Also, look at JTMS' price movement for the last few days and tell me that some people don't get inside info.
To be fair though, JTMS and Bloodbraid have been speculation targets for unbanning for a while now. They always see some movement in the days prior to B&R announcements.
People have been talking about that for many months, but the price movement started very suddenly and sharply a few days ago, as if by the flick of a switch. You can see from the price curve exactly when the info was passed on or leaked. Compare it to the SFM speculation movement from some time ago and observe the difference.
It is very obvious indeed. Rudy from Alpha Investments has been also saying this for a while now, and I see no reason not to believe it.
JTMS was also part of a fake leak... that ended up being real (although the leaked information wasn't - also predicted the banning of bridge and no BBE). Don't forget about that. Price started going up when the fake spoiler got posted.
Man, I feel like the only non-conspiracy theorist here who actually believes that WOTC honestly judged JTMS to a fair card in modern again. I mean, let's say that's the case, they really truly believe that modern is ready for him. Would you then want them to reprint Jace in their next masters set, or not?
I agree it does feel a little greedy, but I don't think that's the only (or even simplest) explanation here.
Even if Jace won't break modern, the point is that modern was incredibly healthy and balanced. From this point on a Jace unban can only make the format worse. And they still went with it. Because they don't care about the format but about the money. And Wizards being greedy is by far the simplest explanation here, considering everything that has been happening the past few years. Like the worse quality of cards. The prime example of WotCs greed.
That's not entirely true. We can not absolutely say "Jace will make the format worse" simply because the format is currently in a decent spot.
"Incredibly healthy and balanced" is overstatement of the facts. For example, control decks still have a relativly low conversion rate in comparison to the rest of the field.
But it is still relatively healthy and balanced.
Not absolutely, but all things considered that would be the a far more reasonable conclusion, than Jace improving the format in any way.
Man, I feel like the only non-conspiracy theorist here who actually believes that WOTC honestly judged JTMS to a fair card in modern again. I mean, let's say that's the case, they really truly believe that modern is ready for him. Would you then want them to reprint Jace in their next masters set, or not?
I agree it does feel a little greedy, but I don't think that's the only (or even simplest) explanation here.
Even if Jace won't break modern, the point is that modern was incredibly healthy and balanced. From this point on a Jace unban can only make the format worse. And they still went with it. Because they don't care about the format but about the money. And Wizards being greedy is by far the simplest explanation here, considering everything that has been happening the past few years. Like the worse quality of cards. The prime example of WotCs greed.
That's not entirely true. We can not absolutely say "Jace will make the format worse" simply because the format is currently in a decent spot.
"Incredibly healthy and balanced" is overstatement of the facts. For example, control decks still have a relativly low conversion rate in comparison to the rest of the field.
But it is still relatively healthy and balanced.
Not absolutely, but all things considered that would be the a far more reasonable conclusion, than Jace improving the format in any way.
Like I said, control decks have a lower conversion rate than any other deck in the meta.
If Jace increases that conversion rate without skewing the meta, then you'd be incorrect.
"He isn't even that good guys he'll be like a $20 card tops."
>MTGSalvation today
"OMG HES BEING UNBANNED IN A FORMAT THAT CAN KILL YOU ON TURN THREE REGULARLY WITH A TON OF DIVERSE DECKS THIS ONE SINGLE PLANESWALKER WILL BE THE END OF THE FORMAT DAMN YOU WIZARDS OF THE COAST!!"
Private Mod Note
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By: ol MISAKA lo
Cockatrice: Infallible
Mhjames: mtgsalvation: I DON'T SEE HOW THIS CARD IS GOOD. I KNOW PATRICK CHAPIN USED IT AND WENT 8-0, BUT THAT WAS A SMALL TOURNAMENT. THE CARD IS TOO SLOW. YOU NEED TO MAKE SURE THE OPPONENT HAS A SPELL IN THE GRAVEYARD
Well, to be fair on the whole unban for money angle, there really isn't a winning situation. If they waited until the set was released and then unbanned him his price would go up and people would ask for a reprint. If they do it now, they get blamed for doing it because it will make them money on Masters 25. The real problem is that the set it is getting reprinted in is a masters set that is priced at 240 msrp instead of a set that is reasonable, and this same problem has been going on for the last couple of years. The fact remains that if Wizards doesn't reprint cards in normally priced sets, they will eventually get expensive and out of reach for a lot of people. Even casual only cards like the gods of theros eventually have their supply stretched due to the attrition from commander players and other sources.
