Want to see other duel decks I made ? Check out my Blog ! Feel free to post advice or give topics for me to make duel decks out of. Check out the Theros Block Planeswalker Theme Duel Decks Elspeth, Xenagos, Ashok, Kiora, Ajani
Legacy: Not sure. Yawgmoth's Bargain seems the least broken of the bunch and could be unbanned.
Just, no......Bargain is like...uber-broken....
Modern, I'd like to see Sword or AV unbanned...I don't think Bitterblossom can come off the list, because what's stopping jund from playing it? Exactly.
Vintage, I can see Library of Alexandria or Balance being unrestricted, especially with Mud's current dominance, it will give Recall decks extra-power and perhaps more reason to play white (in Balance's case). I don't think Balance is all that powerful anymore, as all it will do is Mind Twist an opponent, and can stone rain yourself...IDK, when I've played I've never been like "Hey, I wish I had Balance right now"
Library....I love turn 1 library....especially on the draw....please??
Vintage, I can see Library of Alexandria or Balance being unrestricted, especially with Mud's current dominance, it will give Recall decks extra-power and perhaps more reason to play white (in Balance's case). I don't think Balance is all that powerful anymore, as all it will do is Mind Twist an opponent, and can stone rain yourself...IDK, when I've played I've never been like "Hey, I wish I had Balance right now"
Library....I love turn 1 library....especially on the draw....please??
unrestricting Power 10 (Library of Alexandria) and Power 11 (Balance) would't stop MUD supposed dominance (in Europe, for what I can see, vintage meta is healty) but if you still want to do something restrict Lodestone Golem would be wiser
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Modern: Red Brigades (Goblin) - Cruel Control
EDH: Varolz, the Scar-Striped
These draw the games for so long the game becomes boring.
I'm not even saying the cards are OP, they simply draw out the game incessantly. There is nothing sadder than barely finishing game one after 40 mins because of how Thrag and AoS simply rewind the game.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Decks:
Modern: (P/R)(P/G) Infect (P/G)(P/R) UWU Fish UWU WB Disruption BW
Standard: WBR Junk Aristocrats WBR WWW Humans WWW
Commander: BBB Marrowgnawer and Friends BBB GGG Thrun Tron GGG WBR Kaalia of the Vast RBW
For everyone who advocates unrestricting Balance, does not understand what makes Balance so incredibly broken.
Unrestricting it, will mean you can agressively mull on the play to a hand containing balance, and the manastones to cast it.
You do not want people to have reliable access to a 2 cmc target player discards his hand.
And that is not even including the plethorea of other benefits that a well designed balance deck will have.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Give credit, where credit is due. Give irony and sarcasm, when ignorance and stupidity is found. The whip is kept for special occasions
The Internet was a revelation to me, I never imagined there are so many idiots on this planet.
Blue and Black need a boost in modern, but they need a boost in such a way that doesn't also boost Jund, so no Ancestral Vision since it works a little too well with BBE. I could see either Jace, the Mind Sculptor or Sword of the Meek unbanned but not both together. I'd also like to see either Ponder or Preordain to be unbanned, but I'm not sure which one is better for control and worse for combo. Finally, GSZ or Nacatl would both give Zoo a bump and possibly encourage it to move away from domain and reduce the homogenization of the aggro decks a little.
Standard:
Nothing will happen in standard. It takes a lot to make them ban cards in standard, and there simply isn't anything erogenous enough to warrant it right now. Yes, the Restoration Angel + Thragtusk in so many decks is annoying, but they will almost certainly wait to see the effect of Skullcrack before doing anything drastic.
Modern:
Deathrite Shaman should be (and might actually be) banned. I'd give it a 50/50 chance. *Something* will very likely be unbanned on an experimental basis, ala Valakut. There are a whole host of possibilities for what... It'll be one of the cards that was preemtivlly banned before the format was "real", like Valakut was.
It won't be Jace, because WoTC hates that card. It likely *should* be sword of the meek... a "combo" card, that, like Valakut, requires setup and doesn't really insta-win.
It could also be Visions, but that will only happen if deathrite gets the axe. (Otherwise, yay blue jund!)
Extended and Block Constucted:
Nobody Cares.
Legacy:
Nothing needs banning IMHO. What they should do is continue to slowly par down the banned list by removing cards that simply do not need to be there. First up? Earthcraft. This actually happening is unlikely though.
