I also heard that the Rebel mirror match was extremely miserable to play too as back then, the legend rule was that only one of that creature could exist at a time on the field, regardless of whose control it’s under. So, it would always boil down to whoever put Lin Sivvi on the field first would win as then the opponent would be locked out of their win condition
People who didn't play rebels were sideboarding her so they could lock out their opponents. So every deck that had white in it was playing her because of that and you were incentivized to play white so you could have her as a powerful sideboard hate card.
The rebel deck I piloted back then specifically eschewed Lin for that reason. I focused on Reverent Mantra and hitting the break through as quickly as possible. The Sivvi decks were slower than mine as they often took the time to have some toolbox cards. Looking back, it wasn't fun. Manageable, but not fun. Still, its the farthest I ever got in the tourney scene.
During Masques block, the legend rule stated that if a legendary permanent was on the battlefield, another card with the same name outright couldn't be put onto the battlefield. Basically, the first person to get Lin-Sivvi out immediately won. This specific interaction is a big part of why the rule was changed starting in Kamigawa block.
Yup. WotC realized a block of legends wasn't going to work if there were lockout rules. That old legend rule almost made legendary cards completely unplayable in competitive play because of the high risk--they needed to be utterly insane like Tolarian Academy and Serra's Sanctum.
Tempest mono red (the type II version) is one of my favorite decks of all time! That was the first deck that I learned how pilot, and it is pure nostalgia for me 3:06
I actually am tweeking my Sliver deck with the new PreCon and had an idea: use Rakumeral, Genealogists (probubly spelled her name wrong, I know) and name Rebel or Mercenary. Then I could have a half dozen cards of defferent mana costs that function like Sliver Overlord, becouse all the cards IN MY DECK, would be BOTH Slivers and Rebels or Mercenaries. So, while I might be limited by what EACH can search up, I could pick EXACTLY what Slivers I want and when.
Yeah she’s lowkey busted as a commander. I’d probably focus more on rebels as they can climb up in mana value. I would also play The World Tree and Realmbreaker as you can name God or Praetor and play all your creatures from your deck once you crack them
Super interesting Top 10, thanks ! Can confirm Mercadian Masques Block was horrible to play... Would be interesting to make a "Top 10 Cheapest Competitive deck", Odyssey Block had some awesome decks with hardly any rare, especially U/G Madness with Wild Mongrel, Basking Rootwalla, Compulsion, Roar of the Wurm, Circular Logic... Good times !
The funny thing about Mirrodin Affinity is that barely anything got banned at a relevant time in that format, because the deck was completely blasted by Big Red. You may question, then, why so much got banned? Well, see, years later, Wizards wanted to do an event on MTGO where different Block decks could face each other...
For Number 6, I think I pulled that combo in either a Draft or Sealed event. The Virtue was even foil. Still have both in my Teysa, Orzhov Scion commander deck.
I miss block constructed, or just blocks in general. While yes like this video demonstrate some decks broke the block format most blocks were very diverse and a comparable power level
Dunno if you’ve ever seen Randy Buehler’s Gauntlet of Greatness series from several years ago, but the rebel deck actually held its own (and often beat) some of the most busted combo decks from the early years
12:37 I still think that the reasons that Rebels were so brokenly dominant in Masques block is because the rest of the block is godawful!!! It is pretty easy to stand out in the pile of turds that was Masques block. No offense if you liked Masques, but I literally quit playing Magic when I saw Masques come out. I made it like a month after the prerelease and quit the game. It is a shame that missed so much of my beloved Saga block in Type II, but eww Masques!
It hurts my old bones whenever I realize that there are enough players who have never played during a block for it to be worth explaining when it comes up.
