idk about you, but in most games of EDH, I know that my opponents judge the merits of their starting hands highly on the basis of being able to execute T2 Rampant Growth/Signet. So in a typical game, T2 Magistrate will leave the caster behind.pokken wrote: ↑3 years agoIt's probably the single most powerful thing you can do for 2 mana if you do it before people play their commanders and people don't answer it. You're denying 3 players - on average - at least 3 virtual cards each (given the average power level of commanders).
People are seriously misunderstanding how big of an impact denying commanders asymmetrically can be.
You're seriously over-stating the impact of denying a commander. Unless you're going all-in on a glass cannon, there are many alternative play patterns besides rushing to a general. Sand-bagging a general can be a correct line of play. If Magistrate denied more things as collateral damage (like an amalgam of Magistrate + Containment Priest), maybe I'd see it your way.
So if every deck packing red starts to play Blood Moon, are we going to ban that too? Perhaps, it's time to change the mindset that one's general is a given each and every single game? Having a virtually-undeniable access to a resource throughout the game is broken. And it's okay for people to stop you from doing broken stuff. Less complaints about cards like these and more complaints about Edgar Markov, Derevi, Yukiro instead.
Magistrate is neither a board-stasis-inducing-card like Winter Orb nor a choke-you-out-of-resources-card like Smokestack.