[SCD] Mental Misstep

[ummon]

just watch it be mythic

Anyway, I predict in the future wizards will kinda imply the "extirpate/counter/whatever for any color" was stupid.

For sure.

[GGoober]

Format will become:

Player A: SDT
Player B: MM
Player A: MM your MM
Player B: MM your MM
Player A: Fow your MM
Player B: MM your SDT (2 copies on SDT)

All resolve, Player's A lost SDT and FoW and his hand while player B has more cards but less life :P

[Lejay]

The card is going to be everywhere and tempo decks will rule the format for a loooooooong time. I think this card is a proof that wizards doesn't really test new designs in a legacy environment.

[ummon]

I'm worried that the price is going to go through the roof. A playset of Goyfs is over $250 and this is going to be more widely used.

[Koby]

This card is Uncommon. It's price will not exceed $3 while the set is in print.

[TheInfamousBearAssassin]

Stopped reading there

I don't think it's very controversial to say that if there were no such thing as combo decks, blue would be a lot less powerful/popular than it is. Mental Misstep offers non-blue decks across the field a very powerful anti-combo card in the sideboard (which probably wouldn't be terrible main, either.) I fail to see how the outcome could be anything but a decrease in blue and combo decks.

[ummon]

This card is Uncommon. It's price will not exceed $3 while the set is in print.

Oh I mistook it for rare. Thank god it's uncommon.

[TheInfamousBearAssassin]

Just to revisit the point on why I think this is a much bigger find for non-blue than for blue decks;

If they had made the following card:

Swords to Creepy-Sword-Tentacle-Things
(ph/w)
Instant
Exile target creature. Its controller gains life equal to twice its power.

My first thought wouldn't be, "What an amazing card for white", but, "What an amazing card for everyone but white." Why? Because the difference in power between this card and the next best alternative is much smaller- possibly even negative- in white than it is in any other color, which have no equivalent to Swords to Plowshares.

Similarly, Mental Misstep offers a much smaller jump in power over the alternative cheap/free counters available to blue than to any other color, the sum list of which breaks down to awful shit like Mindbreak Trap and Illumination. Whilte Mental Misstep is limited in range, it's far more powerful than the alternative counterspells in other colors, and certainly a great dodge to combo/removal, if nothing else.

It's therefore inaccurate to describe Mental Misstep as a great blue card. It's a middling blue card and a fucking amazing green, red, white and black card.

[troopatroop]

Much like Tarmogoyf, I can't think of another card more apt to fighting this card than itself. Everyone has to play it, right?

[Jason]

I'm on the side of "this card is going in nearly every deck not playing Chalice of the Void and Sol lands" on this one.
For zoo and goblins decks, it can stop a Swords to Plowshares; it also counters Dark Ritual and High Tide.
For merfolk decks, it counters Goblin Lackey.
For control and tempo decks, it counters Goblin Lackey, Aether Vial, opposing Spell Pierces, and Sensei's Divining Top, while providing additional help to fight combo decks.
The list of cards it shuts down is insane. Just off the top of my head:
Goblin Welder
Dark Ritual
Aether Vial
Goblin Lackey
Duress
Rite of Flame
Spell Pierce/Spell Snare
Sensei's Divining Top
Swords to Plowshares/Path to Exile
High Tide
Candelabra of Tawnos
Stifle
Cabal Therapy
Putrid Imp/Tireless Tribe/Careful Study
Breakthrough (for zero)
Brainstorm/Ponder/Preordain
Weathered Wayfarer (UW Tempo is ruined!)
Noble Hierarch
Grim Lavamancer

Seriously, not one deck can say it is good against all these cards. There's no reason to not run 4 in almost every deck. It is rarely a dead card. Non-blue decks do benefit the most, as it helps them fight against combo with a card that is not utterly useless across the majority of the format (I'm looking at you, Mindbreak Trap).

[Pippin]

Best card for Legacy since Jace, maybe even better. It's insane

It hits every deck out there, from exploration in 43.lands, dredge enablers in dredge to standard stuff like vial, lackey, stp, duress/thoughtseize, brainstorm, top...

Landstill goes to tier1 status?

[TheInfamousBearAssassin]

I mean let's not go crazy. I don't think it's better than Daze or Force in a blue deck, and maybe not better than Spell Pierce on the averages. In a slow deck, the 1cc spells on aggregate aren't your chief cause of concern, and this alone won't save you against combo.

