Scenario: Jace, Vryn's Prodigy blocks Reality Smasher, activates ability, flips. 2 damage is blocked by Jace, and 3 trample damage carries over.
Given that there were no Planeswalkers on the battlefield under an opponent's control when attackers were declared, is there still no opportunity to redirect? (locked into decision to attack player)
I continue to wonder what the heck WotC was thinking printing Mimic at 2 instead of 1C knowing that Eye was a card. They were probably not nearly aggressive enough in their use of colorless mana across the board in OGW, but, in any event, Eye will pay the price.
I've already demonstrated the math behind the validity of the survey. If that holds no value, then pretty much every survey ever taken holds no value and all polls are meaningless. But to recap, a 900 person poll has the ability to represent about 20 million people to 95% accuracy, within about a 3% margin of error. The result had 53.8% of people disagreeing with the Twin ban (33.7% strongly disagree) while only 37.4% agreed with the ban (and less than half of that; 14.2%, strongly agreed). Given the 8.7% "unsure" middle portion, the difference between the extremes is well within our margin of error. If this were a presidential election poll, it would be abundantly clear that one had a significant lead over the other. Given we have members from all over the world from casuals to tournament grinders, and a larger forum population than any other online Magic site on the internet (including reddit), it's about as good as we're going to get as far as player samples and representation.
We can disagree all we want with the results, but it's not really possible to achieve any better, or more accurate poll responses, IMO. And anything smaller and more local than that (say, a popular LGS or multiple LGS) still does not have near the diversity or sheer numbers this poll does. It's also entirely possible that the people being talked to or interacted with are mostly (or completely) within the 37.4% who agree. But that doesn't mean they hold the majority opinion.
ehm, interesting read there but by defintion polls on various internet sites are not even close to scientific or representative of any population other than the visitors of the site
you can ask Sheridan for more on this (since we know he's the statician here), but it's mostly high school knowledge, you just don't draw conclussions based on internet polls, for the same reason polls like 'what are you going to vote for in the next elections' on various sites are mostly for fun and grossly innacurate
If there's a better, more accurate way to gauge the feelings of magic players other than creating a poll on the site with the largest, most diverse pool of players on the internet, I'd be happy to cite it. In the meantime statements like "Well my LGS seems OK with it" are not just unrepresentative, but mostly irrelevant with regards to argument about the format as a whole.
there is not practical way to accurately measure how the community as a whole is feeling
but don't pretend that you are any more scientific or evidence based than people who share the general feeling of their LGS, both of you have some form of indication and that's all
there are no numbers of evidene to be presented, only opinions
You're right, it's not scientific. It is a collection and display of data. That's what polling is. I worked 8 years managing a Starbucks and we had a customer survey system in place for most of my run. Gathering enough data on particular topics on a scale from Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree gives an excellent picture of the general mood and feeling of your customer base. It highlights problems that you may need to address or reaffirms changes you've made for the better. It's just a tool used to quantify feelings in a way that can be used to fix what might be wrong and keep doing (or expand on) things you're doing right. That's how polls and surveys work in my experience. This particular poll shows a clear tilt towards players as a whole being upset with the Twin ban. It's a 16.4 point advantage for those who agree in some way and a 19.5 point advantage for those who strongly agree. That's a pretty sizable margin by any standards. And that doesn't even take into account that the poll was closed over a week ago and no new answers have been added since then.
Internet polls are absolutely worthless. You have to take into account the demographic of the respondents, which is a small slice of the overall playerbase that includes mostly players at the highest level of engagement and disproportionately favors those with a passionate opinion on the subject (because there is no neutral selection process).
All of that aside, the ban process isn't democratic anyway. It's a silly argument.
I'm not saying that this deck is competitive, but I will say that it is a blast to play, and it can be explosive. I actually got the idea from a Modern Nexus article that mentioned an old Standard deck some of you may remember called Bant Crasher. Well, I updated it with the Modern card pool and put in a few games with it on Cockatrice. It's a direction I've just never considered going with Bant.
