I'm thinking I'm less interested in the next set than Battle for Zendikar just looking at those mana symbols in that casting cost. Look, I don't play Standard, but you can tell that BfZ has made the least impact on Standard a new set has ever made in Standard's existence. I can't recall a new set coming out and making a little impact as it did. While I don't think this set was nearly as bad as Homelands, Coldsnap, or Prophecy... this block is in my view shaping up to be the poorest design-wise in recent memory. At least it's only one more set in this block.
This is the type of Magic I consider myself be versed in. Basically for the last 17-18 years I played a casual 60 card game with varied levels of skill players. We would separate player as best we can with a beginner level table, an intermediate level, and a expert level table. Over the years it has dwindled down, some years good, some bad, but now... we are left with barely two tables worth of players. The small group of 3 to 5 Commander players and the small group of 60 card casual players of 5 to 6, myself included. I would say that we could or should compromise but some guys lack the wallet, lack the desire, or some are too infrequent to attend in order for us even to do that.
Commander inadvertently has devoured the 60 card casual game in my area but I'm not particularly sad about it at this stage of my life.
(Random thoughts while scanning through spoiler...)
-It's definitely a set designed for limited. I think there's no argument with that statement.
-Interesting cards for Commander... but you can say that about almost ANY set.
-Oh look another Gideon...at least this one (finally) doesn't suck. (Face the facts Wizards... NO ONE cares about Gideon, no one likes him. #ReviveElspeth )
-I like Drana and Ob Nixilis.
-Most non-mythic rares suck. Or are just slightly worse reprints. See: Ruinous Path...
-Yet, Black is strong in this set.
-YAY! I can play eight Creeping Molds!
-The "Retreat to..." enchantment cycle is good.
-Sylvan Scrying reprint. Thank you.
-I think Noyan Dar is the sleeper rare.
-Lands, and lands, and lands...oh my.
-Don't like that these dual don't interact well with other non-basics, but if creates another viable alternative path for building mana-bases that's a positive for the game. Building an efficient two-color manabase SHOULD be affordable. Too many times mana-bases cost more the spells in a deck.
-Full art basic lands. Cool.
-Titan's Presence is actually a really good card thematically and functionally.
-Colorless removal in general is neat.
-The whole exile and ingest gimmick feels like an unnecessary side game. I don't like it.
-Landfall is slightly more underwhelming this time around...They've learned...
-Converge sucks. Look, they tried with Sunburst and failed. (Except Engineered Explosives). Domain was truly the only mechanic that steered people to play 5 color decks. I'll take Allied Strategies and Worldly Counsels any day of the week. (Was it too much to ask to reprint Harrow again?)
-Someone needs to build a deck with all odd number casting cost cards and Void Winnower and call the deck Oddworld.
Not the worst set I've ever seen. Its a big set, but feels like a complementary set. Too many eldrazi, they feel watered down, weakened, and useless. If I wanted to ramp up and play big scary creatures, I want to smash face. Not play around with their exiled crap and give them a chance to comeback.
Grade: C+ because new dual lands and lands that do cool things.
As much I personally dislike Modern, it isn't fair to say that Modern isn't diverse...I think you mean something else...
Just looking at the recent Top 8's and all the Top 8's from big Modern format tournaments this year in total...the field is diverse enough...for now. As new sets are introduced I hope they breath some new life in Modern, otherwise then they'll be a problem for the health of the format going forward because as it stands Modern does still have its problems.
Similar Decks:
I personally see a big difference between Abzan and Jund Midrange decks that make either stand out from the other. Bant Hexproof and Infect decks play themselves out exactly the same way, the only difference is that one deck wants to deal 10 damage instead of 20. 3 variants of the combo with Splinter Twin does not make 3 different archtypes.
Really Familiar Decks:
Affinity has been around...forever, as have Burn, Merfolk, and Zoo. All existed long before Modern was even a thing. Meanwhile Splinter Twin has been a staple of the format since the inception of the format. Innovation is slow in this format.
