New Format: Modern

[DubDub]

Currently the new format is only planned for online play as part of the 'Community Cup', but this is a version of the long-rumored 'Overextended' that I could see becoming permanent.

More details here.

Will this format make the jump to sanctioned paper Magic?

Will this format relieve some of the pressure Legacy is feeling as it grows?

Ban list, reprints of Modern cards, etc, discuss!

[Troy_Costisick]

And here's the discussion thread where they're asking for feedback on it.: http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75846/27652321/2011_Community_Cup_Format_Discussion:_Unified_Modern?pg=1

Interesting banned list:

•Ancient Den
•Seat of the Synod
•Vault of Whispers
•Great Furnace
•Tree of Tales
•Chrome Mox
•Dark Depths
•Sensei's Divining Top
•Skullclamp
•Sword of the Meek
•Umezawa's Jitte
•Golgari Grave-Troll

Hm.

Peace,

-Troy

[Norm4eva]

Eighth Edition on up, in other words?

Weird.

That banned list is a shit-demon of precaution.

Too bad Legacy Zoo is pretty well the exact same.  In a 'long' format with no Wastelands, Force of Wills or Jittes that's the deck I'd start with anyway.  Look at all the shit that deck keeps...

Enemy fetchlands
Tarmogoyf
Kird Ape/Loam Lion
Wild Nacatl
Qasali Pridemage
Steppe Lynx (if you like that shit)
Lightning Bolt
Rift Bolt
Incinerate
Lightning Helix (which wouldn't suck since a bunch of decks are gonna be thinking about going to 17 on turn 1)
Magma Jet if you swing that way...

Yeah dude.  I love "guys and burn".dec.

[Troy_Costisick]

Zoo will be a little bit hamstringed by no Wooded Foothills, but still it will be a good deck.  Dragon Storm and Hypergenesis would be top tier combo decks IMO.

[honestabe]

Yeah, just judging from the extended deck of the past, Zoo, Faeries, Next Level Blue, Hypergenesis, and maybe dragonstorm or hive mind will be the decks to beat.  I'd actually love to see this replace extended, as all of the decks I just named are a blast to play.

[Norm4eva]

Yeah, just judging from the extended deck of the past, Zoo, Faeries, Next Level Blue, Hypergenesis, and maybe dragonstorm or hive mind will be the decks to beat.  I'd actually love to see this replace extended, as all of the decks I just named are a blast to play.

Yeah, this actually looks like a way more fun format than Extended.  Does anyone play that anymore?  I never hear any locals talking about it and I don't feel like I even see the Internets discussing much on the subject of 1.x

[Lemnear]

That B&R list is stupid as hell. No Vial or hypergenesis on the list? So this makes the official Extended even more of a bad joke

P.S. Reintroduce ol' Extended as a "new" format? What a mindtrick ... *facepalm*

[Mr. Type 4]

P.S. Reintroduce ol' Extended as a "new" format? What a mindtrick ... *facepalm*

It's kind of an admission from them that what they did with Extended was dumb.

[Norm4eva]

I think the implication here is that 'Modern' will always be 8th Edition and forward, so in that sense it will never rotate.  This makes it different from the old "Seven year" Extended, does it not?

Also, theoretically, *if* this became a new cardboard format as well, would represent the largest format in the game which could have any of its cards reprinted at any time.

As someone who entered the game during Odyssey Block and spent all of his time with the Eternal formats on a pretty slim budget, I'd actually be pretty okay with seeing this format come to life.  Granted this is *not* a proper Eternal format, but it does have the appeal of being entirely reprintable and non-rotational.  I kinda like the idea.

If that's even what they're doing with the format.  AFAICT it's just a one-time thing on MTGO.  If I'm wrong on this please correct me.

[DubDub]

Also, theoretically, *if* this became a new cardboard format as well, would represent the largest format in the game which could have any of its cards reprinted at any time.

I bolded the crucial word.

I understand that the Reserve list's continued existence is having an increasing impact on Legacy (and to a much lesser extent Vintage) staples' prices, and so barring reversal of the policy some players may migrate to a new eternal format starting at 8th Edition as a less expensive eternal format.  It's nice that all cards legal in 'Modern' could be reprinted, but that doesn't mean Wizards would have an incentive to actually reprint them if they get expensive.

