I love alternate arts... but not too many that its hard to track.
I agree that printing alternate arts for reprints is good, even necessary.
The current collector boxes trend is printing alternate art for its own sake which is fine... bit its eating print equity right from the get go, thats why it depresses prices for the "normal" cards and even its own price 8s depressed, because it is like doing future reprints in the present.And you get to reprint cards that do not need reprints and you earn from those too. Its like prerelease when everything is hyped, but actually only a few cards will be sought after. Everything else crashes. Not terrible i guess. For a deck builder willing to look its actually quite awesome. If you are a net decker, you are in for a world of hurt pricewise, if you are a speculator, your wait time for return just got lengthen.. to god knows when...
WoTC are using the most vile *****tiest tactics in selling this game. They try to appeal to people with inferiority complex who then will spend the money to buy OP cards. This strategy basically kills the old style MTG, that was played IRL on a physical table. Now it's not about creating interesting decks and just socialising.. now it's a real life butthurt relief game, where anyone just pay a couple of hundren bucks, get their OP deck(of basically any color but mostly black and blue) and crush basically anyone who paid less or F2P. MTG Arena became a ******* joke. It's not a fan game anymore.. it's not made for fans anymore. It's made for people who are really butthurt IN REAL LIFE.. and now all these hordes of total mental cases, ******* whales with money, total degenerates who don't give a single flying **** about anything but their own butthurt egos. These losers are surfing the web for "pay-to-win" opportunities, join the game, pay and win, then move the **** on to the next game, where they turn the same trick. Each loser would feed 2-3 P2W games at the least, usually more. It becomes addictive.
Online gaming became a stress relief for an office rat, who never even played any games before online gaming hit the market and allowed the office rat to play at his desk or from his laptop or mobile. Online gaming is not even gaming in it's true sense, because you don't see your opponent. You're basically playing with a screen. There is no people behind that screen. It's just code. You're just buying what would happen on the screen.
Do you get it? They don't want to play the game with anyone. They just want to buy a certain guaranteed outcome. They want to pay an easy 100 and immediately get their fix. It's just like drugs.
So.. here is your answer why they make all these idiotic sets. The previous blue deck meta with something like Agent of Treachery etc etc is total cancer. There are many cards like that. Completely retarded drain decks, completely retarded counter decks, completely retarded everything. Because this is what sells.
Office rats will pay their 100 anal bucks and cheese their way to mythic. Everyone else is there just because they want to try. But they are not going to stay for long.. but who cares, there will always be a ton of newbies who will come and serve as cannon fodder for the butthurt whales to feed on.
Online gaming killed gaming. Everything became pay to win. Even titles that used to be subscription based are changing to F2P format because it's so easy to milk the retarded whale with inferiority complex. The temptation to go online is impossible to fight. Just compare.. an offline game wouldn't make more then a couple of millions if it's really good and high quality. An online game of even *****ty quality will bring you millions by default, sometimes billions.
This is why people are so upset with online gaming. Fanboys would say that people cry because they are not skilled enough to play, but the reality is that it's all plainly PAY TO WIN.
They are just selling drugs to butthurt losers. Pay 100USD -> get your fix(victories). Don't want to pay?? Boo hoo hoo.
Maybe you should get out of competitive play, then? Or at least find a playgroup that's more your style. I hated playing at the stores around me a decade ago, everyone was way too intense, way too competitive, and way too invested in spending a ton of money to win (and laughing at those who didn't). It turned me off the game entirely for a long time until I found people who actually made playing fun. The intense netdeck power players can still do their thing, I'm happily away from them.
Yes I agree, everyone was there to win, so it was rather toxic.
I mitigated that by only going for pre-releases... there are still some toxic people, but less.
The real reason why Wizards of the Coast is doing this is because In-Store Play at Local Game Stores (LGSs) are now prohibited due to COVID-19.
Yeah... I'm going to have to call that out as false. Catalyst? Maybe. But the real reason? No.
It was bound to happen. If not now, then sometime in the next few years.
I'm going to agree with some of the other posters, this is a lazy move on WotC's part. To be honest, I was puzzled as to why Arena didn't utilize the DCI for registration when it first came out. Then it hit me while working on my own company database. The DCI database is probably so old and so kludged together that no one at Wizards really understands how it works anymore. How long ago was the DCI number introduced? About 20 years? How many admins worked on it and how many features were added during that time?
So the Arena guys probably came on board and, due to some combination of inexperience and hard headedness, decided to build the Arena player database from scratch. Or it could have been managements plan the entire time. Either way, management probably decided the cost of maintaining or exporting the old database to a new system wasn't worth the cost so they decided to drop the tables.
Changing databases isn't easy or cheap but it is always doable, it's just a matter of how much money anyone wants to throw at it.
exactly this.
I work in IT so those scenarios are the easy way outs. A new start if you will. Easier to just ignore the legacy code and data rather than rework it.
