The Wizards website has a survey link. When I tried to take the survey I get this:
"Thank you for your interest, but we have reached our goal of completed surveys."
This is not a survey from last year. It was posted yesterday in regard to Fate Unforged.
The problem with that kind of thinking is that when you try to replace a good card with 2 bad cards that are only good together, you end up with something that doesn't really work with any reliability.
That said, I'd love to see a new deck emerge called Pseudopod.
"Just don't buy into a deck if there's even a whisper that it's key card will be banned.... I know I never will again." This sentiment is what keeps creativity to a minimum. Screw that, if they ban it, you know you were on the right track. :D You should have won stuff in the meantime to make up for the loss of "investment".
Love your articles as always (man I've been away for a long time). It always seems to me that you must be doing some kind of mining to get your statistics on game tempo. If so, I was hoping you might share how you're doing so. Thanks!
I think the days of pulling one of creatures out of your hat are over. There are a ton of cards to cheat creatures out but none with the precision and resilience of Birthing Pod.
The better idea is to build a Junk or Black Green X deck. I think Dark Condifant, Tarmogoyf, , Liliana of the Viel is the new shell for a replacement in the void left by Pod. Not nearly as fun as searching your deck for exact answers but efficient as heck. Expensive too.
Unfortunately, Modern is now a world where creature decks will be just a bit below the top Tier decks. Personally when I get back into it I'm looking squarely at Twin decks, the hated Tron, Scapeshift or Affinity. They did reasonably well in a world with Pod and Blue Balls x 2. They only get stronger in a world without.
The issue with trying to brew something new is there is nothing new, only less of what was good before. Golgari Grave-troll isn't a world beater. Unless they urban something else in March, I don't see a ton in Fate Reforged that will create vast new deck horizons to explore.
But don't let that stop you from giving it a shot, just be prepared for a long road. As long as you're having fun though, who cares, right?
Just don't buy into a deck if there's even a whisper that it's key card will be banned.... I know I never will again.
Even before Treasure Cruise and Dig through Time forced most Pod lists to drop their combos, it was always about having any answer at your fingertips and enough value to win when Pod didn't stick. I'm only slightly exaggerating when I say I won more games with Gavony Township than I did with combo.
Too many players could and would immediately stomp out the combo. The best thing about the combo in Pod was the threat of it. It forced the opponent to focus on stopping the combo, when all I was doing was stomping face. I would smile when they wasted counters or removal on Viscera Seer or Melira.
I had a few memorable wins with Angel and Melira combos, but most wins off the combo were against players who'd not been prepared for it. One even called me a cheater!
The power of Pod decks was never in the combo but in the multiple, successive creature tutors if Pod stayed on the board and active. It might as well have been printed to read 'trade any creature for a better creature from your library once per turn'. I'm extremely upset over the ban, but the more I think about it, the more I see how powerful it was as a card. My main gripe is that it killed my wallet, my fun and my faith in Wizards's commitment to Modern.
If they wanted other creature decks to be better, they could have printed Pod specific hate cards. I'd rather have seen that then for the deck to be erased completely.
I played that list during the last PCT and you can watch the VOD for that. I delved them once by accident which was sad. Once I got my GY removed. I think I will test them some more but I do think they have a place in the list. I think I will go to 4 AK, 4 Words, 4 Cruise, 4 Brainstorm as draw package.
I think Gio has already said most of what I would have. Though I take your point that Pod tends to have a combo win in it the deck has increasingly tended towards creature beats in recent times, often called 'Value' Pod. Regardless I think that the deck was always a creature-based deck that could beatdown when necessary.
I take your point on the 4 hates but some of those comments are fairer than others:
- Draw has been neutered significantly. Ponder and Preordain because it makes combo too consistent. Ancestral Vision, Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time being banned shows that WOTC isn't a fan of powerful draw spells in Modern.
- Counters haven't really been hated out of Modern. The only banned counterspell is Mental Misstep I believe. Counters not being good in Modern is more of a consequence of a decision made prior to Mirrodin Block that counterspells aren't too fun and so they stopped reprinting Counterspell and made more conditional counterspells.
