Quote from Pokken »Complaining about blue's power level is goofy to me. Snapcaster mage is top 3 or so most powerful cards in the format.
I suspect the main issue blue has is that its removal suite sucks - the counterspells are poor, and Path to Exile (not blue, but primarily associated with UWx) is - despite how great people think it is - pretty damned awful. Ramping your opponent and 2-for-1'ing yourself on every removal is not where you want to be in a control deck.
I'd like to see:
-Counterspell or Memory Lapse
-Unexpectedly Absent or a similar general purpose removal spell that doesn't require a double splash (e.g. allows UW instead of needing to be Esper or Grixis or 4c)
-Some upgrades to the instant speed draw suite (FOF, an instant speed 2 mana draw 2)
-Stoneforge to upgrade the threat suite options
-Preordain eventually if warranted
UWx and URx are both pretty close in my mind. They don't need another power card because they have Cryptic, Snaps, Jace; they just need some of the vanilla spells upgraded and some missing prints. Even Serum Visions is very powerful despite how long people have bagged on it.
Power level's not the issue, diversity of cards is the issue. Since Modern was created Wizards has refused to print many control cards in blue, because of their ridiculous aversion to counterspells and draw spells (other than Delve Winter:P). And we've also been in an era of really weird removal spells, where Wizards rarely wants to print a decent removal spell in standard. Yea there have been some they're just mostly goofy and inconsistent (fatal push for ex.; strong card but glaring weaknesses).
There were several times in Modern's meta that I believed Snapcaster Mage to be the best creature and maybe even the best card in Modern. Still, 1 card does not make a deck and Snapcaster Mage has probably been one of the reasons that Wizards is hesitant to print something strong for Blue. Yes, they messed up with Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time, but I think they should try again. Any of the suggestions and ALL of them would be fine to do.
Does anyone have any kind of complaint about Fact or Fiction? I doubt it. Most of the others are in a similar category.
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I like simple things like reducing my opponent's options and killing my opponent with more subtle cards, and it really feels like Mistbind Clique and Cryptic Command are all the haymaker-like effects we need, but we might need to find ways to make them more consistent (not counting matchup-specific tech, which batterskull can be...just not for me), or have cards that turn on until they become active (which is where my interest in liliana of the veil came from i think).
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On the discard issue, I have found that the information which the 1cmc spells give you is what makes the deck run so well. Information is one of the tools the player of the deck uses to maneuver around the opponent and go on an offensive. Even in the aggressive matchups inquisition rips a few of the earlier plays out of the opponent's hand while still leaving mana open to interact with whatever card is topdecked in turns 1-3
Its a tool I cant see myself not using. As a UWR player and an Ex-UR faeries player I cant tell you how often bolt has been the card to see, but with regard to the other red cards you really have to understand what the card does for the deck it is in, and that includes what effort is being put forth to accomodate the card. Honestly the deck cant be perfect so its a decision of IF you can use the cards you are considering to create advantage in your environment. When my environment becomes overly aggressive I will probably consider grixis myself honestly, but right now I am completely okay with Disfigure because playing the card leaves me with more breathing room and time in the form of bitterblossom tokens.
But I would like to bring attention to another frame of the discussion. I am a player who considers psychological effect of an opponent seeing a card very important when building a deck (which is why I have been reconsidering Secluded Glen as a part of my manabase, but that is a different discussion)
ANYWAY. How many cards do you all believe this deck has which have the potential to take over a game? And how many do you feel the deck needs? This question disregards the effect of Creeping Tar Pit as it takes up a land slot, but it should be included with regard to the aggressive capabilities of the deck...as it puts games away very well. Shouta Yasooka played two Liliana of the veil and two sword of feast and famine in his list to compliment Mistbind Clique and Vendilion Clique. Our more common lists have gone the route of swords like Fire and Ice and Light and Shadow to race and produce more options to consider in our hand of cards, but the strong question in my wordy explanation would be "how many threatening cards do you think compliment tight play without hindering it?"
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The difference here is that jund had no obvious deck edit or sideboard plan to defeat it,like the original copter control decks did...but both decks apparently made the game unfun, so Im not against them doing something to lessen the dominance of jund, but the way they did this was out of left field. I thought it would have been better to give us more power to play with
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I think abrupt decay is going to give me a fairly large headache in this format. And im not seeing much that I am psyched for (nothing psyches me anymore lol, new jace is interesting izzet charm in storm yada yada)
I guess my opinion will change when i find cards good in naya pod or something that makes me want to build with heartbeat of spring. Control does seem to be a friendlier concept in modern but most of the good ones are pushed towards midrange, the new jace and abrupt decay make me think a bug control deck could be really good in modern but tarmogoyf is a serious problem because he seems to be the only relevant threat.
Also i would really like to see return to ravnica split apart the melding of the delver deck and the zoo deck because they are getting too friendly lol tribal flames midrange just seems to be the best direction for both in all honesty, and that kinda scares my bank account ($400 on 4 cards doesnt sound fun)