I feel so old...so old that I can remember MTGNews (where I was briefly a mod), which begat MTGSalvation, which will beget...something else, I suppose. End of an era indeed. While never a place for robust strategic conversation, it was THE place for spoilers for the last decade and a half or so, and a place I've been happy to call home.
I will miss this place, and will probably resist creating a new account in the new place before finally relenting in a few years after getting too sad to not be able to discuss Commander and rumored cards.
Farewell and RIP, 'Sally. It's been real.
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- Hawk7915
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Member for 14 years and 3 months
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Dec 4, 2017
Hawk7915 posted a message on The Dos and Don'ts of Silver-Border CommanderI wish I owned a copy of this little gem, as "My Library is Riding the Dilu Horse" sounds like the most vaguely disturbing and awesome thing in the history of MtG.Posted in: Articles -
Nov 30, 2017
Hawk7915 posted a message on If You Can't Take Criticism of Jeremy Hambly, You're Part of the ProblemPosted in: ArticlesQuote from GreenJobTzar »See your number one shows why the costume people are immaterial to the community, they only show up at high level events, therefore with CS gone, nothing was lost. No one is cosplaying at my kitchen table or any other. Saying someone playing dress up makes someone buy an intro deck is such a leap of logic even the worst digital marketing hack wouldn't try it.
And your number two, couldn't agree more. Harassment's just not happening at the players playing with cards level that people think it is unless one thinks social media reflects reality. Try going to you local LGS and be a salty POS. People will play the games for an event, but you're not going to participate much beyond pay to play.
If your LGS is rife with rape jokes, name and shame bruh. Can't find Jeremy doing it, though most of his content isn't great, but would love a link.
Fair that we've gotten pretty far into the weeds here. My LGS seems generally great, my wife hasn't run into issues there and has generally bowed out because she hates limited and we're too poor for constructed. I haven't seen much/hardly any of Jeremy's stuff. I've seen a few of Christina's pictures on WotC's social media page but this whole scandal is the first I've really heard of both of them. They'll be gone, and there will be new cosplayers and scumbags to take their place.
I do think there's room for improvement and inclusion, because data says that something like 35-40% of players are women, but only 1% of serious tournament players or even casual "weekend warriors" are women. Some of that may be legitimate gender and cultural differences, but some of it is almost certainly that women feel unwelcome at local FNMs. It doesn't take the extremes of rape jokes and threats to scare 'em off.
Still, we're way off the issue here. It seems like we're both generally in agreement that being civil is good and that we're here for the larger issue and have no actual buy-in on the individuals involved, and I concede that cosplay is a poor/nonexistant marketing tool as it's pretty niche even among nerds. I do think they should be treated with respect, but fair enough that paying cosplayers to come to events like Hascon is probably money better spent elsewhere (like on fixing Gatherer or improving development or getting mainstream press attention). -
Nov 30, 2017
Hawk7915 posted a message on If You Can't Take Criticism of Jeremy Hambly, You're Part of the ProblemPosted in: ArticlesQuote from GreenJobTzar »That begs the question, what special accommodations need to be made for non-majority people? As far as I saw from 95-201X, none, but my group and LGS doesn't do any language policing, though we did make fun of the guy with waifu lands until he stopped using them.
I would say the people who demand things non game related do affect the game. Beyond salaries paid by wizards for content managers and other community management roles, money that could be spent on more RnD, better quality product and tourney prize support, we've already seen calls for wizards to pay adults to play dress-up.
So yes people who want to enjoy the game differently are detracting from the game by sapping finite resources. One could say they are growing the pie, but a worse product (ICM and other recent sets) is shrinking the pie more.
