I gotta be honest, I really don't like Blade of Selves. This card becomes an instant 'all hands on deck' to destroy, because even utility weenies you can usually ignore like Eternal Witness, Mulldrifter, and even Satyr Wayfinder become value-monsters even getting one attack in. This thing is like a Mimic Vat on crack. I don't know, it just feels too pushed.
Snake Tribal and Kalmne's Captain are pretty impressive, but those keywords...eww. Bring on the reprints. That Goblin's text box actually hurts my eyes to read. Myriad sounds a bit overblown. The red spell...is a red spell, idk. It's alright.
We are no where near a ban. Standard bans are reserved for cards that become an overwhelming numbers of the top 8 of numerous events (80% or more).
We will never get to that point with a card that dies to wild slash.
I really dislike this Wow generation that think everything that is good needs a ban.
The problem is while Jace dies to wild slash turn 2 or 3 Ojutai's Command Resurrects him back a couple turns later. Then he'll do a little digging flip and start to burry the opponent in card advantage by flashing cards back from the graveyard. Running removal spells is not enough to deal with jace we need a good graveyard removal card. Even if you successfully deal with Jace he's just one soldier in Jeskai, Mantis Rider and Dragonmaster Outcast are ready to put the game away. Commands can also resurrect Dragonmaster late game. I would rather see wizards print a answer for Jace than Ban him personally but if they do not I really believe jace will take over the format and cause a lot of players to stop playing Standard.
And this right here is why Jace doesn't warrant a ban. The problem isn't Jace himself, it's the meta around him. It's painfully weak on basic utility cards that have been in 90% of Standard sets for a decade. In a Standard with the most basic removal tools (Doom Blade, Magma Spray, Lightning Strike), and mild graveyard hate (Rest in Peace) both the Delve mechanic and Jace get noticeably worse.
In short, there's no deck he's creating around himself that's taking 6/8 slots in tourneys, he's not causing attendance to drop (this crappy meta can do that fine on its own), and a Merfolk Looter to so-so planeswalker is not inherently broken of itself. There's nothing here that's ban-worthy. It's just a terrible card pool and maybe it gets better. Or it doesn't, and he still stays.
I went to Game Day today with basically the stock list from Minneapolis States / PT. Went 2-2 in all around grindy matches the whole damn day. What really frustrated me was in 2 matches, I literally handed away 2 matches on not being able to get black by turn 4. Only being able to fetch black with specific fetches or topdecking them is unbearably frustrating. I got murdered by a fatty in both games while holding Abzan Charm. It really just made me want to scream.
PS. Now I think that I agree, that doing this is so much effort which is truly not worth it because someone again comes with "you're like stupid wall" without presenting any real reason.
The reason was in the argument, again. You're taking sets that aren't just iconic, revered, or saw loads heavier play than BFZ by leaps and bounds, but had major, permanent effects on Legacy, Modern, Commander, and Standard. BFZ can't hold a candle to even the lamest (imo) set there, SOM in terms of what it brings to every format's table. The fact that you're still not getting that is just proving the point harder.
The same breakdown from last year had the top 20 cards, top 20 creatures, walkers, spells, and the % of decks the khans cards were showing up in
8 out of the top 20 cards with 5 sets in rotation were from the new set, 5/18 widely played (10%+) creatures, only 6 walkers saw wide play of which 2 were khans, 7 of the top 19 spells. Their breakdown on most played cards stops early because its sorted by # of copies rather than % decks running it, but I think its safe to say there were at least 20 khans cards seeing play in 10%+ of decks, 10 of which were in at least 25%+ of decks. This is all ignoring lands.
Try to sort the other breakdown to these same metrics if you want, but I think the results will say what we already know, gideon is the only winner, radiant flames runner up, and beyond the reprints, like they say, the drop off is swift and sharp and pitiful
+1
That seems like a reasonable demonstration that BFZ has impacted its standard to a lesser extent than KTK impacted its standard.
As far as EDH goes, there are plenty of good cards for edh. Some examples...
