Some decks, like Poly-Tokens (though not widely-played anymore), fetch Emraukel (Polymorphor have him slipped into play (Windbrisk Heights). The extra-turn ability isn't triggered, therefore a deck such as Martyr-Proc can then proceed to play a Oblivion Ring. Yes, if you weren't aware, that is legal.
Emrakul is STILL a house, and one of the most important cards in the format... but he can be stopped when he hits the board. It's exceptionally rare though.
I already posted a few cards (Thoughtseize, Snapcaster Mage, Vendilion Clique), but I will have to agree with Poopingmypants. Vedalken Shackles is just an amazing card, and can completely change the board-state. Spell Snare and Cryptic Command are also very relevant.
Play Elves. The deck wins on t4 regularly, t3 if your opponent doesn't have any meaningful disruption, and I've personally hardcast emrakul in actual games twice on turn 2.
It doesn't matter if you cast emrakul on turn 2 or turn 15, the game ends on the spot.
I would love to see any line of play where turn 2 Emrakul is possible. In Magical Christmasland, my Legacy Elves can do T2 Emrakul, but I have a hard time believing you can do it in Modern. You can't even cast Cloudstone Curio until T2, which would tap you out no matter how you got it there.
I don't know how you can name a card the best in the format. I guess I have to concede to Emrakul, since it wins on the spot 95% of the time.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Modern - RUG Delver RUG - Splinter Twin UR - Jund BRG
Legacy - RUG Delver RUG - Maverick GW - SI BG
Foreigning out SI, currently 33/75. The only thing better than a T1 kill is doing it with cards no one has ever heard of and/or can't read. If anyone has any of the usual pieces, PM me. I'm willing to buy/trade.
I would love to see any line of play where turn 2 Emrakul is possible. In Magical Christmasland, my Legacy Elves can do T2 Emrakul, but I have a hard time believing you can do it in Modern. You can't even cast Cloudstone Curio until T2, which would tap you out no matter how you got it there.
I don't know how you can name a card the best in the format. I guess I have to concede to Emrakul, since it wins on the spot 95% of the time.
I've seen it done. It takes a god hand, but if you can get the nettle sentinel / heritage druid engine online turn 2 with a Regal Force in hand (or lead the stampede), it's actually pretty easy to pull of a turn 2 win. That takes a really good hand, but it's more than possible.
Elves doesn't need Curio to combo with either (not that it's terrible).
Vedalken Shackles to me is the best card. I have seen it single handedly invalidate entire decks.
To me raw power defines best card.
The only reason I wouldn't list Shackles as the best card is that it's not good against Tron, Storm, Griselbrand reanimator, and a few other niche decks that don't rely on midrange-type creatures.
Aside from that, I think most people know how much I like shackles and how dominant it is.
i think the most defining card in the format is kiki-jiki, mirror breaker so my vote goes to that. Usually when kiki hits the field, you have already lost.
Gonna go with Bolt. It fits into any red deck. Kills creatures and players alike. Is it ever dead? Has anyone ever took them out for sideboard cards? I don't think so.
2nd place is Goyf. It's a bit like Bolt - simple and efficient. Is your opponent playing creatures? No problem, Goyf is bigger than them. Not playing creatures? This 2 mana creature will put you on a 4/5 turn clock.
I would hesitate to call stuff like Bob, Snaps and Emrakul "best", because there are certain decks that they just don't fit in. You wouldn't put Bob and Em in the same deck, for example.
I would love to see any line of play where turn 2 Emrakul is possible. In Magical Christmasland, my Legacy Elves can do T2 Emrakul, but I have a hard time believing you can do it in Modern. You can't even cast Cloudstone Curio until T2, which would tap you out no matter how you got it there.
I don't know how you can name a card the best in the format. I guess I have to concede to Emrakul, since it wins on the spot 95% of the time.
t1 land, nettle
t2 land, nettle, heritage, third nettle, another 1 drop, regal force, draw 7, play some more elves, find a second regal force and cast it, keep it going until you have 15 mana, then hardcast emrakul.
Its rare, but it happens. Ive played hundreds if not 1000+ actual games with the deck and have done it exactly twice (plus a few times gold fishing).
t1 land, nettle
t2 land, nettle, heritage, third nettle, another 1 drop, regal force, draw 7, play some more elves, find a second regal force and cast it, keep it going until you have 15 mana, then hardcast emrakul.
