5-8

The last batch of the top 16!

Round 5:
Ancestral Recall cannot be allowed to win this event.

Look, I know that, objectively, it is one of if not the most powerful card in Magic.

It's also broken. It's emblematic of everything that was wrong with Magic design from the game's inception until at least a decade in. You played blue, or you played to beat blue. It's so unbalanced not even Thanos could fix it.

Brainstorm, Ancestral Recall's 'fixed' sibling is proof. That card is STILL crazy and a linchpin in Legacy. But, Brainstorm needs help to maximize its effectiveness. That's where the vote should go.

Batch 6:
As with Ancestral Recall, Black Lotus should be set aside. Is Lotus vying with Recall for the most powerful card in Magic? Yeah. If they hadn't made it before, would they inevitably have made it? Yes. And then we would have been subject to article after article of 'we shouldn't've done that'.

I wish Lotus was going out against a better opponent. Serra Angel has made it far-too far in my opinion-but the card is well designed, a solid uncommon, easily as iconic as the Lotus, and everything you want in a baseline Magic card. If Serra Angel was declared the best card, the arguments in its favor are stronger than they are for Lotus.

Batch 7:
Dark Confidant is the clear winner. Something that creates dynamic gameplay and compels choices between players while also being powerful and giving us a risk worth taking.

Time Walk is busted. So busted that even 5 or 7 mana copies of the effect are dreaded/adored for the way that they can break a game open. You can't even play it in Commander, that's how broken it is!

Don't reward the poor designs and overbearing power of yesteryear. The Model T car might be iconic but its a long way from being the best car ever built.

Batch 8:
Oooo, now this is a spicy match. The OG, granddaddy Counterspell, the one that started it all, helping to define not only Magic but Blue as a color for years or the wicked uncle Force of Will, a card so important that many call it one of the cards that helps keep Legacy from spiraling out of control as a format.

I'm really torn on this one; Counterspell is bad news and I know it. Having played Magic when Counterspell was the standard, I promise you that it was one of two things that utterly warped Magic around the color blue (the other being instant speed card draw). But the game isn't Magic without it.

 And Force of Wil, while being precisely as guilty of Counterspell's sins, is so important to the game and is remarkably well designed! A life and two cards to stop a spell you don't want to resolve? Is it worth it to you, or not? That makes for some mind-busting gameplay!

I'm going with Force of will on this one.