I mean, yeah...if you have no Magic Collection and no access to older cards that do the job of 90% of every card you listed better, for about the same price...I mean Ugin's Insight? Painful Truths? Part the Waterveil? Planar Outburst? Or just Rhystic Study/Divining Top/Sylvan Library, Skeletal Scrying/Sign in Blood/Ambition's Cost, Time Warp/Temporal Mastery/Time Reversal, Any white board-wipe ever?
That's not to say this has nothing for Commander, it certainly does. But you're reaching to make the list bigger than it should be.
My argument is that if anything, the problem is that in this transition, It's Khans that has already overstayed it's welcome, because people have been casting Siege Rhinos and Mantis Riders for over a year, BFZ's job is to enable these archetypes to it's fullest one last time, while also spawning new decks and strategies, that for the moment as they are not fully fleshed out, much less tuned, they are gonna be contenders, but are unlikely to be dominant in any way anytime soon.
How are you not reading between the lines of what you're actually saying? Khans has better cards and power level and archetypes and mechanics and support, so no one is playing with BFZ. Nothing overstayed its welcome, we're not even fully into the newer, shorter rotation schedule yet. This is par for the course. Had BFZ been stronger and brought a different mechanic to the table, it might be used, but these 'gonna be contenders' decks you're talking about will get there when another set comes out, or Khans rotates. That doesn't mean BFZ is good, strong, powerful, well-designed, or flavorful. That just means maybe it gets supported better with Oath. Or it doesn't, and this entire block is just a crutch to prop up the blocks in front of and behind it.
And to be precise it also doesn't mean that BFZ is bad, weak, unpowerfull, bad-designed or flavorless. Every argument people defending "BFZ is bad set" posted here just says, that BFZ is worse then Khans block collected. To be precise: we have strong evidence that BFZ is weaker then the strongest block in past eight? years - and I don't deny it. But again - it says almost NOTHING about BFZ. (And yes, I explained why in this thread before)
As for me not answering what I suppose to be bad set, it is hard to say, because even Theros had at least good flavor (for me). So I answer something else again but that "somethin else" will still be more meaningful. Personally, I find these fall sets worse/weaker than BFZ: Theros, Scars of Mirrodin, Shards of Alara with Innistrad being more on par with BFZ then better.
So...the set that gave rise to Mono Blue and Black Devotion, Courser, Brimaz, the Gods...The set that gave Standard its first ban in a decade because of 3 Swords, Batterskull, gave us Wurmcoil Engine, Fastlands, Phyrexian Mana, Infect...the set that gave us Elspeth, Ajani Vengeant, the backbone of KTK's design...and the most celebrated top-down set in recent memory, that also gave us more Eternal Format-defining staples than arguably any other set ever. Yeah, if you believe those are on the same level as BFZ, I'd have more luck debating this with a wall.
My argument is that if anything, the problem is that in this transition, It's Khans that has already overstayed it's welcome, because people have been casting Siege Rhinos and Mantis Riders for over a year, BFZ's job is to enable these archetypes to it's fullest one last time, while also spawning new decks and strategies, that for the moment as they are not fully fleshed out, much less tuned, they are gonna be contenders, but are unlikely to be dominant in any way anytime soon.
How are you not reading between the lines of what you're actually saying? Khans has better cards and power level and archetypes and mechanics and support, so no one is playing with BFZ. Nothing overstayed its welcome, we're not even fully into the newer, shorter rotation schedule yet. This is par for the course. Had BFZ been stronger and brought a different mechanic to the table, it might be used, but these 'gonna be contenders' decks you're talking about will get there when another set comes out, or Khans rotates. That doesn't mean BFZ is good, strong, powerful, well-designed, or flavorful. That just means maybe it gets supported better with Oath. Or it doesn't, and this entire block is just a crutch to prop up the blocks in front of and behind it.
BFZ didn't show up in the numbers that a very large first set of a block should have had at the pro tour. Pros are pretty good deck builders if any good decks from BFZ were possible they would have been on it.
