You've probably heard loudmouth streamers (like myself) espousing that Standard is healthy and in a good place right now. But what does that mean? Those exact same streamers will load up the ladder and immediately complain about specific cards they see (yep, still me). Is the format being healthy not synonymous with the players enjoying themselves? Surely that doesn't make any sense.
So how can these two contradictions exist so passionately, sometimes even within one individual?
Defining Healthy
For any game to be healthy, you need one thing: players. Triple-A video game executives don’t care about whether or not their communities are toxic or even having fun so long as they keep showing up and spending money. Magic: the Gathering isn’t really any different when you think about it. At the end of the day, as long as we keep showing up to play a given format, the format should be considered healthy.
That said, the Magic player base is a pretty discerning lot and we are spoiled for choice. If a format like Standard or Modern is not particularly fun, we can put it down without giving up Magic entirely. We can simply switch constructed formats, get into Commander, or play our favorite limited formats.
We see Standard players taking advantage of this a lot because of Standard's rotating nature. Every few months the format shifts dramatically, so the players who enjoy it one month might dislike it after a set or two are released. We all know we can put it down for a year and come back to something completely different later. Of course, there's always a chance those players won't come back later.
How to Combat Unhealthy Standards
Currently, there is really only one tool in Wizards of the Coast's tool belt for fixing a broken MTG format: banning cards. The reason for this is pretty simple. In paper, the cards are printed with rules text permanently on the physical game piece. If a card is functionally changed so it legally behaves differently than what’s printed, there’s a chance a player seeing it for the first time will be confused.
Of course, there are exceptions to this in extreme cases. Companions, for example, were errata'd to add a 3-mana tax to put them to hand. This was a pretty extreme case because companions were appearing in the majority of decks at the time and created a homogenous experience that turned players off in droves. This shouldn’t be looked at as a precedent, but rather an emergency course correction from a mechanic that risked alienating an entire generation of early Arena adopters.
While bans can help minimize the damage problematic cards create, it should be seen as a last resort. In the past few years, we've needed a number of bans in Standard as some design choices proved too aggressive for a healthy format. Fortunately, the recent sets don't seem to follow this trend and it's my sincere hope that this continues and Standard bans can become a thing of the past again soon.
But What Makes a Problematic Card?
In order to ban problematic cards, you need to be able to identify them. When you play for a while, you get a sense of what play patterns are generally fun and which are frustrating, but since taste is subjective, just trusting a person’s gut isn’t sufficient. We need to look at concrete data. Fortunately, MTGA and MTGO are treasure troves of data regarding play rates and win rates, but the other key data that we can leverage is tournament results. We should review tournament results and hold them in higher regard than anecdotal ladder experiences because they represent the format at its most fundamental level.
If there is a way to combat a popular strategy, tournament grinders gunning for prizes will find it. Then, once the word gets out, that strategy will become more popular and the previously powerful, problematic, strategy will become naturally less problematic. This is a healthy metagame – one where the players have a say over which cards can be played because multiple powerful cards naturally check each other.
Problems arise in cases like Oko, Thief of Crowns, or Omnath, Locus of Creation when they are significantly stronger than the alternatives and lack reasonable counter play. That's when the ban hammer comes down.
Powerful vs. Too Powerful
Current Standard has many cards in it that negate other strategies or represent powerful swings that can be difficult to deal with. The two I've highlighted above, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, and Sunfall are cards currently legal in Standard that see some play, but their meta share has fallen dramatically in the past few months with more aggressive strategies just outperforming them.
These are cards people have called out as candidates for banning in the past. No action was taken against them and over time, their usage simply dropped off. Players learned to adapt and challenge them and they're no longer defining parts of the Standard landscape but simply another option within it. These cards, regardless of your personal feelings towards them, represent what healthy inclusions in Standard look like.
So Why Are Tensions Still High Sometimes?
The bottom line is that some players will never be satisfied and we need to accept that somewhere, someone will complain about anything. For example, my least favorite card in Standard is Deep-Cavern Bat, but I'll be the first to tell you it isn't a problematic card. If we break down why it bothers me, it's because it shines a light on glaring holes within my own game.
I play decks that rely on individual cards to be effective (often all-in combos), I usually don't have enough threats to put my opponent in uncomfortable blocking positions, and I rarely run enough removal. Deep-Cavern Bat isn't a problematic card – I personally have bad habits the bat punishes.
If you find yourself saying, “Man, they really ought to ban _____,” try to think through what types of decks aren't affected by that card and compare them to the decks you're running. There's likely a disconnect there, but there are often lessons to be learned that you can apply to your own play and card choices. Sometimes there's a problem in the format, but there's often a solution you can employ that doesn't require Wizards taking action.
A healthy Standard is one where you have the power to combat the popular strategies. So go out there and make it happen!
Thank you for reading, and happy brewing!