I mean what kind of pushed 1 drop are we talking about here. Kytheon, Hero of Akros levels?
I personally think that Stoneforge Mystic would be fine. I hope the Bloodbraid Elf/Jace, the Mind Sculptor "experiment" gives Wizards some ideas. I think Preordain, Green Sun's Zenith, and maybe even (the mentioned above) Punishing Fire. Stoneforge Mystic is a super powerful White card ... and that is a good thing! White should be able to play the card that matches up at least a little bit with ScM, Goyf, Dark Confidant, and Young Peezy.
Regarding a strong White 1 drop, you absolutely CAN'T do Mother of Runes, so please don't take it there. This would make creature battles stupid if the opponent can't kill the Mom before its summoning sickness goes away.
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
You know what would be great for Modern? A Mother of Runes variant with the new "Hexproof from color" ability we've seen on spoiled Dominaria cards. That card would be entirely fair in Modern.
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Modern UBR Grixis Shadow UBR UR Izzet Phoenix UR UW UW Control UW GB GB Rock GB
Commander BG Meren of Clan Nel Toth BG BGUW Atraxa, Praetor's Voice BGUW
ive already said my piece about unbanning cards "just because". especially cheaper cmc ones. if people are cool with gambling with the format, then by all means lets jump in head first.
cant see preordain coming off though. seems like wizards drew the line at serum visions, and with opt now in the fray it would be an extremely odd choice.
at this point im just looking forward to these unbans you guys are clamoring about just so i can read the B&R announcements. i can imagine wotc trying to navigate their explanations being quite the entertaining read.
"well we decided to unban Green Sun's Zenith because green decks were a tad too inconsistent. also Cosi's Trickster hasn't seen quite as much play as we hoped...."
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Modern: UWGSnow-Bant Control BURGrixis Death's Shadow GWBCoCo Elves WCDeath and Taxes (sold)
On swords to plowshares, I think that if it was modern legal it would be fine power level wise, but wouldn’t be super high impact. Yeah, I agree that it is better than Path, but as a control player I don’t think the gap between the two cards isn’t that big. A lot of decks are already so fast that ranking them slightly isn’t super relevant (if timed right), and with so many decks running only a couple of basics, by the second or third path/field activation it’s not uncommon for an opponent to fail to find.
Not saying that Path is better than StP, but that I don’t think it would have an insane impact on the format given the current meta
It feels like humans has really invalidated tax decks in modern. Why on earth play mono white or any variation when you can play humans, who has more tempo, synergy and individually more powerful cards?
I don't think sword of plow shares would do much except help a deck like Abzan midrange.
While this is true, it is not the only effect. Another thing that Swords would do is make Mana Leak better and Logic Knot even better. Right now, UWx decks run the risk of playing too many Leaks together with their Paths, making the former often bad. If you don't ramp your opponent with your removal spells, then Leaks will be slightly more relevant in the mid to late game. The same goes for Logic Knot, although this one is not that much affected by Path.
StP is too much for modern. Snapcaster + path + stp = trouble.
You know what would be a solid 1-drop?
-----
{W}
Creature
Search your library for a Plains and put it in hand.
1/2
-----
I know this isn't the "make up a card" forum so I'll try to suggest we not steer too far in that direction, but I will say White could use a consistency enhancing 1-drop. Thraben Inspector is pretty close but it's a hair on the slow side manawise.
Unbanning stoneforge would be a good bet, but if Wizards wants to print themselves out of white being purely a support+sideboard color in modern, they're going to have to get aggressive on the lower mana end of the spectrum. Less Elspeth/AOZ/etc., more Gideon of the Trials and Thraben Inspector.
The chief issue in modern is that every color has their ridiculous 2-drops and white has Thalia--who doesn't hold a candle to Bob, Snapcaster, Goyf, Tasigur/Angler. I'm not sure about Red, it's a bit of another problem color imho, but it has its powerful angles.
I know we keep saying Thalia isnt enough, but the 2 Thalia's are (IMO) exactly what white should be.
A small, but above curve body to fit the White Weenie model, while having a punishing tax effect stapled on. Backed with sufficient pressure, those types of things absolutely do ruin the mana math for decks that need to be providing answers on time.