Looking through my own data (and it is rather abysmal - in fact maybe its best I forget this history haha), what I see are past results and people I met. Some friends, some acquaintances, others less so. But I will then recall roughly the attitudes of the environment and players at that time including my own. The LGSes I have been to etc. All the history it evokes.
This is all the way to 1997... man I was waay younger then. Playing a phasing deck and getting crushed.
I mean I can just download that as a cvs apparently at least for myself.
But this connection, this relation to the game. Like mould accumulating on the wall... is an pile that takes time to build and accumulate.
They are essentially dumping the old one to make a new one... that is the same...
Actually thinking more about, this seems like a really dumb move (not merging). The data is essentially
A bit of history that ties the players to each other and to wotc. It is a connection that other corporations
try to make but cannot get. Magic's historical depth/nostalgia is something
that has always made it stand out from other games. Yet wotc is giving that up because
they are unable to merge the data (something that should be doable).
I actually thought that they should have banned FL and Hogaak when they banned Bridge and not banned Bridge. I can see why they banned Mox Opal, too many decks were relying on it, just like Faithless Looting was.
Doesn't quite make sense why Ponza/LD decks would drop off though.
I don't see much Amulet Titan or Titan Shift being played in my area. Most have been playing UW Control, Mono Red/Boros, Humans and Infect, a few fringe players are running Tron. But a lot of players left when they banned Hogaak and Ono, I guess if they can't play broken cards, they don't want to play at all.
I thought you meant the players who got their cards banned, hence I gave the reason I did.
If you meant ponza/LD players, yep agreed, not sure why they left, but the others who lost their decks, sure I can understand why they left.
I wouldn't be surprised to see variants of Rhystic Study in Commander supplements or Conspiracy or the like in the future. Maybe also cards that reward you for chump-blocking with card draw- "For the greater good" flavor. Sacrificing Plains for card draw could work well in concert with all of the Land Tax flavored stuff they keep printing; the problem with a critical mass of those abilities is that they do stop working.
I think taxing/punishing effects fit white very well in commander, as it falls within white flavorfully and mechanically. On the other hand, sacrificing lands for card draw fits white neither flavorfully nor mechanically. The land searchers you alluded to are certainly no justification for something in the line of Aggressive Mining no more than white's token strategies justify a white Goblin Bombardment. Sacrificing lands for resources is so indelibly red that it would take a fairly tortuous twist to cram such a mechanic into white. As far as lands themselves that draw cards, white-based EDH decks have access to a number of decent colorless options.
I agree that taxing is very in white. Maybe also non symmetric effects like some conditional wraths but might it more weigthed to white's strength (maybe weenies? or gain 2 life for each of your creature destroyed?). Or more chaining creatures like the rebels, which is kinda like card advantage. Or more effects that give an extra body (probably too abusable with blink)
I don't see much Amulet Titan or Titan Shift being played in my area. Most have been playing UW Control, Mono Red/Boros, Humans and Infect, a few fringe players are running Tron. But a lot of players left when they banned Hogaak and Ono, I guess if they can't play broken cards, they don't want to play at all.
I guess it is a loss of confidence + a general shift towards possibly pioneer? At that time anyways
[edit] oh and mox opal and faithless looting were banned too ... quite the slaughter
In my area, most people I've heard of choosing not to play Pioneer has been in response to deck prices, which they expected to be far below modern, but the prices are similar.
Pay to Play will smother this format just like it has Modern. Without yearly regular reprints of high priced staples prices will go nowhere but up and playership will go nowhere than down. I had high hopes for this format but as every day passes it is just turning into Modern 2.0 Without regular bans of top tier cards on a monthly basis the format is becoming "solved" and to me that equals stale, predictable and more expensive. I loved the weekly bannings, would love to go back to that to keep players on their toes.
PS: Monoblack Aggro is sitting at $373 in paper as of this moment. Not really a lot cheaper than most of the tier decks out there.
The problem is that regular bannings of top tier cards can kill a format just as easily. People aren't going to invest in anything if there is a high likelihood that their cards will tank in value once they have continual strong showings. So you ban out Inverter & Breach decks. Then people shift to deck X. Then deck X gets banned out. Player confidence in their cards becomes less and less, until they no longer choose to play anything and go elsewhere. You can't just ban everything. Bans have to be meaningful, targeted, and used sparingly when problems arise. Ban a highly problematic card for format balance, not on card value or play percentage. It's a balancing act and requires care and precision, not lobbing grenades into the card pool every week.
Yep bannings should not be frivioulous, and the decision making needs to be better than "top deck" because there will always be a top deck.
Time should be given for new archtypes to arise. New cards could be printed to aid in more archtypes being formed.
Will this lead to another modern? Always. But i guess the important thing is to decide what is the role of pioneer. To me it seems modern was meant as a "next stop" for rotating standard players. And it has given 10 years before its powerlevel is deemed too high or resources have become too scarce/expensive. My guess is pioneer will now take on what modern was and will last another 10 years or so... assuming its not dead in the water from the early bans.
As to what to do with modern? I think it will stick around... it is at the very least an eternal format with no reserve list issues. And having multiple eternal formats (as in modern like) might not be a bad thing if they have their own format defining quirks, and it might be a way to keep value and yet allow players to build a collection.
