Quote from broodwarjc »Quote from Equinox2793 »Disappointed to say the least. Oh well, I hope the new Liliana is good.
Disappointed with what? Power level? Art? Design? EXPLAIN!
I don't think she is too bad, her +1 does work on any creature and for any combat damage, she has frost breath for protection, her 4 cast is fair for tempo, and her ultimate casts Emrakul for free.
Quote from Kathal »I really like the Tamiyo desgin, but her powerlevel, I don't know. The +1 is basically a worse Edric, Spymaster of Trest, the -2 is really good value and the ultimate has a nice pay off (especially it synergies very well with Manlands and activated abilities).
Greetings,
Kathal
How is her +1 worse? Yes it is limited to two creatures, but it does work for ANY combat damage, not just to players, so on two creatures with vigilance that is potential 4 cards. Double Strike also makes it very good value.
Emerkul doesn't go in bant decks, she is in a color combination that has historically been really bad, she needs to basically be in a zoo deck, etc. I wanted a UW planeswaker that focused on tapping down things and bouncing. So my expectations were not met. Strong in standard, meh in modern.
Quote from sylvanllewelyn »Quote from Equinox2793 »Quote from ktkenshinx »I like Brutality. Play this T2 against Infect, Burn, or Abzan Company, killing a creature, discarding a burn/pump/Chord/Company, and pitching Lingering Souls. Talk about T2 value.
This card reminds me of when people were saying that kolaghan's command was bad because it only dealt two dmg. People always underestimate options.
Oh I know options are valuable so I'll try it, and Unsubstantiate, out. But Kolaghan's Command is really much more powerful and black control decks usually have the tools to survive long enough to T3 on the draw. It's just not the colour that needs that kind of effect, that's all.
As for Emrakul's Evangel, I think you are meant to sacrifice creatures that will disappear EOT. Can't think of any for now though.
Brutality is EXACTLY what grixis control wants. This card helps in all of our bad matchups. Turn 2 kill a goblin guide and make you discard bolt? Turn 2 kill gisenor elf and make you discard a become immense? Sounds great. Will be slept on just like how people called k-command the "poor mans blightning."
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Do you need it for any decks?
It's a tough call, as they just recently re printed the allied fetches and many speculate it will be at least another year until they see a reprint as they will most likely come through standard vs be in a modern masters or similar set.
If the next block doesn't see a reprint of enemy fetches it will take another bump up I believe on the magnitude of 10-15%. The card is close to its ceiling in my opinion and I would probably offload them fairly soon if I wanted to turn a profit and didn't need them as when the reprint does come they will drop down from $70+ to $15-20. Risk vs reward would push me to play it safe and sell in the next 12 months.
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I firmly Collective Brutality is being underrated here, card can be good to great in the correct shell. It's one of those powerful yet subtle cards that slips through initial assessments and will prove to be quite good I think.
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Abzan midrange (lingering souls, Lili, path, Siege Rhino, Khalitas (sp?) and all sorts of good stuff). The white splash vs red gives an edge over Jund in the head to head in my opinion, plus white offers some sideboard options that outright destroy the burn matchup while still being useful elsewhere in card such as timely reinforcements.
Grixis midrange/control is the second one, though only if the mana abase is build properly and you don't hurt yourself too much via shocks and fetches. If played smartly you can beat burn, plus an ancestral visions or two resolving is essentially GG vs Jund. This deck is more heavily favored vs Jund than Burn I would say.
Abzan company is of course another people have mentioned, but I personally can't stand the deck and wouldn't have any fun playing it.
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I don't see why people don't get this point, and this is spot on. The high prices are an issue only if people stop playing the game and the game is currently as popular as ever. If WoTC were to flood the market or offer to sell desirable singles for modern and eternal formats then the shops would sell no singles or prices would greatly reduce, they wouldn't keep the lights on as you say and suddenly there are no locations that sell sealed product or host tournaments. WoTC doesn't care about secondary market prices so long as they continue to move sealed product and don't do something silly that crashes the market and causes their LGS shops to close down. To add, make eternal formats too accessible and suddenly you take away from people playing standard, drafting, etc which is the primary cash cow. Like it or not, it's pay to play, and those prices are what is keeping the game going and your local LGS open. The best possible thing you can do to support the game is to buy singles from your local shop instead of online, even if you spend 5-10% more doing so. Vote with your wallet so to speak in regards to keeping the game healthy.
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What she has going for her:
1. Easily played in any shell that contains RW
2. High starting loyalty and her + is a +2 which gives her 6 loyalty the turn she drops!
3. Quick ultimate
4. An ultimate that ends games
6. Your opponent must put pressure off of you and deal with her or risks losing the game if they don't during their next two turns. Even if they throw burn and creatures at her she will gain you card advantage most likely.
