devotion was over 30%. Junk Angeltusk decks were nowhere close to that, though. It definitely didn't before the rotation of Scars of Innistrad, because UW Delver remained on top during the first three months of Thragtusk's legality (as it had for the preceding year--though I personally didn't mind it there, I thought Scars-Innistrad Standard was spectacular despite UW Delver's dominance). But once we entered Innistrad-RTR, "Angeltusk" decks definitely didn't hit 30%... I don't think anything in Innistrad-RTR Standard was able to get higher than 20%, even temporarily. It was an astoundingly diverse Standard, which is why I stated that Innistrad-RTR was the last Standard format where we didn't have a 30%+ deck.
You're probably right, I just remember during that time before I hopped on Esper control I was on Gruul and Jund aggro and almost couldn't compete because every serious tournament I went to that was the deck to beat. Perhaps reanimator would have been the better example there.
Standard is almost always dominated by 1 or 2 decks. The last time I can remember that you could brew up almost anything and compete was Time Spiral / Lorwyn. The colors are never balanced in standard there's always one or two colors that seem to get all the good cards.
That's not entirely true. RTR/Theros standard and to perhaps more an extent Theros/KTK standard I quite literally had dozens of variations of decks I could play at a somewhat competitive level.
That's not entirely true. RTR/Theros standard and to perhaps more an extent Theros/KTK standard I quite literally had dozens of variations of decks I could play at a somewhat competitive level.
RTR/THS standard was literally only mono-blue, mono-black and UW control until M15 came and Jund Planeswalkers and other decks became things. It was definitely the most stale standard I have ever played (since Innistrad that is). THS/KTK on the other hand had a lot of variety, although even then Abzan control was clearly the best deck throughout the year, much like Marvel is now. Sure, you could play other decks and have success, but nothing came close to the power of that deck.
I think standard players have a terribly short memory and all mtg players have a big nostalgia bias.
I'm just saying the general power level of the color pie was there where you could make decent decks. The top tier decks of the format wasn't an auto loss to a decently constructed brew. As I said, you could do that in RTR/THS standard, and even more so when RTR rotated and we had KTK block.
I'm just saying the general power level of the color pie was there where you could make decent decks. The top tier decks of the format wasn't an auto loss to a decently constructed brew. As I said, you could do that in RTR/THS standard, and even more so when RTR rotated and we had KTK block.
I'm just saying the general power level of the color pie was there where you could make decent decks.
I have no idea what this means, can you explain?
The top tier decks of the format wasn't an auto loss to a decently constructed brew.
can you give me any examples here? what constitutes a brew? I'm just not seeing the things you see. Thoughtseize + Pack Rat was easily the most disgusting and demoralizing opening I have seen in standard. UW control with uncounterable wraths, Sphinx's Rev and Jace destroyed any decks that relied too much on non-hasty threats. The current format has much, much more diversity. I went 5-0 in a competitive league and have a close to even MU against Marvel with my Paradoxical Outcome deck. Does that no count? I'm simply at loss here.
As I said, you could do that in RTR/THS standard, and even more so when RTR rotated and we had KTK block.
no, and comparing the current situation to the diversity of two years of standard is completely moot point. But yes, I enjoyed THS/KTK standard very very much. I have also enjoyed this standard before the initial bannings and after cat got banned. go figure.
@Tiemuuu, I'm not the one disagreeing with you. I'm the one defending the current standard in all actuality. Review my previous posts in the past day or two. I was simply saying that it's not quite as diverse as some seasons, but just as diverse if not more so than others. It's standard, you either like it or you don't. This isn't my favorite season, but it's far from the worst.
I'm just saying the general power level of the color pie was there where you could make decent decks.
I have no idea what this means, can you explain?
The top tier decks of the format wasn't an auto loss to a decently constructed brew.
can you give me any examples here? what constitutes a brew? I'm just not seeing the things you see. Thoughtseize + Pack Rat was easily the most disgusting and demoralizing opening I have seen in standard. UW control with uncounterable wraths, Sphinx's Rev and Jace destroyed any decks that relied too much on non-hasty threats. The current format has much, much more diversity. I went 5-0 in a competitive league and have a close to even MU against Marvel with my Paradoxical Outcome deck. Does that no count? I'm simply at loss here.
???????
Not having much (if any) haste threats didn't stop decks like Jund or Junk Rites from being a real force in that format, even more so than UW Control was. Aristocrats decks didn't rely much on hasty creatures either outside of Falkenrath Aristocrat, and the Junk version didn't even run that card. Bant Auras had zero haste creatures as well. I don't really know what you're going on about here.
It's just plain goofy to claim that the current format has "much, much more diversity" than Innistrad-RTR.
I'm just saying the general power level of the color pie was there where you could make decent decks.
I have no idea what this means, can you explain?
The top tier decks of the format wasn't an auto loss to a decently constructed brew.
can you give me any examples here? what constitutes a brew? I'm just not seeing the things you see. Thoughtseize + Pack Rat was easily the most disgusting and demoralizing opening I have seen in standard. UW control with uncounterable wraths, Sphinx's Rev and Jace destroyed any decks that relied too much on non-hasty threats. The current format has much, much more diversity. I went 5-0 in a competitive league and have a close to even MU against Marvel with my Paradoxical Outcome deck. Does that no count? I'm simply at loss here.
???????
