Modern Horizons 3 Banning in Pauper! | Magic: The Gathering MTG MH3

This is a text-only archive and may not reflect the original post's layout. View the original post.

Original Transcript:

0:00 - good morning magic I'm Gavin Verge from
0:02 - Wizards of the Coast magic designer and
0:04 - also member of the popper format panel
0:07 - as a reminder we're the group that
0:08 - manages and maintains popper and its ban
0:11 - list while I may be the one talking here
0:13 - all seven of us talk all the time
0:15 - throughout every week we share deck
0:17 - lists talk through event results in
0:19 - metagames and share Trends we're
0:20 - noticing in popper not only online but
0:23 - also around the world as our members
0:25 - span five countries we talk through
0:27 - every decision and what we're seeing to
0:29 - reach a conclusion so I'm speaking for
0:31 - all of us here and sharing the results
0:33 - of many conversations and thoughts and
0:35 - today we're coming to you with a
0:37 - unanimous decision we are Banning
0:39 - cranial RAM and popper ahead of it being
0:41 - released in modern Horizons 3 this is
0:44 - fairly unprecedented and not something
0:46 - to expect to happen again in popper or
0:48 - any other competitive paper format
0:50 - anytime soon now there are a bunch of
0:52 - caveats to this decision I'm going to
0:54 - break down all the reasons why we chose
0:56 - to do this now but I really want to
0:57 - begin by stressing the atypical nature
0:59 - of of the situation it is not precedent
1:01 - for any change in how we're handling
1:03 - this format or others it is a very rare
1:06 - and special exception due to some
1:07 - specific reasons additionally though my
1:10 - Wizard's employee talking about this
1:11 - here that's mostly for visibility the
1:13 - philosophy of Bannings for the formats
1:15 - managed directly by Wizards hasn't
1:17 - changed and Bannings before release are
1:18 - extremely unlikely in any of those
1:20 - formats but popper is a community-driven
1:23 - format and we're keeping that in mind as
1:24 - we make this decision okay with all of
1:27 - that said let's dive in first why are we
1:29 - be banning this card cranial plating has
1:31 - dominated multiple formats in Magic
1:33 - history in conjunction with the artifact
1:35 - lands and cheap artifacts it's very easy
1:37 - for this card to hit hard and if you
1:39 - can't remove it every single creature
1:41 - becomes a must answer threat it is
1:43 - banned in poer much more recently we had
1:45 - to ban All That Glitters this card does
1:48 - close to what crano plating does but
1:50 - unlike plating it can't be reused now
1:52 - these cards are strong but on top of
1:54 - that their play pattern isn't very
1:56 - enjoyable playing against a deck with
1:57 - these in the early game if you can't
1:59 - remove it on an of creature you'll
2:00 - quickly lose and in the late game you
2:02 - can never tap low because if you don't
2:04 - have a removal spell you can just die to
2:06 - a huge power boost it makes games very
2:09 - polar and that brings us to cranial Ram
2:11 - when we last talked with the all the
2:13 - Glitters ban I said this there is one
2:16 - common for modern Horizons 3 that has a
2:18 - high likelihood of needing to be banned
2:20 - in popper as is like a card we have
2:22 - banned in the past and indeed cranial
2:24 - Ram was that card the comparisons to
2:27 - cranial plating are pretty obvious so
2:29 - let's talk about the differences the
2:31 - first one is that it's color locked you
2:33 - must be playing red and black to play it
2:36 - while this is a restriction right now
2:38 - the most popular build of affinity in
2:40 - the format is gx's Affinity so it's not
2:42 - much of a cost it does matter for hydr
2:45 - blast and blue Elemental blast which is
2:47 - worth mentioning though the second is it
2:49 - doesn't have the instant equip this is
2:52 - somewhat meaningful if you ever played
2:54 - against cranial plating you know the
2:55 - bulk of the card's power is just in
2:57 - equipping it normally especially on an
2:59 - evasive threat but it certainly does
3:01 - come up especially as a way to push
3:02 - through the final batch of damage once
3:04 - your creatures outnumber theirs the
3:06 - third is the increased equip cost it's
3:09 - just a little less efficient to use
3:11 - while it looks minor this is actually
3:13 - the most notable ding to me the
3:15 - difference between one mana and two Mana
3:17 - is gigantic it makes you a little less
3:20 - explosive and that extra Mana in the
3:22 - early game really does matter but it's
3:25 - not all downsides there's also the
3:27 - tremendous upside that it comes with a
3:29 - creature attack hatched with the living
3:30 - weapon ability playing a turn to Ram is
3:33 - not a negative Tempo play like cranial
3:35 - plating was it's playing a creature with
3:36 - large power for two Mana this is a
3:39 - tremendous boost when you look all of
3:41 - those over this card is extremely
3:44 - comparable to plating on power level
3:46 - while you want an additional to equip
3:47 - and no instant speed does certainly make
3:49 - Ram a little bit weaker it isn't by much
3:52 - so this card is almost cranial plating
