Lets Have That Conversation
Standard forum
Posted on June 8, 2017, 6:53 p.m. by TMBRLZ
The same conversation you probably hear at your LGS every week.
About how much people hate Standard right now.
For those of you who recognize me, you may recall I work for a LGS. We're fairly successful, with a TCG inventory to boot.
However, if you don't show up on a night we're playing Modern, you wouldn't be able to tell. Cause... Standard is uhh... well... you probably get it.
My community is surrounded with negativity, and that's the same impression I get from other communities abroad. But I've been kind of out of touch with the daily know-how and gossip of MTG because adult-ing.
So I'm really just looking for what T/O thinks about Standard right now. Your professional and thought-out opinions on the current state of the format, it's stability, it's future, and a fair judgment or review of how Wizards has been overseeing it all.
I hear some locals question why they even play Magic anymore on a regular basis, and that's kind of scary. (They of course all still play - Magic does that to you.)
Just looking for a good open discussion. And if it's already been had, I apologize, but let's start fresh here and maybe avoid any namecalling or headbutting. Cause we're nice people and all that.
I pick up games outside any lgs a couple times each month. It seems good on a casual level. I still like what vehicles and energy added to the dynamics of games.
June 8, 2017 7:26 p.m.
When I first began playing MtG around RTR block, I played just a bit of standard. I then realized I hated rotation and liked powerful non-creature effects. As a result, I quickly gravitated toward Modern and EDH.
Years later, I warmed up to the format a bit but it became shit shortly afterward, so I dropped it immediately. I still like Standard from a conceptual standpoint, but it's incredibly unappealing to me atm. It got so bad that I actually began playing Eternal, a digital TCG with design and gameplay that mirrors MtG and Standard a lot. Basically, even though Eternal's got a lot of issues, it's still miles ahead of Standard playability. The game is one expansion in (so around 2 large sets worth of cards) and the deck diversity is far and above what you would encounter in Standard.
Essentially, I'm not a huge fan of the uncertainty that came about as a result of the bannings yet advocate them 100%. It doesn't help that the mechanics from Kaladesh are incredibly parasitic and Wizards has forgotten how to print powerful and accessible answers.
It's actually damned strange I'm not into Standard atm all things considered. There's a large pool of cards that make control decks have more support than they've had in years. That alone is usually enough to get me hype for the format. Still, not digging it.
One thing I'll say is that the format is wahahaaaayyyyy better at LGS level than pro play.
June 8, 2017 7:51 p.m.
I havnet followed standard since innistrad came out. actually i played extended when it was a thing and loved it more.
i think people in modern are happier because of the longevity of their core cards such as Snapcaster Mage or Aether Vial. eventhough its hard to purchase them in the start they last forever. and no one really complains about that eh? also modern shifts, though slowly. and alot of weird decks stand a decent chance. modern is fun =) modern is life =) and the community is much friendlier
June 8, 2017 8:10 p.m.
clayperce - Thanks for the change! I'll add it to my vacation fund. :P Definitely appreciate the insight. Gotta say I love Pummeler. I was watching it at the GP last weekend when it clutched the win with 80 damage. Good stuff.
guessling - I gotta say I didn't expect Energy to be such a fundamental part of Standard. Cool to see what its capable of though.
June 8, 2017 8:27 p.m.
TheDevicer - I hear a lot of what you're saying. And if we're talking about substitutes for MTG, quite a few people in my area play Hex thanks to Mr. Hoogland (also a local). It's apparently a pretty solid game. I myself just got into The Elder Scrolls: Legends on Steam (free game that is literally a revamped and better feeling Hearthstone, just elder scrollsy).
And yeah I'm actually shocked there isn't more U/W control floating ground. You can clearly tell they were working hard to make it viable.
Vman - I agree. Modern is a way more dynamic and engaging format imho. Nothing like tasting the salt of your tears from the occasional ace eggs player. Or watching Death Zoo players stare at their Death's Shadow cause I'm the annoying 8 rack player that just jammed an Ensnaring Bridge into play. You're never quite sure what you're going to get in Modern... alternatively Standard is much to Marvel at. (hehe).
June 8, 2017 8:39 p.m.
SoggyGecko says... #8
Not the largest fan of this Standard, to be honest. I started to play it online (don't want to waste the money in real life), and really didn't like it. I'm a control/aggro player, and I found neither to be quite viable (in their purest forms, being UWR draw-go and red aggro), which really drove me away. There are too many beefy creatures that cost very little mana, and I'm not a fan (talking about GB Snek, GR Energy, Marvel, sometimes Mardu).