7. Her "I win" button requires you to invest a whole one additional card slot in your deck besides however many copies of her you play. She is essentially a compact combo that provides card filtering and a way to remove problem cards mainboard such as enchantments (something many decks have to sideboard for to deal with effectively).
8. Her + helps you filter cards and gain more relevant answers to disrupt your opponents game plan or protect her.
She is almost always relevant to the game state regardless of which of her abilities you are using, she is a must answer threat that forces your opponent to shift their focus and resources to deal with her or risk losing the game and she ends games quickly if ignored. I wasn't sure about her at first, but the more I look at her abilities and test with her the better she seems. If you need her, buy her now because I would bet she is going to be $50+ very soon (this weekend even if she sees camera time and ends up on some top 8 lists).
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I agree with this statement, if she continues to put up numbers I full expect her to go up to $50.
She is becoming a staple in several modern decks and definitely has the potential to push Jeskai into Tier 1 as has been said earlier. I'm excited to see the next few big events and what decks appear in the top 32/top 8.
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Hard to say for sure, blue fetches typically go up a bit higher than others, polluted delta and flooded strand for example were up at or over $100 each before the reprint.
However, with both allied and enemy fetches available now in plentiful supply, that will potentially help keep some of the current zendikar ones from reaching those price points. With that said, if they don't reprint them in the next year or two, I'd expect maybe a small increase for the most part, with scalding tarn being the most likely to go up again. Just my opinions as follows:
-Arid Mesa: no change unless a new deck comes along at tier 1 in RW.
-Verdant Catacombs: very little growth as it already sees lots of play in top tier decks.
-Marsh Flats: again, unless WB decks come along at tier 1 and Junk somehow surpasses Jund I wouldn't expect these to go up much if at all. Even then windswept heath and verdant catacombs fill those spots fairly easily. Green is also usually the color you want first in these decks.
-Misty Rainforest: this one is really hard to say in my opinion. No big BUG or Bant decks are in modern at the moment, but I could see it going up slightly and being the second most expensive enemy fetch.
-Scalding Tarn: This one still has room for growth I think barring a reprint, UWR appears to be on the upswing and it is one of the more desirable color combinations in modern across many deck types.
If you need them, I don't see a big reason not to get them now as I don't think a reprint will be for another few years, but I wouldn't spec on the enemy fetches at this point as most are close to ceiling I think.
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I can relate to the self reflection. Some advice from someone who was just in the same situation, get back in the weight room. You'll feel much better and be mentally sharper at work and when playing Magic (plus the time investment really isn't too bad. 4-5 hrs a week and eating right goes a long way to making you feel better and improving other aspects of your life as a result. I can totally relate.
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Magic is definitley not cheap, but I can be competitive in modern and spend 1.5-2K on everything needed and then spend a few hundred per year picking up new stuff that I need.
To reiterate the Biking example above (one example you listed) is exponentially more expensive on the competitive level, I used to bike a couple hundred miles per week and raced competitively. Here is what you can expect to spend to be competitive (not even buying near the most expensive stuff out there:
Proper clothing: $100 minimum for a good set of bike shorts and jersey (you'll need 5-6 pairs, plus jackets, cold weather gear, gloves, etc, etc). You'll but a few new pairs each year too.
Shoes: $100+ per pair (you'll probably have at least two pairs)
Helment: $100 mid price for something light and comfortable
Yearly tune up: $200-300
Yearly upgrades/part replacements/tires/tubes/etc: $200-400
Race Bike + Race wheels: $3000-8000 depending on how much you want to spend. Top of the line pro setups run 5-10K for road bikes
Spare wheels to train on/durable pair: $300
Every 3-5 years you'll probably also upgrade your frame and groupset spending another few thousand dollars.
Plus for bad winter weather you don't want your nice bike out in the elements, that's another $1,500 for a winter/training bike/beater bike
Oh yeah, and you need rollers to train indoors: $300
And every week you need extra food to support how many calories you're burning and to keep you fueled on long rides: $100 every two week easily in extra food, ride snacks, etc that you wouldn't eat if you weren't riding.
I've done the math as I had to budget for this, and we are talking at a competitive level here, it is thousands of dollars per year. As the poster above mentioned you are talking $2-3k of initial investment to play modern competitively.
I'm no fan of magic prices, and I think they are too high, but when compared to other hobbies out there it really isn't much of a comparison. Magic is something we choose to do, a luxury and so long as people pay the prices they will continue to be high.