This set is depressing me guys. I really don't like the direction design has went the past bunch of years. They really struggle on making a consistent power level... other than consistently weak.
On a different subject, here's Jeff Hoogland with a "nuclear solution" to Modern. Which obviously is even more impossible than my own "nuclear solution" I discussed time ago.
But what I found interesting is I asked myself: "Would Modern be more fun and interesting if they went nuclear the way Jeff proposes?"
And my answer was: "Hell yeah, 1000 times more, like there's 0 doubt"
Banning Power Plant and Grapeshot in that metagame reeks of bias. In fact, all of the proposed bans do. You'd just see a handful of extremely powerful midrange decks with basically no checks on them. The format would be significantly less diverse, although the handful of top decks duking it out would probably be more interactive. But that's Legacy gameplay where there are just a handful of contenders. It's not Modern.
Keep Ponder and DTT banned. Don't ban ANY of his ridiculous suggestions. Then unban all the other cards he mentioned. THAT would be an exciting and diverse Modern.
I don't think I dislike a magic 'pro' and their opinions more than Jeff Hoogland. If you cant see how banning mox opal kills affinity, or how Chrome mox is different from a Lotus petal you can't save him!
This deck is very well positioned right now IMO. It is strong against Tron/Eldrazi, has disruption for scapeshift and can grind against the midrange decks, albeit at a slight disadvantage. here is my current list. Let me know what you think
So to sum up the last page.
1.) There is no matchup lottery in modern. Pick any deck out of 30 and you have a reasonable chance to win.
2.) Reading the metagame is important. You have to pick the right deck to succeed.
So which is it?
1.) I'm just smarter and better the jund players when playing tron, and just inferior to the storm players.
2.) What decks you play against matter a lot.
Your deck choice matters, but anyone can win if they are good enough with a tier 1/2 deck. Honestly the top 32 is much more important than T8. T8 is basically the difference in 1 game between T32... Its not relevant if you had a big sample. Also having a strong sideboard is essential. The decks that win modern tourneys ALWAYS have a great sideboard. Affinity may be the only exception.
I have been diligently reading some of the last few pages of this thread, and I have come to the conclusion that the only cards which are truly safe to unban right now would be Bloodbraid Elf and Stoneforge Mystic. Anything else could be an instantly regrettable decision. Of the two cards I have listed, I am positive at least one of them will come off the banned list during the announcement immediately postceding the Pro Tour
I have bought some stoneforges because its price is going to double overnight after the unban in feb. Seems like a great risk reward. If it doesn't get unbanned the price will just stay the same.
This is why I am ditching the thought scours and going MARDU DS. All killer no filler. Less mana waste of cantrips and most removal and hate for combo. Coming soon! (tm)
I agree with everything he said, except Jace, the Mind Sculptor. While Jace, the Mind Sculptor is the best planeswalker of all time by a far margin, I still think that Modern is too quick and has too many haymakers for him to have a broken impact. Sure, it will shape Blue based decks because they have to answer the question, "Is there a better win-con?"
*Variance is one thing. When you see a pattern of repeated variance, it makes you tend to believe in something else. I wonder if Todd Stevens would like to partake on how many 2-3s or worse he had when doing Modern Leagues online.
Once thing you need to remember with Jace is he makes free spells that can protect him kinda broken. Imagine Gideon+Jace+Pacts? Dirty... Once you stabilize against the fair decks you just cant lose.
That said i 100% agree on the rest of the comments there. I bought some stoneforges assuming it and BBE are coming off. Turn 3 batterskull is extremely fair in current modern... HELLO it can't even beat a turn 3 tasigur or angler which is commonplace. 5 Mana to equip to a LS token is nice, but you paid 2 mana for a 1/2 before... super fair.
Matchup lotto is definitely a thing. Who was it Tom Ross and Todd Stevens that between the two of them won one match at the scg invite? 2 of the more known modern players on that circuit and they crapped the bed. There is a reason pros (I won’t go as far as say hate) dislike modern and it’s because they can’t get nearly as much of an edge on the competition.