UW control seems like it could have been pretty nuts for Ice Age block, but alas the block was never correctly connected. Force of Will, Arcane Denial, Zuran Orb, Swords to Plowshares, Brainstorm, Thawing Glaciers, Glacial Chasm, Kjeldoran Outpost, Cold Snap, Enduring Renewal, Hydroblast, Justice, Zur's Weirding, Commandeer, Counterbalance, Jotun Grunt, Martyr of Sands, Scrying Sheets, Helm of Obedience, Soldevi Excavations, Viscerid Drone...
Not gonna lie, I thought for sure Necropotence decks were going to make an appearance since that was considered probably the first real problematic deck back in the day. Before that it was usually stuff like Black Vise or Channel/Fireball decks, but Necropotence was a real villain back in the day. I couldn't go a day without hearing about it back in 1996.
Necro didn't work in block because it was missing key pieces from the base set, like Ivory Tower and Nev's Disk. You had Soul Burn as a replacement for Drain Life at least.
@@JD-gk7eh Ice Age Block was an ungainly thing, you had to use Homelands and Alliances and there weren’t any mechanics that carried over. But it was the growing pains that led to the MTG we know now
@@JD-gk7eh You know, I didn't even think about that. Hypnotic Specter, Hymn to Tourach, Drain Life, Ivory Tower, etc. They encompass all the sets that came before the block was a thing. I didn't even think about it.
Block is one of those formats I really want to try out some time. It seems to me like the most ideal way to play after opening a bunch of cards, almost as good as "Top 10 Vintage Cards (Minus Power 9)"!
I don't think you can have 4 different decks from the same block be busted/dominant block decks. If everything is busted then nothing is really busted.
Academy was too op so they banned it, the memory jar took over and they banned so they banned that which allowed Sanctum to come in. So with everything legal Academy is so dominant you dontdon't really notice the others(I could be wrong on the order).
The problem w Masque block was not just the old legends rule. The block was just so under powered (over adjustment following Urza block). There was basically nothing else to do except to play Rebels, which would just be another deck is any other blocks.
Prophecy was massively underpowered, but Masques had a ton of power - it's just that all of it was for fucking lockdown pieces - and Nemesis was actually a legitimately powerful set too... with a drawback mechanic as one of its main pieces, and that drawback was that the power only lasted so long, meaning it would eventually lose to lockdown pieces. But there's a reason two of that format's Top 8 were goddamn lockdown control decks that used Rising Waters to shut down Rebels entirely and Stinging Barrier to kill over the course of 20 turns.
Sometimes I wonder if WotC design team took inspiration from the Urza's block power level and just made it simpler even to break when coming up with the recent FIRE design. And Affinity decks were what drove me out of MtG for over a decade.
Rebels don't even look that powerful, but they're just way too consistent because of all the tutoring. Every game ends up going exactly the same way. I want to say Wizards learned their lesson about gameplay variance being essential to a healthy metagame at that point, but, well... they did make Companions not all that long ago.
I also heard that the Rebel mirror match was extremely miserable to play too as back then, the legend rule was that only one of that creature could exist at a time on the field, regardless of whose control it’s under. So, it would always boil down to whoever put Lin Sivvi on the field first would win as then the opponent would be locked out of their win condition
It's almost like you also played a reflector mage in the same card
You have no fucking idea. It was like tog vs tog
People who didn't play rebels were sideboarding her so they could lock out their opponents. So every deck that had white in it was playing her because of that and you were incentivized to play white so you could have her as a powerful sideboard hate card.
The rebel deck I piloted back then specifically eschewed Lin for that reason. I focused on Reverent Mantra and hitting the break through as quickly as possible. The Sivvi decks were slower than mine as they often took the time to have some toolbox cards.
Looking back, it wasn't fun. Manageable, but not fun. Still, its the farthest I ever got in the tourney scene.
"Abused the rebel creature type" = used it as intended.
During Masques block, the legend rule stated that if a legendary permanent was on the battlefield, another card with the same name outright couldn't be put onto the battlefield. Basically, the first person to get Lin-Sivvi out immediately won. This specific interaction is a big part of why the rule was changed starting in Kamigawa block.
