What risk does Twin present in today's meta? Slotting into an already fairly homogenized shell that sits in mid Tier 2? Sounds scary.
It presents no risk. I'm fully, openly, unfathomably biased, but its not a risk. No deck 'dies' if Twin enters the meta. It just becomes the finisher for Blue Moon.
UWR would be just as much a thing as it is.
UW would be just as much a thing as it is.
Jund would GAIN from it.
The biggest impact would be a meta share taken from the aggro crowd, given to the control and midrange crowd.
btw why is dig through time never brought up? probe and twin are both gone. UR delver with dig is comically bad versus humans and other good decks right now. storm cant play it (probably). rug shift is barely tier 2.
what am i missing here. ad nauseam?
ive always felt the card didnt get a fair chance and people fear it for stuff it never actually did.
Honestly, it really is a strong card, but if you believe that it is probably around the same power level of Jace, the Mind Sculptor (which I do), then it probably could be unbanned as well.
It isn't brought up because at the time, it would have powered RUG Scapeshift and Twin up too much. It also is lumped in the same category as Ancestral Recall. Honestly, Treasure Cruise could probably come back as well. In some ways, it is very similar to Bedlam Reveler. I feel that people have their eyes set on other unbans first. Then we can see how the dust settles. But I will agree with you that Dig Through Time and even Treasure Cruise don't seem super powerful in the current meta.
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Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
btw why is dig through time never brought up? probe and twin are both gone. UR delver with dig is comically bad versus humans and other good decks right now. storm cant play it (probably). rug shift is barely tier 2.
what am i missing here. ad nauseam?
ive always felt the card didnt get a fair chance and people fear it for stuff it never actually did.
I too agree that DTT died a bit for TC's sins, HOWEVER, it was also pretty nuts in a scapeshift build https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/dig-through-modern has a decklist, eventually the deck became a URg tempo build with ramp and scapeshift for an "I Win" option
id be more wary of TC. single blue casting cost is significantly easier to splash (ie burn with TC).
probe was an enabler, and twin was threatening to become too good. well those arent an issue now. i was thinking of ktkenshinx's 3 questions that should be considered for an unban:
1. Does it slot directly into a Tier 1 deck?
2. Does it create T4 rule violations?
3. Does it empower a new archetype to overly-dominant levels?
the first 2 are no, but the third...maybe. though nothing comes to mind that is in the market for that type of effect.
if it were between preordain and dig im not sure which would be more beneficial to the format if at all.
the thing with twin is that it is a known quantity. you unban it to bring one specific combo deck back. all of these other unbans being proposed are more open-ended and will most likely see play across a swath of decks. at no point do i ever see the dci/wotc concluding that a single powerful deck being forced onto the format as an appropriate answer to anything. twin isnt some scalpel its a blunt instrument.
twin with jace has to be considered, as well as twin with preordain if they ever went that route. the same could be said for SFM (ie twinblade). twin would be it, blue could never get anything better because twin would scoop it up. blue control diversity might still exist but they would always be at the mercy of twins performance, and not their own.
i just isnt something i see happening when they could be trying to help multiple decks instead of one.
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Twin with Jace is irrelevant. Twin with Azcanta is better.
This whole 'ooo twin with AV, and Jace, oh my!' please. AV is a nothing card in Modern put it back on the ban list and literally NOTHING changes, and Jace is QUESTIONABLY going the same path.
Just like in our UWR thread man, Azcanta is the truth, and I would almost certainly play it over Jace, in Twin.
You really want to give storm access to dig through time? I think that's one of the last cards I would choose to unban if anything.
I think it's hilarious that people argue that splinter twin is interactive- it's interactive until you hit an "I win the game" button with an instant speed combo- be a man and play a real control deck that squeaks out incremental advantage over time instead of playing that bull***** and actually requires real decision making rather than turn 2 remand your spell, turn 3 cast a flash guy, turn 4 win the game- it's far too consistent to be considered fun to play with and against.
The only card that makes any sense to come off the banned list at the moment is stoneforge mystic. It's an overly fair card that doesn't end the game on the spot and actually creates games of more interactive magic. Bringing decks like twin or pod back basically just emphasize the current "arms race kill you as fast as I can or be killed" crap that we've been seeing with the surge of decks like bogles and hollow one. The format has a clean answer to it in k command, and the equipment in this format are mediocre at best without skullclamp and jitte.
