I am banking on the 2Headed Giant set to have a bunch of cards they actually design to be playable in legacy and the like.
That either ends in a nightmare period of time like with True-Name Nemesis or its just a terrible execution, but a set full or reprints is totally not a product made for me.
I just outright HATE reprints that not even give existing cards at the very least a new artwork, its the laziest kind of printing and design process that they possible can do and they should always be ASHAMED when they do that.
I mean I don't disagree with your two points...I do believe the Jace unban (you wrote banning, its an unbanning might want to edit that) was done in large part to sell M25. In fact, I'd argue if iconic masters wasn't a garbage fire from the starting line that there wouldn't have been as much pressure on this masters set, and thus we would just have seen BBE return. I also think $10 packs are nonsense. WOTC limits reprints to rare and mythic for the expensive cards, claims its about keeping draft balanced, yet raises drastically raises the price of drafting on the set. Pokemon just does this better. There are boxes and tins that can be bought knowing you get a certain card or cards, plus the codes to get sealed product on PTCGO makes the game literally cost half if you want to play both in paper and online. I think the masters economics are a poor attempt at protecting the secondary market while reducing cost to newer players, that it ultimately hurts both sides more than helps, and that there are better ways (like expanding the reserved list SLOWLY AND METHODICALLY) to offer a floor on people's collections to maintain interest in the product.
Honestly, if you didn't say that re-banning Jace was the answer, I'd be with you.
Hasbro stock is down from its 12-month high of nearly 117 down to 95.57, so I guess all of their Jaces got devalued as well....
As for buying Masters 25, I will very likely only buy packs as part of a draft. The variance on these high priced packs is too high unless they really pick up their game with the uncommons.
I meant to put a comment like this is the other thread about what WotC should do to improve the game but I am not going down that rabbit hole. The overall position I had was that WotC doesn't need to do anything to improve the game; instead, the players need to quit complaining about every single decision that WotC makes...or doesn't make. A card gets spoiled--"this card sucks! It is unplayable in (insert pet format here)" or "that card is strictly worse than (insert pet card from a previously-released set which came out 5, 10, or 15 years ago). A card gets unbanned--"what the--?! they are only unbanning it to make money" (they are a corporation, after all--they are in the business of making money, not making cards) or if a card gets banned--"they hate my deck because it can reliably combo off on turn 3". (well, yes--everyone hates your deck)
I am not saying that players should fawn over all of WotC's decisions, but neither are they the Illuminati. Just roll with it.
I meant to put a comment like this is the other thread about what WotC should do to improve the game but I am not going down that rabbit hole. The overall position I had was that WotC doesn't need to do anything to improve the game; instead, the players need to quit complaining about every single decision that WotC makes...or doesn't make. A card gets spoiled--"this card sucks! It is unplayable in (insert pet format here)" or "that card is strictly worse than (insert pet card from a previously-released set which came out 5, 10, or 15 years ago). A card gets unbanned--"what the--?! they are only unbanning it to make money" (they are a corporation, after all--they are in the business of making money, not making cards) or if a card gets banned--"they hate my deck because it can reliably combo off on turn 3". (well, yes--everyone hates your deck)
I am not saying that players should fawn over all of WotC's decisions, but neither are they the Illuminati. Just roll with it.
People are complaining because the company is not communicating and getting to know what their audience actually wants and needs as far as the game goes. Their solution to trying to fix magic has been to try to force people into a different way of playing the game than keeping up with the evolution of the game, and their lack of balancing constructed needs with their draft sets has created a ton of friction with the player base. It's tiring to see so many people complain all the time, but they have every right to do so.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
People are complaining because the company is not communicating and getting to know what their audience actually wants and needs as far as the game goes. Their solution to trying to fix magic has been to try to force people into a different way of playing the game than keeping up with the evolution of the game, and their lack of balancing constructed needs with their draft sets has created a ton of friction with the player base. It's tiring to see so many people complain all the time, but they have every right to do so.
Surely WotC has people who lurk on all the boards, watch the videos, and so on--they cannot be oblivious to what the community wants.