Its rare, but it happens. Ive played hundreds if not 1000+ actual games with the deck and have done it exactly twice (plus a few times gold fishing).
Ahh, cool. That'd work. You'd need those specific 5 cards (+2 land) within the first 8/9 you get from your first two turns, but a rare turn 2 combo is still a turn 2 combo.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Modern - RUG Delver RUG - Splinter Twin UR - Jund BRG
Legacy - RUG Delver RUG - Maverick GW - SI BG
Foreigning out SI, currently 33/75. The only thing better than a T1 kill is doing it with cards no one has ever heard of and/or can't read. If anyone has any of the usual pieces, PM me. I'm willing to buy/trade.
Gonna go with Bolt. It fits into any red deck. Kills creatures and players alike. Is it ever dead? Has anyone ever took them out for sideboard cards? I don't think so.
2nd place is Goyf. It's a bit like Bolt - simple and efficient. Is your opponent playing creatures? No problem, Goyf is bigger than them. Not playing creatures? This 2 mana creature will put you on a 4/5 turn clock.
I would hesitate to call stuff like Bob, Snaps and Emrakul "best", because there are certain decks that they just don't fit in. You wouldn't put Bob and Em in the same deck, for example.
You also wouldn't play Bolt or Goyf in any deck playing Emrakul either. I've seen bolt sideboarded out a ton. In burn / rdw? No, but if bolt is primarily being used as efficient removal as it would be in jund, you sideboard it out against Storm Combo (if you have the slots) in favor of more discard, or disruption.
In decks that Dark Confidant is designed to go in (ie no emrakuls), Confidant is better in more matchups. I would much rather drop a turn 2 confidant against a combo deck than I would drop a turn 2 goyf. Confidant isn't bad against midrange or aggro either since he'll just draw you into more disruption, life gain, or removal.
Also, I think it needs to be mentioned, but Birthing Pod should be taken in for heavy consideration. It's the survival of the fittest of Modern.
You also wouldn't play Bolt or Goyf in any deck playing Emrakul either.
Actually, I would, if I'm playing a combo deck that cheats out Emrakul (Through the Breach) and uses red. Bolt is good for clearing hate bears and getting in the last few points of damage (since Em hits for 15, not 20).
My point is that Bolt and Goyf are never completely dead. Worst case, they only hit certain targets - for example, if your opponent is playing Storm, he has no creatures, but your Bolts are still useful in lowering his life total, hopefully killing him before he combos off. It's true that better SB options exist and you may be compelled to take out Bolts, but the situations where Bolt is as useless - as in, "if I cast this spell I'm worse off than if I didn't" - as a point removal spell against a field full of hexproof creatures are rare.
*Manipulates rules via Rites, fetching AND helping 'cheat' creatures like Iona, Inkwell, Griselbrand, Terastodon etc etc
*Can force gravehate else opponent auto-loses
*Helps force play decisions/mistakes, great for mind games
*Sets up many other combos
*Sets up blowout answers
maybe not as format defining as Bob or Bolt, but gee... on the level of sheer power, surely this card takes the cake?
The fact that there's no standout best card in Modern (or at least there's a lot of dispute over it) testifies to the diversity and openness of the format.
Some decks, like Poly-Tokens (though not widely-played anymore), fetch Emraukel (Polymorphor have him slipped into play (Windbrisk Heights). The extra-turn ability isn't triggered, therefore a deck such as Martyr-Proc can then proceed to play a Oblivion Ring. Yes, if you weren't aware, that is legal.
Emrakul is STILL a house, and one of the most important cards in the format... but he can be stopped when he hits the board. It's exceptionally rare though.
I already posted a few cards (Thoughtseize, Snapcaster Mage, Vendilion Clique), but I will have to agree with Poopingmypants. Vedalken Shackles is just an amazing card, and can completely change the board-state. Spell Snare and Cryptic Command are also very relevant.
You do get the extra turn from emrakul off of windbrisk heights because you are casting it without paying its mana cost.
*Manipulates rules via Rites, fetching AND helping 'cheat' creatures like Iona, Inkwell, Griselbrand, Terastodon etc etc
*Can force gravehate else opponent auto-loses
*Helps force play decisions/mistakes, great for mind games
*Sets up many other combos
*Sets up blowout answers
maybe not as format defining as Bob or Bolt, but gee... on the level of sheer power, surely this card takes the cake?