I too agree that DTT died a bit for TC's sins, HOWEVER, it was also pretty nuts in a scapeshift build https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/dig-through-modern has a decklist, eventually the deck became a URg tempo build with ramp and scapeshift for an "I Win" option
scapeshift was always on the radar with dig, but did anything actually come to fruition? the way i remember events was that tc delver was oppressive and dig powering up twin and scapeshift was mostly theoretical.
more importantly would rug shift with dig be too good right now. id give that a no since jace hardly made a dent in its tier 2 status.
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What risk does Twin present in today's meta? Slotting into an already fairly homogenized shell that sits in mid Tier 2? Sounds scary.
I know you really, REALLY want Twin unbanned and have wanted little else for literally 2 years now, but we both know Twin presents more risks than you are so casually claiming. The risk is clearly that Twin plus any number of new/unbanned cards since 2016 creates a de facto best Tier 1 deck that has a 50/50+ matchup against most of the field. This would devolve the metagame into Twin vs. Anti-Twin decks. I really don't think Wizards will take that risk given Modern's current popularity and their perception that its diversity has almost never been better. If you want to make a different case then I am sure most everyone would love to see it. But make that case. The casual and sarcastic insistence that Twin is totally safe is disingenuous. It's AT LEAST an open question.
You really want to give storm access to dig through time? I think that's one of the last cards I would choose to unban if anything.
thats your hang up? storm? what would they cut and what would they gain by nuking their graveyard with delve? the deck could probably contort to accommodate dig, but would the result be better than gifts storm? color me dubious.
there might be some fringe or unknown deck waiting to be busted so dig might never make the cut on that alone. however i dont see dig slotting into any existing decks and being too good.
maybe blue doesnt need that level of help, but ive found it odd it is almost never brought up in these unban discussions.
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What risk does Twin present in today's meta? Slotting into an already fairly homogenized shell that sits in mid Tier 2? Sounds scary.
I know you really, REALLY want Twin unbanned and have wanted little else for literally 2 years now, but we both know Twin presents more risks than you are so casually claiming. The risk is clearly that Twin plus any number of new/unbanned cards since 2016 creates a de facto best Tier 1 deck that has a 50/50+ matchup against most of the field. This would devolve the metagame into Twin vs. Anti-Twin decks.
You say this with the same level of certainty as those saying Jace, the Mind Sculptor would break Modern if ever unbanned. You are repainting an image of Twin that never existed; one that puts it in the same category as Eye of Ugin Eldrazi. "Twin and anti-Twin deck" metas never existed. Yes, I am biased, but of all people, I expect a more level-headed approach and less doomsaying hyperbole.
Twin is "safe" because it is a known entity and there is really no justifiable reason to keep it banned.
You say this with the same level of certainty as those saying Jace, the Mind Sculptor would break Modern if ever unbanned.
The two aren't remotely comparable in either function or history. Moreover, I have never said either card would break Modern if unbanned, so I'm not sure why you are even making this argument.
You are repainting an image of Twin that never existed; one that puts it in the same category as Eye of Ugin Eldrazi. "Twin and anti-Twin deck" metas never existed. Yes, I am biased, but of all people, I expect a more level-headed approach and less doomsaying hyperbole.
I know you really want to argue in favor of Twin's unbanning, but please re-read my argument. Maybe I phrased it badly but I think you're just tunnelvisioning on any anti-Twin argument being necessarily wrong. In fact, your deliberate omission of part of my post further suggests this. I am NOT arguing this:
"I personally believe that the risk is clearly that Twin plus any number of new/unbanned cards since 2016 creates a de facto best Tier 1 deck that has a 50/50+ matchup against most of the field." (I do not believe this)
This is what you are presenting my claim as by omitting a key part of my past post: the piece about Wizards' perception. Here IS what I am arguing:
"I personally believe that WIZARDS WILL EVALUATE TWIN AS FOLLOWS: the risk (to Wizards) is clearly that Twin plus any number of new/unbanned cards since 2016 creates a de facto best Tier 1 deck that has a 50/50+ matchup against most of the field, which Wizards doesn't want" (I DO believe that Wizards believes this)
I don't know if I can make this distinction any clearer. It's not what I personally believe about Twin, either now or in previous posts that you abbreviated. I personally think the card would probably be fine. Unfortunately, I also believe that Wizards is notoriously risk averse and it is extremely unlikely they will risk anything with Twin when a) cards like SFM are still on the banlist and b) it took them so long to unban something like JTMS/BBE. Pro-Twin players do not need to convince me. They need to make a plausible case that Wizards is likely to buy that shows Twin's benefits outweigh its risks. Restating "Twin is fine/safe/a known entity" does not make that case.
but #muhtwin... can't believe people are still crying two years later.