If they could add more available archetypes, and possible some answers (seriously), it could do better. Last standard I really enjoyed was Khans/Theros, but that was due to the amount of viable brews I had.
TL:DR, Don't like this format, my favorite archetypes are not represented much, and there is too much Battlecruiser going on for me. Could be more thought out, but I am on my phone.
June 8, 2017 9 p.m.
Standard seems to have a problem at the moment and it is due to the Pro Tour.
A lot of players now wait to build a Standard deck until they see what the Pros are playing.
Then just copy one of those decks wholesale.
It ends up making a completely stale LGS meta.
If you are lucky you will get one or two players who DON'T have a net deck, or you can build a deck that smashes the local meta, but decks like #1 Mardu Vehicles made that VERY tough.
I used to play Standard three times a fortnight, and look forward to it.
Now I play once a fortnight.
Like a lot of people I have gravitated towards EDH. Modern doesn't interest me, due to the speed of that format.
However, I'm don't hugely like multiplayer formats, so I'm kind of stuck.
I miss the days where most people built their own Standard decks and there was a lot of back and forth in the games.
I also think that Wizards doesn't give enough support for tribal decks lately.
Allies were completely viable. I won a tournament with them.
Werewolves never quite got there, Minotaurs lack a way to prevent board wipe unless you go tri coloured, Cats suffer from lack of Felidar Guardian.
Zombies are one of the only valid recent tribes, and they are good because at the moment you've got access to four sets that were Zombie-heavy.
You could also make a case for Eldrazi.
June 8, 2017 9:30 p.m.
Fatal Push not enough removal for you GabeCubed? :P
Don't get me started on Theros standard. That's when I started. Maybe its just the nostalgia but both sides of that standard (RTR and KTK) were glorious days for Standard itself as well as my local community.
Now we're all just sobered up grumpy eternal players who wish Standard was the least bit interesting.
June 8, 2017 9:58 p.m.
The Gods are what made Theros so interesting.
The current Gods are lacklustre, in comparison.
June 8, 2017 10:07 p.m.
SoggyGecko says... #12
@TMBRLZ Fatal Push is pretty good in Modern, very lackluster in Standard. No death to Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, I'm afraid.
And yeah.. There's a lot of nostalgia there.. I do feel like that is the majority of players nowadays. Well, longer time players, that is.
June 8, 2017 10:40 p.m.
Yeah sure Ill take a crack at this. I got nothing else to do. So, the common things I hear about standard are, "Stop banning shit", "Marvel is broken", "Gideon is broken", "the format is stale", and occasionally "pro tour is the problem"/"fuck net deckers".
So lets start with the bannings. Wizards definitely has started a very strong and concerning precedent for the future by banning cards. No one wants their cards to be banned it definitely sucks. However the bannings were 100% necessary, all of them, probably even reflector mage. Emrakul was just too good, smuggler's copter was too prevalent, and a turn 4 infinite combo with a lot of cheap counterspells was and will always be too good for standard. You basically cannot argue this it is just true and it is definitely wizards fault for that and this is how they decide to make it better and it is probably the best decisions right now. On the bright side they announced making a testing department which will greatly help development. I do not expect basically any bannings after a potential aetherworks marvel ban.
Ok, next is marvel/gideon are too broken. First off nothing is ever too broken, everything is beatable and even beatable at a consistent rate. It just depends on if you want to suck against every other deck and that is a choice you have to make. In wizards defense these cards of gideon + vehicles and marvel + ulamog/emrakul were not really supposed to be in standard together for a super long time. Then people complained about the new standard rotation and wizards changed it and it just fucked everything up and honestly thats on the players. The new rotation was not a problem and it was not going to hurt the game and it hardly really even got tested but of course when people complain enough wizards listens (this will eventually be the downfall of the game mark my words). That being said ulamog with little ramp and marvel without fucking expensive cards are not even really that good sure they are still powerful but are definitely beatable.
