6/2/2023 0 Comments Mtg root outAlongside the set itself came the Mystical Archive: cards from throughout the history of Magic: The Gathering that got some very pretty new artwork. The best example of this in recent times involves this year’s Strixhaven: School of Mages. Frankly, there’s not always a need for that. That’s fine and all, but it seems to have led Wizards to a point where it pre-emptively bans things just in case. When things are in the first category, well, you just need a good sideboard, but when it’s the latter, then something needs to be banned. There’s a big difference between “I can’t beat this card with my deck” and “This card can’t be beaten with anything in the format”, too. When a card is good, but also has no answers, or enables a combination of cards that can’t be dealt with in enough ways, you end up warping the format. Strixhaven's Mystical Archive included a number of cards that were already banned in Historic and not legal for use in Standard. It’s that idea that makes Control decks so interesting to play, because you have to try and fill your deck with the correct answers to whatever questions your opponent’s decks are going to have. Ideally, every card in every format would have a handful of cards that would be able to deal with it. The issue isn’t when a card is good, but when it’s too hard to answer. However, sometimes cards become too ubiquitous. It’s important to have diversity in decks within each format to allow for multiple playstyles and, ideally, a rock-paper-scissors quality to each game. ![]() While that’s fun in a draft, it’s not what people generally want from other formats. After all, without powerful cards, everyone would be playing with basic two-mana 2/2s. ![]() The issue isn’t when a card is good, but when it’s too hard to answer.Ĭards are allowed to be powerful in Magic that’s an integral part of deck construction and a key driving force behind people opening packs and buying singles. That means that there might be a card in Standard that simply can’t be answered or dealt with, and leads to the kind of homogeneity in a game that makes every match feel the same. Generally speaking, cards get banned because they warp a format. However, there are often bannings that make very little sense to the player base, and cards that people feel should be banned that never really are. That’s because there are more cards and mechanics there, which means there are exponentially more interactions to consider, which means things slip through occasionally and have to be banned. This is especially true in the eternal constructed formats, which is basically every constructed format outside of Standard. The fact is, as Wizards of the Coast introduces more formats and continues along the inevitable power creep trail that MTG will probably forever be on, there are going to be more and more cards that are simply too good for the game - or at least some aspects of it. However, it’s not just a simple matter of time being an unstoppable and unknowable force that’s affecting this. ![]() Part of that is due to the fact that as more cards get printed, and more of those get banned, then the list of banned cards obviously gets longer. That’s not the needlessly hyperbolic statement of an aged and tired player, it’s just the truth. Some possible "combos" that could work with Root Maze are below, but they all seem kind of terrible.Banned cards in Magic: The Gathering are a lot more common than they used to be. Either some way to win the game quickly or play more denial cards to keep our opponent in the first few turns of the game( Primal Command, Plow Under, Fulminator Mage). We also need a way to take advantage of the tempo gained by playing Root Maze. This leaves Shocks, Scars fast lands, and basics as the best choices ( Horizon Canopy, Gemstone Mine, etc are also good options). ![]() You want to avoid fetch lands and CIPT lands so you can cast Root Maze on turn 1. Running Root Maze pretty much defines what kinds of lands you can play. I'm posting here for some ideas to see if we can make this work. Closest deck I found that could run it was GW Hatebears/D&T but it was only ok. In a format defined by fetchlands I always thought Root Maze could be viable.
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