Bolt was actually quite good against Cawblade. I say this as a Cawblade player at that time. It killed greedy Jaces brainstorming before fatesealing first, and hawks in combat after equipping so you couldn't re-equip. Probably the single best piece of interaction against the deck.
The problem with that format wasn't actually even THAT deck itself, it was actually Valakut which had a 0% winrate against Cawblade but a 100% winrate against the rest of the format, including decks that were really very favored against Cawblade. Players who just wouldn't let go of their big dumb Primeval Titans choked the variety out of standard.
Bringing us back around to the threats being too good argument lol.
STP do do da do do do
STP do do da do do do
STP do do da do do do
STP!
Counterspell do do da do do do
Counterspell do do da do do do
Counterspell do do da do do do
Counterspell!
Lightning Bolt do do da do do do
Lightning Bolt do do da do do do
Lightning Bolt do do da do do do
Lightning Bolt!
This can easily be solved if reliable answers from days of yore were reprinted with earnest. Remember M11 standard? Bolt was there. Were there any out-of-control decks at the time? Not that I can recall. At least they brought Disenchant back over Naturalize...
This is also a telling sign of the neglect WotC has put into the designing of standard-level sets and focusing too much on auxiliary products. But that's the result of having so many formats that require product support. They reap what they sow...
'buster
Prettymuch!
They got a lot of feedback from bad players that they hated having their stuff interacted with, and now all of the threats are completely out of control. Answers have never, EVER ruined a format, and should be leaned upon heavily to regulate them. People like playing with powerful threats, so let them! Just make sure there are efficient answers to those threats at all times.
Honestly, something like '1W Sorcery Exile target creature.' should probably just be evergreen. Not so efficient or flexible that it invalidates archetypes, but strong enough that you can't just jam a threat and expect it to stick around for the rest of the game. No-frills 4-cmc wraths should also be a constant, since the aggro decks nowadays are inarguably fast enough to warrant it.
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The problem with that format wasn't actually even THAT deck itself, it was actually Valakut which had a 0% winrate against Cawblade but a 100% winrate against the rest of the format, including decks that were really very favored against Cawblade. Players who just wouldn't let go of their big dumb Primeval Titans choked the variety out of standard.
Bringing us back around to the threats being too good argument lol.
Prettymuch!
They got a lot of feedback from bad players that they hated having their stuff interacted with, and now all of the threats are completely out of control. Answers have never, EVER ruined a format, and should be leaned upon heavily to regulate them. People like playing with powerful threats, so let them! Just make sure there are efficient answers to those threats at all times.
Honestly, something like '1W Sorcery Exile target creature.' should probably just be evergreen. Not so efficient or flexible that it invalidates archetypes, but strong enough that you can't just jam a threat and expect it to stick around for the rest of the game. No-frills 4-cmc wraths should also be a constant, since the aggro decks nowadays are inarguably fast enough to warrant it.