- I think Combo is still very viable in Modern but WOTC does work hard to keep it in check. Consistent Turn 3 combos are the boogeyman, which seems fair. I think they've overstepped the mark occasionally, such as banning Seething Song didn't seem particularly warranted.
- Tutors have been hated on, such as Green Sun's Zenith and now Pod. Again, like counterspells WOTC has generally moved away from printing powerful tutors and with good reason frankly. Turns out even if they cost 3/4 mana they are still too good.
AJ gave me a heads up to come in and get a seat but honestly I didn't feel I had proper decks for the event. Being that you needed 3 decks + whatever for the 4th round it seemed like a waste of time. I didn't realize there was a door prize but even had I known, not sure I would have joined. I felt that at #40 something I just had no place at the table.
How Accumulated Knowledge hade been working with treasure cruise? The instant speed make'em better than see beyond, plus you dont give so many cards to your opponents in the though matchs.. but im worry i have to delve'em with Treasure...
In my eyes, the TC/DTT thing was such a no-brainer, I thought no discussion was necessary. It (mainly TC) is something I've been talking about for months, so I just kinda auto-piloted to "now that it's gone."
No more like: TC deserved the ban because it was just a mistake and should've never happened. DTT didn't deserve the ban because we didn't get to see it as much and while it does make twin and scapeshift better we have not seen if these decks will become oppressive post-pod/tc. Also Delver with DTT would've not been as good and deserved another try before forcing Delver back into Tier2. If Delver remains too strong or scapeshift/twin become to strong they could've banned DTT next time around. I am just sad to see DTT go and blippy didn't really talk about it much.
I want to test Fade Away but it's currently bugged online. I think Fade Away + COP:blue could be a thing, reduce their numbers and prevent damage from the remaining 3-4 creatures. People will adept though and play around it.
No, Pod had already been moving away from the combo builds during the summer PTQ season. It stopped being a combo deck almost completely after KTK.
You're hates are too general. Here is how your list actually breaks down:
- Low CMC, usually adds up to 3 multi-card drawing or filtering that cantrips
- Tutors that are consistent in combination with a low cc, repeatable, or can place cards directly into play
- Combo enabling cards that consistently let non-interactive combo decks break the T4 rule
They have no problem with Counters at all. The strong free ones were never in the format to begin with and other than Counterspell, which is a smidge too flexible at UU, pretty much every other one worth the time is already legal in the format. (Although Prohibit might be cool.)
"The biggest thing that's gonna happen, I think, is an explosion of Abzan (nee Junk). With Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time out of the picture, Inquisition of Kozilek, Thoughtseize, and Liliana of the Veil suddenly get that much better. Siege Rhino is a must answer threat, and fits right in. Add some Abrupt Decay, and a Restoration Angel or two. Path to Exile, Murderous Cut, Dark Confidant, etc. Your basic pre-Khans "Junk Midrange plus Siege Rhinos.""
I agree with you that Junk/ Abzan decks will be one of top options. I think Junk package is better than the Jund version right now. We may even see some different versions of it with Noble, Thalia, KotR, Rhino and Restoration Angel, etc...
I guess, Anafenza will also see more play in this new Modern meta. She is basically a natural predator for new Dredgevine decks. And she is on the curve for Junk decks.
Yeah, the surveys they do cap at a specific number of respondents, and they stop once they hit that number, how ever long it's actually been.
The Wizards website has a survey link. When I tried to take the survey I get this:
"Thank you for your interest, but we have reached our goal of completed surveys."
This is not a survey from last year. It was posted yesterday in regard to Fate Unforged.
The problem with that kind of thinking is that when you try to replace a good card with 2 bad cards that are only good together, you end up with something that doesn't really work with any reliability.
That said, I'd love to see a new deck emerge called Pseudopod.
