So, is Balance ever going to be unbanned? It doesn't seem to be breaking any of the rules in the philosophy document.
Since Balance made it onto Sheldon's hypothetical 10-card ban list (and as his first ban no less), I'd say it's safe to assume Balance isn't ever coming off.
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I've long maintained that if there were a Survivor-style banned list elimination game, Balance would be the last card standing. I'm still pretty firm that it's at least in the last two. It certainly creates undesirable game states because of its effect-to-mana-cost ratio. At six mana, it might be perfectly safe.
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Balance is about as fair and balanced as Fox News. I don't agree with making it one of the first cards I would ban, but it doesn't add anything to the format. There are plenty of legal variants available.
So, is Balance ever going to be unbanned? It doesn't seem to be breaking any of the rules in the philosophy document.
In fact, it breaks many of them in one way or another. It produces far too much effect for minimal investment, and does so in a manner which contributes to undesirable game states. I agree with Sheldon that Balance is pretty much the last card that should ever leave the banned list. At best it's tied for last with one or two other things.
In fact, it breaks many of them in one way or another. It produces far too much effect for minimal investment, and does so in a manner which contributes to undesirable game states. I agree with Sheldon that Balance is pretty much the last card that should ever leave the banned list. At best it's tied for last with one or two other things.
Really? My top of the list cards are things like Fastbond which end games before they even start.
Balance is about as fair and balanced as Fox News. I don't agree with making it one of the first cards I would ban, but it doesn't add anything to the format. There are plenty of legal variants available.
I wouldn't say it doesn't add anything to the format. Casuals don't like mass land destruction, but this card allows them to punish land ramp decks without destroying all the lands with Armageddon. More competitive players wouldn't mind balance because it's nowhere near powerful enough to break their meta.
So, is Balance ever going to be unbanned? It doesn't seem to be breaking any of the rules in the philosophy document.
In fact, it breaks many of them in one way or another. It produces far too much effect for minimal investment, and does so in a manner which contributes to undesirable game states. I agree with Sheldon that Balance is pretty much the last card that should ever leave the banned list. At best it's tied for last with one or two other things.
How are the game states undesirable? Balance is a one shot effect that equalizes different resources between the players. Most casual players I have met would rather deal with a balance than a stax card like Winter Orb. Does it do too much for its mana cost? Yeah, but that isn't a rule. A lot of other cards that are legal in this format are competitively costed as well.
I wouldn't say it doesn't add anything to the format. Casuals don't like mass land destruction, but this card allows them to punish land ramp decks without destroying all the lands with Armageddon. More competitive players wouldn't mind balance because it's nowhere near powerful enough to break their meta.
How are the game states undesirable? Balance is a one shot effect that equalizes different resources between the players. Most casual players I have met would rather deal with a balance than a stax card like Winter Orb. Does it do too much for its mana cost? Yeah, but that isn't a rule. A lot of other cards that are legal in this format are competitively costed as well.
Are you saying this as an opinion based on your own experiences and discussions, or are you just speculating? Because I have never come across a casual player running Balancing Act, Restore Balance, Magus of the Balance, or lamenting that they couldn't run Balance. In fact, pretty much everyone I've played it against hasn't been thrilled to get Balancing Act cast on them while I have a small board state.
I wouldn't say it doesn't add anything to the format. Casuals don't like mass land destruction, but this card allows them to punish land ramp decks without destroying all the lands with Armageddon. More competitive players wouldn't mind balance because it's nowhere near powerful enough to break their meta.
How are the game states undesirable? Balance is a one shot effect that equalizes different resources between the players. Most casual players I have met would rather deal with a balance than a stax card like Winter Orb. Does it do too much for its mana cost? Yeah, but that isn't a rule. A lot of other cards that are legal in this format are competitively costed as well.
Are you saying this as an opinion based on your own experiences and discussions, or are you just speculating? Because I have never come across a casual player running Balancing Act, Restore Balance, Magus of the Balance, or lamenting that they couldn't run Balance. In fact, pretty much everyone I've played it against hasn't been thrilled to get Balancing Act cast on them while I have a small board state.
Experience and discussion. Casuals that I have interacted with have overwhelmingly hated stax effects. While I haven't heard casuals complain about not being able to to run balance, they have complained about land ramp decks. Casuals don't want to turn into the stax player, but they want a way to fight back against someone that has ramped a lot.
