Post POSSIBLE restrictions, what would you play?

[The M.E.T.H.O.D]

I mostly agreed with Jacob when he sounded off about the cards he says need restriction for a potenially fair format.  What would you play if these cards were restricted?

Mishra's Workshop
Trinisphere
Dark Ritual
Cabal Ritual
Land Grant
Intuition
bazaar of baghdad (My addition to his list)

Id probably play some version of control slaver... or update a potentially good aggro deck like Madness or FCG.

Or id run a deck with gifts ungiven

What would you guys run?

[Tristal]

Control Slaver is already considered Tier 1, and doesn't play any of these.

[Kasuras]

First of all, I'd like to say that I don't think Cabal Ritual, Land Grant and Intuition are going to get axed at all. But this thread is not supposed to be for that, so I'll just play along.

Second: I don't own any power, and I currently have my eyes set upon gathering the cards for FCG. Considering none of the cards in FCG are going to get banhammarad because they're all creatures: I'll probably still play it after the restrictions.

But what I would play on MWS after *all* these cards restricted is kind of a mystery since I think the metagame is just warped after that. Taking this list into consideration however: definitely something with Mana Drains. It may be an idea to add the Drain to that list since Cabal Ritual is on it too, and Drain has been talked about more than Ritual.

[Bdrake5150]

Going onthe premise that the above cards were actually going to get axed I would play U/G/B Oath, or FCG. Both of which make top 8's now, and would be uneffected by the above named changes.

Control Slaver would probably run rampant since as mentioned before it runs none of the above cards.

Jason

[Whatever Works]

I consider this thread to be very upsetting... Its not good to predict restrictions (or assume things like that), because you never know what will happen... Also predicting a future metagame is redicules when the pre-release for a brand new set (no matter how poor its predicted to be) will be happening tommorrow...

Workshop will not get restricted first off... Trinisphere + Crucible will get the axe first...
Bazaar of Baghdad isnt even being looked at seriously anymore sinse dragon fell off...
Intuition wont get restricted, and if they do restrict it people will then ask for Gift's ungiven etc. to be restricted, and the format will become bland and not broken...

Control Slaver was the best metagamed deck and until SX actually produces results (which it probably will) there shouldnt be to much talk about restrictings or future metagames... or at least wait till SCG is over, and perhaps a few big Euro tourneys... Type 1 results in 1 place (no matter how amazing waterbury is...) shouldnt be the all mighty judge of what is restrictable/isnt...

[Purple Hat]

you have to restrict drain if you axe everyother archetypal staple.  

I think I'd play masknaught.  Survival of the fittest would finally be playable again.  YAY!!!

I'm not sure I'd take bazaar though.  if you want to nuke dragon there are better cards for it and taking intuition hurts bazaar decks anyway.  I think dragon is a "healthy" combo deck because of the amount of splash damage it takes and how succeptable to hate it is. if your problem with bazaar is decks like CA I think that a better way can probably still be found.  I just think that bazaar is a card that people are finding new uses for every few months and none of them are really out and out broken.

Hale

[Zherbus]

In theory, definitely Shay Slaver

[Toad]

Type 2

Or at worse some Gifts Ungiven based deck, since all this card is asking is to be broken.

[Eddie]

Control Slaver. But if they'd ever restrict all those I'd probably stop playing.

[ThirstForBLOOD]

I think any sort of restriction right now would not be needed. Shop decks, control decks, and combo decks are all perfroming well now. Why go and restrict a bunch of random key components to decks if they are already balanced?

But if the cards you mentioned were restircted (which I doubt will happen, but hey anything can happen in this format I suppose) I like everyone else would play control slaver. Or, I would be smart and play a deck that beats contol slaver such as fish   .

[The M.E.T.H.O.D]

Simple question, im not talking about the merits of each card being restricted, im talking about WHAT WOULD YOU PLAY if this was the case.

Btw, if bazaar ever got restricted it wouldn't be because to nuke dragon. It would be restricted because of its obvious power.  Thats if.

I just wanna remind everyone that this thread isn't really a restriction thread but a "what if" thread.

[mogote]

I would play a deck that would be unaffected by these restrictions. So I would probably play Oath, maybe even GAT.