Be thankful Gifts Ungiven says your opponent must dump two of the cards in the graveyard or people will literally be double Demonic Tutoring all the time due to the "fail to search" rules.
Also, I think it needs to be mentioned, but Birthing Pod should be taken in for heavy consideration. It's the survival of the fittest of Modern.
Birthing Pod's great. Since it gets a buddy in Chord of Calling, it's shoved Fauna Shaman out of contention as the creature toolkit backbone. I tried Fauna Shaman in Melira Pod and ended up dumping her for another hate bear--it's so much easier to abuse Pod than Fauna Shaman (Fauna Shaman really likes Madness, Squadron Hawk, and Vengevine, while Pod really likes Persist dudes, Undying dudes, recursive dudes like Gravecrawler and Bloodghast, ETB effect dudes...). Pod decks are likely the closest thing in Modern to Legacy Maverick (with combos shoehorned in).
I'm going to go out in a limb and say Inquisition of Kozilek, since it can handle almost all the major threats in the format in turn 1. You see it in almost every deck that runs black, and while the same argument can be made for Bob, he requires you to be careful about the cost of what you run, which brings me to:
however darkconfidant is bad if you get an emkrul off it
If you're running Bob and Emrakul in the same deck, then you have a death wish. Typically you don't see spells greater than cmc 4 in a deck that has Bob in it, and you're using the most expensive tournament legal creature ever printed as an example of poor performance?
Emrakul is STILL a house, and one of the most important cards in the format... but he can be stopped when he hits the board. It's exceptionally rare though.
I already posted a few cards (Thoughtseize, Snapcaster Mage, Vendilion Clique), but I will have to agree with Poopingmypants. Vedalken Shackles is just an amazing card, and can completely change the board-state.
Spell Snare and Cryptic Command are also very relevant.
ex-Moderator
Legacy love.
I would love to see any line of play where turn 2 Emrakul is possible. In Magical Christmasland, my Legacy Elves can do T2 Emrakul, but I have a hard time believing you can do it in Modern. You can't even cast Cloudstone Curio until T2, which would tap you out no matter how you got it there.
I don't know how you can name a card the best in the format. I guess I have to concede to Emrakul, since it wins on the spot 95% of the time.
Legacy - RUG Delver RUG - Maverick GW - SI BG
Foreigning out SI, currently 33/75. The only thing better than a T1 kill is doing it with cards no one has ever heard of and/or can't read. If anyone has any of the usual pieces, PM me. I'm willing to buy/trade.
I've seen it done. It takes a god hand, but if you can get the nettle sentinel / heritage druid engine online turn 2 with a Regal Force in hand (or lead the stampede), it's actually pretty easy to pull of a turn 2 win. That takes a really good hand, but it's more than possible.
Elves doesn't need Curio to combo with either (not that it's terrible).
The only reason I wouldn't list Shackles as the best card is that it's not good against Tron, Storm, Griselbrand reanimator, and a few other niche decks that don't rely on midrange-type creatures.
Aside from that, I think most people know how much I like shackles and how dominant it is.
2nd place is Goyf. It's a bit like Bolt - simple and efficient. Is your opponent playing creatures? No problem, Goyf is bigger than them. Not playing creatures? This 2 mana creature will put you on a 4/5 turn clock.
I would hesitate to call stuff like Bob, Snaps and Emrakul "best", because there are certain decks that they just don't fit in. You wouldn't put Bob and Em in the same deck, for example.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
t1 land, nettle
t2 land, nettle, heritage, third nettle, another 1 drop, regal force, draw 7, play some more elves, find a second regal force and cast it, keep it going until you have 15 mana, then hardcast emrakul.
Its rare, but it happens. Ive played hundreds if not 1000+ actual games with the deck and have done it exactly twice (plus a few times gold fishing).
Ahh, cool. That'd work. You'd need those specific 5 cards (+2 land) within the first 8/9 you get from your first two turns, but a rare turn 2 combo is still a turn 2 combo.
Legacy - RUG Delver RUG - Maverick GW - SI BG
Foreigning out SI, currently 33/75. The only thing better than a T1 kill is doing it with cards no one has ever heard of and/or can't read. If anyone has any of the usual pieces, PM me. I'm willing to buy/trade.
