(I'm writing this with Jace/Gideon in mind, some of the most used PW's.)
After reading the article about banning Jace the Format Sculptor, I was really interested to see the kind of hate that would play out in NPH. Everyone knows how powerful our nerdwalking friend is, and the question of his being banned from standard is a valid one. After looking at the PW hate, I have to say i'm definitely disappointed.
Despise - This card is good, but at sorcery speed, I don't think it's good enough. With the inclusion of Mental Misstep in NPH, it's effectively nerfed this card vs. Jace and his close friend Gideon. I think it's safe to say the MM will be a 3-4 of in most competitive decks. Not to say Despise will be useless, but I think it should have been a 2CMC instant. Most likely 1{PB}.
Hex Parasite - A 1 CMC critter that can not only suck poison counters off your fatties, but destroy planeswalkers while getting AHNULD PUMPED? Not bad at all, save for the fact that Jace/Gideon come out with a minimum count of 3/6 counters. Jace will either fateseal or brainstorm, depending on circumstance, making him 5/3 respectively, and most often Gideon goes 0 and whips it good, yeah, whips it real good. That means you cast for one, and then need 3/5/6 mana extra (Assuming {P} is spent as 2 life) to kill them. I don't call that efficient hate.
Beast Within - In all honesty, this is a good card. Not Jace good, it won't be a 4 of, but it's still good. 3 CMC destroy target permanent is nice, the only drawback being them getting a hill giant? Not horrible, but not ideal. Decks not running G are SOL with this card, and in all honesty, decks running G (RUG and Valakut i'm looking at you) are going to be saving space for better things imo.
I'm sure i've made tons of mistakes in logic and thinking in writing this. Please discuss. All in all, i'm not impressed with the PW hate considering the counter tools at our disposal, not to say that they aren't good cards. I think it's safe to say Jace will continue to shape standard until he's banned or rotated out.
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Beast Within - In all honesty, this is a good card. Not Jace good, it won't be a 4 of, but it's still good. 3 CMC destroy target permanent is nice, the only drawback being them getting a hill giant? Not horrible, but not ideal. Decks not running G are SOL with this card, and in all honesty, decks running G (RUG and Valakut i'm looking at you) are going to be saving space for better things imo.
I'm sure i've made tons of mistakes in logic and thinking in writing this. Please discuss. All in all, i'm not impressed with the PW hate considering the counter tools at our disposal, not to say that they aren't good cards. I think it's safe to say Jace will continue to shape standard until he's banned or rotated out.
Beast Within is real. Its definitely going to see play in Valakut and maybe RUG as well. Valakut doesn't give a damn about a 3/3 but it does care about opponents playing Jace and brainstorming for counterspells or attacking with certain equipment.
Its going to help Valakut against Caw Blade though probably not enough to make the matchup even.
With the inclusion of Mental Misstep in NPH, it's effectively nerfed this card vs. Jace and his close friend Gideon. I think it's safe to say the MM will be a 3-4 of in most competitive decks.
Really? In Legacy maybe, but I don't think that's a safe bet at all in Standard. What 1 cmc spells are out there in Standard that are so back-breaking you need such a narrow hard counter for them? It's nice to be able to counter Steppe Lynx or Duress when you're on the play, sure, but drawing this seems pretty bad in so many situations.
Really? In Legacy maybe, but I don't think that's a safe bet at all in Standard. What 1 cmc spells are out there in Standard that are so back-breaking you need such a narrow hard counter for them? It's nice to be able to counter Steppe Lynx or Duress when you're on the play, sure, but drawing this seems pretty bad in so many situations.
I agree with this. What would a competitive player drop for 3-4 Mental Misstep in t2? It's really great in really specific situations, but I'm not sure it's playset worthy in standard.
So, want to hear a funny story about Hex Parasite? You can take the counters off, and then attack that same planeswalker! Or suck counters off over two or three turns!
Why are you presenting it like it's a one-use card?
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Hex is one of the best answers to PWs so far, BW works only if you play green...
Now, I guess that's what WOC planned Hex to be an answer to PWs, specifically Jace as most people want it banned, however, they pring Mental Misstep in the same set, which I consider a little offensive as "yeah, we provide answers, but we also provide answers to answers"... that's really bad actually, Hex already had its own weaknesses (which we all know), and really it needed no answers, so now, even if not to everyone will end up doing this, I know it'll happen a lot:
- AntiPW player: play Hex
- Jace Player: MM
- AntiPW player: MM
- Jace Player: MM
- AntiPW player: "****!"
Seems a little sad, no real answers printed for PWs in all but 1 color... However, the issue was Jace, not all PWs and the answers printed are general, for all PW or any permanent, Jace still being well protected by the decks he's being played with...
So, want to hear a funny story about Hex Parasite? You can take the counters off, and then attack that same planeswalker! Or suck counters off over two or three turns!
Why are you presenting it like it's a one-use card?
If your opponent is getting 2 (or more) activations out of Jace they're very likely to win easily. The PW hate they printed in NPH is fine against "fair" PWs. The problem is that Jace (and Gideon to a lesser degree) is just so good it's causing problems in the current meta.
I've got to say I'm perfectly happy with the ammount of hate against PWs in this set. Should be enough to definitively make an impact. Any more would probably make it nigh impossible to even play planeswalkers in standard. I know a lot of you want that to happen but that's not a healthy metagame either.
