MtG Standard Ban Update

The only card in need of a ban was Attune. Refiner is perfectly okay, Ruins is an extremely niche card and Ferocidon is easily removable in the matchups where it matters.

I don't think you know what "semantics" means

>Lay of the Land is a broken card in nuMtG

Explain to a non player what the fuss is all about

>Printing a card and banning it in the same second.
2018 will be a fun year.

>ban 2 of the energy staples to remove power from energy variants
Cool
>ban red dino because he is 2kool4skool
Meh
>ban ruins because 5 mana shock is too good
And here i thought burn was supposed to be the entry level deck for red.

They banned a moderately powerful card that was used in the burn deck in standard format.

Ignoring what's obviously the point so you can focus on irrelevant details.

...

>Ruins is an extremely niche card
It's literally what the second best deck in the format is named for. The banning isn't because the land is too good, it's because energy is the only thing holding the deck back from dominating standard.

with pic related gone, my gf can no longer turn 2 have a 4/4 longtusk, what are some good replacement cards she could use to substitute for early cheap energy?

also, do multiple metallic mimics stack on the field? would multiple deeproot elites do the same? could I have every merfolk coming into play with a bonus 8/8??

Wizards is baked their dream midrange cake and decided that they don't like the taste.

Wizards don't know what they are doing

WotC used to shake the metagame by printing cards that countered popular strategies.
Now they just ban the stuff that the top decks play, along with stupid mistakes like the cat.

dunno where that 'is' came from

Yes, they stack.

Just go GU merfolk good stuff, might have some power between all the new cards that got printed.

Obviously standard is weak now if Rumpndump needs banned, but do none of you understand why having a damage ability printed on a land is good for late game in a deck with a low curve?

They've been experimenting with more regular bans to keep the meta fresh rather than only banning as a thermonuclear option. The result is banning cards that are far less impactful than in the past.

I don't know man. I understand having damage stapled to a land so it has minimal opportunity cost is what enabled Ramunap Red to rise, but on the other hand it's far from being broken

Standard is in many ways the default Magic format, made up only of recent sets. In the 10 years up to 2017, Magic experienced two banned cards in Standard. In the past 12 months, they have banned 9 cards. Nothing like this has happened since 2005, when they banned 8 cards in one year. In short, this is possibly the worst time to be a Magic player.

>Have an energy theme from kaladesh
>only two artifacts use it to any usefulness
>Ban one of them
They sinned, and this is what they get for that.

That sounds like a terrible way to keep the game healthy.

No land interaction. It's free 2 damage that you can only deny with one card in the meta.

It's not just minimal opportunity cost its virtual card advantage. It's turning land you no longer need into a shock when you don't need it anymore.

This is a part of it too. There is very very little that can be done to deal with land abilities too, which only adds to the issue.

>1 mana common
>banned
This is absolute indisputable proof that wizards has no fucking idea how to balance this game.
I'm absolutely amazed that a $20 deck I bought last year now contains 4 banned cards.
What is even the point of banning $0.12 cards? I thought the express purpose of a banlist was to prevent $40 cards from being standard staples, with every deck needing a playset. If a competitive energy deck needs a playset of $0.12 cards I'd call that a win.

What, was Hostage Taker just too new to ban? What the fuck is Wizards thinking? Panic-banning the top decks doesn't make people interested in your format, it makes everyone scared to buy into it. They need to design and balance sets with the knowledge that it's a small format, and not be afraid of having a small meta.
I'm giving it until the core set. If they can't do it right then, I'm out.

I already run gu merfolk, I'm keen for some new cards. I'm currently doing the 1/1 counter meme, though I'm thinking of also putting some focus on river sneak damage with either token summons/cheap merfolk, especially now that I could run some cards like mist cloaked herald. Would that be trying to achieve too much by backing off slightly with the 1/1 counters strat and putting a bit more into cheap merfolk units for cheeky river sneak damage? With m.mimic, nissa, v.gearhulk and deeproot elite, I seem to have enough 1/1 counters, and would seemingly have room for lots of cheap 1-2 mana units
cool, ta

Let's think here. In Standard right now, how would you deny these 2 damage?

Only stormcaller and disallow would be able to stop that in the meta right now.

...

Oh right, that was Ixalan. Good lord.

whats the little diamond mana on ruins? I'm new don't bully

Plenty of nonbasic disruption in standard

Colorless mana

Also that shitty blue card aetherwind tradeworks? That bounces 1 permanent for you and you opponent.

so it can be used for anything?

Spending 3 mana to destroy it in the early game before its up and running is pretty much timewalking your opponent, doing it once it is up and running doesn't work since they can pop it in response.

the opposite.

it can only be used for (1) or cards using that symbol

No, it can be used to pay for generic costs, or for colorless costs.