Vintage:
From what I hear, something will be done. What? I couldn't even fathom a guess.
Commander:
Nothing is likely to be done. It's possible Consecrated Sphinx gets banned or one of the cards long overdue to be unbanned will finally get there, but both possibilities are unlikely.
Other Formats:
Does anyone care?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Decks: Standard - Rally, Modern - Kikichord, Legacy - Elves
Commmander - Eight-and-a-Half Tails; Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker; Prime Speaker Zegana; Alesha, Who Smiles at Death; Daxos the Returned; Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest; Patron of the Moonfolk; Animar, Soul of Elements
I'd love to see Preordain unbanned (mostly because I wanna play Delver, really), but I understand the trepidation about making combo a little too consistent/good.
And I'd LOVE to see Jace unbanned. Yeah, he's really really good, but I don't think he's anywhere near as egregious as he was in Standard. Even in his first Standard season he didn't see a whole lot of play, because of Bloodbraid. Which is legal (and played often) in Modern. Of course, if they ban Bloodbraid ...
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Level 2 Judge
Currently playing:
Standard: Superfriends!
Legacy: Nic Fit / Pod
Pauper: Delvar; Tron; Flicker Stuff
Commander: Riku ("Some weird doubple spell thing happened"); Keranos ("I did a Gatherer search for 'random' and 'flip a coin.'"); Superfriends!
I'd love to see Preordain unbanned (mostly because I wanna play Delver, really), but I understand the trepidation about making combo a little too consistent/good.
And I'd LOVE to see Jace unbanned. Yeah, he's really really good, but I don't think he's anywhere near as egregious as he was in Standard. Even in his first Standard season he didn't see a whole lot of play, because of Bloodbraid. Which is legal (and played often) in Modern. Of course, if they ban Bloodbraid ...
I don't think I want to see JtmS banned. He's just too good, and an auto include in every single blue deck. He was clearly a mistake.
Haha, Sheldon banning blue cards in EDH. This is a world where Primeval Titan unhealthily alters the format but Palinchron is just "people will play combo, you just need to pack hate."
Let's not unban Balance. There's a deck that does that pretty efficiently already, I'm not sure it needs all that much of a boost. Balance, in the right deck, is "You have no lands, Creatures, or cards in hand. Hey look, I have these mana rocks. You may attempt to play your first cards...". It currently has a very powerful combo to kill your lands and Creatures, which means you can play around it. Anything not packing FoW would collapse to Balance fairly quickly.
Do you mean unban balance as in, it is no longer banned in legacy or unban balance as in it is no longer restricted in vintage?
I don't think anybody would agree with the first one, and the second has a lot of basis:
1. White is nonexistent in vintage. The most you see of this color is Thalia, Gaddock Teeg, and STP.
2. Yes balance is unfair, but have you looked at the format? You can have 4x Mishra's Workshop, 4x Bazaar of Baghdad, etc., what part of this format is fair?
3. Nobody runs balance now because it is terrible as a singleton, we haven't seen balance as a 4-of for a LONG time so theorizing about how powerful it would be unrestricted doesn't have much recent data to back it up.
If their excuse is that Nacatl speeds up the format too much for other decks to deal with it, then unban JTMS.
Nactal wasn't making the format too fast. But limitating the choices of aggro builds. Why people would even try other aggro builds when the could go Zoo with Nactal? That was the point of wizard when banned nactal.
But i think nowdays things are far different.
I don't think Bitterblossom can come off the list, because what's stopping jund from playing it?
Why would jund want to play it on the first place? to lose life faster with this + confidant?
Bitterblossom is basically playable on two decks:
- Faeries, where they can abuse it's tribal synergy.
- Tokens, where they can use anthem effects to make the tokes huge.
They banned blossom because Faeries was "The Deck" on it's time on extended. But many think that nowdays it wouldn't dominate as it did that time.
Also if they think that Faeries is too strong, they can just ban Mistbind Clique (other of the backbones of the deck), and leave Blossom for the tokens at last. Blossom + Mistbind interaction was one of the things that made faeries too strong.
Deathrite Shaman should be (and might actually be) banned. I'd give it a 50/50 chance.
I doubt, Deathrite isn't what makes jund "The Deck". Jund was "The Deck" before Deathrite, Deathrite just pushed it a bit more far on the top.
It could also be Visions, but that will only happen if deathrite gets the axe.
