Subject: Don't Ban Anything!
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1998 15:57:14 -0500
From: Gabriel N Perdue <GNPerdue@JHU.EDU>
To: MTG-STRATEGY-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM

Howdy,

        Wow it has been a looong time since I posted anything to this list...
between school, my job, and my other job, I barely have time to lurk!
However, this is an issue I feel strongly enough about to motiviate me to
write in.
        To put it simply: The DCI should not ban any of the cards currently
legal for Type II play...not the Tolarian Academy, not Persecute, not any
of them.  Here's why...

        Granted, the deck known as "Tolarian Blue", "The Academy",
"Deep Blue", and so on has had a drastic impact on the new Standard
environment.  It is a fast, powerful deck which is forcing the rest of the
competition to play differently.  It is not, however, a "broken" deck.
Now, this may sound a bit optimistic/idealistic, but I have a great deal
of faith in the WotC R&D team.  I don't believe it is unrealistic to call
them the best in the gaming industry.  They knew about TU.  They knew
about the deck long before Urza's Saga was released.  We were even warned
of its coming when Mind Over Matter was heralded as a card almost too
powerful to be printed...but they printed it.  They also let Time Spiral,
Stroke of Genius, and Tolarian Academy come to print.  Now, after the long
hard lessons of the First Editon (alpha/beta/unlimited), Arabian Nights,
and Legends I do not believe the WotC R&D team would allow a truly broken
card or set of cards to be put into circulation.  Which means that there
must be not only an answer to TU, but a series of interlocking decks which
will forge a new balance of power in the Standard Environment.  TU is
strong right now not because it is "broken", but because people are
bringing older generation deck technology, decks which are by and large
Standard Decks from the Summer, to bear against it.  So far, nobody has
really developed any newer deck archetypes or styles.  There are some
really brilliant beginnings surfacing...Fiery Elves, some of the various
Ywgmoth's Drain style decks, and arguably the Infi-Whale decks (which I
believe should NOT be built to play like an old Nightmare Survival deck,
but as a very new, different archetype).  Before we rush to ban anything,
the rest of the opportunities of Urza's Saga need to be explored.
        But what do we do in the meantime, one asks?  (While waiting for a
stroke of creative genius...)  Clearly, since this IS a new environment,
it is not unreasonable to expect it to force changes upon old deck-styles
and change the body of modern deck building theory.  Several new
principles have arisen...
                a) Decks must carry a certain minimum of disruption of
                their opponents strategy, or they will lose.  An example is
                Wasteland.  There is almost not a single deck which should
                now attempt to compete without four Wastelands distributed
                through its main body and sideboard.  This will make four
                and five color decks more difficult, but so be it.  With
                Gemstone Mine and Undiscovered Paradise gone, rainbows are
                not really that viable anyways.  It should be interesting
                to see if they're reprinted in 6E...if they're not, then
                Wizards is clearly trying to shift the environment away
                from the multitude of multi-colors which dominated the
                scene through the last block.
                b) Decks need to be faster.  Now, more than ever, speed is
                becoming all important in Magic.  Everything Wizards has printed
                after Ice Age has been another notch faster (it is for
                this reason I believe Fireblast will be back in 6E).
                c) If a deck cannot make itself faster, it must find ways
                to completely lock the game down.  Soft locks will not survive
                anymore.
In addition, a lot of the older archetypes are being ignored.  Where are
the Pox decks?  When the Mirage block rotated out I was petrified of the
idea of Pox running rampant...why you ask?  Null Brooch.  With no infamous
Orangutan running around, Pox decks have grown much, much stronger...and a
first turn Bottomless Pit, or first turn Oppression will certainly put a
dent in ANY combination deck.  Where are the land destruction decks?
Green/White Armageddon decks with Wasteland and Winter's Grasp have all
the tools necessary to horribly limit TU and do well against other
archetypes.  What about Blue-White Fortress decks?  With Gaea's Blessing
gone, "millstone" decks are viable once again.

        This situation vaguely reminds me of the Black Summer of '96.
That was one of the most fun summers I ever had (Magic wise) and it was
really the summer that tournament Magic "took off".  The underlying reason
for the new popularity was, I believe, Necropotence decks.  They were so
good, and so strong, that anyone felt like they had a chance playing one.
In addition, they were great fun to play against because when you weren't
playing for the Dark Side of the Force, you were part of a little
counter-culture...and that was a blast.

        Part of my bias against bans and restrictions comes from many
years of playing a lot of Type I...and watching all the cool cards slowly
get restricted and then banned.  I'd hate to see the same thing happen to
Type II.  Believe me, I've seen too many bannings and restrictions...and
all they ever do is leave one feeling empty inside.

                                        pax
                                        Gabe