Can’t talk now, playing Skyrim.
I wonder if there’s a Skyrim-themed deck to make. It would probably include a fair number of Ice Age block cards. It would have to have Snow Lands. Are there any Shouts in Magic?
It was actually during playing Skyrim that for some reason I started dreaming about the idea of formats within the format (gotta do something during screen loads*), and I thought I’d explore the idea of Modern EDH. The genesis of the thought was wondering if the format might be even more accessible, less broken, or more fun. I didn’t have an agenda or end state going in. I simply figured that it’d be interesting to walk the path.
Before any of you go out to the shed to pick up your chainsaws and shotguns, there are no plans to officially introduce new formats within the format. This is really just a thought exercise, a “what if?” The format has always been about building decks with limitations, so further limitations aren’t outside the spirit. Of course, one of the great draws to the format is being able to play all those janky Vintage-legal cards, so we’d be working against one of the major attractions. Obviously, for the purposes of this, we’d include Commander product in our definition of Modern. We’re talking everything printed from Eighth Edition and forward.
My thought process breaks down into these five steps:
Are there enough Generals?
What cards would we lose?
Is the format inherently (more) broken?
Would there need to be a banned list?
Would there be a significant difference in decks?
Are There Enough Generals?
Clearly there are. There are 274 Legendary Creatures legal, from the not-really-playable Adamaro, First to Desire, to the probably slightly more annoying Zur the Enchanter. Most of the Generals who get played these days are Modern. At least half of the Generals that get played at Armada Games are from the Commander set.
I look at my own list of 15 Generals (Animar, Cromat, Garza Zol, Intet, Isperia, Karador, Karrthus, Kresh, Lord of Tresserhorn, Merieke, Mimeoplasm, Phelddagrif, Riku, Rith, and Thraximundar) and see that I would lose Cromat, Rith, Lord of Tresserhorn, and Phelddagrif. This is an inauspicious start to our Modern exploration. Losing iconic Generals would be quite damaging to the health and draw of the format.
The biggest stars we’d lose would be Invasion block and Legends Dragons (although I’m sure the Elder Dragon Legends get played for style points, not quality). Here’s a quick list of the playable Generals and popular Legendary Creatures we’d be without. It’s smaller than you might think because of reprints into Core sets.
Onslaught Block: Ixidor, Reality Sculptor; Jareth, Leonine Titan; Kamahl, Fist of Krosa; Karona, False God; Sliver Overlord; Visara the Dreadful
Odyssey Block: Balthor the Defiled; Braids, Cabal Minion; Chainer, Dementia Master
Invasion Block: Captain Sisay; Cromat; Crosis, the Purger; Darigaaz, the Igniter; Dromar, the Banisher; Hanna, Ship’s Navigator; Kangee, Aerie Keeper; Treva, the Renewer; Tsabo Tavoc
Masques Block: Lin-Sivvi, Defiant Hero; Mageta the Lion
Urza’s Block: Karn, Silver Golem; Multani, Maro-Sorcerer; Radiant, Archangel; Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
Tempest Block: Selenia, Dark Angel; Sliver Queen
Mirage Block: Wow. Hardly any Mirage Block Legendary creatures are worth playing.
Early Sets: None, really.
Ice Age/Alliances: Lord of Tresserhorn; Phelddagrif; Skeleton Ship
Legends: The aforementioned Elder Dragons; Adun Oakenshield; Angus Mackenzie; Dakkon Blackblade; Hazezon Tamar; Ramses Overdark; Rubinia Soulsinger; Xira Arien
The list is nonetheless significant, less for the General slot than for the playable Legendary Creatures. The answer to this section’s question is “Yes, there are more than enough playable Generals.” Not having the Invasion Shard Dragons looks like the major loss, which could be further mitigated by allowing “From the Vaults” cards (since the sets, like Commander, were printed in the Modern era). Otherwise, the list is a little shrug-worthy.
Which Cards Would We Lose?