I love when people make claims without providing documented evidence to support there claims.
Honestly, you say BFZ didn't show up in numbers the way previous fall sets did without saying how much BFZ showed up, how much a fall set should show up, or saying how you established these figures.
Remember that I don't necessarily disagree with you, I'm simply critiquing the common habit of people making claims without justifying their claims.
It's more work than it's worth. I specifically and directly asked veXlaMtg what qualifies as a bad set, he dodged the question. Skullfer brings his incessant argument back here, trying to change the semantics from 'bad set' to 'low power level', despite the fact that there are even people that will say dumb crap like, 'I don't think the power level is low in BFZ, it's just because you're looking at competitive constructed formats', you know, the ones everyone is playing, watching on twitch, netdecking, emulating, discussing, and filling seats at events.
We're all MtG players, the fact that none of the mechanics carried over from BFZ at the Pro Tour was the final telling account there is no 'breaking' BFZ, or even breaking much new ground. Anyone that has a longer memory than a goldfish should be able to recall past Pro Tours and how much new blocks drastically altered the Standard landscape. Percentages, while the information is out there to crunch, is pointless. Numbers, facts, statistics, none of these arguments have swayed what few rabid defenders of this set remain, so why bother?
That's not really true. You're making a fallacy that introducing new archetypes meant pushing the power up. We just had Theros rotate which contributed decks to the last format that did not rely on those three color creatures you talk of. You had heroic which was filled with small creatures that saw no play elsewhere take down SCGs and even do well in GPs. You had devotion which pushed out green giant fatties. Where was Atarka this last pro tour? Oh yeah nowhere to be found, too slow now since no mana ramp. You had constellation/reanimator which was generally the same deck that ran a bunch of mediocre synergy creatures to get constellation triggers. None of these decks won pro tours. But they won a GP or two and did well on the SCG open. And if Theros was still around those decks would still be viable, if not as good as Abzan or Jeskai. Good enough to top 8 events though.
So no this set could have contributed to standard. But they made a format for draft and put barely anything worth playing in it. Rally could be a constructed mechanic, but it's too centered around five drops and condemned to limited. Eldrazi is dead for the same reason Atarka is. They killed meaningful ramp. Ingest/processors is a limited mechanic and devoid lacks any support. So all you have is cards that are good enough to stand on their own, of which there are painfully few. The biggest issue is this set has is they made no archetype good enough for constructed.
No, I'm not. That's you, Ashiok and many others that do this fallacy. The main point is that for introducing new archetype, you MUST do at least one of these things:
1) making powerlevel of new archetype at least on same high as powerlevel of existing tier-one archetypes (which, again, should NOT be possible in "multicolor->monocolor" enviroment - else hello powercreep)
2) weakening existing tier-one archetypes (by rotation) enough to make space for new ones
In BFZ they correctly didn't thing 1) and by printing dual lands also failed to achieve 2)
EDIT: accidentaly deleted: "but it doesn't make BFZ bad set as many suggest in this forums."
Wait, you set out your own criteria for creating deck archetypes, said BFZ failed on both counts, and it's still not a bad set? What on God's green earth qualifies for a 'bad set' with you?
Lands aren't good enough to redeem a set. Kinda silly to defend the set because it introduced new lands. When lands never had impact on standard in these last years?
Kinda silly to defend a set because it introduced new creatures.
Kinda silly to defend a set because it introduced new instants.
Kinda silly to defend a set because it introduced new planeswalkers.
Kinda silly to defend a set because it introduced new ...
Congratulations, there is two good cards out of BFZ instead of one?
Gah-haw!
No one misunderstand that three-colors spells are better. Mantis, Rhino, Charms, it's hard to make better card at lower cost with fewer colors. Why do you think you need to deny that BfZ cards were played?
I'm not concerned with the fact that Khans had very good cards.
I'm concerned with the absolute denial people lock themselves in.
