Tempo is totally viable. There are currently two top-tier Fish decks in Humans and Spirits. If you want to get technical, we could expand that to three viable options as there are two viable and different types of Spirits decks (UW and Bant). As for Grow, the top-tier player remains GDS. It's a consistent T8 finisher in MTGO Challenges and has three GP T8s in 2018. It also has numerous SCG successes. It's undeniably top-tier and is clearly the Delver successor. I also don't think anyone should be either lamenting the loss of Probe or sympathizing with those who are lamenting its loss. The card was extremely broken and created format issues. It's in the same category as the other dual Modern/Legacy bans, which is a ban category I suspect that Wizards will never touch again.
I strongly disagree with you on Probe. I don't think there was any reason at all to ban it. It was a decent card, but every deck that played it has since recovered and is in essentially the same place with the exception of Infect (which could just as easily be due to better removal entering the format). I don't think it was ban worthy at all. I understand that WotC doesn't like the card, but I think the ban rational for it was flimsy at best. On the other hand, since my argument is that the card wasn't even really doing anything I also find it hard to justify an unban because I don't think anything was lost by removing it.
GDS is a tempo deck. In the article you quoted it even says, Death Shadow is a Aggro-Control deck, which is usually described as Tempo.
Patrick Chapin in Next Level Deck Building:
Aggro-Control and Fish are in fact often mistaken for one another — and in the context of a particular format, the decks will often share many individual cards. In addition, especially when comparing Fish or Aggro-Control to traditional control decks, they both tend to play the beatdown, run out a threat (whether it is a Bitterblossom or a Master of the Pearl Trident), and then use their permission to hold a lead they already have.
The distinction between them is that Fish / Suicide Black plays out its threats and then plays out its Time Walks, whereas Aggro-Control generally plays out its Time Walks before getting in with its threats.
Just because the threats dont always come before the permission, or as Chapin says, "Time Walks," doesn't automatically make it midrange.
See: current Legacy Grixis Delver
Bloo didnt die, its much like Infect in that it's just less played.
I also do believe that GDS has games that operate on a Tempo axis, any fast start essentially when they can then present Stubborn Denial protection is a 'tempo' game.
EDIT:
I mean if you can honestly tell me that RUG/Monkey Grow, GDS, up to the 'fish' style UW/Bant Spirits and even Humans, dont play a tempo game....
Sure its not Grixis/UR Delver, but you can even play UR Pyro/Moon with success.
I think that decks have evolved too much, they play too many different types of games and if they cannot, they are relegated to the past.
GDS can play a Tempo game. It may not be a tempo 'deck' in the most traditional sense, but it certainly has games that play out that way as you say with the decks adopting the tempo 'role'.
I think they should look to boost those decks with a new printing
I would love nothing more than a SPELL that said "Pay 2 life draw a card" for "free." Essentially Probe without the Peek effect. Maybe at Instant speed? The fact that Street Wraith is legal means this effect is TOTALLY FINE. But the fact that it doesn't flip Delver, make Elemental tokens, or flip Thing in the Ice is both puzzling and frustrating. Plus, in most cases, this is probably worse than Wraith, because this hypothetical Instant can never attack or block.
I think they should look to boost those decks with a new printing
I would love nothing more than a SPELL that said "Pay 2 life draw a card" for "free." Essentially Probe without the Peek effect. Maybe at Instant speed? The fact that Street Wraith is legal means this effect is TOTALLY FINE. But the fact that it doesn't flip Delver, make Elemental tokens, or flip Thing in the Ice is both puzzling and frustrating. Plus, in most cases, this is probably worse than Wraith, because this hypothetical Instant can never attack or block.
Except that it can flip delver, make elemental tokens, or flip thing in the ice as you literally just said. Hard casting Street Wraith is a losing game where as the fact that something was a spell it way more important.
I think they should look to boost those decks with a new printing
I would love nothing more than a SPELL that said "Pay 2 life draw a card" for "free." Essentially Probe without the Peek effect. Maybe at Instant speed? The fact that Street Wraith is legal means this effect is TOTALLY FINE. But the fact that it doesn't flip Delver, make Elemental tokens, or flip Thing in the Ice is both puzzling and frustrating. Plus, in most cases, this is probably worse than Wraith, because this hypothetical Instant can never attack or block.