The current iteration of storm would get ditched if dig were modern legal- it would adopt fetchlands and thought scours to fill the graveyard as fast as possible- they probably wouldn't even need past in flames to kill you- they could naturally go off with dig being a natural 2 for 1 that finds more cantrips and more digs.
but #muhtwin... can't believe people are still crying two years later
I've gotten a lot of likes on twitter over the last few days, it becomes harder to justify every announcement.
People swore up and down Jace would end Modern diversity.
It's closer to a do nothing. Hope folks enjoy their $100 bill cards sitting unplayed in a binder because he's still not good enough to make blue tier 1.
I don't believe Wizards thinks that. I believe, truly and without hyperbole, that Twin died for the Pro Tour alone.
There has never been a Twin vs Non Twin meta.
Amulet Titan, has more Top 8s, that UR Kiki.
Between Humans, GDS, Traverse DS, BBE Jund, and Hollow One (forced discard is disruption) AND ETron? There is more disruption + aggro than ever.
Affinity coexisted.
Tron coexisted.
Control could be tuned to fight Twin.
GW Coco coexisted.
Storm coexisted.
Don't drink Wizards kool-aid.
Twin was banned under false pretenses. It is approaching 2.5 years, and no UR deck in its style has ever even sniffed at Tier 1.5, let alone Tier 1.
I was one of the major voices who argued that Twin largely got banned to shakeup the PT. I agree this was a major reason behind the ban. But I also think that a) Wizards has yet to publicly admit this, b) they are still notoriously risk averse, c) there are other cards they would probably want to unban first, and d) they may have convinced themselves that there were other reasons that are still at play. None of this bodes well for Twin's chances. If you truly believe that Wizards is pouring Kool-Aid for the masses, then you should also believe they are drinking it on their own and have their own narrative around that ban which they are unlikely to overturn any time soon. If anyone can point us to any Wizards statement that challenges this view, I'd love to see it. But I'd bet that the extremely conservative and risk-averse Wizards will not admit to anything and will look for other cards before turning to Twin.
dunno if you added up all the 'it will push out gbx' statements over the last few years jund should be a draft deck by now. im not advocating a dig unban, but ive yet to see sufficient reasoning that it is worse than anything else being talked about.
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Considering that modern has turn 3/4 linear strategies that are creature based (humans), graveyard/creature based (hollow one), artifact based (affinity, lantern, kci), spell based (storm, burn), and enchantment based (bogles)- there is no way for a control deck to be able to cover all of their bases at the time being. I love my blue control (grixis/jeskai) more than anyone- but wizards would have to print something on the power level of force of will or mental misstep to give blue what it actually needs to be tier 1.
Alternatively, if bogles were banned out of the format, control would be poised for a major comeback- but as it stands there are no real maindeck worthy answers to enchantments in the format- a U/W or W/R modal spell like k command that had relevant lines of text as well as "destroy target enchantment/ all enchantments" would maybe be good enough to get some variation of control where it needed to be to cover all of the bases somewhat consistently.
If the #FreeTwin movement actually built a case and argued it, I think it would have legs with the community and even R&D. Unfortunately, the movement is Modern's most pervasive (and, honestly, annoying) meme. The pro-Twin group has no one but themselves to blame for this. I've yet to see a serious argument with numbers, test results, or content analysis to support Twin's unbanning. It's almost always rants that are long on words and short on substance and/or pithy, sarcastic, and dismissive one-liners. To use a legal analogy, it's like going to a court with a strong underlying case but terrible attorneys. When people do try to make a serious case for Twin, it's quickly lost in the noise and no one holds it for long.
A legitimate, persuasive, auditable, and viable defense of Twin would need to address the following issues/points with actual numbers to back up the findings:
1. Did the Twin ban increase/decrease blue diversity as the update claimed it would? This is relatively easy to find by comparing the pre-ban share of non-Twin blue deck to the post-ban share of non-Twin blue decks. Lots of crunching, but all the data is public. I started this analysis in early 2017 and found pretty convincingly that the non-Twin blue share didn't change at all. It even dropped in some sectors.
2. Did the Twin ban increase/decrease format diversity as the update also claimed it would? Another easy one to test with a similar method, using all public data.