But in non-blue aggro decks? Yes, it has the potential to be very powerful. I don't think it'll be in everything, but I think it may have a bigger impact on Legacy than any card printed in the past several years. I think it'll almost certainly weaken combo and blue as a color, slow down the format a turn and make it more creature-oriented. Goblins, Zoo, Junk, and various Survival-esque G-W based decks seem to stand to gain the most, as well as full-fledged control that had nearly been run out of the format.

[Stifle]

Format will become:

Player A: SDT
Player B: MM
Player A: MM your MM
Player B: MM your MM
Player A: Fow your MM
Player B: MM your SDT (2 copies on SDT)

All resolve, Player's A lost SDT and FoW and his hand while player B has more cards but less life :P

Welcome to Tempo: The Gathering... I mean legacy, six weeks from now.

[Koby]

This thread reeks of hyperbole. I don't realistically see this card being played well in decks that don't already play Brainstorm. Reasons being of course of how terrible a topdeck this card is after Turn 0 in the case of facing AEther Vial. Some decks this card will shine, such as against Elves for example (damn, not happy about this), but not so much against Goblins and Merfolk outside the first turn.

I do like the opportunity to bring TES back into the fair zone, especially when this card is included in place of Spell Pierce against their rituals/protection/etc.

Trying to be more objective about this card, but it seems like there's more reason to run it rather than not. It's still more of a tempo-oriented card rather than an actual threat, which limits it's playability in most decks to base-blue/goyf decks.

[GGoober]

Best card for Legacy since Jace, maybe even better. It's insane

It hits every deck out there, from exploration in 43.lands, dredge enablers in dredge to standard stuff like vial, lackey, stp, duress/thoughtseize, brainstorm, top...

Landstill goes to tier1 status?

I wished, except that aggro decks will play this too to counter my StP/brainstorms, not to mention my own MM :(

As Rukcus puts it, there's more reasons to play this card than not play it. However, some decks may not be able to afford the space. Yet however again, it is free (2 life cost) and it is a huge tempo swing irregardless if you're playing Tempo decks or no Tempo decks. It definitely fits more naturally in blue decks because sometimes paying 2 life is a drawback in the mid-late game. But I really can't imagine what the format will evolve with this card being in the format. Well, here's finally waiting for Legacy to crawl out of its 'stale' shell (by stale I mean we all know what decks are out there in the meta right now).

[Lemnear]

I give this card 3 months until Zoo/Goblin players complain again and argue for a ban because mental misstep warps the Legacy meta towards tempo and negates THEIR tempo-plays like Nacatl, Vial and Lackey ... lol

Enough joking ... This card is bonkers and will see play outside of blue, maybe only to protect your creatures from swords or yourself from Dark ritual into shit into tendrils.

I can see this card warping the average number of vital 1cc spells towards 2cc and 3cc. How does this affect Countertop? Is a predicted rise of cmc in decks a blessing or a curse?

Another question that bothers me: Is this card a better Tempo-gainer than stifle? Will MM fight side-by-side with stifle in tempo-decks or is this card the nail to the coffin for Stifle that is rarely played today?

[SMR0079]

I mean let's not go crazy. I don't think it's better than Daze or Force in a blue deck, and maybe not better than Spell Pierce on the averages. In a slow deck, the 1cc spells on aggregate aren't your chief cause of concern, and this alone won't save you against combo.

But in non-blue aggro decks? Yes, it has the potential to be very powerful. I don't think it'll be in everything, but I think it may have a bigger impact on Legacy than any card printed in the past several years. I think it'll almost certainly weaken combo and blue as a color, slow down the format a turn and make it more creature-oriented. Goblins, Zoo, Junk, and various Survival-esque G-W based decks seem to stand to gain the most, as well as full-fledged control that had nearly been run out of the format.

Indeed. I think Merfolk will actually abuse it the most though. Having yet another free counter spell to stop your opponents turn one threat so you can drop standstill or Lord out is going to be ridiculous.

[Lemnear]

You're right! I completely forgot that the powerful 1cc spells were the reason standstill vanished. I predict a glorious return of Dreadstill with Misstep and Torpor Orb

[TheInfamousBearAssassin]

I'm pretty sure the printing of a colorless, free counter for 1cc spells doesn't help Dreadstill any.

[Nessaja]

The decks that pick it up will be at an advantage. I don't think Goblins can afford it. I'm not entirely sure if Zoo can afford it. But Merfolk certainly can - mainboard - and it will change its aggro matchups drastically.