Player 1: 3 lands, a mana dork and a 4-drop. 5 cards in hand.
Player 2: 5 lands, no creatures in play, farseek and cultivate in the graveyard. 6 cards in hand.
Player 3: 2 lands, skullclamp and lightning greaves in play. 6 cards in hand.
You: untap on turn 3 with 2 lands, signet. Play land, Darksteel Ingot, balance. 4 cards in hand.
In a 4 player game, on turn 3, I think it is very likely that there be at least one person with no creatures, one person who missed a land drop, and one person who played out their cards faster. And you know what, in the above scenario, you have 4 mana, and everyone else is at 2.
I would not play balance in my elfball deck or my land-ramping deck. But most decks have artifact ramp and it is so easy to come up miles ahead of your opponents with minimal effort.
When you throw in better mana rocks than Darksteel Ingot, and mulligans, and bouncelands/Strip Mines... it becomes so easy to make Balance better.
I think the idea time to cast balance is on Turn 3 or 4. You should be able to get 1-2 lands from each opponent, wrath the board, and if your deck is low cmc, have each opponent discard at least 3 cards.
You do not have to build around it. Next time you play, on turn 4, take a look at the board state and ask everyone the number of cards they have in hand. I think, on average, it will stop at least one person from playing the game.
Balance hits the box for 'creates undesirable game state' by being an early play that can cause people to sacrifice lands and discard spells, rendering them unable to actually play the game.
If it weren't such an early play, I could see it being okay. If it only affected lands or hands, it could be okay.
I think Cataclysm and Smallpox are similar cards that are not in the ban discussion, and you can see why.
Player 1: 3 lands, a mana dork and a 4-drop. 5 cards in hand.
Player 2: 5 lands, no creatures in play, farseek and cultivate in the graveyard. 6 cards in hand.
Player 3: 2 lands, skullclamp and lightning greaves in play. 6 cards in hand.
You: untap on turn 3 with 2 lands, signet. Play land, Darksteel Ingot, balance. 4 cards in hand.
In a 4 player game, on turn 3, I think it is very likely that there be at least one person with no creatures, one person who missed a land drop, and one person who played out their cards faster. And you know what, in the above scenario, you have 4 mana, and everyone else is at 2.
I would not play balance in my elfball deck or my land-ramping deck. But most decks have artifact ramp and it is so easy to come up miles ahead of your opponents with minimal effort.
When you throw in better mana rocks than Darksteel Ingot, and mulligans, and bouncelands/Strip Mines... it becomes so easy to make Balance better.
8.RG Green Devotion Ramp/Combo 9.UR Draw Triggers 10.WUR Group stalling 11.WUR Voltron Spellslinger 12.WB Sacrificial Shenanigans
13.BR Creatureless Panharmonicon 14.BR Pingers and Eldrazi 15.URG Untapped Cascading
16.Reyhan, last of the Abzan's WUBG +1/+1 Counter Craziness 17.WUBRG Dragons aka Why did I make this?
Building: The Gitrog Monster lands, Glissa the Traitor stax, Muldrotha, the Gravetide Planeswalker Combo, Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix + Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa Clues, and Tribal Scarecrow Planeswalkers
You do not have to build around it. Next time you play, on turn 4, take a look at the board state and ask everyone the number of cards they have in hand. I think, on average, it will stop at least one person from playing the game.
8.RG Green Devotion Ramp/Combo 9.UR Draw Triggers 10.WUR Group stalling 11.WUR Voltron Spellslinger 12.WB Sacrificial Shenanigans
13.BR Creatureless Panharmonicon 14.BR Pingers and Eldrazi 15.URG Untapped Cascading
16.Reyhan, last of the Abzan's WUBG +1/+1 Counter Craziness 17.WUBRG Dragons aka Why did I make this?
Building: The Gitrog Monster lands, Glissa the Traitor stax, Muldrotha, the Gravetide Planeswalker Combo, Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix + Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa Clues, and Tribal Scarecrow Planeswalkers
If it weren't such an early play, I could see it being okay. If it only affected lands or hands, it could be okay.
I think Cataclysm and Smallpox are similar cards that are not in the ban discussion, and you can see why.
8.RG Green Devotion Ramp/Combo 9.UR Draw Triggers 10.WUR Group stalling 11.WUR Voltron Spellslinger 12.WB Sacrificial Shenanigans
13.BR Creatureless Panharmonicon 14.BR Pingers and Eldrazi 15.URG Untapped Cascading
16.Reyhan, last of the Abzan's WUBG +1/+1 Counter Craziness 17.WUBRG Dragons aka Why did I make this?
Building: The Gitrog Monster lands, Glissa the Traitor stax, Muldrotha, the Gravetide Planeswalker Combo, Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix + Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa Clues, and Tribal Scarecrow Planeswalkers