Did those players concede on the spot to you casting Balancing Act, or were they just disappointed that you made a good play that hurt them? It's not too uncommon for players around my county to concede and refuse to play with someone once that persons casts armageddon or locks down a board with stasis or winter orb.
I wouldn't say it doesn't add anything to the format. Casuals don't like mass land destruction, but this card allows them to punish land ramp decks without destroying all the lands with Armageddon. More competitive players wouldn't mind balance because it's nowhere near powerful enough to break their meta.
How are the game states undesirable? Balance is a one shot effect that equalizes different resources between the players. Most casual players I have met would rather deal with a balance than a stax card like Winter Orb. Does it do too much for its mana cost? Yeah, but that isn't a rule. A lot of other cards that are legal in this format are competitively costed as well.
Are you saying this as an opinion based on your own experiences and discussions, or are you just speculating? Because I have never come across a casual player running Balancing Act, Restore Balance, Magus of the Balance, or lamenting that they couldn't run Balance. In fact, pretty much everyone I've played it against hasn't been thrilled to get Balancing Act cast on them while I have a small board state.
Add Natural Balance to that list. The only time I've seen it played was a Titania list that hoovered up all their lands to Zuran Orb for Elementals, set everyone else's lands to 5 and tutored up 5 more lands.
* Interacts Poorly With the Structure of Commander. Commander introduces specific structural differences to the game of Magic (notably singleton decks, color restrictions in deckbuilding, and the existence of a Commander). Magic cards not designed with Commander in mind sometimes interact with those elements in ways that change the effective functionality of the card. Cards that have moved too far (in a potentially problematic direction) from their original intent due to this mismatch are candidates for banning. This criterion also includes legendary creatures that are problematic if always available.
* Creates Undesirable Game States. Losing is not an undesirable game state. However, a game in which one or more players, playing comparable casual decks, have minimal participation in the game is something which players should be steered away from. Warning signs include massive overall resource imbalance, early-game cards that lock players out, and cards with limited function other than to win the game out of nowhere.
* Problematic Casual Omnipresence. Some cards are so powerful that they become must-includes in decks that can run them and have a strongly negative impact on the games in which they appear, even when not built to optimize their effect. This does not include cards which are part of a specifc two-card combination - there are too many of those available in the format to usefully preclude - but may include cards which have numerous combinations with other commonly-played cards.
* Produces Too Much Mana Too Quickly. Commander is a format devoted to splashy spells and epic plays, but they need to happen at appropriate times. Some acceleration is acceptable, but plays which are epic on turn ten are undesirable on turn three, so we rein in cards capable of generating a lot of mana early given the correct circumstances.
* Creates a Perceived High Barrier to Entry. Commander is a socially welcoming format with a vast cardpool. These two traits clash when it comes to certain early Magic cards, even if they would possibly be acceptable in their game play. It's not enough that the card is simply expensive. It must also be something that would be near-universally played if available and contribute to a perception that the format is only for the Vintage audience.
These are the banlist criteria that are used by the RC to evaluate cards. The bolded parts are what I think are relevant to Balance. Intriguingly, it only hits about 1.5 of the criteria, but I think it hits them hard. It creates undesirable game states. It is a massive resource inbalance when played with any degree of competence except in desperation situations (like knocking out a potentially lethal token army or taking the guy who jumped out to 12 lands turn 3 down a peg). It does this with less preparation and fewer deck building requirements than any similar card. You have to build your deck a certain way to take advantage of MLD and many stax effects (stax effects mostly require a dedicated stax deck to be good), while Balance is just great. With planning, it becomes as brutal as a properly tuned stax strategy, while still demanding minimal investment (mostly just dropping early mana rocks, which is something you'd want to do anyway). It also hits problematic casual omnipresence because its so good and easy to run that it probably should be in any deck that runs white, and will have a dramatic, and often negative, impact on any game it shows up in.
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I don't think it usually creates that massive of a resource imbalance, especially early game. If people are using it for early game hand disruption, I've never seen a casual player empty their hand before turn four with mana rocks. If they're using it later on as land destruction, then they're playing a worse Armageddon. It isn't even a card that locks people out of the game. It's a one shot effect that equalizes most resources between the players.
