There is more to the format then just the turn 4 rule. They dont want cards that warp the format either. Add in the logistics a couple bans have been hit for. I think you are looking at just one aspect of the ban criteria and not the rest.
Thopter foundry is not banned. Do you mean Sword of the Meek?
Yeah yeah, I for some reason I always think Foundry is the banned half and Sword is the unbanned half.
Probably Monday, but we can speculate for a full weekend up to our heart's content only to wake up to something abominable the following day like, say, the ban of Deathrite Shaman.
Most likely there won't be any changes (for what it's worth a Bitterblossom unban would be nifty), but I tend towards pessimism when weighing ban list announcements for Modern as people here probably know by now. Sure, I would like to see some cards unbanned, but that won't make the next announcement any less of a mess then it's likely to be.
Since the format's inception three years ago there have maybe been 4-5 announcements in which something wasn't banned. That's a bad track record as far as any format is concerned.
In my dream, the world had suffered a terrible disaster. A black haze shut out the sun, and the darkness was alive with the moans and screams of wounded people. Suddenly, a small light glowed. A candle flickered into life, symbol of hope for millions. A single tiny candle, shining in the ugly dark. I laughed and blew it out.
Many thanks to HotP Studios. Special thanks to DNC for this great sig.
Probably Monday, but we can speculate for a full weekend up to our heart's content only to wake up to something abominable the following day like, say, the ban of Deathrite Shaman.
Most likely there won't be any changes (for what it's worth a Bitterblossom unban would be nifty), but I tend towards pessimism when weighing ban list announcements for Modern as people here probably know by now. Sure, I would like to see some cards unbanned, but that won't make the next announcement any less of a mess then it's likely to be.
Since the format's inception three years ago there have maybe been 4-5 announcements in which something wasn't banned. That's a bad track record as far as any format is concerned.
I wouldn't count the second wave of bans as actual bans. I'd count them as part of the initial banned list. They've existed ever since Modern was a sanctioned format. That seems initial to me.
I'm just going to post my thoughts in here, and join the debate:
Unbannings:
1) I doubt Jace and Stoneforge will be unbanned for at least another 2 years. I don't think WotC wants to risk another Caw-Blade style fiasco. While there are answers to the deck, I think it's best to be cautious and wait a while more.
2) Wild Nacatl could be unbanned. It dies to (almost) every main decked removal spell I've seen. I doubt it'd change the format too terribly, at most just pushing Zoo up into the top 3 or 4 decks of the format.
3) While I wish with the entirety of my cold, U/B heart that Bitterblossom gets unbanned, I'm not holding my breath. Sure, answers exist for it, but so do cards that help it. (Side note: I never played during the heyday of Faries, so if they did have some of these cards to start with, please correct me)
Fairies could become Delver-esque spell based list and would have access to Mana Leak, Inqusition of Kozelik, Spell Pierce, loads more removal, etc. It may even be the creature centric style and run Æther Vial or Cavern of Souls to stick uncounterable Scions/Mistbinds/Spellstutter Sprites/insert Fairy here.
While unbanning Bitterblossom would be fun and great, I won't be surprised if it stays on the list for a few years.
Bannings:
1) I don't thing Deathrite Shaman needs to be banned. Sure, it's powerful and all, but I've never found it oppressive enough to get axed. I've always found that it enabled some strategies that had fun interactions (example: Do I tap him to make mana for a creature on my turn, or leave him untapped to do something on my opponents turn? What if there is a removal spell? Should I try and accelerate a guy out before Shaman dies?) He's strong, but he is answerable.
I think if Nacatl is unbanned, Zoo could put up a fight against Jund and it's Deathrites (I don't know enough about the decks to say for sure, I maybe totally wrong)
I wouldn't be shocked if it was chopped, but I would be disappointed.
2) Birthing Pod being banned would not shock me. It is, in my opinion, more oppressive than Shaman. I still have nightmares of my opponents Pod-ing into Acidic Slime-> Primeval Titan, and that was Standard. Persist and Undying simply take Pod from a mere engine to a nuclear reactor.
Countermagic is the smell before rain, the sun on the horizon and the chocolate chips in my mint chocolate chip ice cream. It's the first time I saw a woman naked and the first time I smelled perfume. It's that feeling you get when you know you're right.
