I have a hard time wrapping my head around why people think Baleful Strix is too strong... It's a 1/1 for 2 that draws a card and profitably blocks a creature. How is a completely fair 2-for-1 creature "too powerful" in a world where the nonsense capable that is considerably more powerful than that is accepted as common place?
Reading the responses to this are making me scratch my head. It seems like people are saying this card would hurt fair strategies, but wouldn't this card only be played in fair strategies? Making the case that a card that would only be used in fair decks would hurt also simultaneously hurt fair decks seems like some strange logic from my perspective...
As was already pointed out, this sounds very much like what people were saying about JTMS and AV before they were un-banned.
its certainly within the same vein. as far as ive seen/read it basically amounts to 'strix is so good against opposing fair strategies that they would become invalidated, or at least pushed to the side; forcing people to try and play under or over it (ie the types of decks modern critics love to hate).' almost identical analysis was done for jtms, and AV...that was just comical - 'oh god! GBx is dead!'. i mean cmon.
im just sitting there thinking grixis midrange/control or UBx hasnt ever really been a thing. i can pound relentlessly on fair decks with UWx using teferi and company and mercilessly mow over creature midrange strategies with terminus; yet strix. nope strix is just too damn much! (/s). its like these people forgot tron, valakut, and amulet exist; which do far more to push people to 'go under' them than any midrange deck just curving out with value.
then to top it off its conveniently overlooked that not everyone is playing creatureless combo, and that modern is in fact dominated by aggressive creature strategies. even if strix is a speedbump vs. recurring threats, its still a proactive play that buys time to develop your mana while replacing itself. a terminate that cantrips is still a productive card even against a bloodghast, phoenix, or whatever.
I mean its good against Death Shadow Decks I guess. But does it really stop Phoenix or Dredge? Against Phoenix Decks, thing flips and put its back in hand and phoenix recurs after trading. Dredge decks are also about a mass of creatures that can recur. As for Deathshadow assuming they dont use Strix themselves just bolt it or trample over with Battle Rage. Basically I don't see Strix doing much to the Top Decks. It boosts UB Faeries.
if legacy is anything to go by, strix dunks on DS(delver) + gurmag decks. id imagine current iterations of GDS wouldnt fair much better. which is perfectly acceptable imo. GDS is already aggressively slanted, and has only leaned further into that with its adaptations through 2018 (ie dropping k-command, adopting baubles for fast delve, deeper red splash for bolts/lootings, etc). some UBx control or midrange style deck beating up on a pseudo-aggro-tempo-midrange deck is only natural. if the meta permits by slowing down GDS can move to include more cards like k-command, liliana the last hope, jaceVP, lavaman, etc to make such matchups more palatable. any and all of which sound like reasonable reactions unlike 'welp i cant beat strix, guess ill play storm'
I feel like they need to print cards to slow the format down. The linear decks that are designed to win on turn 4 are clearly more powerful right now than the defensive control and midrange strategies. This new mulligan rule also helps out linear decks more than control decks (generally speaking). Counterspell, Toxic Deluge, Baleful Strix, Pernicious Deed, Etc. should be reprinted to help give decks that are not designed to win on turn 4 have a fighting chance.
I would even venture to say that Mystical Tutor may be ok. I recognize that this is probably an unpopular opinion and a fever dream, but hear me out. It is a cheap tutor that throws away your next draw, since it puts it the card on top of your library. There are cards that do take advantage of this such as Miracles and Cascade cards. However, Is setting up next turn Terminus more degenerate then turn 1 Hollow One? Or is it on the same level? If WotC is willing to allow degenerate things to happen for combo and aggro decks, then they should allow some big play things for control too in the first few turns of the game as well. Mystical Tutor would be a huge shot in the arm for these defensive strategies.
"If Wizards is willing to allow degenerate things that already exist then they should print more degenerate things into the format to somehow fix that", is how I read your comment. Please, a big, resounding no to Mystical Tutor. How busted would Storm get?
You didn't pay attention to the first part he said. He wants fair Magic cards to be introduced to the format to potentially (and I say potentially because nothing is a given; we may be just putting our finger in the dam before it breaks) slow the format down.
