@desolutionist The format has just gotten faster and more broken. That's the consequence of adding 1000 new cards between standard, commander, and other supplemental printings to the format each year. If you print accidentally broken only 0.5% of the time, that's 5 new busted cards in the format every year. Decks max out on the best broken (like manaless dredge with 4x free spells, dredgers, bazaars, vengevines, hollow ones, etc) or play restricted highlander.dec
But there are foils to it. Decks have become so fast and streamlined, that cards like null rod, thalia, or blood moon can just wreck an opponent. If you build with hate in mind and leverage cards that mesh with the hate, you can win a lot of more grindy games.
The format looks vastly different than years past, but it's still fun. If you are of the OS mentality, you likely enjoy knowing games will last 20 minutes and get to turn 10 before someone wins. That's not vintage anymore, though many games CAN be that slow.
@blindtherapy I think making the game PW-centric is what WotC wants to do, because that's the flavor of the game at its core - planeswalkers traveling planes to have magic duels (you being a PW).
I'm actually working on a doomsday/hermit druid/belcher/PO+tendrils hybrid, which is really doing well. It dodges all the hate that would hit any one strategy. Grave hate? Play doomsday. Counterspells? Play hermit (with therapies). Tax effects? Play Goblin charbelcher. Draw the PO? Chain off and tendrils. The mismatch of cards really doesn't matter. You got mana to cast belcher? Go off with belcher. Play a hermit? You'll mill all the doomsday and belcher chaff out of the way. Got a doomsday? Your pile ignores the belcher/hermit cards. The deck basically just plays whatever broken line it draws/mulls into. It runs 4x FoW + 2 therapies and defense grids in the SB. It has a maindeck tinker and can SB in BSC/inkwell as yet another kill plan. It can even mull to 3 and win turn 2 - land, ritual, doomsday/land, mox, hermit/vault, crypt, belcher (with any mana draw and some luck on hitting 20 non lands). Fun deck, and all possible thanks to Thassa being a 1-card win package.
@maximumcdawg Because letting them resolve doomsday and trickbinding the oracle makes them lose the game instead of finding another doomsday and trying to combo again.
But nobody will play trickbind, so...
Stifle/trickbind will become the new removal spell of choice - and it's blue. We're in for some rough times.
Wrenn and Six for RG, pay 1 to kill this guy, carry on with your day.
I am glad they are printing "nerf PWs" cards, but I think this is far too tame. If abilities were an additional 2...then maybe we're talking, especially with multiple PWs. But 1 seems like such a minor hurdle.
@moorebrother1 However, once it is countered, you can just recast it. It goes back to the grave and is not exiled with yawg will. Having it FoWed, only to cast it again feels like a win.
if your opponent waited to plow on his own turn for pyro backup when an arcanist was on the table, that's just a misplay. You plow on opponent's EoT, then if it is countered, you get arcanist to replay plow and have pyro backup for THAT if needed.
Slow, but powerful for the cost. Play it on turn 1 off a mox, you get a more expensive preordain. Then just name any card in your hand that you plan to play in 2 turns (maybe holding a mox or another preordain or something) and attach a free draw 2 to it.
BUT...is that fast enough? Wouldn't you just rather play telling time or anticipate for that same 2 mana and draw the card NOW? Ponder/Preordain are basically the bar. You can play serum visions, and that card never sees play (you draw half the amount of cards as prophecy, but get the draw up front and all for just 1 mana).
I'm thinking this doesn't make the cut.
Cut 2 daze (you have 4x FoW already) and the imperial seal. As much as I love what seal does, it's too slow and you should find what you need plenty between cruise, dig, the other blue draw, vamp, demonic, tinker.
Also cut personal tutor - add a merchant scroll. It'll be better more often. And cut the 2 duress. With 4 thoughtseize and all that countermagic already, it's overkill. you need room for more bombs like Narset and Karn and perhaps one answer-all like chain of vapor. You can scroll for it too. Could add hurkyll's to your SB too.