3:54 - and gx's Affinity is one of the best
3:57 - decks in the format and we just had to
3:59 - ban all the Glitters it was pretty clear
4:02 - this card was unlikely to be okay while
4:04 - theoretically maybe the metag game moves
4:06 - enough with modern Horizon 3 that this
4:07 - card works out fine the odds to survive
4:10 - are extremely low we built up lists and
4:12 - it slotted right in as easily as you
4:14 - would expect so catching a ban is
4:17 - probably not much of a surprise so now
4:19 - on to the next section why the pre-ban
4:22 - in general I am strongly against pre-
4:25 - Banning or emergency Banning cards cards
4:28 - should generally have to prove they are
4:30 - too strong and it's not great practice
4:32 - to ban cards before people can even play
4:34 - with them it's important to see if the
4:36 - theory behind the ban would actually
4:38 - Bear out after all magic is a game with
4:40 - a lot of interlocking pieces and an
4:41 - evolving metag game and it's not always
4:43 - as straightforward as it looks how many
4:45 - times if you thought a card would be so
4:47 - ridiculous it would need to be banned
4:48 - and it ended up being just fine almost
4:50 - everybody has been there in making that
4:51 - remark at one point or another
4:53 - additionally players will always wonder
4:56 - could that card have been okay if you
4:58 - pre-ban a card players will ask to see
5:00 - it return to the format forever and
5:01 - there's no proof One Way or Another Not
5:03 - unlike something like high tide right
5:05 - now I will note that cranial Ram is a
5:07 - unique example because it Compares so
5:09 - directly to two ban cards including a
5:11 - recent one there isn't a lot of mystery
5:13 - around if it will be strong it will
5:14 - pre-b Banning also sets up dangerous
5:17 - expectations once we've done this once
5:19 - we will be asked to pre-ban cards in the
5:21 - future we have no intent to do that and
5:23 - you should not expect it so given all
5:25 - these reasons why not to pre-ban a card
5:27 - why pre-ban a card now given normal
5:30 - circumstances we would let it run its
5:32 - course and check back in probably 2
5:34 - weeks after release once it's all proved
5:36 - out however there are some major popper
5:38 - events about to happen immediately after
5:40 - modern Horizon's 3 first on June 15th
5:43 - there is the magic online Creator
5:45 - Showdown with popper as the format this
5:48 - is a magic online tournament with $5,000
5:51 - on the line and showing off the brand
5:52 - new popper format postmodern Horizon 3
5:55 - it's poised to be a really great feature
5:56 - to watch for popper and one that would
5:58 - likely be dominated by gxs Affinity
6:00 - decks with cranial Ram if it was left
6:02 - around a week later there are some
6:04 - popper events worldwide the most notable
6:07 - and largest being popper genon in Pisa
6:10 - this gigantic Italian popper tournament
6:12 - has been as large as around 800 players
6:14 - in the past and is the largest paper
6:16 - popper tournament Series in the world it
6:19 - is a very special event for that
6:21 - Community if we left cranial Ram legal
6:23 - it would almost certainly be the deck of
6:25 - the tournament and instead of letting
6:27 - the dynamic format shine with new modern
6:29 - Horizon's 3 cards it would become warped
6:31 - around cranial Ram a card we would
6:33 - likely ban the following week
6:34 - immediately invalidating the deck list
6:36 - of the tournament now do I have faith
6:39 - that people could adapt their decks to
6:40 - fight Ram certainly people could start
6:42 - main decking their cast into the fires
6:44 - and hydro blasts and any number of other
6:46 - artifact removal spells there are ways
6:48 - to beat Affinity if you build your deck
6:49 - in a certain way historically when the
6:51 - entire metag game tries to counteract
6:53 - something it helps keep the problematic
6:54 - deck in check but is that fun is it
6:57 - enjoyable for everybody to have to warp
6:59 - their deck around fighting cranial RAM
7:01 - and the answer is no that's a textbook
7:03 - example of an unhealthy format so after
7:06 - a lot of discussion we decided to do
7:08 - something really atypical here and ban
7:10 - it early it's true we could play it by
7:12 - the book and let these events be warped
7:14 - but who is that process benefiting the
7:17 - card is almost a lock to be banned and
7:19 - it Compares directly to two previously
7:21 - banned cards and it doesn't engender fun
7:23 - play patterns there's enough evidence to
7:25 - remove it ahead of these critical events
7:28 - now I once again really want to stress
7:30 - and if it seems like I'm saying this a
7:32 - lot it's because it's really important
7:34 - this is not precedent this is not
7:36 - something to expect in popper again soon
7:38 - asking us to do this for any cards in
7:39 - the future is unlikely to lead to
7:40 - anything and this is not something you
7:42 - should expect in any other format
7:44 - additionally because the pop or format
7:45 - panel is a group external to wizards
7:47 - kind of like Commander the process is a
7:49 - little different than usual but we Tred
7:51 - to align our updates with the normal BNR