[Mixing Mike]

Why go and restrict a bunch of random key components to decks if they are already balanced?

Because Trinisphere and Dark Ritual allow combo and Workshop to have little to no player interaction.

I'm with Eddie, if they restrict all that shit, then I'm out of T1.

[Whatever Works]

I would play Anands pimp highlander.dec because if those get restricted thats what the format will become.

[moonkhan]

I got back into Vintage because of the fun and exciting decks that have developed over the past 2-3 years. Vintage has come a long way since 97' Keeper with Serra Angels.

That aside I think Control Slaver or other slower Mana Drain-based control decks would be a good choice for me to play. Mana Drain is good if it drains a Smokestack or an Impulse.

--Paul

[Thug]

What is the exact purpose of this threat?

Restrictions are not needed for the simple fact that even in todays metagame there still is room for new archetypes, and their still are lots of cards that need to find a fit into a new deck somewhere. The simple fact that new deck show up from time to time and that there is no deck dominating shows the metagame is healthy enough. Even if there would be a deck dominating there isn't a deck broken (right now) enough to beat some of the sideboard cards.

People are all upset about Slaver right now, but I can think of at least 5 decks that can be altered to have a good matchup against it, and this counts for every deck, though some as easier to hate out them others. So time spend in these threats is better spend on improving your current deck.

If everyone plays Slaver, go play some fast combo, or Bazaars etc.
If everyone plays X, go play something that beats X, isn't that what Magic is all about.

You do not only beat that kid that netdecked by being a more experienced and skilled player, actually you should already have an edge over them bofore the match started, since you can pick up a deck that is perfect againt the top deck(s) of that moment instead of joining the mass and playing the deck.

IMO even Gush, LED and Burning Wish didn't even need restriction.

Gro-A-Tog was extremely popular which made it succesful, but even at that time there were decks with a very good matchup against it and the rest of the field. (MUD had like a 25-2 record against GroATog)

Long might have been slightly too good before mirrodin, but after mirrodin there were enough cards to stop it. It not like long could have easily played as much basics and bounce as TPS does.

Burning wish is not clearly better than Death Wish in various combo builds.
In control it's a 1R sorcery that will probably find Will most of the time, but that Will doesn't have to be the problem, it's the Intuition/Gift that made the Will broken.

---

I actually think we could unrestrict half a dozen of cards and still have a healthy metagame, but I won't start a discussion on that since it's simlpy not realistic right now, nor is the restriction of 5-6 cards realistic.

Koen

[rvs]

Cabal Ritual, Land Grant, Bazaar and Intuition do not need to be restricted. If anything, Trinisphere, Dark Ritual and Goblin Welder need to (and if not Welder, how about Thirst for Knowledge?).

[Whatever Works]

JP Meyer argued that Thirst for Knowledge deserved to be restricted when it originally came out... Everybody flamed him, but it appears clearer then ever that he might have been right!

[virtual]

People are all upset about Slaver right now

I don't actually see this.  Yes CS put up great results, however, as of yet, I haven't seen 4 threads in Newbie & 2 in Vintage about restricting mana drain & goblin welder.  

It still appears that Trinisphere & Ritual are those cards under debate.  Funny enough, it was those same cards that were under debate last time the restriction train came around these parts.  

The restriction of Trinisphere seems to have some popularity following it (myself included), and the restriction of Ritual suggestion has a smaller, but still significant following, and has the Trinisphere restriction as a prerequisite.  I haven't seen anyone suggest restricting ritual, and leaving trinisphere... (they say trinisphere is the thing keeping ritual in it's place)

Anyways, there are always the nay-sayers who see a big tournament post results and want said deck restricted.  I don't think that the general sentiments on what should be restricted have really changed much though in the last few months.    (Except there isn't as much of a vocal "unban portal" crowd... totally different topic)

Call the meta-game healthy or sickly,  there are still two main restriction targets, as seen in the eyes of the community.  
-Virtual

[Matt]

Restrict Trinisphere (its biggest enemy) AND Ritual (neutering the only decks faster than it), and Mattfinity comes out of the woodwork.