Except that it can flip delver, make elemental tokens, or flip thing in the ice as you literally just said. Hard casting Street Wraith is a losing game where as the fact that something was a spell it way more important.
What I mean is Street Wraith doesn't do all those things. There is currently no free card draw spell that is actually a spell. All we have is Wraith, which is a creature. Not an instant or sorcery.
GDS is a tempo deck. In the article you quoted it even says, Death Shadow is a Aggro-Control deck, which is usually described as Tempo.
Ehh, not completely. GDS isn't an easy deck to classify because it can play a fast tempo game, but it can also sit back and grind out like an attrition midrange deck. Most of us who spent a lot of time with the deck would tell you that it's primarily a Midrange deck that can do a good Tempo impression when it needs to.
Aggro-Control and Fish are in fact often mistaken for one another — and in the context of a particular format, the decks will often share many individual cards. In addition, especially when comparing Fish or Aggro-Control to traditional control decks, they both tend to play the beatdown, run out a threat (whether it is a Bitterblossom or a Master of the Pearl Trident), and then use their permission to hold a lead they already have.
The distinction between them is that Fish / Suicide Black plays out its threats and then plays out its Time Walks, whereas Aggro-Control generally plays out its Time Walks before getting in with its threats.
Just because the threats dont always come before the permission, or as Chapin says, "Time Walks," doesn't automatically make it midrange.
See: current Legacy Grixis Delver
What Chapin is calling "aggro-control" here is actually Midrange. Aggro-Control is a super-archetype that breaks down into two sub-archetypes: Tempo and Midrange. Tempo further breaks down into Fish Tempo and Grow Tempo. The main distinction between Tempo and Midrange is their speed. Tempo trades off late-game resources for speed and board presence. They're trying to leverage an early advantage on board and prevent their opponent from getting back into the game. The classic example of this is RUG Delver in Legacy. The Death Shadow draws of GDS are this. Some people who say GDS isn't a Tempo deck at all feel that way because Tempo decks have traditionally traded off individual card power or card advantage for their tempo, but GDS trades off a different late-game resource: their life total.
Midrange, on the other hand, plays individually powerful cards and tries to interact until their more powerful cards take over the game. Obvious examples include GBx decks in Modern, and Mardu Pyromancer. This is more of the discard package, Snapcaster, K Command side of GDS.
One other thing I'll say: be careful saying that a deck can't be a Tempo deck because it plays non-Tempo cards, because that's not always true. Discard spells are tempo-negative, but they're also just the most powerful interaction we have in Modern. On the flip side, Collective Brutality is the poster child of tempo cards, but it's mostly played in Midrange decks. I still feel like GDS is more Midrange than Tempo, but the deck has been inching closer to Tempo since it starting playing Baubles and Faithless Looting. It might really just be the best a "Tempo" deck can be in Modern. Maybe our counter spells just aren't good enough for a fully legit Grow Tempo deck to be top tier?
What I mean is Street Wraith doesn't do all those things. There is currently no free card draw spell that is actually a spell. All we have is Wraith, which is a creature. Not an instant or sorcery.
Genini2 indicated, that „free“ carddraw on an instant or sorcery spell would make Delver, Pyromancer, Titi (and Storm) stronger, which WotC probably doesn‘t want. Although Wraith gives more practical options, the free spell is stronger combined with some other cards, whereas Wraith is „just“ an activated ability.
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Modern: Death&Taxes / U Tron / G Tron / Goblins
Legacy: Death&Taxes (almost there)
EDH: Squee, Goblin Nabob / Phelddagrif
And when you look at all of those examples, they were only good because they did something outside of what a normal tempo deck does, or they just never really were very good. Twin's actual tempo core was horrifically bad. The reason why it worked was the threat of the combo prevented people from tapping out, so you gained tempo advantage by forcing your opponent to use their mana inefficiently. TC Delver was a broken tempo deck because TC meant it didn't really have to give up on late game card advantage to gain its speed advantage. Grixis Delver was never really more than just ok, I played it for a while after the Twin ban, and the deck had this awkward tension where you couldn't really kill people fast enough, but you also couldn't control them well enough to keep them out of the game. That's the major reason why the deck morphed into GDS, because GDS was actually able to kill people fast enough. And RUG Delver was just never good. That's probably the truest tempo deck we've seen in Modern, and it's always been bad. Without the mana denial the deck has in Legacy, you run into the same problem Grixis Delver has that you can't kill people before they get back into the game, but at least Grixis Delver has some grind ability.
