The cleanest one is of course Feldon's Cane. All others cost too much and most have a huge drawback or requirement before being cast. Quest for ancient secrets would be nice if it required fewer counters. If only it could target any player, that would be it. Given that we have multiple artifact in the same mana cost range that *exile* the graveyard, I don't think it's unthinkable to see such a design. It's almost surprising that the design doesn't exists already.
While I doubt that RNA is going to spawn new tier 1 decks (except perhaps whatever the most efficient way to break Electrodominance turns out to be), it has introduced a lot of things that make brewing new stuff exciting again. I've been tinkering with with Sultai and Temur flash deck builds to see if I can try to get them to about tier 2 levels of power.
While I know this thread tends to focus around the highest levels of competition, I think it is important to also talk about how the FNM crowds feel about Modern. Local metas vary wildly, and it is fascinating to hear what deck archetypes are popular in various regions. A ton of magic players either: a) don't have the time/money to go to higher level events, b) don't have the ambition to go to that next level.
If you want to talk about what the best decks are in Modern, then naturally you want to look at the highest level of competition; however, it feels like this thread tends to forget that those levels of play simply don't apply to the majority of the player base. There are plenty of players who bring what they know/like to their local tournaments and have a blast. That's a facet of modern play that seems to get lost too often.
Prime Speaker Vanifar. Birthing Pod on a 2/4 body, costs 2GU. The obvious combo is with Intruder Alarm, but even just for value it has a lot of possibilities. There are a few others, but that one would be the lynchpin of the deck I think.
Also, Electrodominance is absolutely insane, not Sultai related but holy cow is that a pushed card.
So has anyone been keeping up with RNA spoilers? Some interesting stuff popping up this week. I'm actually kind of excited about making a Sultai deck for the first time in forever.
I am still riding high after seeing that UB Control list top 8 at GP Portland, and overall I'm enjoying playing modern very much. Both decks I play regularly suit my play style, and both of them enjoy reasonable success against the field.
1W
2/1
Human Soldier
During your turn, spells your opponent casts cost 1 more to cast, and abilities your opponent activate cost 1 more to activate unless they're Mana abilities.
Afterlife 1 (When this creature dies, create a 1/1 black and white spirit creature token with flying.)
Posting memes, one-liners, and other such low-effort posts doesn't even try to convince people. It's just regurgitating tired tropes and repeating the exact same kind of minimum-content complaining we've heard for years on mediums like Twitch.
I posted the meme, but it was more satire than anything else. I'm still in the "leave SFM banned" camp. Everybody's arguments leading up to my post basically boiled down to the same tired drivel of "T3 BSkull is nuffink compurred to teh combos" and I decided to meme it. Not the best of decisions, but oh well. Nobody seems to understand context, nuance and consequences when discussing unbans. Or they understand it and simply choose not to engage with it. The problem with SFM has never been about the T3 Batterskull and whether that beats any decks. It's about the shell that the SFM package fits into and the inevitability the package provides. SFM and Twin both occupy that same space, so it's really no wonder that there's such a large crossover in the people discussing both.
ive pretty much been saying the same thing about the context of decks that might play SFM. the difference for me is i want the card unbanned because it wouldnt break anything, but i have hopes for it to be a force of change in the format. not huge mind you, just decks that i wouldnt mind seeing more of getting an upgrade. its asking decks to answer a simple question (can you kill it), and is a solid roleplayer across the spectrum of value, clock, and defense. expecting decks to fold to it outright would be nonsense.
all in all im still in agreement with the opinion that its the lowest risk unban option, will almost assuredly happen someday given modern doesnt die out, and will likely come at a time when wizards can capitalize on it because why not.
Fair enough. I still feel Preordain is the lowest risk unban, followed by Probe then Twin then SFM. But the gap after Probe is fairly large.
Let me make sure I'm understanding you correctly: you believe Git Probe is a safer unban than SFM?
I'm not kidding when I say you'll never convince me, that attacking/blocking is Interaction. Feel free to post up more examples, but it wont change anything.
Its not even an 'agree to disagree', I dont care. Creature combat is not what I call interactive magic. Its the mundane, boring, 'we are playing limited now' version of Magic, and I wont ever agree with you on this.
Well damn...I don't know if I've ever seen such a display of negativity towards any facet of Magic, let alone one as fundamental as creature combat. It's your opinion, and I'm not gonna try to change it; I'm just a bit shocked by it. I have a soft spot for combat tricks, so to see someone dismiss that aspect of the game as boring and mundane stings a little.
On a completely unrelated note, I was secretly hoping for a Recoil reprint in Guilds. I've been playing MtG since 1998, and been almost exclusively a U/UB player from then til now. I dabbled in a few other things from time to time, but in recent history GDS has been my jam, while Faeries is my pet deck that I stubbornly cling to.
