There is no God.
Alas, a Tuesday without Magic Tuesday. Never thought I such a day would ever come. (Taken with instagram)
Magic 2012 Prerelease Party (July 9, 2011)
Sealed Limited Deck (46 Cards)
2 Wins - 2 Losses
9 Mountain
8 Plains
17 Lands
1 Assault Griffin
1 Chandra’s Phoenix
1 Gideon’s Avenger
1 Goblin Arsonist
1 Goblin Chieftain
2 Goblin Piker
2 Goblin Tunneler
1 Lightning Elemental
1 Manic Vandal
1 Peregrine Griffin
1 Pride Guardian
1 Stonehorn Dignitary
1 Volcanic Dragon
15 Creatures
1 Act of Treason
1 Angel’s Mercy
2 Chandra’s Outrage
1 Divine Favor
2 Greatsword
1 Incinerate
1 Lifelink
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Shock
1 Slaughter Cry
1 Stave Off
1 Warstorm Surge
14 Other Spells
Every deck in the Top 8 had four copies of Jace, the Mind Sculptor.
This has prompted plenty of Internet discussion in the past week. It also prompted plenty of discussion in the Pit. Today, I’ll share some of our perspective on what’s going on.
I will begin by talking about what we won’t do. We are not going to emergency-ban Jace, the Mind Sculptor or any other card in Standard.
Click through to hear their rationale.
Bringing this up again.
I don’t believe Jace is the problem. According to LaPille here, the most degenerate decks kill on turn 3 or 4 (Memory Jar, Affinity). Caw-blade does not do that. It does lock a player out if all the pieces come together, but there is still plenty of “room for interactivity,” as LaPille puts it.
Although one card is obviously stronger than the others, that card costs four mana, is cast for four mana, and does not win the game on the spot. Standard is nowhere near being dominated by combination decks with turn-three kills, so an emergency ban is not warranted.
