MagicFest Las Vegas 2019 is happening this week, and one of the biggest Magic: The Gathering events of the year features two Grand Prix events: Modern and Limited (Modern Horizons) but many fans are still upset that decks that run "Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis" are still dominating the beloved format, and even Magic Hall of Famer Ben Stark has a lot to say about it during the coverage of the Grand Prix Modern event.
During the fourth round of the Modern Grand Prix at MagicFest Las Veagas, Stark makes a rant that many players would agree with after Hogaak player Chantelle Campbell manages to unleash an insanely powerful board position despite having to mulligan once and discarding after her opponent played an "Inquisition of Kozilek".
Watch the clip from CFB Events below:
"Chantelle mulliganed this game and her opponent turn-oned Inquisitioned her on the play this game before she had the opportunity to play anything," Stark said. "She took a mulligan and then her opponent played a discard spell before her she had the oppotunity to cast anything, and this is turn-two of this game. Look at this board! This is not her rare nut-draw. This is a mulligan and her opponent played a discard spell on turn-one. This is gross, this is broken, this should be banned. How can I give good strategic analysis on this game?"
Stark went on to point out that the Hogaak player has 16 power in the board by turn-two.
Stark's rant echoes the complaints of many Modern Magic players that we've been hearing in recent months. Despite its continued dominance at major Magic events, Wizards of the Coast refused to have an emergency ban to get rid of the overpowered card that was released in Modern Horizons.
Magic lead designer Mark Rosewater admitted that their most recent mistake was a black/green hybrid, and I think we already know what that card is. Despite the banning of "Bridge From Below" last July, the graveyard-focused Hogaak decks are still taking the Modern meta by storm.
Even though the next scheduled ban & restricted announcment will be on Monday, August 26, it's too late to ban Hogaak for MagicFest Las Vegas, which is sad because the Grand Prix Modern events in MagicFest Vegas are usually memorable.
Related: More Command Zones Announced For All North America, Europe, & Brazil MagicFest in 2019
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