I have liked the UR Wizards deck, though. Getting to play 8 Lightning Bolts gives you the ability to play like a Burn deck when you need to close a game quickly.
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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
I said multiple times in the previous articles that I believe it was nerfed. And indeed it was.
Also, Probe further nerfed some lower tier tempo decks as well, such as RUG Delver, or UR Pyromancer.
This is fine, because Probe was busted, and I do get that. But wouldn't it be legal for us to ask for a print to help tempo decks, like a better Tempo charm or something else? Maybe a UG card also.
Who knows, maybe the next Ravnica set will cure what ails you.
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Well, I can saw a woman in two, but you won't wanna look in the box when I'm through.
And when you look at all of those examples, they were only good because they did something outside of what a normal tempo deck does, or they just never really were very good. Twin's actual tempo core was horrifically bad. The reason why it worked was the threat of the combo prevented people from tapping out, so you gained tempo advantage by forcing your opponent to use their mana inefficiently. TC Delver was a broken tempo deck because TC meant it didn't really have to give up on late game card advantage to gain its speed advantage. Grixis Delver was never really more than just ok, I played it for a while after the Twin ban, and the deck had this awkward tension where you couldn't really kill people fast enough, but you also couldn't control them well enough to keep them out of the game. That's the major reason why the deck morphed into GDS, because GDS was actually able to kill people fast enough. And RUG Delver was just never good. That's probably the truest tempo deck we've seen in Modern, and it's always been bad. Without the mana denial the deck has in Legacy, you run into the same problem Grixis Delver has that you can't kill people before they get back into the game, but at least Grixis Delver has some grind ability.
I have liked the UR Wizards deck, though. Getting to play 8 Lightning Bolts gives you the ability to play like a Burn deck when you need to close a game quickly.
You could argue that storm does the same thing as twin now. It forces people to have interaction for that enabler creature and use their mana inefficiently.
And when you look at all of those examples, they were only good because they did something outside of what a normal tempo deck does, or they just never really were very good. Twin's actual tempo core was horrifically bad. The reason why it worked was the threat of the combo prevented people from tapping out, so you gained tempo advantage by forcing your opponent to use their mana inefficiently. TC Delver was a broken tempo deck because TC meant it didn't really have to give up on late game card advantage to gain its speed advantage. Grixis Delver was never really more than just ok, I played it for a while after the Twin ban, and the deck had this awkward tension where you couldn't really kill people fast enough, but you also couldn't control them well enough to keep them out of the game. That's the major reason why the deck morphed into GDS, because GDS was actually able to kill people fast enough. And RUG Delver was just never good. That's probably the truest tempo deck we've seen in Modern, and it's always been bad. Without the mana denial the deck has in Legacy, you run into the same problem Grixis Delver has that you can't kill people before they get back into the game, but at least Grixis Delver has some grind ability.
I have liked the UR Wizards deck, though. Getting to play 8 Lightning Bolts gives you the ability to play like a Burn deck when you need to close a game quickly.
You could argue that storm does the same thing as twin now. It forces people to have interaction for that enabler creature and use their mana inefficiently.
I actually agree here. Obviously they are different archtypes, but essentially they do the same thing. Twin is much more of a control/ Combo deck than it is a tempo deck. It never gets ahead on board and pushes/ protects its advantage. It never really even gets card advantage until later in the game. The advantage it has is the fact they can just win the game next turn with a creature that dodges bolt. It essentially says the same thing Storm says: "go ahead and tap out to get an advantage, I'll just win next turn"
Not quite the same tronix. Burn is only like that once you are in 'how many cards in their hand, how many can be bolts, am i dead' range.
Storm on Turn 2 can 'present lethal' potential by putting a reducer in play. Thats all it takes. At that point you must ask 'do I tap out if I cannot remove that thing' and thats it. Thats the mental/gamestate pressure which is rare these days.
there are multiple decks though representing early kills, including burn. the ones that thrive on goldfishing. if you dont disrupt them, they win before you. opponents are consistently asked to evaluate whether they can tap out to progress their own game plan at the risk of losing; the game states just happen to look a bit different.
if you wanted to argue that twin was somehow different then it should be based on it having interaction of its own; not that it was some special case of a deck putting the fear of god into the opposition because thats business as usual in modern.