As far as "a different way of playing the game" versus "the evolution of the game"...wouldn't that be a matter of personal opinion? Playing the game differently...how? No one could design a set which will satisfy aggro players, midrange players, and control players all at the same time. An entire format...probably so, yes. I couldn't do it and I freely admit that. Meanwhile, aren't the ideas of Vintage, Legacy, and Modern so that the game *doesn't* evolve? With the exception of BR Hollow One the last few Modern tournaments I have watched have pretty much all been the same--the same decks played by the same people, over and over again. Standard has built-in evolution because of set rotation...but sometimes a new set becoming available doesn't change the situation much--the best decks after RIX were still Energy and Red.
Again, I am not saying that players shouldn't voice their opinions. That being said, consider if Magic were like your marriage. If you complained about most the decisions your spouse made then after a while the resentment would begin to settle in and, before you know it, you are being served divorce papers and trying to find a new place to live. (this is not happening in real life, mind you, and is only an example to explain the situation)
Magic has been around for 25 years, think about that. It has developed its own economy, has grown to what it is now because of the players, speculators, collectors. Wizards has to tread carefully, you lose one of those and this game will die. They have to do things slowly in order to not disrupt the building blocks that have formed over these 25 years.
People are complaining because the company is not communicating and getting to know what their audience actually wants and needs as far as the game goes. Their solution to trying to fix magic has been to try to force people into a different way of playing the game than keeping up with the evolution of the game, and their lack of balancing constructed needs with their draft sets has created a ton of friction with the player base. It's tiring to see so many people complain all the time, but they have every right to do so.
Surely WotC has people who lurk on all the boards, watch the videos, and so on--they cannot be oblivious to what the community wants.
As far as "a different way of playing the game" versus "the evolution of the game"...wouldn't that be a matter of personal opinion? Playing the game differently...how? No one could design a set which will satisfy aggro players, midrange players, and control players all at the same time. An entire format...probably so, yes. I couldn't do it and I freely admit that. Meanwhile, aren't the ideas of Vintage, Legacy, and Modern so that the game *doesn't* evolve? With the exception of BR Hollow One the last few Modern tournaments I have watched have pretty much all been the same--the same decks played by the same people, over and over again. Standard has built-in evolution because of set rotation...but sometimes a new set becoming available doesn't change the situation much--the best decks after RIX were still Energy and Red.
Again, I am not saying that players shouldn't voice their opinions. That being said, consider if Magic were like your marriage. If you complained about most the decisions your spouse made then after a while the resentment would begin to settle in and, before you know it, you are being served divorce papers and trying to find a new place to live. (this is not happening in real life, mind you, and is only an example to explain the situation)
WoTC definitely wasn't listening to players during the last two years and they've been trying to steer the ship back around with all the surveys, but really the company has a very simple thing they got to do.
1) Reprint cards that see a lot of play so that the prices don't go out of control. Yes, other cards are going to go up in value when some come down, but they shouldn't have cards going to 50+ when the game is played as a 4 of format.
2) Create new and interesting sets to expand the game, introduce new cards, and explore new design space.
The reason there's so much friction now is because of the company becoming greedy and over charging for sealed products, which alone would probably have been survivable if they also didn't nuke standard into the ground with bannings and just poorly designed sets. I would say that if wizards didn't get greedy, charge 60 dollars for things like Explorers of Ixalan and Planechase anthology, kept masters sets at 180 dollars msrp, and printed the pricey cards down so that their prices aren't in the stratosphere, this game would be the king of the hill of TCGs. The trouble is the company just doesn't understand their players very well.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
I personally don't think that they had Jace set as a reprint, and then had sudden pressure to unban it in response for sales. Probably the opposite. The unban Jace debate has been going forever, and really in depth looks at it. So I suspect they knew they were going to unban it, and thus thought it best to reprint in Masters 25 to meet a demand. Nobody really loses out here, as Jace prices have increased (if you're a current owner) and there will also be more now to obtain for those that don't.
If they wanted to boost sales, then there are plenty of other cards they could have reprinted instead of some conspiracy theory.
I probably would have bought some of this set if they'd made the new art for the cards I played with back in 4th Edition evocative of the time, but they didn't do that so I won't be buying any. It's sad to see a product marketed on nostalgia that actively refuses to make anything resembling the things you are nostalgic for.
