Forgive me for not using card tags, but I’m on my phone and about to hop a probably empty flight so I’m rushing a bit.
I’ve been playing Caw Blade in pauper for about 5 years. A couple notes (but what works for me doesn’t work for everyone):
*I’ve never ran multiples of the same equipment. I run 1x Bonesplitter, 1x Bladed Bracers, 1x Mantle of Tides. Mantle is great with Brainstorm and opens up interesting combat tricks most opponents don’t consider.
* I run 2x Guardian and 2x Seraph of Dawn. The angel with Bonesplitter and Bracers attached is a Baneslayer with Vigilance and opponents will quickly dump all removal in hand to get to her.
*I run 2x Angelic Renewal which protects my bombs in a format full of removal and is just unfair when paired with Mulldrifter.
*Depending the meta, I either run 4x Thraben Inspector (grindier metas) or Seeker of the way (faster metas).
*You will need counterspells in a competitive environment.
*12 cantrips is a bit redundant for me with 4x mullsdrifter, 4x Inspector, and the birds. I run 4x Brainstorm, 2x Ponder, 2x Preordain.
*With Trinket Mage it is never a bad idea to run a Relic main deck as it hurts so much of the meta.
*Sideboard I always have a couple flag bearers to eat removal and couple copies of Echoing Truth against tokens.
It’s not that they want to remove shuffle effects from the game. That’s impossible and would severely limit card design. It’s that they know they want a collective effort to limit mid game shuffling because it slows the game down and doesn’t play well with growing stream views.
Banning fetches from the start serves two purposes:
1) Of the top played cards in modern with shuffle effects only Trophy ports over to Pioneer so they have already drastically cut shuffling from format to format. That being said, they still to allow color fixing for deck construction so Fabled Passage is a good start as a card that won’t be jammed into every deck, and must be played smartly.
And 2) They can test the strength of “broken” cards in a vacuum of an eternal format without their primary enablers (fetches). The results of that test will likely dictate which direction the format goes in the future.
I’d venture to guess that the first thought the majority of enfranchised players had at the announcement was “awesome I get to brew with DTT or DRS again” not “ah the mana base is going to be less optimal”. Which I’m sure was their goal.
I don't particularly play standard that often but my quick opinions:
1) I agree with Rosewater's statement that a complete lack of bans means they aren't pushing the envelope and improving the game.
2) The only recent "mistake" was the copy-cat combo. Energy and vehicles have been at the heart of the majority of recent bannings and both are interesting new additions to the game. History shows that interesting new additions are often riddled with issues at the beginning. Vehicles are very reminiscent of equipment and there were serious power level issues with equipment in the beginning. Energy is an excellent concept that is also very dependent on building a shell that harnesses it. When cards are built for a particular archetype they make the whole much more powerful than the individual cards and in this case they dedicated a chunk of two sets to the archetype.
If this set has no value why the heck is it so expensive to buy? Why not discount this set? I don't get it. People are selling the booster boxes for $300. Why is that?
Age (as stated is one reason), but Ice Age was also the time frame many older players entered the game - me included. For many of us it holds a nostalgic value.
The sooner people realize that Eternal staples, especially Legacy staples, aren't that expensive the better off they will be. Heck, half the people who come on here and complain about the reserve list have links to $300-$400 standard decks or their all foil EDH decks. Skip one standard season, save some money, and get some staples. ABUR duals and Force of Will's don't have shelf lives. They are not going to go bad on you.
The other half of people complain that they don't have anyone to play with because their friends or play group can't afford staples. Here is an option, and I know this might blow your mind... use proxies. My brother is 16, I don't reasonably expect him to spend hundreds of dollars on cardboard. So when he plops down a gold border Wasteland or plays a gate and says it is a Bayou I don't flip the table in disgust. I play the game.
I disagree with these arguments. Collecting has always been, is, and will always be part of this game. If it wasn't it would be monopoly. And to the poster that said you wouldn't care if your $1000 deck became a $300 deck: you are lying to yourself to make a point. If you honestly feel that way shoot me your trade and sell list and I'll gladly offer you 30% all day long.
2
I’ve been playing Caw Blade in pauper for about 5 years. A couple notes (but what works for me doesn’t work for everyone):
*I’ve never ran multiples of the same equipment. I run 1x Bonesplitter, 1x Bladed Bracers, 1x Mantle of Tides. Mantle is great with Brainstorm and opens up interesting combat tricks most opponents don’t consider.
* I run 2x Guardian and 2x Seraph of Dawn. The angel with Bonesplitter and Bracers attached is a Baneslayer with Vigilance and opponents will quickly dump all removal in hand to get to her.
*I run 2x Angelic Renewal which protects my bombs in a format full of removal and is just unfair when paired with Mulldrifter.
*Depending the meta, I either run 4x Thraben Inspector (grindier metas) or Seeker of the way (faster metas).
*You will need counterspells in a competitive environment.
*12 cantrips is a bit redundant for me with 4x mullsdrifter, 4x Inspector, and the birds. I run 4x Brainstorm, 2x Ponder, 2x Preordain.
*With Trinket Mage it is never a bad idea to run a Relic main deck as it hurts so much of the meta.
*Sideboard I always have a couple flag bearers to eat removal and couple copies of Echoing Truth against tokens.
2
Banning fetches from the start serves two purposes:
1) Of the top played cards in modern with shuffle effects only Trophy ports over to Pioneer so they have already drastically cut shuffling from format to format. That being said, they still to allow color fixing for deck construction so Fabled Passage is a good start as a card that won’t be jammed into every deck, and must be played smartly.
And 2) They can test the strength of “broken” cards in a vacuum of an eternal format without their primary enablers (fetches). The results of that test will likely dictate which direction the format goes in the future.
I’d venture to guess that the first thought the majority of enfranchised players had at the announcement was “awesome I get to brew with DTT or DRS again” not “ah the mana base is going to be less optimal”. Which I’m sure was their goal.
1
Hasbro purchases carbon emission offset credits for 100% of their energy usage on a yearly basis. So yeah, they have...
2
1) I agree with Rosewater's statement that a complete lack of bans means they aren't pushing the envelope and improving the game.
2) The only recent "mistake" was the copy-cat combo. Energy and vehicles have been at the heart of the majority of recent bannings and both are interesting new additions to the game. History shows that interesting new additions are often riddled with issues at the beginning. Vehicles are very reminiscent of equipment and there were serious power level issues with equipment in the beginning. Energy is an excellent concept that is also very dependent on building a shell that harnesses it. When cards are built for a particular archetype they make the whole much more powerful than the individual cards and in this case they dedicated a chunk of two sets to the archetype.
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Age (as stated is one reason), but Ice Age was also the time frame many older players entered the game - me included. For many of us it holds a nostalgic value.
1
The other half of people complain that they don't have anyone to play with because their friends or play group can't afford staples. Here is an option, and I know this might blow your mind... use proxies. My brother is 16, I don't reasonably expect him to spend hundreds of dollars on cardboard. So when he plops down a gold border Wasteland or plays a gate and says it is a Bayou I don't flip the table in disgust. I play the game.
1