I think new frames (2003 - present) are the worst thing that happened to magic, really, the worst
Of course, the artwork has become hideous as well (at least most of it, there are exceptions, but the ones that survive get killed by the frame), too much digital, too much gloss and brightness, no variability (I remember when artists had their distinctive style on mtg cards), looks too much like an ugly world of warcraft universe.
I only collect old frame cards, especially really old ones which have the best artwork on them.
Gamewise I think magic is still very good, especially in limited (though I could go for hours on the many problems I have with how the game developed)
That all being said, I started playing almost 15 years ago, could be my old player bias, but I just wish at least some cards could get printed in the old border, not asking for that much..
It is a quite a surprise to me find this thread. Ill explain
Back in 2009, I created a deck that has pretty much the same core mechanics as the time walk decks being discussed here. I really liked the deck as it was decently competitive, but most of all, great fun (and difficult) to play with.
I quit playing mtg shortly after and never got to develop the deck to its full potential. I've recently came back to playing through a friend of mine and decided to try to rework the deck to the modern format (I believe back then it was extended?), and this is when I found this thread
So, for curiosity's sake, here is the decklist I used to play with (from memory, some numbers might be off). The main difference I see is that I used Rude Awakening as my win condition (which worked great), unfortunately the card is no longer modern legal.
4 breeding pool
4 flooded grove (I believe there was no misty rainforest back then?)
15 island
4 ancestral vision
4 boomerang
4 jace beleren
4 howling mine
2 kami of the crescent moon
4 gigadrowse
4 exhaustion
4 time warp
4 reclaim
3 rude awakening
There is no sideboard because I cant really remember it. What I do remember is that I lost to burn all the time, there was simply no way around it. I tried sun droplet but it just didnt work. I really had no major problem against fast aggro decks, unless they played too many burns, but I am seeing many lists here without gigadrowse or exhaustion, I dont think I would have fared well against aggro decks without those. The deck worked more as a tempo than a combo deck, your goal was simply to survive until turn 8 when you would use rude awakening for the win (with your opponent tapped out), so some cards like boomerang worked really well.
One card I have seen no mention of is ancestral vision. I dont think I ever lost a game on the play where I had boomerang and ancestral vision in opening hand and my opp failed to play a turn 1 threat. This is rather situational I must agree, but it is generally a strong card if you go for the gigadrowse/exhaustion route. Keep in mind that because of cards like gigadrowse, ancestral vision etc, the deck was truly hard to pilot, to be quite honest, it was the most difficult deck Ive ever played with, which kind of attracts me, but at the same time, lost me a fair number of games even though I consider myself a rather good player.
The main problem I see is trying to find a good win condition to replace the rude awakening, the main cards I see right now are maybe geist or tassa, but both seem a lot less robust. Part the waterveil might do the trick, only testing will tell.
Another problem this version of the deck had is that, while it won most g1s, it did not do so well post sideboard. Maybe it was just my crappy sideboard options, or do other people feel the deck really weakens post sb?
Glad to see this archetype has been reworked independently and found at least some results. Will be checking out the new cards and see if I can make a version work for me.
Of course, the artwork has become hideous as well (at least most of it, there are exceptions, but the ones that survive get killed by the frame), too much digital, too much gloss and brightness, no variability (I remember when artists had their distinctive style on mtg cards), looks too much like an ugly world of warcraft universe.
I only collect old frame cards, especially really old ones which have the best artwork on them.
Gamewise I think magic is still very good, especially in limited (though I could go for hours on the many problems I have with how the game developed)
That all being said, I started playing almost 15 years ago, could be my old player bias, but I just wish at least some cards could get printed in the old border, not asking for that much..
It is a quite a surprise to me find this thread. Ill explain
Back in 2009, I created a deck that has pretty much the same core mechanics as the time walk decks being discussed here. I really liked the deck as it was decently competitive, but most of all, great fun (and difficult) to play with.
I quit playing mtg shortly after and never got to develop the deck to its full potential. I've recently came back to playing through a friend of mine and decided to try to rework the deck to the modern format (I believe back then it was extended?), and this is when I found this thread
So, for curiosity's sake, here is the decklist I used to play with (from memory, some numbers might be off). The main difference I see is that I used Rude Awakening as my win condition (which worked great), unfortunately the card is no longer modern legal.
4 breeding pool
4 flooded grove (I believe there was no misty rainforest back then?)
15 island
4 ancestral vision
4 boomerang
4 jace beleren
4 howling mine
2 kami of the crescent moon
4 gigadrowse
4 exhaustion
4 time warp
4 reclaim
3 rude awakening
There is no sideboard because I cant really remember it. What I do remember is that I lost to burn all the time, there was simply no way around it. I tried sun droplet but it just didnt work. I really had no major problem against fast aggro decks, unless they played too many burns, but I am seeing many lists here without gigadrowse or exhaustion, I dont think I would have fared well against aggro decks without those. The deck worked more as a tempo than a combo deck, your goal was simply to survive until turn 8 when you would use rude awakening for the win (with your opponent tapped out), so some cards like boomerang worked really well.
One card I have seen no mention of is ancestral vision. I dont think I ever lost a game on the play where I had boomerang and ancestral vision in opening hand and my opp failed to play a turn 1 threat. This is rather situational I must agree, but it is generally a strong card if you go for the gigadrowse/exhaustion route. Keep in mind that because of cards like gigadrowse, ancestral vision etc, the deck was truly hard to pilot, to be quite honest, it was the most difficult deck Ive ever played with, which kind of attracts me, but at the same time, lost me a fair number of games even though I consider myself a rather good player.
The main problem I see is trying to find a good win condition to replace the rude awakening, the main cards I see right now are maybe geist or tassa, but both seem a lot less robust. Part the waterveil might do the trick, only testing will tell.
Another problem this version of the deck had is that, while it won most g1s, it did not do so well post sideboard. Maybe it was just my crappy sideboard options, or do other people feel the deck really weakens post sb?
Glad to see this archetype has been reworked independently and found at least some results. Will be checking out the new cards and see if I can make a version work for me.
All the best