1) MaRo doesn't lie, and has repeatedly noted that "casuals" - folks who play for costumes and stories and flinging cards around their kitchen table - are the major audience of Magic the Gathering by a vast, vast magnitude. Super serious players who play professionally, and even semi-serious players who grind FNM every week, are an overall minority of the player population. It is THEIR enjoyment that funds the serious R&D to grind out good products and develop a game that rewards good play at the highest levels. While the recent Standard issues are likely in small part due to overtaxing the development team to serve a story team, the ability to hire new developers and refine/improve R&D with the Play Design team is due to the ever-growing sales from that story change, which has been a huge success for MtG's primary consumers.
2) I don't see why not hitting on people, commenting on their body shape and appearance, or "joking" about rape is an undue and unreasonable accommodation to expect in a professional setting, if you are dead-set on being the very best player beating the very best opponents. If your pleasure comes not from winning but from getting to be a dick to your opponents and drink their tears, you are at odds with the intent of the game. The author, and most female/colored/disabled players, are not asking you to treat them like Kings and Queens. They are asking you to treat them like adults and fellow players. -
Nov 30, 2017
Hawk7915 posted a message on If You Can't Take Criticism of Jeremy Hambly, You're Part of the ProblemPosted in: ArticlesQuote from Negator_402 »One major difference, and I hope you can appreciate this: heterosexuality is, FAR AND AWAY, the norm. Your analogy would make more sense if women (lets, for the sake of argument, make them all unattractive women) continually asked me out this poorly at a card tournament. It would be sad. If men hit on me, that would be very creepy, because they are presuming interest in homosexual activity, which is a minority. That would be like me handing out Planned Parenthood fliers in Iran, and wondering why I am getting shot.
There is also a public policy issue. We want humans to live in the US, interestingly enough. For that, we need people to, you know, mate! Unwanted advances are sad, and when made repeatedly, are in fact harassment. One-off failed pickup attempts are not, and punishing them will lead to more introversion from an already-introversive group. Should we not be encouraging players to date each other, rather than making women at Magic events sacred cows??
I can accept a middle ground: flirt with tact. At a bar, grossly creeping at a girl results in a drink tossing. At a card event, perhaps a shove? But banning that behavior is wrong.
I get what you're saying, and am all for tact. The point of the author, and many other eloquent folks in this thread, is that it is never "just you" playfully flirting and dropping it if she says no or says nothing. It is every. single. opponent. Every single time. My wife usually made clear she was with her husband, and got creeped on the few tournaments she has been to back when we were just engaged and long-distance so she was attending alone. The fact that it is a constant barrage from all parties means even the guy who says "Hey, you're cool, that game was great, let's get coffee sometime" (which I'd consider to be respectful, tactful, and focused on positive qualities instead of just having sex ASAP) can feel pretty unwelcome because you are in fact the 10th guy to proposition her that day. The truth is that the far too many men are NOT that tactful and respectful, and I get that's because they're nervous and awkward but that is a reason and not a terribly compelling excuse. -
Nov 30, 2017
Hawk7915 posted a message on If You Can't Take Criticism of Jeremy Hambly, You're Part of the ProblemPosted in: ArticlesQuote from Kryptnyt »That's fair. I didn't know about any Wolfenstein outcry. If there's flamethrowers in that game, it makes a lot more sense I guess. I still don't think Nazism has anything to do with cosplay however.
Yeah, I spend a ton of time on AV Club and most of my friends are hyper-liberal so I saw some of it. There is a legitimate phenomenon of making a tempest out of a tea kettle so I'm not sure how widespread the outcry REALLY was, but it was widespread enough to vaguely ping my radar so I understood that reference. Considering how fresh, and not well-disseminated, the reference is it would probably be good to edit the section to clarify. -
Nov 30, 2017
Hawk7915 posted a message on If You Can't Take Criticism of Jeremy Hambly, You're Part of the ProblemPosted in: ArticlesQuote from Negator_402 »What you just mentioned (that pickup line) is not harassment, and I fear for a world were that is considered such.