You want new art made in the ill-defined, artist-driven style of the early 90's?
I think you're looking at it at a wrong angle. Wizards probably thought of unbanning Jace a long time ago. Fearful for us players to be spending too much money on just a planeswalker that doesn't actually break the meta, they came up with an M25 print in order to at least decrease Jace's price (hopefully!). Plus, shouldn't we just say Thank You to Wizards for actually reprinting those high-up cards and make each M! community more diverse? I mean, there are some playgroups in cities that only play budget cards, so this kind of reprinting would lessen the price and open more doors for deck ideas.
This set feels like it should have been a summer draft set and not a masters set. There is no way they are not backing out of the theme direction after this.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
I am not sure why people are so upset about 10$ premium pack.
It helps keep it from becoming another "Chronicals".
Honestly the thing I love about these "premium sets" is the draftability. It's like playing a mini-cube.
So far - it looks like it could be an insanely fun draft format.
I am not sure why people are so upset about 10$ premium pack.
It helps keep it from becoming another "Chronicals".
Honestly the thing I love about these "premium sets" is the draftability. It's like playing a mini-cube.
So far - it looks like it could be an insanely fun draft format.
Because no one wants to open a $10 pack to only see a bunch of chaff. If these sets were filled to the brim with value where a player would be guaranteed to get around $10 back in secondary market value, that price tag could be justified but we know that it costs just as much to print Masters packs as it does to print standard packs. This makes these sets stink of being $10 pack lotteries designed to make players hope to pull a Chalice of the Void, Imperial Recruiter or Jace the Mind Sculptor. WOTC is trying to serve two masters and it isn't working. Are these supposed to be value reprint sets or great limited environments? We've already examined how they're not doing so hot on the former and if it's the latter then why do they expect players to drop $10 on limited packs with an experience that as mostly been met with an "eh, it's okay" instead of spending $10 on Innistrad packs, a set widely thought of to be one of thr best limited environments of all time? And if the point of these sets is to offer affordable reprints to players then why are packs over double the normal price?
None of this would be as much of a problem of the packs were normally priced but at over double the normal pack msrp a lot of players do not feel like WOTC is producing a product that matches its price tag. I honestly wonder how sales of this set would look without invetsors and card stores busting hundreds of packs to sell the expensive singles.
Private Mod Note
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"Pop in, find a dragon, roast a dragon."
-Chandra Nalaar
My biggest problem in the whole Master's thing is that these sets become even more gamble heavy than any other sets printed. They have a handful of 60+ dollar cards, and a bunch of trash. They mark up the price to 10 bucks, for what? Players still get mostly junk, and even when you do get a decent card, it's only decent in draft formats.
Frankly Masters sets boil down to this. 90% draft playable, thus making them good limited sets. 10% money cards people actually need for constructed formats. It isn't a celebration of anything. Top that off with most LGS's marking up the prices to 12-15 dollars a pack.
If WoTc really wanted to make a celebration of Magic, they would abolish the damn reserved list and re-print highly sought after cards. People who make the argument that reprinted old powerhouse cards like Gaea's Craddle would ruin the value of the original printing are simply wrong. Look at any Beta/Alpha card that has been reprinted a billion times. Those A/B cards are still expensive because 1st editions mean a lot to collectors. Reprinting old cards with new art, new boarders, would do WONDERS for magic. It would allow new players to get into more competitive formats easier without breaking their credit cards, it would increase interest in various formats, it would increase revenue for WoTC as players buy packs for quality cards, and it helps the secondary market by increasing circulation of more desireable yet affordable cards.
I am not sure why people are so upset about 10$ premium pack.
It helps keep it from becoming another "Chronicals".
Honestly the thing I love about these "premium sets" is the draftability. It's like playing a mini-cube.
So far - it looks like it could be an insanely fun draft format.
