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- Bearscape
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Member for 10 years, 1 month, and 24 days
Last active Thu, Apr, 2 2020 04:44:11
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May 22, 20197
Nyzzeh posted a message on [MH1] Modern Horizons Discussion ThreadPlease stop talking about "wasted" mythic slots... every mythic slot that has a bad card is a success, we want the good cards at common, uncommon and rare in that order preferably.Posted in: Modern -
May 21, 20195
idSurge posted a message on The State of Modern Thread (B&R 20/05/2019)Yes, it does.Posted in: Modern Archives
Hexproof = 13/13 idiotic bogle.
Shroud = 1/1 bogle. -
May 21, 20192
ElectricEye posted a message on [MH1] Modern Horizons Discussion ThreadYeah I dont really understand the "cast only on opponents turn" restriction on these. It makes sense for the Force of Negation so you cant use it to protect your own combo like Force of Will but on the others it makes much less sense IMOPosted in: Modern -
May 19, 2019
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idSurge posted a message on [MH1] Modern Horizons Discussion ThreadThats your hill to die on? Why?Posted in: Modern -
May 16, 20193
tronix posted a message on The State of Modern Thread (B&R 11/03/2019)Posted in: Modern ArchivesQuote from The Fluff »Quote from tronix »
sTonEForGe mYsTIc liMitS desIgN
guess wizards has to hold back on artifact design cause karn right? smh
I'm interested in which direction WoTC would go on this. Would they stop printing narrow but powerful sideboard type artifacts because Karn?
nah, i was just being sarcastic because many players still hold up 'limiting equipment design' as a reason SFM hasnt been unbanned.
as i see it, wizards has and will continue to (hopefully) primarily design for standard and limited. new powerful utility artifacts will be printed, just like new cheap spells or creatures in whatever tribes. if anything gets out of hand, that is when banlist decisions can be made. i mean that is why it exists after all. besides, most of the powerful stuff the new karn is doing is with artifacts that design has moved away from in general like ensnaring bridge.
as far as im concerned, the only 'this card(s) get better over time' (thus limiting design space) case that made any sense was birthing pod. the scope of 'creatures that do stuff' was just too broad especially since the deck was firmly at the top of the format. even still, the game/formats are complex enough with deep enough card pools that the assumption birthing pod would scale at an overwhelming rate is questionable. unfortunately the bar to unban cards continues to be set much higher than the bar to ban them; so its likely we will never know.
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May 9, 2019
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tronix posted a message on The State of Modern Thread (B&R 11/03/2019)both queller and delay are pretty much the opposite of grindy late game value (as clear tempo centric cards).Posted in: Modern Archives
as for the knowledge pool lock, its just unreasonable to play 3-4 copies of a 6 cmc artifact that is absolute garbage on its own. a common way to assess such mini-combos is to look at worst and poor/average cases. the new 3 cmc teferi is a passable inclusion on its own. combining it with a 6 mana play, likely on curve at best, for something that might not even impact the outcome of the game; seems much less so. ive been wrong before, and will most definitely be again, but atm im writing off that 9th place finish in the classic as a fluke.
the concept of a control deck working towards a soft lock, but not necessarily bending over backwards to assemble it, seems strategically sound given the high powered stuff any one deck in modern can put together given the time. just look at how dominant UW miracles was in legacy with SDT and counterbalance, and is still now to a lesser degree with JUST counterbalance. in that regard combos that can just win the game, which is even better, are also inordinately strong when the deck can afford to do other things; as evidenced by the likes of twin or pod.
that said UWx control was given multiple tools to help with what it historically struggled at; actually holding control of a game once taken. classic blue control, to an extent, is by nature trying to lock their opponent off of making relevant plays after pushing the boardstate to parity; except its done implicitly with overwhelming resource generation and permission being the strongest form of response due by ignoring card type and battlefield effects. in that sense getting jace and or teferi online with the shields up is pretty close to a lock (like bearscape mentioned). -
Apr 25, 2019
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idSurge posted a message on The State of Modern Thread (B&R 11/03/2019)Posted in: Modern ArchivesQuote from Renegade Rallier »The legality of Jitte and Brainstorm make a big difference in the power level of SFM is in Legacy vs Modern.
Also, there are quite a few cards legal in BOTH formats that can do a job on a stoneforge package.
Pithing Needle for example is a multi-purpose card that any deck can use to stop both SFM herself or equipment. Phyrexian revoker is another. These cards simply don't see play in Modern because there aren't many strong activated abilities around. They're ready made answers for SFM.
I don't see how anyone can buy the notion that SFM + Skull is some sort of powerhouse inevitability engine when a pithing needle just stops it from happening.
Just an irrational fear based on other formats.
Jace is amazing in Vintage and Legacy.
Jace is borderline 'ok' in Modern.
Twin is ban worthy (apparently) in Modern.
Twin is unplayable in Vintage and Legacy.
SFM is good in Legacy.
SFM would be oppressive and warping in Modern?
