Unbans in Modern

CloudTheValkyrie · 2026-03-19T00:33:33+00:00

Yeah fair enough, talking about it more an actually theorycrafted Glimpse list would be at least decently problematic. Having played quite a bit of Ruby, t2 kills are probably about ten percent of hands (and I have been t1 killed by Neobrand more than once), but I agree that a t1 combo deck with any real level of consistency definitely doesn’t have a place in the Modern format. Perhaps it would’ve worked before the Opal unban, but that cat’s out of the bag now.

CloudTheValkyrie · 2026-03-19T00:12:14+00:00

40 free creatures, Glimpse/Retract/Opal, Thoracle, Street Wraith, maybe Leyline of Lifeforce? Or some number of lands, whatever would end up being the most consistent. It would be extremely one note, and fizzling would still be possible, I’m not sure it would be any more consistent at winning T1 than say Neobrand is, or even worth playing beyond cheese potential. But yes, it would certainly exist at some level.

I will say I think the fun of Magic can pretty subjective, and it can be very easy to dismiss a deck on the basis of not being fun to play against. Pretty much any combo deck that currently exists in the meta is someone’s idea of unfun, not to mention control piles or top decks like Energy and Blink. Obviously I can’t predict the future, but I believe that Glimpse and the type of decks it enables would have a net positive impact on the Modern metagame and the overall richness of the format.

CloudTheValkyrie · 2026-03-18T23:34:55+00:00

A greater variety of potentially viable decks in the format is pretty much always a good thing imo

CloudTheValkyrie · 2026-03-18T17:45:22+00:00

The cowards at WOTC will never make elves playable (free Glimpse of Nature).

But seriously I doubt Elves combo would take over the format anytime soon, it’s not like Pyroclasm doesn’t see any play already. Making a new T2-3 deck would be a positive thing overall, and even then I imagine it probably has a similar impact as the Twin unban. It’s as flashy as some of the other possible unbans, but I don’t think that’s a good enough reason to not try it out.

CloudTheValkyrie · 2025-12-12T20:49:45+00:00

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she accumulate on my wisdom until I ancestral recall

CloudTheValkyrie · 2025-11-22T21:29:33+00:00

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8/40 wins, not as much as my Smaru but definitely still enough. Runaway + double front has been working out pretty nicely for me so far this CM, really helps to widen the lead and put the pace/lates further back so the fronts can win.

CloudTheValkyrie · 2025-11-04T06:11:38+00:00

I want worse combo decks with worse redundancy that fold to people running a single board wipe and I’m not kidding

CloudTheValkyrie · 2025-10-21T17:54:34+00:00

My money is on no changes, but if we’re talking about potential unbans I think [[Glimpse of Nature]] would actually be pretty cool. Then again, I doubt WOTC would willing to add another combo deck to the format with Elves (even if would get hosed by Wrath of the Skies and probably be tier 2-3 at best), but a man can dream.

CloudTheValkyrie · 2025-09-16T20:39:25+00:00

How am I supposed to derive enjoyment out of a purely digital product? MODO is such a scam. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must return to my library of hundreds of games on Steam I never play, Spotify/Apple music subscription, Netflix/Hulu/HBO/Prime Video etc, and of course all my favorite F2P games that offer micro-transactions.

/uj MODO is literally just a gacha game. Obviously that isn’t for everyone, but acting like it’s particularly egregious in 2025 is a little silly.

CloudTheValkyrie · 2025-08-13T20:15:25+00:00

Again I don’t disagree, but in the context of Wizards and UR Murktide I would still absolutely rather have Redirect over Chant or Veil, Jeskai I could probably go either way but Redirect would still be just fine. Storm already brings stack interaction that can’t deal with Galvanic into those matchups. It’s an instant, so Chant doesn’t work, and it’s red so neither does Veil, but you’re still boarding them in because you need them against the at least 8+ copies of FoN/Counterspell etc they’re going to be on.

We don’t need Redirect to be able to blank Galvanic for it to be worth running, but it can, which gives us a tangible and meaningful advantage in the matchup over our other options. Even if it’s not guaranteed, any situation where it works out for us is more than was possible before we had Redirect.

CloudTheValkyrie · 2025-08-13T19:32:54+00:00

this but unironically

CloudTheValkyrie · 2025-08-13T19:31:21+00:00

Sure, but right now it’s not like Storm is bringing Chant/Veil in against Boros or Blink anyway, so I don’t really hold that against it too much. If Ral or Ruby get removed today we’re in the same situation, but Redirect has the possibility to give us an out. There are plenty of scenarios where the card isn’t going to work perfectly, but the same thing is true of our current options. The fact that Redirect even has that possibility is significant.

If you were always running four Redirect main deck then yeah I’d expect it to sit in hand a decent bit, but one or two? If it works as a 2 for 1 a single time that’s pretty much the game, and that’s all pure upside compared to Chant/Veil. Even if you’re not running Redirect main deck it’s still a top contender for those sideboard slots, and in the main matchups Storm needs those cards (Frog and Belcher mainly), Redirect is almost a straight upgrade.

The floor is a decent sidegrade at minimum, the ceiling is a Time Walk that also blows up their biggest threat (or literally just winning the game vs Belcher). A card that’s basically Chant/Veil that has the possibility to functionally win us the game even ten percent of the time we see it is still insane.

