A Pithing Needle reprint would have stopped Cat Combo cold, but alas, it hurts Wizards other token gatewatch walkers and we can't have that... There are multiple other combo answers that could have been reprinted, that wouldn't warp the format either, just keep combo in check, but Wizards won't make them or reprint them. It's literally their own fault for trying to massage the format into what they want it to be for sales and attendance.
In a truly healthy standard, combo, control, aggro, midrange are all well represented. Cat Combo was not broken, at all. Wizards destroyed control, neutered fast mana, and got rid of pretty much any playable hand disruption that could get at the combo before it comes online. Hence why I hate the decision to drop the Core Sets. Love them or hate them, core sets are the PERFECT place to keep answers to upcoming power creep cards in check, Lightning Bolt, Duress, Mana Leak, Condemn/Path, nothing new, nothing broken, just answers that balance a format going forward. It isn't that hard R&D...
Control might be resurfacing given the new tools from Amonkhet, namely Essence Scatter and Censor. But how was cat combo NOT broken? A deck that can win out of nocons is and limits consistent your play pros isn't broken?
I think Wizards' neutering control was intentional and I think for good reason: it doesn't showcase new cards as well on Twitch and more importantly, it's not fun to play against.
Not to mention those instances where a control deck can drag a game out forever and then securing a win at the last minute and then walking away with a match win just because time ran out. Why should that person get points for an entire match when everyone else had to win two games? That is not fair and using a deck like that should be a DQ for slow play.
So the only things not unfair and fun are things you enjoy playing and playing against? Is that seriously what this game has come to?
If Magic degenerates any further into midrange turn monsters sideways decks for the sake of product placement on the interwebs then count me out. I played through combo winter, actually enjoyed playing Necropotence. I played through Saber Bargain when people hated Yawgmoth's Will, played through Affinity and it's hate. Each time those willing to play control or fringe aggro strategies feasted on the combo decks. Variety matters. No Cat Combo was not broken. A seven mana investment that dies immediately to removal, countermagic, or hand disruption is not broken. It's just very good. The fact that the answers in standard are lacking doesn't make the combo any more or less broken. Yawgmoth's Will, Yawgmoth's Bargain, Skirge Familiar, Dark Ritual, Grim Monolith that can win turn turn 2, that combo was broken, Channel Fireball was broken.
Slow play is a completely different issue and should be handled at the judge level. It doesn't matter what deck strategy they are playing, it's unfun for everyone involved against a slow player. Control being unfun to play against is your opinion. I enjoy it because it takes careful situational play analysis that turning dudes sideways doesn't. To each their own. But standard is dying because no one is happy with the format not being what they want it to be.
In a truly healthy standard, combo, control, aggro, midrange are all well represented. Cat Combo was not broken, at all. Wizards destroyed control, neutered fast mana, and got rid of pretty much any playable hand disruption that could get at the combo before it comes online. Hence why I hate the decision to drop the Core Sets. Love them or hate them, core sets are the PERFECT place to keep answers to upcoming power creep cards in check, Lightning Bolt, Duress, Mana Leak, Condemn/Path, nothing new, nothing broken, just answers that balance a format going forward. It isn't that hard R&D...
It would have been ok if those answers that would have been in the core set were spread throughout the regular sets. Instead we just get Evolving Wilds, Mind Rot, and Cancel printed in every block.
Right. I mean outside of combo winter back in the early days, and the craziness that was skullclamp, we actually HAD answers to combo. Standard is usually a rock, paper, scissors. They keep pushing the power level of creatures and keep neutering removal and answers, while increasing the rarity and/or mana cost of it. Iconic deck archetypes are literally unplayable now (most mono colored strategies like White Weenie, RDW, Mono Black Control, Elves, etc are all but dead). They are pushing 3 and 4 color good stuff decks that rely on basically the same 30-45 card pool to compete.
In a truly healthy standard, combo, control, aggro, midrange are all well represented. Cat Combo was not broken, at all. Wizards destroyed control, neutered fast mana, and got rid of pretty much any playable hand disruption that could get at the combo before it comes online. Hence why I hate the decision to drop the Core Sets. Love them or hate them, core sets are the PERFECT place to keep answers to upcoming power creep cards in check, Lightning Bolt, Duress, Mana Leak, Condemn/Path, nothing new, nothing broken, just answers that balance a format going forward. It isn't that hard R&D...
