[Article]Eternal Europe: A Tour Of Modern

[Mon,Goblin Chief]

Well, with two big Modern events coming up, I decided to take a little in-depth look from the outside as to what the format looks like. Not a Legacy article (so please feel free to move this if appropriate), hopefully you enjoy the read anyway!

http://www.starcitygames.com/article/30935_My-Tour-Of-Modern.html

[Sisyphos]

Can't say much about the Modern content, as I know even less about the format than you and just skimmed through it. ;)

One nitpick though about a Legacy remark hidden in the article: Spellskite does not "see[s] absolutely no play in Legacy". Even if you by way of hyperbole ignore the couple of times it has popped up in PainterStone decks as a foil to Abrupt Decay or some strange looking MUD sideboards, it is actually a quite common sideboard option for Infect. It acts as a counterspell for your combo turn that does not cost mana on said turn, if the opponent is not careful about timing or the removal is damage based like Bolt, it can trade for more than one removal spell, it gives you an additional out to Decay apart from hexproofing with Vines and - quite importantly with the recent success of the deck -, it is quite the beating in the mirror.

[Bryant Cook]

Can't say much about the Modern content, as I know even less about the format than you and just skimmed through it. ;)

One nitpick though about a Legacy remark hidden in the article: Spellskite does not "see[s] absolutely no play in Legacy". Even if you by way of hyperbole ignore the couple of times it has popped up in PainterStone decks as a foil to Abrupt Decay or some strange looking MUD sideboards, it is actually a quite common sideboard option for Infect. It acts as a counterspell for your combo turn that does not cost mana on said turn, if the opponent is not careful about timing or the removal is damage based like Bolt, it can trade for more than one removal spell, it gives you an additional out to Decay apart from hexproofing with Vines and - quite importantly with the recent success of the deck -, it is quite the beating in the mirror.

Someone will always find a pointless nitpick.

Like Carsten said, "see[s] absolutely no play in Legacy". The decks you mentioned are fringe playable. When discussing the format as a whole using a blanket sentence, of course things are being glossed over. Someone out there is still jamming Island of Wak-Wak, but that doesn't mean we should discuss it as a highly relevant point.

[Sisyphos]

The decks you mentioned are fringe playable.

With the first two decks I mentioned, I wrote myself that they are not really relevant. But calling Infect fringe playable? If your definition of fringe playable is a deck regularly getting Top8 finishes in most recent SCG Premier IQs, that is absurd. The DtB update on this site for April 2015 has Infect at 9th place, ahead of Deathblade, miles ahead of Storm (22nd) and only slightly behind Elves. If I check tournaments with 80+ players since March on TCDecks, Infect has 5 Top8s in addition to 3 Top16s, while the deck you usually play, TES, has 3 Top8s. So if Infect is fringe playable, what does that make of TES, which has half the good finishes? Unplayable?

[Richard Cheese]

Can we get back on topic before this turns into a complete shit show?

I, for one, really appreciated the article. I keep struggling to get into Modern and stuff like this helps.

[Ace/Homebrew]

My brief perusal of TCDecks (where it is listed under Berserk Stompy) showed about 50% of Infect lists play 1 copy of Spellskite in the sideboard. So 1 deck plays with 0.5 copies. That is fringe enough that Steven Seagal would try to wear it.

http://www.steven-seagal.net/photopost/data/502/0000295811-009.jpg

[Bahra]

I play a lot of modern and I think this article was on point about a lot of stuff. I am not sure why you would write an article about modern if you don't play it or really pay any attention to it. But definitely on point about a lot of stuff.

[lordofthepit]

I play a lot of modern and I think this article was on point about a lot of stuff. I am not sure why you would write an article about modern if you don't play it or really pay any attention to it. But definitely on point about a lot of stuff.

I'm guessing SCG requested that all their writers put up an article on Modern this week.

[Bahra]

I'm guessing SCG requested that all their writers put up an article on Modern this week.

Oh that would make sense. Didn't think about that. Regardless, it was still a nice article to read.

[Admiral_Arzar]

Good article. I recently got back into Modern to supplement my once-a-week Legacy and it's been more fun than I remember it being a few years ago.