That's really the core of the problem: What does printing these old cards that have suffered from attrition really accomplish if the set is designed to just keep the price where it's at? That's the complete opposite of what players actually want and it's basically a toxic way to deal with supply issues. People don't want 50+ usd cards, they want cards they can actually afford to purchase and put in their decks.
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!
The conspiracy theorist angle is my favourite one, thanks for the laughs folks. :]
People have been talking, and there was real potential, over a year ago. Like when I bought mine, when he was closer to $50, than $150.
Reprints, Masters sets value, whatever people want to complain about, thats fine, but the tin foil hats just make you look funny. Its a card that will power up some decks, maybe create some new ones, and thats it. You still die on Turn 3 to Burn.
The conspiracy theorist angle is my favourite one, thanks for the laughs folks. :]
People have been talking, and there was real potential, over a year ago. Like when I bought mine, when he was closer to $50, than $150.
Reprints, Masters sets value, whatever people want to complain about, thats fine, but the tin foil hats just make you look funny. Its a card that will power up some decks, maybe create some new ones, and thats it. You still die on Turn 3 to Burn.
It doesn't appear that you understand the concept of a true "conspiracy theory". Instead, you appear to be attacking people who are drawing reasonable conclusions based on circumstantial evidence.
The only ones who look foolish here are the ones you arguing that the unbanning of JtMS has nothing to do with Masters 25's imminent release.
The conspiracy theorist angle is my favourite one, thanks for the laughs folks. :]
People have been talking, and there was real potential, over a year ago. Like when I bought mine, when he was closer to $50, than $150.
Reprints, Masters sets value, whatever people want to complain about, thats fine, but the tin foil hats just make you look funny. Its a card that will power up some decks, maybe create some new ones, and thats it. You still die on Turn 3 to Burn.
It doesn't appear that you understand the concept of a true "conspiracy theory". Instead, you appear to be attacking people who are drawing reasonable conclusions based on circumstantial evidence.
The only ones who look foolish here are the ones you arguing that the unbanning of JtMS has nothing to do with Masters 25's imminent release.
I've yet to see why he wasnt unbanned when he was needed even MORE, when he was reprinted in Eternal Masters...
I've yet to see why he wasnt unbanned when he was needed even MORE, when he was reprinted in Eternal Masters...
How is that when he was needed even more? Wizards was still flying high on their Masters train, thinking that every one of them they churn out was going to be a cash cow.
They oversaturated the market with Masters sets, and now they need an uber-expensive chase Mythic to help sell this one. I can guarantee that at least one higher-up at Hasbro warned one or more individuals at Wizards that Masters 25 had better not be a repeat of Iconic Masters. Wizards NEEDS this set to sell.
I'm honestly amazed people think that corporate interest is some how a conspiracy theory. They planned on unbanning Jace some time ago. Most of you would line up Jace's unbanning with a major set release too if it put money into your pocket. There is no coincidence here, and anyone who works in the corporate world saw this the moment the ban list was updated. People were buying Jace's up on MTGO a few days prior because they got tipped off that Jace was being unbanned.
Everthing mega corporations like WotC do are for profit first and what you want second. They don't care about the negative PR they're going to get when/if Jace is rebanned in a few months. They already got you buying M25 packs to get a hold of it. They already got your money.
Private Mod Note
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By: ol MISAKA lo
Cockatrice: Infallible
Mhjames: mtgsalvation: I DON'T SEE HOW THIS CARD IS GOOD. I KNOW PATRICK CHAPIN USED IT AND WENT 8-0, BUT THAT WAS A SMALL TOURNAMENT. THE CARD IS TOO SLOW. YOU NEED TO MAKE SURE THE OPPONENT HAS A SPELL IN THE GRAVEYARD
The conspiracy theorist angle is my favourite one, thanks for the laughs folks. :]
People have been talking, and there was real potential, over a year ago. Like when I bought mine, when he was closer to $50, than $150.
Reprints, Masters sets value, whatever people want to complain about, thats fine, but the tin foil hats just make you look funny. Its a card that will power up some decks, maybe create some new ones, and thats it. You still die on Turn 3 to Burn.
Well, no the cards were unbanned for sales reasons. Wizards knows that they can't have another iconic masters and unbanning cards increases the market value of the set. If the set fails like iconic masters people will literally lose their jobs. It is not funny in the slightest. Its always all or nothing with these people. First no more core sets, then core sets are back. Then it's drop the power level in standard, then up it again with nitroglycerin.
