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.
@SpartanCEL The real price drop will probably be seen in all the one-ofs that were only expensive because Pod ran them. Voice of Resurgence, Orzhov Pontiff, etc. Pod was incredibly popular and it made the commonly run creatures way more expensive than they should've been. Pontiff specifically was going for $10-13 recently, but now you can get them on TCGplayer for like 4.50.
January 21, 2015 9:42 p.m.
Seeing this much hate over a single card (obviously refering to the Pod ban) being removed from the format makes me think that wizards may be on the right track here.
When I first started into playing serious Modern (i.e. playing tier 1.5-1 decks) while still brewing on the side I remember a LOT of the same style comments being made about DRS being hammered. Everyone said it was just not fair, WotC didn't know what they were doing, etc etc etc.
You look at it now and EVERYONE agree's DRS is just way to powerful to be let back in. "Jund will be the powerhouse again" "It's to good of a 1cmc" Whatever else your pretty little mind can think of.
Just saying, you think you know what will happen to the meta, but time will tell over the next 6 months, and hopefully we'll actually have some fun in there somewhere.
January 22, 2015 4:17 a.m.
SpartanCEL says... #7
Necrotize ahh I gotchya the 3 was just the immediate impact. Pod also had to be sb against in any competitive deck(maybe there's a few that don't?) My option is that is was good thing, maybe out of now where it seems but good
January 22, 2015 7:20 a.m.
brokensaint058 says... #8
Good riddance to all of these obnoxious cards. Hopefuly people are going to use their heads for some creative deckbuilding now... AH WHO am I kidding, off to the next stable netdeck the masses go.
January 22, 2015 7:52 a.m.
VampireArmy The pod deck was just too good. I don't specifically remember the numbers, but pod decks were doing too well, and streamlined the format. You were likely playing pod, R/U Delver, or something with Dig Through Time. With the banning of the two delve criminals, pod would be the most oppressive deck in the format. It's worth noting that pod decks can function quite well without their pods.
January 22, 2015 10:30 a.m.
Pod can function without the actual Pod I suppose, but they lose the consistency that made them Tier 1. A big factor for the banning was that Pod won almost half of the recent 12 GPs, which is huge for one archetype. It basically became the deck you absolutely had to sideboard against because chances are you'd face one or two no matter what. Without the ability to tutor for the exact creature they need every turn, Pod can't rely on several on-ofs as they won't consistently draw them.
January 22, 2015 11:01 a.m.
VampireArmy says... #11
If people would read past the first page and STOP tagging me to answer a question that's been answered THREE times now, I'd appreciate it.
January 22, 2015 11:07 a.m.
I do apologize, I've never had anything go past the first page before.
January 22, 2015 11:45 a.m.
VampireArmy says... #13
it's alright, more of a public announcement. I'm not singling you out.
January 22, 2015 11:46 a.m.
I still find it necessary to apologize, whether or not it was intended to make me feel bad.
January 22, 2015 11:58 a.m.
wwhitegoldd says... #15
Pod was oppressive, but that's only because delver pushed out all the decks that beat it.
January 22, 2015 12:07 p.m.
so it was mentioned before but i want to seriously point out the strengths and weaknesses of mill mill has the colors to do almost anything besides ramp effectivly the only deck mill looses the second they sit across the table from is tron but even that they can splash either white for rest in peace or just run surgical extraction or the black layline deals with that easily and in terms of the burn deck mill would probably lose game one but they run blue counters for days in the sb
also i now that boggle is a deck everyone is expecting to see make a come back but why cant mill run either Devastation Tide or Devour Flesh or even Damnation
in the way of storm mill can just laugh at that because storm is drawing so many cards that if theyre out even like 25 cards by turn three, which is not uncomman for mill or an uncomman turn for storm to go off then the storm player may end up milling them self out
storms other weakness is that they run only one win con usually so why not get it milled before their third turn then surgically extract it
in the way of control while they have counters mill against control is in no rush so getting a spell remanded isnt the end of the world
if i missed any decks you need me to explain mills strengths against please comment my name and the deck that you believe will just flat out beat mill
January 22, 2015 3:22 p.m.
cjk191997 mill may be good, but it is not the best strategy ever. Go ahead mill me, just allows me to flashback Lingering Souls. Go ahead mill me, I'm playing Iona, Shield of Emeria + Unburial Rites . You won't have time to mill me, I'm an aggro deck. Tron is actually a decent matchup for mill, if they're going slow, and you mill out their wincons/tron pieces, they're going to have a bad time.
