The subject regarding the state of the Modern format has been broached on many an occasion in the last few weeks, but I feel it is my civic duty as a Magic
personality to weigh in on the affairs of a scrutinized format.
Many authors other than myself feel that the Modern format has reached a point where it has become bereft of choice: mired in only a few decks and very
linear answers depending on the matchup. Room for innovation seems to be minimal, lest you allow your deck to become susceptible to the pillars of the
format like Abzan, Splinter Twin, or a deck which can inexplicably generate six mana on turn 2.
In light of professionals such as Ari Lax, Brian Kibler, PVDDR, and others expressing their opinions of what needs to be “fixed,” I believe the answers are
much more simplistic and intrinsic to the spirit of Modern.
I hope those that read this, especially those that work for Wizards of the Coast, will take my criticisms and suggestions to heart in what should be done
with Modern going forward.
First and foremost, I find Tarmogoyf to be the most egregious offender in the entirety of Modern. As the most powerful two-drop ever printed, Tarmogoyf
presents an introductory price tag that new and FNM players find seemingly impossible to pay.
The presence of Tarmogoyf in Modern creates a fairly interesting dichotomy between a budding format that is being pushed, and supply and demand. For those
that don’t have them, getting them is nearly impossible. If you do manage to get them, the decks that play it also present another hefty gateway.
Cost aside, the sheer strength of this card is unmatched. Two-mana 4/5s that are supplemented by sac lands, sorcery-speed disruption, instant removal,
planeswalkers, and other tools have no business in Modern.
The simplest way to fix the first issue of the Tarmogoyf conundrum would be to print it in Modern Masters 2 in the uncommon slot. That way, when the stream
of packs is inevitably opened, Tarmogyf will be readily available for everyone. Not only will the casual player have access to it, but they’ll have
multiple sets to give to their friends. Green-based Modern decks will thrive as players from across the globe share in the spoils of a card that used to be
$200+ dollars, and tables in Modern events would be flush with the Lhurgoyf.
The other fix, which is far more potent in my book by way of my resolve, is to ban Tarmogoyf.
The Pro Tour showcased the vast number of players that flocked to Abzan as their weapon of choice, and with Tarmogoyf out of the picture, a number or
strategies would open up. Creature-based decks would no longer have the impenetrable two-drop to fight through and would be able to punish clunky decks
like Amulent Bloom by pressuring them in ways only Burn can.
That is…if Burn survives my next recommendation.
Lightning Bolt is a fascinating case study of what can happen when you give a format the best direct damage spell ever printed with the least consequence.
Burn was represented by some of the best minds and thinkers of our generation at Pro Tour Fate Reforged. Do you truly believe our brightest players wanted
to play it, or was it so brutally efficient that they acquiesced under the duress of Lightning Bolt’s siren song?
You play a Nobel Hierarch: they Lightning Bolt it.
You sacrifice your Arcbound Ravager to grow your Inkmoth Nexus: they Lightning Bolt it.
You’re at three life: they Lightning Bolt you.
Since the inception of Magic, Lightning Bolt has been providing the fuel for the nightmares of players everywhere, and now Modern is crawling with Burn
players and their flagship spell ending games before they even begin. What makes it worse is that now it must be accounted for, and precious sideboarding
slots allocated to cards like Kor Firewalker– a card which hasn’t even been on the radar since 2011- and now the double-white Grizzly Bear has been thrust
upon us like a ludicrous plague of mediocrity.
Lava Spike is at least a fair Magic card. It can’t hit creatures and is a sorcery, meaning it lacks the versatility and oppression that Lightning Bolt has.
I say, in an act of absolute mercy, the format be purged of a red menace and Burn decks be cast back to the lake of fire from wince they came.
Although, they may be slightly more practical once another grand offender is wiped off of the map…
Sensei’s Divining Top– a perfectly reasonable and righteous Magic card- was taken away from us because of the longevity it presents in games once they are
underway.
Fetchlands have long been a blight on competitive Magic.
Sacrifice Verdant Catacombs…shuffle.
Sacrifice Scalding Tarn….shuffle.
And so on and so forth.
I have a great many judge friend who has commented on the ridiculous length of games because of our “beloved” sac lands, and in no format are they as heavy
a culprit as they are in Modern.