Let's imagine five years down the line, when Bitterblossom is $40 and Thoughtseize is $65 and Jace 2.0 is still $80, because Modern has become widely played and popular.  At that point WotC could print a Journeyman's Edition (like Master's Edition, but from 8th Ed forward only), but why would they?  Their financial incentive won't have fundamentally changed just because Modern exists (and does well, provided it does).  They still make more money off rotating formats than Eternal formats.  Despite the fact that only one of the two is possible with the Reserve list in place, printing a Journeyman's Edition five years from now to support a flourishing and increasingly expensive Modern is no more likely than printing a Master's Edition today to support Legacy/Vintage, because either would lower the barrier to players leaving Standard.

[Dr. Sylvan]

@DubDub:
I think it's a fallacy to infer that R&D only wants people to play Standard, or has it in their minds that it's their job to prevent defections from their mainstay. They are completely aware that tons of players have no interest in Standard, and of the reasons they benefit from Eternal. MaRo is always saying stuff like this tweet from an hour ago: "The key challenge to every Magic design: Make everyone love something." There would be little reason to print a card like Mental Misstep if they didn't want to support Legacy. They wouldn't explicitly steer people into, for instance, Commander---with a dedicated product launch, no less---if they prioritized making Standard the only game in town. The same goes for the FNM legalization of Block and Extended.

They have every reason to reprint cards for a hypothetical "Modern" in 2020. Products like Duel Decks and FNM promos increase circulation and sell new product. As TMD has covered before, Eternal players aren't just Eternal players. I draft roughly twice per week. Other people play online, with entry fees. Almost everyone who plays Eternal has taught people to play, been a public face of the game to non-players ("brand ambassador" in marketing-speak), loaned people cards, participated in the secondary market that gives Magic cards long-term value, supported an LGS, and done a million other things that bring WotC revenue. Keeping us in the game is a serious goal of the company.

TL;DR: Wizards isn't run by morons; they appreciate Eternal. Modern is the way of the future.

And the more I think about it, the happier I am that they picked Mirrodin as the cutoff (although my nickname for this format is "UFO: Ugly Frames Only"). A format without Tendrils of Agony is strictly better than one with it.

They're definitely admitting that Extended is dead, and certainly everyone knows Legacy is moribund. I, for one, welcome this development.

[Norm4eva]

Also, theoretically, *if* this became a new cardboard format as well, would represent the largest format in the game which could have any of its cards reprinted at any time.

I bolded the crucial word.

I understand that the Reserve list's continued existence is having an increasing impact on Legacy (and to a much lesser extent Vintage) staples' prices, and so barring reversal of the policy some players may migrate to a new eternal format starting at 8th Edition as a less expensive eternal format.  It's nice that all cards legal in 'Modern' could be reprinted, but that doesn't mean Wizards would have an incentive to actually reprint them if they get expensive.

Let's imagine five years down the line, when Bitterblossom is $40 and Thoughtseize is $65 and Jace 2.0 is still $80, because Modern has become widely played and popular.  At that point WotC could print a Journeyman's Edition (like Master's Edition, but from 8th Ed forward only), but why would they?  Their financial incentive won't have fundamentally changed just because Modern exists (and does well, provided it does).  They still make more money off rotating formats than Eternal formats.  Despite the fact that only one of the two is possible with the Reserve list in place, printing a Journeyman's Edition five years from now to support a flourishing and increasingly expensive Modern is no more likely than printing a Master's Edition today to support Legacy/Vintage, because either would lower the barrier to players leaving Standard.

I get this, because of what's happened with Vintage and Legacy.  However, given the recent MO with the Core Sets (print 50% new cards and 50% reprints - some of which are staples like Lightning Bolt which have been playable since forever), I can see them willing to support a format which isn't quite as financially troubling to get into as Vintage and Legacy, lets Standard players enter the game with an amount of tried-and-true cards that can bleed back from Type 2 all the way to Modern, and also gives those older players a chance to buy-in with what would putatively be a relatively lower cost than just trashing their format and forcing them to get into a new format with all new cards.

I mean, think about the Core Sets of old (like, when they weren't called that) - how many times did they reprint painlands?  There's nothing that says shocklands can't show up in Core Sets every couple of years.  And that would be amazing for the game, honestly, both as a way to get people into new formats, older formats, and even maybe gets them a 'playable' deck in Type 1 or 1.5.  They recently printed enough Birds of Paradise to drop the price down to like, 3 bucks.  For most of my time as a Magic player, that fucking card was always 15 bucks.  Now it's at a price that even I could afford a playset.  And I'm poor as shit.  So if Modern were a format which they'd be willing to promote and support, they'd be doing it via the Core Set.  And those Core Sets would look pretty fantastic.