Three "manas" to disrupt one land and doesn't even delay the enemy's mana curve in a mono-colored deck AND only produces colorless mana?

Not really efficient and people aren't really using it.

Not in meta. Which standard deck is using it right now?

go UB constrictor, use pic related and other counter shenanigans, forget about energy as the main mechanic

Both disallow and stiflebird (with a draw a card)

Yea it only really mattered in OotGW for eldrazi cards

>Not in meta
Isn't a fucking response faggot. If responses were meta, it wouldn't be banned.

2 mana, you get an untapped basic.

Colorless mana.

>playing Standard
>buying Standard cards
>giving WotC money
loving every laugh

None, no one wants a 3/4? mana bounce just for one land. I just remembered it was one of the only cards that hits lands in standard.

strange that you'd essentially need an extra card just to use 1

They have gone full Yu-Gi-Oh with their bans.

Because that 12 cent card enables a single deck to dominate the meta.

I guess, I don't play Standard, whatever.

Green red are the best colors in magic so naturally they would start there. More bans to come February 12th. Imagine the shitstorm it will cause if these shitty cards get banned what will happen in February.

New player here.
I'm building a deck with Sanguine Bond and Exquisite Blood. Shouldn't these cards be banned? They seem kind of OP to me but I'm not super familiar with the game yet.

Only favorable winds uses Nimble and it barely makes a blimp in the meta.

Pummeler has a bigger share of the meta than Favorable winds.

It is a response when the whole point of the discussion is talking about cards that ARE seeing some play.

Which card would you take away from Energy, B/U control or Gifts to add that one.

Precisely

Fair point, but it's still something you need to pop before turn 5, because they can just pop the ruins in response before you do it.

Longtusk Cub is sitll good

Glint Sleeve Siphoner is still good

Wanna know how I know you don’t play the format you’re complaining about?

>Let's think here. In Standard right now, how would you deny these 2 damage?
Its only 2 damage. It is a way to get around counterspell. Fatcaster mage is still in the format.

Has Magic murdered a Tier 0 decks 2 weeks after it was released?

Here's what's going to happen from now on. Each new block will see the release of a new pushed deck archetype, encouraging players to buy packs of that set to compete. Six months later, when the next block is released, the powerful cards from the pushed archetype will be banned, forcing players to buy packs of the new set. This is inevitably what happens when the same company that manufactures product manages the metagame.

Tinfoil hat time: Hasbro executives don't care about the long-term health of the game - a game they believe is dying in face of digital competitors - and they're trying to squeeze as much money from invested players before the whole thing comes crashing down.

The bans are fine, it's R&D pumping out bannable cards that's really ruining things.

>Green red are the best colors in magic
pic

A few things.
Those cards are not in the Standard card pool. Look up the different formats to see card legalities.
That combo is way too slow for Modern, and easy to disrupt (hand destruction, counterspells, and enchantment hate).
It's a common combo in Commander decks. If you see somebody play one half of it, you do everything you can to stop the other one from coming down.

TLDR; No, it doesn't need a ban.

>Ramunap Ruins adds a lot of "invisible power" to the deck, often acting as a virtual reduction to the opponent's starting life total.
Someone actually had to write this

What? It's a land ability. Even if you use torrential, you need a card in your graveyard that cancels the activated ability.

Only cards, IN THE META RIGHT NOW, that do that are the stormcaller and disallow. Maybe Nimble if you count favorable winds lists.

Also, it isn't "only" 2 damage, it's 2 damage in a deck based around deals tons of damage as fast as you can. A deck that has, in most lists, 4 shock and 4 lightning strikes and had the rampanging dino until yesterday.

It's a death by a thousand cuts, 4 from the ruins that require specific cards to be denied. It's potentially 8 damage that can't be denied with specific sideboard in a stagnant rotation.

Field of Ruin is modern playable though. Shit's great.

Ban-justification article-writers for WotC on suicide watch.

Not saying it isn't. But it's not efficient enough to deal with the ruins in a meta that allows them to be activated freely.

>1 mana common
>banned
This is absolute indisputable proof that wizards has no fucking idea how to balance this game.
I'm absolutely amazed that a $20 deck I bought last year now contains 4 banned cards.
What is even the point of banning $0.12 cards? I thought the express purpose of a banlist was to prevent $40 cards from being standard staples, with every deck needing a playset. If a competitive energy deck needs a playset of $0.12 cards I'd call that a win.

By "them" I mean Ramunap Ruins, not Field of Ruin.

>It's potentially 8 damage that can't be denied with specific sideboard in a stagnant rotation.
Its more than that. You sac a desert not ramunap ruins. But regardless this is a format where draw go is a very real threat.

In one year, they banned more cards than in 15 years history.

Magic is dead.

Oh yeah, I forgot the scorching deserts.