Balance doesn't fit into every white deck. Most WG decks are trying to build a board of creatures and ramp out more lands than their opponents. A WR deck might play it if they're voltron, but not if they're following a go-wide strategy.
I don't think it usually creates that massive of a resource imbalance, especially early game. If people are using it for early game hand disruption, I've never seen a casual player empty their hand before turn four with mana rocks. If they're using it later on as land destruction, then they're playing a worse Armageddon. It isn't even a card that locks people out of the game. It's a one shot effect that equalizes most resources between the players.
Balance doesn't fit into every white deck. Most WG decks are trying to build a board of creatures and ramp out more lands than their opponents. A WR deck might play it if they're voltron, but not if they're following a go-wide strategy.
Perhaps you should make a thread for Balance then. (Is there already one for Balance? Either way...)
I have next to no personal experience playing with or against Balance. It's a card that Sheldon, if not the rest of the Rules Committee, is adamantly opposed to though, and honestly I'm just sort of taking their word for it since I can't really see why this card is so problematic in and of itself. Will it sometimes create a massive resource imbalance? Sure. Would it see omnipresent play across white decks if it were legal? I suspect it would. Regardless, I can also see instances where Balance isn't causing much harm since not all decks will be equally good at utilizing it. As such, I would be receptive to the idea that Balance could be unbanned, but I'd need to see something well put together in order to move me.
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The problem with Balance is the same as a lot of other problems in this format: Sol Ring. By itself, Balance is a pretty mild card that equalizes the board. The less desirable traits show up in force, however, when you can easily chain early mana rocks together to simultaneously empty your hand while keeping your land count artificially low, making Balance a 2-mana Mind Twist + Armageddon + Wrath of God while you get to sit there smugly with your Sol Ring. Since Sol Ring is apparently, unfathomably, never going to be banned, it would seem that Balance is be forever doomed to the ban list.
Yeah, if Sol Ring, Mana Crypt, and Mana Vault weren't in the format, I would of been advocating for Balance to be unbanned much sooner. However, my opinion on this has recently changed. If the banlist is constructed with casual metas in mind, then Balance has no business being banned. Casuals aren't going to break Balance early game. There are more powerful cards that can be played late game. The card isn't as oppressive as other legal cards in the format. The card isn't going to be played in every white deck. The card doesn't interact poorly with commander, it doesn't produce too much mana, and it's very cheap to buy.
Way too much effect for way too small of cost. Two mana to hit hand size, creatures and land totals all at the same time, and it is contemptuously easy to make the effect assymetrical. It would be an absolutely terrible card for the format.
I'm not sure why you are describing it as being contemptuous, but I disagree about it being easy. To have your balance be asymmetrical you need to play more artifacts, enchantments, or planeswalkers while having a smaller hand size, less lands, and less creatures. I don't think most casuals decks are anywhere close to being tuned enough to take advantage of balance being in their opening hand. If they are casting this spell late game, then they have enough mana to cast some other spell that is more impactful.
About Balance doing too much for too little mana, you could say the same for multiple cards in the format. Sometimes design does a bad job costing a card, pushes the card, or it gets much better in this format. Are these cards going to be banned soon?
About Balance doing too much for too little mana, you could say the same for multiple cards in the format. Sometimes design does a bad job costing a card, pushes the card, or it gets much better in this format. Are these cards going to be banned soon?
Using those cards as comparison is more than a little 'hah?'. Granted, they're cheap, but that's the ONLY link they really have. Aside from Survival and the cheap mana rocks and tutors, the others are barely worth mentioning by and large. They do their thing, the game moves on.
I seem to recall a theory(not mine) I came across that Balance can, more than most cards, promote bad deck building. I think it's a stretch beyond Armstrong's ability, but it's something to note, even as a farce.
Casual decks can run the stipulations you're pointing out quite easily. Most casual decks still run planeswalkers, even beyond superfriend dedicated decks, and artifacts and enchantments are always value. As for hand size, discard engines do exist...and lands are hardly a consideration(float mana or not). For a closer comparison, someone in a playgroup long ago played Smallpox on turn three. Guess who was hated out first? Do you truly expect Balance to be played any better when it has that wide of an effect?