3. Is Twin 2.0 with AV/JTMS/Push/Search/etc. too strong for the current Modern? This is the hardest thing to test because you need to build an optimal post-unban Twin list and then play it against a slew of new top decks. You can use Twin's old matchups as a starting point (https://www.channelfireball.com/articles/magic-math-the-new-modern-by-the-numbers/): hint - it was basically 50/50 against everything in the top-tier.
If one could successfully argue all three of those issues, they would have a very strong case for unbanning Twin. This would be a significantly more productive use of the pro-Twin camp's time rather than their current approach.
but #muhtwin... can't believe people are still crying two years later.
The current iteration of storm would get ditched if dig were modern legal- it would adopt fetchlands and thought scours to fill the graveyard as fast as possible- they probably wouldn't even need past in flames to kill you- they could naturally go off with dig being a natural 2 for 1 that finds more cantrips and more digs.
what you describe sounds, at best, just as good if not worse than gifts storm with PIF. thought scour isnt selection, fetch lands arent free, you still rely on the GY, and now have a double blue casting cost spell. it cant go off any faster and dig is less consistent than a flat out tutor.
im still open to the idea dig is too busted if someone can point to something, but im not counting storm as a valid example.
edit: note that this is just a point of conversation about dig relative to other cards on the banned list; especially the popular ones people expect to come off the list. not some campaign to see dig in modern.
Alternatively, if bogles were banned out of the format, control would be poised for a major comeback- but as it stands there are no real maindeck worthy answers to enchantments in the format- a U/W or W/R modal spell like k command that had relevant lines of text as well as "destroy target enchantment/ all enchantments" would maybe be good enough to get some variation of control where it needed to be to cover all of the bases somewhat consistently.
It presents no risk. I'm fully, openly, unfathomably biased, but its not a risk. No deck 'dies' if Twin enters the meta. It just becomes the finisher for Blue Moon.
UWR would be just as much a thing as it is.
UW would be just as much a thing as it is.
Jund would GAIN from it.
The biggest impact would be a meta share taken from the aggro crowd, given to the control and midrange crowd.
Spirits
Honestly, it really is a strong card, but if you believe that it is probably around the same power level of Jace, the Mind Sculptor (which I do), then it probably could be unbanned as well.
It isn't brought up because at the time, it would have powered RUG Scapeshift and Twin up too much. It also is lumped in the same category as Ancestral Recall. Honestly, Treasure Cruise could probably come back as well. In some ways, it is very similar to Bedlam Reveler. I feel that people have their eyes set on other unbans first. Then we can see how the dust settles. But I will agree with you that Dig Through Time and even Treasure Cruise don't seem super powerful in the current meta.
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Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
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Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)Spirits
I too agree that DTT died a bit for TC's sins, HOWEVER, it was also pretty nuts in a scapeshift build
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/dig-through-modern has a decklist, eventually the deck became a URg tempo build with ramp and scapeshift for an "I Win" option
later decklist: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/29-10-14-dtt-scapeshift/
later article: https://www.channelfireball.com/articles/king-of-the-hill-scapeshift/
probe was an enabler, and twin was threatening to become too good. well those arent an issue now. i was thinking of ktkenshinx's 3 questions that should be considered for an unban:
1. Does it slot directly into a Tier 1 deck?
2. Does it create T4 rule violations?
3. Does it empower a new archetype to overly-dominant levels?
the first 2 are no, but the third...maybe. though nothing comes to mind that is in the market for that type of effect.
if it were between preordain and dig im not sure which would be more beneficial to the format if at all.
the thing with twin is that it is a known quantity. you unban it to bring one specific combo deck back. all of these other unbans being proposed are more open-ended and will most likely see play across a swath of decks. at no point do i ever see the dci/wotc concluding that a single powerful deck being forced onto the format as an appropriate answer to anything. twin isnt some scalpel its a blunt instrument.
twin with jace has to be considered, as well as twin with preordain if they ever went that route. the same could be said for SFM (ie twinblade). twin would be it, blue could never get anything better because twin would scoop it up. blue control diversity might still exist but they would always be at the mercy of twins performance, and not their own.
i just isnt something i see happening when they could be trying to help multiple decks instead of one.
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WCDeath and Taxes(sold)This whole 'ooo twin with AV, and Jace, oh my!' please. AV is a nothing card in Modern put it back on the ban list and literally NOTHING changes, and Jace is QUESTIONABLY going the same path.
Just like in our UWR thread man, Azcanta is the truth, and I would almost certainly play it over Jace, in Twin.
