What strikes me as hilarious is the fact that they managed to outright ban 9 (nine) cards in Standard in just one year. In Modern they banned 8 (eight) cards in three years and people still think that THAT is a ban happy format.
The way I see it they chickened out. They should have had the stones to see how the new cards will influence the format first before they decided to go on a banning spree, and this is the SECOND time they did so. What's the point of hyping new sets if you're just going to ban cards the new set was supposed to outshine? What's done is done however, and we better pray to Finkel-All-Mighty they did this right, because if they didn't and then end up having to ban cards AGAIN they might as well put a fork in Standard as a format.
Seems like Merfolk has tools to grind now. Don't know how often you will get to tap 5 Merfolk for the stat boost, but tapping 3 for an extra card is very plausible in practically every relevant format. Bonus points for it dodging an un-revolted Fatal Push and Lightning Bolt. It dies to a bunch of other things though, but hopefully there's Kopala for that. I think Merfolk needs one, maybe two, cards to be a legitimate contender for Standard. However, as far as Modern goes he seems like a really powerful sideboard card vs BGx and DS decks. I'm not sold on him being a maindeck addition since tapping out for what is basically a vanilla creature vs various combo decks is not what you want to be doing right now.
On an unrelated note, will people please stop bringing up Commander when they don't know how a newly spoiled card will slot into Standard/Modern? "It will see play in EDH/Tiny Leaders" is about the lamest filler out there when discussing cards during spoiler season, worse probably then saying a card is garbage - at least haters emotionally commit to the subject. It is also very condescending to people who mainly play casual since more often the not "playable in EDH" is accompanied with the undertone that said card won't be played anywhere else. Bottom line is that sort of "unbiased opinion" isn't constructive, is derogatory and should be avoided.
Make Tarmogoyf great again (LOL). The whole "green is poorly represented in Modern" argument seems to boil down to that. Apart from that one card green seems to be doing fine. Collected Company, Scapeshift, Chord of Calling and Primeval Titan are still relevant cards, mostly because they don't suck against Fatal Push. Love it or hate it it's how it is, at least until BGx midrange ascends back to tier 2 at least.
I could be wrong about this but if Storm is doing this good (which at this point it is) isn't it way past time to sleeve up Jund again? Or is E-Tron still keeping that deck out of the format?
I don't think Jund needs BBE, as such, to beat Storm but it certainly wouldn't mind having it against practically anything else that can't combo you out before turn 4. Would that deck end up being too oppressive? I don't know, but I don't think it would hurt diversity as much as people used to make out it would back in the day.
Another good deck against Storm might be Faeries, but that deck seems to have a host of it's own problems atm. In a narrow field though the fae would rofl stomp most if not all the combo decks out there.
I don't think that is the correct way to assess the card. If you look at each effect individualy Kolaghan's Command seems like a lackluster card since each of it's effects are, when considered individually, overpriced. It was widely lauded as the worst card in that cycle on this very forum.
Not to say this new card is any good or anything but I think we would get a fairer understanding of how playable it is we consider what a card with all those abilities contributes to a prospective mid-range deck.
Heart of Kiran just got new designated drivers. The fact that you can crew the heart with it's alternate cost and then plus for 4 life seems quite good.
1) Obvious Gearhulk shenanigans already noted but they bear repeating. It doesn't stink with Snapcaster Mage either.
2) It targets Players, which means it is an instant speed way to deal with hexprof threats and possibly manlands
3) the ramp is only relevant if the opposing deck is geared towards using it. Fast aggro (where you need to clear the board before as quick as you can) is all about emptying their hand so they may end up in a position in which they don't have anything to spend excess mana on. In Modern there is also the problem of few basics being played in most decks
4) searching for the exact number of basics is optional as you can simply choose not to find anything as well
5) it is a wrath effect that dodges indestructability in white. Descend upon the sinful is about to rotate so this is a welcome addition to the format. I mention this mostly because of Heroic Intervention.
All things considered a remarkably interesting card.
Jace isn't as durdly as you make it out to be. It's not like you can Brainstorm whenever. Once per turn. At sorcery speed.
Besides, there are actual blue decks that don't need or want Jace. Storm for example. It would be a very tight fit in DS I think due to that deck's mana constraints. Merfolk probably wouldn't touch it either.
That being said it's still not going anywhere due to secondary market reasons.
Personally I would much rather talk about possible unbans then theorycraft never to be printed perfect solutions to the current scapegoat of the week decks.
Unbans > Bans > theory-crafting
Granted, I don't think there is that much room for unbans ATM, but at least it is a somewhat more constructive discussion. If anything BBE might get the proverbial nod this time around, even though I think it's unlikely. They could say they are doing to diversify midrange decks (since E-Tron has a choke-hold on that archetype as things are). Alternatively they could go for a Temple ban under the same pretenses (which is more likely but would be less popular). DS should remain safe since if they try and axe it without adressing E-Tron that would be really bad.
SFM might be an interesting unban for the sake of color diversity but still unlikely. Jace is out of the question for all the second-market based reasons. Combo cards and cantrips are a no-go, even Preordain. Modern Nexus did a "testing" of Preordain in Storm but and seems to have deemed it "safe" but I'm all but certain their testing list for Storm was wrong...
My gut tells me return to Dominaria should help reintroduce Teferi to the storyline, possibly as a planeswalker providing outside assistance to the Gatewatch. Getting his spark back might not be that big of a stretch since Ob Nixilis got his back. Some other things I'd like to see story-wise:
Mindbreak Trap is a Modern legal card. It's much better then the proposed storm hoser and it gets even better with Snapcaster Mage.
As far as cast triggers go how many of them besides Storm acutally matter in this meta?
Well, valakut is a triggered ability, and Ulamog is also kind of a beast (Tron is less of a major issue these days but it does tend to rear its head with some regularity).
