I'd be wary of some of the Judge and DCI promos. For the most part, it'd be a case-by-case basis.
Off the top of my head, the easiest rule might be "cards in the modern frame, excepting those whose modern printings are only available in premium." That eliminates to the best of my knowledge all the Judge and DCI promos, and all the other cards (Maze, Library) that have been printed in From the Vault/Commander's Arsenal, while still allowing players that want to buy a pre-con commander deck to have theirs legal in modern commander.
Having gone through the previous "You Make The Card" votes, what generally happens is that we're next, after choosing the color, we vote on whether we want to go with flavor or function first. So far, we've chosen function every time, so then we submit mechanics (sans mana cost, beyond general indicators like "M: This card does stuff" with M saying that there will be a mana cost, but that's to be determined), and they narrow it down to ten mechanics. Generally, the narrowing down to ten mechanics is what takes the longest, so expect a delay in between the submissions and them actually presenting the vote. Then we, as a community, vote on the mechanics, selecting one to be the final. Now, this is where it gets a little trickier... sometimes, we're asked to give feedback on mana cost and other such things, but that generally only happened in the first You Make The Card. Otherwise, the remainder of the votes will be tied up in more flavor related stuff, like who the artist will be, what the concept design will be, name, flavor text, and so on and so forth.
Basically, any idea you have for an enchantment that isn't interesting without its aggressive mana cost needs to be reevaluated, given probably won't even get a vote on the cost. What we will get to vote on is the mechanic, so think of ones that will either A) be interesting regardless of what cost it's given, or B) be likely to be costed lower.
To be fair, it's as likely to get printed as about 90% of the suggestions in here. I mean, they aren't going to let us break the color pie, they're probably not going to have us reprint something with a different cost, and they're not going to let us break the game, so...
I generally agree. It is worth experimentation at the very least. It's been said before and I'll say it again: EDH favors experimentation and exploration. We already have variant formats (French, Horde etc.) so what's the harm in trying one more? My only problem is Wending's arguments about something like that being a solution to the "vintage EDH problem" and then defending it with back-handed remarks and hyperbole.
I think an important thing to do is to separate the position from the person arguing it. Personally, I dislike many of the things Wending is saying, but the initial idea is an interesting experiment, so I'm willing to support it but not his arguments for it, if that's understandable.
I think serious thought should be given to Sheldon's idea of holding onto anything reprinted in Planechase or the Commander decks, both old and new. That criteria helps ensure that quite a few of the interesting multiplayer cards are held onto, and makes the whole "modern card frame means legal" division even easier to grok, given it now pretty much applies in all cases. Heck, I might even be willing to make the argument that adding things printed in stuff like the Premium Deck series could be used, given the proliferation of some cards from that.
I think during Pax they said ALL legends are now designed for the potential to be generals, so I'd say they are definitely aimed at EDH over other styles of play.
I believe the exact wording was that they take EDH into consideration when designing legendary creatures, which doesn't mean they're all designed to slot directly into EDH decks. For example, Obzedat, Ghost Council was stated to be specifically designed for standard, with them making adjustments such as boosting his p/t by one so he could get hit by Selesnya Charm. I think that the taking EDH into consideration is more likely to be reflected by the avoidance of things like Iname as One type effects, and the fact that there will be more legendary creatures aimed at EDH, than the assumption that every legendary will be designed for EDH.
Returning to the original point under discussion, I actually rather like the idea, and think it could be very interesting as a complement to regular EDH. Obviously, it's not good as a replacement, but I think it could be an interesting format in addition. I think it would be something to play with before forming a full opinion on it, rather than letting knee-jerk reactions decide opinions.
Personally, I'm doubtful of the claim that control decks would not be viable. They might become something more of board control, since many of the best wraths would not rotate, and I don't think aggro is any more likely to break through the forty life barrier in modern, especially in multiplayer.
Edit: I also agree that card advantage would become even more important, given the nature of the format. Personally, I think that might make it more fun, but I may be the odd duck out.
