There are multiple ways to stop opponents from attacking you: Mana tax cards (Ghostly Prison) that force the opponent to choose between casting spells and attacking you Damage reduction cards (Spike Weaver) that threaten to Fog oncoming damage, rendering attacks useless Rattlesnake cards (Archon of Justice) that threaten to blow up the attacking opponent's resources The sticking point is that these pillowfort cards are all visible on the board, so opponents know what could happen if they attack you and convinces them to go attack someone else
Mental Misstep Banned in both Modern and Legacy, Mental Misstep is a free hard counterspell (because why bother paying mana when you could use life) for any spell with a Mana value equal to 1
Some folk have never actually read the PSA grading standards, or have read them and fundamentally misunderstand them, so they are surprised when their predictions are wrong
With an enormous HP pool that far exceeds anything seen in the original era, it thrives on survivability
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