Because no one wants to open a $10 pack to only see a bunch of chaff. If these sets were filled to the brim with value where a player would be guaranteed to get around $10 back in secondary market value, that price tag could be justified but we know that it costs just as much to print Masters packs as it does to print standard packs. This makes these sets stink of being $10 pack lotteries designed to make players hope to pull a Chalice of the Void, Imperial Recruiter or Jace the Mind Sculptor. WOTC is trying to serve two masters and it isn't working. Are these supposed to be value reprint sets or great limited environments? We've already examined how they're not doing so hot on the former and if it's the latter then why do they expect players to drop $10 on limited packs with an experience that as mostly been met with an "eh, it's okay" instead of spending $10 on Innistrad packs, a set widely thought of to be one of thr best limited environments of all time? And if the point of these sets is to offer affordable reprints to players then why are packs over double the normal price?
None of this would be as much of a problem of the packs were normally priced but at over double the normal pack msrp a lot of players do not feel like WOTC is producing a product that matches its price tag. I honestly wonder how sales of this set would look without invetsors and card stores busting hundreds of packs to sell the expensive singles.
See my first point. If packs were cheaper, they could easily become another Chronicles which would be terrible.
The whole purpose of the price point is to prevent another Chronicals. Over-printing (at cheap prices) is just as bad as not enough value.
I just outright HATE reprints that not even give existing cards at the very least a new artwork, its the laziest kind of printing and design process that they possible can do and they should always be ASHAMED when they do that.
Because reprinting a card for the 16th time with the 16th different artwork is really good for gameplay. You forget that people want to recognize cards on the opposite side of the table without having to read every single one. Having the same art across multiple printings reduces visual complexity and makes it easier to quickly assess a battlefield with a quick glance.
Because no one wants to open a $10 pack to only see a bunch of chaff. If these sets were filled to the brim with value where a player would be guaranteed to get around $10 back in secondary market value, that price tag could be justified
This is literally impossible. The secondary market price would just drop. You're never going to be guaranteed to get more from opening a pack than the pack's price.
but we know that it costs just as much to print Masters packs as it does to print standard packs. This makes these sets stink of being $10 pack lotteries designed to make players hope to pull a Chalice of the Void, Imperial Recruiter or Jace the Mind Sculptor.
Yes, Magic is in some ways like a mini-lottery. You don't know what you're going to get. Lots of people play the lottery. A lot more than play Magic. And they buy tickets at a lot more than $10 each. The element of chance is a known part of buying Magic boosters.
I'm not going to tell you to buy M25 if you don't want to. Hell, I wouldn't tell you to play MTG at all if you don't want to. Some of these expectations just strike me as odd.
I am not sure why people are so upset about 10$ premium pack.
It helps keep it from becoming another "Chronicals".
Honestly the thing I love about these "premium sets" is the draftability. It's like playing a mini-cube.
So far - it looks like it could be an insanely fun draft format.
Because no one wants to open a $10 pack to only see a bunch of chaff. If these sets were filled to the brim with value where a player would be guaranteed to get around $10 back in secondary market value, that price tag could be justified but we know that it costs just as much to print Masters packs as it does to print standard packs. This makes these sets stink of being $10 pack lotteries designed to make players hope to pull a Chalice of the Void, Imperial Recruiter or Jace the Mind Sculptor. WOTC is trying to serve two masters and it isn't working. Are these supposed to be value reprint sets or great limited environments? We've already examined how they're not doing so hot on the former and if it's the latter then why do they expect players to drop $10 on limited packs with an experience that as mostly been met with an "eh, it's okay" instead of spending $10 on Innistrad packs, a set widely thought of to be one of thr best limited environments of all time? And if the point of these sets is to offer affordable reprints to players then why are packs over double the normal price?
None of this would be as much of a problem of the packs were normally priced but at over double the normal pack msrp a lot of players do not feel like WOTC is producing a product that matches its price tag. I honestly wonder how sales of this set would look without invetsors and card stores busting hundreds of packs to sell the expensive singles.
See my first point. If packs were cheaper, they could easily become another Chronicles which would be terrible.
The whole purpose of the price point is to prevent another Chronicals. Over-printing (at cheap prices) is just as bad as not enough value.
So if they are just as bad you're telling me that these sets are already as bad chronicles because they don't contain enough value. But you're okay with this extreme but not the other?
