This is super relevant to WAR evaluation because new Karn is at the least a marginal upgrade to Whir and at the most a significant one. I always bet on cards in New sets that have natural, top-tier homes. Between Whir and Tron and all the fringe stuff, expect new Karn to make a big Modern splash (if you didn't expect it already).
His minus ability is his greatest value since it allows you a miracle sideboard plan, but how much better is this than just casting a Wurmcoil/Big Karn on turn 3. You have to give up your sideboard, it has to be <4 CMC artifacts and you have to assemble Tron on turn 3 with the ability to cast something which is about a 20% chance to have Tron and being able to cast 7 mana worth of spells on turn 3.
The -2 ability is really good and actually addresses some of Tron's worst matchups. For instance, Tron can now go T3 Karn into same-turn Bridge for aggro, Trinisphere for combo, Needle/Orb/Cage for different unfair decks, Crucible to stop Field/LD, Spellskite for protection, etc. T3 Karn/Bridge is even stronger with the new London Mulligan rule too, as you can actually take advantage of the fewer cards in your opening hand; Tron already benefited from that rule anyway without this new synergy. This doesn't really affect Tron's SB as they were running some of these cards as bullets anyway: Crucible and Cage, notably. Then it's just a matter of freeing up 1-3 slots for the other bullets.
His ability to combo with Mycosynth Lattic is perhaps his greatest ability, but they need 10 mana to do it in one turn otherwise hand disruption stops them and then you still have countermagic, Lightning Bolt, creatures already in play. That's not to say they won't run the lattice because given up a SB slot to win the game is worthwhile, but this karn is just too overblown. It doesn't make the matchups where Tron suffers better.
Again, this is not remotely his best ability or synergy. T3 Karn Liberated was already a virtual scoop phase play against control and midrange in most cases. T3 new Karn into T4 Lattice is backbreaking against those same decks, sure, but Tron already had the backbreaking T3 play anyway with old Karn. Nothing new here. As I've said numerous times, this is just icing. It's not the thing that makes Karn good alone or in Tron. Karn is good because he directly addresses some Tron problems through a T3 Karn into 1-3 CMC artifact line. Emphasizing the Karn into Lattice line as a reason to play Karn is like focusing on Teferi's self-tuck ability as the reason to play Teferi. Yes, bottoming Teferi does win control grinds, but you were probably already winning from burying them in card and mana advantage from the +1 ability. It's the same with Karn. Karn into Lattice will probably mean game over against control and midrange, but Tron was already winning those matchups. Karn into Bridge/3Sphere/Cage/Crucible/etc., however, is a totally new line that gives Tron new edges in matchups that were historically bad. That's why Karn is good. The Lattice cuteness is at best a neat bonus and at worst a distraction.
You can go Turn 3 Karn (7mana) into Turn 4 Karn (4mana)+Lattice... This line of play isn't that difficult to come up... if you play 8Karn + 4 Stirrings it's actually quite easy to pull off. There has been a non-zero amount of times that I've been Turn 3 Karn into Turn 4 Ulamog...
Against Burn for example, if you lock them out of burn spells they don't have a good way to get rid of the 4mana Karn. It's not unbeatable but it's really strong.
I'm not saying Karn and Lattice is completely irrelevant. I'm saying that the reason to hype Karn is Karn himself, plus his synergy with bullet artifacts and Bridge. Lattice is icing. People are focusing on this corner case Lattice combo, when it's just a small reason to talk about the card. It would be like evaluating DOM Teferi and hyping him because it will break Esper Control. Yes, Teferi is clearly a good card, but Teferi in Esper is just missing the best synergies of the card. Karn will also be good, but Lattice is a very small reason for that.
I mean how fast does Tron usually get 10 mana? Yes a 10 mana combo is irrelevant usually but that is because most decks don't get that much mana ever but that is not true for Tron.
They can go T3 new Karn, T4 Lattice. If left undisrupted, this shuts down an opponent's mana completely. But what does that do for Tron? That seems good against midrange and control, but Tron is already good against midrange and control. It doesn't do anything to stop Burn or Dredge or H1 or HS Affinity or the other aggressive decks that actually cause Tron issues. It's a small edge in an already favorable set of matchups, I.e. totally fair and appropriate for Modern.
Karn into Bridge is much more relevant. Decks that can leverage this synergy will be very successful. Lattice is a cute distraction that generates hype but won't be a significant reason for Karn's success. You can definitely rebuild the Tron engine to abuse new Karn, but Lattice is one of the less relevant factors in that deck's potential viability.
He's a one card combo in big mana decks. 4 mana Karn, -2, get Mycosynth Lattice, cast it for 6. Enjoy not having lands!
turning every land into an artifact land, and Null Rod Karn to shut them down. I wonder how many turns it would take tron to deploy this lockdown?
Makes me thankful there are no Tron players in the lgs I go to...
It's 10 mana lockdown. It can be deployed as soon as turn 4. Against an empty board is instant win. The +1 bombimb lands and being Affinity/Hardened Scales/Whir hate is broken. It kills Opals with the +1...
I think they pushed it a little too much.
Ignoring all the ways you can answer the combo, INCLUDING Lightning Bolt, it's just really not that scary even on its own. Expensive, two card combos over two turns are totally fine for Modern. Vannifar is another two/"one" card combo over two turns that is equally acceptable, and that one actually wins the game. Lattice doesn't even do that much! Just look at how this lines up against Modern's best decks. It's just another strong, semi-cute line in a format packed with strong lines.