January 22, 2015 3:32 p.m.
Lel yeah play mill against aggro and let me goldfish the first few turns so i can win more ez. There is a reason for mill not being played.
January 22, 2015 3:40 p.m.
I have played the dredge deck before I just win like its not even a problem I don't have a single problem winning against dredge
January 22, 2015 3:42 p.m.
@kameenookMill typically also runs things mainboard like Extirpate and Surgical Extraction to respond to graveyard shenanigans. It plays similar to discard but is probably a little slower to stabilize if your opponent has a good hand whereas discard won't stabilize if you're opponent gets good topdecks. With mill you bank on them having their main wincon in the deck, with discard you bank on them keeping a hand with a key piece and not enough lands.
January 22, 2015 3:46 p.m.
Seriously I enjoy sitting down across from a dredge player I just pretty much lose against from unless I have surgical extraction in hand turn 1 or board in layline game 2
January 22, 2015 3:51 p.m.
I meant lose against tron it got deleted some how the word tron
January 22, 2015 3:52 p.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #24
Mill is fringe. It is NEARLY playable, it just needs one more Glimpse the Unthinkable to be competitive. But there is hate up the wazzo for it. One Kozilek, Butcher of Truth in that deck and you are screwed. An opening hand of Elixir of Immortality screws you over to. Leyline of Sanctity makes you concede.
Esper mill I think is the best way to go about it. Because then you get Esper Charm and can beat Leyline.
Woah. I'mma go do that right now.
January 22, 2015 3:56 p.m.
GoldGhost012 says... #25
I dunno, I really like Top Control mill decks. Been experimenting with Golgari, Dimir, and Sultai colored decks, and I'm really liking the results so far.
But then again, that's just goldfishing.
January 22, 2015 4:01 p.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #26
Oh, there's a blue top control that can also draw if you want GoldGhost012. It is called Dakra Mystic. Try it and see.
But I like top control over aggro in mill decks. Because then you can use Counterbalance :D
January 22, 2015 4:07 p.m.
slovakattack says... #27
noms GoldGhost012
Ashiok'd be good for that, I'd think.
January 22, 2015 4:11 p.m.
I suppose, but since it is so fringe, people rarely have sideboard cards to stop it. You could probably make a fairly effective Mill+Discard(but forgo rack and shrieking) deck so that you can protect yourself with Ensnaring Bridge, use the awesomeness that is Lili, and cleanup any wincons that happen to make it into their hand.
Plus if you know you're opponent has anti-mill cards like eldrazis, Leyline of the Void is even on color.
January 22, 2015 4:22 p.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #29
In general, xilling is always awesome, it bypasses a fair portion of mill's problems.
Freed from the Real + Grimoire Thief + Paradise Mantle
Problem?
January 22, 2015 4:24 p.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #30
Necrotize, almost everyone runs Leyline of Sanctitys. And they can still counter your stuff and what not.
January 22, 2015 4:25 p.m.
The problem is that I don't think there are any exile cards on par with the mill ones :(
That combo specifically is a 3 card combo that without any ramp can't go off till turn 4 minimum.
But since you're right and everyone does run Leyline, Esper Charm probably is the way to go. Makes me sad that mill can't get off the ground, it was the focus of my first ever magic deck T_T
We need a cheap enchantment/artifact that mills opponents for every card its controller mills. That'll make GGTroll a thing :D
January 22, 2015 4:32 p.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #32
What we need is a card that says
"Players play with the top card of their deck revealed.