Repetitive History/Philosophy with the Banned List:
2011-12: Blazing Shoal, Green Sun's Zenith, Rite of Flame, Ponder, Preordain
2013: Seething Song, Second Sunrise
2015: Birthing Pod, Dig Through Time, Treasure Cruise
I personally think their philosophy is awful when comes to the banned list..but that's a can of worms we need not go into. But we can infer the following from the banned list.
WotC thinks drawing cards is bad. Tutoring cards or search engines are bad. Cards that facilitate combo decks are bad. While I agree on some points, I think they could take a different approach to curb(stomp) those combo decks... but I digress.
So the word I think you're looking for?
Stale.
Stale is the word I think you're looking for. We've seen this before. We've seen the staple decks of Modern all before and there hasn't been much innovation.
Now I admit, that Goryo's Vengeance combo deck is actually pretty creative. Amulet Bloom is another creative deck. Birthing Pod reminded me off the days when I played Survival of the Fittest if only it didn't devolve into combos with almost impossible layers of redundancy. Collective Company has revived one old archetype in Elves... but bought back the specter of Birthing Pod combo decks. You would feel much better about this amount of innovation if they weren't all combo decks. And despite WotC's, uh, efforts...I feel like we're doomed to repeat history again with another round of bannings to weed out the combo decks and it's a shame that it has to be this way.
Compound this, with the risen inflation in prices that prevents some who want to try Modern. I still don't see a healthy, thriving format...4 years and counting.
Do you think the addition of Commander as a sanctioned format for Friday Night Magic was a good idea in terms of growing the format? Do you think that this conflicts with the mentality of being a casual format? Do you think Commander is beginner-friendly?
I preface these questions, in that I personally have been playing for a very long time. I am significantly older than most of the players at the local store that I go to (I have been playing longer than some have been alive...), as are most of the players at my local store who identify themselves as Commander format players. The young ones don't seem to gravitate to it, and I can see the disconnect when the older, more experienced players who have larger collections of cards are essentially the competition for the younger players. It's unintentional, but intimidating for them. And we do the best we can to separate them, when and if we can. Most do not show up when we do Commander games or we try to run a 60-card format separately for them, again when we can. Obviously we want new blood, and new players for Commander, but in my experience and my point of view the young players don't take to the format. Thoughts?
The problem most people agree that control has is : there is no benefit to drawing out the game
I can think of one possible benefit. Potential extra revenue for Wizards from ads from Youtube vods and Twitch feeds as a result of longer games. I hear you kids like watching people play games rather than play them yourselves these days...
This weird narrative of creatures being bad needs to end. Let's look back at the years 98, 99, 00, 01 and those standard seasons with broken spells like Tinker, Brainstorm, Dark Rit, Survival, and Bargain. Not only were those cards really good and present for winning decks, but lo and behold a plethora of creature decks that helped define those formats like Sligh (whose creatures aren't nearly good enough for today's standard), Stompy, Machine Head, Fires, GW aggro, and RG Angry Hermit. Extended had decks like Dump Truck, Junk, and Stompy also doing well. Creatures have always been important and good enough, but now they're way ahead compared to spells.
Ah... the glory days of Extended. Red Deck Wins, Goblins, Affinity, UG Madness, Psychatog, The Rock, Reanimator, Scepter-Chant, Aluren, Mind's Desire, Sutured Ghoul, Life Combo... all in one format, all at the same time, all them legit. I'm sorry but this is the standard by which I regard a format as diverse. The early 2000's in Extended. We may never see the likes of a format like at that time ever again. It's a shame if you weren't old enough to experience that, and when I mean "you" I mean anyone reading this.
And yet Modern is one of the most enjoyable formats that I know. I wouldn't trade it for anything else really.
I don't want to be that guy but if people are dissatisfied they are free to leave. There are enough different formats so you will likely find something that you truly enjoy. That's why there are different formats in the first place.
The constant complaining and doomsaying is just getting on the nerves of the people who actually enjoy the format.
Wizards gathers data from everywhere. If enough people leave Wizards will see that and know that something is wrong.