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Modern: UWGSnow-Bant Control BURGrixis Death's Shadow GWBCoCo Elves WCDeath and Taxes (sold)
i mean that is basically the premise of every fast deck ever.
'if you dont stop me im going to win'
I guess that's why some friends tell me that Modern is sometimes like car racing.
Storm on Turn 2 can 'present lethal' potential by putting a reducer in play. Thats all it takes. At that point you must ask 'do I tap out if I cannot remove that thing' and thats it. Thats the mental/gamestate pressure which is rare these days.
Hmm, from I've heard it's usually on turn 3. The UR storm player who bought my manamorphose playset 2 weeks ago said... if he untaps on turn 3 with a Baral in play, that's a potential kill already.
Storm was not even that good when Gitaxian Probe was banned. Storm is good now because WOTC printed Baral, Chief of Compliance, they switched away from Pyromancer Ascension to Gifts Ungiven, and Control decks were trash for 2 of the last 3 years. Storm was a middling, mostly irrelevant, cute Tier 2 deck at the time.
yeah but storm is still presenting the creature (ie the threat) on turn 2, with the fear of letting untap with it because they can gifts into whatever.
regardless fast decks exist in every format. hell just a run of the mill beatdown deck is fundamentally offering the same experience of threatening to win the game. the point of twin being different was that it pressured the opponent on multiple fronts, with only one of them being an immediate loss. so it was the same cup of tea that most of us are already drinking, but just more potent. bolts and remands setting the stage for instant speed combo pieces masked by other powerful instant speed interaction (snaps + whatever, cryptic, etc).
going back to tempo decks though, i agree that the non-fish versions have been woefully lacking. GDS skirts the line of tempo, enough so that the general absence isnt super apparent. most of its tempo derives from its hyper mana efficiency rather than anything else. im not sure what the solution is, but im not convinced it has to be making delver a thing in modern. maybe its an inevitable byproduct since non-fish spell based tempo needs some threat base, and delver is a broken design (and thus unlikely to ever be supplanted) in that type of shell.
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Modern: UWGSnow-Bant Control BURGrixis Death's Shadow GWBCoCo Elves WCDeath and Taxes (sold)
With only 4 creatures in the deck, it was much less reliant on them. The cost reduction effect that Baral provides is infinitely better than 4 "free" cantrips from Probe. Making ALL your rituals, pasts, etc. cost 1 less more reliably is SO MUCH BETTER than whatever minuscule Storm count Probe helped with (especially combined with Baral's loot effect + Remand).
Point remains that Probe was not a busted card. The few decks that abused it could have been hit in any number of other ways. Probe was hit because WOTC just personally hates the card.
Not busted, but it was fueling decks that where without a governor in the format, problematic.
The issue though is that there were several decks that ran it. Some were busted due to other cards (Infect, DSZ) while some abused the effect and were totally fine (Storm, Delver, etc). I think the issue was not Probe, but the cards Probe was helping to enable (like Become Immense) which specifically facilitated breaking the T4 rule. But hey, what do I know, this is the company that bans cantrips.
Though I completely agree that their meteoric rise was heavily tied to the complete loss of any respectable control deck/"governor" for years.
Eh, Phyrexian mana is pretty busted. Doing things for free is powerful; doing things for free and cantripping is even more powerful.
We can argue hypotheticals and cards in a vacuum all day. Point remains the card was never busted until Infect and DSZ were killing people on turn 2 and 3 with alarming regularity (while handfuls of other decks had been casting the card for years and were never busted).
I strongly disagree with you on Probe. I don't think there was any reason at all to ban it. It was a decent card, but every deck that played it has since recovered and is in essentially the same place with the exception of Infect (which could just as easily be due to better removal entering the format). I don't think it was ban worthy at all. I understand that WotC doesn't like the card, but I think the ban rational for it was flimsy at best. On the other hand, since my argument is that the card wasn't even really doing anything I also find it hard to justify an unban because I don't think anything was lost by removing it.