Context matters, so consider my post to be "unsolicited pick-up lines that clearly make the recipient uncomfortable" since sure, you might be flirting and it makes sense to drop old gems like this - but also, if all your pickup lines relate immediately to sex with someone who's just there to play Magic, perhaps you should find a few new ones. THAT's the overall point, really, of my thread here - many here are saying "just let me play cards, this is a game, leave politics and identity out of it", then defending dropping cheesy pick-up lines and trolling for sex with their female opponents who are also just there to play cards. You can't have it both ways. It can't just be a game when it makes you comfortable, and be about your out-of-game needs and wants when it makes you comfortable too.
I opted for a clean example in the interest of not getting a warning or infraction. -
Nov 30, 2017
Hawk7915 posted a message on If You Can't Take Criticism of Jeremy Hambly, You're Part of the ProblemPosted in: ArticlesQuote from Negator_402 »No, that is NOT what it is. I never mentioned feminism and its goods/ills once. I just want to be left alone and not having thought policing.
I know it's a tough line sometimes, but the issue here is that your privilege to be left alone ends when you harm someone else. If you say "hey, you look great in that dress but it'd look greater on my floor", your female opponent calling you on it or reporting you to a judge for unsportsmanlike conduct is no longer a "Thought Police" issue, it is an anti-harassment issue. Treating people with respect, decency, following the golden rule, etc, shouldn't BE a political issue, and the point of the article is that if you take this as an attack on your personal beliefs and politics, perhaps it is time to do some real soul searching regarding those beliefs and politics. -
Nov 30, 2017
Hawk7915 posted a message on If You Can't Take Criticism of Jeremy Hambly, You're Part of the ProblemThe full, in-context quote is:Posted in: Articles
"It should go without saying that if you feel personally attacked when someone denounces the Nazis, you ought to take a good, hard, long look inside yourself to find out where that Nazi sympathy comes from. And then you kill it with fire from a good, old-fashioned, American-made M1A1 flamethrower, a fine weapon responsible for killing many Nazis in the actual World War II."
In context, she refers to killing "those feelings of sympathy" with fire, and there is no advocacy of violence against Nazis. "Kill it with fire" is a common turn of phrase, and is here directed entirely as a metaphorical fire-bombing of negative attitudes some may possess, internally.
The "shoot Nazis in Normandy but not New York" bit is specifically referencing the outcry over Wolfenstein's recent release, which a handful of conservatives decried despite Wolfenstein being a long-running series predicated on shooting the hell out of Nazis (something it has in common with many, many, many other Triple A shooter titles on the market), as the context of a Nazi-controlled US still featuring Nazi-shooting was apparently too close to home for some. I admit the messaging is muddled by the long gap (she mentions the game in paragraph one, and the line, with no reference to the game, in her final paragraph), but there is no advocacy of violence here. An edit to make it clear she's referencing Wolfenstein: The New Colossus, however, may be beneficial. -
Nov 30, 2017
Hawk7915 posted a message on If You Can't Take Criticism of Jeremy Hambly, You're Part of the ProblemI suppose I can appreciate the desire to "face only the strongest". Christina doesn't even play so that's whatever. I would challenge the assumption that welcoming women, people of color, disabled people, etc to the community somehow will give you less worthy opposition. I'm also not sure that folks who enjoy the game differently (for its art, costumes, flavor, etc) should be made to feel unwelcome or be treated poorly when they won't ever dilute your tournament experience or environment.Posted in: Articles
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Nov 30, 2017
Hawk7915 posted a message on If You Can't Take Criticism of Jeremy Hambly, You're Part of the ProblemI find it interesting that many posts here are to "keep politics out of my escapism". I understand and empathize with the sentiment. I come here to get away from the horror show that is modern politics and news. I generally prefer to tune out and avoid confrontation.Posted in: Articles
Here's the thing though; folks like Christina and the author are "bringing their liberal politics into your game" because you, or folks like you, started it.