But most of all; it's the feeling of playing Magic
I'm just going to post my thoughts in here, and join the debate:
Unbannings:
1) I doubt Jace and Stoneforge will be unbanned for at least another 2 years. I don't think WotC wants to risk another Caw-Blade style fiasco. While there are answers to the deck, I think it's best to be cautious and wait a while more.
2) Wild Nacatl could be unbanned. It dies to (almost) every main decked removal spell I've seen. I doubt it'd change the format too terribly, at most just pushing Zoo up into the top 3 or 4 decks of the format.
3) While I wish with the entirety of my cold, U/B heart that Bitterblossom gets unbanned, I'm not holding my breath. Sure, answers exist for it, but so do cards that help it. (Side note: I never played during the heyday of Faries, so if they did have some of these cards to start with, please correct me)
Fairies could become Delver-esque spell based list and would have access to Mana Leak, Inqusition of Kozelik, Spell Pierce, loads more removal, etc. It may even be the creature centric style and run Æther Vial or Cavern of Souls to stick uncounterable Scions/Mistbinds/Spellstutter Sprites/insert Fairy here.
While unbanning Bitterblossom would be fun and great, I won't be surprised if it stays on the list for a few years.
Bannings:
1) I don't thing Deathrite Shaman needs to be banned. Sure, it's powerful and all, but I've never found it oppressive enough to get axed. I've always found that it enabled some strategies that had fun interactions (example: Do I tap him to make mana for a creature on my turn, or leave him untapped to do something on my opponents turn? What if there is a removal spell? Should I try and accelerate a guy out before Shaman dies?) He's strong, but he is answerable.
I think if Nacatl is unbanned, Zoo could put up a fight against Jund and it's Deathrites (I don't know enough about the decks to say for sure, I maybe totally wrong)
I wouldn't be shocked if it was chopped, but I would be disappointed.
2) Birthing Pod being banned would not shock me. It is, in my opinion, more oppressive than Shaman. I still have nightmares of my opponents Pod-ing into Acidic Slime-> Primeval Titan, and that was Standard. Persist and Undying simply take Pod from a mere engine to a nuclear reactor.
I agree with this, except I think that Bitterblossom wouldn't be oppressive and that Birthing Pod doesn't need a ban. It hasn't done much in the format recently.
I agree with this, except I think that Bitterblossom wouldn't be oppressive and that Birthing Pod doesn't need a ban. It hasn't done much in the format recently.
I think I wasn't quite clear on Bitterblossom. I do not think it'd be oppressive, just that it's gotten some really good tools to work with. It's not as safe an unban as people think.
Countermagic is the smell before rain, the sun on the horizon and the chocolate chips in my mint chocolate chip ice cream. It's the first time I saw a woman naked and the first time I smelled perfume. It's that feeling you get when you know you're right.
But most of all; it's the feeling of playing Magic
I'm curious, how many people in this thread have actually tested the cards they want unbanned?
2) Wild Nacatl could be unbanned. It dies to (almost) every main decked removal spell I've seen. I doubt it'd change the format too terribly, at most just pushing Zoo up into the top 3 or 4 decks of the format.
This argument is relevant only if the creature costs a decent amount of mana to cast. Nacatl costs 1 mana, making it just as efficient, or more efficient than any removal spell in the game. If you don't have a bolt for it and you're on the play, you're already falling way behind. this is what makes full-power zoo such an insane deck, the creatures it plays are simply more efficient than any removal you could play against them.
You also make it sound like removing a Nacatl wins you the game vs. zoo. That's just plain silly.
Dies to removal is a relevant argument when it means the player casting a creature loses tempo based off cheaper removal spells. If an opponent's removal is more costly than the creature it's removing, then you will be at a fundamental advantage in overall tempo.
I'm curious, how many people in this thread have actually tested the cards they want unbanned?
I've been thinking of slotting Bitterblossom into my B/U tempo deck (since I think it'd be good there), but I've been sick, so I can really only goldfish. I to wonder about what's been tested.