7:53 - Cadence when we can we can go off
7:55 - schedule or do some pretty atypical
7:57 - things where we need to nothing is
7:59 - changing in how the formats fully
8:01 - managed by Wizards of the Coast operate
8:03 - and this is one such time for a change
8:05 - specifically because of the direct
8:07 - comparison to two band cards and the two
8:10 - upcoming events if either of those
8:12 - factors were different this would not be
8:13 - happening now and even as it stands it
8:16 - took a lot of discussion to get here I
8:18 - can't say enough how this was not done
8:20 - lightly and I know there were people out
8:22 - there excited to play this card for the
8:23 - brief moment it would be legal and to
8:25 - those people I apologize that you won't
8:27 - be able to have your shining week with
8:28 - the broken card there were other
8:30 - compelling reasons here for us to remove
8:32 - it now a few other topics before we go
8:34 - first I've had a number of questions
8:37 - about why this card was made at common
8:39 - at all after all shouldn't we have known
8:41 - it was strong I've said this before in
8:42 - previous articles and videos and it
8:44 - Bears worth repeating now each
8:46 - individual set should do what's right
8:48 - for the set and we will react
8:50 - accordingly that's the nature of Eternal
8:52 - formats and popper is no exception sets
8:55 - shouldn't be trying to dodge the Popper
8:57 - metag game and if the lead designer of
8:58 - modern Horizon 3 thinks this card should
9:00 - exist for modern and be common for
9:01 - limited that's totally fine popper can
9:03 - ban cards if we need to Popper's player
9:05 - base is devoted But ultimately smaller
9:08 - compared to other formats and people
9:10 - shouldn't design around us the focus on
9:12 - our end is not to prevent the creation
9:15 - of cards but to act to prevent them from
9:17 - being in the format for long if they are
9:19 - harmful fall from favor being printed
9:21 - because it's what Commander Legends
9:23 - needed at common is okay it being legal
9:25 - for nearly 2 months is not and that's
9:28 - what we're trying to prevent here second
9:30 - I want to talk about affinity and
9:32 - artifact lands in general It's Not
9:34 - Invisible to us that these cards have
9:36 - caused us tons of trouble and led to
9:38 - minivans we investigated what if we Bann
9:40 - the bridges and let RAM stand we built
9:43 - up some decks in this world and
9:44 - ultimately Ram was still a problem as
9:47 - long as any cycle of artifact lands
9:49 - remained which made sense given cranial
9:51 - plating was a bandw worthy card long
9:53 - before Bridges ratto's Affinity what we
9:55 - thought would take over still looked
9:57 - incredibly strong without Bridges a
9:59 - additionally given that we are adjusting
10:00 - the format with two large upcoming
10:02 - events in mind removing Bridges is a
10:04 - really large change that would rather
10:06 - not do right before these events let's
10:08 - see what the results of those events are
10:09 - and use those to help inform the future
10:11 - state of the format and if someday a
10:13 - band like that might be necessary it's
10:15 - also worth mentioning there's another
10:17 - card in the set refurbish familiar that
10:19 - is slated to be very strong in Affinity
10:21 - as well and definitely would have played
10:23 - strong alongside Ram which is another
10:25 - reason to axe the ram we are keeping an
10:28 - eye on it as it looks to both be very
10:29 - strong in current Affinity decks and
10:31 - also alongside cards like glenw but
10:34 - there's nothing to change involving that
10:35 - card at this time finally in addition to
10:37 - artifact lands we have our eyes on if
10:39 - monor red needs anything touched but
10:41 - given the gargantuan impact modern
10:43 - Horizon 3 is likely to have we want to
10:45 - let the set come out and settle so when
10:47 - can you expect to hear from us again if
10:49 - something is incredibly dominant or
10:50 - broken you can expect us to check in
10:52 - within a few weeks otherwise it will
10:54 - likely be a bit longer as we let the
10:56 - metag game naturally evolve we want to
10:58 - strike the right balance of stepping in
11:00 - and letting the metag game find answers
11:02 - I hope this gives you good visibility
11:04 - into this decision and why we made it
11:06 - we're excited to see what modern Horizon
11:08 - 3 does to the format just without
11:10 - cranial Ram in the mix if you have any
11:12 - thoughts please feel free to reach out
11:13 - to all of us directly or post in the
11:15 - comments down below otherwise on behalf
11:17 - of the entire pfp this is Gavin Verge
11:19 - signing off until next time may you
11:22 - enjoy modern Horizon 3 andf fun playing
11:24 - popper you got this in black red we have
11:27 - artifacts Assemble your best relics and
11:30 - pick up bonuses along the way and yes
11:32 - even affinity and the mighty cranial Ram
11:35 - are here too ptic rebirth is an uncommon
11:38 - which doesn't even need a ton of
11:39 - artifacts to be good it's a removal
11:41 - spell that certainly lets you pick up a
11:42 - cool artifact or creature as needed and
11:45 - kill off their creature