The vintage part of that article made me LOL. I love it when blue control players cry about Dredge, in any format. The guy obviously hates combo with a passion, and anything he says should probably be taken with a grain of salt as a result. I do agree that Blightsteel was a stupid printing, however.
But anyways, back on topic. His reasoning for a Brainstorm ban was entirely based on Brainstorm enabling combo. It does enable combo, true. However, it's basically never the combo decks enabled by it that dominate the format, so I don't see the issue from that angle. Even during the Mystical Tutor era, combo was not dominant (Hulk-Flash was the only time I can recall where combo was actually dominant in Legacy).
I think the biggest thing is the deep seeded emotional understanding that the right play is the right play regardless of outcomes. The ability to make a decision 5 straight times, lose 5 times because of it, and still make it the 6th time if it's the right play. - Jon Finkel
"Notions of chance and fate are the preoccupation of men engaged in rash undertakings."
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* Maverick is dead. Long live Maverick!
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I'm not very good at making my point across in these types of discussions however I want to throw this question out in the open.
Banning cards such as Brainstorm is nerfing a color because it is overpowered. However we "mostly" play eternal formats for the power level. So isn't nerfing colors and trying to trim them to the same underpowered level actually nerfing the whole format and the game? Isn't it a better approach to ask for better cards for other colors so that they can all be powerful and playing Legacy can actually feel more empowering than playing Standard or Modern?
Color blue is inherently stronger than other colors because the flavor of the color implies that it is the color of the mind. It provides greater strategic options. Even without Brainstorm blue will be nerfed yet still more powerful than other colors. I don't think the solution is banning the key cards of blue until it is underpowered. As a legacy player I want to be able to use my old cards and do broken things with my deck. With Brainstorm out of the format I could find it more appealing to start a slower investment process into Vintage.
Direct damage? CHECK. (Psionic Blast, Mind Bomb)
Discard? CHECK. (Mind Bomb, Amnesia, Clique, Piracy Charm)
Creature removal? CHECK. (Pongify, Control Magic, etc)
Land destruction? CHECK. (Land Equilibrium, Mana Vortex, Annex, etc)
Recursion? CHECK.
R&D has been systemically breaking down any distinction between other colors and Blue, continuing to push the envelope with Blue effects, and stopped printing those cards in those colors.
We mise well just concede that Blue is the only color of Magic, and just make every card Blue.
West side
Find me on MTGO as Koby or rukcus -- @MTGKoby on Twitter
* Maverick is dead. Long live Maverick!
My Legacy stream
My MTG Blog - Work in progress
You forgot Stifle, the best LD ever printed
Anyhow, unless they ban like a dozen blue cards, the colour will always be head and shoulders above the others. Players do after all like some skill in their MtG. Cards like Brainstorm are, above all, fun to play. One just has to look at Modern in order to see what a Blue-neutered format is like, where all the fun stuff is banned. I wonder why there's practically no interest in Modern?![]()
I certainly don't want Legacy to go down the same road.
I think about how the vintage community handles strong cards completely differently - take for example Bazaar of Baghdad.
Dredge won the vintage championships and some familiarity with vintage Dredge, Bazzar is pinnacle to the deck - however we don't have people clamoring for it's restriction.
Instead, the vintage community responds by dedicating a large percentage of their sideboards (and sometimes their maindeck) to beating dredge.
Additionally, they understand that Dredge is an important pillar of the metagame and without this pillar, the balance suffers. A similar case can be made about the inclusion of Nature's Claim in vintage maindecks.
Here, it seems easier to complain about Brainstorm's presence than innovate. Most colors can dedicate sideboard hate and even pack some maindeck surprises - IMO REB has never been better as a maindeck choice!
Red - REB, Pyroblast
Green - Choke (amazing choice against a blue deck with small land count)
Black - Duress, Thoughtseize, Inquisition
White - Grand Abolisher, Aven Mindcensor (not as good as the others but white has always had poor answers to white)
I'm sorry, but I am Tony (who was playing against Alex) and these criticisms are simply not true. Where did you get that commentary from? It is not written on the starcity write-up, and the match was not broadcast on the live feed. Even if he had the Swords in hand the turn Jin came into play, he did not have the mana to cast it (hence the reason I was able to Daze his Knight in the first place).
So we heard you invested half your hand and a chunk of life into a Trinisphere only to have it countered. Now I hear you are running a deck full of subpar cards.
"If you're playing Storm in Legacy, you need to believe that what your deck does is better than what their deck does."
Master of Etherium
Lodestone Golem
Etched Champion
Cranial Plating
Chalice of the Void
Those are bad cards?
West side
Find me on MTGO as Koby or rukcus -- @MTGKoby on Twitter
* Maverick is dead. Long live Maverick!
My Legacy stream
My MTG Blog - Work in progress
Matt Bevenour in real life
"If you're playing Storm in Legacy, you need to believe that what your deck does is better than what their deck does."
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