Well, my post just got eaten... so I'm going to repost this but be a bit more succinct.
ktkenshinx wrote: ↑4 years ago
It's better than banning the current problems and waiting for Wizards to print more problems in the next set. At least then we have some safety valves. I think we can all agree Wizards isn't going to stop printing pushed, broken threats in the near future. We're going to see at least another year of similar mistakes due to the design/development cycle, because the philosophy that contributed to ELD also contributed to the next few sets. We'll also continue to see top-down pressure for mythics and bomb rares to be immediately playable and overtly powerful. Modal answers at least give us some options for handling these pushed threats.
[mention]ktkenshinx[/mention] Earlier you mentioned modal spells being a strong answer. I also think that Wizards like the idea of needing a 3 or 4 mana spell to trade at parity or slightly ahead of a 4 mana threat. Their biggest stumbling block has been rationalizing the idea of a 1 mana removal spell trading with a 4 or 5 mana threat. Thus, command style cards could be a good answer. Imagine cards like these:
Esper Command
1WUB
Instant, choose 2, you can choose the same mode more than once.
Draw 2 cards.
Put target spell on top of it's owners library
Exile 2 target artifacts/enchantments
Destroy target creature or planeswalker.
Jund Command
1GRB
Instant, choose 2, you can choose the same mode more than once.
Deal 3 damage to target player
Deal 6 damage to target creature/planeswalker
Search your library for a land put it onto the battlefield (untapped)
Target player sacrifices 2 non land permanents, then gains life equal to their combined CMC
Those sorts of cards would start trading at the necessary levels of efficiency to justify using them as answers to resolved cards.
Even your Hero's Downfall suggestion of 2 mana and a life payment really isn't efficient enough anymore. Let's say the opponent plays a t3feri. You can't end step the removal spell, they bounce something of yours, and they draw a card. Now you untap, you spend 2 mana to kill the Teferi, you get 2 for 1'ed on this exchange, and you still have to repay the mana for your card that was bounced. You're down tempo and cards. It's just not an answer that lines up well, even after you pushed an already existing card design.
Edit: I'm going to do the same comparison with a slightly less egregious card in Narset. They spend 3 to cast it, then -2 to get an additional card with some selection attached. Thus it's worth a bit more than +1 card. Now, you spend 2 mana and some undetermined amount of life to trade. So on the exchange for their 1 additional mana they got some life out of you and some amount of value worth a bit over +1 card. That's still a really bad trade as going purely by standard curves, +1 mana should be worth a card. Instead it was 1 mana for more than a card and some life.
And I think this really illustrates the problem with removal (and you alluded to this in an earlier post as well). Even what we consider good removal in Modern, honestly just isn't good anymore. By the numbers, most removal spells come up short against the important cards.