To give you an example of how bad my problem is, I read on Wikipedia about how hard and difficult it is for humanity to get the idea for an alphabet (like the Latin alphabet we use). This got me to think, well if it is so hard to create an alphabet, I wonder if any other intelligent life in the universe has created an alphabet that could easily represent different languages. Which led to the idea that once humanity makes contact with aliens, humans become the default linguists and diplomats of the universe since they introduce the first trans-language alphabet to the universe. And then by extension English becomes the universal language of the universe. And basically this is just the tip of the iceberg of my entire idea that was sparked by that one line that I read on Wikipedia, because then I got thinking that humans are unusually well programmed for language learning, retention, and making a wide-range of sounds and inclinations, meaning there is a strong possibility that we would be able to learn and speak most alien sound-based languages in some form or another. Another interesting fact is that the more languages one learns the easier it is to learn and retain another language.
But the problem is that I get one idea, get 10-20 pages into it and then find another idea that drags me in the opposite direction. Well that and it seems most of my ideas revolve around vampires (which is no surprise to anybody that knows me).
The best I ever did was I got about 100 pages into a finishing writing the novel before I got dragged into a different direction by another spark. Though it is so far along that I will come back to it eventually. Plus it is number two on my top 3 novel ideas, so I got motivation to finish it.
Right now I am like 50 pages into the novel I am writing, and I have committed myself to finishing it through thick and thin, no matter what else may ignite my spark.
Hmm... I wrote a lot for just a response.
If I remember correctly Ugin will return because he will be sent to the graveyard due to state-based effects (having zero loyalty) before his -X ability resolves.
I think your list is good, but I feel like
W Hat Lady or Staff Lady
U Narset
U Tamiyo
B Davriel
B Ob Nixilis, the Hate-Twisted
R Jaya Ballard
R Tibalt, Rakish Instigator
G Arlinn, Voice of the Pack
G Vivien Reid
(W/U) Dovin
(U/B) Ashiok
(B/R) Angrath
(R/G) Samut
(G/W) Hat Lady or Staff Lady
(W/B) Kaya
(U/R) Saheeli
(B/G) Vraska, Swarm's Eminence
(R/W) Huatli
(G/U) Kiora
C Karn, the Great Creator
C Ugin
U Jace, Wielder of Mysteries
R Chandra, Fire Artisan
G Nissa, Who Shakes the World
GU Yanguu
WU Teferi, Time Raveler
RG Domri, Anarch of Bolas
GW Ajani, the Greathearted
WB Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord
UR Ral, Storm Conduit
RW Nahiri
RB Sarkhan
Notes:
Maro just confirmed Gideon is one of the Mythics. Also he mentioned the the Mythic planeswalkers have four "slots" to play with. Gideon appears to have two static abilities with two loyalty abilities.
I'm not sure if that confirms these, but so far they are passing the sniff test at least.
Ravnica sets have always had very hit or miss basic land art due to the city setting. And these look like some very clear misses. They just don't really capture the feel of the lands they are meant to inhabit.
It's similar but not quite the same. If your library has exactly 7 cards in it and you ult Jace his passive doesn't trigger, but his ultimate's alternate win condition does.
Not to mention all the other good EtB creatures Bant has like Deputy of Detention, Knight of Autumn, and Frilled Mystic. I could see a Bant valuetown type deck abusing Time Wipe.
On a side note can we all appreciate how much of a smug badass Teferi is in the flavor text. I hope he doesn't end up dying because Teferi is the best Planeswalker, and I'm not talking about cards... but considering Teferi, Hero of Dominaria he probably has that too.
LOL. I had the same thought.
I actually think this is really powerful sideboard option that might push Mono-Red to tier 1. It is powerful enough that I could see one or two in the maindeck even since a lot of decks have a least some incidental lifegain. Plus their is a chance mono-red gets a really good proliferate card.
Overall I see a lot of potential for this card. At worst it is a good sideboard option.
As a treasure fan I would love to see a card like that. Side Rant: I was so happy when they announced Treasure was becoming deciduous. Hell, Treasure Map is one of my favorite cards, despite the fact I hate playing with transforming cards. So any card that could make Treasures matter in modern would be a plus in my book.