What I'm really afraid of is online magic, whether it be MTGO or Arena, slowly erasing paper magic. Modern has been some of the most fun, and frustration, I've had in Magic, and I'm lucky to have a robust LGS that I can play at regularly. It's very troubling to me that Wizards has made it clear that Modern won't be supported on Arena, and that Arena is the platform they want to ride into the future.
I cant speak to numbers, but Arena is just fun. I dont think it will ever cater to those who are playing hardcore paper/mtgo events though. Its framework is not 'crunch' its very loose, or seems to be intended to feel that way anyway.
I don't doubt it's fun, but I think you're onto something. It doesn't seem like Arena is meant for older and/or more competitive players. That is fine, but I'm worried about what happens to older cards and formats that Arena won't support. If it gets the success that WotC is looking for, and they keep the current party line of not putting older formats into it, then I'm afraid that will spell the end of those formats.
On a completely unrelated note, I was secretly hoping for a Recoil reprint in Guilds. I've been playing MtG since 1998, and been almost exclusively a U/UB player from then til now. I dabbled in a few other things from time to time, but in recent history GDS has been my jam, while Faeries is my pet deck that I stubbornly cling to.
What I'm really afraid of is online magic, whether it be MTGO or Arena, slowly erasing paper magic. Modern has been some of the most fun, and frustration, I've had in Magic, and I'm lucky to have a robust LGS that I can play at regularly. It's very troubling to me that Wizards has made it clear that Modern won't be supported on Arena, and that Arena is the platform they want to ride into the future.
Just a thought, but how much better does Jump Start become if they bring back Madness for the Rakdos guild? Would they be mad enough to try? Apologies for the dad joke thrown in there.
Keep in mind that your bounce effects also trigger revolt, which can catch a lot of people by surprise. I've used Mistbind and Quickling to trigger revolt quite a few times to great effect. I've also had great success with Sword of Feast and Famine, getting your lands untapped does so much for your game plan.
I run two Kalitas in the side. Spell Pierce is a great, and imo underrated, counter that puts the brakes on a lot of stuff that can do damage to you, especially early. Trying to judge them against each other is tough, but against the field I'd imagine SP is objectively better. That being said, how many scenarios do you find yourself needing Kalitas vs needing counter magic?
Not sure if any of y'all are watching the PT this weekend, but if your LGS is spiky, be prepared to see the return of Vengevine. Thankfully most Faerie decks can slot Leyline of the Void into the side pretty painlessly. Kalitas can also do some work there. Nihil Spellbomb is also decent.
Sounds like you're looking for a buffed version of Wheel of Sun and Moon.
While I know this thread tends to focus around the highest levels of competition, I think it is important to also talk about how the FNM crowds feel about Modern. Local metas vary wildly, and it is fascinating to hear what deck archetypes are popular in various regions. A ton of magic players either: a) don't have the time/money to go to higher level events, b) don't have the ambition to go to that next level.
If you want to talk about what the best decks are in Modern, then naturally you want to look at the highest level of competition; however, it feels like this thread tends to forget that those levels of play simply don't apply to the majority of the player base. There are plenty of players who bring what they know/like to their local tournaments and have a blast. That's a facet of modern play that seems to get lost too often.
Also, Electrodominance is absolutely insane, not Sultai related but holy cow is that a pushed card.
I am still riding high after seeing that UB Control list top 8 at GP Portland, and overall I'm enjoying playing modern very much. Both decks I play regularly suit my play style, and both of them enjoy reasonable success against the field.
1W
2/1
Human Soldier
During your turn, spells your opponent casts cost 1 more to cast, and abilities your opponent activate cost 1 more to activate unless they're Mana abilities.
Afterlife 1 (When this creature dies, create a 1/1 black and white spirit creature token with flying.)
EDIT: corrected power and toughness.
Let me make sure I'm understanding you correctly: you believe Git Probe is a safer unban than SFM?
Well damn...I don't know if I've ever seen such a display of negativity towards any facet of Magic, let alone one as fundamental as creature combat. It's your opinion, and I'm not gonna try to change it; I'm just a bit shocked by it. I have a soft spot for combat tricks, so to see someone dismiss that aspect of the game as boring and mundane stings a little.
I don't doubt it's fun, but I think you're onto something. It doesn't seem like Arena is meant for older and/or more competitive players. That is fine, but I'm worried about what happens to older cards and formats that Arena won't support. If it gets the success that WotC is looking for, and they keep the current party line of not putting older formats into it, then I'm afraid that will spell the end of those formats.
What I'm really afraid of is online magic, whether it be MTGO or Arena, slowly erasing paper magic. Modern has been some of the most fun, and frustration, I've had in Magic, and I'm lucky to have a robust LGS that I can play at regularly. It's very troubling to me that Wizards has made it clear that Modern won't be supported on Arena, and that Arena is the platform they want to ride into the future.