Well, I don't know about you but where I live is pretty expensive, we buy much more expensive than Starcity to give you an idea. The thing is if you really want to play Legacy you need to learn to save money. You will not enter the format with a couple of bucks and buy into the tier 1 decks right away, that's not gonna happen. I always read "how to buy into legacy" threads and it's just fascinating how people is looking for some dark magic to avoid the old and only way to do it: save money.
What you can do in the meanwhile is play cheaper versions and/or ask for someone to borrow a deck.
You mean just flavor creativity? I guess is fine but that's not very hard to do in MTG. You can go "this plane has robot-bacteria and ninja-goblinoids-totems that fight in an underwater city and blah blah"... now for the creativity on card effects... so far it's very poor (not just power, they seem worst reprints).
All I can say is that I once played a mono-blue Tron deck of mine against a Legacy Knight of the Reliquary deck, and although I lost the match, it wasn't a total beating. In fact (this may be outdated info), I once had it explained to me that Legacy is sometimes just Modern with a handful of pre-Modern cards thrown in, plus cards banned in Modern like Sensei's Divining Top.
It's possible for a Modern deck to win a couple of games. It's not probable though. No Modern deck could possibly beat any combo deck in Legacy: UB Reanimator, Sneak and Show, Infect, Elves, ANT, TES even something slower like Food Chain... Modern just doesn't have the tools. You can steal some games from time to time of course.
I would suggest you at least try out the new version of the deck without Counterbalance. At least give it a try. There's no card that can replace Sensei's Divining Top not even close, so why force subpar choices when there's no need to.
IMO if you just play the deck as a combo it will be very bad. If you play the combo pieces in a Loam, it could be pretty nice. I'm testing out a 4C Loam with 1 Dark Depths, 1 Thespian Stage with Living Wish as toolbox.
People really need to understand that Shardless Agent doesn't make Ancestral Vision playable in Legacy. Vision is strong without it.
The chances to hit an AV are not very high. I would say that T1 suspend Vision is stronger in a midrange mirror than T3 Cascade into it. Because you're tapped out, it can be countered and you don't have enough mana.
People claming that Control needs Ancestral Vision, a pure midrange and lategame card, don't know enough about Control. In Modern you lose with Control, when you draw the wrong half of your deck. You don't lose because of a lack of CA T5 etc.
I don't say that Control wouldn't play it, but Control wouldn't be Tier 1 with it.
Control needs a powered down SDT in Modern to be viable.
That's not theorycrafting. I play Control a lot and i play Shardless BUG in Legacy, so know what I'm talking about.
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I hope that Wotc is careful with new cards and keeps Birthing Pod in mind. I really hope that the most skill intensive deck in modern doesn't get banhammered.
Yes, playing turn 3 Shardless Agent is bad because you will be tapped out and you won't have mana to counters. Just to be sure, you are using Dissipate, Rewind and Cryptic Command in your deck right? (so you avoid cascade into them).
Dont need admitted mistake cards or brokenness of older formats to have interactive Magic.
One thing I find funny about the recent conversation is the same people trying to push control are all for unbanning kitty, which would give aggro a boost. I would not want to see what both E1 and kitty would do in the format. Three 3/3's on turn 2 would be even faster then we are now.
What? There are only 2 cards that could be considered broken there JTMS (we all know it's never coming back to Modern and it's fair that way, there are not enough tools to fight it back) and Mental Misstep (I don't get how this card was ever printed).
About E1 and Nacatl, even if your reasoning is flawed about Modern in general, I agree that with E1 Wizards intended to cover the hole kitty left, of course it didn't accomplished that (E1 is only good first couple of turns and then a horrible HORRIBLE topdeck). We have Zoo performance in the last months as an example.
Stoneforge Mystic costs 2. Sure. It also costs 2 to activate. "But it's over 2 turns!" So is the advantage granted by Finks, and Lingering Souls.
"Her powerful toolbox" is a set or artifacts, barring Batterskull, that do NOTHING on their own. They are effective useless without the creatures holding them. A "toolbox" is a set of cards that deal with things. (Non-Living weapon) Equipment inherently do nothing until equipped. Even ignoring that fact, what exactly does a SoFeast and Famine do against Jund/Junk? How does it save you? Give you a blocker? That's very weak. Give you a way to attack through their blockers? Sure, but that's assuming both players have established threats and neither hold answers (ie, a late game standstill), in which case that power level is perfectly acceptable. Sure, you can fetch up a Batterskull against an aggro deck, but every aggro deck in the format is running removal. They'll clear a path through you SFM regardless of what creature it was, in which case your batterskull is hitting turn 5, 1 turn after the fundamental turn in the format.
So, combo doesn't care what you're doing, and Stoneforge Mystic is just another finisher in this matchup? Welcome to non-rotating formats!
Stoneforge Mystic is a powerful card, no question. The closest analogy I can think of for her is Goblin Matron (effect wise). However, seeing her across from you, on any turn, is really not that scary. She is a SLOW clock (minimum 4 turns), she comes down on turn 2 unprotected (win on turn 6) or turn 3 protected (win on turn 7), and she can't grab the one card that could actually qualify as a toolbox card: Umezawa's Jitte. Swords aren't that scary in a format this fast, this grindy, and this Jund/Junk heavy (funny how Abrupt Decay could keep many of the permanents on the banned list in check, right?).