Don't hate on the cards before you've actually seen them in action.
Also there's even more hate, while certainly not directly designed for this, Karn and Exclusion Ritual can also deal with PWs, not to mention SoWaP which should be really good at eating them as PWs are usually played in control decks.
Hex is one of the best answers to PWs so far, BW works only if you play green...
Now, I guess that's what WOC planned Hex to be an answer to PWs, specifically Jace as most people want it banned, however, they pring Mental Misstep in the same set, which I consider a little offensive as "yeah, we provide answers, but we also provide answers to answers"... that's really bad actually, Hex already had its own weaknesses (which we all know), and really it needed no answers, so now, even if not to everyone will end up doing this, I know it'll happen a lot:
- AntiPW player: play Hex
- Jace Player: MM
- AntiPW player: MM
- Jace Player: MM
- AntiPW player: "****!"
Seems a little sad, no real answers printed for PWs in all but 1 color... However, the issue was Jace, not all PWs and the answers printed are general, for all PW or any permanent, Jace still being well protected by the decks he's being played with...
As already noted, MM is not going to see much, if any, play in Standard. There just is not enough cards that cost 1 for it to matter.
After reading the article about banning Jace the Format Sculptor, I was really interested to see the kind of hate that would play out in NPH. Everyone knows how powerful our nerdwalking friend is, and the question of his being banned from standard is a valid one. After looking at the PW hate, I have to say i'm definitely disappointed.
Despise - This card is good, but at sorcery speed, I don't think it's good enough. With the inclusion of Mental Misstep in NPH, it's effectively nerfed this card vs. Jace and his close friend Gideon. I think it's safe to say the MM will be a 3-4 of in most competitive decks. Not to say Despise will be useless, but I think it should have been a 2CMC instant. Most likely 1{PB}.
Hex Parasite - A 1 CMC critter that can not only suck poison counters off your fatties, but destroy planeswalkers while getting AHNULD PUMPED? Not bad at all, save for the fact that Jace/Gideon come out with a minimum count of 3/6 counters. Jace will either fateseal or brainstorm, depending on circumstance, making him 5/3 respectively, and most often Gideon goes 0 and whips it good, yeah, whips it real good. That means you cast for one, and then need 3/5/6 mana extra (Assuming {P} is spent as 2 life) to kill them. I don't call that efficient hate.
Beast Within - In all honesty, this is a good card. Not Jace good, it won't be a 4 of, but it's still good. 3 CMC destroy target permanent is nice, the only drawback being them getting a hill giant? Not horrible, but not ideal. Decks not running G are SOL with this card, and in all honesty, decks running G (RUG and Valakut i'm looking at you) are going to be saving space for better things imo.
I'm sure i've made tons of mistakes in logic and thinking in writing this. Please discuss. All in all, i'm not impressed with the PW hate considering the counter tools at our disposal, not to say that they aren't good cards. I think it's safe to say Jace will continue to shape standard until he's banned or rotated out.
Beast Within is real. Its definitely going to see play in Valakut and maybe RUG as well. Valakut doesn't give a damn about a 3/3 but it does care about opponents playing Jace and brainstorming for counterspells or attacking with certain equipment.
Its going to help Valakut against Caw Blade though probably not enough to make the matchup even.
Really? In Legacy maybe, but I don't think that's a safe bet at all in Standard. What 1 cmc spells are out there in Standard that are so back-breaking you need such a narrow hard counter for them? It's nice to be able to counter Steppe Lynx or Duress when you're on the play, sure, but drawing this seems pretty bad in so many situations.
I agree with this. What would a competitive player drop for 3-4 Mental Misstep in t2? It's really great in really specific situations, but I'm not sure it's playset worthy in standard.
CG
Why are you presenting it like it's a one-use card?
Now, I guess that's what WOC planned Hex to be an answer to PWs, specifically Jace as most people want it banned, however, they pring Mental Misstep in the same set, which I consider a little offensive as "yeah, we provide answers, but we also provide answers to answers"... that's really bad actually, Hex already had its own weaknesses (which we all know), and really it needed no answers, so now, even if not to everyone will end up doing this, I know it'll happen a lot:
- AntiPW player: play Hex
- Jace Player: MM
- AntiPW player: MM
- Jace Player: MM
- AntiPW player: "****!"
Seems a little sad, no real answers printed for PWs in all but 1 color... However, the issue was Jace, not all PWs and the answers printed are general, for all PW or any permanent, Jace still being well protected by the decks he's being played with...
If your opponent is getting 2 (or more) activations out of Jace they're very likely to win easily. The PW hate they printed in NPH is fine against "fair" PWs. The problem is that Jace (and Gideon to a lesser degree) is just so good it's causing problems in the current meta.
Don't hate on the cards before you've actually seen them in action.
Also there's even more hate, while certainly not directly designed for this, Karn and Exclusion Ritual can also deal with PWs, not to mention SoWaP which should be really good at eating them as PWs are usually played in control decks.
As already noted, MM is not going to see much, if any, play in Standard. There just is not enough cards that cost 1 for it to matter.
Check out http://www.mtgbrodeals.com/author/john-murphy/ for my EDH articles!