Cavern is definitely not ban worthy. I've noticed a lot of people have a tendency when evaluating decks and power levels, to focus on cards in a vacuum and single out individual cards that are high "value", usually ignoring how things interact synergistically within the deck, and the meta as a whole. The obvious example of this is the big Jace debacle a few months back, with so many pundits saying "OMG brainstorm planeswalker OP OP!!", completely ignoring the greater context of the format.
I've said this a bunch before, but if you wanted to ban a card from Humans (and I'm not arguing FOR a ban, just to be clear), the best choice is Meddling Mage. It turns off "Fair" interaction people seem to love so much, while further advancing the Humans win condition. Unlike other hate cards it's main deckable and it's strong in multiples (and the deck runs 7-8 copies typically) It single handedly destroys combo decks, which should be the natural predator of aggro. And it has warped the meta around its presence, as seen with decks playing sub optimal removal just to have different named cards.
Whatever is happening in Modern that stops it from looking like this Standard PT is just fine with me. If that means Tron keeping down a bunch of fair midrange decks.. Great! Don't ban anything.
Lots of 'shift decks are running 2-3x Damping Sphere in the board now actually. I think the match up gets much, much worse games two and three for Amulet.
It feels like there is a lot of incidental hate hitting Amulet right now and in some cases, like Damping Sphere, it hits us harder. Rough times
Whether or not the opponent had two chalice in hand or drew one of the top does not change the correct course of action. If the opponent had zero chalice of the void in hand the correct play was still to TS on turn 1. Correct and incorrect plays are never decided based on outcome.
No one said otherwise. But correct process can often lead to poor results because of variance. Poker players have known this forever, but some Magic players still try and pretend that skill is the only way to win a tournament.
He had two Chalice in hand, did he not? I don't remember exactly. While thoughtseize on turn one would be the right process, the results would be the same because of variance. I get your point though
A minute of silence for Brennan DiCandio not making it to day 2.
On other topic, it sucked big time for the Human player to face Worship coming from Affinity. However, he let the equipped Vault Skirge hit way too many times.
Oh, yay. More salty articles about how bad Modern is in 3...2....1....
That's a brilliant sideboard card from Affinty. I admittedly laughed a great deal at that one.
He was playing a deck that is clearly not in a great position right now, so I'm sure he'll say "Seeeee! told you so, Modern is all about the match up lottery. No skill blah blah blah"
Humans still on top followed by Jeskai, UW, Jund, and Affinity. Surprisingly, there are only 3 pilots on Mardu. Less surprisingly, big mana remains largely absent, with only 3 Tron decks of any kind and 1 Titan Shift. It's also notable that the linear decks are also underrepresented heading into Day 2. As usual, all disclaimers and (mostly reasonable) skepticism about Day 2 #s apply.
This seems like a breakdown that would make just about everyone happy*, pretty cool stuff.
yeah i agree that there are too many variables in what i described, and i think your initial point has merit. just wanted to point out that there are other factors at play. modern, or any format in general, wouldnt be very good if it was impossible to metagame. for instance the winner of the event on mardu had a very clear plan based on his main and side, had the skill to execute said plan, and was rewarded for it. which is the most that any of us could hope for in a competitive setting. for that to be true you have to be able to expect to play against a reasonably small set of decks more than others and have it actually be the case.
Marshall Arthurs stated in his post win interview that he teched specifically for a Humans, Elf, and Affinity meta, and played only 1 elf deck and none of the others all weekend.
The 3x Blood Moon seems pretty smart, I like it, even though the card is an abomination and I hate it. Why not abuse it if your deck can take advantage? The 1x in most Mardu lists always seemed a bit weird
I've been experimenting with BBE for the past week or so, and just took them out to test the other side. It seems to just come down to do you want to pay 4 mana on turn 3 for a bolt/fog effect + ramp and occasional whiff, or do you want to jam two ramp spells.
I've cut the BBE for 2x Explore, the 27th land, and another sweeper effect, and I think it might be a slight bit stronger.
He's going to be a staple in Affinity and it's looking like Eldrazi Tron as well. And it hasn't even been a month since release. I'm sure there will be some more modern decks with Karn in the 75 after people get over the inertia to change in non rotating formats.
I've said this a bunch before, but if you wanted to ban a card from Humans (and I'm not arguing FOR a ban, just to be clear), the best choice is Meddling Mage. It turns off "Fair" interaction people seem to love so much, while further advancing the Humans win condition. Unlike other hate cards it's main deckable and it's strong in multiples (and the deck runs 7-8 copies typically) It single handedly destroys combo decks, which should be the natural predator of aggro. And it has warped the meta around its presence, as seen with decks playing sub optimal removal just to have different named cards.
It feels like there is a lot of incidental hate hitting Amulet right now and in some cases, like Damping Sphere, it hits us harder. Rough times
No one said otherwise. But correct process can often lead to poor results because of variance. Poker players have known this forever, but some Magic players still try and pretend that skill is the only way to win a tournament.
He was playing a deck that is clearly not in a great position right now, so I'm sure he'll say "Seeeee! told you so, Modern is all about the match up lottery. No skill blah blah blah"
This seems like a breakdown that would make just about everyone happy*, pretty cool stuff.
*unless you play combo
Knight has all kinds of fun tricks at instant speed though
Marshall Arthurs stated in his post win interview that he teched specifically for a Humans, Elf, and Affinity meta, and played only 1 elf deck and none of the others all weekend.
Take that how you will
I've cut the BBE for 2x Explore, the 27th land, and another sweeper effect, and I think it might be a slight bit stronger.