Countermagic is the smell before rain, the sun on the horizon and the chocolate chips in my mint chocolate chip ice cream. It's the first time I saw a woman naked and the first time I smelled perfume. It's that feeling you get when you know you're right.
But most of all; it's the feeling of playing Magic
I don't know what the correct changes might be, but I've been doing a lot of not-playing-Magic lately, so anything that makes Modern less stagnant and boring would be great.
Bitterblossom was tested, I believe the results were posted in the official ban list discussion. You'll have to wait for someone with more knowledge on the subject than me to recount the specifics, but the people who tested it found it safe to come off.
Everything else seems ok to me. Right now the format seems to need a shake and introducing many new players would likely allow it to evolve into a more open field.
Hypergenesis is A OK but Jitte and Mox don't have a chance of being unbanned? Yea ok buddy.
Yeah, Jitte is way overpowered agains't any creature deck, specially in a format where you can fetch it with Stoneforge Mystic. Chrome Mox provides turn 1 acceleration that would make the format too fast. What's the problem with Hypergenesis? Cascading it off a Bloodbraid Elf on turn 4? Turn 3 if you exile a simian spirit guide? Doesn't seem that dangerous
Yeah, Jitte is way overpowered agains't any creature deck, specially in a format where you can fetch it with Stoneforge Mystic. Chrome Mox provides turn 1 acceleration that would make the format too fast. What's the problem with Hypergenesis? Cascading it off a Bloodbraid Elf on turn 4? Turn 3 if you exile a simian spirit guide? Doesn't seem that dangerous
You obviously don't play Modern if you think Hypergenesis would be a turn 4 deck.
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Yeah, Jitte is way overpowered agains't any creature deck, specially in a format where you can fetch it with Stoneforge Mystic. Chrome Mox provides turn 1 acceleration that would make the format too fast. What's the problem with Hypergenesis? Cascading it off a Bloodbraid Elf on turn 4? Turn 3 if you exile a simian spirit guide? Doesn't seem that dangerous
Jitte is still very mana intensive, you can just get tempo'd for days if you're trying to equip Jitte and you get your creatures removed. Jitte is powerful but I don't think its overwhelmingly so. I still don't think it should be unbanned right now but I think its a much more reasonable unban than other things in the list.
Chrome Mox does have the potential to make the format faster but I actually don't think the card is very good except for very All-In strategies or decks with a lot of CA that can undo the CD from Chrome Mox. Having to exile a card to turn it on is huge in a lot of decks as they often can't afford it, plus it makes mulligans much much worse as it essentially mulligans you again, in addition its a bad top deck in the mid-late game as it pretty much does nothing. Again I don't think its unbannable right now but I think its much less scary than a lot of the stuff on your possible list.
Well this post makes it pretty clear you have no idea what a Hypergenesis deck looks like, you can cascade into Hypergenesis on turn 1 off of SSG and Violent Outburst and then put your Emrakuls, Grislebrands, etc. into play. The deck is hilariously more powerful than anything thats legal and most things that banned as well.
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On Mono Black in Commander:
Quote from BlackJack68 »
But whomever your commander is, Cabal Coffers is really in charge.
Jitte is still very mana intensive, you can just get tempo'd for days if you're trying to equip Jitte and you get your creatures removed. Jitte is powerful but I don't think its overwhelmingly so. I still don't think it should be unbanned right now but I think its a much more reasonable unban than other things in the list.
Chrome Mox does have the potential to make the format faster but I actually don't think the card is very good except for very All-In strategies or decks with a lot of CA that can undo the CD from Chrome Mox. Having to exile a card to turn it on is huge in a lot of decks as they often can't afford it, plus it makes mulligans much much worse as it essentially mulligans you again, in addition its a bad top deck in the mid-late game as it pretty much does nothing. Again I don't think its unbannable right now but I think its much less scary than a lot of the stuff on your possible list.
Well this post makes it pretty clear you have no idea what a Hypergenesis deck looks like, you can cascade into Hypergenesis on turn 1 off of SSG and Violent Outburst and then put your Emrakuls, Grislebrands, etc. into play. The deck is hilariously more powerful than anything thats legal and most things that banned as well.