What keeps Ancestral Visions baned isn't Deathrite, banning Deathrite will make no good for Visions. What keeps it banned is Bloodbraid Elf.
Ancestral Vision: Could be unbanned, but probably not due to the powerful interaction with BBE. If BBE got banned, I could see it happening.
Artifact lands: Will not be unbanned. Enable a deck that they dont' want to be good, affinity. Does nothing to make people enjoy the format more.
Bitterblossom: Could be unbanned. This card is probably not too powerful in modern. However, Faeries is one of the most hated decks of all time, so I could definitely see them leaving it off for that reason. Decks that win by Time walking you twice in a row with a 4/4 flash flier for 4, and then counter the last two spells you play are not fun to play against.
Blazing Shoal: Will not be unbanned. This card enables a deck that can reliably kill on turn 2. Not where they want the format to be.
Chrome Mox: Could be unbanned, but likely not. This card would help control out quite a bit, but there's also the chance that it just enables something degenerate. The payoff is not there to justify the risk.
Cloudpost: Will not be unbanned. It enables an incredibly resilient turn 4 combo deck that hates out any potential "fair" strategies.
Dark Depths: Will not be unbanned. This doesn't do anything that they want. All it is therefore is a piece in a very fast combo deck. Warps the format around providing answers to a 20/20 flying, indestructible token.
Dread Return: Will not be unbanned. The fair side of this card is already available in several forms in Modern. The unfair side doesn't do anything they want, merely enables a broken combo.
Glimpse of Nature: Will not be unbanned. Creates a turn 3 combo deck. Too fast for the format, not where they want to be going.
Golgari-Grave Troll: Will not be unbanned. Even though there is enough graveyard hate that Dredge likely wouldnt' be a problem anymore, they simply dont' want dredge to be any good. It's not good for Magic.
Green Sun's Zenith: Could be unbanned. I still am not sure why this was banned in the first place. I understand the interaction with Dryad Arbor, but although it was extremely versatile and powerful, it's not capable of doing broken things. It's just a really versatile spell. Still, they put it on there, and I haven't heard a lot of clamoring to get it off, so it seems unlikely.
Hypergenesis: Will not be unbanned. Creates a turn 2-3 uninteractive combo. Not what they want the format to be.
Jace, the Mindsculptor: Will not be unbanned. This card is not too powerful in a powerful format like Modern. Stuff like Bloodbraid Elf and the combo decks see to that. However, it would still likely be a playable card in the format, the price tag would go up to $200 if it were legal and modern, and the player base would not accept that. Too many players are upset by the concept of a card that expensive.
Mental Misstep: Will not be unbanned. Just an overpowered, horribly designed card. Just completely destroys aggro as a viable strategy. Least likely card on the entire list to be unbanned, aside from maybe Sensei's top.
Ponder/ Preordain: Will not be unbanned. These cards give too much consistency to blue based combo decks. They allow them to cheat on lands and combo pieces, and be sure to find everything they need. Take too much of the variance out of the game.
Punishing Fire: Could be unbanned, but likely won't be. It's not overpowered, but it's an anti aggressive card, and aggro is so poor right now that it needs help, not another tool to fight it.
Rite of Flame: Will not be unbanned. Does nothing but enable uninteractive combo decks. Not where they want to be.
Sensei's Divining Top: Will not be unbanned. This is an incredibly popular card, and not an overpowered one. It's banned because of the logistical deficiencies of paper Magic. It takes a lot of time to use SDT, and without chess clocks there is no way to punish the palyer usign the time, which results in a lot of draws that are unfair to the non-Sensei's player. Plus, it's probably the biggest cheating enabling card of all time. Allowing players to consistently handle and manipulate the top 3 cards of their library, as well as the opportunity to occasionally draw cards, gives way too great an opportunity to cheat. It's a real shame too, because Top is one of my favorite cards of all time, but it deserves it's spot on the banned list.
Stoneforge Mystic: Will not be unbanned. Without Batterskull and Feast and Famine, this is a completely reasonable and healthy card for the format. Unfortunately, those cards exist, and Wizards always bans the tutor and not the problem cards.
Skullclamp: Will not be unbanned. Maybe the most broken card printed since Alpha. This card just does obscene things, and will never be unbanned.