I think W for 4/2 over two bodies is bit silly 1W maybe instead, but tax and blind obedience type cards, are what White should be doing, to me.
StP is too much for modern. Snapcaster + path + stp = trouble.
You know what would be a solid 1-drop?
-----
{W}
Creature
Search your library for a Plains and put it in hand.
1/2
-----
I know this isn't the "make up a card" forum so I'll try to suggest we not steer too far in that direction, but I will say White could use a consistency enhancing 1-drop. Thraben Inspector is pretty close but it's a hair on the slow side manawise.
Unbanning stoneforge would be a good bet, but if Wizards wants to print themselves out of white being purely a support+sideboard color in modern, they're going to have to get aggressive on the lower mana end of the spectrum. Less Elspeth/AOZ/etc., more Gideon of the Trials and Thraben Inspector.
The chief issue in modern is that every color has their ridiculous 2-drops and white has Thalia--who doesn't hold a candle to Bob, Snapcaster, Goyf, Tasigur/Angler. I'm not sure about Red, it's a bit of another problem color imho, but it has its powerful angles.
Thalia and Young Pyro aren't as good as Snapcaster, Goyf, and Bob in Modern, but those cards are very good in other formats, it just depends on the cards that surround them. I'd make the argument that Thalia is better than Bob and Goyf in Legacy. Vintage, well, Snap and Young P are just unmatched.
I think that Young Pyro will get better over time, as we already saw decks utilizing him very well in Mardu Pyro and even that Thing in the Ice 5c Pyro deck. Pyro thrives in pure UR Legacy Delver style decks, and that strategy isnt that great in Modern. Its just a matter of time Young Pyro will be very good in Modern.
The chief issue in modern is that every color has their ridiculous 2-drops and white has Thalia--who doesn't hold a candle to Bob, Snapcaster, Goyf, Tasigur/Angler. I'm not sure about Red, it's a bit of another problem color imho, but it has its powerful angles.
Red also has Eidolon of the Great Revel (not quite 1R but up there power level wise)
Would like a white 2/2 for 1 with a mana tithe effect added to target or 1 mana or returns to battlefield at next ends tepee (that is if we're shying away from SFM)
In reality the simplest thing to do is just unban white's modern printed power 2-drop that never got to see play in the format -- then go from there. They've already got the problem card (Jitte) banned. So who cares?
Also good call Ym1r on young peezy, I forgot it because it's fairly narrow in modern with the spell requirements, but it has gotten good lately for sure Guess Goyf and Snaps and Bob/Tas/Angler all have their deck building requirements too.
Let us look at the defining 2-drops of three of the colors in the format, and what they offer that makes them good
Blue - Snaps - Flash is primary, spells out of graveyard is secondary. - Card Advantage, beats
Black - Bob - "Devil's Deal" (power at a cost, on permanents - in this case, life for cards) is primary. - Card Advantage, beats
Green - 'Goyf - "Lhurgoyf" creatures is primary - Ultra-efficient beats
Let's compare with what we theoretically have for the others
White - Original Thalia - "Taxing" and First Strike are primary - Beats (I don't know if taxing can be considered card advantage. Mana advantage?)
Red - Pyro - "Friendly to instants and sorceries" and token generation, are secondary - Beats, Card advantage? (I suppose the token generation counts for that, right?)
And specifically, the currently banned champion that's more or less accepted as the premier 2-drop of its color
White - SFM - Tutor for artifacts, and putting artifacts from hand to field, are secondary - Card Avantage (could also list indirect beats)
Interestingly, two of the three accepted premier 2-drops are primary in their color pie slice, and although his main ability is secondary, a good amount of Snapcaster's power comes from being able to flash him in (would anybody play him without Flash, I wonder?)
Meanwhile, the red contender for the title is secondary in both abilities just like the accepted-but-for-now-banned white champ... but the white contender, Thalia, is actually primary in her color pie slice. I wonder if there's any truth to be gleaned from all this. I would venture a few comments...