Whenever another card you control is put into your graveyard, target opponent puts the top card of his or her library into his or her graveyard."
January 22, 2015 4:37 p.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #34
It is such a good sideboard card. I find that it works better than any other sideboard card I've used.
January 22, 2015 4:46 p.m.
Ohthenoises says... #35
Actually GlistenerAgent a lot do. 3 from the Omaha top 8 had leyline in the sideboard. There are more too.
January 22, 2015 4:46 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #36
It's a reasonable card, but it was horrible in this past metagame. It does nothing against Pod and Delver. I can see combo decks having it to stop discard spells from the BGx decks that are going to pop up, but most other decks have a lot of superior options.
January 22, 2015 4:48 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #39
Trials aren't really a useful tool for gauging whether or not a card is good. The only decks that should play it are all-in combo decks (Goryo's Vengeance has discard spells of its own, so maybe not even there), because burn and discard spells are the only things that it stops. If you want to stop a burn spell, play Obstinate Baloth or Dispel, which are much more versatile.
January 22, 2015 4:56 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #40
There you go. Ad Nauseam, Bloom Titan and Jeskai Ascendancy are all relatively fragile combo decks that need to stop opposing discard effects.
January 22, 2015 4:57 p.m.
Ohthenoises says... #41
After running a search there are tons more, just was pointing out those as examples and playing devil's advocate.
I use Leyline of Sanctity because my meta is approximately 50%+ burn. It's infested.... I know what you mean though.
January 22, 2015 5:36 p.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #42
Also, pod and delver are gone now GlistenerAgent.
January 22, 2015 6:30 p.m.
Femme_Fatale why would I run esper charm and not path to exile it triggers archive trap if I run path
January 22, 2015 7:15 p.m.
aeonstoremyliver says... #44
I think Femme was referring to a way to be rid of Leyline of Sanctity... Wear / Tear may be more efficient, mana cost/intensity wise, tho.
I love Mill, a lot. It can be somewhat competitive in Modern, as it's a fringe deck and many aren't prepared for it. Esper Mill is my fave due to the PtE and Archive Trap interaction. Plus there's Wrath of God and Supreme Verdict. In any case, I don't see Mill being competive past the FNM level. I mean, it's possible, but I dunno...
January 22, 2015 7:26 p.m.
GoldGhost012, I tried running Top Control for a bit but I gave up because it just never worked out. It always took just about 2 turns too long to REALLY stabilize. When it worked it was fun, but it was too fragile for me and i play dredge for god's sake.
January 22, 2015 7:29 p.m.
GeminiSpartanX says... #46
I ran bug mill with much success at GP Richmond in side events. Green is for Nature's Claim and Abrupt Decay. The one time someone had a leyline in their opening hand, I had the Claim/Surgical Extraction and won from there. Now with the banning of Cruise, mill is back to being the only deck to use Ancestral Recall, and as an instant too! (Visions of Beyond). That's the real reason mill is fun to play!
January 22, 2015 7:37 p.m.
Ohthenoises says... #47
Mill is great in tiny leaders, that's the best place for it.
January 22, 2015 7:39 p.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #48
Oh yes definitely. Grants you an infinite xill combo, a creature that xills for 10, Freed from the Real on that guy that discards everyone's hand and forces them to draw that many that is also seen in nekusar builds.
Yeah I forget card names easily alright?
January 22, 2015 7:41 p.m.
GoldGhost012 says... #49
Yeah, Top Control isn't exactly Tier 1 (he'll, not even really T2), but I'd be running it at FNMs until I can complete my more expensive Affinity deck. The only problem is that I'd be running no Liliana of the Veils irl.
January 22, 2015 7:42 p.m.
Mox Opal is a bitch to acquire too. And Ensnaring Bridge.
Sigmasquad says... #1
Aaand Grave Troll is unbanned? Joy...
January 21, 2015 8:18 p.m.