Modern Banlist Update - 1/19/15
Modern forum
Posted on Jan. 19, 2015, 10:58 a.m. by GlistenerAgent
Banned: Birthing Pod, Dig Through Time, Treasure Cruise
Unbanned: Golgari Grave-Troll
Holy shit.
vampirelazarus says... #3
Unfortunately, I don't have green mana, and only one life.
Being human sucks.
January 19, 2015 12:59 p.m.
The problem is that I honestly think this will constrict the meta rather than widen it. And that's upsetting. I value a varied modern meta. Cruise made delver a good deck again - it was new and exciting. Dig through time made scapeshift a serious consider - again, pretty new and exciting. Sure, these aren't wholly new decks but they were new and shiny for top 8s. As it stands I think this banning is restrictive.
January 19, 2015 12:59 p.m.
my sultai rock deck cries at this announcement but I understand and at least they took pod with it. I was having a discussion like this with a friend where my point was if you are going to band cruise you gotta take either goyf or pod with it because you can say the same over played argument about cruise as you can with pod.
bright side my 8 rack is back alive. And for brewers out there I honestly have a hunch that Empty the Pits can make a nice end game for some dredge decks out there with so many dredge cards accessible. just calling it now...
January 19, 2015 1 p.m.
I don't like this.. I am only glad to see pod go and even that is for the wrong reasons
January 19, 2015 1:04 p.m.
vampirelazarus says... #7
Pod wasn't ban worthy.
The only people who say it is, are people who lose against it.
The deck is easily beatable, and sometimes it loses to the pilot. It rewarded good technical play, and punished mistakes.
Modern is now going to be a stagnant cesspool of twin and junk midrange.
January 19, 2015 1:06 p.m.
golffore297 says... #8
Here's a really, really rough sketch of that token deck:
How to Overwhelm in 7 Turns (or less) Playtest
Modern*
SCORE: 1 | 0 COMMENTS | 2 VIEWSIt doesn't seem terrible, but it looks like it might not be able to make it far in the meta. I'll keep Tinkering with it today and see what else may come up.
January 19, 2015 1:06 p.m.
slovakattack "as a 1-of in some EDH decks" yeah i run 3 in mine, lol
January 19, 2015 1:07 p.m.
Hmm. So, I can play Tarmogoyf, or I can lose? There are now no midrange decks under $1,500.
January 19, 2015 1:08 p.m.
Well, you can always try some home brew type of thing. I can't wait for every LGS to allow 4-proxy Modern nights so everyone can have their playset of Goyfs.
January 19, 2015 1:10 p.m.
I am honestly tempted to quit magic due to this,I just had to sell my sultai deck for a big sum of money and my only other deck was my pod deck I JUST fucking finished.....goddamnit goddamnit
January 19, 2015 1:13 p.m.
I'm going to hold off on any judgement calls on this until I see the actual consequences. With some luck this might open up a new archetype to slide into Pods vacated slot. Then again, maybe all it does is kill an archetype and redistribute between archetypes already played, which would be unfortunate.
January 19, 2015 1:13 p.m.
Nigeltastic says... #14
I think my favorite thing about ban announcements are people assuming wizards bans things lightly or on a whim or without good data or something.
January 19, 2015 1:14 p.m.
Meanwhile Bloom Titan is just laughing at the meta right now.
January 19, 2015 1:15 p.m.
Bloom Titan will only laugh at whoever it can draw well against. It's a goldfish deck at heart.
January 19, 2015 1:17 p.m.
Yay, yay, yay, yay, yay, yes, yes, FUCK YEAH! Pod gone, TC gone, DTT gone. BOW TO YOUR B/G/X MASTER!
January 19, 2015 1:17 p.m.
CanadianShinobi says... #20
I'm with ChiefBell on this. This was poor decision makibg that will harm the meta more than help it. Maybe Dredge will become something, but I'm highly skeptical. I don't even play Pod or midrange. This is just bad. I guess we'll see though.
January 19, 2015 1:19 p.m.
Well.....they did ban the blue cards pretty quickly. Can't get much data if you ban the things before sufficient evidence exists.
January 19, 2015 1:21 p.m.
libraryjoy says... #23
I feel really bad for the guys who won the Grand Prix events with these decks - especially Pod decks. They did too well, and now they're invited to a Pro Tour event - with no deck! Whether or not you agree with the banning, that's still really harsh.
January 19, 2015 1:32 p.m.
Nigeltastic says... #24
ChiefBell - that really depends on what one considers sufficient evidence. I didn't think Cruise was going to get the axe yet, if at all, but I would be foolish to think I have more experience, data, and knowledge than wotc development. It's possible they pulled the trigger too fast on the blue cards, or they know of cards coming that mean those need to be gone, hard to say. The pod ban clearly has some time and data behind it though, and that's one I think a lot of people are second guessing as unreasonable.
January 19, 2015 1:34 p.m.
Oh sure haha. Pod yeh - lots of evidence. Blue cards - no, I disagree. Probably not enough evidence.
The thing that pisses me off about the pod banning is that it makes tarmo midrange pretty much the only available midrange deck. That's just dull. Where is this thriving format?