Not sure how that all works out. -
Apr 20, 20193
VoodooKick posted a message on UW ControlPosted in: ControlQuote from motleyslayer »picked up the colonnades I needed to finish my set on the weekend, so decided to play UW control for a bit. Can I get some advice on the amulet titan matchup?
A long-winded, unedited blurb of mine from the Competitive UWx Facebook Group:
Side out your Remand if you have any in the main, they are terrible against Pacts and Amulets, which are the two strongest enablers of the deck against us. Obviously side out Spell Snare if you have them as they don't produce results against anything but Negate
Proactively use your Field of Ruin to prevent them from interacting with Pact of Negation before they can put it on the stack if you have a way to bury them before it's a live play. Obviously if they are a newer player and are tempted to Pact a high impact play like Detention Sphere on multiple Amulets early on, you can try to hedge for these scenarios with 1x Ghost Quarter main being sandbagged in your hand for Karoo lands / blue sources (although most people have moved on to now playing with only 4x Field as their LD) Otherwise, if you are in the business of tempo-ing the opponent, don't forget to Cryptic their Coalition Relic if they've resolved Pact, as it can single handedly help to pay for UU. The matchup between UWx and Amulet has evolved quite a bit that the collective intel regarding free wins against Pact of Negation is overall coming to a slow halt. I don't think you should angle the opponent on this line but be aware of when you can get a free win amirite
Be aware of their manabase, look at the trending decks and count the aggregate number of basics/Caverns/Tolaria West. This lets you know whether it's a +EV play to Path, Field, or Surgical any particular target depending on how much mana you are afforded at various stages of the game. I've seen lists running 3-4 Forests main so that's probably a safe bet
Don't be afraid to Path an enabler like Sakura Tribe Scout (unless they have Amulet(s) going and you need outs to Titan,) as you don't want them to leverage you with an activation in response to Field by having a Karoo land bounce the Field target They tend to make important plays with only half their deck, so if you can throttle their action by countering/D Sphere-ing their Amulets, removing their creatures, and casting Surgical targeting T West, you can really bottleneck them on their potential line of plays down to a paltry few options in Titan and Hive Mind, which are easy to topple one at a time
I have hedged with 1x Disallow to prevent Primeval Titan + Cavern of Souls from snowballing into an unwinnable game state so make sure to have some kind of plan for their big turn. On top of this I have cut Mana Leak from the 75 to play an extra Negate main because of how there is almost no return for it against big mana and combo decks
Sometimes, we just lose to set play. They have a turn 2 nut draw, we either have 1CC removal and somehow stabilize or cry and move on to the next game
If you can make them stumble early on, be generous (as previously mentioned) in how you use Path, yet mindful: as their sideboard plan involves Tireless Tracker to gain card advantage. Don't get caught lacking removal against it because they tend to draw 5-10+ cards when it goes unchecked and it can just break the game open
If you have to fight multiple game enders, let Cryptic + Path/Condemn be designated to fight Titan, and counters + Snapcaster to fight Hive Mind. We are always going to be catching up to their tempo, making the most mana efficient play is critical to staying alive.
You want to invest all your counterspells in succession for Hive Mind to A) not die on the spot to Summoner's Pact if it resolves and B) to hope that if we cannot prevent it from sticking that they had to fight with enough Pact of Negations that they cannot force multiple copies of it on us. When they're piling up lands with a Cavern + Titan, you want to force Pact to keep Cryptic from buying yourself another turn while holding up the cheapest removal possible.
In these cases, the opponent sees that we are spending lots of mana to barely stay alive, and they can get greedy and want to search for Tolaria West + Karoo land to keep the threats coming instead of saving Pact for when they have lethal on the spot. Letting Cryptic take a hit so that the removal resolves and we have to worry about getting opened up a little less is the best EV Overall the simplest way to approach this matchup is to assume the position of the Amulet player, and know that they either want to blitz us with a fast Amulet draw by turn 3-4 or cheese us out with Hive Mind + Pacts in turns 4+ or if plan A backfires, and try to mitigate those plans in the aforementioned order by the appropriate stage of the match.