"Just don't buy into a deck if there's even a whisper that it's key card will be banned.... I know I never will again." This sentiment is what keeps creativity to a minimum. Screw that, if they ban it, you know you were on the right track. :D You should have won stuff in the meantime to make up for the loss of "investment".
Love your articles as always (man I've been away for a long time). It always seems to me that you must be doing some kind of mining to get your statistics on game tempo. If so, I was hoping you might share how you're doing so. Thanks!
I think the days of pulling one of creatures out of your hat are over. There are a ton of cards to cheat creatures out but none with the precision and resilience of Birthing Pod.
The better idea is to build a Junk or Black Green X deck. I think Dark Condifant, Tarmogoyf, , Liliana of the Viel is the new shell for a replacement in the void left by Pod. Not nearly as fun as searching your deck for exact answers but efficient as heck. Expensive too.
Unfortunately, Modern is now a world where creature decks will be just a bit below the top Tier decks. Personally when I get back into it I'm looking squarely at Twin decks, the hated Tron, Scapeshift or Affinity. They did reasonably well in a world with Pod and Blue Balls x 2. They only get stronger in a world without.
The issue with trying to brew something new is there is nothing new, only less of what was good before. Golgari Grave-troll isn't a world beater. Unless they urban something else in March, I don't see a ton in Fate Reforged that will create vast new deck horizons to explore.
But don't let that stop you from giving it a shot, just be prepared for a long road. As long as you're having fun though, who cares, right?
Just don't buy into a deck if there's even a whisper that it's key card will be banned.... I know I never will again.
Thanks, I have a feeling you have just triggered me into deck building mode :)
sure. it wouldn't be any good though.
It would be something you could mess around with for fun.
If you somehow wanted to use a deck full of value creatures, I think that Restoration Angel would be the way to go.
Something has to be done about wasteland, I'm going nuts trying to get the last two I need.
Can Yisan, the Wanderer Bard be used in a pseudo pod like deck? With proliferate, Hex Parasite and or power conduit the counters can be manipulated.
Even before Treasure Cruise and Dig through Time forced most Pod lists to drop their combos, it was always about having any answer at your fingertips and enough value to win when Pod didn't stick. I'm only slightly exaggerating when I say I won more games with Gavony Township than I did with combo.
Too many players could and would immediately stomp out the combo. The best thing about the combo in Pod was the threat of it. It forced the opponent to focus on stopping the combo, when all I was doing was stomping face. I would smile when they wasted counters or removal on Viscera Seer or Melira.
I had a few memorable wins with Angel and Melira combos, but most wins off the combo were against players who'd not been prepared for it. One even called me a cheater!
The power of Pod decks was never in the combo but in the multiple, successive creature tutors if Pod stayed on the board and active. It might as well have been printed to read 'trade any creature for a better creature from your library once per turn'. I'm extremely upset over the ban, but the more I think about it, the more I see how powerful it was as a card. My main gripe is that it killed my wallet, my fun and my faith in Wizards's commitment to Modern.
If they wanted other creature decks to be better, they could have printed Pod specific hate cards. I'd rather have seen that then for the deck to be erased completely.
I played that list during the last PCT and you can watch the VOD for that. I delved them once by accident which was sad. Once I got my GY removed. I think I will test them some more but I do think they have a place in the list. I think I will go to 4 AK, 4 Words, 4 Cruise, 4 Brainstorm as draw package.
I think Gio has already said most of what I would have. Though I take your point that Pod tends to have a combo win in it the deck has increasingly tended towards creature beats in recent times, often called 'Value' Pod. Regardless I think that the deck was always a creature-based deck that could beatdown when necessary.
I take your point on the 4 hates but some of those comments are fairer than others:
- Draw has been neutered significantly. Ponder and Preordain because it makes combo too consistent. Ancestral Vision, Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time being banned shows that WOTC isn't a fan of powerful draw spells in Modern.
- Counters haven't really been hated out of Modern. The only banned counterspell is Mental Misstep I believe. Counters not being good in Modern is more of a consequence of a decision made prior to Mirrodin Block that counterspells aren't too fun and so they stopped reprinting Counterspell and made more conditional counterspells.