Yup. WotC realized a block of legends wasn't going to work if there were lockout rules. That old legend rule almost made legendary cards completely unplayable in competitive play because of the high risk--they needed to be utterly insane like Tolarian Academy and Serra's Sanctum.
Tempest mono red (the type II version) is one of my favorite decks of all time! That was the first deck that I learned how pilot, and it is pure nostalgia for me 3:06
I actually am tweeking my Sliver deck with the new PreCon and had an idea: use Rakumeral, Genealogists (probubly spelled her name wrong, I know) and name Rebel or Mercenary. Then I could have a half dozen cards of defferent mana costs that function like Sliver Overlord, becouse all the cards IN MY DECK, would be BOTH Slivers and Rebels or Mercenaries. So, while I might be limited by what EACH can search up, I could pick EXACTLY what Slivers I want and when.
Yeah she’s lowkey busted as a commander. I’d probably focus more on rebels as they can climb up in mana value. I would also play The World Tree and Realmbreaker as you can name God or Praetor and play all your creatures from your deck once you crack them
@@MrZer093 You're making me want to build this deck, ngl!
Super interesting Top 10, thanks ! Can confirm Mercadian Masques Block was horrible to play... Would be interesting to make a "Top 10 Cheapest Competitive deck", Odyssey Block had some awesome decks with hardly any rare, especially U/G Madness with Wild Mongrel, Basking Rootwalla, Compulsion, Roar of the Wurm, Circular Logic... Good times !
Whenever you say "in a hurry" I know the card or deck is really popping off
The funny thing about Mirrodin Affinity is that barely anything got banned at a relevant time in that format, because the deck was completely blasted by Big Red. You may question, then, why so much got banned? Well, see, years later, Wizards wanted to do an event on MTGO where different Block decks could face each other...
Today I realized that pauper affinity is almost entirely mirrodin cards
For Number 6, I think I pulled that combo in either a Draft or Sealed event. The Virtue was even foil. Still have both in my Teysa, Orzhov Scion commander deck.
I miss block constructed, or just blocks in general. While yes like this video demonstrate some decks broke the block format most blocks were very diverse and a comparable power level
Loving this series, can't wait for you to do other formats as well.
Dunno if you’ve ever seen Randy Buehler’s Gauntlet of Greatness series from several years ago, but the rebel deck actually held its own (and often beat) some of the most busted combo decks from the early years
12:37 I still think that the reasons that Rebels were so brokenly dominant in Masques block is because the rest of the block is godawful!!! It is pretty easy to stand out in the pile of turds that was Masques block. No offense if you liked Masques, but I literally quit playing Magic when I saw Masques come out. I made it like a month after the prerelease and quit the game. It is a shame that missed so much of my beloved Saga block in Type II, but eww Masques!
God mirrodin block brings back horrible memories. 😂
The worst part is even if you countered Lingering Souls, it becomes even cheaper to cast
Lol
It hurts my old bones whenever I realize that there are enough players who have never played during a block for it to be worth explaining when it comes up.
UW control seems like it could have been pretty nuts for Ice Age block, but alas the block was never correctly connected. Force of Will, Arcane Denial, Zuran Orb, Swords to Plowshares, Brainstorm, Thawing Glaciers, Glacial Chasm, Kjeldoran Outpost, Cold Snap, Enduring Renewal, Hydroblast, Justice, Zur's Weirding, Commandeer, Counterbalance, Jotun Grunt, Martyr of Sands, Scrying Sheets, Helm of Obedience, Soldevi Excavations, Viscerid Drone...
Not gonna lie, I thought for sure Necropotence decks were going to make an appearance since that was considered probably the first real problematic deck back in the day. Before that it was usually stuff like Black Vise or Channel/Fireball decks, but Necropotence was a real villain back in the day. I couldn't go a day without hearing about it back in 1996.