I am a white man, so I have a limited perspective on many things, but I am also disabled and in a wheelchair. I have 100% had folks talk...real...real...slow to me, or make cracks about "feeling bad beating up on a cripple" at tournaments. I've let it mostly roll off my back or taken them aside and gently told them that that is very uncool of them, as my physical disability does not overly impact my cognitive functioning and it's a bit insulting to assume othewise. Are my opponents who do this immune to criticism? Am I injecting my "SJW politics" into the game by correcting them, or by posting this?
I would hope logically you'd answer "no, that's all fine and fair" - but then why is it wrong for Christina or Alexandra to similarly share their perspective and defend themselves? I would personally not have been as violent or blunt as the author either, but as someone who can only generally imagine what its like to be treated as "less than" every. single. minute of the day, since I get treated as "less than" a few times a week, I also don't really have the right to tell someone that their anger or protest is inappropriate. We can't endorse a community that does stuff like ask women "are you hear with your boyfriend/husband? You look GREAT in that dress. Are you free later? Do you know how to play? Do you just play for the pictures? Are you just doing this for attention from men?" AND also say "whoa, calm down lady, it's just a game" when they get upset at that treatment. -
Nov 30, 2017
Hawk7915 posted a message on If You Can't Take Criticism of Jeremy Hambly, You're Part of the ProblemI was a bit nervous about the title here, but this article was dead-on. Many here are quick to say we need to protect valid criticism, but that wasn't the issue here. Christina didn't leave because of "criticism" - it's not like people were telling her she got the colors wrong or ought to have used metal instead of foam on her costume or she should switch to "Urban Decay" for makeup because it doesn't look as tacky and smeared after being in costume all day, or whatever and she couldn't take it. She left because of persistent harassment that crossed the line from respectful criticism to personal attack. The defense of criticism is a borderline non sequitur - it's like leaping into a discussion of how to prevent arson by adding "hey, just remember, roasting marshmallows in your backyard is great though. Let's just remember that some fires are helpful and maybe be a little easier on the arsonist, okay?"Posted in: Articles
The fact that there are so many comments here on MTGS are in defense of Jeremy, or a leap to "if you tell me I can't do as I please to others you are the oppressor and problem!!!!" is as depressing as it is utterly unsurprising. You hit the nail on the head. If you choose to spend your days protecting and defending Nazis, Fascists, rapists, misogynists, and internet trolls, even if you yourself feel you are NOT a Nazi, Fascist, rapist, misogynist, or troll, you can't be surprised to find that you are unwelcome in private communities due to the company YOU have chosen to keep, and the hill YOU have chosen to die on. You really should take a long, hard look at why you feel that this is the side you want to be on if you are uncomfortable with the labels that it entails.
One of the great lies of the 20th century is that all opinions are equal and sacred, that your ignorance is as valuable and valid as my knowledge, and that there is no objective truth. You are absolutely entitled to the opinion that Jeremy is right, that Christina is a crybaby, and that perhaps to go further, women are objects for your amusement or should only wear things that conform to your standards of beauty. You are also entitled to the opinion that the Earth is flat, but that isn't going to help you pass an Astronomy class or leap off the edge of the planet, and you are entitled to the opinion that gravity is a lie but that isn't going to let you take to the air on your own power. You're entitled to the opinion that all medicine is quackery and all nutrition is part of a conspiracy - take a decade off eating healthy and visiting doctors or taking any medicine and get back to me on how you feel. And you will face criticism by those that actually study, learn, research, and listen instead of forming a snap opinion based on their personal, anecdotal, and frequently privileged evidence. That criticism 100% means you will face consequences for sharing the opinions that underline and define Nazis, Fascists, rapists, pedophiles, and misogynists around the world.