It's kind of like I've been saying for a long time - one of Dr. Garfield's goals with Magic: the Gathering has been to elevate it to the level of traditional games of skill such as poker or chess.  My line of thinking has always been, Magic prints hundreds of pawns every year but the rooks, bishops and other royalty end up costing too much to let the game really transcend its own barriers.  If there is a chance for there to be a format where product support exists in potential reprints (With no interference on behalf of the legal teams of Collectors and Hoarders Anonymous), one which may only require one hefty "buy-in" one time and you're set for life - and one which has, as Doc Sylvan brought up, FNM support?  I know that's not Vintage, but that sounds fantastic to me.

TL;DR: Wizards isn't run by morons; they appreciate Eternal. Modern is the way of the future.

And the more I think about it, the happier I am that they picked Mirrodin as the cutoff (although my nickname for this format is "UFO: Ugly Frames Only"). A format without Tendrils of Agony is strictly better than one with it.

They're definitely admitting that Extended is dead, and certainly everyone knows Legacy is moribund. I, for one, welcome this development.

It's too bad about Legacy too, because it's putting up insane attendance numbers.  However the dichotomy between the Reserved List and actual players is apparently one which can't be resolved, or even officially talked about.  In this light, I think, the appeal of a Modern format is self-evident.

[DubDub]

Obviously there is some money in maintaining current die-hard Legacy and Vintage players as opposed to losing them completely.  They should and do act to capitalize as best they can each of the portions of the magic playerbase, but you have to recognize that Standard is first among equals.  My assertion is that there's no good reason to intentionally create more such players at the expense of the rotating formats.  Their business model is not "sell everything players need once", and I don't see Modern changing that.

Also, I don't think it's a decision that's up to R&D, so I certainly wasn't trying to say R&D staff are unsympathetic to Eternal players.  Some R&D staff have indicated that they're against the Reserve list but that the decision to reaffirm the list instead of scrapping it was out of their hands.  I just figure any decision around Journeyman's Edition would similarly be beyond the control of those who care about the game foremost as opposed to the business.

[Troy_Costisick]

By starting at 8th instead of Masks, Modern positions itself to be a very different format than Legacy.  I think that's intentional because WotC would like to support both formats simultaniously.

[Troy_Costisick]

Several Articles on SCG today and the thread on the mothership is up to 6 pages.  It seems Modern is generating a lot of discussion.  Anyone want to handicap if we will see it or OverExtended become a sanctioined format in the next 12 months?

[Delha]

It's too bad about Legacy too, because it's putting up insane attendance numbers.  However the dichotomy between the Reserved List and actual players is apparently one which can't be resolved, or even officially talked about.  In this light, I think, the appeal of a Modern format is self-evident.

The thing that bothers me the most about the whole thing is the inflexibility it illuminates. They're openly stated on multiple occasions that the Reserved List is not acheiving it's intended goals. It's almost as if they are hellbent on sticking to the letter of the promise rather than the spirit, in which case nobody wins.

The problem from there is that they went and closed the already existent loophole. They were clearly willing to change the details of the arrangement in the first place, I'd much rather have seen them take it in a direction which benefits players while also protecting the investment of collectors. I don't believe for a second that they're incapable of dreaming up such a solution.

[Norm4eva]

It's too bad about Legacy too, because it's putting up insane attendance numbers.  However the dichotomy between the Reserved List and actual players is apparently one which can't be resolved, or even officially talked about.  In this light, I think, the appeal of a Modern format is self-evident.

The thing that bothers me the most about the whole thing is the inflexibility it illuminates. They're openly stated on multiple occasions that the Reserved List is not acheiving it's intended goals. It's almost as if they are hellbent on sticking to the letter of the promise rather than the spirit, in which case nobody wins.

The problem from there is that they went and closed the already existent loophole. They were clearly willing to change the details of the arrangement in the first place, I'd much rather have seen them take it in a direction which benefits players while also protecting the investment of collectors. I don't believe for a second that they're incapable of dreaming up such a solution.