Alright so now we get to the format being stale. Standard honestly has a lot of cards right now and you can definitely play a lot of sweet stuff. Obviously you will probably lose to some top decks but thats a risk you have to take. Either you can make a brew and lose or you can make a brew and test the shit out of it and try to beat some of the top decks, most people choose the first option. A big reason I think that standard is stale is actually just because so many cards have been in standard for so long that we are just sick of seeing them (a rotation problem). There is also a small issue with net decking but not for the reason that most people think and I will talk about that later. I personally think that standard is a bit stale because of the sets that were released. They all kind of sucked. Do you want to play eldrazi? No ok do you want to play a delirium deck? No ok how about vehicles? Nope ok then zombies? Each set had one central playable theme and thats just the worst way to build a set in my opinion.
Alright lets get to the thing that triggers me the most pro tour/net deckers being part of the problem. First off, tournaments, whether broadcasted or not are NOT a problem and they are not ruining the game. If anything it is helping the game evolve into being more than just a casual game. Yes a lot of people just copy decks from the pro tour and a lot of the pro tours are just the same like 5 decks but that is a tournament that is what they need to do to win and if you go to a tournament you are actually just dumb if you are not playing the best deck or the deck that beats the best deck assuming that you want to do well in the tournament. Playing a deck that is your play style and that you have experience with can only take you so far. Now earlier I mentioned that net decking is a problem but it is not a problem for what you may think. Net decking is usually called a problem because it makes the game stale and no ones creative and blah blah blah go play kitchen table. Even though it does make a format stale, the real reason that net decking is a problem is because people do not do it correctly. When everyone net decks temur marvel and then mardu vehicles/temur aggro/UR control wins the tournament people start thinking (and I have heard this a lot) "Why is marvel the best deck its not even good I lost to this pile of creatures." Yeah OK the reason for that is because you suck at meta gaming. Truly meta gaming is really hard but if done correctly is usually the reason people win tournaments. Sometimes marvel is the best option because you expect people to play a miriad of decks and it just has the best win rate against multiple decks. Sometimes aggro decks are the best because ulamog sucks against a go wide strategy. The reason I consider net decking a problem is because people ONLY net deck what is considered the "top deck" instead of what beats the top deck or they only net deck what beats the top deck and wont play the top deck and they just dont know how to pick a deck properly for a tournament/scene/meta game this produces some stale aspects but not just because there is only one deck to play its because people only CHOOSE one deck to play.
June 8, 2017 11:56 p.m.
TheAnnihilator says... #15
I mean, the cards available in standard are generally powerful -- hell, Grim Flayer, Traverse, Push, Collective Brutality, Blessed Alliance, Spell Queller, Lili, Saheeli-Guardian, and a few other see Modern play, and countless of others are close to playable (Gearhulk, Glimmer, Marvel maybe?). I don't really get why Standard is just so bad right now, but it is. I think some of the cards are just so much obviously more powerful (ie the more unfair cards) than the others (ie. the fair ones), so it makes an uneven metagame -- even tho the answers are still better now than they have been in the recent past. The pro tour honestly doesn't help, but meh -- I don't really care.
June 9, 2017 12:01 a.m.
EmblemMan i agree with you except for the line nothing is too broken.
remember caw blade era?
i remember
ill never forget
play caw or go home.
June 9, 2017 12:26 a.m.
love the feedback EmblemMan (although the wall of text frightened me)
Definitely agree with a lot of what you're saying.
Especially this: (Hey Admins - I still stand by my suggestions from aeons ago that we need a quote feature)
"Then people complained about the new standard rotation and wizards changed it and it just fucked everything up and honestly thats on the players. The new rotation was not a problem and it was not going to hurt the game and it hardly really even got tested but of course when people complain enough wizards listens (this will eventually be the downfall of the game mark my words)"
Most definitely agree with that. Was having the same conversation the last time I was working at the LGS with one our regulars.
June 9, 2017 1:01 a.m.
For those of you so far -
I'm honestly curious as to your opinion of Wizards or your viewpoint on the future of the game in response to a lot of this. Not too much of the feedback has leaned that way. Feel free to share.
June 9, 2017 1:02 a.m.
SoggyGecko says... #19
I'm cautiously optimistic about the future. As long as they can increase support for older formats, or #MakeStandardGreatAgain, then I believe they should be good in the long run.
Also, listening to the community to the extent they are could be pulled back. Yes, standard is in a rough patch, but there are several conditions that have caused it to be that way, and now they can learn from their mistakes. However, trying to please everybody is a bad idea at this point. Putting more focus onto the non-new players I think would help. Still retain the intro packs, and ways for new players to come into Magic, but make sure Standard is not just a slug fest of this great thing versus another great thing. An equal emphasis on spells and creatures should put help too.