Judging a cards power level by its rarity is completely wrong.
There are many banned commons in older formats and removing powerful enablers from Standard is a thing (hasn't happened in a while, but lots of past precedence).

Don't be a moron and assume only rares or mythics are "good cards". Attune literally IS energy in its current form. Enables 3/4 colour goodstuff without any deckbuilding cost, gives free resources and is one CMC.

Here's the thing: Why the fuck should we believe that WotC is going to solve the problem with Play Design? The people making the sets are still the same people who have now spent 3 straight years making awful sets that necessitate bannings. Why should we have any faith at all in WotC's ability to make good sets with Standard?

We really need to see some more genuine commitment and humility from Wizards, and not just Maro constantly telling us to trust him because this new set will definitely be better and he's really excited about it. And also, you know, better cards.

At this point, they basically need Dominaria to be a home run, and I have no faith whatsoever in their ability to do that. And they don't seem to care about keeping players on-board or excited beyond playing the same tricks that have failed time and time and time and time again.

Well, TO BE FAIR. They recewntly added a whole team whose whole job is to balance the new cards taking in account the competitive scene.

By recently, I mean last year, 2017.

They've been stuck in their "draft scene" model for balancing for so long they actually need a NEW TEAM to balance this shit not to be broken.

We might see their efforts in the set that comes after Dominaria.

They've supposedly hired outside pros and streamers who know what they're doing to be their playtesters

>tfw there's a flipland that's in Standard as of RIX that basically becomes Tolarian Academy
Welp, can't wait for this to get banned

>Why should we have any faith at all in WotC's ability to make good sets with Standard?
Because Garfield is designing the next set. We just need to axe Ian Duke.

> and not just Maro constantly telling us to trust him because this new set will definitely be better and he's really excited about it. And also, you know, better cards.
Maro will get the axe when Arena dies.

MTG set itself up for a series of masters sets (4) and another commander deck set in combination with Dominaria to fatten the calf to slaughter it.

There was one in the last set that became Gaea's Cradle. What's your point?

The gaea's cradle doesn't see any play, this won't be much different

Nah, You need 4 mana and 5 artifacts to activate it and it only flips at the end of the turn.

By gaining at least 2 life.

Do you really think that the problem with recent standards is limited to insufficient testing?

Like, it's nice that they're not going to fuck up and accidentally print Splinter Twin again, but I don't think the fundamental issues with Standard are going to be solved just by avoiding printing "overpowered" cards like fucking Ramunap. I feel like adding more playtesting is just a desperate attempt to paper over the issues that might reduce bans but won't actually create more enjoyable Standards.

Not to mention the fact that the same fucking people are still going to be in charge of actually making the cards, with apparently no changes whatsoever. I just don't see why I should have any faith at all in Play Design solving the problems, or why we should believe anything that anyone in WotC says.

could any merfolk players give their thoughts on strategies revolving around river sneak?

If ever there was a time to go back to the old way, it's with Dominaria.

By "old ways" I mean adding some fucking answers to block strategies in their sets. And ways to interact with the opponent. The reason we've had so many bans is that there are no good answers.

Who the hell is Ian Duke? How could he possibly be worse than Ken Nagle?

Play it and hit your opponent with it.

tolarian academy doesn't cost four mana or get countered. that's not getting banned.

Also, while I realize OP's trying to be funny, that pic would look a lot less stilted if you tossed the artifact lands in there too. those look even stupider on a ban list than ramunap in a vacuum.

>played magic until urza cycle
>4 mana+1 land for 2 piddly damage is ban
What the fucking tits, so cards like incinerate or prodigal pyromancer is ban worthy?

>5 Artifacts
I don't know what is more fucking difficult to achieve, this or Ascend.

Do you know how fucking hard it is to get 5 Artifacts. What's the payout? Oh gee, City of Brass and Academy. Who gives a fuck, you don't need that mana when you somehow got 5 goddamn artifacts on the field.

The creature-treasure clause isn't even a line in the text. What goddamn creature-hitter deck wants an Academy that costs 4-fucking mana to play AND doesn't work in multiples. 100% of the time would rather play a a basic land in the main or board.

>Playing white in the current meta
>Lifegain white in the current meta

That's another reason why the rampanging was banned too. The "only" lifegain strat in standard is hardcounter'd by the ferocidon because it relies on putting tons of vampire tokens in the field.

It can't keep up with the aggro.

Second Sun had a bit of fight there, but the speed of the drops in ramunap outpaces the healing in second sun strats.

>By "old ways" I mean adding some fucking answers to block strategies in their sets. And ways to interact with the opponent. The reason we've had so many bans is that there are no good answers.

This is a lot of my point: many of the problems with Standard seem to be a result of design and development choices and philosophies. And I haven't seen any willingness to actually seriously rethink any of that stuff. just Maro acting like he's the greatest game designer in history while insisting that Play Design will fix everything.