And speaking of lands, another land I would like to see is a better version of Untaidake, the Cloud Keeper. It's obviously powerful, but it either needs some more upside (like adding two mana of any color instead of 2) or less drawbacks. Because even in a deck built to abuse it the card seems to have too many bad qualities to make up for the upside.
Now that you mention it some of the partner with cards would be fun, Pir and Toothy in particular. I hope they do get printed in Horizons since I thought they look like fun cards, but forgot about them since I don't play commander or legacy.
My point is that there isn't much incentive to play fair decks now and Baleful Strix will make that problem worse, not better. Also the difference between Collective Brutality and Kolaghan's Command is they good against both fair and unfair decks, while Baleful Strix is very good against fair decks and bad against unfair decks.
Baleful Strix would just make the main problem in modern (unfair decks pushing out fair decks) much worse and that is why it shouldn't be in modern.
The reason Baleful Strix is too strong for modern is kind of complex, but basically there is no way to attack profitably into a Baleful Strix and even using removal on it isn't that effective because of the card draw part. It is extremely strong against fair decks. But at the same time it is not very good against unfair decks. The problem is that modern is dominated by unfair decks.
Baleful Strix has a good chance of creating the following play cycle in modern:
1. There is some mix of unfair decks and fair decks
2. Some unfair decks start playing Baleful Strix
3. People stop playing fair decks because Baleful Strix is too punishing
4. Unfair decks stop playing Baleful Strix because everyone is playing unfair decks
5. People start playing some fair decks again because nobody is playing Baleful Strix
6. Start over at one
The biggest problem in Modern right now is that most decks are extremely linear and unfair. This is without Baleful Strix. Introducing Baleful Strix into this environment would probably be the death of fair decks.
My personal opinion is that having some unfair decks in a format are fine, but you don't ever want most or all of the best decks to be unfair decks.
High Tide - A fun card that would probably either be broken or unplayable.
Counterspell - Just because counterspells in modern have seemed kind of meh for a while outside of Remand and Cryptic Command.
Stifle - Gotta punish fetchlands.
Elvish Spirit Guide - Could be overbearing with Simian Spirit Guide, but I already have a few deck ideas I would love to build with it.
Bad Fetch Lands (i.e. Bad River and friends) - It would be a great way to introduce more budget friendly lands at either uncommon (or hopefully common) to modern. Also a chance to complete the cycle with enemy bad fetches.
Nimble Mongoose & Wild Mongrel - I remember having a lot of fun playing with these cards years ago. I'm not sure if they would cut it nowadays, but I would at least like the chance to play them again.
Cavern Harpy - Like the cards above it, a fun creature that probably isn't good enough to make a splash (without its legacy friends), but would be nice to have.
Moment's Peace - Modern needs more fogs.
Fire//Ice - A fun versatile card. Honestly I would like to see a rule change come with Modern Horizons where Fire and Ice are treated as separate cards so they could create a ten card split cycle with names like Fire, Ice, Earth, Wind, and Void. But that is probably wishful thinking.
Astral Slide, Lightning Rift and some other cycle cards - A really fun deck to play.
Pox - Smallpox decks are fun. Good old fashion Pox decks are more than fun. They are Sadomasochistic.
Standstill - A maybe. I could see some neat decks created by using cards that get around its "drawback", but I have a feeling it would just create unfun situations if it was good.
The perfect deck for Sadomasochists. The idea of the deck is simple, use the synergy between Ill-Gotten Inheritance, Theater of Horrors, and Dawn of Hope, along with the best removal available, to grind out a win, one point of damage at a time.