My first event (midnight), I didn't pull any double rares. I did sit next to a guy who pulled both a Lili and a Nissa though. My commons and uncommons though were nearly identical in each pack, and all 7 of my rares (6 packs and the promo) were split cards.
I think I would go with Jund colors, the red cartouche is a single mana, grants haste, +1/+1 and makes a creature unable to block that turn. It gives you access to the red trial as well, which is a creature lightning bolt for 3. I would also play the green two drop chaneller for mana fixing. White offers very little here (yes Gideon is good), but you aren't playing the powerful white removal spells (like Cast Out) to deal with Cat Combo, or the new Manglehorn to deal with Vehicles. Red also gives you access to magma spray which hoses Scrounger in the Mardu matchup. Just my opinion.
as eluded to already, one of the absolute easiest ways around the RL is to release another collector's edition/world championship product with gold borders/gold backs/altered card back etc. Then announce tournament legality in eternal formats. But it won't happen, and what truly is the value to players of opening "fake" RL cards unless they are allowed in tournaments?
i highly doubt that "iconic masters" will be tribal in nature. The 2017 Commander product is, for the most part, going to be 4 tribal based decks. So I doubt we see double dipping in two supplementary products that touch on the same thing. Just an observation.
I am also confused as to who Hasbro and Wizards would have to "renegotiate" with to remove the RL. According to the (Card Reprint Policy, The Duelist #10, May 1996) article, no legally binding contract, paper or otherwise, was signed by MaRo, Garfield or any of the execs at Wizards of the Coast. There were no "negotiating" or "opposing" party to wizards (despite outcry from collectors, there was no legal action or proceedings). A "PROMISE" was made to collectors and created the RL.
Wizards themselves have modified the RL on multiple occasions, printed premium and non premium versions of cards on the RL, and removed cards from the RL. Most significantly in 2002.
"In 2002's revision WoTC decided no cards from the Mercadian Masques set and later sets would be reserved. Commons and uncommons from Limited Edition were REMOVED from the reserved list due to overwhelming public support for this
change. In consideration of past commitments, however, no other cards would be removed from the list. The exception was Feroz's Ban from Homelands, which was was reprinted in Fifth Edition but (mistakenly) still on the Reserved List at the time. It was also removed."
2002 shows that wizards can choose to remove cards from the list (without legal action), in this case simply by public support. It also indicates that they mistakingly reprinted a card on the RL and received no backlash for it and simply removed it from the RL.
It has been stated by MaRo multiple times that there is no "legal" binding contract that holds the RL in place. The spirit of the "promise" Wizards made 20 plus years ago to collectors after the Chronicles debacle, and the undoubted bad publicity, and future legal actions taken by those who invested in that promise is the main contributor to why wizards hasn't abolished the RL. Because it will be argued that a verbal/written promise is a binding contract.
I started playing during alpha as teenager, I have most of the cards on the RL, I don't care as a collector if my power takes a dip, I didn't pay over $20 for any of them back them. Vintage is all but dead as a format, and not supported by wizards very much at all. I'm all for snow duals, for new moxen art, for new generations to feel the immense joy of opening a dual or power.
That said, I think it should be in a limited run again, premiums or such, like the Inventions/Invocations in standard packs, for the super rare cards, keep the run short, keep the chance of getting one very low, you'll see a very small dip in card secondary value. And frankly, who wouldn't want a foil alt art moxen? It might be worth more than the original. Iconic Masters "could, but won't" be the set to do that in. Reprint Vintage playables at common and uncommon (despite their previous rarity accordingly), rares for the powerful cards accordingly, mythics for high dollar much needed reprints, and a cycle of inserts (like Invocations/Inventions) for these packs with a low print run and low chance of hitting them for cards on the RL. Keep MSRP at $10-$15 a pack and quite literally pay for the legal action that would come back at you for breaking the RL.
I'm not saying they will ever break the RL any further than they already have, but if they do, it'll be in small chips off the list, one or two cards here and there, rather than abolish all at once. It'll be in supplemental products, and it'll be extremely hard to acquire them knowing Hasbro. I think we are more likely to see that than we are functional reprints that side skirt the RL through loopholes.
