Checklands and Shocklands are about the lowest level of dual land drawback we can expect to see anytime soon. Virtually every dual land since the ABUR duals have had some sort of drawback. The Scry Lands are no exception, but they at least try to mitigate the drawback with the scry 1, which makes them vastly more useful than other existing ETBT lands.
Draw-Go can function in Standard because it is able to be successful in its environment. It has some removal and discard available for earlier turns before it reaches 3 mana to spit counterspells and then 4 mana to spit board wipes. That, and I think we can all admit Standard goes a tad slower.
The problem is, Modern doesn't always provide the time to work around the pressure that can be applied by decks like Tron, Melira Pod, and any host of BGx based decks. Yes, draw-go control can and does exist, but it just ekes by. If you're playing control and miss a land drop or don't draw near-perfect hands in Standard, you usually won't be too screwed. If that happens in Modern, it's a lot less likely you'll make it(though to be fair, you don't outright autolose like what happens at times in Legacy).
I usually call the deck "The Senate". Why? Politics. This deck does a lot of it. Usually, I play it in draw-go mode and let everyone else fight it out, using my counterspells when something that can have some significant, negative effect on me pops up. Later game consists of winning the card advantage race and beating them up with my larger utility creatures, or, alternatively,
The general gameplan is to sit back and start up the card advantage engine while people fire the first few volleys at each other. Some counters and board wipes will get thrown down here and there, especially at cards that threaten everyone and not just me, such as pieces of infinite combos. Doing so usually garners sufficient goodwill that I'm not targeted heavily. Ideally, this continues on into the late game, with people just bashing each other out of the game. From there, I clean up the board, and proceed to go in with my creatures. If they somehow have infinite life, I have the option of using mill as a win con via Psychic Spiral and, primarily, Jace, Memory Adept. Massive amounts of mill followed up by a Tormod's Crypt usually hits fairly hard. Proceeding to get it back and do so again and again via Sun Titan has won me a couple games.
There are a few cards in here that are suboptimal, and are in here because I'm operating on a limited budget and a relatively unimpressive card pool. I have chosen some replacement options once I can pick up the cards I need.
With all that said, this deck is still actively in development. My card pool is mostly M11 forward, and does not contain many of the money rares printed in that time period, save for any cards in this deck that are actually worth something. That and I'm operating on a slim budget. Still, any help would be appreciated.
Old standard? So I can play Caw-Blade in the environment it existed in and not facing down either Intro Packs or Legacy decks? This should be fun. I thought Cockatrice was down, though. Are there still some servers up?
There have been a fair amount of control decks in Magic post Eighth Edition. I doubt they were all midrange trying to be control the way you seem to see the current standard decks as being. The problem is BGx disrupts/outpaces those builds, as well as decks like Tron that just do whatever they want unless you have reltatively specific ways to stop them. And UWR isn't even the best thing ever, all things considered. It's not that the cards don't exist, it's just that control's answers are far outpaced by everyone else's proactive cards and speedy game plans.
I honestly don't foresee them banning anything from that shell in the near future. We're going to have to deal with the fact that most any good stuff that exists will be crammed into the BGx shell if it serves them well. Barring something in Theros block that waters down BGx's power level, the only real way to bring in more diversity is to try and enable other builds to have a shot at existing, regardless of what BGx decides to splash.
I'm not out to witch hunt Deathrite Shaman or even the BGx shell. I just wanted to point out that they could have easily either toned down Shaman, or perhaps printed similar cards for the other color combinations. Instead, they printed only one extremely versatile 1 drop. Surprise surprise, it's in BGx. I think it's fairly obvious there's some pushing going on in this format by Wizards. Case in point, look at today's Reconstructed.
While I'm here, about Stoneforge Mystic. I believe that it is not the most oppressive thing ever in the format, and could be unbanned. Batterskull germs get hit by Abrupt Decay(so can all 5 swords and Mystic herself), and Batterskull gets broken as easily as any other artifact. While Batterskull is capable of putting up a decent defense against things like Tarmogoyf, I believe it wouldn't be format-warping for Modern. Thoughts?