Sword of the Meek: Could definitely be unbanned. I think this is one of the most likely targets. Control needs help. This is offers a decent, grindy way for Control decks to win. However, with aggro needing help as well, this is not likely to help balance the format. That would be the thing that kept them from unbanning it.
Jitte: Will not be unbanned. Simply put, it's not a fun card, and not where Wizards wants to be. Wizards wants you to interact with Creatures, and Jitte prevents that from happening. In a creature mirror, if you have a Jitte and your opponent can't kill it, you're going to win. That's not how they want games to play out.
Wild Nacatl: Will most likely be unbanned. Aggro needs the help. Their argument for banning Nacatl in the first place was that it would make all other aggro decks unplayable, but the fact is all those decks are unplayable anyway. Aggro used to beat control in the Rock, Paper, Scissors metagame of aggro, control, and combo, but there is no control right now so Aggro has no good matchups. The format right now is Jund, UWR, and combo decks, all of which are bad matchups for aggro. The decks outside of tier 1 aren't any better for Zoo: Planeswalker control decks and lifegain token decks. Giving zoo Nacatl might give them the speed they need to compete, and even then it still wouldn't likely be a tier 1 deck.
Since my knowledge of MTG is very limited outside of standard I won't speculate on formats beyond it. The only card that might get banned in standard is Exquisite Blood due to it's interation with Orzhov's new guildmage. And before anyone goes "oh that's not fast enough to be a huge deal" or any other remarks in that regard. I'd just like to point out that not counting guildgates, that we have like 18 duel lands in the format, post GTC? Along with stupid amounts of fixing via farseek, chromatic lantern, and other sources. So if there is ANY possible way to make it viable, then someone will find it and if that happens then... well you catch my drift. Just my 2 cents.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Luck isn't the only reason I win. Just most of the reason.
Since my knowledge of MTG is very limited outside of standard I won't speculate on formats beyond it. The only card that might get banned in standard is Exquisite Blood due to it's interation with Orzhov's new guildmage. And before anyone goes "oh that's not fast enough to be a huge deal" or any other remarks in that regard. I'd just like to point out that not counting guildgates, that we have like 18 duel lands in the format, post GTC? Along with stupid amounts of fixing via farseek, chromatic lantern, and other sources. So if there is ANY possible way to make it viable, then someone will find it and if that happens then... well you catch my drift. Just my 2 cents.
So one extremely easily disrupted turn 5 combo would get a card banned? You should learn the game a little better.
So one extremely easily disrupted turn 5 combo would get a card banned? You should learn the game a little better.
The issue is the insta-kill interaction. Which, could make it ban worthy IF people can make it work. As I stated previously, with the amount of options to make it happen, it isn't something to immediately scoff at. Unless someone is directly trying to counter it (In which case your simply using the "It dies to removal" arguement) most decks, at best, sideboard enchantment removal.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Luck isn't the only reason I win. Just most of the reason.
The issue is the insta-kill interaction. Which, could make it ban worthy IF people can make it work. As I stated previously, with the amount of options to make it happen, it isn't something to immediately scoff at. Unless someone is directly trying to counter it (In which case your simply using the "It dies to removal" arguement) most decks, at best, sideboard enchantment removal.
Are you even aware of the reasons they ban cards? They don't ban things for being powerful (which this isn't) they ban things for making formats unhealthy. If you think Exquisite Blood/Guildmage combo would see a banning then you really don't understand how the banning process happens. Nobody is gonna be pulling this off at competitive events, at least not regularly.
The issue is the insta-kill interaction. Which, could make it ban worthy IF people can make it work. As I stated previously, with the amount of options to make it happen, it isn't something to immediately scoff at. Unless someone is directly trying to counter it (In which case your simply using the "It dies to removal" arguement) most decks, at best, sideboard enchantment removal.
..... Nothing to see here move along folks
Ps blood tribute and sangiune bond along with splinter twin and deciever exach would like to have many many words with u.
Standard cards that could but most likely wont be banned are
And I say extremely doubtful as although those cards prolong the game to near death experience of boredom they are still beaten by other decks. Last I checked thagtusk saw play in almost as many decks as jace back in his day however the meta game is extremely diverse so yeah doubtful.
Want to see other duel decks I made ? Check out my Blog ! Feel free to post advice or give topics for me to make duel decks out of. Check out the Theros Block Planeswalker Theme Duel Decks Elspeth, Xenagos, Ashok, Kiora, Ajani
Are you even aware of the reasons they ban cards? They don't ban things for being powerful (which this isn't) they ban things for making formats unhealthy. If you think Exquisite Blood/Guildmage combo would see a banning then you really don't understand how the banning process happens. Nobody is gonna be pulling this off at competitive events, at least not regularly.
