What’s the difference between “broken” and “powerful”?
I see them used a lot here, on reddit, discord, or in real life, and often interchangeably. I’d think they’d be different though. I want there to be powerful cards. I don’t want there to be cards that are unbalanced (the term I prefer) which is what broken has always meant to me. What are some powerful but not broken cards? Bolt, thoughtseize, snapcaster, goyf, Jace, lili, and path are powerful. TC, DTT, Eye, and GGT are unbalanced cards to me.
Of course they don’t. Modern isn’t their priority and like I said sooner rather than later there will be a new non rotating format that I’m sure they will actually put time and effort into. It won’t have fetches and some of the main problematic things the current non rotating formats do. They will just do reprints here and there to make money off the format and that is all that could be expected of them.
Modern is hands-down the most popular constructed format by basically every metric we have access to. They also literally hired a Play Design member, Tom Ross, to be their Modern and non-rotating format guy, plus designed cards with Modern in mind. Why do people keep theorizing that Modern is on the out for some new post-Modern format? That would be one of the worst business decisions Wizards could make right now and as much as we love to bash Wizards, we can all probably agree it's very unlikely. It's far more likely they will just keep monetizing the success they have, not try to reinvent the wheel. Especially after the initial failures of Brawl and the horrible reception to Frontier after Hareruya pushed it. Modern is the way to go and it's here to stay for the foreseeable future.
Will this replacement happen one day? I mean, probably? I guess? But people repeating this prediction for ten years and then having it come true after a decade does not make it a good prediction.
I think Wiz is starting to realize/acknowledge Modern is the most popular format. The return of the Modern PT, the team PT featuring Modern and Legacy, the new play design member you mentioned, and most importantly the questions about Modern they asked on that survey recently, all indicate Wiz has figured it out. I remember this thread talking about how bad of a decision removing the Modern PT was all those years ago when it originally happened and now years later Wiz has realized. Standard being terrible these last fews has helped (how much is debatable, but I believe its been a big factor and that Wiz has lost many standard players forever)but as everyone said originally non standard formats are extremely popular. My guess is that Wiz didn't know how to correctly make money off non rotating formats so they tried to focus everything on the formats that did make money for them. Those formats floundered due to poor design while modern and other non standard formats have gained players and the products made for them have generally sold well. Now standard is still the primary format but modern is going to get more attention than its ever gotten before. Question is will Wiz figure out how to make money from modern and support it in ways that are positive: good reprints, balanced and needed new cards (if they go this route), and continued increase in events and coverage.
The data on win percentages in different formats is interesting. I've posters say that Modern has a lot of 70/30 & 65/35 matchups while legacy and standard have more 55/45 match ups and far fewer decks. IF (I don't think I've seen data proving this) this is true is it possible the wide range of decks in modern still leads to the same win percentage because playing a wide range of 70/30 & 65/35 match ups would be equivalent to playing a small range of decks with 55/45 match ups?
Would be cool to see hybrid cards with 2 effects one for each hybrid pair. But there wouldn’t be a mode for a mixed casting cost. So casting cost would be X/Y X/Y but you could only pay XX or YY.
The most recent U or W modern level spells were printed in RtR. That is the entire problem those colors have in a nutshell. We get modern level black and red spells almost every set or we get cards that synergize with what those colors or green are doing. As ppl have said before U and W are playable but they will continue to be harder to play if they don’t get new toys. As Jace and AV demonstrate new cards are strong enough to nullify those old U spells and I imagine the same is true for SFM although she’s a creature not a spell.
These are the ones applicable to what I assume ThinkingChimp is discussing. 'Blue' Control.
By spells I meant instants and sorceries. Sorry for the language confusion. That leaves blessed alliance and settle. Settle isn't an upgrade over verdict in builds without creatures and blessed alliance sees very little play if any (didn't make mtg goldfish list of staples so its in at most 4% of decks). And none of those cards are format or archetype defining. However every other color has received new cards that defined their archetype or created entire new tier 1/2 decks.