Spirits
I think it's hilarious that people argue that splinter twin is interactive- it's interactive until you hit an "I win the game" button with an instant speed combo- be a man and play a real control deck that squeaks out incremental advantage over time instead of playing that bull***** and actually requires real decision making rather than turn 2 remand your spell, turn 3 cast a flash guy, turn 4 win the game- it's far too consistent to be considered fun to play with and against.
The only card that makes any sense to come off the banned list at the moment is stoneforge mystic. It's an overly fair card that doesn't end the game on the spot and actually creates games of more interactive magic. Bringing decks like twin or pod back basically just emphasize the current "arms race kill you as fast as I can or be killed" crap that we've been seeing with the surge of decks like bogles and hollow one. The format has a clean answer to it in k command, and the equipment in this format are mediocre at best without skullclamp and jitte.
scapeshift was always on the radar with dig, but did anything actually come to fruition? the way i remember events was that tc delver was oppressive and dig powering up twin and scapeshift was mostly theoretical.
more importantly would rug shift with dig be too good right now. id give that a no since jace hardly made a dent in its tier 2 status.
UWGSnow-Bant Control
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WCDeath and Taxes(sold)I know you really, REALLY want Twin unbanned and have wanted little else for literally 2 years now, but we both know Twin presents more risks than you are so casually claiming. The risk is clearly that Twin plus any number of new/unbanned cards since 2016 creates a de facto best Tier 1 deck that has a 50/50+ matchup against most of the field. This would devolve the metagame into Twin vs. Anti-Twin decks. I really don't think Wizards will take that risk given Modern's current popularity and their perception that its diversity has almost never been better. If you want to make a different case then I am sure most everyone would love to see it. But make that case. The casual and sarcastic insistence that Twin is totally safe is disingenuous. It's AT LEAST an open question.
No?
Spirits
thats your hang up? storm? what would they cut and what would they gain by nuking their graveyard with delve? the deck could probably contort to accommodate dig, but would the result be better than gifts storm? color me dubious.
there might be some fringe or unknown deck waiting to be busted so dig might never make the cut on that alone. however i dont see dig slotting into any existing decks and being too good.
maybe blue doesnt need that level of help, but ive found it odd it is almost never brought up in these unban discussions.
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WCDeath and Taxes(sold)You say this with the same level of certainty as those saying Jace, the Mind Sculptor would break Modern if ever unbanned. You are repainting an image of Twin that never existed; one that puts it in the same category as Eye of Ugin Eldrazi. "Twin and anti-Twin deck" metas never existed. Yes, I am biased, but of all people, I expect a more level-headed approach and less doomsaying hyperbole.
Twin is "safe" because it is a known entity and there is really no justifiable reason to keep it banned.
UR ....... WUBR ........... WB ............. RGW ........ UBR ....... WUB .... BGU
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The two aren't remotely comparable in either function or history. Moreover, I have never said either card would break Modern if unbanned, so I'm not sure why you are even making this argument.
I know you really want to argue in favor of Twin's unbanning, but please re-read my argument. Maybe I phrased it badly but I think you're just tunnelvisioning on any anti-Twin argument being necessarily wrong. In fact, your deliberate omission of part of my post further suggests this. I am NOT arguing this:
"I personally believe that the risk is clearly that Twin plus any number of new/unbanned cards since 2016 creates a de facto best Tier 1 deck that has a 50/50+ matchup against most of the field." (I do not believe this)
This is what you are presenting my claim as by omitting a key part of my past post: the piece about Wizards' perception. Here IS what I am arguing:
"I personally believe that WIZARDS WILL EVALUATE TWIN AS FOLLOWS: the risk (to Wizards) is clearly that Twin plus any number of new/unbanned cards since 2016 creates a de facto best Tier 1 deck that has a 50/50+ matchup against most of the field, which Wizards doesn't want" (I DO believe that Wizards believes this)
I don't know if I can make this distinction any clearer. It's not what I personally believe about Twin, either now or in previous posts that you abbreviated. I personally think the card would probably be fine. Unfortunately, I also believe that Wizards is notoriously risk averse and it is extremely unlikely they will risk anything with Twin when a) cards like SFM are still on the banlist and b) it took them so long to unban something like JTMS/BBE. Pro-Twin players do not need to convince me. They need to make a plausible case that Wizards is likely to buy that shows Twin's benefits outweigh its risks. Restating "Twin is fine/safe/a known entity" does not make that case.
There has never been a Twin vs Non Twin meta.