There is no matchup lottery. Top Modern players have the same consistent performance in Modern as top Legacy players do in Legacy. The top MWPs of those top players are identical too. If a matchup lottery existed in Modern, the top MWPs would be lower than Legacy's and the top players would be less consistent. Neither of these are the case.
If someone is a victim of the "matchup lottery," they are simply doing something wrong and/or not doing what the better players are doing.
Every format has these large matchup variations.. Not sure why pros feel the need to complain about modern so much. Maybe its because standard they only have to deal with the cards for 2 years before theyre gone so they dont bother.
Either way the pros who put in the TIME to make decks that are great against the meta will outperform. We have seen SEVERAL new decks over the past few months do well.
In other words people need to GROW UP and act like adults.
Smaller game = no one plays
We're already seeing their flagship game (standard, which sells product) not firing on a regular basis.
Why do people think paper magic dies with Maro? Where's the evidence of that? Any links to statements Chris has made to indicate he's going to destroy the paper game?
Diversification leads to greater profits not narrowing and specializing. I hope Chris isn't so stupid as to believe digital is the only future for mtg because he'll kill it completely inside 3 years.
0% chance. Synergistic effects are strong. Omni channel customers provide more revenue. MTGO has higher margins, but cross selling is the way to go. Look for codes or something in upcoming packs for Arena. That gives you incentive to play both.
What do you guys think? Its mardu midrange with a DS twist. Lots of lifeloss, Super aggro, insane amount of removal, some recursion and value. Let me know. The only card i am questioning before I run this through its paces is Tidehollow sculler x2. The other options are
Abbott of Keral Keep (pretty good for Claim/fame)
Selfless Spirit(protect your DS from push and hits for 2 in the air)
Harsh Mentor (solid vs fetch decks, great vs affinity and lantern, meh against a decent number of decks)
I think most people agree the day 2 GP was an awful mess with an even worse top 8.
Who's "most people"?
The crop of decks we saw getting to top 8 was a little unusual compared to the last month or so, but that doesn't make it inherently bad; it's just what we had on the day. Give it a week and the next large tournament will look different. The results are just "the results" I don't think we can project "it was a mess" and certainly not assume negativity from "most people"
Honestly I love this game. But man does this forum in particular have a TON of whiny people. To be fair I see it from the pros too. Go look at the top 32. The difference between 8 and 32 is basically nothing/luck. In the top 32 TONS Of decks are represented. Control, aggro, burn, combo, etc.
If you don't like the meta as it is today find a new format. The format is in a GREAT spot. Anyone can win any given match.
Midrange did very poorly in this GP and at least BGx decks in general aren't doing great either.
Anyone can win any match makes no sense at all. I mean tell me then how anyone playing a deck like Jund can beat Tron or Titanshift.
I mean thats a bad matchup, Deaths shadow had some T32 spots and that deck has supplanted BGx alot. Metagames and cyclical and expect more blood moons/land hate at the next gp with a swing back the other direction.
The point is everything is super healthy and nothing is 'broken' or needs banning. We can't pick and choose our top 32 every GP. Frankly BGx isn't very fun to play in addition to being a bit weak in the meta right now so I am not shocked at all.
I think most people agree the day 2 GP was an awful mess with an even worse top 8.
Who's "most people"?
The crop of decks we saw getting to top 8 was a little unusual compared to the last month or so, but that doesn't make it inherently bad; it's just what we had on the day. Give it a week and the next large tournament will look different. The results are just "the results" I don't think we can project "it was a mess" and certainly not assume negativity from "most people"
Honestly I love this game. But man does this forum in particular have a TON of whiny people. To be fair I see it from the pros too. Go look at the top 32. The difference between 8 and 32 is basically nothing/luck. In the top 32 TONS Of decks are represented. Control, aggro, burn, combo, etc.