[Jamaican Zombie Legend]

Liked the article, especially as a Legacy player whose done a bit of toe-dipping into Modern. One part stood out in particular:


And here's what's truly exciting about Modern: The format is still much less fully explored than Legacy is at this point. Combine with the lower overall power level, and you get a brewers paradise and a format that makes it easier for rogue players to have a field day. Yes, Legacy already has a vast variety of viable decks, but at this point, we know a lot of them, and finding new ones is exceedingly difficult because the power level they have to match is so high. With a large card pool but a power level that is strictly controlled by the DCI's aggressive banning policy, the range of cards worth exploring is significantly larger in Modern.

This is probably the chief appeal of Modern, the sheer variety of viable decks that emerge due to a strict enforcement of a power ceiling on decks. Because decks/archetypes can't leap too far ahead in power without being hit by the banhammer, other archetypes not so fortunate as to get new toys from set releases aren't going to be left in the dust, in terms of raw power. Which means that jamming a pet deck, especially one in the Tier 2 or Tier 3 bracket, becomes a lot less miserable, which is a real boon for format accessibility, growth, and sustainability.

I know a lot of the elitist Spikes (not all of them; #notallspikes) look down upon this sentiment ("lol, goblins is shit now git a real deck n00b"), but they're completely blind to how this hamstrings a format. Not everyone can afford to buy into the best decks, sometimes they can only swing a pet deck. Even some of the people who can afford such an "investment", might be a bit wary of throwing those kind of bucks around, and might prefer to test the waters with a cheaper brew. And when the "affordable" (I know, lots of ambiguity here) pet decks actually stand a chance in competitive play, it's going to evoke a lot more positive feelings about the format, make people more engaged in it. Case in point, look at Legacy during the early days of the SCG-circuit, and the preceding era. Every top 8 was wholly unpredictable; yeah, a lot of U/x/y Thresh, U/x Control, Storm, and whatnot would show up, but a lot of off-the-wall decks could top-8 or even take down an SCG Open. One week it might be Dredge, the next Aggro Loam, Maverick, Enchantress, or even humble burn. The format was open and the results reflected that. There was real evidence that pet 75s weren't just fodder for Tier 1 decks on their way to the elimination rounds.

That's why Legacy was wildly popular, why it grew, and why people were so attached to it. And that's why Modern's poised to grow just like Legacy did.

[LOLWut]

@JZL You're confusing Modern's larger unexplored viable deck space for larger viable deck space in general. Legacy absolutely has more Tier 1 viable, Tier 2 viable, and Tier 3 viable decks than Modern does. Anecdotal evidence and deck placing data backs that up (if you really want me to, I'll put some data together), with room to spare even assuming that Modern adds more viable decks in the future. In short, in months in which Legacy and Modern have a similar number of 33+ people events, Legacy has more different decks placing and more equal distribution throughout the list, meaning that lower tier decks are more viable in Legacy.

This (http://tcdecks.net/tierdecks.php?anio=2015&mes=6&format=Modern) is what's Tier 1 viable in Modern, from May TC Decks data:

1.) The Rock 2.) Twin Exarch 3.) Affinity 4.) Jund 5.) Project Melira 6.) Merfolks 7.) Red Deck Wins
( 1.) BGx Midrange 2.) URx Tempo-Combo 3.) Artifact Aggro 4.) BGx Midrange 5.) BGx Midrange 6.) Blue Aggro-Tempo 7.) Red Aggro )

Hard reactive control nowhere. Prison nowhere. Fastish combo relegated to fringe. Card selection nil. Creature midrange creature midrange everywhere.

In terms of the banning philosophy, ooh boy. Apart from the awful situation of every top deck living in fear of being banned into oblivion, the entire format is poisoned by the refusal to allow adult strategic competition and answers, which eliminates any possibility of self-correction with checks and balances. Instead of Force of Will/Rite of Flame and Dredge/Deathrite Shaman and Karakas/Wasteland and Cloudpost/Price of Progress and Hymn to Tourach/Misdirection and Glimpse of Nature/Nether Void and fun like Humility, Green Sun's Zenith, Brainstorm, Ancient Tomb, and Metalworker, you get neither North Pole nor South Pole, and just trigger happy guards keeping everyone at the midrange Equator.