The first answer is “a lot,” so the follow-up question is “which significant cards would we lose?” Let’s add to our list of allowable cards those that were printed as Judge Promos, simply because the Judge community has been such a driving force in the format. I did a quick run-through of the decks I play (honestly, I’ve left Cromat and Isperia by the wayside, and Garza Zol has become a Thraximundar deck), and here’s what I found:
Animar (11): Mindless Automaton; Magmasaur; Spike Weaver; Woodripper; Equilibrium; Whim of Volrath; Guided Passage; Skyshroud Claim; Dust Bowl; Tower of the Magistrate; Yavimaya Hollow
Intet (14): Aura Thief; Skyshroud Claim; Artifact Mutation; Desertion; Fault Line; Mana Drain; Reins of Power; Worldly Tutor; Scroll Rack; Night Soil; Rhystic Study; Taiga; Tropical Island; Volcanic Island
Karador (7): Radiant, Archangel; Defense of the Heart; Krosan Reclamation; Skyshroud Claim; Bayou; Krosan Verge; Savannah; Volrath’s Stronghold
Karrthus (9): Patriarch’s Bidding; Red Elemental Blast; Compost; Fires of Yavimaya; Goblin Bombardment; Badlands; Bayou; Contested Cliffs; Tower of the Magistrate
Kresh (10): Bone Shredder; Eater of the Dead; Woodripper; Skyshroud Claim; Victimize; Red Elemental Blast; Spore Cloud; Aether Flash; Goblin Bombardment; Bayou
Lord of Tresserhorn (18): Ashen Ghoul; Coffin Queen; Corpse Harvester; Filth; Gempalm Polluter; Grave Defiler; Havoc Demon; Noxious Ghoul; Phyrexian Delver; Undead Gladiator; Vengeful Dead; Goblin Bombardment; Oversold Cemetery; Read the Runes; Red Elemental Blast; Patriarch’s Bidding; Underground Sea; Volcanic Island
Merieke (2): Bane of the Living; Tundra
Mimeoplasm (10): Altar of Dementia; Bone Shredder; Genesis; Mischievous Quanar; Wall of Blossoms; Equilibrium; Oversold Cemetery; Reanimate; Skyshroud Claim; Strip Mine
Phelddagrif (16): Academy Rector; Genesis; Spellbane Centaur; Sunscape Battlemage; Cleansing Meditation; Far Wanderings; Skyshroud Claim; Decree of Silence; Equal Treatment; Keep Watch; Gaea’s Touch; Ground Seal; Mirari’s Wake; Rancor; Brushland; Tundra
Riku (16): Aura Thief; Heart Warden; Man-o-War; Rayne, Academy Chancellor; Future Sight; Night Soil; Rhystic Study; Artifact Mutation; Desertion; Ertai’s Meddling; Turnabout; Worldly Tutor; Skyshroud Claim; Tropical Island; Volcanic Island; Taiga
Rith (6): Heart Warden; Kamahl, Fist of Krosa; Karmic Guide; March of Souls; Mercadia’s Downfall; Brushland
Thraximundar (11): Bone Shredder; Attrition; Dawn of the Dead; Oversold Cemetery; Backlash; Corpse Dance; Shattering Pulse; Perish; Nevinyrral’s Disk; Diamond Valley; High Market
That’s just over 10 cards per deck, a fair percentage of it from mana bases. The only deck that gets completely gutted is Lord of Tresserhorn and his Zombies, but that can certainly be rebuilt with Thraximundar as the General (he’s a Zombie Assassin) and many of the cards from Innistrad (and I suspect upcoming sets). Otherwise, although there would be cards that I would miss, very few seem irreplaceable. For example, Skyshroud Claim, which appears 7 times above, can simply be swapped out for Explosive Vegetation.
Cards that don’t appear on this list that I see played enough to mention include Swords to Plowshares, Mystical and Enlightened Tutor, Force of Will, Time Spiral, Treachery, Collective Restraint, Restock, Tsabo’s Decree, Wild Research, Decimate, Decree of Pain, Dragon Tyrant, Gratuitous Violence, Karmic Justice, Mutilate, Exploration, Horn of Greed, Burgeoning, and Starstorm. I’m sure there are a few others that I’ve missed.
If we were to add other sets printed in the Modern era—like the Duel Decks, Planechase, Archenemy, and From the Vault, this list would be a good bit smaller. In fact, it’d take out nearly everything that’s commonly played save for lands.
I think the answer to the follow-up question is “not as many as you might think.”
Is The Format Inherently (More) Broken?
I think it can’t be, since the worst offenders of brokenness tend to be the older cards (Balance, Channel, Time Walk), which were developed when there wasn’t such a good team in R&D as there has been in the Modern era.
Would There Need to be a Banned List?