Here's the thing, you're looking at this like the knob is only at either zero or eleven. WOTC doesn't have to print all of the best cards ever at common and sell the packs for $4 or sell packs for $10 and only include mostly chaff. They make these products and they can tune them to be reasonable for their price points. If a pack is over double the normal price of packs it should be equal to that in value and/or play experience. And that value should probably be scaled back a bit if the packs were $4. But honestly as it stands now with almost all of the value in these sets being found at mythic WOTC could sell Masters 25 for $4 a pack and I guarantee you we would not have the Chronicles effect because this set is not filled to the brim with value.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Pop in, find a dragon, roast a dragon."
-Chandra Nalaar
I am not sure why people are so upset about 10$ premium pack.
It helps keep it from becoming another "Chronicals".
Honestly the thing I love about these "premium sets" is the draftability. It's like playing a mini-cube.
So far - it looks like it could be an insanely fun draft format.
Because no one wants to open a $10 pack to only see a bunch of chaff. If these sets were filled to the brim with value where a player would be guaranteed to get around $10 back in secondary market value, that price tag could be justified but we know that it costs just as much to print Masters packs as it does to print standard packs. This makes these sets stink of being $10 pack lotteries designed to make players hope to pull a Chalice of the Void, Imperial Recruiter or Jace the Mind Sculptor. WOTC is trying to serve two masters and it isn't working. Are these supposed to be value reprint sets or great limited environments? We've already examined how they're not doing so hot on the former and if it's the latter then why do they expect players to drop $10 on limited packs with an experience that as mostly been met with an "eh, it's okay" instead of spending $10 on Innistrad packs, a set widely thought of to be one of thr best limited environments of all time? And if the point of these sets is to offer affordable reprints to players then why are packs over double the normal price?
None of this would be as much of a problem of the packs were normally priced but at over double the normal pack msrp a lot of players do not feel like WOTC is producing a product that matches its price tag. I honestly wonder how sales of this set would look without invetsors and card stores busting hundreds of packs to sell the expensive singles.
See my first point. If packs were cheaper, they could easily become another Chronicles which would be terrible.
The whole purpose of the price point is to prevent another Chronicals. Over-printing (at cheap prices) is just as bad as not enough value.
So if they are just as bad you're telling me that these sets are already as bad chronicles because they don't contain enough value. But you're okay with this extreme but not the other?
Here's the thing, you're looking at this like the knob is only at either zero or eleven. WOTC doesn't have to print all of the best cards ever at common and sell the packs for $4 or sell packs for $10 and only include mostly chaff. They make these products and they can tune them to be reasonable for their price points. If a pack is over double the normal price of packs it should be equal to that in value and/or play experience. And that value should probably be scaled back a bit if the packs were $4. But honestly as it stands now with almost all of the value in these sets being found at mythic WOTC could sell Masters 25 for $4 a pack and I guarantee you we would not have the Chronicles effect because this set is not filled to the brim with value.
I don't think you understand why chronicals was so bad. It had nothing to do with the value of the cards in Chronicals.
In fact Chronicles actively tanked the value of every single card that was in the set. Due to being reprinted into oblivion.
It's the same effect shocklands and fetchalnds faced when they were printed in standard Price dropped by 50% (and stayed there).
If cards like blood moon, chalice, etc. were printed in a pack that only cost $4.0 the value of those cards would quickly be gutted.
The reason why the packs are $10 is to slow demand for the product, so key modern/legacy staples don't become "worthless". This does two things:
a) allows key "chase" cards to retain their value so the set is still worth something even months after the original printing. and b) Allows for a slight decrease in the cost of cards without completely skewing the market.
1. Wotc recently unbanned Jace in modern and despite modern being really diverse. The unbanning just feels like a cheap move by wizards.
2. Masters 25 is yet another 10 dollar booster set where you can open exiting rares as bident of thassa, ball lightning and ratcatcher.
I personally won't be buying any boosters, singles or trade cards that are included in masters 25 until jace is banned.
In Progress
GBIshkanah, Grafwidow ~ BWGRTymna the Weaver & Tana, the Bloodsower ~ UGRashmi, Eternities Crafter ~ RGAtarka, World Render
Also Magic players: "Wizards is only reprinting these cards to make money!"