Everything is either Standard or Commander in my area. Those are my choices. And in many areas it would not shock if that is the same case. People love Commander, most of the people I know who play Magic, some long time players have flat out abandoned playing 60 card Magic and for them it's kept them playing. Standard has been the format for the past 3 to 5 years there's no mistake in that. Old Extended had it's day... way, way back in the day. Vintage came back to life when SCG used to do those P9 Tournaments. Then of course Wizards basically went all-in on Standard. The marketed the hell out of that format and although they did go through some rough spots design-wise, eventually, in time... it grew into the what is now. The force that drives Magic. Standard is in it's prime right now, Old Extended had it's day, Legacy did, Vintage did. ...Modern hasn't yet, not in it's four years of existence. And where I see the problem is that the casual player nowadays is not making the leap into more competitive scenes like they used to. My scope is bit more limited, but overall and I have been to other stores and FNM is down in attendance in my area. Some stores have dropped FNM entirely, others have closed. And the situation is partially due to blame unintentionally because of Commander. And good for Commander players, it shows that the casual gamer has some real influence now.
So, when you are trying to grow Modern, and the format is stale, or in a constant state of fixing, and there is and already growing population of casual Magic players playing a far cheaper format that by the way WotC openly endorses...how exactly to you sell Modern right now? I'll admit, I don't understand the appeal of Modern, and I get that the pros need something else to play other than Standard or Limited, but when I look at the schedule for 2015 it's mostly Standard and Limited...so what's Wizards plan? The fact is I don't have to sell anyone the idea of playing Standard. Standard is the standard. It is the format you most likely be playing universally anywhere if you want to play Magic.
I don't want any format to die, I didn't want Extended to die. But... I do think Modern needs to be torn down and started over. Releasing old cards in a set every year at $10, is not how you grow a format.
That is the fate of Modern. Nothing you can do about it.
I can't help but feel the same sense of cynicism when I think about Modern. From the get-go Modern has been a mess. A sudden change right before a Pro Tour format where Extended was finally axed. Wizards definitely, desperately needed a new format, it's just bungled it's creation and implementation.
Modern has a banned list that quite frankly whether agree or it or not, was based purely on guess. No testing, no trial period, no consideration based on any actual results. It was guess. They didn't know for sure that the banned list was indeed correct and honestly we still don't really know.
The banned list for Modern is contrived.
Whether you agree with the current list or any of the cards being there or not, it is still a contrived list. And despite their uh... best guess, Infect, Storm, and...Twin?, I believe dominated the Top 8 and 16 of the first Modern format pro tourney. Then we went throught the period of Jund, then it was deemed too powerful, then Storm's power level was lowered, then Second Breakfast needed to be nerfed, then Pod, and now... have we reached another round where Wizards needs to "fix" the format? How much longer until they admit they have ****ed it up. Or better yet, how about this? How long until they stop fighting the player-base who clearly has rejected Wizard's view on how Modern should be played? I don't see Modern as a healthy format because Wizards is so out of touch with their players with this format. I don't an extension of Standard, if I wanted that I'll just go play Standard. And I really think it's deplorable that Wizards is cashing in on a lot of people who I view as suckers with Modern Masters at $10 a pack. (Sure it is great to draft, yes. Does nothing to generate interest in Modern, IMO.) Modern is a sad state. I don't see how they "fix" it.
Commander inadvertently has devoured the 60 card casual game in my area but I'm not particularly sad about it at this stage of my life.
Cateran Summons
-It's definitely a set designed for limited. I think there's no argument with that statement.
-Interesting cards for Commander... but you can say that about almost ANY set.
-Oh look another Gideon...at least this one (finally) doesn't suck. (Face the facts Wizards... NO ONE cares about Gideon, no one likes him. #ReviveElspeth )
-I like Drana and Ob Nixilis.
-Most non-mythic rares suck. Or are just slightly worse reprints. See: Ruinous Path...
-Yet, Black is strong in this set.
-YAY! I can play eight Creeping Molds!
-The "Retreat to..." enchantment cycle is good.
-Sylvan Scrying reprint. Thank you.
-I think Noyan Dar is the sleeper rare.
-Lands, and lands, and lands...oh my.