Instead I would like to see the US institute mandatory voter ID at the polls
Okay, can we also institute mandatory voter registration from birth that lasts until death or uncleared felony conviction, and voter IDs provided at no particular cost to any individual citizen with enough regularity that there is no conceivable way that any American citizen will show up to vote without their ID, even if they are homeless and penniless, and there's no conceivable way that any American citizen will not know that they have the option to show up to vote? Because most people who support voter ID laws appear to support them while not considering or while hoping for the huge disenfranchisement of a massive number of American citizens. I'm not saying that is the case for you, but common sense should be applied when making laws.
Some very good points. I obviously didn't opt to lay out a bulleted plan for voter ID implementation.
1) I think all adult (18+) legal US citizens should have a photo ID that is beyond a simple drivers license. A DL alone does not cover everyone. And the ID should be updated in a regular incremental basis with a current photo, living address, and other pertinent information. This could serve multiple purposes, as it gets the homeless into the system and makes them easier to locate and assist.
2) I don't think we need to register voters at birth. Voting is a choice, at 18 years old I think every US citizen should register for the draft, mandatory, (men and women), and register to vote (optional). Tracking anything before that is a waste of time and money.
3) The job of tracking and removing deceased from the voting registrar should be done as a part of the verification of the death certificate by the city/county clerks office. Where they notify financial institutions, the social security office, etc of the deceased. They should in turn, remove you from voter registry and flag your social security number in the system so that it wont let another person register to vote using that same social security number in the future.
4) I cannot solve the homeless problem, nor can anyone on this forum. Whether they are homeless and penniless through circumstance, bad breaks, or poor life choices their vote is no less valuable than mine or yours. That said, educating the homeless on their voting rights, times, and dates, and candidates is probably less important to them than helping them get education in general, food, work, or a place to stay. I would hope that in the process of providing them the bare necessities of life, that would provide an opportunity to introduce politics, as a way of voicing their plight to leaders to try and help their situations. I cannot speak for them.
1. By federal law in the United States you have to be excused from work to be allowed to vote. Any employer who denies you this right can be fined, all the way up to losing their business license. Secondly, any US citizen can apply for absentee ballots. It is not limited to those out of their voting districts (i.e. soldiers, overseas employees, etc) but can also include those who a labor journeymen or those who will not be in their voting district on election day. Moving it to a weekend or making it a federal holiday (which, technically it is a federal holiday protected by law) changes nothing really.
2. I don't necessarily agree with this either. The election system in almost all forms of US parliamentary procedure involves motions for elections, primary elections in which political parties narrow down their candidates from a large pool, and then a general election. Even the general election allows write in third parties to participate, and the ballots contain a blank write in option where the voter can still choose their own candidate. If anything, the resolution here should be to lower the cost of running a campaign in order to get elected, remove special interest donations to campaign funding, or simply make each elected political position a NON-PAYING civic duty position, from city council all the way up to president of the USA.
3. Again, I will disagree. As a military veteran, I hold dearly the rights and freedoms of the United States. I may not agree with a lot of them, but they are ours, and I will defend them. Your idea is flawed in the sense that the United States holds the right to cast your vote as something special, convicted felons lose their right to vote again, ever, for example, even though they go back to paying taxes. The choice NOT to vote should also be sacred. If you choose to be silent, I accept that choice. Making people show up on election day is not the answer, even if they don't cast a vote. Instead I would like to see the US institute mandatory voter ID at the polls, regular voter registration updates to remove those deceased or living in other states or districts, and paper balloting instead of electronic to eliminate cyber issues.
@u2205 Here's the 75 I have been sleeving up lately. It's pretty close to your list, with some meta choices. I rely on black a little more to shore up my mirror. But it may not be needed. Our mains are really similar, I chose to up my Meltdowns and lose the Oath of Nissa for it and one more Evolving Wilds. I'm still testing though and FNMing. Your list may be optimal
One thing I'm interested in hearing about it how you guys deal with Gideon (specifically in a Vehicles context) and Walking Ballista. Those are far and away the two cards that give me the most trouble, not close. Is there any tech to bring against those? Deadlock Trap? Sharing is caring, any and all spicy tech appreciated.