I don't talk about it much because it is an extremely unpopular opinion, but I think that Deathrite Shaman could potentially slow the format down. I realize it would be played in any deck that uses mana dorks, Burn, Grixis Shadow, and essentially any deck that runs Black or Green. I realize it's stupid powerful and that's probably the main reason just to leave it banned. But if the format is getting too degenerate, I feel like the Elf Shaman could help. It doesn't push unfair strategies at all, unless you consider Burn unfair.
But I digress. I know that's never happening and I realize that I even believe that it is pretty risky. I guess with the banning of KCI, I can see that Wizards has other ways of "slowing the format." Hopefully Modern Horizons pushes that. As much of a Combo player that I am, I don't enjoy playing in a format that is 60% Aggro and 20% Combo. Sorry, I just don't (probably more so because the archetype of Aggro actually often beats Combo nowadays)
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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)
Btw, Deathrite Shaman is already in a modern legal set and banned in the format. My understanding is that they're not including cards from modern legal sets.
i dont think foodchain was implying that deathrite might be in horizons. rather its a very good example, albeit an extreme one, of the types of cards that modern needs more of. without the presence of imbalanced blue cards to level the playing field because they are nearly applicable everywhere (ie generic selection, countermagic ignoring text boxes); modern decks, in particular interactive ones mixing and matching answers, need help with consistency. if it isnt in the form of explicit tools like cantrips you need redundancy. this calls for cards with more cross matchup applications including ones with the strength to be main deck additions. a more tame example than deathrite is scavenging ooze.
vindicate, which i consider a shoe in for an inclusion in horizons, will be a nice addition in that context. also you can sorta see it going on with the spoiled Serra planeswalker. the plus and minus applications give you game in the red zone, but the quick ultimate for a Worship effect gives the card extra utility against combo or decks otherwise skimping on/lacking removal; even if it isnt particularly fast. not a haymaker type hate card swinging matchups, but just a small boost in percentage points in those games/matches it happens to come up.
personally i mostly think deathrite would be fine, but the straw that breaks the camels back is the hybrid mana cost. giving every shard/wedge sans jeskai access removes most of the choice or give-and-take that typically comes with such powerful cards. a card that ubiquitous forces the format to revolve around it, centering on the best decks that use it (such as jund in its heyday).
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Modern: UWGSnow-Bant Control BURGrixis Death's Shadow GWBCoCo Elves WCDeath and Taxes (sold)
Did someone say Recurring Nightmare? I might have to quit playing Premodern. Being able to play the first deck that I ever had a win percentage over 60% and that I had gobs and gobs of fun playing in today's world? Sign me up!
(Although I think there's probably a 1% chance at best. It's a pipe dream.)
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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)
Did someone say Recurring Nightmare? I might have to quit playing Premodern. Being able to play the first deck that I ever had a win percentage over 60% and that I had gobs and gobs of fun playing in today's world? Sign me up!
(Although I think there's probably a 1% chance at best. It's a pipe dream.)
Recurring Nightmare is reserved (as in Intuition from the list above); so a little bit less than a 1% chance
Do we really need more free threats from the graveyard?
That wasn't his question though, was it?
I doubt they'd play it, it's probably a bit too conditional. You don't want to exile Amalgam for it, generally, and Bloodghast is only 1 point of power smaller while being easy enough to trigger. Stinkweed Imp and Golgari Thug are options but they are pretty big engine enablers.
The rest of the multiplayer focused cards obviously silly but some of those pairs.
Now that you mention it some of the partner with cards would be fun, Pir and Toothy in particular. I hope they do get printed in Horizons since I thought they look like fun cards, but forgot about them since I don't play commander or legacy.
Did someone say Recurring Nightmare? I might have to quit playing Premodern. Being able to play the first deck that I ever had a win percentage over 60% and that I had gobs and gobs of fun playing in today's world? Sign me up!
(Although I think there's probably a 1% chance at best. It's a pipe dream.)
Recurring Nightmare is reserved (as in Intuition from the list above); so a little bit less than a 1% chance
Thanks for peeing in my cereal! I saw the post and got excited. Isn't it okay for me to randomly forget about common sense?
I guess if it's "too good to be true..."
