SCD: Recurring Nightmare

[pokken]

I was surprised not to see an SCD for this given how much discussion it had in the thread. Here's my high level thought:

This card does not belong anywhere near the banlist on power level or even ubiquity in our modern world. It was never really all that strong, and graveyard hate has come a massive way since the banning. The game has simply moved on in power level and reanimation power.

The key reasons keeping this card banned are:
* The argument that play it presents poor play patterns with counterspells relied on for interaction & repeated loops
* The monetary argument that because it's on the RL it'll be super expensiv

And that, combining these two things, unbanning the card is a net negative for the format even if it would never, ever, ever be banned in today's world where cards like The One Ring run rampant for years.

To which I say...whatever :D I own some and I want to play them, so knock it off.

[ISBPathfinder]

I agree that its not the same level of scope of problem, I am just in this weird zone right now where there are so many things I want them to ban that unbanning cards just hasn't really been on my radar with so many problems running about. I do think it could be a problem card for casual metas but there are a lot of cards that can fall into that category.

[Mookie]

Based on my analysis from a few months ago, I have Recurring Nightmare as 'might be unbanned someday'.

My primary concerns are that it tends to lead to repetitive gameplay and that it is difficult to interact with outside countermagic. The fact that is an expensive RL card (and likely to explode in price if unbanned) doesn't help either. I do think there are scarier things out there these days... but I would also argue that it has become stronger over time as better creatures have been printed - imagine using it to loop Dockside Extortionist or Atraxa, Grand Unifier. We've gotten plenty of new reanimation effects over time, but I don't think any of them quite do what Recurring Nightmare does. The closest is what, Altar of Bhaal // Bone Offering or Meren of Clan Nel Toth? But both of them seem like significant downgrades as repeatable reanimation effects.

On the flip side, we've also gotten stronger grave hate options. It's not difficult for people to slot Unlicensed Hearse or another hate card into their decks if graveyard strategies become more common, and I already see people slotting in Scavenger Grounds everywhere.

Overall, I would say it's mostly on the banlist today due to inertia. I wouldn't necessarily advocate for its unbanning, but I don't feel strongly about keeping it banned either.

[Dunadain]

If we're going to justify bans by the RL, I say ban the entire RL. It would at least be consistent and it might even put some pressure on WOTC to get rid of the RL entirely =)

[Mookie]

Chthonian Nightmare is coming in MH3, which I'm sure will prompt new discussion around Recurring Nightmare. I'll call out that its ETB trigger is arguably a downside, because it gives a window for opponents to respond before it gets returned to hand. Not quite as oppressive (because it's harder to recur big things), but still degenerate with Dockside Extortionist, among other things.