I'd say that's the only misstep here. I am not calling you a Nazi - but your spirited defense of them is cause for concern and says a lot about your underlying beliefs and attitudes. If being lumped in with someone that, 10 years ago, we almost all agreed was synonymous with "punchable jerkwads and universal villains" is making you feel discomfort, perhaps it is your beliefs, and not my connecting of the dots, that is the problem. - To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Also this confirms the "Finale" cycle we had spoiled the other day, which means Green gets a spicy new GSZ clone.
2 Dovin, Hand of Control
2 Ashiok, Dream Render
4 Liliana of the Veil
2 Karn, the Great Creator
3 Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God
2 Deliver Unto Evil
4 Night's Whisper
Control: 17
3 Thoughtseize
3 Fatal Push
2 Terminate
1 Bedevil
1 Damnation
2 Anger of the Gods
4 The Elderspell
The goal is to get to two walkers on board, and then cast Bolas + The Elderspell to intantly get to 8 and end the game. The Elderspell is able to kill any opposting Teferis or Jaces or Lilis that might be stopping you. Ashiok, Dovin, and your own Lilis are here to run interference, slow opponents down, and protect you while being reay to get Elderspelled, while Karn does something similar while also enabling some bonkers sideboard shenanigans. Beyond that we've got a pretty standard sort of "tap-out control" suite.
Deliver Unto Evil: In addition to having absolutely sick art and a sweet name, this card offers a very powerful effect that is a sort of hybrid of Yawgmoth's Will with the mindgames of Fact or Fiction and Gifts Ungiven (and with no restrictions so you can "cheese it" like folks do with Intuition). The cards I just mentioned are among MtG's most powerful and exciting in history, so I suspect this will make waves even ignoring the Bolas rider. And of course, with the Bolas rider this card is power nine levels of insanity...but that's so unlikely to work that it's more a sidegrade than a real thing.
The Elderspell: Despite the absolute hysteria happening over in the reveal thread, this is most likely just a sideboard card - but it is a hell of a sideboard card. Also interesting is some sort of Grixis Superfriends that uses this on their OWN walkers to instantly ultimate someone like Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God or Jace, the Mind Sculptor to win the game. That actually seems spicy enough to be worth testing in Modern, especially with a few other revealed cards today...
Ashiok, Dream Render: Speak of the devil, here's a walker I'd love to have kick around until I was ready to slam UBBBBBR for the instant God-Dragon Elderspell KO. A permanent Shadow of Doubt (or the most relevant part of Stranglehold) would have my attention at 1(U/B)(U/B) and might be worth sideboarding around given how devastating it is in a world of fetchlands. The fact that good ol' Ashi ALSO mills four cards and then exiles their entire graveyard up to five times before they bite the dust is just gravy and lets Ashiok do double-duty as both Grave hate and Tutor hate or help enable mill wins. I'd be tempted to say Ashiok was a sure thing if it wasn't for its wording preventing you from making mischief with Ghost Quarter and Field of Ruin and Path to Exile, but I still think its a contender.
Ugin, the Ineffable: Six mana is a lot, but making all colorless spells cost 2 less, blowing up permanents, and summoning 2/2 dorks that draw cards is a real card. I could see it being tested in Tron and Eldrazi decks just because of how powerful all his effects are.
God-Eternal Kefnet: Here me out! This card is VERY gross with extra turn effects. While it is itself a bit slow and easily disrupted and all the good top-of-library manipulation is largely banned, this can easily go off with an extra turn effect and goes infinite with an extra turn effect + Jace, the Mind Sculptor or Scroll Rack. Is it enough to take the "Taking Turns" deck out of meme status and into the realm of a real deck? I would love to test it.
Also RIP Ral Zarek (probably)
EDIT: Due to wording, it looks like Kasmina will only add a 2 mana tax to The Elderspell even if your opponent targets five or more 'walkers, so...RIP Superfriends.