Due to how Wizards seems to regard SFM, perhaps the answer to "something better than Thalia" will have to come in the form of a new white 2-drop rather than SFM's unbanning.. Going by the currently accepted 3, we should look to what is primary in White to anticipate whether such a thing can exist.
Just looking through the list, most of what primary white has going for it is very conditional/situational, with "Taxing", "Preventing Action" and "Rules-Setting" appearing to be the ones most likely to be strong on their own. From the secondary in white list (excluding what SFM already had), bouncing directly to library seems to be a good candidate for something really strong, but I can't imagine Wizards ever deciding to put that ability on a 2 cost creature.
Interestingly, token generation is primary in white but "friendly to instants" isn't even tertiary, so at this point a colorshifted young pyro isn't doable; and even if it were, would anybody play that?
For what it's worth, the defining element of two of the premier 2-drops currently available (and the banned white one) is card advantage of some sort, which poses an inherent problem since White isn't supposed to get it (perhaps that's part of the reason SFM is so good, and part of the reason why Thalia isn't quite there). A premier 2-drop in white, different from Thalia, would have to do card advantage to become a good contender, and barring color pie breaks or getting creative with the rest of white's colorpie, it feels very unlikely and does not bode well. The other path is for Wizards to print an ultra-efficient beater in White. Something stacked with keywords? I don't know. I suppose we can hold out hope for a colorshifted-Goyf, since the "Lhurgoyf" clause *is* tertiary in white...
Not gonna go for stuff regarding Red right now. With that said, MaRo is on the record somewhere in saying that if Snapcaster were printed today, it'd be Red. Just imagine the possibilities!
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Vorthos-y Johnny. All will be One
Modern - Cheeri0s (building), Belcher (building), Lantern (building), UW Control (building)
RIP Magic Duels. Wizards will regret what they did to you.
I don't want to get too far into custom card creation here, but token generation and +1/+1 counters are both very on-color for white and would work well for a White 2-drop staple. Something like an Ajani's Pridemate that can self-enable, for example. That said, I think it's both preferable and more straightforward just to unban SFM.
On the color pie discussion, white does sometimes have card advantage as long as it's stapledtoacreature. Given the color's affinity for equipment, I'd say SFM is actually pretty on point in that way.
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Playing UX Mana Denial until Modern gets the answers it needs.
WUBRG Humans BRW Mardu Pyromancer UW UW "Control" UR Blue Moon
I know Monastery Mentor is a 3-drop, and doesn't see much play in Modern, but I think it belongs in the discussion. It's a beefed-up Young Pyromancer and snowballs incredibly quickly. For one additional mana over YPeezy, both Mentor itself and the tokens grow with each prowess trigger.
I know Modern has historically been very hostile to 3-drops but with the innate power in Mentor I have to believe the failing isn't the card's abilities or its mana cost but instead the availability of cheap proactive spells in White and the colors it's typically paired with.
Splinter twin, while not too broken or powerful could severely reduce diversity so it doesn't seem beneficial to unban
To this day, I still do not understand why it is better to have a bunch of bad and mediocre decks without a good option, instead of a bunch of bad and mediocre decks with a good option. How does that in any way help the bad and mediocre decks?
I know Monastery Mentor is a 3-drop, and doesn't see much play in Modern, but I think it belongs in the discussion. It's a beefed-up Young Pyromancer and snowballs incredibly quickly. For one additional mana over YPeezy, both Mentor itself and the tokens grow with each prowess trigger.
I know Modern has historically been very hostile to 3-drops but with the innate power in Mentor I have to believe the failing isn't the card's abilities or its mana cost but instead the availability of cheap proactive spells in White and the colors it's typically paired with.
The problem comparatively, is that Young Pyromancer and his minions all die to the same suites of removal that Mentor does. It's not about the offensive capabilities (more on that in a bit) but the resilience is a problem as well.
Whenver someone brings up the discussion of Monastery Mentor, and compares it to Young Pyromancer, it feels like we are comparing Flinthoof Boar or Leatherback Baloth to Tarmogoyf. Having weird similarities isn't the reason a card is competitive - note all the variants of Dark Confidant we have had over the years, and in the end most of them not weren't even Standard playable.