As I recall, without going through old articles on mtg.com, it was started to get to the point where virtually every writer was hinting at loopholes regarding the Reserved List.  IIRC around the time that Phyrexian Negator was printed in a Duel Deck, suddenly the conversation went very dry, very very quickly, and the Twitterverse took on this "I wish I could talk about it, but I can't" mantra, which to me suggests either (a) implied legal ramifications (b) implied professional ramifications.  It's been stated multiple times that the actual Reprint Policy of old was not a legally binding contract, but for my part I've no capacity to make an assessment.  The hush was just so quick, sudden and final that I can't really imagine anything else having prompted it.  So while I don't doubt their ingenuity in this matter, I guess I have questions about the potential legality.

[Dr. Sylvan]

Aaron Forsythe: "Aside on the Reserve List: I hate that it exists. Creating it in the first place was reactionary and causes me no end of grief. What I do like, however, is working for a company with integrity that will stand by its promises. So it isn’t going away, which is inconvenient but correct."
http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Discussion.aspx?multiverseid=108931

Mark Rosewater: "byop asked: If you could change one thing about magic's past, what would you change?
I’ve seen enough time travel movies to know I’m not supposed to change anything. But if I’m forced to change something, I guess I’d do away with the Reserved List."
http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/5054544273/if-you-could-change-one-thing-about-magics-past-what

With comments like these, it's obvious that there must be some greater force in the company (most likely legal counsel) saying that the reserved list is Now and Forever Binding. Therefore, we can infer that further arguments about it are largely pointless except to vent angst. The future is to find alternatives.

In fact, when I was thinking about it, if the Magic community goes nuts for Modern/Overextended, it will slow down Legacy's imminent demise by forestalling the skyrocketing demand. Right now, Legacy is the only viable place for most Constructed tournament players to try to have any fun, so it's flooded. If there were a different option, Legacy prices would likely plateau or increase at a lower rate, allowing the format to reach an equilibrium rather than collapse under the weight of its popularity.

[Norm4eva]

100% agree with Doc Sylvan here.  Wizards has found a way to maintain a format that can be both Eternal (if only by virtue of being 'non-rotating') and fully supportable by means of reprints.  Generating interest in that alleviates Legacy's burden of being immensely popular yet monetarily daunting.

The biggest problem I have here is that, without issuing some kind of reprint-happy block all at once, one of the best blocks in Magic history gets denied from the format - Invasion.  However, again we can find solace in knowing that everything since Masques on has "Protection from Reprint Policy".  Really, as I think about it, there's not a ton of stuff from that block that still sees play.  Ravnica can hold down the fort for this new Eternalesque format.

[metalhead666]

I think this banned list is almost complete shit.  With this banned list, several decks are eliminated and/or severely hindered.  Compared this new list with the last banned list for extended:

Sensei's Divining Top
Disciple of the Vault
Aether Vial

The old extended banned list was fine, there were no overpowered decks with it, all decks were capable of beating every other deck.  This new list seems to hate out decks that were never a problem.  Affinity was fine, it wasnt an unstoppable powerhouse.  Dredge was nonexistent, theres no overpowered cards in this new format to draw with, no Careful Study, no Breakthrough, no Bazaar of Baghdad.  Sure the deck can be annoying and hard to deal with but so can any deck. I would have to wait and see how powerful of a deck Dark Depths can be before I can make an accurate judgment on this card.  If Chrome Mox is banned because it would allow for too many combo decks to have an early jump, ban the rest of the combos, not a utility card.  I do not feel that Sword of the Meek is too powerful, its combo can be dealt with easily.  I personally feel that Top is fine, but there are players who cannot choose what order to put three cards in in a timely fashion so I guess that it should be banned.  Skullclamp was a mistake and should have never been printed: It stays banned.  From this, the banned list should be:

Sensei's Divining Top
Skullclamp
*Dark Depths (possible)

Aside from my feelings on the banned list, I had tons of fun playing extended in the past and I feel that this will be a very fun format to play that will be competitive at the same time. 

[CHaPuZaS]

I think that most of the cards banned are aimed to push the players of the community cuip to develop new strategies. That will show which kind of decks can be played in the format along with those banned by Wizards.

[Troy_Costisick]

I think that most of the cards banned are aimed to push the players of the community cuip to develop new strategies. That will show which kind of decks can be played in the format along with those banned by Wizards.

Agreed.  The tweets from MaRo and Tom seem to indicate that they are very serious about testing whether or not the community would accept Modern as a new format.  At the same time though, the banned list does not seem to be something they are all that cocerned with at the moment.  It's more about giving the format a test run before putting on the final pieces.