- A fair number of 1-toughness creatures, especially 1-toughness creatures with useful EtB/dies effects. For instance, Dusk Legion Zealot, Burglar Rat, Pilgrim's Eye, Fleshbag Marauder, Liliana's Specter, and Nekrataal. This makes it easier to ensure you can "set off the chain reaction" with Massacre Girl. Related are creatures that can sacrifice themselves or others - good ol' reliable cards like Nantuko Husk, Yahenni, Undying Partisan, Fume Spitter, and Viscera Seer.
- Creatures that reward you for Death will largely be dying themselves with Massacre Girl, so I'd look to some of the "tougher" ones that might be able to stick it out a bit longer into a chain like Pitiless Plunderer, Butcher of Malakir, Vindictive Vampire, Marionette Master, Harvester of Souls, Ogre Slumlord, Sifter of Skulls, and Smothering Abomination. A special shoutout should go to Swarm of Bloodflies, Scavenger Drake, and Ob Nixilis, Unshackled since they should be able to survive no matter how many creatures bite it. Blade of the Bloodchief allows ANYTHING to survive even the largest of massacres and I had to mention it even though it isn't a creature. That's not to say I'd avoid smaller creatures in this vein like Blood Artist, Zulaport Cutthroat, Grim Haruspex, and Pawn of Ulamog - you just have to accept they won't be long for this world.
- If you want a deep cut - Hunted Horror seems pretty funny. A 7/7 should be big enough to survive most daisy chains, and two 3/3s feed the chaos and the massacre.
I should have mentioned Citadel although I'm not super sanguine (pun intended) on how good it's going to be.
1) A six mana sorcery speed combo enabler that is a Permanent (and thus vulnerable to disruption) has a HIGH bar to clear to be playable outside of Commander. That's not to say it's NEVER Happened (Amulet Bloom does have Hive Mind as its plan A kill condition), but even now today Mind Over Matter and Dream Halls aren't necessarily enabling Tier 1 archetypes and I'm unsure that Yawgmoth's Bargain would see significant play if unbanned. In a world of Through the Breached Eldrazi, Show and Tell-ed out Omniscience, Paradoxical Outcomes, and Ad Nauseaum this may just be too slow.
2) While this looks a bit like Bargain, it is mostly worse. It does enable you to go off right away which is nice, but in general artifacts are more vulnerable than enchantments, 3BBB is harder to cast than 4BB, and like Experimental Frenzy you end the chain of combo power if you hit too many lands.
If anywhere can make it work, it is eggs and it will especially "go off" if Lotus Petal can make its way to modern, but as it stands now I am not optimistic it'll get too much farther than "gimmick".
EDIT: Waidaminute...can you use this to cast Ancestral Vision, Living End, and (most importantly) Lotus Bloom without paying? Cause if so that is actually pretty bonkers.
Sure Things: I think these cards WILL see play in older formats.
Dovin's Veto: Negate is mostly a sideboard card (it sees occasional maindeck play in Modern), but for Azorius decks this is a pure upgrade especially control decks where it can be a "hard no" to powerful planeswalkers and combo pieces.
Liliana's Triumph: Diabolic Edict in Modern is a reasonably big deal in a format with powerful hexproof threats so this will be a sideboard card at worst. The upside you get from running it alongside a Liliana (and there are numerous highly playable Lilis in all formats) is a real benefit for "Rock" and "Grixis Shadow"-style decks.
Karn, the Great Creator: A one-sided Null Rod would be worth sideboard consideration in older formats. Add on the ability to enable various combos and kills with his +1 and you get a spicy meatball. Add on the ability to pull a Mastermind's Acquisition and pull wincons out of the sideboard (including Mycosynth Lattice for a total lockdown) and you have a card with some real mainboard potential for all the big colorless decks in older formats.
Tomik, Distinguished Advokist: Hard shutdown of Depths decks (can't target depths with Thespian's Stage and most Dredge decks. A 2/3 flying body is also a lot better than the average hatebear and wears equipment well. His type is super relevant for older formats as well. Will be popular in most W/x decks.
Possible Players: I think these cards will be worth testing, but aren't sure things.