The problem is, Modern doesn't always provide the time to work around the pressure that can be applied by decks like Tron, Melira Pod, and any host of BGx based decks. Yes, draw-go control can and does exist, but it just ekes by. If you're playing control and miss a land drop or don't draw near-perfect hands in Standard, you usually won't be too screwed. If that happens in Modern, it's a lot less likely you'll make it(though to be fair, you don't outright autolose like what happens at times in Legacy).
1 Isperia, Supreme Judge
Creatures (12)
1 Guard Gomazoa
1 Wall of Denial
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Windreaver
1 Sun Titan
1 Frost Titan
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Sphinx of Magosi
1 Angelic Arbiter
1 Chancellor of the Spires
1 Drogskol Reaver
Sorceries (11)
1 Revoke Existence
1 Curse of the Swine
1 Mind Spring
1 Amass the Components
1 Stolen Goods
1 Day of Judgment
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Winds of Rath
1 Devastation Tide
1 Phyrexian Rebirth
1 Hour of Reckoning
Instants (28)
1 Dispatch
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Annul
1 Syncopate
1 Divine Offering
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Disperse
1 Counterspell
1 Essence Scatter
1 Negate
1 Deprive
1 Overrule
1 Abolish
1 Stoic Rebuttal
1 Cancel
1 Dissipate
1 Render Silent
1 Return to Dust
1 Dismal Failure
1 Fuel for the Cause
1 Rewind
1 Foil
1 Scatter Arc
1 Jace's Ingenuity
1 Psychic Spiral
1 Lost in the Mist
1 Fall of the Gavel
1 Counterlash
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Aura of Silence
1 Nevermore
1 Propaganda
1 Detention Sphere
1 Dissipation Field
1 Sphere of Safety
Artifacts (8)
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Sol Ring
1 Elixir of Immortality
1 Journeyer's Kite
1 Runechanter's Pike
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Staff of Nin
Planeswalkers (2)
1 Jace, Memory Adept
1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
Lands (31)
1 Reliquary Tower
11 Plains
16 Island
1 Sejiri Refuge
1 Azorius Guildgate
1 Nimbus Maze
The general gameplan is to sit back and start up the card advantage engine while people fire the first few volleys at each other. Some counters and board wipes will get thrown down here and there, especially at cards that threaten everyone and not just me, such as pieces of infinite combos. Doing so usually garners sufficient goodwill that I'm not targeted heavily. Ideally, this continues on into the late game, with people just bashing each other out of the game. From there, I clean up the board, and proceed to go in with my creatures. If they somehow have infinite life, I have the option of using mill as a win con via Psychic Spiral and, primarily, Jace, Memory Adept. Massive amounts of mill followed up by a Tormod's Crypt usually hits fairly hard. Proceeding to get it back and do so again and again via Sun Titan has won me a couple games.
There are a few cards in here that are suboptimal, and are in here because I'm operating on a limited budget and a relatively unimpressive card pool. I have chosen some replacement options once I can pick up the cards I need.
-Overrule-To be replaced with Absorb
-Divine Offering-To be replaced with Disenchant
-Scatter Arc-To be replaced with Cryptic Command
-Jace's Ingenuity-To be replaced with Blue Sun's Zenith
-Dissipation Field-To be replaced with Ghostly Prison
-Counterlash-To be replaced with Commandeer or Dismiss
-Hour of Reckoning-To be replaced with Wrath of God
With all that said, this deck is still actively in development. My card pool is mostly M11 forward, and does not contain many of the money rares printed in that time period, save for any cards in this deck that are actually worth something. That and I'm operating on a slim budget. Still, any help would be appreciated.
....I have an unhealthy attachment to that card.
They're all listed under the category of "New Additions".
While I'm here, about Stoneforge Mystic. I believe that it is not the most oppressive thing ever in the format, and could be unbanned. Batterskull germs get hit by Abrupt Decay(so can all 5 swords and Mystic herself), and Batterskull gets broken as easily as any other artifact. While Batterskull is capable of putting up a decent defense against things like Tarmogoyf, I believe it wouldn't be format-warping for Modern. Thoughts?