One suspects they will ban Dig through Time and call it a day as far as Inverter goes. Players will probably try Treasure Cruise in its place. Next month, maybe Treasure Cruise will get the hammer.
One of those needs to be banned NOW before they become a legal infinite combo in Pioneer. I would suggest Ballista (I am changing my mind here) although it will have some collateral damage in a small handful of decks. But it looks like the Wizards dunderheads are going to let this combo poison the format until the next B&R in February. Playing online is going to be ZERO fun for the next few weeks if they let this slip. They know it exists, they KNOW the playerbase will abuse it. Fix it NOW WotC!!!
Have you played against Heliod Ballista? Do you have some information we don't see here? The way I see it, Ballista is very fragile. Any removal/counterspell/hatepiece shuts this down! Even burn can play Skullcrack to stop this in some situations. Also, combo's like these is why we need Thoughtseize to be around. Not every deck can play Thoughtseize, but the existence of it will make peopl think twice about playing this deck. I'm excited to play MTGO pioneer leagues if I'm going to face 3 Heliod Ballista decks in each one.
I believe this combo is mostly just hype, and even if it isn't I would like stats to prove it's doing well before things get banned. It makes no sense to me to ban based on pure speculation.
The combo may be real, but I am far from certain it will be oppressive or format-warping in Pioneer. Heliod, Sun-Crowned may well be a problem in Modern with Spike Feeder but not necessarily with Walking Ballista.
Don't be sad,
'Cause two out of three ain't bad.
-Meatloaf
Smuggler's Copter and Once Upon a Time should be banned, because they do things cards shouldn't do. Giving any aggro deck an efficient 3/3 flier that loots for 2 mana is insane. Giving Green the free digging power of OUaT when they already have so many playable 1 mana dorks gives it a consistency that circumvents variance, a huge part of Magic. I don't think Thoughtseize makes any sense as a bannable card. There has to be low cost interaction to battle combo and control decks. It's definitely a strong role player, but that doesn't make it bannable in my book. Otherwise we'd have to play something like Duress and completely whiff against creature-based decks, then what? Sideboard in 4 Despise and side out the Duress in games 2 and 3? That's awful. I just don't like that as an option.
I quite agree, although I wouldn't have minded giving my long-idle Copters a bit of a whirl. I just didn't get around to it.
I'd be surprised if Copter is banned right away. I don't think it will have the impact in Pioneer that it did in Standard. Or did I miss something already?
I wish I had kept my copies of Mental Misstep, They may well get the chop; they were banned from Extended if I recall correctly.
I don't understand the mental misstep comment. The card is not legal in Pioneer, and the highest price of the card is 2.19, getting a playset is not expensive.
There's no reason to think Deathrite Shaman needs to be banned; he's just not going to be as abuse-able as he was in Modern and Legacy. He was not widely played in Standard. There's no way to cast Deathrite turn-one and ramp on turn-two in Pioneer.
The cards that were banned in both Modern and also in Standard when they were Standard legal are the prime suspects. Cards that never made the ban lists for the eternal formats should be given the benefit of the doubt. Cards that weren't banned when in Standard are likely not going to be a problem even if they were banned in Modern.
I wish I had kept my copies of Mental Misstep, They may well get the chop; they were banned from Extended if I recall correctly.