Patrick Chapin in Next Level Deck Building:
Just because the threats dont always come before the permission, or as Chapin says, "Time Walks," doesn't automatically make it midrange.
See: current Legacy Grixis Delver
URStormRU
GRTitanshift[mana]RG/mana]
I also do believe that GDS has games that operate on a Tempo axis, any fast start essentially when they can then present Stubborn Denial protection is a 'tempo' game.
EDIT:
I mean if you can honestly tell me that RUG/Monkey Grow, GDS, up to the 'fish' style UW/Bant Spirits and even Humans, dont play a tempo game....
Sure its not Grixis/UR Delver, but you can even play UR Pyro/Moon with success.
Spirits
GDS can play a Tempo game. It may not be a tempo 'deck' in the most traditional sense, but it certainly has games that play out that way as you say with the decks adopting the tempo 'role'.
Spirits
I would love nothing more than a SPELL that said "Pay 2 life draw a card" for "free." Essentially Probe without the Peek effect. Maybe at Instant speed? The fact that Street Wraith is legal means this effect is TOTALLY FINE. But the fact that it doesn't flip Delver, make Elemental tokens, or flip Thing in the Ice is both puzzling and frustrating. Plus, in most cases, this is probably worse than Wraith, because this hypothetical Instant can never attack or block.
UR ....... WUBR ........... WB ............. RGW ........ UBR ....... WUB .... BGU
Spells / Blink & Combo / Token Grind / Dino Tribal / Draw Cards / Zombies / Reanimate
Except that it can flip delver, make elemental tokens, or flip thing in the ice as you literally just said. Hard casting Street Wraith is a losing game where as the fact that something was a spell it way more important.
UR ....... WUBR ........... WB ............. RGW ........ UBR ....... WUB .... BGU
Spells / Blink & Combo / Token Grind / Dino Tribal / Draw Cards / Zombies / Reanimate
What Chapin is calling "aggro-control" here is actually Midrange. Aggro-Control is a super-archetype that breaks down into two sub-archetypes: Tempo and Midrange. Tempo further breaks down into Fish Tempo and Grow Tempo. The main distinction between Tempo and Midrange is their speed. Tempo trades off late-game resources for speed and board presence. They're trying to leverage an early advantage on board and prevent their opponent from getting back into the game. The classic example of this is RUG Delver in Legacy. The Death Shadow draws of GDS are this. Some people who say GDS isn't a Tempo deck at all feel that way because Tempo decks have traditionally traded off individual card power or card advantage for their tempo, but GDS trades off a different late-game resource: their life total.
Midrange, on the other hand, plays individually powerful cards and tries to interact until their more powerful cards take over the game. Obvious examples include GBx decks in Modern, and Mardu Pyromancer. This is more of the discard package, Snapcaster, K Command side of GDS.
One other thing I'll say: be careful saying that a deck can't be a Tempo deck because it plays non-Tempo cards, because that's not always true. Discard spells are tempo-negative, but they're also just the most powerful interaction we have in Modern. On the flip side, Collective Brutality is the poster child of tempo cards, but it's mostly played in Midrange decks. I still feel like GDS is more Midrange than Tempo, but the deck has been inching closer to Tempo since it starting playing Baubles and Faithless Looting. It might really just be the best a "Tempo" deck can be in Modern. Maybe our counter spells just aren't good enough for a fully legit Grow Tempo deck to be top tier?
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
Genini2 indicated, that „free“ carddraw on an instant or sorcery spell would make Delver, Pyromancer, Titi (and Storm) stronger, which WotC probably doesn‘t want. Although Wraith gives more practical options, the free spell is stronger combined with some other cards, whereas Wraith is „just“ an activated ability.
Legacy: Death&Taxes (almost there)
EDH: Squee, Goblin Nabob / Phelddagrif
I have liked the UR Wizards deck, though. Getting to play 8 Lightning Bolts gives you the ability to play like a Burn deck when you need to close a game quickly.
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
Who knows, maybe the next Ravnica set will cure what ails you.
You could argue that storm does the same thing as twin now. It forces people to have interaction for that enabler creature and use their mana inefficiently.
