All B/R update speculation.

[Lemnear]

How much weaker would Omnitell be without Brainstorm?

about as unplayble as SneakShow or Miracles. Storm is one of the few Legwcy Combo decks which are able to work without Brainstorm

[nedleeds]

How much weaker would Omnitell be without Brainstorm?

All two card combo decks would be hurt badly by a Brainstorm ban. Point discard would be tough to deal with, and having extra pieces in an opener is backbreaking. The replacements are not great, things like Lat-Nam's Legacy, See Beyond, etc. that get extra pieces out of your hand are pretty bad.

If you want to discuss a Brainstorm banning on specific internet decks I'd estimate on a scale of 1-10, 1 being unaffected, 10 being turned into a bad deck

Miracles 8
Omnichimp 7
Delver 4
Storm 6

I think something like RUG Delver which is a redundant pile of 4 of's and is mostly using the cantrip cartel to cheat on their manabase and ensure they are drawing pure gas I think takes the smallest hit. But it would reduce the decks consistency, and make mulligans a real thing.

Storm is redundant also, and getting hit with spot discard can be overcome with Past in Flames (sometimes), but Brainstorm makes land heavy hands viable. So the deck would lose some % on having to keep 4 land hands or actually having to mulligan like the rest of the free fucking world.

Brainstorm is so fucking retarded in the context of mulliganing, being able to keep land dense hands with the assumption that you are a Derpstorm and fetch away from correcting your hand.

I think "Miracles" the deck would actually just run less Miracle mechanic cards (since they suck donkey dick in your opener).

[Admiral_Arzar]

And Top was never utilized that much outside of blue decks, even before the format started to go full retard with Innistrad.

I've probably said this before but it bears repeating. I've played 4 Top in Imperial Painter (a lot) and also played some number of top in various Storm decks, various Veteran Explorer-based decks, and probably some other things I'm forgetting. There are very few card-quality tools available to non-blue decks, and there are plenty of other busted cards in Miracles to chose from if the goal is to nerf it. I would like to be able to play Imperial Painter again, but something (not Top) needs to get banned first.

[lavafrogg]

All of the top discussion makes me believe that this just might be the last week that we get to see Brainstorm in Legacy. I think that Brainstorm has had a target on its back for too long and non blue decks would all get a boost if the mini ancestral gets the axe.

[Gheizen64]

On the matter of drawing games, would a point system giving one point for each game and 1 bonus for winning a match be enough? That way winning 1 game and then stalling Isn't viable at all

[Julian23]

The moment we are discussing adapting a for the most party perfectly fine scoring system because of a single deck (or rather even: card) it's the deck/card that has to go.

[Gheizen64]

The moment we are discussing adapting a for the most party perfectly fine scoring system because of a single deck (or rather even: card) it's the deck/card that has to go.

Stalling when you're one game up shouldn't be a viale strategy anyway. This is a problem that can easily appear in standard too with all The midrange there

[Julian23]

That's Cheating though and will exist in any scenario we can craft.

[Gheizen64]

Plz don't ban anything WotC.

Just unban everything! SotF, Earthcraft, Vise, Twist, Recruiter, Mind's Desire, Yawgmoth's Bargain! #shakethisformat

[Amon Amarth]

Plz don't ban anything WotC.

Just unban everything! SotF, Earthcraft, Vise, Twist, Recruiter, Mind's Desire, Yawgmoth's Bargain! #shakethisformat

Don't make blue less broken, just make bring everything else up to it's level. I like playing broken cards, just not a fan of only 1 color being able to do it.

[jrsthethird]

Unban Wheel of Fortune!

[Gheizen64]

Unban Wheel of Fortune!

I'm afraid draw7s would just be broken :P

Except maybe Windfall.

On the topic of miracle w/o brainstorm, imho it wouldn't just die. Entreat has already an easy substitute in mentor, and you'd just run 1-2 terminus instead of 3-4 to avoid having two in starting hand, adding something like 2 bolts as cheap removal to go with 4 snapcaster, plus u could still run pyroclasm, and JTMS exist. Yes the deck would be worse, but there are reasonable adjustments you can make.
Omnitell on the other hand has it worse becaues you can't play less Omnisciences, same thing for Sneak and Show.

[Chatto]

Ban or urban, that's the question, right?

No, it's not. Just have fun. I drop by from time to time, and I only read complaints about the state of the game. MtG is a game you can enjoy. If you want to be competative: play the best deck, invest your hard-earned money in staples (probably U) and stop whining.

Problem I see is having two camps:

1. Competative camp
2. Casual-competative camp

As long as those two camps exist, there will never be a agreement on banning or unbanning.

WotC will never make as much cash from Legacy as they do with Standard or Modern, so chances are not much will change.

// end rant

[Gheizen64]

Ban or urban, that's the question, right?

No, it's not. Just have fun. I drop by from time to time, and I only read complaints about the state of the game. MtG is a game you can enjoy. If you want to be competative: play the best deck, invest your hard-earned money in staples (probably U) and stop whining.

Problem I see is having two camps:

1. Competative camp
2. Casual-competative camp

As long as those two camps exist, there will never be a agreement on banning or unbanning.

WotC will never make as much cash from Legacy as they do with Standard or Modern, so chances are not much will change.

// end rant

If wotc don't care why even have the format? Do you realize how stupid that argument is right?

Why do anything you die anyway

[Ace/Homebrew]

I'm going to go out on a limb and predict no changes for Legacy.

[Michael Keller]

If Brainstorm gets the axe, Legacy is going to get more attention than it ever has based on the sole loss of that one card and the huge coverage the format would receive. And if that happens, you never know: the influx of new players willing to test the waters in a world without it might be staggering.

I still don't think it will happen, though.

[iamajellydonut]

And if that happens, you never know: the influx of new players willing to test the waters in a world without it might be staggering.

Staggeringly small considering the cost of entry. And a cost that will boom again if there's a sudden influx of new players.

[Michael Keller]

Staggeringly small considering the cost of entry. And a cost that will boom again if there's a sudden influx of new players.

I seriously doubt that. There is likely a large population of players who refuse to play in the format because of how degenerate certain cards might be (Brainstorm possibly being one of those), not necessarily 100% price alone.. If Brainstorm or more leaves and others come back to try and fill the void, the format may as well be turned upside down - enticing new and existing players to tinker in the format without it.

The price barrier has always been an issue, but I'm not sold on that from stopping a heavier percentage of those people from giving it a go, at least for a few months.

[Ace/Homebrew]

But if Brainstorm is banned, all the good decks will become bad! Then their prices have to drop. And Putin will give back Crimea. And Global Warming will end. And Greece will win the Powerball.


A Brainstorm ban would certainly generate greater exposure for the format, but I'm unconvinced that it would lead to increased interest. It seems that for every non-Legacy player that would start playing because "now anything is possible!", the format will lose a Legacy player who is bitter about the banning.

[MGB]

Will the absence of one card really have that much of an effect on the format? I mean, I know Brainstorm is amazing and is featured in nearly every single blue deck, but will the banning of one card really open up the format to all kinds of other possibilities? Blue will still have its Forces and its other Cantrips; it's not like blue will suddenly become completely bad.