Not having much (if any) haste threats didn't stop decks like Jund or Junk Rites from being a real force in that format, even more so than UW Control was. Aristocrats decks didn't rely much on hasty creatures either outside of Falkenrath Aristocrat, and the Junk version didn't even run that card. Bant Auras had zero haste creatures as well. I don't really know what you're going on about here.
It's just plain goofy to claim that the current format has "much, much more diversity" than Innistrad-RTR.
I probably haven't played this game as long as you have so I may have recalled that statistic incorrectly. But remembering my own experience, the top tier decks back when the fetchlands were available were not broken: Abzan was a powerful deck but not unbeatable; you could actually interact with it.
While we're on the topic, let's not forget about Ramp. Ramp was a deck built around getting lands as fast as possible to HARD CAST Ulamog. But now that seems like the Stone Age because we now have Marvel, ONE card that can do something that was previously done by an ENTIRE DECK ARCHETYPE.
Lastly, if you read some of the articles written by the pros, even they'll say that much of their strategy against Marvel is assuming or hoping they whiff. If there exists a deck whose main counter strategy by even pros is luck, then it needs to be banned.
Is that as far back as you can remember? Mono black devotion I'm pretty sure comprised of over 30% of the meta. Junk angeltusk decks took up well over 30% of the meta. Affinity took up over 30% of the meta. Do I need to keep going? Welcome to standard. Things will change pretty drastically this fall.
Monoblack Devotion was over 30%. Junk Angeltusk decks were nowhere close to that, though. It definitely didn't before the rotation of Scars of Innistrad, because UW Delver remained on top during the first three months of Thragtusk's legality (as it had for the preceding year--though I personally didn't mind it there, I thought Scars-Innistrad Standard was spectacular despite UW Delver's dominance). But once we entered Innistrad-RTR, "Angeltusk" decks definitely didn't hit 30%... I don't think anything in Innistrad-RTR Standard was able to get higher than 20%, even temporarily. It was an astoundingly diverse Standard, which is why I stated that Innistrad-RTR was the last Standard format where we didn't have a 30%+ deck.
I played Innistrad-Standard so I am very spoiled. Probably one of the best standards of all time? You had strong cards and fairly strong answers. Combo, control, midrange, and aggro were all represented in this standard with plenty of answers to each one. Due to these powerful answers standard had a "rotating" meta where decks would fade in and out of popularity but never truly gone or truly dominant. Here's a link to the past: http://mtgtop8.com/format?f=ST&meta=75
Standard:
UR Control
And that's what we're doing: waiting till WoTC gives Marvel the axe.
However...
Are you kidding? Abzan was at or close to 30% of the metagame for pretty much the entirety of Khans of Tarkir being legal in Standard.
Standard:
UR Control
Standard:
UR Control
Standard:
UR Control
RTR/THS standard was literally only mono-blue, mono-black and UW control until M15 came and Jund Planeswalkers and other decks became things. It was definitely the most stale standard I have ever played (since Innistrad that is). THS/KTK on the other hand had a lot of variety, although even then Abzan control was clearly the best deck throughout the year, much like Marvel is now. Sure, you could play other decks and have success, but nothing came close to the power of that deck.
I think standard players have a terribly short memory and all mtg players have a big nostalgia bias.
Youtube Channel
Standard:
UR Control
Standard:
UR Control
I have no idea what this means, can you explain?
can you give me any examples here? what constitutes a brew? I'm just not seeing the things you see. Thoughtseize + Pack Rat was easily the most disgusting and demoralizing opening I have seen in standard. UW control with uncounterable wraths, Sphinx's Rev and Jace destroyed any decks that relied too much on non-hasty threats. The current format has much, much more diversity. I went 5-0 in a competitive league and have a close to even MU against Marvel with my Paradoxical Outcome deck. Does that no count? I'm simply at loss here.
no, and comparing the current situation to the diversity of two years of standard is completely moot point. But yes, I enjoyed THS/KTK standard very very much. I have also enjoyed this standard before the initial bannings and after cat got banned. go figure.
Youtube Channel
Standard:
UR Control
Not having much (if any) haste threats didn't stop decks like Jund or Junk Rites from being a real force in that format, even more so than UW Control was. Aristocrats decks didn't rely much on hasty creatures either outside of Falkenrath Aristocrat, and the Junk version didn't even run that card. Bant Auras had zero haste creatures as well. I don't really know what you're going on about here.
It's just plain goofy to claim that the current format has "much, much more diversity" than Innistrad-RTR.
I was talking about about RTR/THS standard.
Youtube Channel
While we're on the topic, let's not forget about Ramp. Ramp was a deck built around getting lands as fast as possible to HARD CAST Ulamog. But now that seems like the Stone Age because we now have Marvel, ONE card that can do something that was previously done by an ENTIRE DECK ARCHETYPE.
Lastly, if you read some of the articles written by the pros, even they'll say that much of their strategy against Marvel is assuming or hoping they whiff. If there exists a deck whose main counter strategy by even pros is luck, then it needs to be banned.
I played Innistrad-Standard so I am very spoiled. Probably one of the best standards of all time? You had strong cards and fairly strong answers. Combo, control, midrange, and aggro were all represented in this standard with plenty of answers to each one. Due to these powerful answers standard had a "rotating" meta where decks would fade in and out of popularity but never truly gone or truly dominant. Here's a link to the past: http://mtgtop8.com/format?f=ST&meta=75