-Don't like that these dual don't interact well with other non-basics, but if creates another viable alternative path for building mana-bases that's a positive for the game. Building an efficient two-color manabase SHOULD be affordable. Too many times mana-bases cost more the spells in a deck.
-Full art basic lands. Cool.
-Titan's Presence is actually a really good card thematically and functionally.
-Colorless removal in general is neat.
-The whole exile and ingest gimmick feels like an unnecessary side game. I don't like it.
-Landfall is slightly more underwhelming this time around...They've learned...
-Converge sucks. Look, they tried with Sunburst and failed. (Except Engineered Explosives). Domain was truly the only mechanic that steered people to play 5 color decks. I'll take Allied Strategies and Worldly Counsels any day of the week. (Was it too much to ask to reprint Harrow again?)
-Someone needs to build a deck with all odd number casting cost cards and Void Winnower and call the deck Oddworld.
Not the worst set I've ever seen. Its a big set, but feels like a complementary set. Too many eldrazi, they feel watered down, weakened, and useless. If I wanted to ramp up and play big scary creatures, I want to smash face. Not play around with their exiled crap and give them a chance to comeback.
Grade: C+ because new dual lands and lands that do cool things.
...**** Modern.
Shard Phoenix.
Bottomless Pit
Just looking at the recent Top 8's and all the Top 8's from big Modern format tournaments this year in total...the field is diverse enough...for now. As new sets are introduced I hope they breath some new life in Modern, otherwise then they'll be a problem for the health of the format going forward because as it stands Modern does still have its problems.
Similar Decks:
I personally see a big difference between Abzan and Jund Midrange decks that make either stand out from the other. Bant Hexproof and Infect decks play themselves out exactly the same way, the only difference is that one deck wants to deal 10 damage instead of 20. 3 variants of the combo with Splinter Twin does not make 3 different archtypes.
Really Familiar Decks:
Affinity has been around...forever, as have Burn, Merfolk, and Zoo. All existed long before Modern was even a thing. Meanwhile Splinter Twin has been a staple of the format since the inception of the format. Innovation is slow in this format.
Repetitive History/Philosophy with the Banned List:
2011-12: Blazing Shoal, Green Sun's Zenith, Rite of Flame, Ponder, Preordain
2013: Seething Song, Second Sunrise
2015: Birthing Pod, Dig Through Time, Treasure Cruise
I personally think their philosophy is awful when comes to the banned list..but that's a can of worms we need not go into. But we can infer the following from the banned list.
WotC thinks drawing cards is bad. Tutoring cards or search engines are bad. Cards that facilitate combo decks are bad. While I agree on some points, I think they could take a different approach to curb(stomp) those combo decks... but I digress.
So the word I think you're looking for?
Stale.
Stale is the word I think you're looking for. We've seen this before. We've seen the staple decks of Modern all before and there hasn't been much innovation.
Now I admit, that Goryo's Vengeance combo deck is actually pretty creative. Amulet Bloom is another creative deck. Birthing Pod reminded me off the days when I played Survival of the Fittest if only it didn't devolve into combos with almost impossible layers of redundancy. Collective Company has revived one old archetype in Elves... but bought back the specter of Birthing Pod combo decks. You would feel much better about this amount of innovation if they weren't all combo decks. And despite WotC's, uh, efforts...I feel like we're doomed to repeat history again with another round of bannings to weed out the combo decks and it's a shame that it has to be this way.
Compound this, with the risen inflation in prices that prevents some who want to try Modern. I still don't see a healthy, thriving format...4 years and counting.
I preface these questions, in that I personally have been playing for a very long time. I am significantly older than most of the players at the local store that I go to (I have been playing longer than some have been alive...), as are most of the players at my local store who identify themselves as Commander format players. The young ones don't seem to gravitate to it, and I can see the disconnect when the older, more experienced players who have larger collections of cards are essentially the competition for the younger players. It's unintentional, but intimidating for them. And we do the best we can to separate them, when and if we can. Most do not show up when we do Commander games or we try to run a 60-card format separately for them, again when we can. Obviously we want new blood, and new players for Commander, but in my experience and my point of view the young players don't take to the format. Thoughts?