Private Mod Note
():
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!
Everthing mega corporations like WotC do are for profit first and what you want second. They don't care about the negative PR they're going to get when/if Jace is rebanned in a few months. They already got you buying M25 packs to get a hold of it. They already got your money.
That's ridiculous. WotC absolutely does care about negative PR because that drives people away from the game. They wouldn't care if they were some random start-up trying to make some quick cash before fading into obscurity. But they're not. They own and are the sole creator of one of the longest running games of our time. They can quite literally print money as long as they keep enough people happy and purchasing, which honestly isn't that hard to do. One of the easiest ways for them to screw it up, however, it by giving the appearance of putting profits ahead of the integrity of tournament formats.
Which is what makes this move somewhat baffling. They had to have known people would be upset because it looks like they're unbanning Jace just to sell packs. Unless they truly do believe that this is the reprinting that will create enough supply to reasonably meet demand, which is really kind of a joke in-and-of-itself.
The conspiracy theorist angle is my favourite one, thanks for the laughs folks. :]
People have been talking, and there was real potential, over a year ago. Like when I bought mine, when he was closer to $50, than $150.
Reprints, Masters sets value, whatever people want to complain about, thats fine, but the tin foil hats just make you look funny. Its a card that will power up some decks, maybe create some new ones, and thats it. You still die on Turn 3 to Burn.
Well, no the cards were unbanned for sales reasons. Wizards knows that they can't have another iconic masters and unbanning cards increases the market value of the set. If the set fails like iconic masters people will literally lose their jobs. It is not funny in the slightest. Its always all or nothing with these people. First no more core sets, then core sets are back. Then it's drop the power level in standard, then up it again with nitroglycerin.
Honestly, a Jace unban doesn't do much to increase the market value of the set. He's a mythic rare, so any increase in his price, even a big one, is going to actually have a fairly negligible effect on the overall value of the set.
But okay, let's suppose that we're talking perceived value. After all, the EV of ticket for a lottery with a jackpot of $10 million is basically the same as one with a jackpot of $300 million due to the astoundingly low chance of hitting the jackpot, but people are still much more interested in getting tickets for the latter. The problem with that is, Jace was worth a decent amount before the unbanning and was already a good selling point for the set. Jace sells himself, no need for an unban for him to be a potential driving force. If the goal was to increase demand via unbanning, then Splinter Twin would actually be a significantly better choice because it'd change it from a card no one cares about reprinting into a card that people really want a reprint of, whereas Jace already falls into the "people want a reprint" category.
The powering up and down of sets is done with intent, the issue is...I dont think people like lower power sets anymore, if they ever did.
Modern is a thing, and its a big thing, and people can very easily look at it as 'why would I play X, when I can play Y'.
I know I'm not alone in that. The last good Standard, was Khans, because that block had power.
Actually, what I'm referring to goes outside of the usual up and down of set power. It seems like the design team has taken the game away from the original design over the last few years with moving away from one mana dorks and way more focus on value creatures turn 4-5. This has rendered a whole lot of cards to be basically unplayable in non-rotating formats and disposable even in standard.
Private Mod Note
():
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!
The conspiracy theorist angle is my favourite one, thanks for the laughs folks. :]
People have been talking, and there was real potential, over a year ago. Like when I bought mine, when he was closer to $50, than $150.
Reprints, Masters sets value, whatever people want to complain about, thats fine, but the tin foil hats just make you look funny. Its a card that will power up some decks, maybe create some new ones, and thats it. You still die on Turn 3 to Burn.
Well, no the cards were unbanned for sales reasons. Wizards knows that they can't have another iconic masters and unbanning cards increases the market value of the set. If the set fails like iconic masters people will literally lose their jobs. It is not funny in the slightest. Its always all or nothing with these people. First no more core sets, then core sets are back. Then it's drop the power level in standard, then up it again with nitroglycerin.
Honestly, a Jace unban doesn't do much to increase the market value of the set. He's a mythic rare, so any increase in his price, even a big one, is going to actually have a fairly negligible effect on the overall value of the set.
