Legacy cards you think should be reprinted for Modern
Modern forum
Posted on April 7, 2015, 10:29 a.m. by Rayenous
I've seen a similar discussion once before, regarding Legacy cards that are not currently in Modern but could possibly be reprinted and made Modern legal.
This does happen from time to time, such as the recent reprint of Onslaught / KTK Fetches. - I'm wondering if there are other cards you feel could/should be reprinted, and why.
A few cards I've thought of are:
Chain Lightning... until I realized that we don't need another version of Lightning Bolt, and I doubt the current Standard would want such a spell. - It would be interesting to see it, but I don't think they'll print it any time soon.
Elvish Spirit Guide - Since Simian Spirit Guide is available, and does not seem to be broken in any way, I think that 
could use the same ability in Modern. - Some have said that it's too powerful with green because it's more readily built around Ramp... but I don't see it. Sure it would be more powerful than Simian Spirit Guide... but I don't think it would be broken.
Innocent Blood - This one I'm on the fence about. It is easily abused in low creature or certain gimmicky decks, but it certainly requires a bit more effort to play powerfully. - Since Crack the Earth sees no Modern play (due to very weak late game play), I doubt Innocent Blood would be broken. - Powerful, yes... but not broken.
Dack Fayden - Powerful Planeswalker, and the only non-banned Planeswalker you can't play in Modern. - I think this should have a Standard printing and be made Modern legal... though I doubt we'll see him in Battle for Zendikar, perhaps we'll see him shortly after.
Innocent Blood is way too good for modern. But Entomb would be so fucking cool in modern. Imagine that in Dredgevine or Goryo's Vengeance decks, or even in combo with Snapcaster Mage.
I think it's important we stay away from the tutors and stuff like Brainstorm, combo is already really gross. Daze could be really cool in modern, control needs more of a presence in the meta. I still think Bloodbraid Elf needs to come off the banlist as well but that's a different story.
April 7, 2015 10:38 a.m.
I don't think many legacy legal cards could be printed in modern. Counterspell is far too good. Chain Lightning isn't better than bolt, but we don't want to have 8 bolts in decks.
Innocent Blood could probably make Esper control a thing. Perhaps even a too good thing. Who knows.
It's difficult.
Maybe Sulfuric Vortex? Or Flametongue Kavu? I want a buff to red midrange, not red aggro.
April 7, 2015 10:40 a.m.
bananamaniaman says... #7
Miscalculation, Mother of Runes, Multani's Presence, Ostracize... Basically anything in the Urza block.
April 7, 2015 10:48 a.m.
Innocent Blood paired with Gravecrawler, Bloodghast, & Snapcaster Mage, yes please. I have to agree with tclaw12 that Counterspell is card that people dream about in control builds.
April 7, 2015 10:52 a.m.
Mother of Runes... yeah let's not put that in modern. I still think Daze is the best choice. I would love to see what it can do.
April 7, 2015 10:55 a.m.
I think modern should stay away from the counter spells that let you play them for free. I totally think Buried Alive could be reprinted and help some graveyard decks be better. I also would like to see Goblin Lackey reprinted. Because I want to see goblins be viable in modern.
April 7, 2015 11:42 a.m.
They should just go all-out and reprint all of the Madness staples (Basking Rootwalla, Arrogant Wurm, Wild Mongrel, Circular Logic, Careful Study, etc). Since it's so woefully outclassed in Legacy, I want to see how it can do in Modern. I mean, even the Wurm seems pretty awful in Modern, because Tarmogoyf.
April 7, 2015 11:45 a.m.
April 7, 2015 12:20 p.m.
Rayenous, I could be wrong, but I don't think Dack is the only non banned planeswalker you can't play in modern? What about the new Commander planeswalkers?
April 7, 2015 12:32 p.m.
tooTimid - Dack Fayden and the C15 planeswalkers are legal in Legacy and Vintage, but are not legal in Modern due to them not being printed in a Modern legal set. That said, I don't think any of the C15 'walkers would see play in Modern and I feel like Dack Fayden would be a little too strong for Modern. Clearly his home is Vintage where he can steal Blightsteel Colossus and Mox Sapphire & friends, but a 3 mana 'walker that goes to 4 loyalty and Faithless Lootings is really strong.