4 Godless Shrine
4 Blood Crypt
4 Dragonskull Summit
4 Isolated Chapel
2 Clifftop Retreat
2 Sacred Foundry
2 Swamp
1 Plains
1 Mountain
1 Arch of Orazca
Planeswalkers 1
1 Angrath, the Flame-Chained
Enchantments 9
4 Ill-Gotten Inheritance
3 Theater of Horrors
2 Dawn of Hope
4 Treasure Map
Sorceries 7
3 Kaya's Wrath
2 Lava Coil
2 Deafening Clarion
Instants 7
3 Mortify
3 Bedevil
1 Moment of Craving
Split 7
3 Carnival // Carnage
3 Discovery // Dispersal
1 Bedeck // Bedazzle
4 Legion Warboss
3 Consecrate // Consume
3 Ixalan's Binding
2 Vraska's Contempt
1 Moment of Craving
1 Field of Ruin
1 Mortify
Card Explanations
A lot of the removal is based on the idea of dealing with the widest number of threats possible (Mortify & Bedevil), wiping the board (Kaya's Wrath & Deafening Clarion), or picking off early creatures (Lava Coil, Carnival // Carnage, Bedeck // Bedazzle and Moment of Craving).
Of special note is card]Carnival // Carnage[/card] and Bedeck // Bedazzle since their hybrid mode is good against aggro, while their non-hybrid mode is good against mid-range and control. Bedazzle in particular is good at destroying utility lands like Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin.
The list itself is still rough and in-flux, but any suggestions, comments or etc. are welcomed.
6 Plains
4 Temple Garden
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Glacial Fortress
3 Hinterland Harbor
2 Breeding Pool
1 Sunpetal Grove
4 Novice Knight
4 Resolute Watchdog
4 Wall of Mist
3 Arcades, the Strategist
2 Portcullis Vine
2 Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
3 Warrant // Warden
2 Tower Defense
Sorceries 4
4 Shimmer of Possibility
Enchantments 8
4 High Alert
4 Conclave Tribunal
One of the things I’ve come to the conclusive after playing so many aggressive decks the past season is that it is creatures need power to be an effective blocker. So many decks can go wide so fast that having a zero power blocker is a liability which is why I cut back to only six zero power blockers. Still I am not that convinced a deck focusing on defenders can work since the aggro decks of next season will most likely be some combination of go wide (WW, Selesnya Tokens) or a deck that doesn’t care about your walls due to the size of their creatures (Gruul).
The other thing I noticed as I was building was while there are more than enough defenders, not many are what I would call “quality” creatures even with Arcades out on the field. Instead I also looked into a purely High Alert deck (since Arcades only works with defenders) which while rougher than the deck above, also looks like it has a better chance of being able to become something pretty decent with a combination of better creatures, better mana, and less dead draws.
8 Island
4 Plains
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Azorius Guildgate
4 Surge Mare
4 Omenspeaker
4 Deputy of Detention
3 Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
3 Murmuring Mystic
4 Sinister Sabotage
4 Warrant // Warden
3 Settle the Wreckage
Sorceries 4
4 Shimmer of Possibility
Enchantments 3
3 High Alert
The thing I like about this deck is that with Omenspeaker, Surgemare, Shimmer of Possibility and Sinister Sabotage it is a lot better at finding High Alert. It is also a lot less reliant on finding High Alert to win since it is playing creatures that are already good without High Alert, but become great with High Alert. Because of these two things I am thinking the number of High Alerts can be cut down to three since we don’t want to be drawing more than one, which allows for more interactive cards like Settle and Warrant // Warden.
One of the things I’ve been going back and forth with this list (and something if anyone has thoughts on it I would love to hear) is the combination of Deputy of Detention, Tocatli Honor Guard, and Murmuring Mystic.
Right now I am thinking Deputy of Detention maindeck while Tocatli Honor Guard in the sideboard since I figure the Deputy is better in general outside of a heavy Mono-Red and Golgari metagame. I could see playing some combination of both maindeck, but that just seems counterintuitive unless the meta shifts in such a way that it makes sense.
With Murmuring Mystic I think he is fine with only 15 instants and sorceries since I am more interested in his big butt and any birds I get are cake. But I could be wrong. And I wonder if this is where I am supposed to put a maindeck Honor Guard or two.
The other question is whether or not Settle is worth it. Since with Tetsuko the deck doesn't have to worry about blockers that much Settle is better. Plus it is an instant which is nice with Murmuring Mystic and takes care of Carnage Tyrant. I guess the other thing is I am not really sure what I would replace it with. But if it was cut it would allow the Azorius Guildgates to be replaced with basic lands,Field of Ruin, and/or Arch of Orazca