Answers are not a reason to unban cards, as the old saying goes “There are bad answers. There are no bad threats.” Cards like Kommand give decks legs against Stoneforge, but you could easily play answers like Dispel and the threat will still be just as problematic (Brutality just kills Stoneforge like Abrupt Decay). If I’m testing banned cards I need to know if the threat itself is trouble, not whether or not there are answers to it. A sufficiently powerful threat will see play regardless of how easily answered it is.

I hope you’re right except for the artifact lands. They’re still banned due to krack-clan ironworks not affinity (they indeed make it worse). Stoneforge, Preordain, Dig through time and Dark Depths all together sound a little worrying, but it would be nice to see them in a modern tournament.

As a reply to your comment mikefon. Sfm will only be played in affinity the first week before people realize that is terrible in the deck since it is slow and the body doesnt matter. If they wanted that effect they would play the one mana sorcery that does the same thing.
Saying that it hurts diversity because of the fact that it will be played in a lot of decks is like saying goyf and snap huts diversity of those colors. While they in fact enable different decks to be competative. I think we will Stoneforge help a lot more new decks than overpowering the one that would benefit from that card already.

Mikefon, I’m actually not too worried about that. It’d be no different than Jeksai Control, Grixis Delver, and Burn all using Lightning Bolt but using the card in very different planned ways. The only problem would be if it takes the decks as a whole too far past the power level of the decks around it.

My opinion on this topic is:

Things which are realistic to come of the list within a couple of years:

SfM, Preordain, DTT, Dark Depths (no Tier 1 deck + enables a new strategy and is good as a control/value finisher and bad as a combo finisher)

Stuff which is likely but will take time:

BBE, Seething Song, Artifact lands (they actually make Affinity worse XD), DRS

Greetings,
Kathal

Jeskai, Abzan, Death and Taxes have already been highlighted as some possible deck that could improve with a Stoneforge unban. I think that Affinity too would benefit for having 8 possible plating (and a creature that can carry it). It could even be sleaved up in Bant Knightfall and some builds of Zoo. Aren’t those a bit too many decks? Wouldn’t it hurt metagame diversity? I think that this is the major issue against Stoneforge unban. Not the power level.

Probably not, but it would initially be the most played thanks to Legacy. Given what I think the format would end up doing (coming next week) Jeskai would be my guess.

If SfM were unbanned, do you think D&T would be the best Stoneforge deck in Modern? If not, what do you think it would be?

Literally a continuation of Sheridan’s work. Had I been in charge from the beginning I would have gone with Death and Taxes.

I wouldn’t go that far, but I bought my thopter/swords two banlist updates before they came off, and got my AV right before it got unbanned. You have to think about what’s realistically coming off in the near future. Buying hypergenesis and skullclamps right now is probably not a good use of money, even if they get unbanned 5 years from now.

I could imagine stoneforge and bloodbraid coming off in the not too distant future (though probably not the kaladesh update) and I could imagine the artifact lands coming off and mox opal going on. The big difference with stoneforge is its a pretty expensive card to invest in if it stays on the list for another couple years.

I think some are never getting unbanned. I dont ever think they will ever allow a card like jitte into the format

Eh im picking up 3 judge promos just to be safe. Im hoping mystic might give mardu the 2 drop it needs to take on jund

It is my general recommendation that you should have at least a playset of every card on the Modern Banned List. Every single unban has led to a huge price increase – even if just short term – in the relevant card or cards.

I can’t answer that, partially because I’ve been sitting on mine since Cawblade, partially because it would be a huge spoiler, and partially because WOTC is a loose cannon and you never know with them.