People here and on Reddit are unsurprisingly over-exaggerating the impact of Karn/Lattice. That combo is more than appropriately powered for Modern. If any element of Karn is relevant at a top-tier level, it's the ability to more reliably get Bridge or other bullets, not Lattice. Lattice is just icing. But again, this is super appropriate combo and card for Modern's high-powered metagame. Doubly so for Teferi.
Dovin's Veto is a UW uncountable Negate. This will be an instant UWx staple for decks already playing Negate. Liliana's Verdict is Diabolic Edict with not one but two upsides: it dodges Leyline and discards if you have a Lily out. This too will be SB material and may be maindeckable in the right deck and meta.
In other news, this countdown resetting and the ensuing Twitch reaction is pretty entertaining. At least the panel is also being delayed and we aren't just missing it because of bad tech.
With MH just around the corner, I am actually not looking forward to some of the cards I typically look for in new sets: powerful/generic answers, better card selection, reprints of Modern appropriate cards, etc. I think MH is going to address those issues more directly. Instead, I am looking forward to some Knight of the Reliquary-style versatile answers for a BO1/Standard/Arena world. Charms, commands, modal creatures, etc. will likely be on the menu as preview season continues. Given the fact that WAR has so many walkers, increasing the need to interact with additional permanent types, I think this is a reasonable prediction.
I would also love to see more 3 and even 2 mana walkers to boost various Modern strategies. A cheap BGx themed walker that attacked the GY would be great. Or a Wx walker that taxed opposing spells. This might be more appropriate for MH, but maybe WAR gives us some bones.
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This is super relevant to WAR evaluation because new Karn is at the least a marginal upgrade to Whir and at the most a significant one. I always bet on cards in New sets that have natural, top-tier homes. Between Whir and Tron and all the fringe stuff, expect new Karn to make a big Modern splash (if you didn't expect it already).
The -2 ability is really good and actually addresses some of Tron's worst matchups. For instance, Tron can now go T3 Karn into same-turn Bridge for aggro, Trinisphere for combo, Needle/Orb/Cage for different unfair decks, Crucible to stop Field/LD, Spellskite for protection, etc. T3 Karn/Bridge is even stronger with the new London Mulligan rule too, as you can actually take advantage of the fewer cards in your opening hand; Tron already benefited from that rule anyway without this new synergy. This doesn't really affect Tron's SB as they were running some of these cards as bullets anyway: Crucible and Cage, notably. Then it's just a matter of freeing up 1-3 slots for the other bullets.
Again, this is not remotely his best ability or synergy. T3 Karn Liberated was already a virtual scoop phase play against control and midrange in most cases. T3 new Karn into T4 Lattice is backbreaking against those same decks, sure, but Tron already had the backbreaking T3 play anyway with old Karn. Nothing new here. As I've said numerous times, this is just icing. It's not the thing that makes Karn good alone or in Tron. Karn is good because he directly addresses some Tron problems through a T3 Karn into 1-3 CMC artifact line. Emphasizing the Karn into Lattice line as a reason to play Karn is like focusing on Teferi's self-tuck ability as the reason to play Teferi. Yes, bottoming Teferi does win control grinds, but you were probably already winning from burying them in card and mana advantage from the +1 ability. It's the same with Karn. Karn into Lattice will probably mean game over against control and midrange, but Tron was already winning those matchups. Karn into Bridge/3Sphere/Cage/Crucible/etc., however, is a totally new line that gives Tron new edges in matchups that were historically bad. That's why Karn is good. The Lattice cuteness is at best a neat bonus and at worst a distraction.
I'm not saying Karn and Lattice is completely irrelevant. I'm saying that the reason to hype Karn is Karn himself, plus his synergy with bullet artifacts and Bridge. Lattice is icing. People are focusing on this corner case Lattice combo, when it's just a small reason to talk about the card. It would be like evaluating DOM Teferi and hyping him because it will break Esper Control. Yes, Teferi is clearly a good card, but Teferi in Esper is just missing the best synergies of the card. Karn will also be good, but Lattice is a very small reason for that.
They can go T3 new Karn, T4 Lattice. If left undisrupted, this shuts down an opponent's mana completely. But what does that do for Tron? That seems good against midrange and control, but Tron is already good against midrange and control. It doesn't do anything to stop Burn or Dredge or H1 or HS Affinity or the other aggressive decks that actually cause Tron issues. It's a small edge in an already favorable set of matchups, I.e. totally fair and appropriate for Modern.
Karn into Bridge is much more relevant. Decks that can leverage this synergy will be very successful. Lattice is a cute distraction that generates hype but won't be a significant reason for Karn's success. You can definitely rebuild the Tron engine to abuse new Karn, but Lattice is one of the less relevant factors in that deck's potential viability.
Ignoring all the ways you can answer the combo, INCLUDING Lightning Bolt, it's just really not that scary even on its own. Expensive, two card combos over two turns are totally fine for Modern. Vannifar is another two/"one" card combo over two turns that is equally acceptable, and that one actually wins the game. Lattice doesn't even do that much! Just look at how this lines up against Modern's best decks. It's just another strong, semi-cute line in a format packed with strong lines.
Dovin's Veto is a UW uncountable Negate. This will be an instant UWx staple for decks already playing Negate. Liliana's Verdict is Diabolic Edict with not one but two upsides: it dodges Leyline and discards if you have a Lily out. This too will be SB material and may be maindeckable in the right deck and meta.
I would also love to see more 3 and even 2 mana walkers to boost various Modern strategies. A cheap BGx themed walker that attacked the GY would be great. Or a Wx walker that taxed opposing spells. This might be more appropriate for MH, but maybe WAR gives us some bones.