To be "optimal" and take advantage of the Prowess of Mentor, is essentially just win-more. It's just a way of saying Still had all Deez. That's the difference as to why it see's amazing play in Vintage compared to Modern. Legacy barely plays the card as a 3 of in it's new Miracle variation. That should show a testament to how much of a requirement that card demands from it's deck construction to be viable.
Splinter twin, while not too broken or powerful could severely reduce diversity so it doesn't seem beneficial to unban
To this day, I still do not understand why it is better to have a bunch of bad and mediocre decks without a good option, instead of a bunch of bad and mediocre decks with a good option. How does that in any way help the bad and mediocre decks?
Because our definition, is simply your definition.
Is UWR Control bad? If so, how is it getting Top 8's? There were 3 or 4 UR Breach decks in the Top 16 at the GP. Is it bad or mediocre?
What decks are NOT mediocre, may be a better question. UW Control?
Twin would (I know it pains me as well) limit diversity in the following ways.
1. Unless your Uxx deck has MASSIVE game against Twin, if you are playing UR, you should be on Twin. That means Blue Moon, UR Breach, Temur Moon, and UR Madcap, all of which HAVE been able to get into that Top 16 realm against the field we have of today, disappear. They become URx Twin, period.
2. Any deck that is not disruptive, and does not win prior to Turn 3/4, can simply lose the game, immediately. They could have executed an infinite life combo and tapped out with Twin on the play on their Turn 3, and lose. There are any number of jank (imo) decks, that do not have any game against Twin. I know this, you know this, we used to prey on those decks and just smirk (maybe that was just me) at how they had zero chance.
Those are decks that in this world, right now, actually have game. Those all go away.
3. Perception matters, and in a world where Jund has once again claimed its pillar, with Affinity, and apparently GxTron (...) you would 100% see people claiming if you are not on one of those decks (or the popular but less regarded decks like Burn) then you dont have a chance.
I'd drop everything and play Twin this afternoon, if it was unbanned. No more messing with GDS, or UWR Control (why play 12 turns when I can play 3.5?) or stupid 4 colour Bloodbraid brews...I would just play Twin, and so would a lot of others.
Now to go back to 'bad and mediocre decks'...well context matters. If those bad/mediocre decks are close to parity with the field, are they really bad or are they still competitive, just more narrow?
It feels like humans has really invalidated tax decks in modern. Why on earth play mono white or any variation when you can play humans, who has more tempo, synergy and individually more powerful cards?
Humans certainly has more tempo and synergy but on an individual card for card basis Death and taxes probably pulls ahead and is why the deck is better against massed removal than Humans is. Don't get me wrong, I think Humans all things taken into consideration is a more powerful deck because it's gameplan is just more pro active, but in terms of late game cards that are good to cast onto an empty board after your opponent has exhausted their removal killing every other creature you've played, Humans has exactly Mantis Rider while Death and Taxes has Blade Splicer, Flickerwisp and Resto Angel. Taxes can also protect their own creatures against removal a bit better than Humans can.
As for "why play taxes?", it's never been a top tier choice and has always been chosen because it's rewarding and fun to play. I don't think it's any worse positioned now than it's ever been, it's always been a fine choice that is still sub optimal compared to your other options in the meta.
I personally think that Stoneforge Mystic would be fine. I hope the Bloodbraid Elf/Jace, the Mind Sculptor "experiment" gives Wizards some ideas. I think Preordain, Green Sun's Zenith, and maybe even (the mentioned above) Punishing Fire. Stoneforge Mystic is a super powerful White card ... and that is a good thing! White should be able to play the card that matches up at least a little bit with ScM, Goyf, Dark Confidant, and Young Peezy.
Regarding a strong White 1 drop, you absolutely CAN'T do Mother of Runes, so please don't take it there. This would make creature battles stupid if the opponent can't kill the Mom before its summoning sickness goes away.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)UBR Grixis Shadow UBR
UR Izzet Phoenix UR
UW UW Control UW
GB GB Rock GB
Commander
BG Meren of Clan Nel Toth BG
BGUW Atraxa, Praetor's Voice BGUW
cant see preordain coming off though. seems like wizards drew the line at serum visions, and with opt now in the fray it would be an extremely odd choice.
at this point im just looking forward to these unbans you guys are clamoring about just so i can read the B&R announcements. i can imagine wotc trying to navigate their explanations being quite the entertaining read.