But okay, let's suppose that we're talking perceived value. After all, the EV of ticket for a lottery with a jackpot of $10 million is basically the same as one with a jackpot of $300 million due to the astoundingly low chance of hitting the jackpot, but people are still much more interested in getting tickets for the latter. The problem with that is, Jace was worth a decent amount before the unbanning and was already a good selling point for the set. Jace sells himself, no need for an unban for him to be a potential driving force. If the goal was to increase demand via unbanning, then Splinter Twin would actually be a significantly better choice because it'd change it from a card no one cares about reprinting into a card that people really want a reprint of, whereas Jace already falls into the "people want a reprint" category.
If they didn't unban jace his price would have been 50-60 usd. With him unbanned he is now 150 dollars and will likely drop to about 100 dollars. Also, do not forget they unbanned BBE as well and that is probably also in the set. Does it add a lot of value? No, but it seems the finance / marketing guys in charge of monitoring prices on the secondary market thought it necessary to boost the box EV. Again, this behavior makes sense because wizards is backed into a corner right now and has to have masters 25 sell. The downside is that since they are probably going all out on masters 25 it's probably going to overshadow whatever comes out after it. Here is hoping that this is a good sign they loaded up Return to Dominaria.
Also, before people start going "oh, this is more tin hat" keep in mind WoTC had no reason to reveal JTMS was in Masters 25. They could have spoiled any other card, but they wanted this guy to be the face card on the packaging along with Azusa. On top of which, do you really think that they are just concerned about the price of JTMS? They know what happens when a card gets unbanned and it's impact on related cards. They are counting on the unban to probably boost the cost on several cards they have in the set.
At the end of the day, Hasbro wants the set to sell, Wizards wants the set to sell, and the guys who want to keep their jobs need this set to sell. They are going to pull out all the stops they can to make sure this thing sells.
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 didn't unban jace his price would have been 50-60 usd. With him unbanned he is now 150 dollars and will likely drop to about 100 dollars. Also, do not forget they unbanned BBE as well and that is probably also in the set. Does it add a lot of value? No, but it seems the finance / marketing guys in charge of monitoring prices on the secondary market thought it necessary to boost the box EV. Again, this behavior makes sense because wizards is backed into a corner right now and has to have masters 25 sell. The downside is that since they are probably going all out on masters 25 it's probably going to overshadow whatever comes out after it. Here is hoping that this is a good sign they loaded up Return to Dominaria.
And again, this could have all been achieved, and likely achieved better, with a Splinter Twin unban and reprint. So I don't buy the idea that Jace was unbanned primarily to raise the set value.
I'm not naive enough to believe that Wizards of the Coast never considered the possibility of it increasing hype for the set. But I think that was more likely a bonus in regards to what they were planning to do anyway rather than the primary reason as you are claiming.
Also, before people start going "oh, this is more tin hat" keep in mind WoTC had no reason to reveal JTMS was in Masters 25. They could have spoiled any other card, but they wanted this guy to be the face card on the packaging along with Azusa. On top of which, do you really think that they are just concerned about the price of JTMS? They know what happens when a card gets unbanned and it's impact on related cards. They are counting on the unban to probably boost the cost on several cards they have in the set.
What do you mean no reason? Jace is one of the most recognizable planeswalkers in the game and JTMS is, even without an unbanning, a valuable card. Those are reasons right there. In your own words, "Masters reprints are just there to stuff value into the set and Jace is an obvious include from the Zendikar Block."
If they didn't unban jace his price would have been 50-60 usd. With him unbanned he is now 150 dollars and will likely drop to about 100 dollars. Also, do not forget they unbanned BBE as well and that is probably also in the set. Does it add a lot of value? No, but it seems the finance / marketing guys in charge of monitoring prices on the secondary market thought it necessary to boost the box EV. Again, this behavior makes sense because wizards is backed into a corner right now and has to have masters 25 sell. The downside is that since they are probably going all out on masters 25 it's probably going to overshadow whatever comes out after it. Here is hoping that this is a good sign they loaded up Return to Dominaria.
And again, this could have all been achieved, and likely achieved better, with a Splinter Twin unban and reprint. So I don't buy the idea that Jace was unbanned primarily to raise the set value.
I'm not naive enough to believe that Wizards of the Coast never considered the possibility of it increasing hype for the set. But I think that was more likely a bonus in regards to what they were planning to do anyway rather than the primary reason as you are claiming.
Also, before people start going "oh, this is more tin hat" keep in mind WoTC had no reason to reveal JTMS was in Masters 25. They could have spoiled any other card, but they wanted this guy to be the face card on the packaging along with Azusa. On top of which, do you really think that they are just concerned about the price of JTMS? They know what happens when a card gets unbanned and it's impact on related cards. They are counting on the unban to probably boost the cost on several cards they have in the set.