Well, I admit I haven't faced it as I've always found it banned but that turn 1 hypergenesis seems as possible as killing on turn 2 with Kiln Fiend, you mean, opponent plays first, upkeep play gemstone caverns exiling a random card, exile 2 simian spirit guides and play violent outburst into hypergenesis, so you used 5 cards of your hand and on top of that you need to have a huge threat like an emrakul for that to be worth it.
Maybe I am missing something but that doesn't sound like a reliable combo at all, I guess you would also play cards like through the breach but it doesn't sound too overpowered to me and you would be playing cards like violent outburst that are useless until you have a big threat in your hand to put into play. A jitte activation is enough for a creature match-up to be over, of course removal can fight it but if you don't have it in every activation you probably lost. Maybe you are right about Chrome Mox but to me it seems like that acceleration could be deadlier than the card disadvantage it costs.
Everything else seems ok to me. Right now the format seems to need a shake and introducing many new players would likely allow it to evolve into a more open field.
As I've pointed out before. Artifact lands would make affinity the undisputed king. What many people that say these should be unbanned need to realize is that the current artifact based aggro deck is robots. It has only 1 affinity card in the lot. Being able to spit out a plethora of 1/1 2/2 and 4/4s on turn 1-2 is too powerful. The standard version of affinity didn't need to run cards like spring leaf drum for ramp. Or signal pest for pump. Look at the following list of cards that would become instant 4 ofs with art land unbanned and tell me how it would be fair. Even with cranial plating and MOX opal banned.
Its a completely different deck then its current iteration. I agree the art lands would not break current robot builds, but who would play that over old school ravager affinity?
Voted on the following, any one and I'm happy [except Grave Troll. We need two then!]:
Golgari Grave Troll
Ancestral Vision
Bitterblossom
Sword of the Meek
Ponder
Preordain
Dark Depths
Dread Return
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MTGO: Stillenacht288
Modern:
Footsteps Hulk
Ascendency Combo
Restore Balance
Ad Nauseam
EDH:
Ghave Lands
Narset Combo
Well, I admit I haven't faced it as I've always found it banned but that turn 1 hypergenesis seems as possible as killing on turn 2 with Kiln Fiend, you mean, opponent plays first, upkeep play gemstone caverns exiling a random card, exile 2 simian spirit guides and play violent outburst into hypergenesis, so you used 5 cards of your hand and on top of that you need to have a huge threat like an emrakul for that to be worth it.
Maybe I am missing something but that doesn't sound like a reliable combo at all, I guess you would also play cards like through the breach but it doesn't sound too overpowered to me and you would be playing cards like violent outburst that are useless until you have a big threat in your hand to put into play. A jitte activation is enough for a creature match-up to be over, of course removal can fight it but if you don't have it in every activation you probably lost. Maybe you are right about Chrome Mox but to me it seems like that acceleration could be deadlier than the card disadvantage it costs.
You don't need to actually kill them on the first turn, I don't think many decks can beat a turn 1 Grislebrand and/or Emrakul with reasonable consistency. The deck was arguably Tier 1 in Extended and the targets have gotten way way better than they were at the time and the format is much slower than it was in Extended. The fact that it missed the initial pass is absolutely baffling, its just about the most degenerate card outside of Skullclamp and maybe Top.
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On Mono Black in Commander:
Quote from BlackJack68 »
But whomever your commander is, Cabal Coffers is really in charge.
Bitterblossom was the DEATH of pure control decks while it reigned in Standard. Does anyone else remember how the Faeries vs. 5CControl played out in practice?
Bitterblossom doesn't exactly contribute explicitly to a single strategy, but saying that it helps control in any way is patently false.
I've heard plenty of people talking about Bitterblossom being used in control decks. If that's no good, then I'd be fine with either sword or visions coming off the list as well.
I've heard plenty of people talking about Bitterblossom being used in control decks. If that's no good, then I'd be fine with either sword or visions coming off the list as well.
They probably meant Tempo Control, if that's what you would classify something like Faeries. Traditional Control likes to play a long game so they can resolve planeswalkers and Sphinx's Revelations etc. and keep up counterspells while answering threats. Bitterblossom would just kill them in their own deck. It really requires that you play other threats alongside it to utilize the pressure effectively, and not die to your own upkeep triggers.