I agree completely about the appeal of a format which has a large number and variety of viable decks. I just utterly disagree on which format that is.

[Bahra]

@JZL You're confusing Modern's larger unexplored viable deck space for larger viable deck space in general. Legacy absolutely has more Tier 1 viable, Tier 2 viable, and Tier 3 viable decks than Modern does. Anecdotal evidence and deck placing data backs that up (if you really want me to, I'll put some data together), with room to spare even assuming that Modern adds more viable decks in the future. In short, in months in which Legacy and Modern have a similar number of 33+ people events, Legacy has more different decks placing and more equal distribution throughout the list, meaning that lower tier decks are more viable in Legacy.

This (http://tcdecks.net/tierdecks.php?anio=2015&mes=6&format=Modern) is what's Tier 1 viable in Modern, from May TC Decks data:

1.) The Rock 2.) Twin Exarch 3.) Affinity 4.) Jund 5.) Project Melira 6.) Merfolks 7.) Red Deck Wins
( 1.) BGx Midrange 2.) URx Tempo-Combo 3.) Artifact Aggro 4.) BGx Midrange 5.) BGx Midrange 6.) Blue Aggro-Tempo 7.) Red Aggro )

Hard reactive control nowhere. Prison nowhere. Fastish combo relegated to fringe. Card selection nil. Creature midrange creature midrange everywhere.

In terms of the banning philosophy, ooh boy. Apart from the awful situation of every top deck living in fear of being banned into oblivion, the entire format is poisoned by the refusal to allow adult strategic competition and answers, which eliminates any possibility of self-correction with checks and balances. Instead of Force of Will/Rite of Flame and Dredge/Deathrite Shaman and Karakas/Wasteland and Cloudpost/Price of Progress and Hymn to Tourach/Misdirection and Glimpse of Nature/Nether Void and fun like Humility, Green Sun's Zenith, Brainstorm, Ancient Tomb, and Metalworker, you get neither North Pole nor South Pole, and just trigger happy guards keeping everyone at the midrange Equator.

I agree completely about the appeal of a format which has a large number and variety of viable decks. I just utterly disagree on which format that is.

I agree with all this.

[Valtrix]

As somebody who has played a lot for Modern and tried to build decks for it, it really appears like there's a lot of unexplored deck space, but that tends just not to be the case in my experience. While cards that are "too powerful" are banned, this doesn't really mean that too many more cards are opened up--it just means that there's a new ceiling and a new set of "best" cards.

The problems is that (general) answers are just so bad, generally just executing your own strategy and interacting with your opponent as little as possible is the way to go. This way you don't have to play such bad interactive cards. From trying to be a control deck, with such poor reactive cards, you just can't punish fast decks for being fast (a la burn) and there's just nothing for the long game which can compete with the midrange decks (a la junk). At the end of the day this means that's there no reason to try and play a control deck, so the format turns into trying to be fast "aggro deck" (burn, affinity, infect), or a midrange slogfest where whoever draws more lingering souls will probably win. Twin is the exception and adds a lot to the format by existing in my opinion, and it's actually the closest the format has to a viable control deck.

[Lord Seth]

In terms of the banning philosophy, ooh boy. Apart from the awful situation of every top deck living in fear of being banned into oblivion,This is a claim often raised, but in truth there's not that much merit to it. Everything banned in the last two years were decks that weren't just top decks, they were hugely dominant decks that were unduly warping the metagame.

You actually don't have much to fear of your top deck getting banned into oblivion, because they just played different cards and continued being strong. Deathrite Shaman got banned, but Junk/Jund are still great decks. Birthing Pod got banned, but Junk Pod just started playing Collected Company instead. Treasure Cruise/Dig Through Time got banned, but Delver just started playing Tasigur to great effect (it's a highly underrated deck and I think it could come out in strength at the upcoming Grand Prix).

The real fear isn't for the top decks, it's for the non-top decks that happen to play the cards those top decks are running. Junk Pod is doing fine as Junk Collected Company, but Kiki-Pod is dead, and Scapeshift got hit hard by the Dig Through Time ban.