"well we decided to unban Green Sun's Zenith because green decks were a tad too inconsistent. also Cosi's Trickster hasn't seen quite as much play as we hoped...."
UWGSnow-Bant Control
BURGrixis Death's Shadow
GWBCoCo Elves
WCDeath and Taxes(sold)Not saying that Path is better than StP, but that I don’t think it would have an insane impact on the format given the current meta
I'm sure the bbe and jace unban has shown wotc how overly cautious they were being.
Sfm looks like a very real possibility next year
Wotc won't blow their whole load with shake up unbans, they're going to wait until people at least complain about seeing jund too much on stream.
They could even unban gsz and sfm at the same time
I'm not sure what else is really left to unban after that. Cruise and dig are toxic cards and design mistakes
Splinter twin, while not too broken or powerful could severely reduce diversity so it doesn't seem beneficial to unban
It feels like humans has really invalidated tax decks in modern. Why on earth play mono white or any variation when you can play humans, who has more tempo, synergy and individually more powerful cards?
UB Faeries (15-6-0)
UWR Control (10-5-1)/Kiki Control/Midrange/Harbinger
UBR Cruel Control (6-4-0)/Grixis Control/Delver/Blue Jund
UWB Control/Mentor
UW Miracles/Control (currently active, 14-2-0)
BW Eldrazi & Taxes
RW Burn (9-1-0)
I do (academic) research on video games and archaeology! You can check out my open access book here: https://www.sidestone.com/books/the-interactive-past
Spirits
You know what would be a solid 1-drop?
-----
{W}
Creature
Search your library for a Plains and put it in hand.
1/2
-----
I know this isn't the "make up a card" forum so I'll try to suggest we not steer too far in that direction, but I will say White could use a consistency enhancing 1-drop. Thraben Inspector is pretty close but it's a hair on the slow side manawise.
Unbanning stoneforge would be a good bet, but if Wizards wants to print themselves out of white being purely a support+sideboard color in modern, they're going to have to get aggressive on the lower mana end of the spectrum. Less Elspeth/AOZ/etc., more Gideon of the Trials and Thraben Inspector.
The chief issue in modern is that every color has their ridiculous 2-drops and white has Thalia--who doesn't hold a candle to Bob, Snapcaster, Goyf, Tasigur/Angler. I'm not sure about Red, it's a bit of another problem color imho, but it has its powerful angles.
UW Ephara Hatebears [Primer], GB Gitrog Lands, BRU Inalla Combo-Control, URG Maelstrom Wanderer Landfall
A small, but above curve body to fit the White Weenie model, while having a punishing tax effect stapled on. Backed with sufficient pressure, those types of things absolutely do ruin the mana math for decks that need to be providing answers on time.
I think W for 4/2 over two bodies is bit silly 1W maybe instead, but tax and blind obedience type cards, are what White should be doing, to me.
Spirits
Thalia and Young Pyro aren't as good as Snapcaster, Goyf, and Bob in Modern, but those cards are very good in other formats, it just depends on the cards that surround them. I'd make the argument that Thalia is better than Bob and Goyf in Legacy. Vintage, well, Snap and Young P are just unmatched.
I think that Young Pyro will get better over time, as we already saw decks utilizing him very well in Mardu Pyro and even that Thing in the Ice 5c Pyro deck. Pyro thrives in pure UR Legacy Delver style decks, and that strategy isnt that great in Modern. Its just a matter of time Young Pyro will be very good in Modern.
