Are some MTG players just bad at understanding core game mechanics?

[SeekerOfTruth007]

I just watched a so-called pro-gamer on Youtube claim that mono-black control was better without Dark Ritual and Hypnotic Specter.

How can a supposedly pro-gamer not understand that forcing your opponent to discard a card AT RANDOM every turn is one of the most powerful game mechanics in a card game physically possible? Hypnotic Specter is the first 4 slots in Mono-black control. Without it, the deck doesn't even function.

lol. he thinks Dreadnought is the best deck in the format, and mono-black beats Dreadnought 3 out 4 games in a best of 5. He has mono-black ranked as among the worst decks in the format, and has Dreadnought ranked as the best deck in the format. My mono-black deck has 16 ways to kill dreadnought on turn 2, and still hoses most other decks in the format, except mono-green anyway.

How can you not see the value in making your opponent lose a card at random every turn?

[AI Opinion]

Some “pros” just evaluate cards through a different lens than raw power, especially in older formats. 😅

Random discard is insanely strong in a vacuum, but it’s also: sorcery-speed, creature-dependent, fragile to removal, and worse topdeck later. Dark Ritual can create card disadvantage and awkward draws.

They might be focusing on consistency, matchup spread, and data from big events, not goldfish tests. Different metas, testing groups, and biases make people rank decks wildly differently. Your list might be perfectly tuned for your environment while their ranking reflects a broader or faster meta where Ritual/Hyppie are less reliable.

[SeekerOfTruth007]

If you run 4 Dark Rituals, you can run 4 fewer lands, and that actually gives you card advantage, because it means you draw more threats than lands.

Mono-red can hose Specter with Lightning Bolt or Incinerate, which is still 1-for-1 card loss, which is why the Sideboard has usually Bottle Gnomes or Drain LIfe. Other colors get screwed over by the specter, even green has some trouble dealing with Random Discard.

I've beaten top 100 in the world players both in person and online at MTG. I'm not saying every time, but I have gotten career wins against top 100 ranked players before. I know how to play the game, and there is no card you'd take out to put out Dark Ritual. Dark Ritual is so good it was banned for a while back in the days of Extended and Standard, and they stopped printing it because it is considered "over-powered".

[strateguy632]

Absolutely!

[Anonymous]

I guess so.