I was just pointing out that IF it becomes an issue it MAY get banned in standard. Honestly I'm just pointing it out as something to keep an eye on. I'm not gonna go and yell for a ban on a combo that is currently "in the air" in terms of actual viablility. I was just pointing out that if under the current meta, it does become an issue, then wizards may ban it.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Luck isn't the only reason I win. Just most of the reason.
Bitterblossom: Could be unbanned. This card is probably not too powerful in modern. However, Faeries is one of the most hated decks of all time, so I could definitely see them leaving it off for that reason. Decks that win by Time walking you twice in a row with a 4/4 flash flier for 4, and then counter the last two spells you play are not fun to play against.
What enables this is Mistbind Clique. They should ban it, since Clique is unplayable outside of Faeries and leave blossom to strengthen token decks.
The only card that might get banned in standard is Exquisite Blood due to it's interation with Orzhov's new guildmage.
This won't happen, this combo is easly disrupted. And is far from being broken.
Wizard isn't against Insta Kill combos, Insta-Kill combos are fun, as long they're not unbeatable Turn 1-3 insta kill.
On the ZEN-MBS standard, we had the splinter twin combo, wich is far more reliable than this one, and they didn't ban it.
The issue is the insta-kill interaction. Which, could make it ban worthy IF people can make it work.
Infinite (non-broken) combos are part of a healthy meta, and in fact is something that this meta needs. People already showed that this combo isn't overpowered, and can be responded to in various ways. So, if a deck aroung this combo rises (wich i doubt, at best it would be a esper control with the combo as alternative win con) this will be good, because it will be another deck to diversify the meta.
The only card I foresee being banned is BBE in Modern. Jund's dominance revolves around this one creature. Although, to be fair, GP Bilbao proved that Jund might not be as format defining as it once was (but then again, it accounted for 6 of the top 16 decks. Go figure)
I'd love for Bitterblossom to be unbanned, but I'm afraid the format would then just end up being a Faerie/Jund brawlfest like it was in Standard. I foresee it staying banned if Mistbind Clique remains unbanned
What I want to see is the unbanning of Wild Nacatl. Naya Zoo was a good counter measure to Jund
So junds problem is Blood Braid elf a card that allows it to come out top the turn after a sweeper
Decks used- GGarruk vs LilianaB, WElsepth vs TezzeretU, WGKnights vs DragonsR
WGRAjani vs BolasRUB, WUVenser vs KothR, RUIzzet vs GolgariGB.
WBSorin vs TibaltBR, WRHeros vs Monsters RG
Want to see other duel decks I made ? Check out my Blog ! Feel free to post advice or give topics for me to make duel decks out of. Check out the Theros Block Planeswalker Theme Duel Decks Elspeth, Xenagos, Ashok, Kiora, Ajani
Just, no......Bargain is like...uber-broken....
Modern, I'd like to see Sword or AV unbanned...I don't think Bitterblossom can come off the list, because what's stopping jund from playing it? Exactly.
Vintage, I can see Library of Alexandria or Balance being unrestricted, especially with Mud's current dominance, it will give Recall decks extra-power and perhaps more reason to play white (in Balance's case). I don't think Balance is all that powerful anymore, as all it will do is Mind Twist an opponent, and can stone rain yourself...IDK, when I've played I've never been like "Hey, I wish I had Balance right now"
Library....I love turn 1 library....especially on the draw....please??
Thanks to Rivenor for the signature and XenoNinja for the Avi!
Quotes:
unrestricting Power 10 (Library of Alexandria) and Power 11 (Balance) would't stop MUD supposed dominance (in Europe, for what I can see, vintage meta is healty) but if you still want to do something restrict Lodestone Golem would be wiser
EDH: Varolz, the Scar-Striped
As for unbanning Balance. Why?
I think you misunderstood it. Balance is wanted to be unrestricted in Vintagr, not unban in Legacy.
Thanks for spiderboy4 of High~Light_Studios for the kick ass avatar.
Thanks for DarkNightCavalier of HotPS for the exceptional signature.
These draw the games for so long the game becomes boring.