[180 classic cube]
That either ends in a nightmare period of time like with True-Name Nemesis or its just a terrible execution, but a set full or reprints is totally not a product made for me.
I just outright HATE reprints that not even give existing cards at the very least a new artwork, its the laziest kind of printing and design process that they possible can do and they should always be ASHAMED when they do that.
WUBRG#BlackLotusMatterWUBRG
👮👮👮 #BlueLivesMatter 👮👮👮
Go cry. Standard is full of 10-cent rares and the packs are $4. This is a weird anti-Jace boycott.
Honestly, if you didn't say that re-banning Jace was the answer, I'd be with you.
Hasbro stock is down from its 12-month high of nearly 117 down to 95.57, so I guess all of their Jaces got devalued as well....
As for buying Masters 25, I will very likely only buy packs as part of a draft. The variance on these high priced packs is too high unless they really pick up their game with the uncommons.
Jalira, Master Polymorphist | Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder | Bosh, Iron Golem | Ezuri, Renegade Leader
Brago, King Eternal | Oona, Queen of the Fae | Wort, Boggart Auntie | Wort, the Raidmother
Captain Sisay | Rhys, the Redeemed | Trostani, Selesnya's Voice | Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight | Obzedat, Ghost Council | Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind | Vorel of the Hull Clade
Uril, the Miststalker | Prossh, Skyraider of Kher | Nicol Bolas | Progenitus
Ghave, Guru of Spores | Zedruu the Greathearted | Damia, Sage of Stone | Riku of Two Reflections
I am not saying that players should fawn over all of WotC's decisions, but neither are they the Illuminati. Just roll with it.
People are complaining because the company is not communicating and getting to know what their audience actually wants and needs as far as the game goes. Their solution to trying to fix magic has been to try to force people into a different way of playing the game than keeping up with the evolution of the game, and their lack of balancing constructed needs with their draft sets has created a ton of friction with the player base. It's tiring to see so many people complain all the time, but they have every right to do so.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Surely WotC has people who lurk on all the boards, watch the videos, and so on--they cannot be oblivious to what the community wants.
As far as "a different way of playing the game" versus "the evolution of the game"...wouldn't that be a matter of personal opinion? Playing the game differently...how? No one could design a set which will satisfy aggro players, midrange players, and control players all at the same time. An entire format...probably so, yes. I couldn't do it and I freely admit that. Meanwhile, aren't the ideas of Vintage, Legacy, and Modern so that the game *doesn't* evolve? With the exception of BR Hollow One the last few Modern tournaments I have watched have pretty much all been the same--the same decks played by the same people, over and over again. Standard has built-in evolution because of set rotation...but sometimes a new set becoming available doesn't change the situation much--the best decks after RIX were still Energy and Red.
Again, I am not saying that players shouldn't voice their opinions. That being said, consider if Magic were like your marriage. If you complained about most the decisions your spouse made then after a while the resentment would begin to settle in and, before you know it, you are being served divorce papers and trying to find a new place to live. (this is not happening in real life, mind you, and is only an example to explain the situation)
WoTC definitely wasn't listening to players during the last two years and they've been trying to steer the ship back around with all the surveys, but really the company has a very simple thing they got to do.
1) Reprint cards that see a lot of play so that the prices don't go out of control. Yes, other cards are going to go up in value when some come down, but they shouldn't have cards going to 50+ when the game is played as a 4 of format.
2) Create new and interesting sets to expand the game, introduce new cards, and explore new design space.
The reason there's so much friction now is because of the company becoming greedy and over charging for sealed products, which alone would probably have been survivable if they also didn't nuke standard into the ground with bannings and just poorly designed sets. I would say that if wizards didn't get greedy, charge 60 dollars for things like Explorers of Ixalan and Planechase anthology, kept masters sets at 180 dollars msrp, and printed the pricey cards down so that their prices aren't in the stratosphere, this game would be the king of the hill of TCGs. The trouble is the company just doesn't understand their players very well.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
If they wanted to boost sales, then there are plenty of other cards they could have reprinted instead of some conspiracy theory.
