Post
by drmarkb » 2 years ago
What I think could help the format is to make an Angel's Grace type card that actually stops storm- currently the card is an excellent, near unounterable answer to Oracle, and a fog-ish card that buys a turn vs say a delver or burn deck. Sadly, it stops only damage, and thus is useless vs Tendrils etc. Such a card is never going to make it often. So we get hand based answers to storm (mindbreak trap, Orim's chant, and at a push stifle) and permanent answers (3ball, Leyline of Sanctity et al), but Oracle's only answer is effectively permanent based, assuming it gets (a) cast through cavern and (b) protected with a pact it is not getting dealt with any other way other than Torpor Orb/Meddling mage and effects like Necromentia resolving- highly unlikely vs a Daze/Force combo deck. If I could cast an Angel's Grace of card against an aluren deck or storm deck and stop them killing me that turn, and prevent my life ever going below zero, we might be getting somewhere in terms of generically includable answers for sideboards that work against a range of top decks. Without split second/uncounterability, it won't be useful as combo decks involving Oracle are increasingly likely to play stack based answers themselves, as I believe more cobo decks will in future
A few niche designs could actually check combo decks in a post ban delver world- these would not need to be powerful per se but could add tolerance.
An issue is Modern is picking up "Legacy light" cards, and that gives Legacy decks a lot of redundancy- you now get more Forces, more Swords TP etc. and that gives better removal, better stack interaction in a format that is hyper efficient. Net result is permanent hate pieces that are not critters themselves get left behind. Modern looks more interactive and less linear than it once did, Legacy looks, well, less like Legacy and more like Modern but a turn quicker, less colour balance and based on the ludicrous Brainstorm/fetch.
I don't think Legacy is on life support as it (a) is community driven (b) is a still fine format even if much has been lost, and thus will generate proxy events. Competitive Legacy is already dead,tours etc are gone, and big Legacy events are more celebrations, but as a community format it thrives. Cost of cards is not that a huge issue in some ways, - it stops new players getting into it, which WOTC want to ensure, as they do with Modern, but really those blue duals are not needed in huge amounts, and are not unobtainable now. Cards like Force of Will lurk at Solitude Prices, whilst many format staples- Brainstorm, Fetches, Swords, Thoughtseize, Blood Moon, Maze, are dirt cheap and many others - Solutide, Saga, Cavern of S, Chalice etc. are isentical to Modern's staples, and only high in price due to Modern and EDH. Old expensive big hitters- Chains, The Abyss, Moat,Nether Void have become niche- too expensive to reliably cast, outdated by big flyers, or in the case of Chains- an awesome card that happens to be a permanent - thus Ending fodder, whilst Grim Monoliths and Metal workers, Replenishes, Serra's Sanctum etc. have become super niche because their homes are just not that good. Only blue duals, Mox Diamond, LED, and Tabernacle really hit the wallet and constrain deck choice, which might be unacceptable to a new player expecting access to all decks and used to switching, but is actually something many people accept as part of the format this past few years.
Decks like DNT Yorion cost the same as Modern Yorion decks, Burn is cheaper, and many RL cards hover at the same price as those Modern staples. I guess those players who like to swap to the best deck in response to last week's results are screwed by prices, but that is a good thing, they mis-understand the paper format.
t is the rotation of them by MH2 type sets, just like Modern, that in a way cost Legacy more players- they moved into Legacy to avoid huge upadtes to decks, which they have too often thanks to MH type sets.