I'm not even saying the cards are OP, they simply draw out the game incessantly. There is nothing sadder than barely finishing game one after 40 mins because of how Thrag and AoS simply rewind the game.
(P/R)(P/G) Infect (P/G)(P/R)
UWU Fish UWU
WB Disruption BW
Standard:
WBR Junk Aristocrats WBR
WWW Humans WWW
Commander:
BBB Marrowgnawer and Friends BBB
GGG Thrun Tron GGG
WBR Kaalia of the Vast RBW
Why is desperate ravings a good card?
Unrestricting it, will mean you can agressively mull on the play to a hand containing balance, and the manastones to cast it.
You do not want people to have reliable access to a 2 cmc target player discards his hand.
And that is not even including the plethorea of other benefits that a well designed balance deck will have.
Give irony and sarcasm, when ignorance and stupidity is found.
The whip is kept for special occasions
Nothing will happen in standard. It takes a lot to make them ban cards in standard, and there simply isn't anything erogenous enough to warrant it right now. Yes, the Restoration Angel + Thragtusk in so many decks is annoying, but they will almost certainly wait to see the effect of Skullcrack before doing anything drastic.
Modern:
Deathrite Shaman should be (and might actually be) banned. I'd give it a 50/50 chance. *Something* will very likely be unbanned on an experimental basis, ala Valakut. There are a whole host of possibilities for what... It'll be one of the cards that was preemtivlly banned before the format was "real", like Valakut was.
It won't be Jace, because WoTC hates that card. It likely *should* be sword of the meek... a "combo" card, that, like Valakut, requires setup and doesn't really insta-win.
It could also be Visions, but that will only happen if deathrite gets the axe. (Otherwise, yay blue jund!)
Extended and Block Constucted:
Nobody Cares.
Legacy:
Nothing needs banning IMHO. What they should do is continue to slowly par down the banned list by removing cards that simply do not need to be there. First up? Earthcraft. This actually happening is unlikely though.
Vintage:
From what I hear, something will be done. What? I couldn't even fathom a guess.
Commander:
Nothing is likely to be done. It's possible Consecrated Sphinx gets banned or one of the cards long overdue to be unbanned will finally get there, but both possibilities are unlikely.
Other Formats:
Does anyone care?
Commmander - Eight-and-a-Half Tails; Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker; Prime Speaker Zegana; Alesha, Who Smiles at Death; Daxos the Returned; Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest; Patron of the Moonfolk; Animar, Soul of Elements
And I'd LOVE to see Jace unbanned. Yeah, he's really really good, but I don't think he's anywhere near as egregious as he was in Standard. Even in his first Standard season he didn't see a whole lot of play, because of Bloodbraid. Which is legal (and played often) in Modern. Of course, if they ban Bloodbraid ...
Currently playing:
Standard: Superfriends!
Legacy: Nic Fit / Pod
Pauper: Delvar; Tron; Flicker Stuff
Commander: Riku ("Some weird doubple spell thing happened"); Keranos ("I did a Gatherer search for 'random' and 'flip a coin.'"); Superfriends!
I don't think I want to see JtmS banned. He's just too good, and an auto include in every single blue deck. He was clearly a mistake.
Standard: W/R Aggro
Do you mean unban balance as in, it is no longer banned in legacy or unban balance as in it is no longer restricted in vintage?
I don't think anybody would agree with the first one, and the second has a lot of basis:
1. White is nonexistent in vintage. The most you see of this color is Thalia, Gaddock Teeg, and STP.
2. Yes balance is unfair, but have you looked at the format? You can have 4x Mishra's Workshop, 4x Bazaar of Baghdad, etc., what part of this format is fair?
3. Nobody runs balance now because it is terrible as a singleton, we haven't seen balance as a 4-of for a LONG time so theorizing about how powerful it would be unrestricted doesn't have much recent data to back it up.
But i think nowdays things are far different.
Why would jund want to play it on the first place? to lose life faster with this + confidant?
Bitterblossom is basically playable on two decks:
- Faeries, where they can abuse it's tribal synergy.
- Tokens, where they can use anthem effects to make the tokes huge.
They banned blossom because Faeries was "The Deck" on it's time on extended. But many think that nowdays it wouldn't dominate as it did that time.
Also if they think that Faeries is too strong, they can just ban Mistbind Clique (other of the backbones of the deck), and leave Blossom for the tokens at last. Blossom + Mistbind interaction was one of the things that made faeries too strong.