Amulet Titan, has more Top 8s, that UR Kiki.
Between Humans, GDS, Traverse DS, BBE Jund, and Hollow One (forced discard is disruption) AND ETron? There is more disruption + aggro than ever.
Affinity coexisted.
Tron coexisted.
Control could be tuned to fight Twin.
GW Coco coexisted.
Storm coexisted.
Don't drink Wizards kool-aid.
Twin was banned under false pretenses. It is approaching 2.5 years, and no UR deck in its style has ever even sniffed at Tier 1.5, let alone Tier 1.
Spirits
The current iteration of storm would get ditched if dig were modern legal- it would adopt fetchlands and thought scours to fill the graveyard as fast as possible- they probably wouldn't even need past in flames to kill you- they could naturally go off with dig being a natural 2 for 1 that finds more cantrips and more digs.
I've gotten a lot of likes on twitter over the last few days, it becomes harder to justify every announcement.
People swore up and down Jace would end Modern diversity.
It's closer to a do nothing. Hope folks enjoy their $100 bill cards sitting unplayed in a binder because he's still not good enough to make blue tier 1.
Spirits
I was one of the major voices who argued that Twin largely got banned to shakeup the PT. I agree this was a major reason behind the ban. But I also think that a) Wizards has yet to publicly admit this, b) they are still notoriously risk averse, c) there are other cards they would probably want to unban first, and d) they may have convinced themselves that there were other reasons that are still at play. None of this bodes well for Twin's chances. If you truly believe that Wizards is pouring Kool-Aid for the masses, then you should also believe they are drinking it on their own and have their own narrative around that ban which they are unlikely to overturn any time soon. If anyone can point us to any Wizards statement that challenges this view, I'd love to see it. But I'd bet that the extremely conservative and risk-averse Wizards will not admit to anything and will look for other cards before turning to Twin.
UWGSnow-Bant Control
BURGrixis Death's Shadow
GWBCoCo Elves
WCDeath and Taxes(sold)Spirits
Alternatively, if bogles were banned out of the format, control would be poised for a major comeback- but as it stands there are no real maindeck worthy answers to enchantments in the format- a U/W or W/R modal spell like k command that had relevant lines of text as well as "destroy target enchantment/ all enchantments" would maybe be good enough to get some variation of control where it needed to be to cover all of the bases somewhat consistently.
A legitimate, persuasive, auditable, and viable defense of Twin would need to address the following issues/points with actual numbers to back up the findings:
1. Did the Twin ban increase/decrease blue diversity as the update claimed it would? This is relatively easy to find by comparing the pre-ban share of non-Twin blue deck to the post-ban share of non-Twin blue decks. Lots of crunching, but all the data is public. I started this analysis in early 2017 and found pretty convincingly that the non-Twin blue share didn't change at all. It even dropped in some sectors.
2. Did the Twin ban increase/decrease format diversity as the update also claimed it would? Another easy one to test with a similar method, using all public data.
3. Is Twin 2.0 with AV/JTMS/Push/Search/etc. too strong for the current Modern? This is the hardest thing to test because you need to build an optimal post-unban Twin list and then play it against a slew of new top decks. You can use Twin's old matchups as a starting point (https://www.channelfireball.com/articles/magic-math-the-new-modern-by-the-numbers/): hint - it was basically 50/50 against everything in the top-tier.
If one could successfully argue all three of those issues, they would have a very strong case for unbanning Twin. This would be a significantly more productive use of the pro-Twin camp's time rather than their current approach.
what you describe sounds, at best, just as good if not worse than gifts storm with PIF. thought scour isnt selection, fetch lands arent free, you still rely on the GY, and now have a double blue casting cost spell. it cant go off any faster and dig is less consistent than a flat out tutor.
im still open to the idea dig is too busted if someone can point to something, but im not counting storm as a valid example.
edit: note that this is just a point of conversation about dig relative to other cards on the banned list; especially the popular ones people expect to come off the list. not some campaign to see dig in modern.
UWGSnow-Bant Control
BURGrixis Death's Shadow
GWBCoCo Elves
WCDeath and Taxes(sold)Plenty of digital ink has been wasted outlining various points on why the ban was wrong or unjustified, but you have to gather it up over years.
I'm going to try and do this, since I'm playing less Modern as the days go by anyway and so have some time.
Spirits
Austere Command!
wait...crap
UWGSnow-Bant Control
BURGrixis Death's Shadow
GWBCoCo Elves
WCDeath and Taxes(sold)