The winning deck was UW Eldrazi. How can Affinity beat this? Or anyone? Eldrazi Displacer can bounce our Ravagers, recur all of their ETB triggers, 3 Stony Silence and 2 Disenchant in the board, 4 path & 2 Dismember main as well as the token making Eldrazi. Maybe now is not the right time to be playing Affinity
What I've learned from the Pro Tour is that Infect is the next deck to get banned.
He is Jon Finkel, destroyer of decks...
I actually think that both Infect and Amulet of Vigor have a chance to eat bannings should their meta percentages increase.
Both probably win a bit too often before turn 4 for Wizards liking. The only reason that has kept them safe so far is that they were not top tier.
Hell Justin Cohen said right on camera that he got a turn 1 kill in the tournament and that he keeps a Simian Spirit Guide in his deck because he likes to have a turn 1 kill in his deck.
Does that require a nut draw? Sure but that is still very dangerous territory.
No worse than a Burn player facing a Turn Zero Leyline of Sanctity
this weekend in italy many differents prePTQ.
in 3 of them 3 UTRON in top8. (1 won).
LISTS:
Why do people run Minamo School at Water's Edge? Just curious is all. Are there any even any other legendary permanents? Or is it just another blue, non-island?
Recently I've been having trouble with Junk lists. How do you beat them, especially the one that runs Birds of Paradise and Swords? Turn 2 Liliana while I'm on the draw is so brutal, and the card draw from the Swords is hard to stop. I find that sometimes I just do not have enough removal for creature-based decks. Sometimes I even consider splashing another color for more removal. Would that dilute our game plan a bit too much?
Spell Pierce is quite good out of the board - the meta might make it better in the main as its good against a lot of the aggro decks too, until they begin to play around it, but that should buy you time anyway. Other tech includes Squelch, Aetherize, Pithing Needle and Trickbind. I would also consider Mana Leak over Remand or a split of the two.
I have been splashing white just for Chained to the Rocks which has really improved the midrange match ups, GW aggro and Mono Blue Devotion which seem to be Rabble Red's tougher match ups.
Drown in Sorrow is a cheap enough sweeper that ignores regenerate, protection and indestructible. Anger of the Gods is better in the decks that can afford the mana. For non-red decks Drown in Sorrowis an acceptable alternative.
I understand that that logic isn't your argument and others have also raised a similar perspective, not necessarily claiming it as their own. It is a terrible argument regardless of the source though. If Wizards want to sell packs, they will require a mass of worthy cards in each set for people to justify spending the money on the booster lottery.
If Wizards are claiming that the Pro Tour sells packs because it is Standard format then it would follow the logic that the Journey Block Pro Tour sells Theros Block packs - It didn't. If there are good cards in a set not only will it sell itself, but it can be showcased at a Modern PT in the same way that Pro Tour RTR was Modern and featured a tonne of new RTR cards. The problem is that there are only a few tier 2 decks that aren't RTR block heavy. All of the top decks are M14/RTR Block heavy. Take the M14 & RTR Block cards out of Mono Blue Devotion and you're left with around 10 cards. Mono Black Devotion? 15 cards. GW Aggro? 15 cards. UW Control? 7 or so cards.
This isn't to say that rotation will see the end of these archetypes or that Khans won't bring other great cards and new archetypes, but the fact that there are no tier 1 decks in standard that can even exist similarly to their current builds shows just how poor the design of the set is. Wizards may argue that the player base has failed to take advantage of the gems that they have hidden throughout the set, but the pros and the brewers share some pretty serious levels of collective intelligence and skill and would have discovered if something is broken and abusable. Instead we have had the same 3 top tier decks for over 9 months, with only RW Burn having moved from a fringe deck to a genuine tier 1 deck. A further example of this is that Craig Wescoe's GW deck that he took to the M15 PT closely resembles the deck he won Block PT Dragon's Maze with over 12 months ago.