Sorry, I'm not buying that program, and I think you're going to get an uphill battle if you push this seriously.
I think the comparison is fine. Those cards cost less than their effect would suggest. Why do they get a pass and balance doesn't?
We should probably ban Wrath of God as well, since it promotes decks with less creatures. If someone wants to build a deck with lots of walkers, enchantments, and artifacts, I don't see the problem.
If most decks run planeswalkers, artifacts, and enchantments, then you're going to have a hard time playing more of them than three opponents. If you're jumping through hoops to discard everyone's hands, then you're just playing a worse Sire of Insanity. If people don't like Smallpox, why is that legal and Balance isn't? Do you think Smallpox should be banned like Balance?
To have your balance be asymmetrical you need to play more artifacts, enchantments, or planeswalkers while having a smaller hand size, less lands, and less creatures. I don't think most casuals decks are anywhere close to being tuned enough to take advantage of balance being in their opening hand. If they are casting this spell late game, then they have enough mana to cast some other spell that is more impactful.
I'm going to disagree by listing commander pre cons that could simply slot in Balance and be set up for casting it turn 4-5 to great effect with no further effort:
Subjective Reality: Top of the library matters, headed by a planeswalker, 7 pieces of artifact ramp, focus on spells. Literally includes Balance as a spell shaper already.
Adaptive Enchantment: Led by a planeswalker, and enchantment based. Depends a bit on how people play it out. Lots of auras, but many of the auras are bestow creatures. Made to Voltron, which is a newb friendly archetype that really likes Balance. Lots of its auras are ramp for lands, and can be placed on the lands you don't want to sacrifice, allowing you to play out your hand while ramping hard, and cast balance. Really wants Balance.
Feline Ferocity: Although a tribal deck, often ends up playing Voltron, so playing out equipment and keeping 1 or 2 key creatures when you Balance is something the deck would want to do. If played as go wide, not as much, but even then a lot of its cards let you rebuild an army quickly, or dominate a small board by slapping equipment on something.
Vampiric Bloodlust: This one is complicated, and I'll say that while Balance makes it better, newbs probably wouldn't play it right. Edgar is capable of spilling its hand out early, needing only a little mana to operate, and being able to recover a presence with few resources, but that requires remaking the deck a bit with lower cost vamps. Straight out of the box, its trickier to play, so we've found one that isn't set up for noobs to slot in Balance with no thought and start rocking with it.
Draconic Dominance: Not too bad, artifact based ramp and a strategy that wants to cast some big fliers to win, but you need mana. Not great for playing Balance mindlessly, even if it would be powerful in the deck if played well.
So in the previous two commander releases, we have 2 decks in which Balance is really good, one in which it is pretty good, one in which it isn't good without streamlining the deck, and one where its only good if played right.
Open Hostility: Genuinely bad here, as its an all in aggro deck that doesn't recover well from Balance effects.
Stalwart Unity: A Group Hug deck with tax effects, Balance fits well here as the deck helps break the symmetry on Balance, and Balance helps break the symmetry of the deck.
Breed Lethality: Well positioned to use Balance right out of the box, with its aim to build up a few creatures while controlling the board. Obviously perfect for balance once they start adding all the planeswalkers they own without R in their cost.
Invent Superiority: An artifact deck that doesn't mind seeing its things die and which can recover cards quickly. Yeah, it really wants Balance.
Call the Spirits: An enchantment deck who's commander can spit out fatties after a Balance, wants Balance
Wade Into Battle: Lots of artifacts, many of which are ramp. Can empty its hand quickly. You'd think an aggro deck wouldn't want Balance, but this deck often gets low on cards earlier while focused on ramping as its creatures are bigger, and can cast an early Balance for a lot of value before dropping a few fatties to attack with. Its built to function with just a few creatures on the field, not by going wide. A surprisingly good deck to just slot Balance into.
Nahiri: A planeswalker commander focused on equipment. Begging for Balance.
Evasive Maneuvers: Plenty of artifacts and enchantments to lay out, its creature list includes plenty of etb creatures that you don't care about seeing die, and Derevi can die forever and only ever cost 4 mana, while her ability lets you break the symmetry on Balance by getting more mana out of fewer lands. Balance please.