[Norm4eva]

Today's article about Modern Magic - <a href="http://wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/ld/144">A Modern Proposal</a>

As I said, many of you have called for a non-rotating format that doesn't have the card availability problems of Legacy. We propose Modern as that format.

This represents only a proposal and an experiment. Self-contained events like the Community Cup are a perfect way for us to get data about potential new formats; by running Modern at the Community Cup, we will be able to get some data about what the format looks like, and we will be able to judge what you, the public, think about it. For now, that is our only goal.

LaPille goes into details about why Eighth was chosen, why the banned list is so weird, and he specifically points at their Reserve Policy as a motivator in this matter.

I for one hope the format is well-received and makes it to status official.  I love my Legacy pet decks and will be sad to break up with Exalted Angel, but the community I live in just never latched onto Eternal formats the way I did, and I'm positive entry barriers and no FNM support had a thing or two to do with that.  If this sticks I'll be a happy camper.  It will also mean that all my decks with lousy shocklands are actually chock full of tech!

[annowarfake]

Just a short post to say how much I like the new forum.

This is a style that many will be familiar with which has proven to be quick and easy to use and hopefully there will be more people using it and exchanging ideas because of this.

[Norm4eva]

I realize this thread's a bit old but I wanted to get some Vintage/Eternal player's thoughts on this new format.  It seems to be attracting a lot of buzz and discussion.

It's been expressed in various places in so many words, but I wanted to see what TMD thought of sentiments/quotes like this:

"The day that Star City Games puts on a sanctioned Modern tournament is the day -
a - The bottom drops out of Legacy
b - Eternal staples such as Wasteland, Force, etc... immediately lose value
c - More and more people move away from the traditional Eternal formats and head over to Modern"

After a few long conversations with the store owners/tourney runners around here, I get the impression that Modern was a pretty calculated and intentional move on behalf of the Powers That Be.  They clamp down the Reprint Policy, they go and print Mental Misstep (which probably affects Legacy more than Vintage, but oh my fuck.  The last time I felt a card pull this hard on a format was like, Mirrodin Standard when Skullclamp was legal.  It's a super playable must-have in Legacy.), and then they announce Modern as a putative format.

What is TMD's opinion of Modern?  Honestly I feel a ton of appeal towards a non-rotating format which never needs to have the controversy of format staples that are decades old and can never be replaced or reprinted.

[DubDub]

I certainly won't claim to speak for everybody, but these are my thoughts:

"The day that Star City Games puts on a sanctioned Modern tournament is the day -
a - The bottom drops out of Legacy

It depends on whether SCG discontinues support for Legacy at the same time.  If the two formats are competing with one another (which they will always do to at least some extent) then the better supported one will win out.  What's interesting is that, while WoTC has greater incentives to support Modern, because it will be more profitable for them while not attracting attention to the Reserve List, that may not necessarily be the case for SCG and other tournament organizers.  TOs will, I think, support whichever format is most popular, though I would expect a split of support between the two anyway.

If SCG announced that in 2012 their Open weekends will be Standard & Modern instead of Standard & Legacy, then the bottom will fall out for Legacy.

b - Eternal staples such as Wasteland, Force, etc... immediately lose value

Again, it depends upon the degree.  Magic prices have always been somewhat sticky once set at a high level (Juzan Djinn, Beta Birds of Paradise, etc.), so I would not expect the days of 8$ Wastelands and 20$ Forces to return.  (And if they do, I can tell you I'll be a buyer in that market.)

c - More and more people move away from the traditional Eternal formats and head over to Modern"

"More and more", not necessary, but a sizeable portion, certainly.  I think the most likely outcome is that an equilibrium will be reached where the two formats are roughly comparable.  This will relieve some of the price pressures on Legacy without killing it completely.  It's possible that I'm underestimating Modern; maybe a tipping point will be reached where Legacy becomes much less played all of a sudden as everyone shifts to Modern.  I think that would be pretty sad.

I think it's unlikely, because Legacy will still be a fun format in an absolute sense, it doesn't have to be 'more fun' than Modern to survive.

After a few long conversations with the store owners/tourney runners around here, I get the impression that Modern was a pretty calculated and intentional move on behalf of the Powers That Be.  They clamp down the Reprint Policy, they go and print Mental Misstep (which probably affects Legacy more than Vintage, but oh my fuck.  The last time I felt a card pull this hard on a format was like, Mirrodin Standard when Skullclamp was legal.  It's a super playable must-have in Legacy.), and then they announce Modern as a putative format.