"Lands doesn't count!" when Zendikar is land-based set with two land-based mechanics. "Removal doesn't count!" "Sweepers don't count" (Fortunate when two from BfZ got played.) "Landfall creature are too weak to possibly count!"
Bah.
There's still some of you guys left? Really? This complaining started mid-spoiler when the set seemed very weak, and hasn't stopped. The counterpoint:
"Wait until the whole set is spoiled, duh!"
"Wait until you've had a chance to play with it, duh!"
"Wait until tourney results start coming in, duh!"
"Wait until the Pro Tour, duh!"
"Wait...until Oath, duh!"
...and you want to talk about denial? Seriously?
Look, no mechanics carried over. Creatures aren't getting used. The themes of the set aren't being played. The tribe isn't being played. The 'big evil' of the set is not getting used. The set is not getting used in any meaningful way. Just accept it and move on. They've made bad sets before, this will probably (hopefully) be the worst set in recent and future memory, and that's fine. It really, really is. Standard will suck for a while, and maybe someday sooner rather than later, it gets better. But it's just sad that you're sitting clinging onto scraps at this point. Yes, of course the lands don't count. That's not ridiculous, that's Magic. We have to use whatever the new lands are, even when we don't like them, even when they damage us, even when it's not evenly distributed across color pairs. What has NEVER happened in the past decade is a set gets basically ignored en masse on this kind of scale. It doesn't matter if it's 1 card or 6, or 12. This set is only getting use to fill in roles taken by THS rotating. It's only being used to prop up glorified KTK block decks.
It's a bummer, I know, but this set is bad. Real bad. Better luck to all of us next time.
I think at this point the thread has become kind of stale, now it's just circular arguing of 'but I think it's okay' without any clear argument other than 'I feel like this could be good / we don't know yet / casual players might like it". To each their own. The actual topic, though, isn't whether this group or that group likes the set, the question was 'is this the worst magic set' and the writing is all over the wall that the answer is yes.
- After two major opens, besides lands, only Gideon has repeatedly made a Top 8 list. People are not playing these cards. That is unprecedented in the history of Standard as long as I've been playing (CHK/RAV). Bring to light, one of the only (if not the only) build around me cards in the set makes a close second.
- The value on this set is atrocious.
- In the absence of other playstyles / options, coupled with the multi-format play, Jace has hit $80 and divided Standard into decks with blue and Jace and decks without either.
- The lack of efficient kill spells, countermagic, and burn didn't make everyone stick to the wedge-colored of the previous block or the big dumb monsters theme of this block. Instead, they used the lands to jam 4 and 5-color strategies to fill in missing holes. Jeskai without Lightning Strike became Jeskai black with Crackling Doom and Murderous Cut.
- Watching matches with the above is horrendous. Guys are using unfavorable Radiant Flames as kill spells for problematic creatures, or worse, they can't fetch the right colors on time. It's miserable to watch, and believe me, for 4 hours I tried.
- Not one Ingest/Processor deck in any Top 32. It's not a good mechanic. Stop defending it already.
At this point, if Origins had Gideon, Kiora, Radiant Flames, and the lands, BFZ would not need to exist, period. I've never seen a set basically eschewed en masse from the brewing table like this. Quite honestly, this was even worse than I predicted. I actually thought there would be some Eldrazi strategies, maybe UG Tutelage Fog, but no. Nothing. If that doesn't say worst set in modern memory, I don't know what does.
Actually, the writing on the wall isn't "yes". The writing on the wall is "this set has divided the community in a way that hasn't been seen since Scars with infect and NPH with Phyrexian mana". What's this says to me is that two seperate subsets of players have different values to guage if a set is good or bad and those two subsets being unable to come to a middle ground... well actually, one subset is saying "I think this set is fine, it appeals to my desires of what I expect from this set" and the other saying "This set is bad, period, and it's not a matter of opinion... Just look at the proof provided by people only in my own subset". Once again I say, for a bunch of folks who like to think so highly of their own intelligence, there is some major idiocy at play here.