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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)
See weirdly I'd be quite on-board with Deathrite if only it cost (G) and was a 1/1. Like it's stupid powerful, fine, but honestly it seems like it'd be nice as a regulating force in modern. The main problem I have with it is that every black deck also plays it.
I reiterate, I want to see containment priest and leovold, emissary of trest.
Also, dredge would 1000% play ichorid. The list would just look a bit different. (Think closer to bridgevine, but now it can also grind you out and is faster)
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Modern UWUW ControlUW UGWSpiritsUGW GHardened ScalesG WGRUKiki PodWGRU [RIP]
Since the main thread has been locked (to hide from the truth of my post I am sure) we have to ask ourselves 'if we are open to change in Modern, how does Horizon's do it'.
We all know (if you have eyes to see) the top few decks in Modern, and they are leagues above the rest of the format. The vaunted 'Modern diversity' is a myth, perpetuated by those who only look at their LGS.
As such, my list of desired reprints, or cards that would serve as the basis of a somewhat functional reprint.
I would look to boost the following major archetypes so we can avoid the wackamole ban mania that Modern is defined by.
1. GWx Fair Creature decks.
2. BGx and BG Rock.
3. Death and Taxes.
4. Reactive Blue.
I'm not interested in arguments that UW Terminus is actually healthy for the format as it trivializes the choice of what sweepers to use, what decks can be viable, and in a world without the toxicity of the current meta, it is very easy to envision a meta in which UW Terminus is the overlord.
So lets look at GWx Fair Creature. Modern has a number of decks within this space, all firmly Tier 2 and 3. Decks like GW Voice, Value Town, Knightfall, and Legacy has things like this, in the form of Maverick, Stoneblade, Bant, and GW Toolbox.
I actually think something like Swords to Plowshares would be fine. Path clearly is not sufficient, and I would like to see some printing that puts a clock out there that makes an issue for Terminus. Teeg isnt good enough.
From there, look at the banlist, we have the tools to help GW.
Blue Moon, UWR, and so on? I'm of the opinion that if you dont fix the win-con, and make it 'Modern appropriate' that you need to provide free interaction. If FoW is off the table, at the very least we need Daze. We are not at a point where you can improve the Cantrips of the format, clearly, as we already have a Xerox deck that needs NO further help.
I'd also look at effects like Gush/Foil, but perhaps tweak them a bit. To be honest, I dont see the cards that are seeing play in other formats, which are going to do much here.
Death and Taxes. There was an article that was able to shift how I looked at Magic. I'll go look it up again maybe, but essentially, on a long enough timeline, an 'eternal' format will evolve to either Xerox, or Prison/Tax to choke off the Xerox from its resources.
Now, I've lost to DnT already countless times, the decks I want to play (UWR, Blue Moon) are spell based, and Thalia is a beating as it is. That said, we need that to be a strong presence in the meta.
Between a Swords to Plowshares printing (or something slightly less good) and Containment Priest, and something LIKE Mother of Runes I think we could be getting somewhere.
Other than that, I dont see a line to correcting the flaws that are literally built into the format at this point, unless you turn to the ban list.
Also, dredge would 1000% play ichorid. The list would just look a bit different. (Think closer to bridgevine, but now it can also grind you out and is faster)
I wanted to make sure I didn't look like an ass with my comment so I asked Sodeq considering he's probably the world's leading Dredge expert at this point. He said he doesn't see any lines with Ichorid in Modern Dredge but also echoed your sentiment that it's a very powerful engine with Bridge. At that point though, is it really Dredge still?
I'm not sure if it would be busted, but it would be played in some sort of dredge variant + bridge. Basically, this gives you another 4 hits that are "immediate" for prized amalgam, that also dont require a land like bloodghast does.
You can adjust the deck by adding more sticher's suppliers and maybe a sac outlet like viscera seer to increase black density. It seems pretty dooable?
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Modern UWUW ControlUW UGWSpiritsUGW GHardened ScalesG WGRUKiki PodWGRU [RIP]
I'd like to see a graveyard-Thalia, Guardian of Thraben... something like a Charon-esque creature that survives lightning bolt while demanding mana for each creature that wants to enter the battlefield from the graveyard ... maybe even creatures generally that enter without being cast.
