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I often see Modern heralded as being a format known for its diversity. Combing over the successful decks from the Pro Tour tells a different story. As I paged through the decks I saw the following decks in large numbers:
Abzan
Infect
Splinter Twin
Burn
Amulet Bloom
I saw these decks in much smaller numbers:
Scapeshift
Affinity
Living End/ a couple different graveyard decks
Merfolk
Zoo
BW Tokens
GW Hatebears
UWx Control
Jund
This list is either exhaustive or very close form the decks that went 6-4 or better, which is a reasonable definition of what makes a deck a "real deck". Some of these decks only posted one or two copies with that record as well.
There's definitely some customization in the above decks, but I wouldn't say that Wilt-Leaf Liege Abzan is a sign of diversity, but rather of the opposite. After all, the deck was designed to beat the mirror.
People are wise to Amulet Bloom's ability to win as early as turn two and are embracing it as a pillar of the format. Splinter Twin, Scapeshift and Infect are all still playable as combo alternatives, but they don't quite have the same kick to them.
At any rate, the format's diversity isn't what's at question today. What I want to know is whether you can watch Modern Pro Tour coverage without worrying about whether or not your favorite deck will be subject to the next ban. If you like the Amulet deck, can you reasonably keep playing it after it saw so much success at the Pro Tour? It is a turn two/three combo deck after all. And if you're a Splinter Twin fan, were you rooting for or against it in the finals? Does having two copies of the deck in the Top 8 including the winner fill you with joy or worry?
It's too early to call whether Modern is in a healthy place or not at this point, though from my perspective the Pro Tour Top 8 was dramatically more boring than the Top 8 of Grand Prix Omaha. The question stands though, when you like a deck in Modern do you root for or against it at the Pro level?
Why did you find the top 8 boring? I personally loved the first couple of matches but the bloom titan games were extremely dull. I don’t understand why the judges did not intervene. I understand that the deck is extremely difficult to play, but this should not be an excuse to play 5 times as slow as your opponent, no?
I always find top 8 play interesting. It’s the deck lists that I find boring.
I didn’t catch a lot of the Bloom Titan games but the snippets I saw of Radiant Fountain vs. Burn and death touch token plus Sunhome on defense were very interesting to me.
agreed, the top 8 deck lists were boring. I also find myself again disliking the whole team thing. Everyone gets together, makes a list, and everyone plays that list. I know that’s just how it works, but man do “optimized” cookie cutter decks bore the pants off of me.
I think the best time to watch was day 2 — the most interesting decks and games were out.
A good question. I like Scapeshift, and I always hope that one or two players make it to the top 16 or top 8 with it. I don’t want it to become a dominant deck, because I don’t want Scapeshift or Valakut to get banned.