Removal-heavy meta = Gambling.

[Kskaudonsu]

Self-Enabling and otherwise pushed threats have mandated the printing of too much efficient removal. Like, way, wayyy too much. Now, it is most common for a game to be decided ENTIRELY by the turn the first threat sticks to the board. This is so bad for the game. It basically turned Poker into Go Fish. It's a dumb game. It is gambling in a way that is much more overt than past MTG metas.

My advice to fix your game, WOTC?

Hire some people with life experience, who understand concepts like discipline and restraint. Stop making short-term decisions and think about the long-term health of your company's most successful product. Just look at your removal spells that are currently legal in standard. Then look at some of the threats you printed. How can you explain the lack of any evident design principles on display? Where does your design team draw the line? DO they draw lines? Are they children at recess or professional game designers?

WAKE UP. There is nothing stopping you from being better.

[ChaffyExpert]

This is entirely true removal has gotten way too easy, and things like shock and lightning strike have gotten improved version with other effects, aggro red now has trample enchants that also let them draw cards, instead of needing green to do that now red can do it themselves, and they have a flier that gets +2 attack per spell instead of a 1+1+ with prowess, which was already OP.

It's called power creep.

It exists because having OP cards is the only reason anyone buys anything from the lame new sets with boring tired or not well thought out themes.

Gone are the days of planes/themes that are actually interesting and have interesting mechanics.

[CourtJesterCowboy]

Is what it is. My advice is play commander in person at your LGS... Everyones deck is fixated on accompishing its objective/theme, so its not a min maxed, destroy, destroy, destroy, destroy, wipe, wipe crap. Its just all fun

[PyroMail.com]

Discard, destroy and damage effects are very common and cheap nowadays. I personally don't think Go for the Throat reprint was healthy for the meta. If we look at the other 2 mana removals, many are conditionally worse than this. Infernal Grasp costs 2 life and doesn't kill planeswalkers. The one from Ixalan costs a handcard or 3 life. While I personally think Cut Down is annoying, it is relatively easy to work around since having total stats above 5 is even possible at t2. Locthwain Scorn is sorcery speed and also doesnt target walkers. Shoot the Sheriff only works on non-Outlaw creatures, also no walkers.

In the last few weeks I had a good time playing Orzhov Lifegain, since Lifegain is automatically good against damage effects and MonoR and if you pack some Extraction Specialists and the Case of uneaten Feast my opponent can throw as much removal at my stuff until the run low on it.

The only removal I cannot stand under all circumstances is the bloody Leyline Binding, since it can basically target anything at t2 if you had a triome on t1 supporting white.

[Winter Wolf]

As someone who has played Leyline in many decks over a long period of time I can tell you the turn 2 leylines are exceptionally rare compared to turn 3 and 4. It does happen but it is rare. Especially since to make it happen in Domain style decks you really need a certain number of triomes which etb tapped and thus are sub-optimal if your goal is speed. I won't say it isn't an op card but imho turn 2 is just bad beats.

Imho the main reason removal is so ridiculous right now is because we are in the third year of the first 3 year rotation. I expect removal to substantially become worse once Bloomburrow arrives. And based on WOTC's past track record I expect it to continue to be harder to remove things as the new sets roll in because these things come in waves.