What do you mean no reason? Jace is one of the most recognizable planeswalkers in the game and JTMS is, even without an unbanning, a valuable card. Those are reasons right there. In your own words, "Masters reprints are just there to stuff value into the set and Jace is an obvious include from the Zendikar Block."
Right, I'm just building onto it that the unban is also a factor in this.
Private Mod Note
():
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!
"He isn't even that good guys he'll be like a $20 card tops."
>MTGSalvation today
"OMG HES BEING UNBANNED IN A FORMAT THAT CAN KILL YOU ON TURN THREE REGULARLY WITH A TON OF DIVERSE DECKS THIS ONE SINGLE PLANESWALKER WILL BE THE END OF THE FORMAT DAMN YOU WIZARDS OF THE COAST!!"
Best comment in the whole thread! =))
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():
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GBR May the Jund'ish side of the Force be with you! GBR
The powering up and down of sets is done with intent, the issue is...I dont think people like lower power sets anymore, if they ever did.
Modern is a thing, and its a big thing, and people can very easily look at it as 'why would I play X, when I can play Y'.
I know I'm not alone in that. The last good Standard, was Khans, because that block had power.
People have no clue how to measure power though, they cry "This set sucks! This is the worst Standard ever" every standard format.
I mean, the problem is they've been right for so many Standards in a row that WotC brought back the Modern PT.
By which you mean "Standard has sucked since they altered the entire block format" which..is fully predictable because when you start screwing with the entire structure of the game you end up with garbage.
JTMS was also part of a fake leak... that ended up being real (although the leaked information wasn't - also predicted the banning of bridge and no BBE). Don't forget about that. Price started going up when the fake spoiler got posted.
Twitter: twitter.com/axmanonline
Stream: twitch.tv/axman
Current Decks
Modern: Affinity
Standard: BW Control
Legacy: Death and Taxes :symw::symr:
Vintage: NA
Not absolutely, but all things considered that would be the a far more reasonable conclusion, than Jace improving the format in any way.
Like I said, control decks have a lower conversion rate than any other deck in the meta.
If Jace increases that conversion rate without skewing the meta, then you'd be incorrect.
Twitter: twitter.com/axmanonline
Stream: twitch.tv/axman
Current Decks
Modern: Affinity
Standard: BW Control
Legacy: Death and Taxes :symw::symr:
Vintage: NA
"He isn't even that good guys he'll be like a $20 card tops."
>MTGSalvation today
"OMG HES BEING UNBANNED IN A FORMAT THAT CAN KILL YOU ON TURN THREE REGULARLY WITH A TON OF DIVERSE DECKS THIS ONE SINGLE PLANESWALKER WILL BE THE END OF THE FORMAT DAMN YOU WIZARDS OF THE COAST!!"
By: ol MISAKA lo
Cockatrice: Infallible
That's really the core of the problem: What does printing these old cards that have suffered from attrition really accomplish if the set is designed to just keep the price where it's at? That's the complete opposite of what players actually want and it's basically a toxic way to deal with supply issues. People don't want 50+ usd cards, they want cards they can actually afford to purchase and put in their decks.
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 have been talking, and there was real potential, over a year ago. Like when I bought mine, when he was closer to $50, than $150.
Reprints, Masters sets value, whatever people want to complain about, thats fine, but the tin foil hats just make you look funny. Its a card that will power up some decks, maybe create some new ones, and thats it. You still die on Turn 3 to Burn.
Spirits
It doesn't appear that you understand the concept of a true "conspiracy theory". Instead, you appear to be attacking people who are drawing reasonable conclusions based on circumstantial evidence.
The only ones who look foolish here are the ones you arguing that the unbanning of JtMS has nothing to do with Masters 25's imminent release.
I've yet to see why he wasnt unbanned when he was needed even MORE, when he was reprinted in Eternal Masters...
Spirits
How is that when he was needed even more? Wizards was still flying high on their Masters train, thinking that every one of them they churn out was going to be a cash cow.
They oversaturated the market with Masters sets, and now they need an uber-expensive chase Mythic to help sell this one. I can guarantee that at least one higher-up at Hasbro warned one or more individuals at Wizards that Masters 25 had better not be a repeat of Iconic Masters. Wizards NEEDS this set to sell.