Eternal Bargain: A control deck that utilizes a lot of artifacts and enchantments, it also has plenty of recursion in case you have to discard or sacrifice creatures. In fact, given the recursion available, sometimes discarding is a feature. Several cards have synergy with Balance. Balance is great here.
Nature of the Beast: I could see noobs not being able to utilize Balance well here, though even right out of the box it fits really well given how techy Marath is. Of course, I just said techy, so that's bad news for noobs. A noob with this deck wouldn't benefit from Balance that much.
Heavenly Inferno: Out of the box, this deck's MO is to drop Kaalia early, use her to drop a couple fat fliers, and take over the game. Honestly, once you stick Kaalia, following up with Balance is going to be brutal. Balance slots in perfectly.
Counterpunch: Plenty of recursion combines with Ghave being able to eat your army to ensure maximum value out of Balance's creature sacrifice. And some decent artifact ramp and enchantments, again. Yay Balance.
Political Puppets: Another good one. You'll take a hit on cards, but easily replace them because Zedruu. Lots of artifacts and enchantments, few creatures (mostly weak), overall another solid deck to just slot Balance into.
So yeah, most of the white precons can just add Balance and have it be really, really good, and often hit the too large resource imbalance for too little mana criteria, and of the few where it isn't great out of the box, it can be made great with some easy modifications. Its correct to add to most precons even if that is the only change, and such a famously powerful card that people would want to, and such an affordable card that people could. I see little reason why this wouldn't become a staple if it became unbanned, and little reason why that wouldn't lead to it causing problems regularly.
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Whether its blue players countering your spells, red players burning you out, or combo, if you have a problem with an aspect of Magic's gameplay, you can fix it!
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
Balance is about as fair and balanced as Fox News. I don't agree with making it one of the first cards I would ban, but it doesn't add anything to the format. There are plenty of legal variants available.
Balance is only really unfair because of the fast mana. Without mana rocks to boost its casting, it becomes a lot less absurd.
Also, it leaves behind planeswalkers, which is really, really important these days. Not saying I want it unbanned or anything, but it's less harsh when you have a repeatable, renewable resource on the table.
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Karakas is better off banned because there is negligible opportunity cost for literally every white deck to run it. And do you honestly want to play edh when every game will risk seeing that card and getting your general bounced turn after turn?
Emmy I'm unsure about, but I don't know what she really adds to the formst.
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In fact, it breaks many of them in one way or another. It produces far too much effect for minimal investment, and does so in a manner which contributes to undesirable game states. I agree with Sheldon that Balance is pretty much the last card that should ever leave the banned list. At best it's tied for last with one or two other things.
Really? My top of the list cards are things like Fastbond which end games before they even start.
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I wouldn't say it doesn't add anything to the format. Casuals don't like mass land destruction, but this card allows them to punish land ramp decks without destroying all the lands with Armageddon. More competitive players wouldn't mind balance because it's nowhere near powerful enough to break their meta.
How are the game states undesirable? Balance is a one shot effect that equalizes different resources between the players. Most casual players I have met would rather deal with a balance than a stax card like Winter Orb. Does it do too much for its mana cost? Yeah, but that isn't a rule. A lot of other cards that are legal in this format are competitively costed as well.
Are you saying this as an opinion based on your own experiences and discussions, or are you just speculating? Because I have never come across a casual player running Balancing Act, Restore Balance, Magus of the Balance, or lamenting that they couldn't run Balance. In fact, pretty much everyone I've played it against hasn't been thrilled to get Balancing Act cast on them while I have a small board state.
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Experience and discussion. Casuals that I have interacted with have overwhelmingly hated stax effects. While I haven't heard casuals complain about not being able to to run balance, they have complained about land ramp decks. Casuals don't want to turn into the stax player, but they want a way to fight back against someone that has ramped a lot.
Did those players concede on the spot to you casting Balancing Act, or were they just disappointed that you made a good play that hurt them? It's not too uncommon for players around my county to concede and refuse to play with someone once that persons casts armageddon or locks down a board with stasis or winter orb.