Well the secret lair does seem a little excessive, but there is always the ons fetches. I thought artwork is just oki. Though i do feel selling only through LGS is rather unfriendly 0.0. Now it will be price hiked like crazy.oh well.
But i dun think it precludes wotc from reprinting them in some other form. For instance mystery booster 2.0.
Standard? We can hope i guess, but they could also sell them in commander someday.
Anyways pioneer precludes fetches ... so the future looks kinda fetchless.
And yes i agree they should do mass unbans. But for slightly different reaaons. I think modern is relatively under powered. Resulting in any relatively stronger card going amok. Another problem that excabates thw issue is that of the fast print rate plus fast ban rate, things are untested and of course the better decks will reign. Add the effect of players tending to net deck rather than innovate and you get the ugly scene we see now
Very sad, this has been my main go to site for anything new in mtg. I may not have agreed with everything or everyone, but it is what it is. Thanks for the years of information, excitement and wonder Sally. May you ever be found in the way way back machine or some such toodles.
I agree that printing alternate arts for reprints is good, even necessary.
The current collector boxes trend is printing alternate art for its own sake which is fine... bit its eating print equity right from the get go, thats why it depresses prices for the "normal" cards and even its own price 8s depressed, because it is like doing future reprints in the present.And you get to reprint cards that do not need reprints and you earn from those too. Its like prerelease when everything is hyped, but actually only a few cards will be sought after. Everything else crashes. Not terrible i guess. For a deck builder willing to look its actually quite awesome. If you are a net decker, you are in for a world of hurt pricewise, if you are a speculator, your wait time for return just got lengthen.. to god knows when...
Yes I agree, everyone was there to win, so it was rather toxic.
I mitigated that by only going for pre-releases... there are still some toxic people, but less.
exactly this.
I work in IT so those scenarios are the easy way outs. A new start if you will. Easier to just ignore the legacy code and data rather than rework it.
Looking through my own data (and it is rather abysmal
This is all the way to 1997... man I was waay younger then. Playing a phasing deck and getting crushed.
I mean I can just download that as a cvs apparently at least for myself.
But this connection, this relation to the game. Like mould accumulating on the wall... is an pile that takes time to build and accumulate.
WOTC just wants to delete it.
wow.
They are essentially dumping the old one to make a new one... that is the same...
Actually thinking more about, this seems like a really dumb move (not merging). The data is essentially
A bit of history that ties the players to each other and to wotc. It is a connection that other corporations
try to make but cannot get. Magic's historical depth/nostalgia is something
that has always made it stand out from other games. Yet wotc is giving that up because
they are unable to merge the data (something that should be doable).
Oh I thought from what you said:
I thought you meant the players who got their cards banned, hence I gave the reason I did.
If you meant ponza/LD players, yep agreed, not sure why they left, but the others who lost their decks, sure I can understand why they left.
I agree that taxing is very in white. Maybe also non symmetric effects like some conditional wraths but might it more weigthed to white's strength (maybe weenies? or gain 2 life for each of your creature destroyed?). Or more chaining creatures like the rebels, which is kinda like card advantage. Or more effects that give an extra body (probably too abusable with blink)
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/magic-fundamentals/other-magic-products/third-party-products/817234-mws-functional-masterbase-up-to-ikoria-6-8-gb
I guess it is a loss of confidence + a general shift towards possibly pioneer? At that time anyways
[edit] oh and mox opal and faithless looting were banned too ... quite the slaughter
Yep bannings should not be frivioulous, and the decision making needs to be better than "top deck" because there will always be a top deck.
Time should be given for new archtypes to arise. New cards could be printed to aid in more archtypes being formed.
Will this lead to another modern? Always. But i guess the important thing is to decide what is the role of pioneer. To me it seems modern was meant as a "next stop" for rotating standard players. And it has given 10 years before its powerlevel is deemed too high or resources have become too scarce/expensive. My guess is pioneer will now take on what modern was and will last another 10 years or so... assuming its not dead in the water from the early bans.
As to what to do with modern? I think it will stick around... it is at the very least an eternal format with no reserve list issues. And having multiple eternal formats (as in modern like) might not be a bad thing if they have their own format defining quirks, and it might be a way to keep value and yet allow players to build a collection.
Did'nt see this so posting
https://twitter.com/stillcary/status/1246113975542124545?s=09
Not sure myself but the site says Q4
But i dun think it precludes wotc from reprinting them in some other form. For instance mystery booster 2.0.
Standard? We can hope i guess, but they could also sell them in commander someday.
Anyways pioneer precludes fetches ... so the future looks kinda fetchless.
And yes i agree they should do mass unbans. But for slightly different reaaons. I think modern is relatively under powered. Resulting in any relatively stronger card going amok. Another problem that excabates thw issue is that of the fast print rate plus fast ban rate, things are untested and of course the better decks will reign. Add the effect of players tending to net deck rather than innovate and you get the ugly scene we see now