It’s now been over five weeks since a massive ban announcement took place on December 16th of last year. Multiple formats were affected, but the biggest change by far occurred in Modern. Not only were three format all-stars banned, but four classic powerhouses were unbanned. This opened the door for some potential major metagame shifts.
Unfortunately, the bans haven’t quite had the effect that some players wanted. The unbans certainly brought some level of change to the format, as decks like Grinding Breach rose significantly in popularity. For many, though, the problem lies more with the ban decisions.
Amped Raptor and The One Ring got the axe in large part to try to weaken Boros Energy. Yet, this weekend’s Regional Championship data showcases Boros Energy’s continued dominance. Hindsight is 20/20, but it’s safe to say that these bans didn’t go far enough.
Regional Championship Data
This weekend featured two Regional Championships. One took place in Canada, while the other took place in the Czech Republic. The European Regional Championship was significantly larger, hosting over 1,000 players.
This particular event was incredibly telling about the current state of Modern. At a tournament where players have their Pro Tour hopes on the line, over 25% of the field registered Boros Energy. This doesn’t even take into account the players that registered Mardu Energy, deciding to splash for cards like Orcish Bowmasters.
While Boros Energy was not the top-performing archetype on Day 1 of the event, with such a huge portion of the field represented by the deck, this is to be expected. That being said, Boros Energy’s percentage only rose going into Day 2. 36 Boros Energy players made Day 2, which equates to over 27% of the Day 2 metagame.
This not only showcases Boros Energy’s popularity but also just how competitive the deck is despite being the known top dog for a while. Even with players teched for the matchup, the deck still finds a way to emerge victorious.
Making up over 25% of the room for an event of this magnitude is almost unprecedented in Modern. For reference, Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis, one of Modern’s most infamous designs, made up less of the field at Mythic Championship IV than Boros Energy at this Regional Championship. Hogaak was then banned the next month, to nobody’s surprise.
Player Outcry
As you might expect, players had a lot to say about Boros Energy’s tight grip on the Modern format. One particular argument, though, stood out above the rest. Many players believe Amped Raptor was the wrong card to ban to weaken the deck.
Wholesome Raf stated that Guide of Souls and Ajani, Nacatl Pariah are bigger problems than Amped Raptor. They mention that Energy as a deck has “too many angles of attack” and has too much reach, which contributes to its success.
Both of these arguments go hand in hand. Guide of Souls’ ability to give your threats flying and its synergy with Ocelot Pride gives the deck a much better long game than you’d expect. Meanwhile, Ajani’s synergy with Goblin Bombardment letting you sacrifice your Cat token to immediately flip Ajani and go to town makes it easier to play around board wipes, such as Pyroclasm.
This idea of banning Ajani or Guide of Souls instead of Amped Raptor is being brought up by a lot of players. Some players went as far as to say Amped Raptor was the worst card in Boros Energy, to begin with.
What’s interesting, though, is that a few weeks ago, other players were praising Wizards’ decision to make bans that would affect Boros Energy without weakening the strategy too much. The hope was that these small bans in conjunction with the unbans would allow players to adjust to the metagame at hand.
At this point, it’s become clear that the deck is still too strong for Modern. So, what’s the best course of action moving forward?
Where Do We Go From Here?
According to the previous announcement, the next ban announcement is set to occur on March 31st. This is still a way away, but players are already tired of the chokehold Boros Energy has on Modern. It seems quite unlikely that the format will be able to adjust much further since players have had ample opportunity to try to hate out Boros Energy.
With this in mind, in my opinion, it’s time to bite the bullet and get rid of Guide of Souls. Guide of Souls is the glue that holds the deck together. The life gain allows you to generate tokens with Ocelot Pride without needing to attack. Guide is exceptionally aggressive, forcing the opponent to have removal right away. It fuels your other Energy cards, like Static Prison.
The downside with banning Guide of Souls is that you run the risk of essentially killing Boros Energy as we know it. No other one-drop comes close to replacing it. Nonetheless, the alternative of banning another support card could lead to a similar problem we saw with Amped Raptor getting the axe, where players simply find decent replacements and the deck continues to thrive.
Wizards’ best bet is to rip the Band-Aid off as soon as possible. Boros Energy has overstayed its welcome. Banning Amped Raptor was a step in the right direction, but it didn’t go far enough. We’ll just have to wait and see what the next ban announcement brings us.