So, your way of pointing out 'idiocy' was to point to two sets that see both casual and competitive play alike (and in heavy numbers of both), and then by extension say people in my 'subset' (which is a bold assumption that I'm not a casual player and you're wrong) think it's bad...but you don't? Hey I've said it 3 times, to each their own. you want sorcery speed Downfalls and rare Cancels and no decent burn, sloppy mechanics and big creatures that are crushed by the 1 aggro mechanic in the set, go for it. Have a blast. If you actually like this set, you're welcome to your opinion. The only idiocy going on here is how much you think I value your opinion when presented in such a manner. It's hard to take it seriously when this set fails on so many levels and you decide to defend the scraps.
I ask you the same question this thread has been tackling all day. Why should I care about tournaments? You critique others for saying "I think the set is fine" yet all you have done is say "I think this set sucks". Why should I listen to you when I don't care about any of the aspects of magic that you seem to value exclusively?
You don't have to listen to a word I say. That "to each their own" was meant for you. You value something about this set, have a ball. I'm not here to change anyone's mind, especially when minds like yours are too rigid to be changed. If you've been playing as long as I have, and enjoyed as many new releases as I have, and don't see this as the bottom (I hope) of a low point we've been trending towards for years, no amount of logical argument, objective data, statistics, pointing at other sets, or anything else is going to change your feelgoods about it. So great, have fun, throw oodles of money at the product so Wizards can pat themselves on the back for a job well done. Unfortunately, that pat is going to last as long as the next rotation, which is about the average length of time it takes before they take accountability and apologize for their mistakes and learn nothing from them. They've done it before, they'll do it again, but people like you buy up BFZ and MM15 and let them think for a little while that this was acceptable.
I think at this point the thread has become kind of stale, now it's just circular arguing of 'but I think it's okay' without any clear argument other than 'I feel like this could be good / we don't know yet / casual players might like it". To each their own. The actual topic, though, isn't whether this group or that group likes the set, the question was 'is this the worst magic set' and the writing is all over the wall that the answer is yes.
- After two major opens, besides lands, only Gideon has repeatedly made a Top 8 list. People are not playing these cards. That is unprecedented in the history of Standard as long as I've been playing (CHK/RAV). Bring to light, one of the only (if not the only) build around me cards in the set makes a close second.
- The value on this set is atrocious.
- In the absence of other playstyles / options, coupled with the multi-format play, Jace has hit $80 and divided Standard into decks with blue and Jace and decks without either.
- The lack of efficient kill spells, countermagic, and burn didn't make everyone stick to the wedge-colored of the previous block or the big dumb monsters theme of this block. Instead, they used the lands to jam 4 and 5-color strategies to fill in missing holes. Jeskai without Lightning Strike became Jeskai black with Crackling Doom and Murderous Cut.
- Watching matches with the above is horrendous. Guys are using unfavorable Radiant Flames as kill spells for problematic creatures, or worse, they can't fetch the right colors on time. It's miserable to watch, and believe me, for 4 hours I tried.
- Not one Ingest/Processor deck in any Top 32. It's not a good mechanic. Stop defending it already.
At this point, if Origins had Gideon, Kiora, Radiant Flames, and the lands, BFZ would not need to exist, period. I've never seen a set basically eschewed en masse from the brewing table like this. Quite honestly, this was even worse than I predicted. I actually thought there would be some Eldrazi strategies, maybe UG Tutelage Fog, but no. Nothing. If that doesn't say worst set in modern memory, I don't know what does.
My favorite card is Merieke Ri Berit. She's my favorite general in Commander, with a simple, elegant ability that can be strong or used with shenanigans.
Some pretty major changes to the 2016 calendar.
Looks like Legacy is basically getting the axe, also 'Classic' tourneys are now paying out in prize wall tickets.
All in all, everyone seems to be blowing up their page with rage and salt.
Other Changes:
And this right here is why Jace doesn't warrant a ban. The problem isn't Jace himself, it's the meta around him. It's painfully weak on basic utility cards that have been in 90% of Standard sets for a decade. In a Standard with the most basic removal tools (Doom Blade, Magma Spray, Lightning Strike), and mild graveyard hate (Rest in Peace) both the Delve mechanic and Jace get noticeably worse.