Spell cards since Inn/RtR
U 1 (Ceremonious rejection and dispel are also on the list but I left out SB cards from each color)
W 0
B 4
R 4
G 2
That difference doesn't even count the creature cards G B R and Colorless have received.
The decks can't be expected to keep up when they have outdated tech.
The most recent U or W modern level spells were printed in RtR. That is the entire problem those colors have in a nutshell. We get modern level black and red spells almost every set or we get cards that synergize with what those colors or green are doing. As ppl have said before U and W are playable but they will continue to be harder to play if they don’t get new toys. As Jace and AV demonstrate new cards are strong enough to nullify those old U spells and I imagine the same is true for SFM although she’s a creature not a spell.
The problem modern is facing now has less to with "Can they print powerful universal answers" and more to do with "do they want to print powerful universal answers." The trends towards linear uninteractive decks is because the new cards they print that are good enough for modern are mostly synergistic threats that lead to linear uninteractive decks. Looking the top 50 most played cards from mtggoldfish you'll see the most recent interactive cards are fatal push and collective brutality. After that its anger of the gods. The last blue reactive card--snapcaster. In that same time frame we've had collected company, reflector mage, thalia, tks, mantis rider, thalia's lieutenant, hollow one, and kitesail freebooter. Thats 8 cards threats or synergistic creatures to 4 reactive or interactive cards. Those numbers don't include the delve creatures, the other low cost eldrazi, or the rest of the hollow one deck. Even if we add kommand, search for azcanta, abrupt decay, lingering souls, and both lili's to the reactive/interactive cards there are still nearly twice as many uninteractive or synergistic threats as reactive/interactive answers. As long as this trend continues modern will continue to look more and more like this weekend. Whether that is a good or bad thing is subjective though. But if its going to change wizards is gonna have to up the power level reactive/interactive of cards in standard. The banlist has maybe 1 card (SFM) that could help but given what we've seen from the jace unban and what decks are currently doing, I doubt SFM would stem the tide much.
I personally would like to see them play around with 2 mana draw spells or counters that cost UU. Should be restrictive enough in standard to be balanced while still having modern potential depending on the drawbacks or requirements to cast the spell. A UU brainstorm or a UU brainstorm that digs only 2 and puts 1 back would be an interesting start.
I've also been curious about Jungleborn Pioneer thinking it could go well with Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca and CoCo. Would a 4/2 split between vials and CoCo with 30 creatures be functional? I'm doubtful but curious what others think. I hope Dominaria brings a useful U or U/g interactive spell which is what I think the deck needed more than another lord. That or a merfolk venser.
Rampant Growth isn't actually too strong. It just limits design space. Its difficult to make cards with set specific things added to Rampant Growth without making something strictly better. Often this means they make a worse Rampant Growth by increasing mana cost or adding restrictions. However, I'd rather they keep certain bread and butter cards like Rampant Growth and explore set specific mechanics in other ways.
To me it isn't that MTG has become filled with "Worlds of Hats." Its that Mtg has stopped using high fantasy settings like Dominaria. Ahmonket doesn't feel like a fantasy world, it just feels like ancient egypt with dragons. Same for Ktk (still really enjoyed that block) and Innistrad. The worlds felt more like alternate earths than unique fantasy settings. Kaladesh and Ravnica felt more like fantasy and while I did enjoy Ravnica Kaladesh was not very fleshed out. Hopefully returning to Dominaria brings back the high fantasy look and feel because thats what MTG world have been missing for me. I suspect that the change I'm describing is due to wanting to make the worlds more accessible but its a shame that a game that was supposed to appeal to a niche fantasy audience has moved pretty far from that.