To be clear, the primary thing Bitterblossom does is put U/B Fae right into Tier 1 status overnight. It might also support a variety of other Black decks (like, possibly Jund), but whether those decks are better than U/B Fae is a pretty big question mark.
I was alright with the idea of Bitterblossom a week ago, but the more I think about it the more I realize the answer to that card being unbanned is just strictly "No."
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MODERN RGB Jund BGR WGB Junk/Abzan Company WGB
LEGACY RUGB Delver GURB
EDH UW Geist of Saint Traft Aggro-Control WU RUG Riku of Two Reflections Combo GUR BBB Skithiryx Control BB
Well, I admit I haven't faced it as I've always found it banned but that turn 1 hypergenesis seems as possible as killing on turn 2 with Kiln Fiend, you mean, opponent plays first, upkeep play gemstone caverns exiling a random card, exile 2 simian spirit guides and play violent outburst into hypergenesis, so you used 5 cards of your hand and on top of that you need to have a huge threat like an emrakul for that to be worth it.
Maybe I am missing something but that doesn't sound like a reliable combo at all, I guess you would also play cards like through the breach but it doesn't sound too overpowered to me and you would be playing cards like violent outburst that are useless until you have a big threat in your hand to put into play. A jitte activation is enough for a creature match-up to be over, of course removal can fight it but if you don't have it in every activation you probably lost. Maybe you are right about Chrome Mox but to me it seems like that acceleration could be deadlier than the card disadvantage it costs.
It doesn't even have to be turn 1. It can easily combo on turn 2 and win on turn 3. Or combo on turn 3 without acceleration, get Blazing Archon or Terastodon into play, and simply make it impossible for your opponents to win. I would bet that Jitte and Mox would come off before it does.
If you unban Rite of Flame I promise you I will play Storm. Rite of Flame is better than Seething Song, that's why it got banned first. It'll be fun to play it again.
I think you really need to scrutinize each card and try to break it. Like if you think of Jace, there's nothing really broken you can do.
its arguable that rite is better than song. it has little synergy with electromancer and is even more susceptible to DRS and ooze than the others (note, they were never in the same format together). its main purpose was to get a turn 1 ascension.
if i had to choose between the two, i'd much rather have SS back.
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I speak in sarcasm because calling people ******* ******** is not allowed.
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Yeah yeah, I for some reason I always think Foundry is the banned half and Sword is the unbanned half.
Most likely there won't be any changes (for what it's worth a Bitterblossom unban would be nifty), but I tend towards pessimism when weighing ban list announcements for Modern as people here probably know by now. Sure, I would like to see some cards unbanned, but that won't make the next announcement any less of a mess then it's likely to be.
Where does all this pessimism stem from?
Cards banned (19) vs Cards unbanned (1)
banned cards:
unbanned cards:
Since the format's inception three years ago there have maybe been 4-5 announcements in which something wasn't banned. That's a bad track record as far as any format is concerned.
Many thanks to HotP Studios. Special thanks to DNC for this great sig.
Unban Wild Nacatl.
RGB Jund BGR
WGB Junk/Abzan Company WGB
LEGACY
RUGB Delver GURB
EDH
UW Geist of Saint Traft Aggro-Control WU
RUG Riku of Two Reflections Combo GUR
BBB Skithiryx Control BB
I wouldn't count the second wave of bans as actual bans. I'd count them as part of the initial banned list. They've existed ever since Modern was a sanctioned format. That seems initial to me.
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
Unbannings:
1) I doubt Jace and Stoneforge will be unbanned for at least another 2 years. I don't think WotC wants to risk another Caw-Blade style fiasco. While there are answers to the deck, I think it's best to be cautious and wait a while more.
2) Wild Nacatl could be unbanned. It dies to (almost) every main decked removal spell I've seen. I doubt it'd change the format too terribly, at most just pushing Zoo up into the top 3 or 4 decks of the format.