The argument that "You need setup and to be running certain cards to get the scary turn 2 Liliana, turn 3 Karn, turn 3 Wurmcoil Engine, turn 3 Infect win" is flat out wrong because that's exactly what the deck is designed to do! That's like saying that Splinter Twin shouldn't be considered scary because it's built to be a Splinter Twin deck. A Deceiver Exarch at the end of my third turn almost certainly means I lose. That's the extreme. To argue that it's not a scary play because it needs setup is illogical. Siding against SFM, I probably wouldnt'. If my deck folds to a single resolved sword, I need to rethink my deck. It's as simple as that. I need to either go bigger, or hit harder, or deal with it effeciently. This contrived dribble of "I don't know how to deal with this, keep it out of my format!" coming from the same people who say "Dies to removal is not an argument" is getting really old.
I'm not going argue safer or less safe. A card is or it isn't.
Excellent read.
Just keep in mind most people here want to play the most non-interactive magic you could think of. They dont want to answer to your threats. They want to play creature after creature mindlessly and hope for the best.
I agree with you, but if Bitterblossom created a River of Tears, I imagine sad pandas everywhere with SFM unbanned.
About the "toolbox" discussion... Steelshaper's Gift is legal and it doesn't see much play. That's because there is not such a thing as "toolbox" of equipments in modern. Even if Steelshaper's Gift does not provide you a body, if it were so broken to search for a Batterskull or a Sword people would be using it already.
Well, of course that makes a lot of sense. I've been playing an UR list in our last modern FNM and it simple was horrifying. Lost against UWR (he managed to resolve a Geist in G1 and I was screwed in G3 .. G2 was Turn 4 Blood Moon and GG), Affinity (both games went T1 Ravager ...) and some suicide build (can't do much with lightning bolts when there are some 9/9er's).
There sure were some mistakes from my side included, but I'm not really convinced so far but I guess I keep trying some more times.
But yeah, how went the GPT?
Welp I got 2nd place... but we were like 12 or 15 people.
Game one U Tron: was very easy they can't deal with our resolved creatures. Easy match (alos the opponent wasn't very good to be fair).
Game two Kikipod: G1 he kept a slow hand and I was able to counter/vendilion his Birthing Pods and kill him. G2 He played a couple of accelerators, I managed to kill some birds and left the DR Shamans (neither had lands in GY) as I played EOT Spellstutters and Scions. Pod takes tons of dmg from lands and spells, you can race them very easily if given the chance.
2-0
Game three Death and Taxes: Wow I wasn't expecting this deck. He won the dice and went t1 Vial into t2 Vial. The game went long I took a fair amount of damage as I didnt want to trade creatures (I was beating with two Spellstutter and Scion), killed some thalias and mindcensors but eventually uncounterable Finks won the race. G2 I got greedy I'm afraid... I kept a hand with Mountain, Mutavault, 2 Lightning Bolt, 1 Forked Bolt, 1 Firespout +1Card. It's very tricky cos I can kill early threats or just take a couple of hits and wait some other land to sweep the board. I kept the hand.. at that moment I didn't think a 6 card hand could do better. Well, I didnt draw a third land and he went something like t2 Thalia, t3 Blade Splicer, t4 Hero of Bladehold. Yey.
2-1
Game 4 we drew into top 8 (yes, top 8 in a 12 people tournament).
Game 5 Teachings: Just played super aggro, t2 Stutter into t3 Scion of Oona, he tried to kill Scion in my upkeep I Stutter.. Remand!, Snare! win.
G2: Went just perfectly for me, very similar to G1 except I drew Negate for his Path, Counterflux for his Electrolize, Plaxmanta for a second electrolize... was just too much.
3-1-1
Game 6: My opponent conceded (was late lol).
4-1-1
Game 7 (finals) Kikipod: G1 was very good, he didnt land Pod but a couple of creatures. It's very important to use your life total as a resource with this deck, you can't trade creatures you have to keep attacking over and over and wait for a command to regain advantage in the race (sometimes mistbind has the same effect). I ended in 2 I belive but a Scion, Stutter and a couple of Mutas did the trick.
G2 I had removal but little pressure with creatures. I was easily stomped.
G3 Better, but a mistake cost me the game. Turn 3 i had spellstutter and Vendilion to look at his hand (Phantasmal Image, Finks, lands and a 4 drop -Rhino that doesnt let you attack). The mistake: took finks (i wanted to race him very fast and I was soooooooo happy he hadn't chord or Pod that I didnt...) of course he landed Image, killed my Vendilion and took my Command from hand. I couldnt recover and I deserved to lose that game.
Well that was fun, it was years since I played Fae for the last time so I had a great time. The deck can work (if you read my older post you will notice I tuned the deck for a heavy affinity meta...) but Pod is probably superior, don't know if it's worth to devote more sideboard room for that match.
