Prices are crazy because the costs are crazy. WotC doubled the costs of all the different products for this set, so retailers have to do the same. Blame WotC, not the stores.
Foil card curling happens to be a big deal for me. I'm amazed WotC hasn't put together a team to engineer foil cards that resist curling, seems like a no-brainer. I'm amazed that might be one thing WotC didn't like about the Professor's rants.
They don’t need to put together a crack squad of engineers, mercenaries and ne’er do wells to find a solution to the foil curling issue, they just need to do what they used to do. None of my old foils have ever curled. I have hundreds and hundreds of old foils that have been all over the country and never curled a bit.
So there is a Merfolk God in this set and the Professor doesn't get a preview card? After not getting one in the set about a school? I hate it that he voiced a few honest opinions, which he has always been known for, didn't say one thing that was untrue, almost nothing that was even controversial, and it looks like they are just washing their hands of him. If you want positive reviews of stuff, stop making the wrong choice on almost every decision, don't shoot the messenger.
I'm not at all surprised. Unfortunately he's gone from making informed opinion videos to knee-jerk reaction videos. He constantly downplays the huge amount of work that goes into designing cards, pre-con decks, and products. He refers to "mistakes" that are actually sound business decisions. He comes off as insulting these days; in his earlier years, he would put more effort into becoming informed before making a video, and he was much more willing to give the benefit of the doubt. He also whines about not getting previews, or on a recent video how he didn't get press contact from Wizards. I agree with him sometimes, but sometimes he comes off as entitled, insulting, or just plain wrong. If I'm Wizards, why do I want to give this guy anything, when all he does is insult my employees' work and complain about everything I do?
I think there's a great diversity in previewers this season (and this year). The Professor will survive without previews; his channel isn't going anywhere.
I’ve got to call you on this.
When has Prof ever insulted the hard work of the designers? He’s rightly criticized the poorly designed cards and the new design mandate that cards be made more and more powerful and bans can sort it out later. But he’s never insulted the people designing the cards.
When has Prof made uninformed videos? He’s made opinion videos from the perspective of an advocate for the consumer, but I don’t recall him ever making an uninformed, knee jerk reactionary video that contained incorrect info.
And some of the products he’s been most happy with for the last several years have been precons.
It really is petty to not give The Professor spoilers any more. He’s the biggest MTG YouTuber so WotC is just shooting themselves in the foot here. I guess they expect everyone to always be as blindly positive and brand friendly as The Command Zone/Game Knights.
$50 for that would actually be fair and make these boosters far more enjoyable.
$50 for a box of 12 wouldn’t be much more than MSRP for 12 draft boosters. That’s not realistic for a premium product. Even those Alara premium foil packs cost $7.99 back in 2009 iirc.
I understand that, but for me those are just packs of Standard and them being foil definitely shouldn't mean they're $20+.
But foils cost more to manufacture. They obviously shouldn’t cost as much as they currently do, but $4.17 a pack is obviously not realistic.
$50 for that would actually be fair and make these boosters far more enjoyable.
$50 for a box of 12 wouldn’t be much more than MSRP for 12 draft boosters. That’s not realistic for a premium product. Even those Alara premium foil packs cost $7.99 back in 2009 iirc.
I think the white cards in the commander precons alone are fairly strong, and make me optimistic regarding white's core identity moving into the near future, but I still don't think they adequately address card advantage, ramp, or raw strength. What else can white be doing to more directly advance a win?
Most White cards just get you up to curve or one turn behind. We’re starting to see a lot of cards that give your opponents stuff but then give your more stuff. That should be exclusive to White. Give all 3 opponents 1 basic land, you get 3. Let them draw 2 cards, you draw 6. Etc. It’s in line with White’s color identity and would help White to get ahead, not just be behind less.
That’s part of Karametra’s throne though. She’s not wearing it on her head.
No.
what?
They don’t need to put together a crack squad of engineers, mercenaries and ne’er do wells to find a solution to the foil curling issue, they just need to do what they used to do. None of my old foils have ever curled. I have hundreds and hundreds of old foils that have been all over the country and never curled a bit.
I’ve got to call you on this.
When has Prof ever insulted the hard work of the designers? He’s rightly criticized the poorly designed cards and the new design mandate that cards be made more and more powerful and bans can sort it out later. But he’s never insulted the people designing the cards.
When has Prof made uninformed videos? He’s made opinion videos from the perspective of an advocate for the consumer, but I don’t recall him ever making an uninformed, knee jerk reactionary video that contained incorrect info.
And some of the products he’s been most happy with for the last several years have been precons.
But foils cost more to manufacture. They obviously shouldn’t cost as much as they currently do, but $4.17 a pack is obviously not realistic.
$50 for a box of 12 wouldn’t be much more than MSRP for 12 draft boosters. That’s not realistic for a premium product. Even those Alara premium foil packs cost $7.99 back in 2009 iirc.
Only Draft is regular Magic. Everything else is abnormal Magic. Prove me wrong.
The Strixhaven decks take the place of Commander 2021 just like the Ikoria decks took the place of Commander 2020.
Most White cards just get you up to curve or one turn behind. We’re starting to see a lot of cards that give your opponents stuff but then give your more stuff. That should be exclusive to White. Give all 3 opponents 1 basic land, you get 3. Let them draw 2 cards, you draw 6. Etc. It’s in line with White’s color identity and would help White to get ahead, not just be behind less.