Why are cards such as Ancient Den and Vault of Whispers banned?
Modern forum
Posted on Dec. 25, 2012, 2:37 p.m. by satchattack
I have an artifact deck that runs all the "Artifact Lands" and I just found out that they are banned and they kind of make the deck.
adolfnixon says... #3
By MEtalcraft, he meant Affinity. Affinity is INSANE when all the Artifact lands are available.
December 25, 2012 3:02 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #4
Moved to Modern.
Back in the early stages of Modern, WotC commented that they wanted to nerf affinity/metalcraft. They decided to ban the artifact lands because they enabled both mechanics. Affinity remains playable in Modern, but not on the same level.
December 25, 2012 4:18 p.m.
If you want to play Affinity in all it's metallic glory, simply play Legacy. The artifact lands are banned because, were they allowed, affinity would be the only deck playable as it would consistently win on turns 2 or 3.
December 25, 2012 4:30 p.m.
Ohthenoises says... #6
Affinity is still very powerful. What's curious is only the COLORED artifact lands are banned. Darksteel Citadel is a go. Try using Blinkmoth Nexus and Inkmoth Nexus to fill the void.
December 25, 2012 7:20 p.m.
http404error says... #7
They thought it would be more interesting if they let Citadel through than to ban them all.
But yeah, artifact lands and cheap/free artifact creatures makes affinity super-powerful, especially stuff like Cranial Plating . If you take a look at Affinity lists, you'll soon see why.
December 25, 2012 8:31 p.m.
Not only that, but if you run a control deck with artifact lands and you have a few Unwinding Clock s in there, it allows for some pretty powerful controlling.
December 25, 2012 9:41 p.m.
trick question, play legacy and casual, not banned anymore :D
December 26, 2012 8:48 a.m.
I just really like this card Mirrorworks and you can just make copys of the lands Affinity also does big. Unwinding Clock with Shimmer Myr you might as well call gg.
January 13, 2013 3:29 a.m.
Affinity dominated standard when Darksteel was released. Take a look at Gran Prix Kuala 2004. Five of the top eight were Ravager Affinity, three of those in top four. Pro Tour Columbus 2005 wasn't much better where WotC reported around 50% of the decks being played were affinity. Then, when people figured out how good AEther Vial was, Affinity was taking over completely. I think the last major Pro Tour event before the artifact lands were banned in standard saw only one non-affinity deck in top 8 (Tooth and Nail ).
With artifact lands, Affinity can go:
Turn One: Welding Jar , Seat of the Synod , Arcbound Worker , Ornithopter , Frogmite .
Turn Two: Thoughtcast , Vault of Whispers , Myr Enforcer , swing for 3.
Turn Three: Cranial Plating , random artifact land, equip plating, swing for 15.
Opponent is at 2 life and now all the affinity player has to do is play Disciple of the Vault + Arcbound Ravager or another Welding Jar (sacrificing the first Welding Jar with the second or two artifacts to Arcbound Ravager ) to win, no attack step needed. Or cast Shrapnel Blast . Or Thoughtcast which functions as Ancestral Recall .
If the artifact lands weren't banned, you would definitely see consistent turn three kills (Mox Opal ). The choice is to either ban the lands or ban Arcbound Ravager and Mox Opal . Considering the lands are more of a niche card (they'd only be playable in affinity) and Arcbound Ravager /Mox Opal are balanced when used in other types of decks or let people experiment with new ideas, the choice is to ban the lands.
exitus says... #2
It's simple.
Because it's huge advantage in metalcraft deck.
December 25, 2012 2:40 p.m.