Diversity is best possible when there are large numbers of cards on an equal playing field. I think Wizards should now know this, and will hopefully be implementing it in as time goes on. I still think that it will take a year or so for us to be back on track. Patience is the big thing most could use at this time.
I think the other big issue holding Wizards back is the Reserve List, but that is a whole other topic.
June 9, 2017 1:14 a.m.
EmblemMan you have no current Standard decks, so I'd guess that you haven't played Standard for a while.
You are like so many people who have a LOT to say about the current Standard meta, but who haven't actually played in it.
You don't fully understand how dominant some decks have become.
June 9, 2017 1:21 a.m.
Winterblast says... #21
Actually standard looks quite interesting now, just the low power level is nothing for me. I just watch people testing at my LGS and occasionally borrow a deck for a game when no other formats are played. I wouldn't invest in a standard deck though because I really feel like it is far too expensive (this is coming from someone who just bought a timetwister for EDH), because of the rotations and bannings. You pay far too much for very little power and after a year or two everything is pretty much worthless.
Maybe if Wizards started putting more cards that interesting for etnerla formats into the newest sets, more players would pick up standard in addition to their preferred eternal format and would also buy more boxes. I'm always in doubt, should I get a Display or two of the next set or not? Is there anything inside that justifies buying a whole box and how many cards, also commons and uncommons would I buy as Singles if I didn't get a whole Display or even more than one? Is the Change of getting masterpiece worth having a pile of only standanrd playable cards or is there something for legacy and commander inside as well? Wizards could and should make these decisions easier and make standard more interesing (more powerful) at the same time.
June 9, 2017 5:25 a.m.
Wizards have said that they won't make Standard cards too powerful as they don't want to foster power creep.
That being said, they do print cards every now and then that impact eternal formats.
Mostly EDH, but stuff like Fatal Push was useful in Modern.
June 9, 2017 5:40 a.m.
Winterblast says... #23
I mean they could print stuff that doesn't seem to make much sense in the standard environment (because they interact best with stuff that is not available in standanrd) but catches the attention of players from other formats and gets them to buy more new packs. I don't think we Need any more new creatures that have too much power for too little mana, but they could certainly do more noncreature stuff that is maybe "only" a needed solution for some common threats in standard but a combo enabler or lock piece somewhere else.
June 9, 2017 6:30 a.m.
I've played magic since the very beginning, when there were no "formats" Back in those days, when I was like 11-14, a lot of us had power 9, dual lands galore, all the good stuff. I first quit sometime after Alliances, mostly because I moved away. When I came back to the game and got serious about it again I was amazed to see how shitty and underpowered everything had become. Creatures got stupidly more powerful, but spells were more or less terrible. I don't understand this whole concept of purposely creating underwhelming cards. My friends and I always thought stuff like counterspell and dark ritual were the "lightning bolt" of those colors, and should be reprinted like all the time. Now even lightning bolt is "way too powerful" I guess. People get excited about new kinds of dual lands, just give me the old, no strings attached ones damn it!
So basically I think wizards is probably hurting themselves (not that they aren't doing very well) as far as sales go overall by purposely making weak sets... Who wants to play piddly low powered stuff? not me. Also, if they did actually print some decent stuff again, it could help combat unforeseen brokenness like the current marvel decks or the copy cat. Players of any type of game like powerful things, why do I want to use this wooden stick when I could have Excalibur?
The only time I really played standard seriously was during the khans fetchland era a couple years ago, those decks were stupid expensive. It was good fun at the time, but once rotation hit and my esper deck turned into half useless garbage, I realized how much that totally sucked and just started playing modern. Having to worry about your deck becoming obsolete every couple months is not fun. Having to sell everything that's going to rotate before it goes from valuable to complete trash is not fun. Having to spend a buncha money every few months to, at best update your deck, or more likely make a completely new one could actually be fun... if money is really not an issue for you. Many of the guys at my LGS basically have these same opinions, especially about rotation and not being able to / wanting to keep up with it. During a draft last week we actually had this same discussion about standard and these were all the points that everyone was discussing.
June 9, 2017 9:27 a.m.
Winterblast says... #26
Couldn't have said it better, Slowgod!
I can never understand the people who say something is "too powerful"...there's more than one solution to every threat, unless you purposely keep the power level so low that it's impossible to deal with the real nasty stuff once it has been played.
June 9, 2017 9:40 a.m.