As for Thalia, I wish we could get a card like Recruiter of the Guard and Palace Jailer. Sometimes I wish we could get cards from supplemental sets... but then they print dumb s*** like True-Name Nemesis and Leovold, Emissary of Trest and am glad we dont
URStormRU
GRTitanshift[mana]RG/mana]
UB Faeries (15-6-0)
UWR Control (10-5-1)/Kiki Control/Midrange/Harbinger
UBR Cruel Control (6-4-0)/Grixis Control/Delver/Blue Jund
UWB Control/Mentor
UW Miracles/Control (currently active, 14-2-0)
BW Eldrazi & Taxes
RW Burn (9-1-0)
I do (academic) research on video games and archaeology! You can check out my open access book here: https://www.sidestone.com/books/the-interactive-past
Would like a white 2/2 for 1 with a mana tithe effect added to target or 1 mana or returns to battlefield at next ends tepee (that is if we're shying away from SFM)
Legacy - LED Dredge, ANT & WDnT
Also good call Ym1r on young peezy, I forgot it because it's fairly narrow in modern with the spell requirements, but it has gotten good lately for sure Guess Goyf and Snaps and Bob/Tas/Angler all have their deck building requirements too.
UW Ephara Hatebears [Primer], GB Gitrog Lands, BRU Inalla Combo-Control, URG Maelstrom Wanderer Landfall
Let us look at the defining 2-drops of three of the colors in the format, and what they offer that makes them good
Black - Bob - "Devil's Deal" (power at a cost, on permanents - in this case, life for cards) is primary. - Card Advantage, beats
Green - 'Goyf - "Lhurgoyf" creatures is primary - Ultra-efficient beats
Let's compare with what we theoretically have for the others
Red - Pyro - "Friendly to instants and sorceries" and token generation, are secondary - Beats, Card advantage? (I suppose the token generation counts for that, right?)
And specifically, the currently banned champion that's more or less accepted as the premier 2-drop of its color
Interestingly, two of the three accepted premier 2-drops are primary in their color pie slice, and although his main ability is secondary, a good amount of Snapcaster's power comes from being able to flash him in (would anybody play him without Flash, I wonder?)
Meanwhile, the red contender for the title is secondary in both abilities just like the accepted-but-for-now-banned white champ... but the white contender, Thalia, is actually primary in her color pie slice. I wonder if there's any truth to be gleaned from all this. I would venture a few comments...
Just looking through the list, most of what primary white has going for it is very conditional/situational, with "Taxing", "Preventing Action" and "Rules-Setting" appearing to be the ones most likely to be strong on their own. From the secondary in white list (excluding what SFM already had), bouncing directly to library seems to be a good candidate for something really strong, but I can't imagine Wizards ever deciding to put that ability on a 2 cost creature.
Interestingly, token generation is primary in white but "friendly to instants" isn't even tertiary, so at this point a colorshifted young pyro isn't doable; and even if it were, would anybody play that?
For what it's worth, the defining element of two of the premier 2-drops currently available (and the banned white one) is card advantage of some sort, which poses an inherent problem since White isn't supposed to get it (perhaps that's part of the reason SFM is so good, and part of the reason why Thalia isn't quite there). A premier 2-drop in white, different from Thalia, would have to do card advantage to become a good contender, and barring color pie breaks or getting creative with the rest of white's colorpie, it feels very unlikely and does not bode well. The other path is for Wizards to print an ultra-efficient beater in White. Something stacked with keywords? I don't know. I suppose we can hold out hope for a colorshifted-Goyf, since the "Lhurgoyf" clause *is* tertiary in white...
Modern - Cheeri0s (building), Belcher (building), Lantern (building), UW Control (building)
RIP Magic Duels. Wizards will regret what they did to you.
On the color pie discussion, white does sometimes have card advantage as long as it's stapled to a creature. Given the color's affinity for equipment, I'd say SFM is actually pretty on point in that way.
WUBRG Humans
BRW Mardu Pyromancer
UW UW "Control"
UR Blue Moon
I know Modern has historically been very hostile to 3-drops but with the innate power in Mentor I have to believe the failing isn't the card's abilities or its mana cost but instead the availability of cheap proactive spells in White and the colors it's typically paired with.
Standard: lol no
Modern: BG/x, UR/x, Burn, Merfolk, Zoo, Storm
Legacy: Shardless BUG, Delver (BUG, RUG, Grixis), Landstill, Depths Combo, Merfolk
Vintage: Dark Times, BUG Fish, Merfolk
EDH: Teysa, Orzhov Scion / Krenko, Mob Boss / Stonebrow, Krosan Hero
It's that whole 3 drop thing...