3) While I wish with the entirety of my cold, U/B heart that Bitterblossom gets unbanned, I'm not holding my breath. Sure, answers exist for it, but so do cards that help it. (Side note: I never played during the heyday of Faries, so if they did have some of these cards to start with, please correct me)
Fairies could become Delver-esque spell based list and would have access to Mana Leak, Inqusition of Kozelik, Spell Pierce, loads more removal, etc. It may even be the creature centric style and run Æther Vial or Cavern of Souls to stick uncounterable Scions/Mistbinds/Spellstutter Sprites/insert Fairy here.
While unbanning Bitterblossom would be fun and great, I won't be surprised if it stays on the list for a few years.
Bannings:
1) I don't thing Deathrite Shaman needs to be banned. Sure, it's powerful and all, but I've never found it oppressive enough to get axed. I've always found that it enabled some strategies that had fun interactions (example: Do I tap him to make mana for a creature on my turn, or leave him untapped to do something on my opponents turn? What if there is a removal spell? Should I try and accelerate a guy out before Shaman dies?) He's strong, but he is answerable.
I think if Nacatl is unbanned, Zoo could put up a fight against Jund and it's Deathrites (I don't know enough about the decks to say for sure, I maybe totally wrong)
I wouldn't be shocked if it was chopped, but I would be disappointed.
2) Birthing Pod being banned would not shock me. It is, in my opinion, more oppressive than Shaman. I still have nightmares of my opponents Pod-ing into Acidic Slime-> Primeval Titan, and that was Standard. Persist and Undying simply take Pod from a mere engine to a nuclear reactor.
I agree with this, except I think that Bitterblossom wouldn't be oppressive and that Birthing Pod doesn't need a ban. It hasn't done much in the format recently.
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
I think I wasn't quite clear on Bitterblossom. I do not think it'd be oppressive, just that it's gotten some really good tools to work with. It's not as safe an unban as people think.
This argument is relevant only if the creature costs a decent amount of mana to cast. Nacatl costs 1 mana, making it just as efficient, or more efficient than any removal spell in the game. If you don't have a bolt for it and you're on the play, you're already falling way behind. this is what makes full-power zoo such an insane deck, the creatures it plays are simply more efficient than any removal you could play against them.
You also make it sound like removing a Nacatl wins you the game vs. zoo. That's just plain silly.
Dies to removal is a relevant argument when it means the player casting a creature loses tempo based off cheaper removal spells. If an opponent's removal is more costly than the creature it's removing, then you will be at a fundamental advantage in overall tempo.
I've been thinking of slotting Bitterblossom into my B/U tempo deck (since I think it'd be good there), but I've been sick, so I can really only goldfish. I to wonder about what's been tested.
Banned with no chance of going out:
Banned with a chance of going out:
And as I would allow artifact lands, I would ban these two for the sake of balance:
Everything else seems ok to me. Right now the format seems to need a shake and introducing many new players would likely allow it to evolve into a more open field.
Hypergenesis is A OK but Jitte and Mox don't have a chance of being unbanned? Yea ok buddy.
Yeah, Jitte is way overpowered agains't any creature deck, specially in a format where you can fetch it with Stoneforge Mystic. Chrome Mox provides turn 1 acceleration that would make the format too fast. What's the problem with Hypergenesis? Cascading it off a Bloodbraid Elf on turn 4? Turn 3 if you exile a simian spirit guide? Doesn't seem that dangerous
You obviously don't play Modern if you think Hypergenesis would be a turn 4 deck.
Thanks to Rivenor for the signature and XenoNinja for the Avi!
Quotes:
Jitte is still very mana intensive, you can just get tempo'd for days if you're trying to equip Jitte and you get your creatures removed. Jitte is powerful but I don't think its overwhelmingly so. I still don't think it should be unbanned right now but I think its a much more reasonable unban than other things in the list.
Chrome Mox does have the potential to make the format faster but I actually don't think the card is very good except for very All-In strategies or decks with a lot of CA that can undo the CD from Chrome Mox. Having to exile a card to turn it on is huge in a lot of decks as they often can't afford it, plus it makes mulligans much much worse as it essentially mulligans you again, in addition its a bad top deck in the mid-late game as it pretty much does nothing. Again I don't think its unbannable right now but I think its much less scary than a lot of the stuff on your possible list.