April 7, 2015 12:44 p.m.
mymanpotsandpans says... #17
Bind for just being a green Squelch.
I think Standstill could be reprinted in modern. Compared to some of the recent blue card draw spells, it at least could go either way. It would be on the upper end of the power level scale for cards legal in modern. But turn 1 Delver of Secrets Flip then turn 2 Standstill would cause some frustration. A chance is all I would want.
April 7, 2015 2:10 p.m.
OtakulordAndrew says... #18
I wouldn't mind seeing a reprint of Counterspell, Elvish Spirit Guide, Baleful Strix, and maybe Shardless Agent although that last one is highly unlikely as Bloodbraid Elf is still banned and is easily as good as bloodbraid elf if not stronger.
April 7, 2015 2:40 p.m.
Actually cascade gains you more value the higher the casting cost. So Agent isn't as good.
April 7, 2015 2:43 p.m.
OtakulordAndrew says... #20
True you can't cascade into anything above 2 cmc with Shardless Agent but it's cascade does allow you to still cascade into cards such as Tarmogoyf, Snapcaster Mage, Scavenging Ooze, Abrupt Decay, Path to Exile, Lightning Bolt, etc. while being able to be played 1 turn earlier than Bloodbraid Elf. Mind you bloodbraid elf does let you cascade into combo pieces such as Deceiver Exarch, and Pestermite, aswell as strong cards of the format such as Liliana of the Veil, Dismember, Maelstrom Pulse, etc. Both have their strengths so I suppose it would depend on what deck your playing them in.
April 7, 2015 3:57 p.m.
BBE also has haste which can make things particularly nasty.
April 7, 2015 4:12 p.m.
Low cmc cascade is much better because you can rig your deck in such a way as to guarantee you cascade into what you want. The Living End deck spawned from the 3 cmc cascade cards.
April 7, 2015 4:36 p.m.
Indeed it did. However in terms of raw power and flexibility the higher cascade cards are generically better. Low cascade cards allow you to gimmick around and do fun combos. High ones just give you more 'value'
April 7, 2015 4:38 p.m.
so you don't think 2-3 Elvish Spirit Guide in your opening hand can be abused? lol
me, I just want my Dark Ritual.
April 7, 2015 6:01 p.m.
FreddyFlash311 says... #25
Dark Ritual into Hypnotic Specter is just one of the most wonderful things ever. I'd love it, even if I lost every match I'd love it. Like part of me wants to build a legacy mono black aggro deck just do get to ritual into a hippie T1 again.
I doubt they'll bring ritual into Modern, partially due to Lilly (T1? GGs) but also maybe due to the design constraints they may run into for future releases.
April 7, 2015 6:42 p.m.
jandrobard says... #26
Daze is my personal pick. It'd really affect the format, but in a good way. It's not jank, it's not unbeatable, it's just another card to have to play around.
April 7, 2015 7:44 p.m.
Why not Yawgmoth's Will and some Time Walk and while we're at it a little Ancestral Recall just for kicks.
April 7, 2015 9:22 p.m.
OtakulordAndrew says... #28
@vishnarg lol no just no Time Walk should stay in vintage where it belongs as a restricted card and remain banned in legacy, the same goes for Yawgmoth's Will. A part of me wants Ancestral Recall to be a thing in legacy and modern but I know how broken it would be.
April 7, 2015 10:13 p.m.
JexInfinite says... #29
Need more surprise mana cards. Surprise mana is the best.
April 9, 2015 7:34 a.m.
Force of Will so we can get rid of the stupid and arbitrary turn 4 rule.
Swords to Plowshares so we have something other than Lightning Bolt for creature removal that doesn't also function as a win condition. I think we'd see the playability of 2+ CMC creatures with 3 or less toughness go up (creatures like Lodestone Golem, Vampire Nighthawk, and Trygon Predator come to mind).
Psychatog because he's unplayable in Legacy and might be playable in Modern.
People have already said Daze, and I think it's fair.
Others that would be interesting are Cabal Therapy, Flusterstorm, Stifle, Goblin Bombardment, and Veteran Explorer.
April 9, 2015 8:14 a.m.
I thought of Cabal Therapy but I think it's a little too strong.