"Theros sold lots of packs/boxes and had a Standard Pro Tour, getting people interested. Born of the Gods and Journey into Nyx did not sell as many packs/boxes as expected and did not have a Standard Pro Tour to get/keep people interested. Therefore, it was the lack of a Pro Tour that kept those sets from selling more packs/boxes. Every Standard set in the future therefore needs its own Pro Tour to get/keep people interested and sell more packs/boxes."
I couldn't come up with a less rational or logical argument. How much more of a showcase of a set can you possibly get than a Block Pro Tour? The weakness of the block is to blame. Compare to RTR for example, with cards that have slotted in to modern at one point or another:
And that is just RTR, Gatecrash and Dragons Maze also added a few important cards to Modern too. There would be lucky to be 5 cards that aren't reprints in Theros block that are regulars in modern decks.
The winning deck was UW Eldrazi. How can Affinity beat this? Or anyone? Eldrazi Displacer can bounce our Ravagers, recur all of their ETB triggers, 3 Stony Silence and 2 Disenchant in the board, 4 path & 2 Dismember main as well as the token making Eldrazi.
No worse than a Burn player facing a Turn Zero Leyline of Sanctity
Why do people run Minamo School at Water's Edge? Just curious is all. Are there any even any other legendary permanents? Or is it just another blue, non-island?
Spell Pierce is quite good out of the board - the meta might make it better in the main as its good against a lot of the aggro decks too, until they begin to play around it, but that should buy you time anyway. Other tech includes Squelch, Aetherize, Pithing Needle and Trickbind. I would also consider Mana Leak over Remand or a split of the two.
If Wizards are claiming that the Pro Tour sells packs because it is Standard format then it would follow the logic that the Journey Block Pro Tour sells Theros Block packs - It didn't. If there are good cards in a set not only will it sell itself, but it can be showcased at a Modern PT in the same way that Pro Tour RTR was Modern and featured a tonne of new RTR cards. The problem is that there are only a few tier 2 decks that aren't RTR block heavy. All of the top decks are M14/RTR Block heavy. Take the M14 & RTR Block cards out of Mono Blue Devotion and you're left with around 10 cards. Mono Black Devotion? 15 cards. GW Aggro? 15 cards. UW Control? 7 or so cards.
This isn't to say that rotation will see the end of these archetypes or that Khans won't bring other great cards and new archetypes, but the fact that there are no tier 1 decks in standard that can even exist similarly to their current builds shows just how poor the design of the set is. Wizards may argue that the player base has failed to take advantage of the gems that they have hidden throughout the set, but the pros and the brewers share some pretty serious levels of collective intelligence and skill and would have discovered if something is broken and abusable. Instead we have had the same 3 top tier decks for over 9 months, with only RW Burn having moved from a fringe deck to a genuine tier 1 deck. A further example of this is that Craig Wescoe's GW deck that he took to the M15 PT closely resembles the deck he won Block PT Dragon's Maze with over 12 months ago.
I couldn't come up with a less rational or logical argument. How much more of a showcase of a set can you possibly get than a Block Pro Tour? The weakness of the block is to blame. Compare to RTR for example, with cards that have slotted in to modern at one point or another:
Shocklands (A reprint that is good for $$ reasons)
The uncounterable cycle - Abrupt Decay, Counterflux and Loxodon Smiter. To a lesser extent Supreme Verdict and Slaughter Games
The Charm Cycle - Izzet Charm and Rakdos Charm probably seeing the most play
Then there are these cards:
Dryad Militant, Goblin Electromancer, Izzet Staticaster, Detention Sphere, Mizzium skin, Vandalblast, Aetherize, Sundering Growth, Ethereal Armour, Putrefy, Shreiking Affliction, Rest in Peace, and of course Deathrite Shaman
There are other important reprints like Dispel and Pithing Needle
And that is just RTR, Gatecrash and Dragons Maze also added a few important cards to Modern too. There would be lucky to be 5 cards that aren't reprints in Theros block that are regulars in modern decks.