Well this post makes it pretty clear you have no idea what a Hypergenesis deck looks like, you can cascade into Hypergenesis on turn 1 off of SSG and Violent Outburst and then put your Emrakuls, Grislebrands, etc. into play. The deck is hilariously more powerful than anything thats legal and most things that banned as well.
Well, I admit I haven't faced it as I've always found it banned but that turn 1 hypergenesis seems as possible as killing on turn 2 with Kiln Fiend, you mean, opponent plays first, upkeep play gemstone caverns exiling a random card, exile 2 simian spirit guides and play violent outburst into hypergenesis, so you used 5 cards of your hand and on top of that you need to have a huge threat like an emrakul for that to be worth it.
Maybe I am missing something but that doesn't sound like a reliable combo at all, I guess you would also play cards like through the breach but it doesn't sound too overpowered to me and you would be playing cards like violent outburst that are useless until you have a big threat in your hand to put into play. A jitte activation is enough for a creature match-up to be over, of course removal can fight it but if you don't have it in every activation you probably lost. Maybe you are right about Chrome Mox but to me it seems like that acceleration could be deadlier than the card disadvantage it costs.
As I've pointed out before. Artifact lands would make affinity the undisputed king. What many people that say these should be unbanned need to realize is that the current artifact based aggro deck is robots. It has only 1 affinity card in the lot. Being able to spit out a plethora of 1/1 2/2 and 4/4s on turn 1-2 is too powerful. The standard version of affinity didn't need to run cards like spring leaf drum for ramp. Or signal pest for pump. Look at the following list of cards that would become instant 4 ofs with art land unbanned and tell me how it would be fair. Even with cranial plating and MOX opal banned.
Its a completely different deck then its current iteration. I agree the art lands would not break current robot builds, but who would play that over old school ravager affinity?
Golgari Grave Troll
Ancestral Vision
Bitterblossom
Sword of the Meek
Ponder
Preordain
Dark Depths
Dread Return
Footsteps Hulk
Ascendency Combo
Restore Balance
Ad Nauseam
EDH:
Ghave Lands
Narset Combo
You don't need to actually kill them on the first turn, I don't think many decks can beat a turn 1 Grislebrand and/or Emrakul with reasonable consistency. The deck was arguably Tier 1 in Extended and the targets have gotten way way better than they were at the time and the format is much slower than it was in Extended. The fact that it missed the initial pass is absolutely baffling, its just about the most degenerate card outside of Skullclamp and maybe Top.
I've heard plenty of people talking about Bitterblossom being used in control decks. If that's no good, then I'd be fine with either sword or visions coming off the list as well.
They probably meant Tempo Control, if that's what you would classify something like Faeries. Traditional Control likes to play a long game so they can resolve planeswalkers and Sphinx's Revelations etc. and keep up counterspells while answering threats. Bitterblossom would just kill them in their own deck. It really requires that you play other threats alongside it to utilize the pressure effectively, and not die to your own upkeep triggers.
To be clear, the primary thing Bitterblossom does is put U/B Fae right into Tier 1 status overnight. It might also support a variety of other Black decks (like, possibly Jund), but whether those decks are better than U/B Fae is a pretty big question mark.
I was alright with the idea of Bitterblossom a week ago, but the more I think about it the more I realize the answer to that card being unbanned is just strictly "No."
RGB Jund BGR
WGB Junk/Abzan Company WGB
LEGACY
RUGB Delver GURB
EDH
UW Geist of Saint Traft Aggro-Control WU
RUG Riku of Two Reflections Combo GUR
BBB Skithiryx Control BB
It doesn't even have to be turn 1. It can easily combo on turn 2 and win on turn 3. Or combo on turn 3 without acceleration, get Blazing Archon or Terastodon into play, and simply make it impossible for your opponents to win. I would bet that Jitte and Mox would come off before it does.
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
I think you really need to scrutinize each card and try to break it. Like if you think of Jace, there's nothing really broken you can do.
Grixis Death's Shadow, Jund, UW Tron, Jeskai Control, Storm, Counters Company, Eldrazi Tron, Affinity, Living End, Infect, Merfolk, Dredge, Ad Nauseam, Amulet, Bogles, Eldrazi Tron, Mono U Tron, Lantern, Mardu Pyromancer
if i had to choose between the two, i'd much rather have SS back.