I would love to see it, but a T1 Gitaxian Probe, Swamp, Cabal Therapy just ends decks.
I suppose that without already knowing what's in your opponent's hand it's not as bad, but there are a lot of ways for 
to know what is in their hand.
April 9, 2015 8:35 a.m.
sylvannos - Path to Exile, Dismember. And no that won't effect things with regards to creatures because it won't stop bolt being a popular card. In fact increasing access to 1 mana removal will actively discourage people from playing expensive creatures - because they won't survive!
April 9, 2015 8:45 a.m.
selesvyaloverer8 says... #34
those of you suggesting Daze and Force of Will, wizards has made it clear that they dont want free counterspells in modern. i think veteran explorer could be good and cabal therapy would probably work but free counterspells, no.
April 9, 2015 9:10 a.m.
Honestly, Counterspell might work best. Control decks need a huge boost, because they're doing nothing right now in a world full of midrange. The problem is the other decks that would abuse it. Maybe JtMS should be unbanned so Miracle shenanigans in a control deck may pass in modern...
April 9, 2015 10:19 a.m.
bananamaniaman says... #36
Two mana for a hard counter! Games would get kinda boring. Also, modern is expensive enough. That would mean throwing another Tarmogoyf in the mix. I don't want that.
April 9, 2015 10:51 a.m.
I think a 2 mana hard counter is too much for modern. We really want control to have cards that are good early and cards that are good late, but not cards that do both. Very few cards in all of modern are good at literally any stage of the game. Tarmogoyf is one example of this as it can come down pretty big on T2/T3 and come down even larger on T5/T6.
I think the problem in control is the relatively fragile nature of their early game. I've been playing control a lot recently and I essentially hate the early game until I can cast Cryptic Command. A 1 mana counterspell that sent something back to hand may be useful? Stalling for a turn in the early game is something control needs.
But 2 mana hard counters and 1 mana removal would just wreck the format generally. We'd end up with a format where playing any creatures at all wouldn't be worth it.
April 9, 2015 10:58 a.m.
How about Memory Lapse then? Very comparable to Remand.
April 9, 2015 11:04 a.m.
I don't think we need that because we have remand and mana leak. We need something like Force of Will that's not force of will. What I mean by that is - a counterspell that can be used T1 that's really good then but not fantastic in the late game.
April 9, 2015 12:28 p.m.
bananamaniaman says... #40
What about these?
Abjure, Arcane Denial, Disrupt could be good, Flusterstorm, Force Spike, Grip of Amnesia- maybe that has the same weakness as Dash Hopes though, but the cantrip could make up for it. Hydroblast could stop RDW in it's tracks, I like Lilting Refrain, Miscalculation, Rites of Refusal, Sunken Field, and Undermine.
April 9, 2015 1:02 p.m.
Mental Misstep is too strong because it costs no mana.
Force Spike would be a nice counterspell for T1/T2 sort of thing. It's also completely unbroken.
April 9, 2015 1:11 p.m.
bananamaniaman - Most of your suggestions would never happen because those cards are either too good, or not in color pie (I'm looking at you Hydroblast). And Mental Misstep is too good because it can be played in every deck, and it WOULD be played in every deck. The only one that would be remotely OK to print is Undermine and it would see zero play in Modern because it doesn't do enough. The only counterspell in Modern that costs more than 2 mana is Cryptic Command, ad it is much more than a counterspell.
April 9, 2015 1:13 p.m.
bananamaniaman says... #45
Was the Force Spike thing sarcastic? I can't tell on a computer.
April 9, 2015 1:13 p.m.
No it's fine. It does a really good job in the early game and a really bad job in the late game. It's fair.
April 9, 2015 1:16 p.m.
bananamaniaman says... #47
I don't think Hydroblast is THAT out of color. I mean, red and blue are enemy colors, and the counterspell is blue.
April 9, 2015 1:16 p.m.
devotiontoblue says... #49
I want to see Psychatog in Modern. It would make Dredge a more competitive archetype, as well as being a solid control finisher.
ThisIsBullshit says... #2
Uhhhh guyz Force of Will and all the ABUR duals....
In all seriousness, I do wish they'd reprint Chain Lightning but it's probably too OP
April 7, 2015 10:31 a.m.