Adjusting to a Modern World will be a recurring theme this week, and the first part will be about the Banned & Restricted list of Modern and how I, if given the chance, would change the list. This first part discusses how I envision the B&R list of Modern. Modern was the first format that my friends and I played and for a long time it was the only format that interested me. As time went by I grew increasingly frustrated by the limitations of the format (or at least what I perceived as limitations), and last year I almost solely focused on Legacy. However, looking from the outside Modern had changed a lot since I ‘left’. Khans of Tarkir especially seems to have shaken the format – for the better. I have always been opposed to the VERY conservative approach Wizards have had to the format. However, the recent sets have impacted modern in a good way. In my opinion the last couple of sets has elevated the powerlevel of Modern to a place where you don’t want to pierce your eyeballs with needles whenever you are forced to play incredible inefficient and bad cards – Serum Visions and Mana Leak I am looking at you. My only complaint is that Burn is now a real deck in both Modern and Legacy. I hate burn. I really really hate burn and I will hate to play against you 100% of the time if you play burn – and fell free to quote me on that. I will even make the quote for you:
I hate burn. I really really hate burn and I will hate to play against you 100% of the time if you play burn
With that out of the way, let’s start by looking at one of my biggest issues with modern: B&R List. Patrick Chapin wrote a great article on SCG a couple of days ago (You can find it here – requires SCG Premium) and for a large part I agree with him. However, I will go over what I think could be the ‘right’ B&R list for ME (This is my opinion and it reflects what I want Modern to be). As of today, the Modern B&R list looks like this. If it was up to me, the B&R list would be very small and ultimately look something like this:
- Blazing Shoal
- Dark Depths
- Hypergenesis
- Mental Misstep
- Rite of Flame
- Stoneforge Mystic
- Skullclamp
- Chrome Mox
- Cranial Plating
- Treasure Cruise
I know this is a very radical change and that this also will never happen. But one can dream right? This B&R list would change modern completely and hopefully for the better. But with changes like this, you never really know how it will unfold and maybe some cards would need to be re-banned. In the following part I will briefly go over why I feel these cards need to be on the list:
Blazing Shoal would singlehandedly make Infect a reliable Turn 2 deck, which is way to fast for what Wizards will allow in Modern.
As much as I love to play with Dark Depths in Legacy, I believe that it is too strong in modern. Here we don’t have access to Karakas, Wasteland or Stifle to help combat this deck, while it get access to cards like Life from the Loam, Vampire Hexmage, Thespian’s Stage and Into the North.
This card is just too busted – in every sense. It would take more than a Modern reprint of Force of Will before I think this could be unbanned. If you disagree, then just watch this videoseries from Caleb Durward on CFB.
My only really problem with this card is that it would be included in almost every deck in modern and thus warp the format around itself. It has a unique effect that I could see thrive in modern if it somehow could not go into every deck in the format. The problem is that its greatest strength is also what takes it over the top.
Of the two rituals on the current B&R list I believe that this is the more powerful of the pair. I feel that with my ‘improved’ B&R list Storm would be a viable deck again and the format would be able to regulate itself to a stage where Storm can be beaten but has to be respected. But giving Storm both of the Rituals (and Chrome Mox) would be too much.
Everyones favorite Kor is not too powerful by it self, but combined with Batterskull and the different swords she would warp the format to a place that if you play white you play her most creature decks would either adopt or lose to her. You could argue that if you ban Batterskull she could be released, but I still think she is too good with the swords alone.
This card is just too busted. Anything that is too good to Legacy is probably way too good for Modern. And Skullclamp falls into this category. Nothing to see here.
Is was on the fence on this one for a while. On one hand, I would love to brew me some Blood Moon prison deck with this. But on the other hand, Splinter Twin on turn 3 seems even less fun that Spliter Twin on turn 4 already is. No to mention that Storm already got handed a bone with my new B&R list.
The keen observer might have noticed that I not only removed cards from the B&R list, I also added one: Cranial Plating. My reasoning for banning Cranial Plating is that I feel that the Artifact Lands + Plating would be too good and I would rather get to play with and against the Artifact Lands since they could enable other strategies than affinity alone. I also feel that this card basically boils the affinity MU down to if the affinity player “has it or not”.
The last card on the list is Ancestral Recal …ehm Treasure Cruise. Even though I am an advocate of raising the powerlevel of Modern, there has to be boundaries. And this card is just too good for Modern and it also helps keeping the Ascendancy deck in check. On a sidenote I want to mention that I think this is fine for Legacy (alongside our beloved Brainstorm), but that is a discussion for another time. So this is how I envision the B&R list for Modern. My next post will discuss some of the cards that came of the list and how I justify their return to Modern. In the mean time I would love to hear how your ‘perfect’ B&R list looks like and your thoughts about mine and what cards I overlooked if any. J
Delirious Obsessions 
oh yea dude cloudpost totally isn’t oppressive. This ban list would lead to a turn 3 format and for combo to be the only existing archetype in modern. You should probably delete the whole post and save yourself from the embarrassment that is your opinion.
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Nice of you to prove a point. And no, I am not going to delete ‘the embarrassment that is my opinion’. Everybody has the right to their own opinion and I will respect each of those who back theirs up with arguments. Until then, have fun hiding behind your anonymity
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In a heavy combo meta, post becomes an awful deck since u have no way to interact with spells. To prove that consider first modern gp: 60% playing post, twin won the gp.
Nice pile of green crap.
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Two cards are tricky: Second Sunrise and Sensei’s Divining Top were banned for time reasons rather than power level.
I assume you’ll explain why JTMS would “warp the format” less than Stoneforge Mystic?
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Yes, and they are covered in tomorrows post.
I’ll at least give it a try. So the reason that I believe that SFM will warp Modern more than JTMS is because the format is centered around creatures. If you look at Legacy, basically all viable non-combo creature decks run SFM. In Modern I think that JTMS will be too slow for many archetypes and if you tap out on turn 4 to play him you are very likely to lose when you pass the turn.
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