They have told me on more than a singular occasion that the amount of time players spend searching and shuffling has led to insanely long rounds, and that
problem drives players away in droves. How many times have you rolled your eyes as the opponent picked up their deck for the umpteenth time to find another
Overgrown Tomb?
And speaking of mana…
Having access to a wealth of land options makes decks greedy and unimaginative. Years ago and even in the current Standard format, players will typically
search for a basic land and continue on with the game, but Modern allows a player to casually search up a dual land of their choosing, which in turn gives
them the ability to cast any number of spells in whatever colors they want, making them play powerful spells with almost no theme behind them. The card
quality presented by having access to all colors is much higher and inherently less interesting. Fetchlands give this option, and in doing so have made
decks boring and loutish.
I would suggest that WoTC seriously evaluates the manabases in Modern and in their infinite wisdom sees that banning fetchlands would create more creative
deckbuilding, an upsurge in people playing Knight of the Reliquary, and watch the price of Evolving Wilds spike in a way not seen since Storm Crow erupted.
Lands are a serious problem, but what about a card that breaks lands?
You may be saying to yourself “Amulet of Vigor is fine,” but it is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Amulet of Vigor not only hurts Modern but it tries to break the fundamentals of Magic by creating an incredibly unfair advantage with the Ravnica
bouncelands. If you were able to watch Justin Cohen and Sam Black’s gratuitous performance with the Amulet Bloom, you saw firsthand what their poor
opponents felt almost every round: the disgust of not getting to play a game of Magic.
Summer Bloom at least forces you to have multiple lands in your hand, but Amulet of Vigor and a single bounceland coupled with Summer Bloom or Azusa, Lost
But Seeking mean a potential turn 2 Primeval Titan, which is a creature long-since hated from the hallowed halls of Commander to Standard and now it has
infiltrated the last supposed bastion of fun: Modern. A kill is assembled with relative ease and simplicity once the Amulet and the Titan join up, and a
bewildered opponent who thought they were going to have fun playing a rousing game of Magic are left wondering why they paid a hefty entry instead of just
staying home and watching Netflix.
There might be multiple ways to destroy Amulet of Vigor, but what if they don’t? Is it fair to let a combo player wantonly steamroll a person who, for all
intents and purposes, is getting goldfished? No one is having fun in that scenario, and I find Amulet to be very offense.
However, all of the things I have talked about today pale in comparison to one singular entity that needs to be cleansed from Modern…
I’ve discussed in the past
my disdain for Siege Rhino, but my sentiments have been echoed by the community, and I think we can all agree that, in the spirit of fun and competition
that Siege Rhino needs to go.
Period.
It isn’t just enough to have a hatred for this creature, because that would be putting things in too mild of terms. Brian Kibler once stated his malice
towards Lifebane Zombie by setting multiple copies of it on fire to the sound of electronic music, but would any of us even play the sound of Taps if we
were to
take all of the Siege Rhinos in the world, put them on a boat, send it out in the ocean and then sink it halfway.
We were all terrified that Siege Rhino would be paired with Restoration Angel, but thankfully that nightmare hasn’t come to fruition yet. However, we’ve
been granted the displeasure of a field of over 40% of decks that all boast this nonsensical Rhino. Clearly defined as a linchpin and a pillar of Modern,
the Siege Rhino only serves to oppress aggro players and cease all possibility of attacking. Working in tandem with future banned list member Tarmogyf,
they present a ground force that makes combat practically non-existent and misery-inducing. Smashing your head off of brick walls is no fun, and Siege
Rhino will only further complicate things by granting the wielder more life and draining their opponent. It’s a completely stunting creature in a format
full of possibilities. When I spoke that it would be a four-of going forward in Modern, I was called crazy.
Now it is I who believes you all to be mad for not raising your voices to have this unsacred cow banished from Modern.
Then…
Then there’s this card…
Completely fine.
I feel as if my demands are completely reasonable and justified. They are well-thought out and based on the future of Modern being in peril because of the
existence of these destructive elements. I would challenge any person to argue my reasoning and create their own counterpoints, but we all know they would
be wasting their time as their opinions are invalidated almost solely based on their love of a specific card rather than a format instead.
My interest in the thriving principles of Modern isn’t even vested in my own security, as I don’t own any Modern cards nor do I really care for the format
to begin with.