Everthing mega corporations like WotC do are for profit first and what you want second. They don't care about the negative PR they're going to get when/if Jace is rebanned in a few months. They already got you buying M25 packs to get a hold of it. They already got your money.
By: ol MISAKA lo
Cockatrice: Infallible
Well, no the cards were unbanned for sales reasons. Wizards knows that they can't have another iconic masters and unbanning cards increases the market value of the set. If the set fails like iconic masters people will literally lose their jobs. It is not funny in the slightest. Its always all or nothing with these people. First no more core sets, then core sets are back. Then it's drop the power level in standard, then up it again with nitroglycerin.
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!
Modern is a thing, and its a big thing, and people can very easily look at it as 'why would I play X, when I can play Y'.
I know I'm not alone in that. The last good Standard, was Khans, because that block had power.
Spirits
Which is what makes this move somewhat baffling. They had to have known people would be upset because it looks like they're unbanning Jace just to sell packs. Unless they truly do believe that this is the reprinting that will create enough supply to reasonably meet demand, which is really kind of a joke in-and-of-itself.
Spirits
But okay, let's suppose that we're talking perceived value. After all, the EV of ticket for a lottery with a jackpot of $10 million is basically the same as one with a jackpot of $300 million due to the astoundingly low chance of hitting the jackpot, but people are still much more interested in getting tickets for the latter. The problem with that is, Jace was worth a decent amount before the unbanning and was already a good selling point for the set. Jace sells himself, no need for an unban for him to be a potential driving force. If the goal was to increase demand via unbanning, then Splinter Twin would actually be a significantly better choice because it'd change it from a card no one cares about reprinting into a card that people really want a reprint of, whereas Jace already falls into the "people want a reprint" category.
Actually, what I'm referring to goes outside of the usual up and down of set power. It seems like the design team has taken the game away from the original design over the last few years with moving away from one mana dorks and way more focus on value creatures turn 4-5. This has rendered a whole lot of cards to be basically unplayable in non-rotating formats and disposable even in standard.
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 didn't unban jace his price would have been 50-60 usd. With him unbanned he is now 150 dollars and will likely drop to about 100 dollars. Also, do not forget they unbanned BBE as well and that is probably also in the set. Does it add a lot of value? No, but it seems the finance / marketing guys in charge of monitoring prices on the secondary market thought it necessary to boost the box EV. Again, this behavior makes sense because wizards is backed into a corner right now and has to have masters 25 sell. The downside is that since they are probably going all out on masters 25 it's probably going to overshadow whatever comes out after it. Here is hoping that this is a good sign they loaded up Return to Dominaria.
Also, before people start going "oh, this is more tin hat" keep in mind WoTC had no reason to reveal JTMS was in Masters 25. They could have spoiled any other card, but they wanted this guy to be the face card on the packaging along with Azusa. On top of which, do you really think that they are just concerned about the price of JTMS? They know what happens when a card gets unbanned and it's impact on related cards. They are counting on the unban to probably boost the cost on several cards they have in the set.
At the end of the day, Hasbro wants the set to sell, Wizards wants the set to sell, and the guys who want to keep their jobs need this set to sell. They are going to pull out all the stops they can to make sure this thing sells.
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 have no clue how to measure power though, they cry "This set sucks! This is the worst Standard ever" every standard format.
Dragons of Legend, Lead by Scion of the UR-Dragon
The Gitrog Monster
Gonti, Lord of Luxury
Shogun Saskia
Hive World
Atraxa hates fun
Abzan
Right?
Spirits
I'm not naive enough to believe that Wizards of the Coast never considered the possibility of it increasing hype for the set. But I think that was more likely a bonus in regards to what they were planning to do anyway rather than the primary reason as you are claiming.
What do you mean no reason? Jace is one of the most recognizable planeswalkers in the game and JTMS is, even without an unbanning, a valuable card. Those are reasons right there. In your own words, "Masters reprints are just there to stuff value into the set and Jace is an obvious include from the Zendikar Block."
Right, I'm just building onto it that the unban is also a factor in this.
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!
Best comment in the whole thread! =))
I mean, the problem is they've been right for so many Standards in a row that WotC brought back the Modern PT.
By which you mean "Standard has sucked since they altered the entire block format" which..is fully predictable because when you start screwing with the entire structure of the game you end up with garbage.
Dragons of Legend, Lead by Scion of the UR-Dragon
The Gitrog Monster
Gonti, Lord of Luxury
Shogun Saskia
Hive World
Atraxa hates fun
Abzan