I've played a few games against Desecration Demon on MWS and found him to be vastly overrated. Sure, rarely he comes down as an enormous 6/6 and beats some face, but most of the time he is more Loafing Giant than Abyssal Persecutor.
Not only can he be "blocked" by literally any creature, but do to his punisher ability triggering every upkeep, he can also be made unable to block in the same way.
I cannot think of a single successful deck that runs a card that is literally cannot cast with its mana base (other than corner cases like Narcomebia in dredge, and those are not intended to be cast), let alone a double colored card with no lands that produce that color. So cut the wurm.
One other thing to keep in mind is that decks that depend on one card (in this case Axebane Guardian) are, by their very nature, inconsistent. If you deck has very little chance to win without drawing the "key" card you maybe have a problem, because some game you are not going to draw it. (We could call this the Heartless Summoning problem, if you drop it on turn 2 and start playing 5 and 6 drops on turn 3 and 4 you usually win. If you don't draw if all the wurmcoils and rune-scared demons in print can't help you while they are stuck in your hand.)
Maybe work on a backup plan for mana, even the fragile Somberwald Sage may be worth a look. But please, please, please, cut the wurm. Either that or cut blue all together and play yourself the heck out of some Temple Gardens
I don't have the proper rule to quote, but you would not get the exile terminus to hand. By the time your trigger for Search the City resolves the Terminus is exiled proper.
I think another change in card frames is unlikely. One of there selling points when they created modern was "all cards with the new frame are legal." Although this proved to not quite be true ("what! I can't play my Scavenging Ooze) I doubt they want to mess with this almost truth with another frame.
I do think that M14 will start the 20th anniversary celebration, but I'm hoping for something like timeshifted cards, mostly modern legal/staples, to keep the intro price of the format low.
The only real comparison to messenger is that they are both 3cc creatures that have potential to drain an opponent for 4. Beyond that messenger is superior in nearly every way.
Messenger is a 3/2 and than then a 4/3. Flailer is only a 3/2 or a 4/3.
Messenger can block at both power levels. Flailer only at one.
Messenger's 4 damage comes for free. Flailer's likely requires untapping and costs 4.
Rakdos Ringleader just proves (again) how much R&D does not want random discard (like LD) to be playable. Oh yeah, and isn't first strike and regeneration a bit redundant?
Having a whacky, unplayable, blue enchantment isn't a surprise, but it is disappointing for the final spoiled card.
From the official rules on the gatherer for Sigarda:
5/1/2012: You may sacrifice a permanent as a special action, even if the effect that allows you to do so comes from an opponent's permanent (such as Damping Engine or Volrath's Curse). No one controls special actions.
There is a quote I heard one by some famous sports coach that said, "before you win the game, you have to not lose it." This is pretty much the philosophy of control decks.
Most control decks are build with the plan of having a late game that is close to unbeatable, so you spend most of the game making sure you don't lose, and then when the time comes, you use this late game power and take over.
Patience is key for control deck. Just because Grave Titan (for instance) costs 6 does not mean you should play him on turn six (opposed to aggro, where you are looking to "curve out.") In fact it is often better to wait as long as possible, because every turn that goes by, in theory, you deck (with its expensive and powerful cards) is getting better, while an aggro, or mid-range opponents deck is getting worse (for instance, Goblin Guide is great on turn 1, but no so much on turn 10.)
I'm having a hard time thinking of a three toughness creature that I really want to exile, rather than just kill. It seems like all the good "exile" targets, geist, crawler, and messenger, bite it to pillar for two less.
I spent the afternoon working on an update with all the new spoilers (263/274) that came out today. It seems to be working well for me. Hybrid mana problem is fixed and all basic lands are included.
Thanks to Memnarch, without all his work on the original spoiler I would have never figured out the format.
Not only can he be "blocked" by literally any creature, but do to his punisher ability triggering every upkeep, he can also be made unable to block in the same way.
One other thing to keep in mind is that decks that depend on one card (in this case Axebane Guardian) are, by their very nature, inconsistent. If you deck has very little chance to win without drawing the "key" card you maybe have a problem, because some game you are not going to draw it. (We could call this the Heartless Summoning problem, if you drop it on turn 2 and start playing 5 and 6 drops on turn 3 and 4 you usually win. If you don't draw if all the wurmcoils and rune-scared demons in print can't help you while they are stuck in your hand.)
Maybe work on a backup plan for mana, even the fragile Somberwald Sage may be worth a look. But please, please, please, cut the wurm. Either that or cut blue all together and play yourself the heck out of some Temple Gardens
My reasoning is that it would be the same as Colfenor's Plans.
I do think that M14 will start the 20th anniversary celebration, but I'm hoping for something like timeshifted cards, mostly modern legal/staples, to keep the intro price of the format low.
Messenger is a 3/2 and
thanthen a 4/3. Flailer is only a 3/2 or a 4/3.Messenger can block at both power levels. Flailer only at one.
Messenger's 4 damage comes for free. Flailer's likely requires untapping and costs 4.
Having a whacky, unplayable, blue enchantment isn't a surprise, but it is disappointing for the final spoiled card.
5/1/2012: You may sacrifice a permanent as a special action, even if the effect that allows you to do so comes from an opponent's permanent (such as Damping Engine or Volrath's Curse). No one controls special actions.
Most control decks are build with the plan of having a late game that is close to unbeatable, so you spend most of the game making sure you don't lose, and then when the time comes, you use this late game power and take over.
Patience is key for control deck. Just because Grave Titan (for instance) costs 6 does not mean you should play him on turn six (opposed to aggro, where you are looking to "curve out.") In fact it is often better to wait as long as possible, because every turn that goes by, in theory, you deck (with its expensive and powerful cards) is getting better, while an aggro, or mid-range opponents deck is getting worse (for instance, Goblin Guide is great on turn 1, but no so much on turn 10.)
Thanks to Memnarch, without all his work on the original spoiler I would have never figured out the format.