Niv-Mizzet Reborn
Feather, the Redeemed
Estrid, the Masked
Teshar
Tymna/Ravos
Najeela, Blade-Blossom
Firesong & Sunspeaker
Zur the Enchanter
Lazav, the Multifarious
Ishai+Reyhan
Click images for decks->
-Prime Speaker Vannifar
---------------------Will & Rowan Kenrith
Sad too, since if the packs were 4 to 7 bucks, I would probably have bought a box.
You want new art made in the ill-defined, artist-driven style of the early 90's?
Just lookin' at the bright side here.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
It helps keep it from becoming another "Chronicals".
Honestly the thing I love about these "premium sets" is the draftability. It's like playing a mini-cube.
So far - it looks like it could be an insanely fun draft format.
Twitter: twitter.com/axmanonline
Stream: twitch.tv/axman
Current Decks
Modern: Affinity
Standard: BW Control
Legacy: Death and Taxes :symw::symr:
Vintage: NA
None of this would be as much of a problem of the packs were normally priced but at over double the normal pack msrp a lot of players do not feel like WOTC is producing a product that matches its price tag. I honestly wonder how sales of this set would look without invetsors and card stores busting hundreds of packs to sell the expensive singles.
-Chandra Nalaar
Frankly Masters sets boil down to this. 90% draft playable, thus making them good limited sets. 10% money cards people actually need for constructed formats. It isn't a celebration of anything. Top that off with most LGS's marking up the prices to 12-15 dollars a pack.
If WoTc really wanted to make a celebration of Magic, they would abolish the damn reserved list and re-print highly sought after cards. People who make the argument that reprinted old powerhouse cards like Gaea's Craddle would ruin the value of the original printing are simply wrong. Look at any Beta/Alpha card that has been reprinted a billion times. Those A/B cards are still expensive because 1st editions mean a lot to collectors. Reprinting old cards with new art, new boarders, would do WONDERS for magic. It would allow new players to get into more competitive formats easier without breaking their credit cards, it would increase interest in various formats, it would increase revenue for WoTC as players buy packs for quality cards, and it helps the secondary market by increasing circulation of more desireable yet affordable cards.
See my first point. If packs were cheaper, they could easily become another Chronicles which would be terrible.
The whole purpose of the price point is to prevent another Chronicals. Over-printing (at cheap prices) is just as bad as not enough value.
Twitter: twitter.com/axmanonline
Stream: twitch.tv/axman
Current Decks
Modern: Affinity
Standard: BW Control
Legacy: Death and Taxes :symw::symr:
Vintage: NA
2023 Average Peasant Cube|and Discussion
Because I have more decks than fit in a signature
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I'm not going to tell you to buy M25 if you don't want to. Hell, I wouldn't tell you to play MTG at all if you don't want to. Some of these expectations just strike me as odd.
Here's the thing, you're looking at this like the knob is only at either zero or eleven. WOTC doesn't have to print all of the best cards ever at common and sell the packs for $4 or sell packs for $10 and only include mostly chaff. They make these products and they can tune them to be reasonable for their price points. If a pack is over double the normal price of packs it should be equal to that in value and/or play experience. And that value should probably be scaled back a bit if the packs were $4. But honestly as it stands now with almost all of the value in these sets being found at mythic WOTC could sell Masters 25 for $4 a pack and I guarantee you we would not have the Chronicles effect because this set is not filled to the brim with value.
-Chandra Nalaar
I don't think you understand why chronicals was so bad. It had nothing to do with the value of the cards in Chronicals.
In fact Chronicles actively tanked the value of every single card that was in the set. Due to being reprinted into oblivion.
It's the same effect shocklands and fetchalnds faced when they were printed in standard Price dropped by 50% (and stayed there).
If cards like blood moon, chalice, etc. were printed in a pack that only cost $4.0 the value of those cards would quickly be gutted.
The reason why the packs are $10 is to slow demand for the product, so key modern/legacy staples don't become "worthless". This does two things:
a) allows key "chase" cards to retain their value so the set is still worth something even months after the original printing. and b) Allows for a slight decrease in the cost of cards without completely skewing the market.
Twitter: twitter.com/axmanonline
Stream: twitch.tv/axman
Current Decks
Modern: Affinity
Standard: BW Control
Legacy: Death and Taxes :symw::symr:
Vintage: NA