With the Aether Hubs and the Marvel I've been trying out To The Slaughter out of the board and haven't ran into a situation where I couldn't cast it yet with a Gideon on line. You might have to tweak your 75 though to try to support it better.
4 Khenra Charioteer
4 Channeler Initiate
4 Crocodile of the Crossing
3 Glorybringer
2 Lathnu Hellion
2 Rhonas the Indomitable
4 Bloodrage Brawler
4 Bloodlust Inciter
4 Attune with Aether
Instant
3 Harnessed Lightning
3 Blossoming Defense
2 Invigorated Rampage
Lands
4 Aether Hub
2 Cinder Glade
6 Forest
4 Game Trail
5 Mountain
3 Magma Spray
3 Manglehorn
2 Natural State
2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
3 Prowling Serpopard
2 Sweltering Suns
So the only things not unfair and fun are things you enjoy playing and playing against? Is that seriously what this game has come to?
If Magic degenerates any further into midrange turn monsters sideways decks for the sake of product placement on the interwebs then count me out. I played through combo winter, actually enjoyed playing Necropotence. I played through Saber Bargain when people hated Yawgmoth's Will, played through Affinity and it's hate. Each time those willing to play control or fringe aggro strategies feasted on the combo decks. Variety matters. No Cat Combo was not broken. A seven mana investment that dies immediately to removal, countermagic, or hand disruption is not broken. It's just very good. The fact that the answers in standard are lacking doesn't make the combo any more or less broken. Yawgmoth's Will, Yawgmoth's Bargain, Skirge Familiar, Dark Ritual, Grim Monolith that can win turn turn 2, that combo was broken, Channel Fireball was broken.
Slow play is a completely different issue and should be handled at the judge level. It doesn't matter what deck strategy they are playing, it's unfun for everyone involved against a slow player. Control being unfun to play against is your opinion. I enjoy it because it takes careful situational play analysis that turning dudes sideways doesn't. To each their own. But standard is dying because no one is happy with the format not being what they want it to be.
Right. I mean outside of combo winter back in the early days, and the craziness that was skullclamp, we actually HAD answers to combo. Standard is usually a rock, paper, scissors. They keep pushing the power level of creatures and keep neutering removal and answers, while increasing the rarity and/or mana cost of it. Iconic deck archetypes are literally unplayable now (most mono colored strategies like White Weenie, RDW, Mono Black Control, Elves, etc are all but dead). They are pushing 3 and 4 color good stuff decks that rely on basically the same 30-45 card pool to compete.
My second event in the morning I opened 3 Harvest Season and 2 Channler Initiate...
Wizards themselves have modified the RL on multiple occasions, printed premium and non premium versions of cards on the RL, and removed cards from the RL. Most significantly in 2002.
"In 2002's revision WoTC decided no cards from the Mercadian Masques set and later sets would be reserved. Commons and uncommons from Limited Edition were REMOVED from the reserved list due to overwhelming public support for this
change. In consideration of past commitments, however, no other cards would be removed from the list. The exception was Feroz's Ban from Homelands, which was was reprinted in Fifth Edition but (mistakenly) still on the Reserved List at the time. It was also removed."
2002 shows that wizards can choose to remove cards from the list (without legal action), in this case simply by public support. It also indicates that they mistakingly reprinted a card on the RL and received no backlash for it and simply removed it from the RL.
It has been stated by MaRo multiple times that there is no "legal" binding contract that holds the RL in place. The spirit of the "promise" Wizards made 20 plus years ago to collectors after the Chronicles debacle, and the undoubted bad publicity, and future legal actions taken by those who invested in that promise is the main contributor to why wizards hasn't abolished the RL. Because it will be argued that a verbal/written promise is a binding contract.
I started playing during alpha as teenager, I have most of the cards on the RL, I don't care as a collector if my power takes a dip, I didn't pay over $20 for any of them back them. Vintage is all but dead as a format, and not supported by wizards very much at all. I'm all for snow duals, for new moxen art, for new generations to feel the immense joy of opening a dual or power.