The deck revolves around Shorecrasher Mimic and Bant/Simic spells that keep it big and support it. Works just fine without a Mimic in your opening hand, but they tend to lead to the biggest blowouts (particularly when followed by a Rafiq). Yes, it is weak to bolt, but I urge you guys to test it if only for fun. Some of the plays can be quite entertaining.
Sideboard tech against Eldrazi and Tron (and every imaginable fast mana and ramp deck)?
Briny Glacier
Land
~ enters the battlefield tapped.
, add C to your mana pool.
If an effect would add more than one mana of any type to a player's mana pool, it adds one mana of that type instead.
If an effect would reduce the cost of a spell by more than one mana of any type, it reduces the cost of that spell by one mana of that type instead.
I've tried the knight of the reliquary, but meh. I do love a second Sigarda though. I do need to bust this deck out again. I had to give it a break because everyone was too aware of it. I do need to find a way to keep cryptics and flickerwisps from bouncing worship. I forget the hexproff for enchantments. I would keep worship at 4. I like to have a couple on the field in case something happens.
I do use the mystics because I don't have access to the heirarchs, but otherwise it runs pretty well.
I completely agree with D90Dennis14 on Geist. Its clock is devastating if you can drop him on turn 2, plus the whole Hexproof thing. I am also a fan of Beast Within in this deck.
If you're having trouble with Worship bounces, consider Simic Charm. Its other modes are often relevant, as well. If you do decide to run it, my suggestion would be to cut either Dismember or some O-Rings (or some combination) to fit 3 copies.
Mimic is the card that pushes through 50–75% of the 20+ damage the deck outputs in the early turns. Banning Mimic would slow the deck down 2+ turns. That's probably enough for most decks to take a breather or at least enough time to allow a deck to stabilize fairly. Ban Mimic and Eye to be safe, and you have probably a tier 2 midrange or ramp deck coming out of the ashes.
No reason that they can't reprint some cards that are staples in both Modern and Eternal formats, including possibly the enemy fetches. Seems like a good way to support every non-Standard format in some capacity.
A Counterspell reprint would be basically the best possible thing to happen to Modern. They need to suck it up and deal with a blue Standard for a rotation.
I'm shocked that people continue to believe WOTC wants a balanced format. Modern doesn't have a turn 4 clock. It has at best a turn 3 clock. Because Wizards refuses to print better generic answers there is no reason to think things will get any better.
If you are sick of people complaining about how uninteractive modern is, go watch PT BNG and then go watch PT OGW. There's a world of difference in what modern used to be and what it has become.
I continue to see the terms linear and noninteractive pop up left and right as these boogeymen as if absolutely no one wants to play or play against these types of decks (yet they seem to dominate the meta). I'm not a fan of either, but what do we really want the format to be? A bunch of durdly control decks against a bunch of midrange decks where the most exciting thing that happens is the resolution of a spell on the seventh turn? That sounds like an equally boring meta to me.
basically refuse to see the format for what it is.
Are we really scared of there being too much control in modern? It's NEVER happened. It's never even been CLOSE to happening. But we'll spread fear mongering about how boring it would be or others who bring up the stupid CAWBLADE era of standard even though what we have now is WORSE THAN CAWBLADE EVER WAS. So blue can never been good because otherwise it would be cawblade.
The worst part about this stupid Eldrazi deck is that it has so messed up the format that we don't even consider how overrepresented combo and aggro are to be a problem. I'm sick of playing past opponents and I'm shocked more people arent.
You misunderstand me. I'm more than aware of the state of control and its future prospects in Modern. I just think there are a ton of people in this thread who'd love to see a Control/Midrange-dominated format. That's no more valid an opinion than that of someone who actually enjoys a linear aggro and noninteractive format (those people tend not to speak up as much). I'm not advocating either, though my personal deck preference has pretty much always been tier 2+ midrange.
