Where To Go From Here
Let’s take a walk from here. Modern, from both GP Vancouver and Pro Tour Fate Reforged (Washington), both ended with Splinter Twin winning in the hands of two different pilots. People have lost faith in Modern due to the banning of Birthing Pod alone. Bloom Titan is a deck that is scary to keep watch of, as a major contender in the top tables, seeing 2 Quarter Finalists in the Top 8 of Grand Prix Vancouver. Wilted Abzan took shape as a creature-base midrange deck. Abzan is still the forefronting deck of the format with other linear proactive decks follow short and behind. The format is taking shape, in a way that is unhealthy and unbalanced for all type of archetypes. This isn’t what should become of Modern as a format, the only port for cards to be printed in is Standard. It makes sense for a format to grow in number and strength as a format pool is added onto with each set printing, but the banning of cards is preventing this from taking effect.
Treasure Cruise was a card that allowed decks to compete in a reactive motion against decks featuring Thoughtseize, Liliana, and Inquisition. While their resources were being taken away from being used, the tools also became a resource to fuel a deck backing to the game. BGx Midrange decks have the ability to take away a player’s resource without the hassle of it being used against them again. Their tools are the best in the format for attacking from a wider range of angles, while other tools do come even meet these standards. BGx can play a Legacy type of game plan while other decks fall too short behind them with specific sideboard and mainboard cards for specific matchups without the ability to search for those cards unless they are naturally drawn. The limit is what holds Modern back from being a balanced format.
The non-specific cards are proactive and are the best cards to run against an openfield. Remand and Mana Leak are the cards that are reactive, that see the most play and have the best chance of attacking the game from a reactive angle. These cards look their effectiveness in the later game as they become easier to play around. Drawn backs on these cards become worse and worse as the game transpires into the later parts of it. White taxing decks also lose their effectiveness. The later part of the game favors those that can build up their resources while still presenting enough open answers to respond or make the opponent respond to what is happening. There isn’t enough open answers that allow for a longer game plan, without presenting a sort of catch-all for the deck archetypes.
The Banned List is the death of Modern, it is really that simple to understand and keep track of. It is too aggressively used for the safety of where Modern is meant to be heading, and is what is holding Modern back from being a powerful and properly popularized format.
Here is a proposal: Reprint and print cards that allow for the format to slow down and for decks to be able to play a slower game properly, without their resources become ineffective unless a long game does not support the deck’s game plan. Increase the power of the format for each archetype to fight against most decks as possible. Answers, both proactive and reactive, are the tools that allow for this. This puts Modern in a place to play decks that either defend or attack a certain archetype, which is another issue. Balancing this out would also be for decks to get back in the game as their tools are depleted or they are behind enough. BGx Midrange decks have these tools and are the ones that keep reaching for what other archetypes should be. Printing tools for BGx decks wouldn’t support the balance of the format.
Ancestral Vision is meant to support control as its entirety, a card that gets the deck back into the game while other decks put enough pressure on resources and life. Control decks would also need a card that responds to these decks, for how behind their resources are and how limiting the resources are as a game progresses. Counterspell is the type of card for the format to balance out with Blue vs GBx and the type of card for Control, but not necessarily the exact card to reach exactly this goal. Printing a card that plays into what Counterspell was printed specifically for Modern would be helpful. Give blue a generic answer that is powerful enough to play the role of Thoughtseize and Abrupt Decay for Blue as a card, but don’t let it be an all end card that no one can play around.
White tax effects are known to be powerful oppressors against effects that force the opponent to play around them. They are too easy to play around, though, which is what is weakening about them. Hatebears have all of the tools to be a good deck, but a weaker setting to be prepared for their match ups. Leonin Arbiter is the type of card for Hatebears to be a tolerable deck in the format and White Weenies are an archetype known for attacking the meta when the shields are done and the meta is open. The Tax effects hurt both players, which is the weaker part of the deck. Put the opponent in a seat to respond and react while the Tax player could sit behind and work up their pressure. The game isn’t going to end in 5 turns due to the absurd clock that decks put on and how much the opponent works to play around it. How I feel these should type of effects should work are to make the effects continuously affecting the players to reuse their resource and taunt what players attempt to complete while having the pressure of resources depleted. Zoo would also take more into this against Twin and Combo decks. The Aggro decks can put of the clock for pressure but no back it up with support against the other decks that can win almost unexpectedly without specifically having hate against that one deck while diluting the ability to play against others.
Tax effects would also allow fair decks to make other unfair decks play on a fair level behind all of these tools, which is what Blue and White are lacking in Modern to be potent and properly executed colors in the Balance of the color pie.
The tools for Modern exist and the cards are there, but they are hidden or taken away from the format in the sense of the Banned List which is the most daunting thing about the format. The Banned List is Modern’s Force of Will without the ability to continue to play an archetype. Force of Will is how Legacy and Vintage keep unfair decks fair, but it could be debated how the card would be unhelpful to what Modern is trying to accomplish. Instead of using Force of Will or the Modern Banned list to keep cards and decks in check, allow for tools to do this itself. Boost the power level of Modern to compete against the others at the same level, but also be able to have generic answers so decks can face off against each other without the effectiveness of more specific sideboard cards that make up 55% of a match win.
GBx based decks are Katy Perry. Twin type of decks are Right Shark. Compared to this, every other deck is Left Shark: Loved by all, but still doing its own thing in a noticeably not-so-right way.