I want to have more restraining tools for green white and black that can withstand the interaction that dredge and phoenix has to offer.. which is mostly damage.
Red and blue are the most "Xerox" colors in modern, but they also should get their own ways to stave off things... like give red a card that allows them to cast instants when the moment when they are placed into the opponent's graveyard or exile them instead. We have flaming barriers, dissipation fields in blue... why isn't there more of it?
I want a whole block with 3 sets that is staged on a plane that functions as a prison (with actual cells and wardens... not like Ixalan) that gives MORE prison/stax card into the modern pool.
I know peolpe will feel miserable, but I personally like to observe prison breaks from the other side of the table... Yes I play Lantern Control (and am still a bit salty about its downfall since I still don't exactly understand how it was caused).
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My decks:
Competetive: Lantern Control, MonoR Phoenix, Dredge
Meta-Dependant: Modern Cheeri0s, Esper Spirits, Wilderness Teachings , Modern Elves, All-in Death's Shadow, Aristocrats, BW Death&Taxes
Fun own projects: Spireside Industries, UB Scrapyard, Thundercat Worship, Dirty Kitten, RB Rock, Eternal Toolbox
What's everyones thoughts on a fixed mother of runes? Something like:
Fixed mom
Not a human
1/tap;another target you control gets protection from the color of your choosing until end of turn.
1/1
Excuse the poor formating. Is this good enough i guess is my question? Idk. Mom is super powerful, especially being a human so i highly doubt they would ever even consider it for MH1.
Death and Taxes. There was an article that was able to shift how I looked at Magic. I'll go look it up again maybe, but essentially, on a long enough timeline, an 'eternal' format will evolve to either Xerox, or Prison/Tax to choke off the Xerox from its resources.
its an interesting bit of magic theory. though i think its a bit reductive to say that formats always trend towards one or the other. rather id say its about the elements of those types of decks continually showing how they are the most powerful assets in magic (and strategy games in general), because its about efficiency and choices.
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Modern: UWGSnow-Bant Control BURGrixis Death's Shadow GWBCoCo Elves WCDeath and Taxes (sold)
See weirdly I'd be quite on-board with Deathrite if only it cost (G) and was a 1/1. Like it's stupid powerful, fine, but honestly it seems like it'd be nice as a regulating force in modern. The main problem I have with it is that every black deck also plays it.
I reiterate, I want to see containment priest and leovold, emissary of trest.
Also, dredge would 1000% play ichorid. The list would just look a bit different. (Think closer to bridgevine, but now it can also grind you out and is faster)
Even "Mono Red" decks like Burn played it; splashing Black is no consequence to them. The card is just stupidly and absurdly powerful. Still I think the combination of a weaker supporting cast don't make it higher than Faithless Looting for sure and possibly even Ancient Stirrings as potential ban targets (saying it were legal now).
Yes, it does homogenize. What does that word even freaking mean? It's certainly overused in Magic and underused with milk. Nearly every deck runs Lightning Bolt. It's good, damn good. Decks have splashed for Lightning Bolt before as well. I just don't get how every card that people don't want to see homogenizes a color, but Lightning Bolt always gets a free pass. There will always be more powerful options in a color. Serum Visions does what Preordain would do regarding homogenization of decks. It would not be played in any current deck that Serum Visions is already not a part of.
But I will quit talking about this for now. I see someone coming in here saying..."are we seriously talking about Deathrite Shaman right now?" in 2, 3, 4...
*Also I agree with you that Ichorid would definitely see a place. I don't want to see Ichorid in Modern. Our local Dredge dude was frothing at the mouth at a potential reprint. And I mean Dredge dude; he owes his first Pro Tour qualification to the ubiquitous Golgari Grave-Troll.
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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)
why all the people seem to hate combo decks when the problem with modern at the moment is not spell based combo decks like storm or ad nauseam? to be honest, the only time when modern had problems with this kind of decks was on the very first modern pro tour. Since then, all the good "combo" decks in the format had creatures as central part of their strategy. I dont see why we cant have some goodies in modern horizons. Of course, i want better fair cards (GDS is my current deck of choice), but im a storm player too
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Reading the responses to this are making me scratch my head. It seems like people are saying this card would hurt fair strategies, but wouldn't this card only be played in fair strategies? Making the case that a card that would only be used in fair decks would hurt also simultaneously hurt fair decks seems like some strange logic from my perspective...