Spirits
To this day, I still do not understand why it is better to have a bunch of bad and mediocre decks without a good option, instead of a bunch of bad and mediocre decks with a good option. How does that in any way help the bad and mediocre decks?
UR ....... WUBR ........... WB ............. RGW ........ UBR ....... WUB .... BGU
Spells / Blink & Combo / Token Grind / Dino Tribal / Draw Cards / Zombies / Reanimate
The problem comparatively, is that Young Pyromancer and his minions all die to the same suites of removal that Mentor does. It's not about the offensive capabilities (more on that in a bit) but the resilience is a problem as well.
Whenver someone brings up the discussion of Monastery Mentor, and compares it to Young Pyromancer, it feels like we are comparing Flinthoof Boar or Leatherback Baloth to Tarmogoyf. Having weird similarities isn't the reason a card is competitive - note all the variants of Dark Confidant we have had over the years, and in the end most of them not weren't even Standard playable.
To be "optimal" and take advantage of the Prowess of Mentor, is essentially just win-more. It's just a way of saying Still had all Deez. That's the difference as to why it see's amazing play in Vintage compared to Modern. Legacy barely plays the card as a 3 of in it's new Miracle variation. That should show a testament to how much of a requirement that card demands from it's deck construction to be viable.
TL;DR
Mentor is win more - play Young Pyromancer.
Because our definition, is simply your definition.
Is UWR Control bad? If so, how is it getting Top 8's? There were 3 or 4 UR Breach decks in the Top 16 at the GP. Is it bad or mediocre?
What decks are NOT mediocre, may be a better question. UW Control?
Twin would (I know it pains me as well) limit diversity in the following ways.
1. Unless your Uxx deck has MASSIVE game against Twin, if you are playing UR, you should be on Twin. That means Blue Moon, UR Breach, Temur Moon, and UR Madcap, all of which HAVE been able to get into that Top 16 realm against the field we have of today, disappear. They become URx Twin, period.
2. Any deck that is not disruptive, and does not win prior to Turn 3/4, can simply lose the game, immediately. They could have executed an infinite life combo and tapped out with Twin on the play on their Turn 3, and lose. There are any number of jank (imo) decks, that do not have any game against Twin. I know this, you know this, we used to prey on those decks and just smirk (maybe that was just me) at how they had zero chance.
Those are decks that in this world, right now, actually have game. Those all go away.
3. Perception matters, and in a world where Jund has once again claimed its pillar, with Affinity, and apparently GxTron (...) you would 100% see people claiming if you are not on one of those decks (or the popular but less regarded decks like Burn) then you dont have a chance.
I'd drop everything and play Twin this afternoon, if it was unbanned. No more messing with GDS, or UWR Control (why play 12 turns when I can play 3.5?) or stupid 4 colour Bloodbraid brews...I would just play Twin, and so would a lot of others.
Now to go back to 'bad and mediocre decks'...well context matters. If those bad/mediocre decks are close to parity with the field, are they really bad or are they still competitive, just more narrow?
Spirits
Humans certainly has more tempo and synergy but on an individual card for card basis Death and taxes probably pulls ahead and is why the deck is better against massed removal than Humans is. Don't get me wrong, I think Humans all things taken into consideration is a more powerful deck because it's gameplan is just more pro active, but in terms of late game cards that are good to cast onto an empty board after your opponent has exhausted their removal killing every other creature you've played, Humans has exactly Mantis Rider while Death and Taxes has Blade Splicer, Flickerwisp and Resto Angel. Taxes can also protect their own creatures against removal a bit better than Humans can.
As for "why play taxes?", it's never been a top tier choice and has always been chosen because it's rewarding and fun to play. I don't think it's any worse positioned now than it's ever been, it's always been a fine choice that is still sub optimal compared to your other options in the meta.
Spirits
And I get to play Stripmine in Modern and all I had to do to make it work was fill my deck with a bunch of underpowered bears!
UR breach players: lets play a couple copies of jace
wotc: wait...thats not what i meant...
UWGSnow-Bant Control
BURGrixis Death's Shadow
GWBCoCo Elves
WCDeath and Taxes(sold)