SoggyGecko says... #27
Exactly, Slowgod! I think a higher power level is more enjoyable. At least for me, why cast a card like Disallow or Harnessed Lightning when there are Counterspell and Lightning Bolt, both which are enjoyable to play with.
I get power creep, but look what happens. We get overpowered creatures with really weak spells. There's no fun to that. Oh, look at my creatures that's only like 2 mana, and has a thousand abilities, and higher states than it should. While Treasure Cruise might be too powerful for the power levels of most formats (because those formats are wanted to have a certain power level, although I think Legacy would have been able to handle it, as it usually does), that was one of my favorite cards to play, ever. I really would enjoy cards like that in Standard. That format had a lot going on, and didn't suffer from a card like that being in there. What a surprise.
Even looking at all the bans, it's all just been creatures that could have acted as spells. Having those as spells would have totally changed the dynamics of the format. I don't really get why that's a thing in the first place. Why are spells not printed that are decent? As a beginner, I really enjoyed playing the more powerful spells. Hell, one of my first decks had a playset of Counterspell. It had all counters, and by far that was the best one (well no shit). With hindsight, I had to run both Counterspell and Dissolve. Not really awesome.
Unfortunately, if they keep seeing things as hey, new players need really weak cards to start playing, then I don't see things going well for them. The weak power level of Standard will definitely push them away from that format once they see greater power elsewhere, and larger opportunities to brew, with cooler spells and such.
That's my mostly mediocre thoughts on that.
June 9, 2017 10:11 a.m.
As far as what I think about WotC moving forward, I'd like to describe my outlook as hopeful pessimism. On one hand, the things we're seeing must be symptoms of larger issues going on in Standard development and the responses we've seen from WotC to address those issues have been terrible. Even so, we've gotten to better ground after some massive problems. On top of that, the supplemental products being released in the past 2 years are fucking outstanding. Conspiracy 2, EMA, MM3, last year's commander precons. Seriously though, the community responses to those sets are insanely positive. It's not like RND has somehow become unable to produce quality products. I just think that there was a large design shift starting around BFZ that changed things enough to where RND had to tread on unfamiliar ground. Compound that with changes in rotation and how long it takes for sets to be designed and tons of the issues that we're seeing today got created somewhere down the pipeline and pushed along unnoticed.
I recognize that we're moving in a better direction, but damn does it hurt. Truth be told, I'm probably going to take time off at least until we're in the next block. Part of that is just life keeping me busy, but mostly it's my hangups with the format.
Hell, at the end of the day, it's so much easier for me to fire up Eternal and ladder against the very best of the game than drag myself to my shop (a grand 5 minute drive) and face mediocre to great opponents. Even if I like MtG more as a game, it's tough too compete with that unless your format's really attractive.
June 9, 2017 10:20 a.m.
Winterblast says... #29
Power creep only occurs when everything new is strictly better than an older similar card. It doesn't need to be better to stay interesting, just not strictly weaker. Why do we even get a 3 mana counter like Cancel? If it costs more than counterspell it should have a different effect, or just print the original again...I can remember a time when a certain group of cards was in EVERY main set because they were considered standards for the power level. Mana dork: 1 mana, produces 1. Mass removal: 4 mana. Hardcounter: two blue mana.
June 9, 2017 10:22 a.m.
I can pretty much guess where this topic has gone without even reading the comments.
Exactly where I thought it would end up.
Enough walls o' text to build a wall between the US and Mexico, and makes about as much sense.
June 9, 2017 11:17 a.m.
I've a lot of thoughts on the topic, but I like to think outside the careful ecosystem of the game and consider other possible reasons (besides Wizards' mistakes) that Standard/MTG seems so stale/bad investment/whatever. And I've been thinking about writing an article on this, so here it is unedited under a cut:
It's long, Jim Show
Whoop.
June 9, 2017 11:49 a.m. Edited.
Argy if you have a problem with where this thread is heading then leave. Its not your thread and almost none of your comments are productive. And just so you know I very actively play standard. Just because I dont have a deck listed on here doesnt mean I dont have and play one in real life. I actually just went to a standard IQ last weekend and play fnm on the regular. I wish I could go to more higher level tournaments but I work two jobs and go to school.
As for the power level thing. Are you guys saying "why play standard when you can play more powerful formats?" Or "why doesnt standard have more powerful cards?".