I doubt, Deathrite isn't what makes jund "The Deck". Jund was "The Deck" before Deathrite, Deathrite just pushed it a bit more far on the top.
What keeps Ancestral Visions baned isn't Deathrite, banning Deathrite will make no good for Visions. What keeps it banned is Bloodbraid Elf.
Ancestral Vision: Could be unbanned, but probably not due to the powerful interaction with BBE. If BBE got banned, I could see it happening.
Artifact lands: Will not be unbanned. Enable a deck that they dont' want to be good, affinity. Does nothing to make people enjoy the format more.
Bitterblossom: Could be unbanned. This card is probably not too powerful in modern. However, Faeries is one of the most hated decks of all time, so I could definitely see them leaving it off for that reason. Decks that win by Time walking you twice in a row with a 4/4 flash flier for 4, and then counter the last two spells you play are not fun to play against.
Blazing Shoal: Will not be unbanned. This card enables a deck that can reliably kill on turn 2. Not where they want the format to be.
Chrome Mox: Could be unbanned, but likely not. This card would help control out quite a bit, but there's also the chance that it just enables something degenerate. The payoff is not there to justify the risk.
Cloudpost: Will not be unbanned. It enables an incredibly resilient turn 4 combo deck that hates out any potential "fair" strategies.
Dark Depths: Will not be unbanned. This doesn't do anything that they want. All it is therefore is a piece in a very fast combo deck. Warps the format around providing answers to a 20/20 flying, indestructible token.
Dread Return: Will not be unbanned. The fair side of this card is already available in several forms in Modern. The unfair side doesn't do anything they want, merely enables a broken combo.
Glimpse of Nature: Will not be unbanned. Creates a turn 3 combo deck. Too fast for the format, not where they want to be going.
Golgari-Grave Troll: Will not be unbanned. Even though there is enough graveyard hate that Dredge likely wouldnt' be a problem anymore, they simply dont' want dredge to be any good. It's not good for Magic.
Green Sun's Zenith: Could be unbanned. I still am not sure why this was banned in the first place. I understand the interaction with Dryad Arbor, but although it was extremely versatile and powerful, it's not capable of doing broken things. It's just a really versatile spell. Still, they put it on there, and I haven't heard a lot of clamoring to get it off, so it seems unlikely.
Hypergenesis: Will not be unbanned. Creates a turn 2-3 uninteractive combo. Not what they want the format to be.
Jace, the Mindsculptor: Will not be unbanned. This card is not too powerful in a powerful format like Modern. Stuff like Bloodbraid Elf and the combo decks see to that. However, it would still likely be a playable card in the format, the price tag would go up to $200 if it were legal and modern, and the player base would not accept that. Too many players are upset by the concept of a card that expensive.
Mental Misstep: Will not be unbanned. Just an overpowered, horribly designed card. Just completely destroys aggro as a viable strategy. Least likely card on the entire list to be unbanned, aside from maybe Sensei's top.
Ponder/ Preordain: Will not be unbanned. These cards give too much consistency to blue based combo decks. They allow them to cheat on lands and combo pieces, and be sure to find everything they need. Take too much of the variance out of the game.
Punishing Fire: Could be unbanned, but likely won't be. It's not overpowered, but it's an anti aggressive card, and aggro is so poor right now that it needs help, not another tool to fight it.
Rite of Flame: Will not be unbanned. Does nothing but enable uninteractive combo decks. Not where they want to be.
Sensei's Divining Top: Will not be unbanned. This is an incredibly popular card, and not an overpowered one. It's banned because of the logistical deficiencies of paper Magic. It takes a lot of time to use SDT, and without chess clocks there is no way to punish the palyer usign the time, which results in a lot of draws that are unfair to the non-Sensei's player. Plus, it's probably the biggest cheating enabling card of all time. Allowing players to consistently handle and manipulate the top 3 cards of their library, as well as the opportunity to occasionally draw cards, gives way too great an opportunity to cheat. It's a real shame too, because Top is one of my favorite cards of all time, but it deserves it's spot on the banned list.
Stoneforge Mystic: Will not be unbanned. Without Batterskull and Feast and Famine, this is a completely reasonable and healthy card for the format. Unfortunately, those cards exist, and Wizards always bans the tutor and not the problem cards.