I continue to see the terms linear and noninteractive pop up left and right as these boogeymen as if absolutely no one wants to play or play against these types of decks (yet they seem to dominate the meta). I'm not a fan of either, but what do we really want the format to be? A bunch of durdly control decks against a bunch of midrange decks where the most exciting thing that happens is the resolution of a spell on the seventh turn? That sounds like an equally boring meta to me.
I have had very little time to test this current list, but I plan to take it for a spin tonight or this weekend. I am somewhat dreading the Eldrazi matchup, despite the fact that I believe the deck to have a halfway decent game against it. I play both decks, and I often test them against each other. CoCo, in general, can be somewhat favorable if it can rapidly build up a large board presence and play smart with removal (PTE on a Smasher, for example, is not too shabby with a Smiter or a Liege in-hand). Dauntless Escort is quite useful, and I am surprised it's not played more, particularly in CoCO lists. I most often use it to handle unfavorable blocks, saccing it, and then swinging past a bunch of tapped creatures next turn, but it is also handy against many sweepers.
As you said, the sideboard is transformational. Really it's multi-transformational in that it can turn into Knightfall or Troll Worship (or both, I guess). Worship is pretty strong against a lot of the field, including Eldrazi. At least the ones that don't run World Breaker or All is Dust in the main.
When I have had a chance to do some real testing with the deck, I will report back.
Given that there were no Planeswalkers on the battlefield under an opponent's control when attackers were declared, is there still no opportunity to redirect? (locked into decision to attack player)
Internet polls are absolutely worthless. You have to take into account the demographic of the respondents, which is a small slice of the overall playerbase that includes mostly players at the highest level of engagement and disproportionately favors those with a passionate opinion on the subject (because there is no neutral selection process).
All of that aside, the ban process isn't democratic anyway. It's a silly argument.
The deck revolves around Shorecrasher Mimic and Bant/Simic spells that keep it big and support it. Works just fine without a Mimic in your opening hand, but they tend to lead to the biggest blowouts (particularly when followed by a Rafiq). Yes, it is weak to bolt, but I urge you guys to test it if only for fun. Some of the plays can be quite entertaining.
4 Noble Hierarch
2 Birds of Paradise
4 Shorecrasher Mimic
3 Bounding Krasis
4 Rhox War Monk
2 Stoic Angel
2 Rafiq of the Many
2 Bant Charm
4 Simic Charm
4 Path to Exile
4 Favor of the Overbeing
2 Spectral Flight
Land (23)
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Windswept Heath
2 Breeding Pool
1 Temple Garden
1 Hallowed Fountain
3 Forest
1 Plains
2 Island
1 Gavony Township
2 Treetop Village
2 Hinterland Harbor
Briny Glacier
Land
~ enters the battlefield tapped.
If an effect would add more than one mana of any type to a player's mana pool, it adds one mana of that type instead.
If an effect would reduce the cost of a spell by more than one mana of any type, it reduces the cost of that spell by one mana of that type instead.
I completely agree with D90Dennis14 on Geist. Its clock is devastating if you can drop him on turn 2, plus the whole Hexproof thing. I am also a fan of Beast Within in this deck.
If you're having trouble with Worship bounces, consider Simic Charm. Its other modes are often relevant, as well. If you do decide to run it, my suggestion would be to cut either Dismember or some O-Rings (or some combination) to fit 3 copies.
You misunderstand me. I'm more than aware of the state of control and its future prospects in Modern. I just think there are a ton of people in this thread who'd love to see a Control/Midrange-dominated format. That's no more valid an opinion than that of someone who actually enjoys a linear aggro and noninteractive format (those people tend not to speak up as much). I'm not advocating either, though my personal deck preference has pretty much always been tier 2+ midrange.
As you said, the sideboard is transformational. Really it's multi-transformational in that it can turn into Knightfall or Troll Worship (or both, I guess). Worship is pretty strong against a lot of the field, including Eldrazi. At least the ones that don't run World Breaker or All is Dust in the main.
When I have had a chance to do some real testing with the deck, I will report back.