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/news/august-8-2020-banned-and-restricted-announcement
Frenzy-Affinity-Ghost Quarter-Rock-Tokens- RGWPhyrexian Zoo- WVial KnightsStandard:
BW Knights(Rotated)Pioneer: RW Knights - BW Rally Zombies - UW Heroes
Commander:WUG
Jenara, Asura of War- WGSigarda, Host of HeronsCasualties of economicsLegacy: Good-night, sweet prince. Mono-R Burn
Frenzy-Affinity-Ghost Quarter-Rock-Tokens- RGWPhyrexian Zoo- WVial KnightsStandard:
BW Knights(Rotated)Pioneer: RW Knights - BW Rally Zombies - UW Heroes
Commander:WUG
Jenara, Asura of War- WGSigarda, Host of HeronsCasualties of economicsLegacy: Good-night, sweet prince. Mono-R Burn
Frenzy-Affinity-Ghost Quarter-Rock-Tokens- RGWPhyrexian Zoo- WVial KnightsStandard:
BW Knights(Rotated)Pioneer: RW Knights - BW Rally Zombies - UW Heroes
Commander:WUG
Jenara, Asura of War- WGSigarda, Host of HeronsCasualties of economicsLegacy: Good-night, sweet prince. Mono-R Burn
Frenzy-Affinity-Ghost Quarter-Rock-Tokens- RGWPhyrexian Zoo- WVial KnightsStandard:
BW Knights(Rotated)Pioneer: RW Knights - BW Rally Zombies - UW Heroes
Commander:WUG
Jenara, Asura of War- WGSigarda, Host of HeronsCasualties of economicsLegacy: Good-night, sweet prince. Mono-R Burn
Thoughtseize? It would shock me to know it's even a passing thought with WotC.
I'd love to see Supreme Verdict go but I doubt it ever will.
I don't have any feeling about Dig Through Time. I wouldn't miss it.
Frenzy-Affinity-Ghost Quarter-Rock-Tokens- RGWPhyrexian Zoo- WVial KnightsStandard:
BW Knights(Rotated)Pioneer: RW Knights - BW Rally Zombies - UW Heroes
Commander:WUG
Jenara, Asura of War- WGSigarda, Host of HeronsCasualties of economicsLegacy: Good-night, sweet prince. Mono-R Burn
Frenzy-Affinity-Ghost Quarter-Rock-Tokens- RGWPhyrexian Zoo- WVial KnightsStandard:
BW Knights(Rotated)Pioneer: RW Knights - BW Rally Zombies - UW Heroes
Commander:WUG
Jenara, Asura of War- WGSigarda, Host of HeronsCasualties of economicsLegacy: Good-night, sweet prince. Mono-R Burn
Don't be sad,
'Cause two out of three ain't bad.
-Meatloaf
Frenzy-Affinity-Ghost Quarter-Rock-Tokens- RGWPhyrexian Zoo- WVial KnightsStandard:
BW Knights(Rotated)Pioneer: RW Knights - BW Rally Zombies - UW Heroes
Commander:WUG
Jenara, Asura of War- WGSigarda, Host of HeronsCasualties of economicsLegacy: Good-night, sweet prince. Mono-R Burn
Frenzy-Affinity-Ghost Quarter-Rock-Tokens- RGWPhyrexian Zoo- WVial KnightsStandard:
BW Knights(Rotated)Pioneer: RW Knights - BW Rally Zombies - UW Heroes
Commander:WUG
Jenara, Asura of War- WGSigarda, Host of HeronsCasualties of economicsLegacy: Good-night, sweet prince. Mono-R Burn
Frenzy-Affinity-Ghost Quarter-Rock-Tokens- RGWPhyrexian Zoo- WVial KnightsStandard:
BW Knights(Rotated)Pioneer: RW Knights - BW Rally Zombies - UW Heroes
Commander:WUG
Jenara, Asura of War- WGSigarda, Host of HeronsCasualties of economicsLegacy: Good-night, sweet prince. Mono-R Burn
The cards that were banned in both Modern and also in Standard when they were Standard legal are the prime suspects. Cards that never made the ban lists for the eternal formats should be given the benefit of the doubt. Cards that weren't banned when in Standard are likely not going to be a problem even if they were banned in Modern.
I wish I had kept my copies of Mental Misstep, They may well get the chop; they were banned from Extended if I recall correctly.Frenzy-Affinity-Ghost Quarter-Rock-Tokens- RGWPhyrexian Zoo- WVial KnightsStandard:
BW Knights(Rotated)Pioneer: RW Knights - BW Rally Zombies - UW Heroes
Commander:WUG
Jenara, Asura of War- WGSigarda, Host of HeronsCasualties of economicsLegacy: Good-night, sweet prince. Mono-R Burn