Went back and reread the Project Lightning Bug story. Its interesting that story opens with Ral in the Undercity and he seems pretty knowledgeable about the the tunnels and pathways. Now that we know he is working for Bolas that makes more sesne -- the Undercity is a UB area and isn't a place you'd expect to find too many "good guys" lurking around. Ral also expresses a lot of dislike for Jace particularly because Jace is an outsider. Ral comes of pretty xenophobic so its totally conceivable that Bolas promised to help him get Jace off Rav or Ral's anger about Jace and general xenophobia made Bolas an appealing master.
I see them used a lot here, on reddit, discord, or in real life, and often interchangeably. I’d think they’d be different though. I want there to be powerful cards. I don’t want there to be cards that are unbalanced (the term I prefer) which is what broken has always meant to me. What are some powerful but not broken cards? Bolt, thoughtseize, snapcaster, goyf, Jace, lili, and path are powerful. TC, DTT, Eye, and GGT are unbalanced cards to me.
I think Wiz is starting to realize/acknowledge Modern is the most popular format. The return of the Modern PT, the team PT featuring Modern and Legacy, the new play design member you mentioned, and most importantly the questions about Modern they asked on that survey recently, all indicate Wiz has figured it out. I remember this thread talking about how bad of a decision removing the Modern PT was all those years ago when it originally happened and now years later Wiz has realized. Standard being terrible these last fews has helped (how much is debatable, but I believe its been a big factor and that Wiz has lost many standard players forever)but as everyone said originally non standard formats are extremely popular. My guess is that Wiz didn't know how to correctly make money off non rotating formats so they tried to focus everything on the formats that did make money for them. Those formats floundered due to poor design while modern and other non standard formats have gained players and the products made for them have generally sold well. Now standard is still the primary format but modern is going to get more attention than its ever gotten before. Question is will Wiz figure out how to make money from modern and support it in ways that are positive: good reprints, balanced and needed new cards (if they go this route), and continued increase in events and coverage.
By spells I meant instants and sorceries. Sorry for the language confusion. That leaves blessed alliance and settle. Settle isn't an upgrade over verdict in builds without creatures and blessed alliance sees very little play if any (didn't make mtg goldfish list of staples so its in at most 4% of decks). And none of those cards are format or archetype defining. However every other color has received new cards that defined their archetype or created entire new tier 1/2 decks.
Mtg Goldfish format staples: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/format-staples/modern/full/all
Spell cards since Inn/RtR
U 1 (Ceremonious rejection and dispel are also on the list but I left out SB cards from each color)
W 0
B 4
R 4
G 2
That difference doesn't even count the creature cards G B R and Colorless have received.
The decks can't be expected to keep up when they have outdated tech.
I personally would like to see them play around with 2 mana draw spells or counters that cost UU. Should be restrictive enough in standard to be balanced while still having modern potential depending on the drawbacks or requirements to cast the spell. A UU brainstorm or a UU brainstorm that digs only 2 and puts 1 back would be an interesting start.
3x Cursecatcher
4x Harbinger of the Tides
1x Jade Bearer
1x Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca
4x Kumena's Speaker
4x Lord of Atlantis
4x Master of the Pearl Trident
2x Merfolk Branchwalker
3x Merfolk Mistbinder
2x Merrow Reejerey
4x Silvergill Adept
3x Botanical Sanctum
2x Breeding Pool
3x Cavern of Souls
1x Flooded Strand
4x Island
1x Misty Rainforest
2x Mutavault
2x Polluted Delta
Artifact (4)
4x Aether Vial
Instant (2)
2x Spell Pierce
Enchantment (4)
4x Spreading Seas
3x Ceremonious Rejection
2x Dismember
2x Natural State
4x Relic of Progenitus
2x Swift Warden
2x Unified Will
UG list I have been testing.
I've also been curious about Jungleborn Pioneer thinking it could go well with Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca and CoCo. Would a 4/2 split between vials and CoCo with 30 creatures be functional? I'm doubtful but curious what others think. I hope Dominaria brings a useful U or U/g interactive spell which is what I think the deck needed more than another lord. That or a merfolk venser.