Zac and Phil discuss their disappointment with the lack of changes in the recent ban announcement for the Legacy format. They express frustration with the card Grief, its impact on the format, and the lack of communication and transparency from Wizards of the Coast. They suggest the need for a community committee to provide input and feedback on the format, and emphasize the importance of transparency and timely action from WotC.
I don’t play Legacy but I’ve always been a big fan of the format. It’s very interesting to hear their thoughts on how negatively impactful Grief has been for the format. I think it’s frustrating but expected that Wizards delays banning a card from the current active set that they’re promoting. They haven’t even shipped out Gift Bundles yet (July) so to ban a card from the set before people even receive the product is definitely never happening.
I do think that Grief creates non-games, and I think non-games are truly antithetical to “fun” and fun should be the #1 concern for every game in existence. The fact that they’re not banning it means they care more about money than fun.
Grief, in my opinion, was a mistake. It should really be banned in all formats (except those where it’s normal to restrict instead). In the right deck, it’s a 1-drop 3/2 menace that double/triple thoughtsiezes before your opponent can drop a land into play.
But hey, they fixed that problem by banning Fury in modern, right?
As for the “no changes” B&R, I wish they were a little more willing to unban cards. For example, I wonder if Invoke Despair could come back to standard at this point (despite it rotating out soon anyway). Anyway, I guess I’m just looking forward to rotation to change up standard since it feels mostly solved (a lot of the same decks have been on top for a while now, with minor changes each new set).