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These are the banlist criteria that are used by the RC to evaluate cards. The bolded parts are what I think are relevant to Balance. Intriguingly, it only hits about 1.5 of the criteria, but I think it hits them hard. It creates undesirable game states. It is a massive resource inbalance when played with any degree of competence except in desperation situations (like knocking out a potentially lethal token army or taking the guy who jumped out to 12 lands turn 3 down a peg). It does this with less preparation and fewer deck building requirements than any similar card. You have to build your deck a certain way to take advantage of MLD and many stax effects (stax effects mostly require a dedicated stax deck to be good), while Balance is just great. With planning, it becomes as brutal as a properly tuned stax strategy, while still demanding minimal investment (mostly just dropping early mana rocks, which is something you'd want to do anyway). It also hits problematic casual omnipresence because its so good and easy to run that it probably should be in any deck that runs white, and will have a dramatic, and often negative, impact on any game it shows up in.
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Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
Balance doesn't fit into every white deck. Most WG decks are trying to build a board of creatures and ramp out more lands than their opponents. A WR deck might play it if they're voltron, but not if they're following a go-wide strategy.
I have next to no personal experience playing with or against Balance. It's a card that Sheldon, if not the rest of the Rules Committee, is adamantly opposed to though, and honestly I'm just sort of taking their word for it since I can't really see why this card is so problematic in and of itself. Will it sometimes create a massive resource imbalance? Sure. Would it see omnipresent play across white decks if it were legal? I suspect it would. Regardless, I can also see instances where Balance isn't causing much harm since not all decks will be equally good at utilizing it. As such, I would be receptive to the idea that Balance could be unbanned, but I'd need to see something well put together in order to move me.
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About Balance doing too much for too little mana, you could say the same for multiple cards in the format. Sometimes design does a bad job costing a card, pushes the card, or it gets much better in this format. Are these cards going to be banned soon?
0 Mishra's Workshop
0 Burgeoning
0 Deathrite Shaman
0 Entomb
0 Mana Vault
0 Mother of Runes
0 Imperial Seal
0 Sol Ring
0 Skullclamp
0 Vampiric Tutor
0 Mana Drain
0 Survival of the Fittest
0 Sylvan Library
0 Necropotence
0 Rhystic Study
0 Timetwister
0 Yawgmoth's Will
0 Force of Will
Using those cards as comparison is more than a little 'hah?'. Granted, they're cheap, but that's the ONLY link they really have. Aside from Survival and the cheap mana rocks and tutors, the others are barely worth mentioning by and large. They do their thing, the game moves on.
I seem to recall a theory(not mine) I came across that Balance can, more than most cards, promote bad deck building. I think it's a stretch beyond Armstrong's ability, but it's something to note, even as a farce.
Casual decks can run the stipulations you're pointing out quite easily. Most casual decks still run planeswalkers, even beyond superfriend dedicated decks, and artifacts and enchantments are always value. As for hand size, discard engines do exist...and lands are hardly a consideration(float mana or not). For a closer comparison, someone in a playgroup long ago played Smallpox on turn three. Guess who was hated out first? Do you truly expect Balance to be played any better when it has that wide of an effect?
Sorry, I'm not buying that program, and I think you're going to get an uphill battle if you push this seriously.
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We should probably ban Wrath of God as well, since it promotes decks with less creatures. If someone wants to build a deck with lots of walkers, enchantments, and artifacts, I don't see the problem.
If most decks run planeswalkers, artifacts, and enchantments, then you're going to have a hard time playing more of them than three opponents. If you're jumping through hoops to discard everyone's hands, then you're just playing a worse Sire of Insanity. If people don't like Smallpox, why is that legal and Balance isn't? Do you think Smallpox should be banned like Balance?
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I'm going to disagree by listing commander pre cons that could simply slot in Balance and be set up for casting it turn 4-5 to great effect with no further effort:
Subjective Reality: Top of the library matters, headed by a planeswalker, 7 pieces of artifact ramp, focus on spells. Literally includes Balance as a spell shaper already.
Adaptive Enchantment: Led by a planeswalker, and enchantment based. Depends a bit on how people play it out. Lots of auras, but many of the auras are bestow creatures. Made to Voltron, which is a newb friendly archetype that really likes Balance. Lots of its auras are ramp for lands, and can be placed on the lands you don't want to sacrifice, allowing you to play out your hand while ramping hard, and cast balance. Really wants Balance.
