B&R July 13 2020
Spoilers, Rumors, and Speculation forum
Posted on July 10, 2020, 11:10 a.m. by sergiodelrio
Affected formats: Historic, Pioneer, Modern, and Pauper
I have no idea what they're up to, so I appreciate your speculation! Discuss
sergiodelrio says... #3
The only thing I read in another thread here is that there was a Birthing Pod buyout. So there seems to be more on the table here, interesting
July 10, 2020 11:43 a.m.
I bet Umezawa's Jitte is getting unbanned in Modern. Investing 4 mana onto a creature that has to survive until the combat step before you can get any value off it doesn't seem like its worth the payout, especially when you consider that the format has a greater arsenal of artifact removal available since when the Jitte was first printed.
Second Sunrise might also see an unbanning as it's been on the list for ages and only really got there for be annoying. If there was a 2020 eggs deck it would either not be good enough to survive the current meta or there will be some card printed since its banning that will speed up the combo-off strategy.
July 10, 2020 1:02 p.m.
GoblinElectromancer says... #5
The artifact lands need unbanned in modern. They really aren't that good and sadly wouldn't bring back affinity even if they were unbanned. They might make hardened scales a better deck but there is such a thing as artifact removal.
I really hate Uro and I hope it gets banned in standard. Maybe if it gets banned mono green aggro will become a tier one deck. (:
July 10, 2020 1:27 p.m.
sergiodelrio says... #6
GoblinElectromancer unfortunately, no changes to standard according to the announcement
July 10, 2020 1:33 p.m.
Flooremoji says... #7
Massacar There are always rumors that twin will get unbanned XD. Twin is the modern deck that was banned but somehow never died. I find it so interesting that people talk about splinter twin so much more than any other banned card...
I'm personally hoping that if a card is unbanned it isn't twin. I don't really like many of these newer planeswalkers, and snow builds itself a little too well for my liking. Artifact soup now relies on Urza instead of opal and I would reverse those rolls in a heartbeat.
July 10, 2020 1:58 p.m.
Unban Mox Opal is a movement I can get behind! I know it just got banned a little bit ago but that made me a bit salty.
July 10, 2020 2:21 p.m.
Flooremoji says... #9
It was a nice part of the format, and it really was only banned because urza :/
July 10, 2020 2:52 p.m.
I don't really think Opal was banned due to Urza, the interaction with Emry in multiple ways was the real culprit. With Opal in the format Urza is legitimately not needed at all for Jeksai Ascendancy decks to really run rampant and get back to their turn 2 winning ways. Urza was in that deck, but more as an afterthought or secondary game plan for grindier matches. As long as Emry and Jeskai Ascendancy are in the format Mox Opal will be a major problem.
July 10, 2020 3:43 p.m.
Flooremoji says... #11
jaymc1130: I hadn't seen any Ascendency decks outside of Tappedout.net. The closest thing I was seeing were the breach decks that never really looked that powerful to me. However, they were certainly better represented than Ascendancy, and I think it's mostly due to the fact that relying of emry and ascendancy to live while still having a graveyard so you can go infinite with mox is pretty hard post board. I don't think that Emry + Mox really solved any of the problems ascendancy decks face, besides you can stil do a similar thing with Amber so I don't really believe that Ascendancy was ever a threat to the formats health.
July 10, 2020 3:48 p.m.
jaymc1130 It was definitely because of Urza. From the ban announcement:
"We considered options that would further weaken Urza-based artifact decks, while still allowing for decks based around that general strategy. Ultimately, we determined that banning Mox Opal was the correct option.
As a source of fast mana in the early game, Mox Opal has long contributed to strategies that seek to end the game quickly and suddenly, whether with explosive attacks, one-turn win combos, or by locking out the opponent with “prison” elements. While none of these decks previously warranted a ban of Mox Opal, it has historically been a part of decks that approached problematic impact on the metagame or did indeed necessitate other bans. As the strongest enabler in the recent Urza artifact decks, and a card that has been concerning in the past and would likely cause balance issues in the future, Mox Opal is banned in Modern."
Source: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/news/january-13-2020-banned-and-restricted-announcement
July 10, 2020 4:03 p.m.
Ok folks, just rethink things for a moment and consider what was actually happening in the format and online play prior to Mox Opal banning. The "Urza" decks were all running Emry, most were running Ascendancy, and Ascendancy decks were posting some pretty insane win rates in online leagues and the online qualifier tourneys.
Urza was the headliner for these decks because he was hyped up card and Emry had just been printed. But the Urza decks weren't particularly problematic in the format in performance terms until a very, very important card was printed: Emry. The powers that be might have given a reason and used a card name, but they used the name people most readily associated with the archetype as it the archetype had been headlined by Urza for a while already. There really can't be any dispute, however, about the fact that the archetype became an issue that got Mox Opal banned due to the printing of Emry and her inclusion in the archetype that very much improved performance. There had been no consideration for banning Opal in the 6 months or so prior to the printing of Emry when it comes to Modern. People can point to "Urza" being the problem, but that's shortchanging the truth and the reality of the situation. The real power behind the Opal banning was very clearly Emry as it was this card's printing that pushed the deck over the edge.
There's a reason Amber wasn't banned along with Opal: It doesn't consistently enable turn 1 Emry plays and it was turned off by extremely common meta removal pieces. The Opal was much more consistent about enabling turn 1 Emry plays and this play, in and of itself, without anything else happening in the game, threatened a turn 2 win, which were happening with scary consistency.
Urza was most definitely not the reason Mox Opal got the ban hammer. It was a given "reason", but not the actual, true, reason. Yes Urza contributed, but alone Urza and Mox weren't a format issue for many months and only the addition of Emry pushed Mox Opal to the breaking point.
July 10, 2020 4:20 p.m.
I'd be Shocked if twin or pod got off the list. I dont see jetti being an issue theres so much good removal in modern. I think bridge from bellow could come off the list as it got the hammer because of ho gaak.
July 10, 2020 4:45 p.m.
rockleemyhero says... #15
Agree with shadow63 no way twin and pod get unbanned. Theyd be even more oppressive now than when they were around with additions like t3feri and veil of summer. People spec like this every bnr announcement and hype each other up for nothing. My guess is labe or uro go.
People will respond by trying to use Stoneforge mystic as an example, but sfm is a completely different story. Something that started off banned and has always been a fair card. Wotc does not like t3 combo decks in modern, even if they can play “fair” via midrange alt wins. People who want twin or pod unbanned likely either a) mained the deck and wants to just play it again or b) wasn’t playing modern completely back then
July 10, 2020 6:30 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #17
The announcement has been made; what are everyone's thoughts about it?
July 13, 2020 12:33 p.m.
GoblinElectromancer says... #18
I still think a standard ban needs to be made but I'm happy about astrolabe leaving modern.
Massacar says... #2
It's rumored that Splinter Twin might get unbanned in Modern.
A lot of people are speculating that Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath get the hammer in at least one format.
July 10, 2020 11:39 a.m.