The mechanics in SOI (set) are perfectly fine and there's nothing really wrong with the set itself, I just found it lacking in the common/uncommons. I think it's just hard to beat original Innistrad, that was one of the best sets in all of Magic. It's just Eldritch Moon that fucked up the whole block. Eldrazi transform was a neat idea, but I was really tired of Eldrazi coming after BFZ and OGW.
And I know, that's why I said that. But I still feel the overal power level is down compared to around the M10-Innistrad period. Or maybe it's just my perception then and know.
We now have Modern to compare certain cards in though. Every set will have some playable cards in the format, that's just the nature of designing many cards for an already big pool. But I still feel like that time period had the largest imprint on Modern up until now. The most broken bullshit of broken bullshit also came from that time, like JTMS and SFM and caw blade was one of the most oppressive decks in a standard I can remember. I also view Magic mostly from a control player perspective, and I really feel they are cautious at making good control spells for Modern again.