Feline Ferocity: Although a tribal deck, often ends up playing Voltron, so playing out equipment and keeping 1 or 2 key creatures when you Balance is something the deck would want to do. If played as go wide, not as much, but even then a lot of its cards let you rebuild an army quickly, or dominate a small board by slapping equipment on something.
Vampiric Bloodlust: This one is complicated, and I'll say that while Balance makes it better, newbs probably wouldn't play it right. Edgar is capable of spilling its hand out early, needing only a little mana to operate, and being able to recover a presence with few resources, but that requires remaking the deck a bit with lower cost vamps. Straight out of the box, its trickier to play, so we've found one that isn't set up for noobs to slot in Balance with no thought and start rocking with it.
Draconic Dominance: Not too bad, artifact based ramp and a strategy that wants to cast some big fliers to win, but you need mana. Not great for playing Balance mindlessly, even if it would be powerful in the deck if played well.
So in the previous two commander releases, we have 2 decks in which Balance is really good, one in which it is pretty good, one in which it isn't good without streamlining the deck, and one where its only good if played right.
Open Hostility: Genuinely bad here, as its an all in aggro deck that doesn't recover well from Balance effects.
Stalwart Unity: A Group Hug deck with tax effects, Balance fits well here as the deck helps break the symmetry on Balance, and Balance helps break the symmetry of the deck.
Breed Lethality: Well positioned to use Balance right out of the box, with its aim to build up a few creatures while controlling the board. Obviously perfect for balance once they start adding all the planeswalkers they own without R in their cost.
Invent Superiority: An artifact deck that doesn't mind seeing its things die and which can recover cards quickly. Yeah, it really wants Balance.
Call the Spirits: An enchantment deck who's commander can spit out fatties after a Balance, wants Balance
Wade Into Battle: Lots of artifacts, many of which are ramp. Can empty its hand quickly. You'd think an aggro deck wouldn't want Balance, but this deck often gets low on cards earlier while focused on ramping as its creatures are bigger, and can cast an early Balance for a lot of value before dropping a few fatties to attack with. Its built to function with just a few creatures on the field, not by going wide. A surprisingly good deck to just slot Balance into.
Nahiri: A planeswalker commander focused on equipment. Begging for Balance.
Evasive Maneuvers: Plenty of artifacts and enchantments to lay out, its creature list includes plenty of etb creatures that you don't care about seeing die, and Derevi can die forever and only ever cost 4 mana, while her ability lets you break the symmetry on Balance by getting more mana out of fewer lands. Balance please.
Eternal Bargain: A control deck that utilizes a lot of artifacts and enchantments, it also has plenty of recursion in case you have to discard or sacrifice creatures. In fact, given the recursion available, sometimes discarding is a feature. Several cards have synergy with Balance. Balance is great here.
Nature of the Beast: I could see noobs not being able to utilize Balance well here, though even right out of the box it fits really well given how techy Marath is. Of course, I just said techy, so that's bad news for noobs. A noob with this deck wouldn't benefit from Balance that much.
Heavenly Inferno: Out of the box, this deck's MO is to drop Kaalia early, use her to drop a couple fat fliers, and take over the game. Honestly, once you stick Kaalia, following up with Balance is going to be brutal. Balance slots in perfectly.
Counterpunch: Plenty of recursion combines with Ghave being able to eat your army to ensure maximum value out of Balance's creature sacrifice. And some decent artifact ramp and enchantments, again. Yay Balance.
Political Puppets: Another good one. You'll take a hit on cards, but easily replace them because Zedruu. Lots of artifacts and enchantments, few creatures (mostly weak), overall another solid deck to just slot Balance into.
So yeah, most of the white precons can just add Balance and have it be really, really good, and often hit the too large resource imbalance for too little mana criteria, and of the few where it isn't great out of the box, it can be made great with some easy modifications. Its correct to add to most precons even if that is the only change, and such a famously powerful card that people would want to, and such an affordable card that people could. I see little reason why this wouldn't become a staple if it became unbanned, and little reason why that wouldn't lead to it causing problems regularly.
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
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Balance is only really unfair because of the fast mana. Without mana rocks to boost its casting, it becomes a lot less absurd.
Also, it leaves behind planeswalkers, which is really, really important these days. Not saying I want it unbanned or anything, but it's less harsh when you have a repeatable, renewable resource on the table.
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