[Bdrake5150]

Regardless of what will or will not get restricted there will always be decks that rise to the top. A piece of that was evident in Waterbury. There were not as many Workshops or Trinispheres running around, and CS went wild. Restricting cards isn't always the answer to problems. Creative usage of cards available can help even out the playing field.

Jason

[mr_x]

"IF" trinisphere and dark ritual get restricted. Then it will become a format dominated by control. We will then lose alot of decks that we have now. And the format will again shrink to 2 or 3 tier one decks. Probably gonna be all control on the top tier. This would cause a downward spiral of a format that has grown greatly over the past year and a half.

Instead of looking to restrict cards, lets think of the cards that shouldn't be on the list and see which ones actually deserve to be on the list and which ones should be ousted.

To answer the topic though, I would play control slaver or probably itatlian tog. But, like I said. I would then be playing control. And, that's all we'll probably see dominate.

[Thug]

Call the meta-game healthy or sickly, there are still two main restriction targets, as seen in the eyes of the community.

But...

Losing against Trini and Crucible locks is boring, and playing Workshop + Trini requires little skills, this are the two argument that you'll hear all over, but when you look at actual results stating that Trini and/or Shop and/or Crucible should be restricted makes little sence.

Wouldn't we rather have cards restrictred because of their powerlevel and effect on the metagame than because of their effect on the amount of joy joy people get out of playing a game of magic involving the card in question? (And yes, this is ment to be a rethorical question)

If any card deserves restriction it's brainstom IMO. It not uncommon that a Brainstorm on par with Ancestral (and even more powerfull in some situations). It's fits in almost any deck and while its not a card that decide games its makes Control and (especially) Combo-decks more stable than they probably were ment to be.

I wouldn't be surprised if the restriction of Brainstorm would open the door for more aggro to fill a place in the metagame, whether thats a bad or a good thing I don't know.

Koen

[Komatteru]

I'd probably play Extended.  It's such a good format right now.  I recommend everyone take a look at it.

"IF" trinisphere and dark ritual get restricted. Then it will become a format dominated by control. We will then lose alot of decks that we have now. And the format will again shrink to 2 or 3 tier one decks. Probably gonna be all control on the top tier. This would cause a downward spiral of a format that has grown greatly over the past year and a half.

I agree.  I don't want to play in an environment where there's a ton of Mana Drain decks and then a bunch more that don't beat it.  We had that once.  It was called 1997.  It was really lame then too...

Wouldn't we rather have cards restrictred because of their powerlevel and effect on the metagame than because of their effect on the amount of joy joy people get out of playing a game of magic involving the card in question?

Excellent.

[dicemanx]

Wouldn't we rather have cards restrictred because of their powerlevel and effect on the metagame than because of their effect on the amount of joy joy people get out of playing a game of magic involving the card in question?

For some of us, it matters *how* the games are played out/won. Playing Blackjack on turn 1 is not why I play T1 magic, regardless of whether the odds are in my favor.


If the DCI lost their minds and actually restricted the cards that METHOD listed, it wouldn't matter to me very much. I'd just try to adapt and pursue other strong "Canadian" archetypes. Come to think of it, it would be possible that Eureka.dec might be "strong" again. That would be amazing.

[MuzzonoAmi]

Extended, probably.

If not that, then UG or G/r madness. Budget, of course.

[Mixing Mike]

Oh yes, for what I'd play, I'd play T4 to keep some mental skills sharp, and some 5-Color.  Maybe T2 if someone would let me borrow their deck.  But only to appease myself on Friday nights.

[jpmeyer]

JP Meyer argued that Thirst for Knowledge deserved to be restricted when it originally came out... Everybody flamed him, but it appears clearer then ever that he might have been right!

Wait, I did?

Anyway, keeping with the actual purpose of this thread, if I couldn't figure out some sort of strong Gifts Ungiven deck, either Control Slaver or Oath.

[CMass]

Hmmm, this is a tough one.  If Type I were gutted, would I play Yu-gi-oh or Pokemon?

[Revvik]

Pokemon, you can buy a hundred cards for about a nickel.

On a more serious note, I'd play 'Tog.  It might've been a tossup between 'Tog and Control Slaver, but I'm more familiar with the 'Tog, and other decks will probably still be kicking Fish to the curb.