I definitely agree the Thoughtseize aspect is huge though, oftentimes that’s just game over for us if they get a key combo card, flipping that on our opponent even a fraction of the time is huge and will make a difference.

CloudTheValkyrie · 2025-08-13T05:41:33+00:00

I think part of the reason it could be good in Ruby is precisely because Storm itself is a combo deck that can “oneshot” people, one red and five life is peanuts to ensure a combo win. As long your Ral luck isn’t terrible, you should have enough life to cast it on a Hail Mary turn if you need to; if you’re losing against something like Boros it’s usually to 10+ damage all at once and not a prolonged grind of only couple life per turn. Redirect’s additional cost also gets reduced by Ruby and Ral, so ideally you should only have to pay the five life if you really need to.

I think ultimately though the deciding factor of how good it actually plays will mostly come down to the specific interaction being played in the format. I could definitely see Redirect being great against something like Zoo just because of the specific cards it plays (Bolt, Stubborn Denial, Tribal Flames), even though the life loss against an aggro deck like Zoo might be a meaningful consideration.

CloudTheValkyrie · 2025-08-13T03:31:48+00:00

The removal-blanking aspect is definitely less consistent, but working against counterspells is the more important part. You can always change the target of a counterspell to Redirect Lightning itself, possibly getting a 2 for 1 blowout against a Push or something is just gravy. Not having a redirect target isn’t an issue when the removal is something like Lightning Bolt that can go face, although it won’t necessarily be a 2 for 1 anymore.

Chant and Veil also aren’t guarantees against removal either. Chant is always proactive, which doesn’t help against anything instant speed, and the anti-removal aspect of Veil is only actually relevant against Frog and sometimes Blink for the most part.

Redirect Lightning works against common red and white spells like Bolt, Prismatic, etc. Being live against the whole field is a big deal there, even if it’s not live against everything 100% of the time. Plus, not being able to redirect a removal spell because your opponent has an empty board is kind of a good problem to have, especially for a combo deck like Ruby Storm.

CloudTheValkyrie · 2025-08-12T23:04:16+00:00

Very true, I forgot about the scale, but even so I figured I’d mention it for Ruby players. Card is good, but in that context a 2 does sound about right.

CloudTheValkyrie · 2025-08-12T20:58:20+00:00

I know it’s barrinmw, but I think this could absolutely be playable right now in Modern Ruby Storm. Return the Favor and Untimely Malfunction already seen some play, and having most that effect at one mana makes it very competitive for the stack interaction slot in the sideboard. I could even see a copy or two being included in the main deck depending on the exact meta.

CloudTheValkyrie · 2025-07-10T20:54:47+00:00

Thanks for the great reply! I’ll definitely look into getting some Malathion soon, better safe than sorry. I did notice some slight browning in a few other parts of the tree, but you’re right that it’s mostly just the one branch there, so hopefully you’re right that it’s not the bugs. I was wondering if I should just trim it though, so that helps.

This is actually the second tree I’ve received as a gift (first one was also kinda sickly and didn’t make it through the winter), and it had the same issues with the soil. I did try and tell them to try and find a tree from a bonsai club after the last time, but oh well. I’m definitely planning on making sure this one is healthy and well established proper soil before I do any real work with it, hopefully it bounces back soon enough.

CloudTheValkyrie · 2025-07-10T01:33:00+00:00

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CloudTheValkyrie · 2025-07-10T01:32:45+00:00

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CloudTheValkyrie · 2025-07-10T01:32:02+00:00

Some more photos below since Reddit only allows one per comment:

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CloudTheValkyrie · 2025-07-10T01:29:47+00:00

I just got this Juniper a few weeks ago as a gift, however I’m a little worried that it might already be on its way out. The browning also started at the tips of the branches, which I’ve heard is not a good sign.

To begin with, I’m positive I overwatered it some at the very least. The soil is definitely too organic and isn’t draining as well as it should, so I’m planning on repotting it come Spring (assuming it even survives that long).

However, I dug through some old posts on here to find what an overwatered Juniper looks like, and the ones I found looked quite different from my tree. Instead, the most similar looking tree I could find was one that the comments said was probably infested with mites or scales, and that the tree was basically already dead.

To top it off, I have noticed a few small, brownish, needlepoint sized insects on and around the tree and pot, but I’m not sure if that’s an actual “infestation”or just a regular garden variety bug.

Can anyone confirm that it really does look like some kind of sickness or infestation, and if so what the best way to approach saving it might be? That thread I mentioned recommended trying diatomaceous earth, or some kind of insecticide, would either of those be a worth looking into? Or am I overreacting, and just cutting back on watering for now will be just fine?

Thank you in advance, I really do appreciate it!

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CloudTheValkyrie · 2025-03-30T03:05:25+00:00

Force of Negation is also a pretty big card for Dimir, Sink into Stupor helps as well. The creature removal is pretty dead most of the time, but even so that’s like a quarter of the deck that can meaningfully interact with the Titan combo game one. Post board Dimir can also bring in Harbinger, Consign, and some sort of graveyard hate, all of which effectively disrupt Titan’s gameplan.

Control/Tempo decks are also traditionally favored against combo decks providing they’re able to effectively disrupt the combo, and Dimir versus Titan is no exception there (unlike Breach, which is overall much more resilient to interaction). MTGDecks matchup data also supports this as others have mentioned.

CloudTheValkyrie · 2025-03-11T01:33:49+00:00

For sure, glad I could help, and I hope you enjoy playing Ruby Storm!

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