As was already pointed out, this sounds very much like what people were saying about JTMS and AV before they were un-banned.
im just sitting there thinking grixis midrange/control or UBx hasnt ever really been a thing. i can pound relentlessly on fair decks with UWx using teferi and company and mercilessly mow over creature midrange strategies with terminus; yet strix. nope strix is just too damn much! (/s). its like these people forgot tron, valakut, and amulet exist; which do far more to push people to 'go under' them than any midrange deck just curving out with value.
then to top it off its conveniently overlooked that not everyone is playing creatureless combo, and that modern is in fact dominated by aggressive creature strategies. even if strix is a speedbump vs. recurring threats, its still a proactive play that buys time to develop your mana while replacing itself. a terminate that cantrips is still a productive card even against a bloodghast, phoenix, or whatever.
if legacy is anything to go by, strix dunks on DS(delver) + gurmag decks. id imagine current iterations of GDS wouldnt fair much better. which is perfectly acceptable imo. GDS is already aggressively slanted, and has only leaned further into that with its adaptations through 2018 (ie dropping k-command, adopting baubles for fast delve, deeper red splash for bolts/lootings, etc). some UBx control or midrange style deck beating up on a pseudo-aggro-tempo-midrange deck is only natural. if the meta permits by slowing down GDS can move to include more cards like k-command, liliana the last hope, jaceVP, lavaman, etc to make such matchups more palatable. any and all of which sound like reasonable reactions unlike 'welp i cant beat strix, guess ill play storm'
UWGSnow-Bant Control
BURGrixis Death's Shadow
GWBCoCo Elves
WCDeath and Taxes(sold)I would even venture to say that Mystical Tutor may be ok. I recognize that this is probably an unpopular opinion and a fever dream, but hear me out. It is a cheap tutor that throws away your next draw, since it puts it the card on top of your library. There are cards that do take advantage of this such as Miracles and Cascade cards. However, Is setting up next turn Terminus more degenerate then turn 1 Hollow One? Or is it on the same level? If WotC is willing to allow degenerate things to happen for combo and aggro decks, then they should allow some big play things for control too in the first few turns of the game as well. Mystical Tutor would be a huge shot in the arm for these defensive strategies.
UWRUWR MidrangeUWR
BUGSultai MidrangeBUG
BUGRTraverse MidrangeBUGR (currently brewing)
Abzan Traverse / Traverse Shadow / UR Kiki
I don't talk about it much because it is an extremely unpopular opinion, but I think that Deathrite Shaman could potentially slow the format down. I realize it would be played in any deck that uses mana dorks, Burn, Grixis Shadow, and essentially any deck that runs Black or Green. I realize it's stupid powerful and that's probably the main reason just to leave it banned. But if the format is getting too degenerate, I feel like the Elf Shaman could help. It doesn't push unfair strategies at all, unless you consider Burn unfair.
But I digress. I know that's never happening and I realize that I even believe that it is pretty risky. I guess with the banning of KCI, I can see that Wizards has other ways of "slowing the format." Hopefully Modern Horizons pushes that. As much of a Combo player that I am, I don't enjoy playing in a format that is 60% Aggro and 20% Combo. Sorry, I just don't (probably more so because the archetype of Aggro actually often beats Combo nowadays)
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)Would love Counterspell.
Fact or Fiction would be nice.
Stifle is probably too unfun.
Careful Study would probably make Izzet Phoenix tear 0.
Cataclysm could be cool in a white weenie list with
Other sweet cards for my tastes:
Btw, Deathrite Shaman is already in a modern legal set and banned in the format. My understanding is that they're not including cards from modern legal sets.
vindicate, which i consider a shoe in for an inclusion in horizons, will be a nice addition in that context. also you can sorta see it going on with the spoiled Serra planeswalker. the plus and minus applications give you game in the red zone, but the quick ultimate for a Worship effect gives the card extra utility against combo or decks otherwise skimping on/lacking removal; even if it isnt particularly fast. not a haymaker type hate card swinging matchups, but just a small boost in percentage points in those games/matches it happens to come up.
personally i mostly think deathrite would be fine, but the straw that breaks the camels back is the hybrid mana cost. giving every shard/wedge sans jeskai access removes most of the choice or give-and-take that typically comes with such powerful cards. a card that ubiquitous forces the format to revolve around it, centering on the best decks that use it (such as jund in its heyday).
