Community

Sep 12, 2012 -- 3:26PM, gruulsmash wrote:

Sep 10, 2012 -- 7:07PM, mrpiddle wrote:

I love Populate and Scavenge, and people generally seem happy with Detain even though I don't think it fits my playstyle. Overload seems like a narrow mechanic that can be overpowered if it's simply one-sided, so not sure of it right now.

Unleash, however, just makes me feel like no one really cares about BR at wizards. The mechanic has nothing to do with Hellbent (I was personally hoping you guys decided to add Madness as a "new" keyword for the guild) and appears as if it was tacked-on at the last minute. The color combination still gets no answer for enchantments in modern, but blue gets an answer for artifacts in m13 (which, oddly enough, is also an enchantment). I only mention this since I thought Rakdos needed a major push for anyone to care about it this time, and so far it doesn't look like it got it outside of dreadbore.

I may be wrong, but Unleash looks like a limited-only keyword. I honestly have no desire to try rakdos out if I was to go to a prerelease as of now, and I can't imagine why anyone would. +1/+1 and a major drawback as an ability is exciting for me to build a constructed deck around? Seriously, anyone who is excited by Unleash, can you respond on the boards? I just don't get this keyword outside of an "it plays well in limited" decision-maker.

Of course, watch rakdos end up being the Jund-type boogieman once the third set shows up :D.

Oh, and another question for the boards, do you feel that wizards should try to push the less popular guilds harder than popular guilds? Obviously you know what I think haha.

I hear you.

But... DREADBORE!!!!!

However, the gruul beter get an awesome mechanic. Bloodthirst was terrible.

also, i think NWO is getting in the way because they can't make complex unleash creatures.
No "If unleashed, it gets X"

Hmm... dreadbore. You drive a hard bargain. Hadn't thought about that one! I do like the way you think, gruul. I think we can be friends.

Unleash looks like it is an aggro mechanic in constructed, but will probably follow the same problem bloodthirst had - it's a win-more mechanic. If unleash cards also granted haste with the +1/+1 counter, I would think it was a great mechanic since it adds tension and decision-making, but it may have been too powerful.

I'm sure both unleash and bloodthirst are great from a developer standpoint in limited, but they do bore me since they make your deck lose to a) faster aggro decks b) deck that can block with bigger critters or c) decks with mass removal. It just seems like not a big enough mechanic to stand on its own in the modern game of magic, especially when BR needs something more since all I can ever rely on them for is to destroy any creature on the board (well, as long as the creature doesn't have hexproof or the spell isn't countered).

But everything is good with Wolfir Silverheart, the things that are best with it are things that are already in play when it comes down (no matter what those things are). Birds of Paradise is nearly the ideal companion card.

Dear Erik Lauer,
Open letter, regarding your article "January 28, 2013 DCI Banned ":
I’m part of a very active magic community in Richmond, VA. During my time at local pre-releases (prior to this article coming out), I heard multiple fellow players say that they were avoiding Modern PTQs because they feel the environment if overregulated. This is an opinion I have heard espoused since the creation of modern, and it has not gone away. Have you thought about an article explaining why there was a need to ban more cards to counteract the numbers that Jund is showing, as opposed to removing powerful alternatives from the banned list? I feel that this could help the community’s feelings toward modern more than mentioning the one card that has recently been removed from the banned list while banning two more?
I’m curious about the following:
• mental misstep
o stops Jund’s disruption, bolts, and explosive Deathrite shaman draws (by the way, this guy is everywhere
o oh, by the way, this is good against storm as well
• Punishing fire
o Kills almost everything in the deck and recovers from the disruption
• Wild Nacatl
o As Jund typically has a poor matchup against agro strategies
• Ponder/pre-ordain/Jace/ancestral visions
o there doesn’t appear to be a control deck anywhere in the field
Ever
I’d appreciate anything you have to say in regard to the other side of the coin.

Thank you for your time and input,
Todd Scott