A format without the mistakes.
The Kitchen Table forum
Posted on Sept. 22, 2016, 2:25 p.m. by chaoswalker
Eternal formats have a great appeal for the large pool of cards to choose from, as well as your deck never being cycled out of play. The problem though, is that they can dredge up some of Magic's "mistakes." These are cards and mechanics that wizards would never print today, some of which they openly admit were mistakes such as storm, dredge, and affinity. Of course, it makes me wonder: what would a format like Modern look like if it met today's standard for design?
The premise is a bit faulty - Magic has never had a single set that was without mistakes. despite todays stadard for design, there were two cards in Khans of Tarkir that were banned in Modern and Legacy and Pauper and restricted in Vintage.
While you mentioned are "broken", it is certainly not the same for every card with word on it.
Affinity decks in modern now play close to zero cards with the keyword on them. Legacy affinity decks are not played on a competitive level.
Dredge is mechanic that served its set well, but was broken by two cards, Dread Return in Legacy and Bazaar of Baghdad in Vintage. It now creates a unique avenue for some decks to branch out. Outside of those cards, the mechanic is quite fine. Note that the cards that make dredge broken do not have dredge printed.
Storm is an archetype that is disliked for the fact that the opponent has no say in whether you win or lose. That is a problem with all combo decks. But really, the mechanic itself is fine.
It is not really a problem of the mechanics, but a few cards from them. Nobody is calling Ground Rift, Quicksilver Behemoth or Grave-Shell Scarab broken just because they have that mechanic on them.
It is only a select few cards and there are banned lists for those.
The fact that Dread Return, Tendrils of Agony or Umezawa's Jitte are not banned in Legacy leads me to one conclusion - the format has a LOT of broken stuff that balances itself out. It took modern more than 8 years to reach such a spot.
When was the last time we had a viable combo deck in standard? I think it was during Splinter Twin Standard. And this is bad, combo is one 3 (4) archetypes in Magic and probably the only card game in existence to still have that option.
TLDR - Wizards hate combo decks and fun and that is their new design policy.
September 22, 2016 3:02 p.m.
chaoswalker says... #4
While broken is bad, yes, there is also the concern of simply "unhealthy" mechanics. Heavily match-up dependent effects like landwalk and overly consistent effects like equip are either no longer printed or are now watched with a keen eye.
I suppose you could call it "new world order magic", or even "Mark Rosewater magic", ha ha. Maybe I posted this in the wrong place though, as I'm not suggesting a new format for people to try out. I'm mostly wanting discuss what kind of game we'd be sitting with if wizard's current design philosophies dictated which cards were playable, as opposed to simply drawing a line on the list of blocks.
Small aside, I hate combo decks too. I would be embarrassed if any game I designed could be won in an un-interactive way that made little use of most of the game's primary mechanics.
September 22, 2016 3:59 p.m.
Tyrant-Thanatos says... #5
"Wizards hate combo decks and fun"
So what you're saying is... Wizards of the Coast... hate Magic: The Gathering?
I mean, if I were to hate one aspect of a given thing, and also hate everything about that thing that isn't that one aspect that I also hate, then I'd hate the whole thing. Or so I figure.
(Disclaimer: I'm fully aware everybody has their own definition of fun, I'm just pulling your leg because I personally find Combo Decks to be the antithesis of fun, regardless of which side of the table they're on.)
September 22, 2016 7:20 p.m.
MindAblaze says... #6
Some people appreciate the systematic application of a games mechanics to achieve a climax. Two card combos at the very least require a structured approach to assembling the combo and not dying/being neutered for it to happen consistently. It might end up feeling anti-climactic, but it's still a feat of construction that the architect enjoys.
Magic has a crazy track record for variance in power level. Everything from cards that take away Plainswalk, to Time Walk/Yawgmoth's Will/power nine. Having Vintage with only cards that meet the current standards for complexity and power level would kind of make it all pointless. IMO.
September 22, 2016 8:25 p.m.
I love combo decks. Both playing it and playing against it.
Atony1400 says... #2
So what are you saying? A Modern starting with Zendikar, under New World Order setup?
So, "New World Order Modern"
September 22, 2016 2:27 p.m.