In short, there's no deck he's creating around himself that's taking 6/8 slots in tourneys, he's not causing attendance to drop (this crappy meta can do that fine on its own), and a Merfolk Looter to so-so planeswalker is not inherently broken of itself. There's nothing here that's ban-worthy. It's just a terrible card pool and maybe it gets better. Or it doesn't, and he still stays.
The reason was in the argument, again. You're taking sets that aren't just iconic, revered, or saw loads heavier play than BFZ by leaps and bounds, but had major, permanent effects on Legacy, Modern, Commander, and Standard. BFZ can't hold a candle to even the lamest (imo) set there, SOM in terms of what it brings to every format's table. The fact that you're still not getting that is just proving the point harder.
I mean, yeah...if you have no Magic Collection and no access to older cards that do the job of 90% of every card you listed better, for about the same price...I mean Ugin's Insight? Painful Truths? Part the Waterveil? Planar Outburst? Or just Rhystic Study/Divining Top/Sylvan Library, Skeletal Scrying/Sign in Blood/Ambition's Cost, Time Warp/Temporal Mastery/Time Reversal, Any white board-wipe ever?
That's not to say this has nothing for Commander, it certainly does. But you're reaching to make the list bigger than it should be.
So...the set that gave rise to Mono Blue and Black Devotion, Courser, Brimaz, the Gods...The set that gave Standard its first ban in a decade because of 3 Swords, Batterskull, gave us Wurmcoil Engine, Fastlands, Phyrexian Mana, Infect...the set that gave us Elspeth, Ajani Vengeant, the backbone of KTK's design...and the most celebrated top-down set in recent memory, that also gave us more Eternal Format-defining staples than arguably any other set ever. Yeah, if you believe those are on the same level as BFZ, I'd have more luck debating this with a wall.
How are you not reading between the lines of what you're actually saying? Khans has better cards and power level and archetypes and mechanics and support, so no one is playing with BFZ. Nothing overstayed its welcome, we're not even fully into the newer, shorter rotation schedule yet. This is par for the course. Had BFZ been stronger and brought a different mechanic to the table, it might be used, but these 'gonna be contenders' decks you're talking about will get there when another set comes out, or Khans rotates. That doesn't mean BFZ is good, strong, powerful, well-designed, or flavorful. That just means maybe it gets supported better with Oath. Or it doesn't, and this entire block is just a crutch to prop up the blocks in front of and behind it.
It's more work than it's worth. I specifically and directly asked veXlaMtg what qualifies as a bad set, he dodged the question. Skullfer brings his incessant argument back here, trying to change the semantics from 'bad set' to 'low power level', despite the fact that there are even people that will say dumb crap like, 'I don't think the power level is low in BFZ, it's just because you're looking at competitive constructed formats', you know, the ones everyone is playing, watching on twitch, netdecking, emulating, discussing, and filling seats at events.
We're all MtG players, the fact that none of the mechanics carried over from BFZ at the Pro Tour was the final telling account there is no 'breaking' BFZ, or even breaking much new ground. Anyone that has a longer memory than a goldfish should be able to recall past Pro Tours and how much new blocks drastically altered the Standard landscape. Percentages, while the information is out there to crunch, is pointless. Numbers, facts, statistics, none of these arguments have swayed what few rabid defenders of this set remain, so why bother?
Wait, you set out your own criteria for creating deck archetypes, said BFZ failed on both counts, and it's still not a bad set? What on God's green earth qualifies for a 'bad set' with you?
There's still some of you guys left? Really? This complaining started mid-spoiler when the set seemed very weak, and hasn't stopped. The counterpoint:
"Wait until the whole set is spoiled, duh!"
"Wait until you've had a chance to play with it, duh!"
"Wait until tourney results start coming in, duh!"
"Wait until the Pro Tour, duh!"