UWGSnow-Bant Control
BURGrixis Death's Shadow
GWBCoCo Elves
WCDeath and Taxes(sold)(Although I think there's probably a 1% chance at best. It's a pipe dream.)
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)The rest of the multiplayer focused cards obviously silly but some of those pairs.
Nexus MTG News // Nexus - Magic Art Gallery // MTG Dual Land Color Ratios Analyzer // MTG Card Drawing Odds Calculator
Want to play a UW control deck in modern, but don't have jace or snaps?
Please come visit us at the Emeria Titan control thread
Legacy: UWR Miracles [https://deckstats.net/decks/44442/1092831-uwr-miracles-2]
That wasn't his question though, was it?
I doubt they'd play it, it's probably a bit too conditional. You don't want to exile Amalgam for it, generally, and Bloodghast is only 1 point of power smaller while being easy enough to trigger. Stinkweed Imp and Golgari Thug are options but they are pretty big engine enablers.
Abzan Traverse / Traverse Shadow / UR Kiki
Now that you mention it some of the partner with cards would be fun, Pir and Toothy in particular. I hope they do get printed in Horizons since I thought they look like fun cards, but forgot about them since I don't play commander or legacy.
Thanks for peeing in my cereal! I saw the post and got excited. Isn't it okay for me to randomly forget about common sense?
I guess if it's "too good to be true..."
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)I reiterate, I want to see containment priest and leovold, emissary of trest.
Also, dredge would 1000% play ichorid. The list would just look a bit different. (Think closer to bridgevine, but now it can also grind you out and is faster)
UWUW ControlUW
UGWSpiritsUGW
GHardened ScalesG
WGRUKiki PodWGRU [RIP]
We all know (if you have eyes to see) the top few decks in Modern, and they are leagues above the rest of the format. The vaunted 'Modern diversity' is a myth, perpetuated by those who only look at their LGS.
As such, my list of desired reprints, or cards that would serve as the basis of a somewhat functional reprint.
I would look to boost the following major archetypes so we can avoid the wackamole ban mania that Modern is defined by.
1. GWx Fair Creature decks.
2. BGx and BG Rock.
3. Death and Taxes.
4. Reactive Blue.
I'm not interested in arguments that UW Terminus is actually healthy for the format as it trivializes the choice of what sweepers to use, what decks can be viable, and in a world without the toxicity of the current meta, it is very easy to envision a meta in which UW Terminus is the overlord.
So lets look at GWx Fair Creature. Modern has a number of decks within this space, all firmly Tier 2 and 3. Decks like GW Voice, Value Town, Knightfall, and Legacy has things like this, in the form of Maverick, Stoneblade, Bant, and GW Toolbox.
I actually think something like Swords to Plowshares would be fine. Path clearly is not sufficient, and I would like to see some printing that puts a clock out there that makes an issue for Terminus. Teeg isnt good enough.
From there, look at the banlist, we have the tools to help GW.
BGx? I would like to see Planar Void and a fixed Deathrite Shaman and Diabolic Edict oh, and Snuff Out.
Blue Moon, UWR, and so on? I'm of the opinion that if you dont fix the win-con, and make it 'Modern appropriate' that you need to provide free interaction. If FoW is off the table, at the very least we need Daze. We are not at a point where you can improve the Cantrips of the format, clearly, as we already have a Xerox deck that needs NO further help.
I'd also look at effects like Gush/Foil, but perhaps tweak them a bit. To be honest, I dont see the cards that are seeing play in other formats, which are going to do much here.
Death and Taxes. There was an article that was able to shift how I looked at Magic. I'll go look it up again maybe, but essentially, on a long enough timeline, an 'eternal' format will evolve to either Xerox, or Prison/Tax to choke off the Xerox from its resources.