Ulamog is a thing, but I don't think he is enough to warrant a very narrow hate card.
I don't think Valakut is as big of an issue as people make it out to be. You can hate on it, you can race it and you should be able to contain it with a control deck. It's not perfect sure but little is in Modern.
Not sure I understand what you're saying here. Wall of cards does not an argument make...
Is it ETB effects, cast triggers LTB triggers, non-basic land hate, static abilities, which one is it? And what in blazes is Signal Pest doing there anyway???
Mindbreak Trap is a Modern legal card. It's much better then the proposed storm hoser and it gets even better with Snapcaster Mage.
As far as cast triggers go how many of them besides Storm acutally matter in this meta?
Well, valakut is a triggered ability, and Ulamog is also kind of a beast (Tron is less of a major issue these days but it does tend to rear its head with some regularity).
Ulamog is a thing, but I don't think he is enough to warrant a very narrow hate card.
I don't think Valakut is as big of an issue as people make it out to be. You can hate on it, you can race it and you should be able to contain it with a control deck. It's not perfect sure but little is in Modern.
Regardless I still feel a bit dirty inside comboing people out with Storm. I love that deck and am incredibly biased towards it but I'm not sure that a Modern in which storm is a tier 1.x deck is a balanced format. Or am I being to paranoid?
The way I see it they chickened out. They should have had the stones to see how the new cards will influence the format first before they decided to go on a banning spree, and this is the SECOND time they did so. What's the point of hyping new sets if you're just going to ban cards the new set was supposed to outshine? What's done is done however, and we better pray to Finkel-All-Mighty they did this right, because if they didn't and then end up having to ban cards AGAIN they might as well put a fork in Standard as a format.
Long story short, this announcement stinks.
On an unrelated note, will people please stop bringing up Commander when they don't know how a newly spoiled card will slot into Standard/Modern? "It will see play in EDH/Tiny Leaders" is about the lamest filler out there when discussing cards during spoiler season, worse probably then saying a card is garbage - at least haters emotionally commit to the subject. It is also very condescending to people who mainly play casual since more often the not "playable in EDH" is accompanied with the undertone that said card won't be played anywhere else. Bottom line is that sort of "unbiased opinion" isn't constructive, is derogatory and should be avoided.
I don't think Jund needs BBE, as such, to beat Storm but it certainly wouldn't mind having it against practically anything else that can't combo you out before turn 4. Would that deck end up being too oppressive? I don't know, but I don't think it would hurt diversity as much as people used to make out it would back in the day.
Another good deck against Storm might be Faeries, but that deck seems to have a host of it's own problems atm. In a narrow field though the fae would rofl stomp most if not all the combo decks out there.
At most i would cut a single cantrip and play eleven cantrips total.
I don't think that is the correct way to assess the card. If you look at each effect individualy Kolaghan's Command seems like a lackluster card since each of it's effects are, when considered individually, overpriced. It was widely lauded as the worst card in that cycle on this very forum.
Not to say this new card is any good or anything but I think we would get a fairer understanding of how playable it is we consider what a card with all those abilities contributes to a prospective mid-range deck.
1) Obvious Gearhulk shenanigans already noted but they bear repeating. It doesn't stink with Snapcaster Mage either.
2) It targets Players, which means it is an instant speed way to deal with hexprof threats and possibly manlands
3) the ramp is only relevant if the opposing deck is geared towards using it. Fast aggro (where you need to clear the board before as quick as you can) is all about emptying their hand so they may end up in a position in which they don't have anything to spend excess mana on. In Modern there is also the problem of few basics being played in most decks
4) searching for the exact number of basics is optional as you can simply choose not to find anything as well
5) it is a wrath effect that dodges indestructability in white. Descend upon the sinful is about to rotate so this is a welcome addition to the format. I mention this mostly because of Heroic Intervention.
All things considered a remarkably interesting card.
Besides, there are actual blue decks that don't need or want Jace. Storm for example. It would be a very tight fit in DS I think due to that deck's mana constraints. Merfolk probably wouldn't touch it either.
That being said it's still not going anywhere due to secondary market reasons.
Unbans > Bans > theory-crafting
Granted, I don't think there is that much room for unbans ATM, but at least it is a somewhat more constructive discussion. If anything BBE might get the proverbial nod this time around, even though I think it's unlikely. They could say they are doing to diversify midrange decks (since E-Tron has a choke-hold on that archetype as things are). Alternatively they could go for a Temple ban under the same pretenses (which is more likely but would be less popular). DS should remain safe since if they try and axe it without adressing E-Tron that would be really bad.
SFM might be an interesting unban for the sake of color diversity but still unlikely. Jace is out of the question for all the second-market based reasons. Combo cards and cantrips are a no-go, even Preordain. Modern Nexus did a "testing" of Preordain in Storm but and seems to have deemed it "safe" but I'm all but certain their testing list for Storm was wrong...
- Restoration of Zhalfir
- Multani
- Joshua Vess
Not sure I understand what you're saying here. Wall of cards does not an argument make...
Is it ETB effects, cast triggers LTB triggers, non-basic land hate, static abilities, which one is it? And what in blazes is Signal Pest doing there anyway???
Ulamog is a thing, but I don't think he is enough to warrant a very narrow hate card.
I don't think Valakut is as big of an issue as people make it out to be. You can hate on it, you can race it and you should be able to contain it with a control deck. It's not perfect sure but little is in Modern.
As far as cast triggers go how many of them besides Storm acutally matter in this meta?
Regardless I still feel a bit dirty inside comboing people out with Storm. I love that deck and am incredibly biased towards it but I'm not sure that a Modern in which storm is a tier 1.x deck is a balanced format. Or am I being to paranoid?