Yes, since Erayo would still be stupid a General. The Banned List would be much smaller since there are cards that would be illegal due to format restrictions, but I can’t see any Modern-legal cards that are on the list (Emrakul, Gifts Ungiven, Painter’s Servant, Protean Hulk, Staff of Domination, Sway of the Stars) coming off. Painter’s Servant might get some discussion since Grindstone is gone, but Iona’s presence—and the possibility of anything like it in the future—makes that a hard sell.
I can’t see anything that’s on the Modern Banned List getting ported over to Modern EDH, since the danger in many of those cards is having them in multiples and regularly available.
Would There Be A Significant Difference in the Decks?
This is a two-part question. First is “would existing decks change significantly?” The second is “would there be new decks/deck types?”
Given the exploration of the cards we’d lose, I think the answer to the first is no. They’d be a little less tight because the dual lands would be a major loss. They’re easily replaceable with shocklands, but in EDH you’re running both if you have them. Fetchlands get a little less valuable because there are fewer things to go grab. That said, I’ve done a little note taking while playing, and while accepting that my statistical sampling is still not significant and additionally accepting that I lean heavily toward green decks, providing ramp that other colors don’t have, the value of having all the dual and shocklands (which are fetchable) of your colors might be overstated. Again, I know green ramps better, most often into basic lands, but I seem to rarely want for a color. I’m talking about playing in the socio-casual crowd here, so I don’t see the loss of some admittedly good cards for our mana base being as much of a hit as folks would think.
As noted with Lord of Tresserhorn, there are probably decks that just get gutted. Slivers comes to mind, since Queen and Overlord are out (unless we’re allowing the Premium Deck series as legal). There are still 45 legal Slivers, so it might be doable, but it won’t be as strong. Tribal Elves is still viable, with 163 legal cards.
As I look at the above list of cards that would come out of my decks, it doesn’t look like there’s too much that’s irreplaceable. I’d hate to lose some of them—Red Elemental Blast is generally a blowout every time I cast it—but I don’t think there’s too much around which decks hinge. Intet would surely miss Scroll Rack, but there are other ways of manipulating the top of the library. I think the card I’d miss most would be Goblin Bombardment. There are fewer free sacrifice outlets these days, and if you’ve read this column for any length of time, you know I love my sacrifice outlets.
As to the second part, my answer is “I doubt it.” The lion’s share of decks is built around Generals and their abilities anyway. Since we’re not adding new stuff, and we’re not taking away anything that particularly makes decks operate at the atomic level, it doesn’t look like we’d be changing the environment much. There’s far less metagaming in EDH than there is in competitive formats (there’s still not enough, IMO—pack more enchantment, artifact, and graveyard hate in your decks!!!), so I don’t see the absence of some decks pushing the emergence of others. My first thought is that combo decks get weaker, but since I don’t face too many of them, I’d have to trust those more familiar with them to make that judgment. Pieces like Tutors and Necropotence are out, so the more I think about it, the less good combo becomes—which is certainly not all downside to me, but also not enough to upend the format.
Mass land destruction would be all but gone. Cataclysm, Catastrophe, Decree of Annihilation, Epicenter, Jokulhaups, Impending Disaster, Myojin of Infinite Rage, Obliterate, and Sunder all become illegal. There are still ways to do it, like Worldslayer, but they’re fewer and farther between, and you have to jump through more hoops to get there. I know that there are some groups where mass land destruction is a viable strategy, but I wouldn’t see this as having that much of an impact on the environment. I would imagine Obliterate would be the most-missed card.
Conclusion
After going through this whole exercise, my conclusion is “It’d be a bad idea.” Making EDH Modern wouldn’t significantly change anything for the better (especially when we add the cards that were printed from 8E onward that aren’t currently Modern legal) save for maybe neutering combo decks, and it would remove a major draw to the format, which is playing all the cool old cards. It just wouldn’t feel like EDH. We’d miss some of those old Generals most of all. Nonetheless, I got a great deal of value out of the exploration. It gave me a view of the cards and the format from a particular angle that I hadn’t yet seen, reinforced some of the choices I’ve made in decks, and called into justifiable question some of the others. Thinking and processing thought are always a win, so it was time well spent.
* What I’ve actually been doing between screen loads is alternating between pushups and crunches. I figure if I’m lounging around playing a game, I might as well also get some exercise. If I play enough, I figure I’ll have abs like some of the characters.