The main reason those cards (Worldfire, Biorhythm, and Sway of the Stars) are banned is because, as has been rehashed over and over again, twofold. Firstly, they interact badly with the format, in that Worldfire and Sway of the Stars were not designed around having access to one spell at all times. Secondly, and I feel more importantly, they're the type of giant mana 'trap' cards that newer players joining the format would think of when people say EDH is full of 'big, swingy plays', run in their decks, and then ruin their first few experiences of the format because someone wrathed and they accidentally won a long game with a single Biorhythm.
Yes, in a competitive format, that wouldn't be a banning criteria. EDH is not a competitive format. It's not intended to be, and the Rules Council isn't going to change their entire philosophy so people have a few more toys to play with. That said, if you really think it isn't going to be a problem, talk to your local playgroup, and convince them.
It seems to me that there's two schools of thought, namely, there are those who want a really creative new enchantment, and those who want a really competitive new enchantment, whether it's derivative or not. My suggestion for both sides is that the best place to look might be unexplored design space. Really, in my opinion, that's what made Crucible of Worlds end up so playable: it had an effect on it that hadn't been done before, so they costed it aggressively. Additionally, you have to remember that R&D gets to pick the ten designs that get voted on, so designs that do something out of the box are far more likely to succeed in making it to the point that they can get voted on.
Order actually doesn't matter for this one, other than the intermediate steps (where you have one or two of them out, but not the others). That's because dependencies require that they generally apply in the order of Enchanted Evening -> Opalescence -> Humility, if all three are out.
Off the top of my head, the easiest rule might be "cards in the modern frame, excepting those whose modern printings are only available in premium." That eliminates to the best of my knowledge all the Judge and DCI promos, and all the other cards (Maze, Library) that have been printed in From the Vault/Commander's Arsenal, while still allowing players that want to buy a pre-con commander deck to have theirs legal in modern commander.
Basically, any idea you have for an enchantment that isn't interesting without its aggressive mana cost needs to be reevaluated, given probably won't even get a vote on the cost. What we will get to vote on is the mechanic, so think of ones that will either A) be interesting regardless of what cost it's given, or B) be likely to be costed lower.
To be fair, it's as likely to get printed as about 90% of the suggestions in here. I mean, they aren't going to let us break the color pie, they're probably not going to have us reprint something with a different cost, and they're not going to let us break the game, so...
I think an important thing to do is to separate the position from the person arguing it. Personally, I dislike many of the things Wending is saying, but the initial idea is an interesting experiment, so I'm willing to support it but not his arguments for it, if that's understandable.
I think serious thought should be given to Sheldon's idea of holding onto anything reprinted in Planechase or the Commander decks, both old and new. That criteria helps ensure that quite a few of the interesting multiplayer cards are held onto, and makes the whole "modern card frame means legal" division even easier to grok, given it now pretty much applies in all cases. Heck, I might even be willing to make the argument that adding things printed in stuff like the Premium Deck series could be used, given the proliferation of some cards from that.
I believe the exact wording was that they take EDH into consideration when designing legendary creatures, which doesn't mean they're all designed to slot directly into EDH decks. For example, Obzedat, Ghost Council was stated to be specifically designed for standard, with them making adjustments such as boosting his p/t by one so he could get hit by Selesnya Charm. I think that the taking EDH into consideration is more likely to be reflected by the avoidance of things like Iname as One type effects, and the fact that there will be more legendary creatures aimed at EDH, than the assumption that every legendary will be designed for EDH.
Personally, I'm doubtful of the claim that control decks would not be viable. They might become something more of board control, since many of the best wraths would not rotate, and I don't think aggro is any more likely to break through the forty life barrier in modern, especially in multiplayer.
Edit: I also agree that card advantage would become even more important, given the nature of the format. Personally, I think that might make it more fun, but I may be the odd duck out.
Yes, in a competitive format, that wouldn't be a banning criteria. EDH is not a competitive format. It's not intended to be, and the Rules Council isn't going to change their entire philosophy so people have a few more toys to play with. That said, if you really think it isn't going to be a problem, talk to your local playgroup, and convince them.
Order actually doesn't matter for this one, other than the intermediate steps (where you have one or two of them out, but not the others). That's because dependencies require that they generally apply in the order of Enchanted Evening -> Opalescence -> Humility, if all three are out.