January 19, 2015 1:39 p.m.
My favorite (read: least favorite) part about today? Every thread on the frontpage is ban list related...and not in the good way.
January 19, 2015 1:43 p.m.
Because puns make everything better: delver players are flipping tables.
January 19, 2015 1:44 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #28
@JWiley129: I'm just thankful that the threads are all (knocking on all the wood within reach) legitimate, independent discussion and not reposts going "zOMG WiZards did The Thing!!1!"
January 19, 2015 1:49 p.m.
Doesn't Wizards only hate combo decks that consistently win before turn 4? Melira Pod can do that very rarely, Thune Pod can't, and Rhino Pod can't combo at all. Pisses me off especially because I now have to get rid of a finished deck.
January 19, 2015 1:57 p.m.
Metroid_Hybrid says... #33
I think this actually gives the meta a lot of room to breath, as Pod decks by design had mainboard anwsers to virtually everything! Although the blue cards made Combo decks a little more consistant, it more so gave Control & Tempo decks tons of extra ammunition to hose anything else in the process.. Meanwhile unbanning the Troll could have it's own symbolic connotations (Pod players got 'trolled'), but also it could be their way of telling the competitive community to lighten up & brew a little originality! WotC have very explicitly stated that they want to see a varied meta, and not one that punishes anything outside of the same 4 or 5 decks. Besides if I remember correctly Pod represented over 25% of the overall meta, I think Jund was in a similar position not too terribly long ago...
Okay.. Rant over...
January 19, 2015 1:57 p.m.
gnarlicide says... #34
Lol, @ PValBlanc... "Who's Bob?"
Not trying to be rude, bro. It just amuses me.
You have made gnarlicides day a helluva lot better. Not because of the ban... I play Jund, that sort of made me happy too...
...but your comment, doe.
January 19, 2015 1:59 p.m.
grumbledore says... #35
i picked up a MM playset of bobs about 3 days before that interview with the dude saying it was now 'unplayable' thanks to cruise. that resulted in just about the angriest, most froth-ridden exclamation of 'fuck!' that i have ever produced.
January 19, 2015 2:02 p.m.
Metroid_Hybrid - but now we have a situation where playing Tarmogoyf is basically always the best thing you can do in a midrange deck and that's it.
January 19, 2015 2:03 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #37
I mean, it's not because a guy said it's unplayable that it's unplayable. In theory, you could have figured that out yourself. Nevertheless, it seems your purchase was worth it.
January 19, 2015 2:03 p.m.
Can't wait for our beloved Goyfs to jump when everyone just plays Junk midrange and that dominates the meta.
January 19, 2015 2:04 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #40
Wasn't that the case before too? I feel like Pod was fundamentally different from midrange decks in that it had a specific card that made it incredibly powerful and played a very different set of cards. Tarmogoyf always was the best creature for pure midrange decks.
Those of you who say you need Goyf to play green in Modern now are mistaken. Scapeshift is very much a deck, RG Valakut is very much a deck.
January 19, 2015 2:05 p.m.
gnarlicide aside from the fact that I legitimately didn't know, I had a hunch that piece of ignorance would be amusing to some people. And while I'd normally have searched before asking, given the current ambiance, I reckoned people might need the smile.
January 19, 2015 2:06 p.m.
gnarlicide says... #42
Well, thank you then. You definitely made me smile. I have had a very personally shitty 36 hours. And you helped alot
January 19, 2015 2:07 p.m.
GlistenerAgent you could still play RUG Scapeshift, just not as well. You've still got Electrolyze, Remand, Serum Visions, etc. It's not as good without DTT, but still viable.
January 19, 2015 2:08 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #44
It's not as good, but not significantly worse either. Dig put it over the top, but now I'm playing Serum Visions, Telling Time and Repeal and still winning games. The all cantrips plan for the Scapeshift decks is the way to go, and is quite powerful. The decrease in power level caused by the banning might be overstated a little bit.
January 19, 2015 2:10 p.m.
Metroid_Hybrid says... #45
@ChiefBell: "Best"? Probably, but not the "only" by far. And at least Tarmogoyf still "dies to Doom Blade" lol (Pod does not)
Although IMO I feel as though Goyf should have been banned or restricted a long time ago.
January 19, 2015 2:14 p.m.
As a person just getting into modern, I am so happy I went with Gifts lmao.
January 19, 2015 2:26 p.m.
AztekSnowman says... #48
Will pod being banned drop the price of hierarch? Every pod player will try to pawn off asap at the price she's at now, thus floodering the market?
January 19, 2015 2:28 p.m.
I also want to know if it'll drop the price of Voice of Resurgence?
January 19, 2015 2:29 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #50
It has to. Noble Hierarch sees play in green Ascendancy, Pod and Zoo, and two of those decks are now likely dead. Voice of Resurgence literally only sees play in Pod, so you can expect it to drop like a rock.
PValBlanc says... #1
Yeahhh... Sigh. My wallet really wants you to be wrong. Do I prefer being broke, or playing aggro?
January 19, 2015 12:53 p.m.