That said, I think it should be in a limited run again, premiums or such, like the Inventions/Invocations in standard packs, for the super rare cards, keep the run short, keep the chance of getting one very low, you'll see a very small dip in card secondary value. And frankly, who wouldn't want a foil alt art moxen? It might be worth more than the original. Iconic Masters "could, but won't" be the set to do that in. Reprint Vintage playables at common and uncommon (despite their previous rarity accordingly), rares for the powerful cards accordingly, mythics for high dollar much needed reprints, and a cycle of inserts (like Invocations/Inventions) for these packs with a low print run and low chance of hitting them for cards on the RL. Keep MSRP at $10-$15 a pack and quite literally pay for the legal action that would come back at you for breaking the RL.
I'm not saying they will ever break the RL any further than they already have, but if they do, it'll be in small chips off the list, one or two cards here and there, rather than abolish all at once. It'll be in supplemental products, and it'll be extremely hard to acquire them knowing Hasbro. I think we are more likely to see that than we are functional reprints that side skirt the RL through loopholes.
Some very good points. I obviously didn't opt to lay out a bulleted plan for voter ID implementation.
1) I think all adult (18+) legal US citizens should have a photo ID that is beyond a simple drivers license. A DL alone does not cover everyone. And the ID should be updated in a regular incremental basis with a current photo, living address, and other pertinent information. This could serve multiple purposes, as it gets the homeless into the system and makes them easier to locate and assist.
2) I don't think we need to register voters at birth. Voting is a choice, at 18 years old I think every US citizen should register for the draft, mandatory, (men and women), and register to vote (optional). Tracking anything before that is a waste of time and money.
3) The job of tracking and removing deceased from the voting registrar should be done as a part of the verification of the death certificate by the city/county clerks office. Where they notify financial institutions, the social security office, etc of the deceased. They should in turn, remove you from voter registry and flag your social security number in the system so that it wont let another person register to vote using that same social security number in the future.
4) I cannot solve the homeless problem, nor can anyone on this forum. Whether they are homeless and penniless through circumstance, bad breaks, or poor life choices their vote is no less valuable than mine or yours. That said, educating the homeless on their voting rights, times, and dates, and candidates is probably less important to them than helping them get education in general, food, work, or a place to stay. I would hope that in the process of providing them the bare necessities of life, that would provide an opportunity to introduce politics, as a way of voicing their plight to leaders to try and help their situations. I cannot speak for them.
2. I don't necessarily agree with this either. The election system in almost all forms of US parliamentary procedure involves motions for elections, primary elections in which political parties narrow down their candidates from a large pool, and then a general election. Even the general election allows write in third parties to participate, and the ballots contain a blank write in option where the voter can still choose their own candidate. If anything, the resolution here should be to lower the cost of running a campaign in order to get elected, remove special interest donations to campaign funding, or simply make each elected political position a NON-PAYING civic duty position, from city council all the way up to president of the USA.
3. Again, I will disagree. As a military veteran, I hold dearly the rights and freedoms of the United States. I may not agree with a lot of them, but they are ours, and I will defend them. Your idea is flawed in the sense that the United States holds the right to cast your vote as something special, convicted felons lose their right to vote again, ever, for example, even though they go back to paying taxes. The choice NOT to vote should also be sacred. If you choose to be silent, I accept that choice. Making people show up on election day is not the answer, even if they don't cast a vote. Instead I would like to see the US institute mandatory voter ID at the polls, regular voter registration updates to remove those deceased or living in other states or districts, and paper balloting instead of electronic to eliminate cyber issues.
4 Attune with Aether
4 Servant of the Conduit
4 Harnessed Lightning
4 Aether Meltdown
4 Rogue Refiner
2 Whirler Virtuoso
4 Saheeli Rai
4 Felidar Guardian
4 Aetherworks Marvel
2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
2 Skysovereign, Consul Flagship
4 Botanical Sanctum
2 Spirebluff Canal
1 Inspiring Vantage
2 Evolving Wilds
4 Forest
2 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Island
1 Swamp
2 Fumigate
2 Confiscation Coup
1 Aetherwind Basker
2 To The Slaughter
2 Natural State
2 Shock
3 Negate
1 Aethersphere Harvester
With the Aether Hubs and the Marvel I've been trying out To The Slaughter out of the board and haven't ran into a situation where I couldn't cast it yet with a Gideon on line. You might have to tweak your 75 though to try to support it better.