"Wait...until Oath, duh!"
...and you want to talk about denial? Seriously?
Look, no mechanics carried over. Creatures aren't getting used. The themes of the set aren't being played. The tribe isn't being played. The 'big evil' of the set is not getting used. The set is not getting used in any meaningful way. Just accept it and move on. They've made bad sets before, this will probably (hopefully) be the worst set in recent and future memory, and that's fine. It really, really is. Standard will suck for a while, and maybe someday sooner rather than later, it gets better. But it's just sad that you're sitting clinging onto scraps at this point. Yes, of course the lands don't count. That's not ridiculous, that's Magic. We have to use whatever the new lands are, even when we don't like them, even when they damage us, even when it's not evenly distributed across color pairs. What has NEVER happened in the past decade is a set gets basically ignored en masse on this kind of scale. It doesn't matter if it's 1 card or 6, or 12. This set is only getting use to fill in roles taken by THS rotating. It's only being used to prop up glorified KTK block decks.
It's a bummer, I know, but this set is bad. Real bad. Better luck to all of us next time.
So, your way of pointing out 'idiocy' was to point to two sets that see both casual and competitive play alike (and in heavy numbers of both), and then by extension say people in my 'subset' (which is a bold assumption that I'm not a casual player and you're wrong) think it's bad...but you don't? Hey I've said it 3 times, to each their own. you want sorcery speed Downfalls and rare Cancels and no decent burn, sloppy mechanics and big creatures that are crushed by the 1 aggro mechanic in the set, go for it. Have a blast. If you actually like this set, you're welcome to your opinion. The only idiocy going on here is how much you think I value your opinion when presented in such a manner. It's hard to take it seriously when this set fails on so many levels and you decide to defend the scraps.
You don't have to listen to a word I say. That "to each their own" was meant for you. You value something about this set, have a ball. I'm not here to change anyone's mind, especially when minds like yours are too rigid to be changed. If you've been playing as long as I have, and enjoyed as many new releases as I have, and don't see this as the bottom (I hope) of a low point we've been trending towards for years, no amount of logical argument, objective data, statistics, pointing at other sets, or anything else is going to change your feelgoods about it. So great, have fun, throw oodles of money at the product so Wizards can pat themselves on the back for a job well done. Unfortunately, that pat is going to last as long as the next rotation, which is about the average length of time it takes before they take accountability and apologize for their mistakes and learn nothing from them. They've done it before, they'll do it again, but people like you buy up BFZ and MM15 and let them think for a little while that this was acceptable.
Again, to each their own.
- After two major opens, besides lands, only Gideon has repeatedly made a Top 8 list. People are not playing these cards. That is unprecedented in the history of Standard as long as I've been playing (CHK/RAV). Bring to light, one of the only (if not the only) build around me cards in the set makes a close second.
- The value on this set is atrocious.
- In the absence of other playstyles / options, coupled with the multi-format play, Jace has hit $80 and divided Standard into decks with blue and Jace and decks without either.
- The lack of efficient kill spells, countermagic, and burn didn't make everyone stick to the wedge-colored of the previous block or the big dumb monsters theme of this block. Instead, they used the lands to jam 4 and 5-color strategies to fill in missing holes. Jeskai without Lightning Strike became Jeskai black with Crackling Doom and Murderous Cut.
- Watching matches with the above is horrendous. Guys are using unfavorable Radiant Flames as kill spells for problematic creatures, or worse, they can't fetch the right colors on time. It's miserable to watch, and believe me, for 4 hours I tried.
- Not one Ingest/Processor deck in any Top 32. It's not a good mechanic. Stop defending it already.
At this point, if Origins had Gideon, Kiora, Radiant Flames, and the lands, BFZ would not need to exist, period. I've never seen a set basically eschewed en masse from the brewing table like this. Quite honestly, this was even worse than I predicted. I actually thought there would be some Eldrazi strategies, maybe UG Tutelage Fog, but no. Nothing. If that doesn't say worst set in modern memory, I don't know what does.