- I think Combo is still very viable in Modern but WOTC does work hard to keep it in check. Consistent Turn 3 combos are the boogeyman, which seems fair. I think they've overstepped the mark occasionally, such as banning Seething Song didn't seem particularly warranted.
- Tutors have been hated on, such as Green Sun's Zenith and now Pod. Again, like counterspells WOTC has generally moved away from printing powerful tutors and with good reason frankly. Turns out even if they cost 3/4 mana they are still too good.
AJ gave me a heads up to come in and get a seat but honestly I didn't feel I had proper decks for the event. Being that you needed 3 decks + whatever for the 4th round it seemed like a waste of time. I didn't realize there was a door prize but even had I known, not sure I would have joined. I felt that at #40 something I just had no place at the table.
Sorry you had to use byes.
Opposing opinions. You should address it in your next article.
How Accumulated Knowledge hade been working with treasure cruise? The instant speed make'em better than see beyond, plus you dont give so many cards to your opponents in the though matchs.. but im worry i have to delve'em with Treasure...
In my eyes, the TC/DTT thing was such a no-brainer, I thought no discussion was necessary. It (mainly TC) is something I've been talking about for months, so I just kinda auto-piloted to "now that it's gone."
No more like: TC deserved the ban because it was just a mistake and should've never happened. DTT didn't deserve the ban because we didn't get to see it as much and while it does make twin and scapeshift better we have not seen if these decks will become oppressive post-pod/tc. Also Delver with DTT would've not been as good and deserved another try before forcing Delver back into Tier2. If Delver remains too strong or scapeshift/twin become to strong they could've banned DTT next time around. I am just sad to see DTT go and blippy didn't really talk about it much.
You can always find my latest list by going on my gatherling profile http://gatherling.com/profile.php?player=pierakor&mode=Lookup+Profile and click on BantFog. Right now it http://gatherling.com/deck.php?mode=view&id=27669
I want to test Fade Away but it's currently bugged online. I think Fade Away + COP:blue could be a thing, reduce their numbers and prevent damage from the remaining 3-4 creatures. People will adept though and play around it.
No, Pod had already been moving away from the combo builds during the summer PTQ season. It stopped being a combo deck almost completely after KTK.
You're hates are too general. Here is how your list actually breaks down:
- Low CMC, usually adds up to 3 multi-card drawing or filtering that cantrips
- Tutors that are consistent in combination with a low cc, repeatable, or can place cards directly into play
- Combo enabling cards that consistently let non-interactive combo decks break the T4 rule
They have no problem with Counters at all. The strong free ones were never in the format to begin with and other than Counterspell, which is a smidge too flexible at UU, pretty much every other one worth the time is already legal in the format. (Although Prohibit might be cool.)
Pod is more a combo than a creature deck.
WotC seems to hate 4 things in modern: Draw, Counters, Combo and Tutors.
What to you think Fade Away for the delver match, its like a board sweepe played it right.
Can you post your current list? Thanks
Unstable Mutation on Melira, Sylvok Outcast
"The biggest thing that's gonna happen, I think, is an explosion of Abzan (nee Junk). With Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time out of the picture, Inquisition of Kozilek, Thoughtseize, and Liliana of the Veil suddenly get that much better. Siege Rhino is a must answer threat, and fits right in. Add some Abrupt Decay, and a Restoration Angel or two. Path to Exile, Murderous Cut, Dark Confidant, etc. Your basic pre-Khans "Junk Midrange plus Siege Rhinos.""
You mean like that?
I agree with you that Junk/ Abzan decks will be one of top options. I think Junk package is better than the Jund version right now. We may even see some different versions of it with Noble, Thalia, KotR, Rhino and Restoration Angel, etc...
I guess, Anafenza will also see more play in this new Modern meta. She is basically a natural predator for new Dredgevine decks. And she is on the curve for Junk decks.