This video is about Block decks. Necropotence doesn't have a place there.
People thought Necro was bad at first when Ice Age was released. It took a bit for players to unlock it’s potential.
Necro didn't work in block because it was missing key pieces from the base set, like Ivory Tower and Nev's Disk. You had Soul Burn as a replacement for Drain Life at least.
@@JD-gk7eh Ice Age Block was an ungainly thing, you had to use Homelands and Alliances and there weren’t any mechanics that carried over. But it was the growing pains that led to the MTG we know now
@@JD-gk7eh You know, I didn't even think about that. Hypnotic Specter, Hymn to Tourach, Drain Life, Ivory Tower, etc. They encompass all the sets that came before the block was a thing. I didn't even think about it.
Block is one of those formats I really want to try out some time. It seems to me like the most ideal way to play after opening a bunch of cards, almost as good as "Top 10 Vintage Cards (Minus Power 9)"!
That joke got stale after first 10 instances of repeating it.
@@quint3ssent1a At this point it's one of those mummified corpses that somehow still gets dangled around.
Better than Teeka’s dragon. At least this running gag has a point
@@Natboof shame that Teeka's dragon would never make it into any Vintage top 10.
@@Natboof Teeka's Dragon is great though.
I really wish theros - eldraine - zendikar rising was a block bc I love me a good bs 4 color value engine
5c Bring to Light Rhino, my beloved...
That mono green stompy deck from Urza's block was the bane of my childhood. I hated Albino troll with a passion.
How many of those top 5 decks WEREN'T a part of Combo Winter? Pros-Bloom and Rebels?
Interesting history!😅
I don't think you can have 4 different decks from the same block be busted/dominant block decks. If everything is busted then nothing is really busted.
Especially what he said at number 1
Academy was too op so they banned it, the memory jar took over and they banned so they banned that which allowed Sanctum to come in. So with everything legal Academy is so dominant you dontdon't really notice the others(I could be wrong on the order).
Lol from the title I thought meant “wall decks” or fog decks
Dammit nizz, I REALLY miss block constructed
i’m building Lin sevi in commander Maybe i face a mirror match well it’s good in changelinge
Casual player in love with urza’s block
Can you do Legacy next?
Anybody else think this was a video about the top ten decks that focused on blocking with creatures?
Lin Sivvi was actually banned for waving a rebel flag in front of MaRo :V
bring back the block
The problem w Masque block was not just the old legends rule. The block was just so under powered (over adjustment following Urza block). There was basically nothing else to do except to play Rebels, which would just be another deck is any other blocks.
I didn't even mention the old legends rule and did mention the power level thing. What video are you watching?
Prophecy was massively underpowered, but Masques had a ton of power - it's just that all of it was for fucking lockdown pieces - and Nemesis was actually a legitimately powerful set too... with a drawback mechanic as one of its main pieces, and that drawback was that the power only lasted so long, meaning it would eventually lose to lockdown pieces.
But there's a reason two of that format's Top 8 were goddamn lockdown control decks that used Rising Waters to shut down Rebels entirely and Stinging Barrier to kill over the course of 20 turns.
Off Topic: This episode is the “Stitch Episode”. It’s 626
Sometimes I wonder if WotC design team took inspiration from the Urza's block power level and just made it simpler even to break when coming up with the recent FIRE design.
And Affinity decks were what drove me out of MtG for over a decade.
So… 4 different decks from the same blocks =D goes to show how broken the Urza’s Block was.
I miss block constructed
I miss blocks :(
I spend most of my time sitting on my STEA
Top 10 Urza's block decks LUL
shoulda just left everything in urzas block unbanned
Broken Legacy decks
Rebels don't even look that powerful, but they're just way too consistent because of all the tutoring. Every game ends up going exactly the same way. I want to say Wizards learned their lesson about gameplay variance being essential to a healthy metagame at that point, but, well... they did make Companions not all that long ago.
First