You also wouldn't play Bolt or Goyf in any deck playing Emrakul either. I've seen bolt sideboarded out a ton. In burn / rdw? No, but if bolt is primarily being used as efficient removal as it would be in jund, you sideboard it out against Storm Combo (if you have the slots) in favor of more discard, or disruption.
In decks that Dark Confidant is designed to go in (ie no emrakuls), Confidant is better in more matchups. I would much rather drop a turn 2 confidant against a combo deck than I would drop a turn 2 goyf. Confidant isn't bad against midrange or aggro either since he'll just draw you into more disruption, life gain, or removal.
Also, I think it needs to be mentioned, but Birthing Pod should be taken in for heavy consideration. It's the survival of the fittest of Modern.
Actually, I would, if I'm playing a combo deck that cheats out Emrakul (Through the Breach) and uses red. Bolt is good for clearing hate bears and getting in the last few points of damage (since Em hits for 15, not 20).
My point is that Bolt and Goyf are never completely dead. Worst case, they only hit certain targets - for example, if your opponent is playing Storm, he has no creatures, but your Bolts are still useful in lowering his life total, hopefully killing him before he combos off. It's true that better SB options exist and you may be compelled to take out Bolts, but the situations where Bolt is as useless - as in, "if I cast this spell I'm worse off than if I didn't" - as a point removal spell against a field full of hexproof creatures are rare.
Probably the only two examples I can think of are vs. Turbo Fog and vs Kor Firewalker with Leyline of Sanctity.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
EDH: Xenagos, God of Revels.
*Manipulates rules via Rites, fetching AND helping 'cheat' creatures like Iona, Inkwell, Griselbrand, Terastodon etc etc
*Can force gravehate else opponent auto-loses
*Helps force play decisions/mistakes, great for mind games
*Sets up many other combos
*Sets up blowout answers
maybe not as format defining as Bob or Bolt, but gee... on the level of sheer power, surely this card takes the cake?
You do get the extra turn from emrakul off of windbrisk heights because you are casting it without paying its mana cost.
My top picks for best card
Red- Bolt
Black-Bob
Green-Goyf
White- Path to Exile
Blue- Spell Pierce
XXXX
Modern
URTwinRU R.I.P.
EDH
WUGRoon of the Hidden RealmWUG
Be thankful Gifts Ungiven says your opponent must dump two of the cards in the graveyard or people will literally be double Demonic Tutoring all the time due to the "fail to search" rules.
Birthing Pod's great. Since it gets a buddy in Chord of Calling, it's shoved Fauna Shaman out of contention as the creature toolkit backbone. I tried Fauna Shaman in Melira Pod and ended up dumping her for another hate bear--it's so much easier to abuse Pod than Fauna Shaman (Fauna Shaman really likes Madness, Squadron Hawk, and Vengevine, while Pod really likes Persist dudes, Undying dudes, recursive dudes like Gravecrawler and Bloodghast, ETB effect dudes...). Pod decks are likely the closest thing in Modern to Legacy Maverick (with combos shoehorned in).
If you're running Bob and Emrakul in the same deck, then you have a death wish. Typically you don't see spells greater than cmc 4 in a deck that has Bob in it, and you're using the most expensive tournament legal creature ever printed as an example of poor performance?
Want to be a better Magic player? Read the rulings forum and check out the comprehensive rules!
WU Resto Blade
RUG Tron
BUG Infect
WBG Melira Pod
WBRG White Jund
Second choice might be Tarmogoyf, but it feels like a role player only, even though it also appears in two top decks (RUG and Jund).
The format revolves on that card.
Bident Layers
B Devotion
RG Devotion
UW Control
Modern:
Jund
UW Control
Combo Pod
Legacy:
DeathBlade
RUG Delver
BUG Control
I'm going to second this. best removal spell in the format.
DECKS:
MODERN:
BUILT:
WBGJunkWBG
BURGrixis ControlBUR
BUILDING:
BGEldraziBG
Fetchlands are much better cards than even the original duals, let alone shocklands.
Bident Layers
B Devotion
RG Devotion
UW Control
Modern:
Jund
UW Control
Combo Pod
Legacy:
DeathBlade
RUG Delver
BUG Control