Skullclamp: Will not be unbanned. Maybe the most broken card printed since Alpha. This card just does obscene things, and will never be unbanned.
Sword of the Meek: Could definitely be unbanned. I think this is one of the most likely targets. Control needs help. This is offers a decent, grindy way for Control decks to win. However, with aggro needing help as well, this is not likely to help balance the format. That would be the thing that kept them from unbanning it.
Jitte: Will not be unbanned. Simply put, it's not a fun card, and not where Wizards wants to be. Wizards wants you to interact with Creatures, and Jitte prevents that from happening. In a creature mirror, if you have a Jitte and your opponent can't kill it, you're going to win. That's not how they want games to play out.
Wild Nacatl: Will most likely be unbanned. Aggro needs the help. Their argument for banning Nacatl in the first place was that it would make all other aggro decks unplayable, but the fact is all those decks are unplayable anyway. Aggro used to beat control in the Rock, Paper, Scissors metagame of aggro, control, and combo, but there is no control right now so Aggro has no good matchups. The format right now is Jund, UWR, and combo decks, all of which are bad matchups for aggro. The decks outside of tier 1 aren't any better for Zoo: Planeswalker control decks and lifegain token decks. Giving zoo Nacatl might give them the speed they need to compete, and even then it still wouldn't likely be a tier 1 deck.
So one extremely easily disrupted turn 5 combo would get a card banned? You should learn the game a little better.
\\My Magic Blog//
And on that day, the people rejoiced for 12 moons.
The issue is the insta-kill interaction. Which, could make it ban worthy IF people can make it work. As I stated previously, with the amount of options to make it happen, it isn't something to immediately scoff at. Unless someone is directly trying to counter it (In which case your simply using the "It dies to removal" arguement) most decks, at best, sideboard enchantment removal.
Are you even aware of the reasons they ban cards? They don't ban things for being powerful (which this isn't) they ban things for making formats unhealthy. If you think Exquisite Blood/Guildmage combo would see a banning then you really don't understand how the banning process happens. Nobody is gonna be pulling this off at competitive events, at least not regularly.
\\My Magic Blog//
And on that day, the people rejoiced for 12 moons.
..... Nothing to see here move along folks
Ps blood tribute and sangiune bond along with splinter twin and deciever exach would like to have many many words with u.
Standard cards that could but most likely wont be banned are
Thagtusk, Restoration angel, Deathrite Shaman, sphinx's revalation.
And I say extremely doubtful as although those cards prolong the game to near death experience of boredom they are still beaten by other decks. Last I checked thagtusk saw play in almost as many decks as jace back in his day however the meta game is extremely diverse so yeah doubtful.
Decks used- GGarruk vs LilianaB, WElsepth vs TezzeretU, WGKnights vs DragonsR
WGRAjani vs BolasRUB, WUVenser vs KothR, RUIzzet vs GolgariGB.
WBSorin vs TibaltBR, WRHeros vs Monsters RG
Want to see other duel decks I made ? Check out my Blog ! Feel free to post advice or give topics for me to make duel decks out of. Check out the Theros Block Planeswalker Theme Duel Decks Elspeth, Xenagos, Ashok, Kiora, Ajani
I was just pointing out that IF it becomes an issue it MAY get banned in standard. Honestly I'm just pointing it out as something to keep an eye on. I'm not gonna go and yell for a ban on a combo that is currently "in the air" in terms of actual viablility. I was just pointing out that if under the current meta, it does become an issue, then wizards may ban it.
This won't happen, this combo is easly disrupted. And is far from being broken.
Wizard isn't against Insta Kill combos, Insta-Kill combos are fun, as long they're not unbeatable Turn 1-3 insta kill.
On the ZEN-MBS standard, we had the splinter twin combo, wich is far more reliable than this one, and they didn't ban it.
Infinite (non-broken) combos are part of a healthy meta, and in fact is something that this meta needs. People already showed that this combo isn't overpowered, and can be responded to in various ways. So, if a deck aroung this combo rises (wich i doubt, at best it would be a esper control with the combo as alternative win con) this will be good, because it will be another deck to diversify the meta.
I'd love for Bitterblossom to be unbanned, but I'm afraid the format would then just end up being a Faerie/Jund brawlfest like it was in Standard. I foresee it staying banned if Mistbind Clique remains unbanned
What I want to see is the unbanning of Wild Nacatl. Naya Zoo was a good counter measure to Jund