[Article] Should Brainstorm be Banned?

[SaberTooth]

Preordain / serum visions / Sleight of hand do not work at all like brainstorm... One of them would replace it to remake the holy trinity of cantrips (Brainstorm / Ponder / Gitaxian probe), however you'd loose a lot... Brainstorm is instant speed, can be used to protect yourself from discard and can shuffle shaff that's already in your hand back in the library... I don't think Preordain / serum visions / sleight of hand have the same power level :)

i wasnt talking about cantrips, i was talking about the card pool in general. brainstorm leaves, then other card appear in a lot of decks, then what? if brainstorm is banned, legacy will lost his heart

[M+1]

The reality is that Brainstorm is OP as fuck and the people that want to keep Brainstorm legal just like playing with Brainstorm and enjoy how powerful it is.

The reality is that you have no clue about how others think, sorry.
I like Brainstorm because it facilitates so many different decks and strategies. I simply enjoy the diversity of the format as it is.

That said, not all strategies can compete at the highest level.

I used to play Goblins in Legacy. Goblins was once a tier 1 deck in Legacy, in spite of Brainstorm being around back then. It is hardly tier 2 today, but that isn't a single card's fault, it is because the format has gotten so many new, broken non-Goblin cards and combos over time. The format has evolved, while Goblins got a small boon in Cavern, and little else. I would love to see my playset of Goblin Recruiter unbanned. I would absolutely hate to see Goblins rise in power again for no other reason than many other decks getting their kneecaps shattered.

[sjmcc13]

The reality is that Brainstorm is OP as fuck and the people that want to keep Brainstorm legal just like playing with Brainstorm and enjoy how powerful it is.

No the reality is that almost every argument against, and most of the arguments for, brainstorm are purely emotional with no logic or reasoning behind them.

Both sides of the debate are dominated by zealots arguing from a completely emotional point of view who have convinced themselves that they are right, and do not actually listen or reason any argument from the other side.

We have to look at the card from a position of neutrality and examine everything it does for the format,and at present other then emotional outcry its effects do more good then bad, as it is the biggest card for enabling rogue strategies to stand a chance, and because there is to much variance in the game for the format to be healthy without good variance reducers with Brainstorm + Fetch being the easiest and most splashable option.

The greater the luck factor in the game the closer it comes to becoming labeled as a gambling game, and that would be horrible for competitive play, and unfortunately that luck factor seems to be increasing, possibly thanks to the power creep and brokenness of some recent cards/sets. Brainstorm and to a lesser effect Ponder reduce the randomness of the game, and as a result increase the skill and deck design factors, which is what we need for competitive play.

[Zilla]

This conversation is functionally identical to the B&R discussion. This one is closed. Please continue discussion of this article/topic there. Thanks.