Now, I've lost to DnT already countless times, the decks I want to play (UWR, Blue Moon) are spell based, and Thalia is a beating as it is. That said, we need that to be a strong presence in the meta.
Between a Swords to Plowshares printing (or something slightly less good) and Containment Priest, and something LIKE Mother of Runes I think we could be getting somewhere.
Other than that, I dont see a line to correcting the flaws that are literally built into the format at this point, unless you turn to the ban list.
Spirits
I wanted to make sure I didn't look like an ass with my comment so I asked Sodeq considering he's probably the world's leading Dredge expert at this point. He said he doesn't see any lines with Ichorid in Modern Dredge but also echoed your sentiment that it's a very powerful engine with Bridge. At that point though, is it really Dredge still?
Abzan Traverse / Traverse Shadow / UR Kiki
You can adjust the deck by adding more sticher's suppliers and maybe a sac outlet like viscera seer to increase black density. It seems pretty dooable?
UWUW ControlUW
UGWSpiritsUGW
GHardened ScalesG
WGRUKiki PodWGRU [RIP]
I want to have more restraining tools for green white and black that can withstand the interaction that dredge and phoenix has to offer.. which is mostly damage.
Red and blue are the most "Xerox" colors in modern, but they also should get their own ways to stave off things... like give red a card that allows them to cast instants when the moment when they are placed into the opponent's graveyard or exile them instead. We have flaming barriers, dissipation fields in blue... why isn't there more of it?
I want a whole block with 3 sets that is staged on a plane that functions as a prison (with actual cells and wardens... not like Ixalan) that gives MORE prison/stax card into the modern pool.
I know peolpe will feel miserable, but I personally like to observe prison breaks from the other side of the table... Yes I play Lantern Control (and am still a bit salty about its downfall since I still don't exactly understand how it was caused).
Competetive: Lantern Control, MonoR Phoenix, Dredge
Meta-Dependant: Modern Cheeri0s, Esper Spirits, Wilderness Teachings , Modern Elves, All-in Death's Shadow, Aristocrats, BW Death&Taxes
Fun own projects: Spireside Industries, UB Scrapyard, Thundercat Worship, Dirty Kitten, RB Rock, Eternal Toolbox
Fixed mom
Not a human
1/tap;another target you control gets protection from the color of your choosing until end of turn.
1/1
Excuse the poor formating. Is this good enough i guess is my question? Idk. Mom is super powerful, especially being a human so i highly doubt they would ever even consider it for MH1.
was it this one? https://www.channelfireball.com/articles/decks-like-deaths-shadow-will-always-become-the-best-deck/
its an interesting bit of magic theory. though i think its a bit reductive to say that formats always trend towards one or the other. rather id say its about the elements of those types of decks continually showing how they are the most powerful assets in magic (and strategy games in general), because its about efficiency and choices.
UWGSnow-Bant Control
BURGrixis Death's Shadow
GWBCoCo Elves
WCDeath and Taxes(sold)Even "Mono Red" decks like Burn played it; splashing Black is no consequence to them. The card is just stupidly and absurdly powerful. Still I think the combination of a weaker supporting cast don't make it higher than Faithless Looting for sure and possibly even Ancient Stirrings as potential ban targets (saying it were legal now).
Yes, it does homogenize. What does that word even freaking mean? It's certainly overused in Magic and underused with milk. Nearly every deck runs Lightning Bolt. It's good, damn good. Decks have splashed for Lightning Bolt before as well. I just don't get how every card that people don't want to see homogenizes a color, but Lightning Bolt always gets a free pass. There will always be more powerful options in a color. Serum Visions does what Preordain would do regarding homogenization of decks. It would not be played in any current deck that Serum Visions is already not a part of.
But I will quit talking about this for now. I see someone coming in here saying..."are we seriously talking about Deathrite Shaman right now?" in 2, 3, 4...
*Also I agree with you that Ichorid would definitely see a place. I don't want to see Ichorid in Modern. Our local Dredge dude was frothing at the mouth at a potential reprint. And I mean Dredge dude; he owes his first Pro Tour qualification to the ubiquitous Golgari Grave-Troll.
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)