For both I can say there is definitely a nuiance to playing less powerful cards in a format with equally as powerful cards. This is why pauper exists lol and some others of course. However, many people mentioned that while most cards are powerful, there are some that are just so much more powerful. Even though this is true in a vacuum, as I mentioned before, they are only powerful in pairs. Ulamog would be unplayable without aetherworks marvel because theres no ramp in the format. Aetherworks marvel would be playable but it wouldnt be game ending unless it gets something that is hard to remove and impacts the board so thoroughly (like ulamog). Gideon is sort of just powerful in a vacuum but heart of kiran and sticky aggressive creatures dont really help.
I absolutely love standard. I play all mainstream formats except vintage (just not my cup o tea). I am very active in the format I watch videos, read articles, play in local and non local tournaments and really the format isnt that bad. Aetherworks marvel is inconsistent, UR control gets beat down easily, creature decks lose to board clears, and midrange decks lose to marvel. Its truly a perfect circle but no one treats it as such they just say oh marvels broken lets play that then they go to a tourney with 20 marvel decks and wonder why they lost to either a more lucky marvel player or a deck thats just goo against theirs.
June 9, 2017 12:08 p.m.
I would like to interject peoples awesome sharing to reference the last paragraph of my original post for just a sec. Thank you. :)
Really loving the thoughts here guys. I enjoy reading this stuff and I think it's meaningful conversation to have about a game we all invest so much in. Love seeing this kind of conversation on T/O.
June 9, 2017 1:51 p.m.
I think having lower levels of power in Standard is actually a good thing. Having no Elvish Mystic actually opens up more design space for RnD. I'm a little worried that in this new era of standard, however, all decks just become a little more midrangey. Like vehicles is essentially a midrange aggro deck. Gone are the days of Zurgo, Cackler, Hellrider, etc. Meanwhile there's also fewer top-heavy and greedy decks. Everything just gets squished up together into those 2- to 5-drop slots.
Lower levels of power means slowing down standard a tad. This makes playing the format feel distinct from other formats and allows you to do some greedier things. I'm sure some people who play Modern are ticked off by the format punishing you for wanting to regularly cast stuff like Thragtusk.
Think about a card like Recoil for a moment. It's not insanely powerful but it has a lot of potential, it's a fun card to cast, it's emblematic of what dimir likes to do, and reprinting it now would allow new players to experience a notorious card from the game's past. It's highly unlikely that this card could ever make a huge impact on Modern. On the other hand, it would be a perfectly playable card in Standard.
I, for one, like the idea that there exists a format where I can cast cards similar to Perplex.
June 9, 2017 3:04 p.m.
Good observations TheDevicer.
Would love to see something like RDW or pure control such as or control come back to Standard. We need more of those solid archetypes. Too much midrange can make for interesting but also unexciting games at times. At least that's how I feel. Half the fun of Magic is proving your unique type of deck is more efficient than another archetype (or that you're a better pilot with it). Watching mirror matches, while they can feel very skill intensive, start to get boring after a while.
June 9, 2017 3:19 p.m.
In theory standard is cool, and I really wish I had played it throughout the years. I feel like there would have been a ton of great memories and decks that I never got to play. The power level isn't really as much of an issue as the rotation being taxing on your wallet I guess.
I just wish they wouldn't be so afraid of printing / reprinting actual awesome spells. I remember when Juzam Djinn was the be all, end all of creatures and now it's pretty damn laughable. A little bit more powerful spells, and some better reprints here and there could be great for standard and modern alike. Sure stuff will get broken and you can't patch paper cards like you can with digital, but oh well!
Still in today's age of internet everywhere, drafting is the best. It makes all the new cards relevant and puts you on the spot to both create and play a deck that is really your own. I'm going to be doing 1-2 drafts a week and once next rotation hits maybe I will have enough stuff to put a good standard deck together.
clayperce says... #2
TMBRLZ,
I personally LOVE where Standard is atm. In my last 40 matches, I've faced 29 different archetypes (incl only 7 Temur Marvel decks). And there's actually a place in the meta for my beloved RG Pummeler and UR Control! This is just casual play (tournaments and pick-up matches at my LGS, plus Friendly Leagues and the Tournament Practice room on MTGO), so of course your mileage my vary.
And I say all that having absolutely hated AER Standard. I didn't walk away from Magic last season, but having my playset of Smuggler's Copter banned and then watching CopyCat run amok certainly drove me to take up Modern ... which was fine for my LGS of course, but not great for Wizards.
That's my $0.02 anyways ...
June 8, 2017 7:25 p.m. Edited.