Magic: The Gathering

[Tricen]

Sphinx rev era was pretty decent for blue, too.

[Ghost_Wheel22]

U/W Control During Zendikar was the last time it was a thing. Even then it got dickpunched by the rise of Valakut and Caw-Blade. Been an anemic mess ever since.

[Weltall]

Long gone are the magical days of Mono-U Morphling.

[Tomiko]

when was the last time they actually printed good countermagic? i'm struggling to think of any examples that have been in new sets since i picked the game back up, and that was almost 2.5 years ago.

Any of the good ones are only situational:

Silumgar's Scorn (actual Counterspell in the right deck)
Clash of Wills (almost a Power Sink)

[GoggleHead]

Well, they have officially said "fuck blue". One of the worst Counterspells ever printed:

1UU

As part of the cost, return a permanent you control to owner's hand. Counter target spell.

And before anyone says "but ETB triggers!", let me stop you. This is strictly awful.

I look forward to you not budging on this a year from now when some deck wins a pro tour with four of these maindeck specifically so they can abuse ETB triggers.

[Moridam]

honestly i'm just excited they're printing big things with interesting ETB triggers again. nothing with serious potential for reanimator thus far, but it gives me hope for the future they'll print something big and dumb with a sufficiently busted effect that it warrants consideration.

[Weltall]

I look forward to you not budging on this a year from now when some deck wins a pro tour with four of these maindeck specifically so they can abuse ETB triggers.

4 in the main deck of a pro tour winner? I'll take the bet all day.

[Ghost_Wheel22]

Long gone are the magical days of Mono-U Morphling.

That was during my early years but even then I saw how b-b-busted Urza's block was. Superman was a fucking allstar wincon but it was the cards like Acadamy. Or Memory Jar. Or Fluctuator. Windfall. Dream Halls. Recurring Nightmare. Mind Over Matter. WotC was playing ban-a-mole nonstop because every week people were brewing up T1 infinite this, T2 combo Tier-0 decks. I still remember just a few weeks into playing at an FNM I was getting T1-T2 goldfished by Academy deck Spikes when I thought my Mono G Ramp Stompy was the hottest shit because I could have a Thorn Elemental out on turn 4.

Fuck why you gotta make me feel those feels.

[Weltall]

That's when standard was good. Also, mono G stompy was still good AF. It had Rofelos, Cradle, and Plow Under lol.

[Krandor]

Urza block, ah the memories.

There was what, like 12 different cards from that block banned while that cycle was still in standard? And 16 total bans since it came out.

[Weltall]

I mean, a lot of the Uncommons were better than Mythics today.

[Krandor]

Cradle, Morphling, Lackey, Show and Tell, Academy, Yawgmoth's Will, Yawgmoth's Bargain, Memory Jar, Windfall, Time Spiral, Tinker, Metalworker, Smokestack, Hidden Gibbons, Exploration, Exhume, Snap, Tolarian Winds, Unearth, Priest of Titania, No Mercy, Voltaic Key, Urza's Incubator, Sneak Attack, Mother of Runes

God, what an amazing block

[Weltall]

To expand on the not-so-obvious:

Dark Ritual, Serra Sanctum, Albino Troll, Deranged Hermit, Rancor, Exhume, Treetop Village, Crop Rotation, Blastoderm, Plow Under, Rofellos, Grim Monolith, Powder Keg, Masticore, Miscalculation, Treachery, Replenish.

I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot more. THAT was the height of MTG, regardless of the increased player base, today.

You could win a Grand Prix with:

Control: Mono blue Morphling
Beatdown: Mono red Ponza
Midrange: Mono Green
Midrange: Opposition / D Hermit
Combo: Replenish)
Combo: Bargain/Will decks even post bans

[Krandor]

RECURRING NIGHTMARE/SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST

Edit : Wait shit that was Exodus, don't mind me.

[Moridam]

i really wish i'd stuck around for urza block, but mirage killed my interest in the game back when it was the latest and greatest.

dark ritual has pretty much always been my favorite card, it's a shame we'll probably never see it in a new set again. hopefully someday we'll get a break from the regime of 'new players don't like good cards' and 'new players don't like spells' and 'only new players exist', but it doesn't seem likely.

[Weltall]

As long as Maro is there, no, it does not seem likely.

[Ghost_Wheel22]

Blastoderm was Nemesis. I missed Mono Red Land Destruction. The tears I harvested blowing lands while smashing with Masticore was many. The tears from Squirrel Prison was many.

But what I really miss the most from that era? Lots and lots of common/uncommon playables.

[Krandor]

Fuck just looking at Welt's list I forgot Rancor. God that card was so amazing.

Mother of Runes is probably my absolute top card from urza block (that never got banned). That card has made so many people so fucking angry over the years.

Possibly my favorite magic card of all time alongside Hymn to Tourach

[Weltall]

Hymn to Tourach is something I rarely pass in a cube draft. That card is absolutely crushing when cast against you.

[Deftscythe]

http://media-dominaria.cursecdn.com/...9934544833.png

Welp, there's your counterspell. Not quite mana leak but pretty close.