Lastly, when all else fails in the long game, you can fall back on Logic Knot and Snapcaster combined to stop Summoner's Pact copies from Hive mind, as their Hive Mind cannot copy Logic Knot for 0UU and use it to copy anything but the Pacts (if they are silly enough to go that route) One Logic Knot and one Snapcaster should probably be enough insurance to prevent such a line, considering there is Surgical Extraction as well to fight the green pact
Just know that they have a big leg up on us in tempo so try to not think that the games will be relatively fair - we need a bit of luck for these games to pan out in our favor. I think most of us would be remiss to brush this matchup off as we are pretty much a underdog against Amulet
Furthermore, I'd add that after jamming about 10 or so leagues (after getting tired of my work schedule not letting me commit to paper MTG and pushing me to switch to MTGO,) I've finally 5-0ed a Friendly league (gotta get to comps one day when my budget allows lol) and my newest version has eschewed Stony Silence for Disenchant and one Lavinia, Azorius Renegade. It makes you a little bit softer to the likes of Tireless Tracker and Walking Ballista when facing off against the Amulet decks, but I figure they try to win by siding into Hornet Queen if they aren't playing it maindeck. The upside is that Lavinia blanks so much of what they try to accomplish while modestly getting in for 2dmg per turn. She's been really good for me in other spots as well, like Whir Prison and Grishoalbrand for example -
Apr 20, 20191
Kathal posted a message on The State of Modern Thread (B&R 11/03/2019)Posted in: Modern Archives
A stupid as it may sound: If they would need to ban 1-2 cards in Modern to make the game overall enjoyable for everybody else, why shouldn't they do it? That ruling is massive for limited (especially for limited) and also very impactful in Standard. Sure, from all formats Modern gets affected the hardest by this (dunno about Vintage) relative to it's powerlevel, so, if it is borderline okay in Modern (in a hypothetical standpoint), why not pull the trigger and in worst case ban 1-2 cards in Modern to increase the overall health of the game?Quote from Joban8 »I'm still indifferent, however, I've watched a variety of matches thus far and have seen some dirty ***** done using Gemstone Caverns, Serum Powder, & Pull From Eternity. Opening hands for Dredge and Tron are just filthy. I just hope WotC will take some time to scour over the data from MTGO before pulling the trigger officially; I hate seeing bans and banning a card/nerfing a deck b/c it becomes too consistent after WotC changing the rules would cause a proverbial *****storm.
Greetings,
Kathal -
Apr 18, 20193
Ym1r posted a message on [WAR] War of the Spark Previews: Modern DiscussionPosted in: Modern
Nope, you can't get two creatures. It reads "Search your library and/or graveyard for A creature". The and/or means that you can search your library, search your graveyard and then decide.Quote from Bearscape »Quote from The Fluff »Slightly more expensive green sun zenith, but can get any color creature and from the yard as well.
Was down on this card until I realized it read AND/or. You can get two creatures. If modern slows down to where fair green creaturedecks don't die on turn 3 anymore it might have some potential, although Sorcery speed probably means Chord of Calling is better. - To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
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No hyperbole, he defended eldrazi winter to the bitter end.
It comes from two sides, you know. You can be too careful in banning things. With how slow the tiny amount of data we get from events comes in, it is VERY easy to say that, according to the stats, we are fine. That is called a type 2 error.
And although there are indeed people that jump on every deck demanding a ban, I don't think that's the case for most ban proponents. Using myself as an example, I have been talking about the same single ban for a long time; Faithless Looting. If it seems like people jump on every new deck demanding a ban, it might be because every time something dumb and unfair is powerful in modern, it involves Looting breaking the resource system. Really makes you think.
If you go through my post history, you can see that when Neoform was the talk of the town, I was not on the ban train. I express frustration that the first thing that breaks out of WAR is yet another combo deck, but also say I want to see more data. I didn't really talk about newKarn at all, mostly because tron has always been obnoxious with or without two tutors and a softlock. Other than that, I have always been consistent in claiming that the format would be much better off without Faithless Looting.
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This is silly. There is nothing pure and noble about staring at your no land 5-er and considerig if you go to 4 or just scoop once you identify their deck.
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That's every single set ever, though. You either draft or buy singles
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Let's just hope there will be a good place to discuss all these changes once the meta forms
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You can lawyer it all you want that they tEcHnIcAlLy never said it was purely a Modern set, but when we get cards that are clearly designed for commander, people will feel robbed. I've seen plenty of people make the "Commander Horizons" joke, which although I think is way too cynical shows that there are a lot of people who are disappointed in sharing the spotlight. Commander gets their own product every year; those cards aren't even Modern legal AND have brought Legacy cards like True-Name Nemesis, Council's Judgment and Leovold which are design disasters for a 1v1 format. Add to that the two-month silence between the spoilers of Serra/Cabal Therapist and the rest and you fuel false expectations even if you don't set it black on white.
I don't even really want to argue this point because as I said I'm satisfied with the set, but these apparent 5c Commander precon rejects are a blight on an otherwise good product.
EDIT: Leovold and Council's Judgment actually weren;t in commander precons now I think about it, but they were originally in sets designed for multiplayer
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Sling-Gang Leutenant seems like if there is a goblin deck, that one's in it. Turn 4 swing with the team, play sling-gang and yeet all your goblins at them seems like a good finisher card similar to Shaman of the Pack
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The problem with these 4 points is that this should be Modern Horizons. Aegraen put it pretty well that, for months now, Modern Horizons has been used as a wavehand argument that it should fix "everything wrong with Modern". I've always been skeptical of this as I do not know what kind of card you could print that would universally boost interaction in modern with how wide the scope of linear decks is. However, my hope really was for a set specifically designed for your points 2 and 3, interesting additions to lower tier decks. Which they have largely delivered on, BUT as I said in my previous post on the matter, I am more disappointed by the marketing; there is a boatload of stuff in this set that at least asks for testing in Modern, but we are clearly sharing the spotlight with Commander after months of hypinig up a set specifically for "us Modern players". Again, if this was "Rainbow Masters" I'd be giving a standing ovation for the horizon lands alone, but as THE Modern set I'm currently giving it a lukewarm 7/10.