And of course, take into account that it was a very little tourney and I had a concession, I probably wouldn't take this as very good reference (just test a lot and you will be able to know if it is good or not).
Cya
What you can do in the meanwhile is play cheaper versions and/or ask for someone to borrow a deck.
2) I would CB the bird and check their hand for CoCo.
It's possible for a Modern deck to win a couple of games. It's not probable though. No Modern deck could possibly beat any combo deck in Legacy: UB Reanimator, Sneak and Show, Infect, Elves, ANT, TES even something slower like Food Chain... Modern just doesn't have the tools. You can steal some games from time to time of course.
Just save money for a certain time, buy Goyfs. You will never ask "why Goyf" again.
This.
So dissapointed... I was really expecting a change in the ban list
Yes, playing turn 3 Shardless Agent is bad because you will be tapped out and you won't have mana to counters. Just to be sure, you are using Dissipate, Rewind and Cryptic Command in your deck right? (so you avoid cascade into them).
What? There are only 2 cards that could be considered broken there JTMS (we all know it's never coming back to Modern and it's fair that way, there are not enough tools to fight it back) and Mental Misstep (I don't get how this card was ever printed).
About E1 and Nacatl, even if your reasoning is flawed about Modern in general, I agree that with E1 Wizards intended to cover the hole kitty left, of course it didn't accomplished that (E1 is only good first couple of turns and then a horrible HORRIBLE topdeck). We have Zoo performance in the last months as an example.
Excellent read.
Just keep in mind most people here want to play the most non-interactive magic you could think of. They dont want to answer to your threats. They want to play creature after creature mindlessly and hope for the best.
I agree with you, but if Bitterblossom created a River of Tears, I imagine sad pandas everywhere with SFM unbanned.
About the "toolbox" discussion... Steelshaper's Gift is legal and it doesn't see much play. That's because there is not such a thing as "toolbox" of equipments in modern. Even if Steelshaper's Gift does not provide you a body, if it were so broken to search for a Batterskull or a Sword people would be using it already.
Welp I got 2nd place... but we were like 12 or 15 people.
Game one U Tron: was very easy they can't deal with our resolved creatures. Easy match (alos the opponent wasn't very good to be fair).
Game two Kikipod: G1 he kept a slow hand and I was able to counter/vendilion his Birthing Pods and kill him. G2 He played a couple of accelerators, I managed to kill some birds and left the DR Shamans (neither had lands in GY) as I played EOT Spellstutters and Scions. Pod takes tons of dmg from lands and spells, you can race them very easily if given the chance.
2-0
Game three Death and Taxes: Wow I wasn't expecting this deck. He won the dice and went t1 Vial into t2 Vial. The game went long I took a fair amount of damage as I didnt want to trade creatures (I was beating with two Spellstutter and Scion), killed some thalias and mindcensors but eventually uncounterable Finks won the race. G2 I got greedy I'm afraid... I kept a hand with Mountain, Mutavault, 2 Lightning Bolt, 1 Forked Bolt, 1 Firespout +1Card. It's very tricky cos I can kill early threats or just take a couple of hits and wait some other land to sweep the board. I kept the hand.. at that moment I didn't think a 6 card hand could do better. Well, I didnt draw a third land and he went something like t2 Thalia, t3 Blade Splicer, t4 Hero of Bladehold. Yey.
2-1
Game 4 we drew into top 8 (yes, top 8 in a 12 people tournament).
Game 5 Teachings: Just played super aggro, t2 Stutter into t3 Scion of Oona, he tried to kill Scion in my upkeep I Stutter.. Remand!, Snare! win.
G2: Went just perfectly for me, very similar to G1 except I drew Negate for his Path, Counterflux for his Electrolize, Plaxmanta for a second electrolize... was just too much.
3-1-1
Game 6: My opponent conceded (was late lol).
4-1-1
Game 7 (finals) Kikipod: G1 was very good, he didnt land Pod but a couple of creatures. It's very important to use your life total as a resource with this deck, you can't trade creatures you have to keep attacking over and over and wait for a command to regain advantage in the race (sometimes mistbind has the same effect). I ended in 2 I belive but a Scion, Stutter and a couple of Mutas did the trick.
G2 I had removal but little pressure with creatures. I was easily stomped.
G3 Better, but a mistake cost me the game. Turn 3 i had spellstutter and Vendilion to look at his hand (Phantasmal Image, Finks, lands and a 4 drop -Rhino that doesnt let you attack). The mistake: took finks (i wanted to race him very fast and I was soooooooo happy he hadn't chord or Pod that I didnt...) of course he landed Image, killed my Vendilion and took my Command from hand. I couldnt recover and I deserved to lose that game.
Well that was fun, it was years since I played Fae for the last time so I had a great time. The deck can work (if you read my older post you will notice I tuned the deck for a heavy affinity meta...) but Pod is probably superior, don't know if it's worth to devote more sideboard room for that match.
And of course, take into account that it was a very little tourney and I had a concession, I probably wouldn't take this as very good reference (just test a lot and you will be able to know if it is good or not).
Cya
It's very hard to make Mutavaults work in 3 colors. Mutas are very important especially late game or early to block annoying etched champs