Teferi, Time Raveler and Vivien, Champion of the Wilds: These two are similar in that they offer extremely powerful abilities that manipulate your ability to play cards outside your turn, they are three CMC, and they can replace themselves. However, they don't seem to slot into any particular deck at the moment. I think they're both worth testing for sure.
Nissa's Triumph: This card is wildly unplayable without Nissa on the battlefield, but a triple Sylvan Scrying (which, conveniently, finds all three Tron pieces) is a big deal. I will be curious if the upside on this card is high enough to merit testing adding some Nissas to Scapeshift, Tron, and Depths decks to enable it.
Ral, Storm Conduit: This creates some infinite comboes that win on the spot, and those combos are easier to trigger in older formats (for example, it is instantly infinite with Fork. I think it'll be a big player in Standard, but we'll see if it is fast enough for Modern and Legacy.
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer: Is a more splashable, more resilient Young Pyromancer that can also do various combo shenanigans worth an extra mana? I don't know, but I think it is worth testing.
Angrath's Rampage: If this was an instant it'd be a sure thing. As a sorcery, I am not sure it is worth playing over Liliana's Triumph, Terminate, or Abrade.
Dovin, Hand of Control: Another powerful effect that is a bit more than its competitors but comes with some upside. More likely to see a ton of play in Commander than Modern but worth listing.
Finale of Promise: Hey, look, another card that enables comboes with Ancestral Vision and Living End! This is also a heck of a payoff for a big mana deck. I'm a little cooler on it because Electrodominance ended up fizzling, but this generally has a higher ceiling that Dominance even if it is slower and has a lower floor.
Dreadhorde Arcanist: Doesn't necessarily slot into a deck neatly (seems good but not great in Burn and burn is tight on slots), but could team up with Monastery Swiftspear and other Heroic/Prowess cards to make a whole new archetype in older formats.
Dreadhorde Invasion: Bitterblossom hasn't been the rockstar we expected with an unban, and this is mostly worse...except that Zombie is waaaaay more relevant than Fairy as a typing. Worth a look for sure.
Vivien's Arkbow: I think this is bad, but it is also interesting and worth testing.
Neoform: How much better and more able to enable comboes is Neoform compared to Eldritch Evolution? Unclear, but I'm sure lots of folks will test it.
- Currently, the dominant decks in Modern include Tron, Izzet Phoenix, Grixis Shadow, Humans, and Dredge; current Grixis removal options (such as Terminate, Anger of the Gods, Damnation, Dismember, and Fatal Push) match up extremely poorly against the primary threats of all of those decks except Humans which is why Azorius and Jeskai decks (with get to run Path to Exile and Terminus) are effectively the only traditional control decks that have a share of the metagame today.
- As a result, Grixis control decks that do exist currently more "splash" Black so that they can emphasize running counterspells (namely a full four Cryptic Commands with Tasigur and Snapcaster to buy them back) to have more successful answers to those threats. A BBB card is a real strain to those deck's mana base.
- No Grixis deck currently runs planeswalkers even though Jace, the Mind Sculptor is a legal card in the format due to the emphasis on instant-speed control. This is key because Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God would really like to partner with some friendly 'walkers. Yes, he copies all abilities of ALL planeswalkers, but I think it will rarely be correct to keep an opponent's Teferi, Hero of Dominaria around to get that sweet draw + untap when Bolas can just -3 to kill Teferi instead. However, paying five mana to destroy an opposing Teferi (assuming you even get to resolve this Hot God through an enemy's Dovin's Veto) is simply too slow and vulnerable a play.
I do think a Superfriends deck is going to emerge in Modern, but I suspect that Dragon-God will be a fringe player in that deck. Standard is a more spicy format for him.
Seems okay. The +1 is mediocre but flavorful. The -3 is stronger and has good synergy. And in a world of Davriel, his Shadowfugue, and Liliana's Triumph that passive feels pretty strong.