If you don't like the meta as it is today find a new format. The format is in a GREAT spot. Anyone can win any given match.
I'm just glad I live in Canada where people are sane and pretty much unanimously hate Trump. Even the right wing conservatives here support gay marriage, abortion, access to birth control, etc. We have ascended past such silly topics so I don't expect many of these 'edgy' types in my lgs luckily!
Do we even have evidence he plays the game? Tournament results? He just uses MTG as a soapbox to complain like Desolatormagic about the 'left wing' influences in the game
If guys like Jeremy weren't weirdo creeps because of their lack of ability/success with women we likely wouldn't hear him complaining about them.
You don't see many alt right *****lords with girlfriends lets just say. Guys like me that are happily getting laid 10+ times a week don't worry about who's cosplaying or who is a 'sjw'.
I don't think I dislike a magic 'pro' and their opinions more than Jeff Hoogland. If you cant see how banning mox opal kills affinity, or how Chrome mox is different from a Lotus petal you can't save him!
Your deck choice matters, but anyone can win if they are good enough with a tier 1/2 deck. Honestly the top 32 is much more important than T8. T8 is basically the difference in 1 game between T32... Its not relevant if you had a big sample. Also having a strong sideboard is essential. The decks that win modern tourneys ALWAYS have a great sideboard. Affinity may be the only exception.
I have bought some stoneforges because its price is going to double overnight after the unban in feb. Seems like a great risk reward. If it doesn't get unbanned the price will just stay the same.
Once thing you need to remember with Jace is he makes free spells that can protect him kinda broken. Imagine Gideon+Jace+Pacts? Dirty... Once you stabilize against the fair decks you just cant lose.
That said i 100% agree on the rest of the comments there. I bought some stoneforges assuming it and BBE are coming off. Turn 3 batterskull is extremely fair in current modern... HELLO it can't even beat a turn 3 tasigur or angler which is commonplace. 5 Mana to equip to a LS token is nice, but you paid 2 mana for a 1/2 before... super fair.
Every format has these large matchup variations.. Not sure why pros feel the need to complain about modern so much. Maybe its because standard they only have to deal with the cards for 2 years before theyre gone so they dont bother.
Either way the pros who put in the TIME to make decks that are great against the meta will outperform. We have seen SEVERAL new decks over the past few months do well.
In other words people need to GROW UP and act like adults.
0% chance. Synergistic effects are strong. Omni channel customers provide more revenue. MTGO has higher margins, but cross selling is the way to go. Look for codes or something in upcoming packs for Arena. That gives you incentive to play both.
What do you guys think? Its mardu midrange with a DS twist. Lots of lifeloss, Super aggro, insane amount of removal, some recursion and value. Let me know. The only card i am questioning before I run this through its paces is Tidehollow sculler x2. The other options are
Abbott of Keral Keep (pretty good for Claim/fame)
Selfless Spirit(protect your DS from push and hits for 2 in the air)
Harsh Mentor (solid vs fetch decks, great vs affinity and lantern, meh against a decent number of decks)
I mean thats a bad matchup, Deaths shadow had some T32 spots and that deck has supplanted BGx alot. Metagames and cyclical and expect more blood moons/land hate at the next gp with a swing back the other direction.
The point is everything is super healthy and nothing is 'broken' or needs banning. We can't pick and choose our top 32 every GP. Frankly BGx isn't very fun to play in addition to being a bit weak in the meta right now so I am not shocked at all.
Honestly I love this game. But man does this forum in particular have a TON of whiny people. To be fair I see it from the pros too. Go look at the top 32. The difference between 8 and 32 is basically nothing/luck. In the top 32 TONS Of decks are represented. Control, aggro, burn, combo, etc.
If you don't like the meta as it is today find a new format. The format is in a GREAT spot. Anyone can win any given match.
Either way people need to relax and just play/have fun.