I'm not sure I would characterize the printing of Mental Misstep as part of the calculated move, nor even the clamping down on the RL.  There were copious hints that some PTB wanted the RL abolished, and were 'outvoted'.  I think they're trying to salvage the situation now taking the context of a reaffirmed RL that's not going away.  Mental Misstep is just another mistake in the Eternal Context that they didn't catch.  Just like Tarmogoyf, Lodestone Golem, and Jace2.0 (to clarify, Jace2.0 is a mistake in just about every format).

What is TMD's opinion of Modern?  Honestly I feel a ton of appeal towards a non-rotating format which never needs to have the controversy of format staples that are decades old and can never be replaced or reprinted.

I'm not going to be interested, but I'll be glad if it relaxes the pressures on Legacy prices so I can more fully invest into that format.  It would be cool if the introduction of Modern stratified and separated the current Legacy crowd, so that more adult people are more likely to be paired up to play Legacy than currently.

Also, while Modern may alleviate in the mid-run some price pressures, it won't forever just by virtue of the threat of reprints.  We'll see if they actually reprint, in bulk, the valuable and good cards in the next five-eight years, or if they simply introduce another new format.

[Norm4eva]

I'm not going to be interested, but I'll be glad if it relaxes the pressures on Legacy prices so I can more fully invest into that format.  It would be cool if the introduction of Modern stratified and separated the current Legacy crowd, so that more adult people are more likely to be paired up to play Legacy than currently.

Also, while Modern may alleviate in the mid-run some price pressures, it won't forever just by virtue of the threat of reprints.  We'll see if they actually reprint, in bulk, the valuable and good cards in the next five-eight years, or if they simply introduce another new format.

An early proof of this would be to see something like shocklands in the Core Set in the next 2 years.  There was an article some time ago on mtg.com about how one of the primary functions of a Core Set is to help define the metagame by reprinting Things That Matter; clear proof of Modern support would be seeing Core Sets run the gamut of things like fetchlands, Path to Exile, Dark Confidant, etc etc... every couple of years, and clearly not at all once, but on a rotational basis.  Throwing out Duel Decks and FTV: Staples from time to time will be other tells, but the best thing to do, I think, is just put the good stuff in the Core Sets.

[honestabe]

The current rumor is that we will see Shocks in M13, which I'm cool with.  They kept the Guild names off them for a reason.

As far as Modern itself if concerned, I've been playing the format on MTGO, and it's a blast.  Hypergenesis needs to be banned, without FoW, any deck that can me a turn 1 Emrakul needs to die.

I expect SCG to turn Legacy into a day 1 Side event, much like they do with drafting on day 2, so Day 1 would be Standard with smaller Legacy opens firing, and Day 2 would be Modern with Draft opens.  I know TCGplayer.com is already planning to run Modern tournaments.  I expect this to dip Legacy staple prices down to GP Madrid levels.  Seas at 60, forces at 30, wastes at 20, which is still kind of high, but not ridiculous.  What this means for type 1, I don't know; probably nothing

Oh, Stoneforge mystic also needs to be banned; if your non-combo deck isn't splashing for it, you're just going to loose to a deck that is.  The Fetch/shock manabase also makes it way to easy to splash for her

[Norm4eva]

I thought the Melira deck was supposedly as degenerate as Hypergenesis.  SFM isn't worth the banhammer until something is done about the prevalence of combo; right now decks that can support discard and a good wincon are the best answer to combo, so I think SFM necessarily needs to stay until there's a better way to dick a combo deck.

This statement's a little weird;

...I expect this to dip Legacy staple prices down to GP Madrid levels.  Seas at 60, forces at 30, wastes at 20, which is still kind of high, but not ridiculous.  What this means for type 1, I don't know; probably nothing...

$30 Force of Will doesn't have an effect on Vintage?  Is this because proxies are prevalent, Power > FoW anyway?  Or is this because everyone who would have bought into Vintage would have already done so by now?  If it's the latter, that's actually worse than it seems.

[honestabe]

Its actually probably bad for vintage if legacy players; potential vintage players start selling their duals and forces to pick up modern, which shares a lot less in common with Vintage.

And I'd like to see SFM banned just because if you're not running it, your deck isn't as good as it could be.  That's bad for a format.