I actually agree here. Obviously they are different archtypes, but essentially they do the same thing. Twin is much more of a control/ Combo deck than it is a tempo deck. It never gets ahead on board and pushes/ protects its advantage. It never really even gets card advantage until later in the game. The advantage it has is the fact they can just win the game next turn with a creature that dodges bolt. It essentially says the same thing Storm says: "go ahead and tap out to get an advantage, I'll just win next turn"
URStormRU
GRTitanshift[mana]RG/mana]
'if you dont stop me im going to win'
UWGSnow-Bant Control
BURGrixis Death's Shadow
GWBCoCo Elves
WCDeath and Taxes(sold)Storm on Turn 2 can 'present lethal' potential by putting a reducer in play. Thats all it takes. At that point you must ask 'do I tap out if I cannot remove that thing' and thats it. Thats the mental/gamestate pressure which is rare these days.
Spirits
if you wanted to argue that twin was somehow different then it should be based on it having interaction of its own; not that it was some special case of a deck putting the fear of god into the opposition because thats business as usual in modern.
UWGSnow-Bant Control
BURGrixis Death's Shadow
GWBCoCo Elves
WCDeath and Taxes(sold)I guess that's why some friends tell me that Modern is sometimes like car racing.
Hmm, from I've heard it's usually on turn 3. The UR storm player who bought my manamorphose playset 2 weeks ago said... if he untaps on turn 3 with a Baral in play, that's a potential kill already.
Storm is probably one reason probe got ban.
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Storm was not even that good when Gitaxian Probe was banned. Storm is good now because WOTC printed Baral, Chief of Compliance, they switched away from Pyromancer Ascension to Gifts Ungiven, and Control decks were trash for 2 of the last 3 years. Storm was a middling, mostly irrelevant, cute Tier 2 deck at the time.
UR ....... WUBR ........... WB ............. RGW ........ UBR ....... WUB .... BGU
Spells / Blink & Combo / Token Grind / Dino Tribal / Draw Cards / Zombies / Reanimate
regardless fast decks exist in every format. hell just a run of the mill beatdown deck is fundamentally offering the same experience of threatening to win the game. the point of twin being different was that it pressured the opponent on multiple fronts, with only one of them being an immediate loss. so it was the same cup of tea that most of us are already drinking, but just more potent. bolts and remands setting the stage for instant speed combo pieces masked by other powerful instant speed interaction (snaps + whatever, cryptic, etc).
going back to tempo decks though, i agree that the non-fish versions have been woefully lacking. GDS skirts the line of tempo, enough so that the general absence isnt super apparent. most of its tempo derives from its hyper mana efficiency rather than anything else. im not sure what the solution is, but im not convinced it has to be making delver a thing in modern. maybe its an inevitable byproduct since non-fish spell based tempo needs some threat base, and delver is a broken design (and thus unlikely to ever be supplanted) in that type of shell.
UWGSnow-Bant Control
BURGrixis Death's Shadow
GWBCoCo Elves
WCDeath and Taxes(sold)Point remains that Probe was not a busted card. The few decks that abused it could have been hit in any number of other ways. Probe was hit because WOTC just personally hates the card.
UR ....... WUBR ........... WB ............. RGW ........ UBR ....... WUB .... BGU
Spells / Blink & Combo / Token Grind / Dino Tribal / Draw Cards / Zombies / Reanimate
Spirits
The issue though is that there were several decks that ran it. Some were busted due to other cards (Infect, DSZ) while some abused the effect and were totally fine (Storm, Delver, etc). I think the issue was not Probe, but the cards Probe was helping to enable (like Become Immense) which specifically facilitated breaking the T4 rule. But hey, what do I know, this is the company that bans cantrips.
Though I completely agree that their meteoric rise was heavily tied to the complete loss of any respectable control deck/"governor" for years.
UR ....... WUBR ........... WB ............. RGW ........ UBR ....... WUB .... BGU
Spells / Blink & Combo / Token Grind / Dino Tribal / Draw Cards / Zombies / Reanimate
We can argue hypotheticals and cards in a vacuum all day. Point remains the card was never busted until Infect and DSZ were killing people on turn 2 and 3 with alarming regularity (while handfuls of other decks had been casting the card for years and were never busted).
This is not Treasure Cruise we're talking about here.
UR ....... WUBR ........... WB ............. RGW ........ UBR ....... WUB .... BGU
Spells / Blink & Combo / Token Grind / Dino Tribal / Draw Cards / Zombies / Reanimate