I can think of one possible benefit. Potential extra revenue for Wizards from ads from Youtube vods and Twitch feeds as a result of longer games. I hear you kids like watching people play games rather than play them yourselves these days...
Ah... the glory days of Extended. Red Deck Wins, Goblins, Affinity, UG Madness, Psychatog, The Rock, Reanimator, Scepter-Chant, Aluren, Mind's Desire, Sutured Ghoul, Life Combo... all in one format, all at the same time, all them legit. I'm sorry but this is the standard by which I regard a format as diverse. The early 2000's in Extended. We may never see the likes of a format like at that time ever again. It's a shame if you weren't old enough to experience that, and when I mean "you" I mean anyone reading this.
Everything is either Standard or Commander in my area. Those are my choices. And in many areas it would not shock if that is the same case. People love Commander, most of the people I know who play Magic, some long time players have flat out abandoned playing 60 card Magic and for them it's kept them playing. Standard has been the format for the past 3 to 5 years there's no mistake in that. Old Extended had it's day... way, way back in the day. Vintage came back to life when SCG used to do those P9 Tournaments. Then of course Wizards basically went all-in on Standard. The marketed the hell out of that format and although they did go through some rough spots design-wise, eventually, in time... it grew into the what is now. The force that drives Magic. Standard is in it's prime right now, Old Extended had it's day, Legacy did, Vintage did. ...Modern hasn't yet, not in it's four years of existence. And where I see the problem is that the casual player nowadays is not making the leap into more competitive scenes like they used to. My scope is bit more limited, but overall and I have been to other stores and FNM is down in attendance in my area. Some stores have dropped FNM entirely, others have closed. And the situation is partially due to blame unintentionally because of Commander. And good for Commander players, it shows that the casual gamer has some real influence now.
So, when you are trying to grow Modern, and the format is stale, or in a constant state of fixing, and there is and already growing population of casual Magic players playing a far cheaper format that by the way WotC openly endorses...how exactly to you sell Modern right now? I'll admit, I don't understand the appeal of Modern, and I get that the pros need something else to play other than Standard or Limited, but when I look at the schedule for 2015 it's mostly Standard and Limited...so what's Wizards plan? The fact is I don't have to sell anyone the idea of playing Standard. Standard is the standard. It is the format you most likely be playing universally anywhere if you want to play Magic.
I don't want any format to die, I didn't want Extended to die. But... I do think Modern needs to be torn down and started over. Releasing old cards in a set every year at $10, is not how you grow a format.
I can't help but feel the same sense of cynicism when I think about Modern. From the get-go Modern has been a mess. A sudden change right before a Pro Tour format where Extended was finally axed. Wizards definitely, desperately needed a new format, it's just bungled it's creation and implementation.
Modern has a banned list that quite frankly whether agree or it or not, was based purely on guess. No testing, no trial period, no consideration based on any actual results. It was guess. They didn't know for sure that the banned list was indeed correct and honestly we still don't really know.
The banned list for Modern is contrived.
Whether you agree with the current list or any of the cards being there or not, it is still a contrived list. And despite their uh... best guess, Infect, Storm, and...Twin?, I believe dominated the Top 8 and 16 of the first Modern format pro tourney. Then we went throught the period of Jund, then it was deemed too powerful, then Storm's power level was lowered, then Second Breakfast needed to be nerfed, then Pod, and now... have we reached another round where Wizards needs to "fix" the format? How much longer until they admit they have ****ed it up. Or better yet, how about this? How long until they stop fighting the player-base who clearly has rejected Wizard's view on how Modern should be played? I don't see Modern as a healthy format because Wizards is so out of touch with their players with this format. I don't an extension of Standard, if I wanted that I'll just go play Standard. And I really think it's deplorable that Wizards is cashing in on a lot of people who I view as suckers with Modern Masters at $10 a pack. (Sure it is great to draft, yes. Does nothing to generate interest in Modern, IMO.) Modern is a sad state. I don't see how they "fix" it.