I'm not looking forward to Modern at FNM. The reasons are purely selfish. I don't get out to play FNM every week so because of family obligations I only get to play in about half of them. If my local store decided to hold a Modern FNM on the weeks I could go I won't have a deck to play, and while I could just bring my Standard deck that's just like bringing a knife to a gun fight, so I probably wouldn't go. I could invest between a couple hundred and a thousand and get a Modern deck that's competitive but that would mean I have that expense and because of my schedule I might not even get to play it all that often if my schedule doesn't allow me to play in the Modern FNM's.
So either I invest in a modern deck that I won't be able to play all the time because of my family obligations or I don't invest in a modern deck and don't play the Modern FNM's on nights I would otherwise be able to play.
Now I understand that people already have modern decks and for them it's not a big deal what they play; they might even prefer modern to standard, but for me, without a pile of money I can spend on a modern deck, I'd be happy if Modern FNM's didn't show up at my local store.
The reasons you reference for not being excited about Modern are the exact reasons I AM excited about Modern FNM's. I have a 10 month old and rarely go to FNM anymore because I either don't have the standard cards to build a viable standard deck or even if I did, I can't compete with the guys/gals who have 30+ hours a week to devote to testing. Modern gives me a chance to build a few decks play/learn a format that doesn't evolve on a weekly basis and doesn't need $100 lands to function (legacy). I know my jund deck, burn deck, storm deck, etc. is likely always going to at least be playable and I don't have to worry about a rotation devaluing all my stuff. In addition, my need for new cards isn't high and my knowledge of the format won't be outdated next week.
I'll also add, even though I play Jund and realize it's the most expensive deck in the format, there are plenty of competitive decks in the format that are cheap. Storm, Splinter Twin, Martyr Proc and Burn could all win an FNM and probably cost less than the avg. standard deck. Not to mention, three of these 4 give Jund fits!;)
I'm seriously concerned about the ability to get one of these. I've heard from multiple sources that they will be scarce and that even large stores that got 20 copies of FTV Realms are only getting a few copies (3-4) of these. While I realize the $75 retail will somewhat limit the audience, my fear is that the EV in this set will be well over the retail price and lead us to another From The Vault scenario where stores will just say their copies are reserved and then put them on ebay for $120+.
Everyone who questions the value of what has already been spoiled obviously doesn't pay much attention to the secondary foil market. Urborg is currently a $60 foil, Dryad Arbor is a $20 foil, Murmuring Bosk is a $10 foil all thanks to Commander. Granted, now that these are printed, the prices of the originals will dip but the value is already here and they likely haven't released the "chase" card yet.
My guess is that Vesuva is in (also a $25 foil) and that it's probably Windbrisk Heights rather than Wasteland at #15. I'm putting my money on Maze of Ith being the chase card. The Judge foil has skyrocketed to over $200 recently and this is a card that is in high demand within the casual/commander community. Even though this product is not a commander product, it has been geared towards commander players since it's inception since they like to foil out their decks and you only need 1 copy of any given card.
I'm pretty sure that the Commander's Arsenal name comes from the fact that it comes with a bunch of stuff to play the commander format such as a die, sleeves, deck box, etc. and it probably has no bearing on what type of commander cards are in the arsenal. I would expect both reprints of Legendary Creatures and some commander staples.
My fear is if you have some foil commander staples, a reprint will totally kill any value of your cards. I'm someone who has invested years of buying and trading to completely foil out my Karador commander deck and I'll be pissed if my foil Genesis is now worth $5 due to a reprint. I guess that's the chance you take when you own cards that are not on the reserved list.
I'm concerned about this card in Limited. I didn't play much limited back in Urza's Block but this feels way overpowered in sealed/draft formats. Drop it on a creature, swing, trample over for a few damage, get it back, rinse, repeat. Makes every top decked dork a threat. I always hated core set limited because there are always a few uncommons that just dominate if you get one of more of them, such as mind control. Rancor feels like it's in the same boat.
My prediction is that nothing will happen unless Sneak and Show makes up a large percentage of the top 8 in the next SCG event. What do I think should happen?
Standard: Everyone who plays delver says Ponder is the card that should go if any. I tend to think Snapcaster is the real problem but I don't think they will ban it. Everyone who says that the standard format is ok is kidding themselves. Delver has been dominating for months and is making up 4-5 of the top 8 consistently every week at SCG events. Those are affinity type numbers. I'm glad I don't play standard as I'd want to shoot myself in the face having to play against delver all the time.
Modern: I feel like the only somewhat "unfair" thing going on in Modern is cheating Emrakul into play. There aren't many answers to it and it comes into play pretty consistently on turn 4. I would like to see Emrakul banned and Jace unbanned to shake up the blue decks and decrease the amount of uninteractive tron decks.
Legacy: As said earlier, I could see Show and Tell getting the axe. They always ban the enabler, not the creature. I don't think it's too much of a problem yet so I see Legacy remaining the same.
Commander: I think they will ban Griselbrand as a commander. I think he's ok as an 8cc creature in the other 99 but having him as a commander is just too broken.
Goyf will not be reprinted in the RTR block. As much as they want to put more supply out there for Modern players, they don't want him in standard again for 2 yrs. They have admitted he was overpowered and a mistake. Please, lets just stop the Goyf talk.
I'm willing to bet the farm that both Bob and the Ravnica duals will be back. Bob is easy to contain as he gets killed by most removal and standard tends to be a removal heavy environment. From a speculation standpoint, I'll be dumping these here soon since any additional supply on these two cards will cause them to drastically drop in price. Bob will drop to at least $20 and even the most expensive dual will likely be less than $15 if they are reprinted, given the amount of packs that will be opened.
My LGS decided to run both their Helvault events on Sunday and run normal flights on Saturday so they would not have to turn people away on the first day. I'm headed to the first helvault event tomorrow and I'm looking forward to it.
People should just enjoy the event and whatever happens to be in their helvault. Those who are complaining about not getting judge promos need to get over it. What is the alternative to the Helvault? Oh wait, thats right...how about nothing! Every other prerelease offers nothing but a pre-release card. The fact that WOTC was willing to offer any additional swag is a bonus and should be viewed that way.
For those who have said, "Why did they shut this site down and not these other sites?", for all we know, it could be the tip of the iceberg. It's likely that WOTC has taken similar action against other sites as well but it is of the discretion of the site to either shut down or ignore any kind of strongly worded letter from WOTC. You won't see all of these sites just shut down on the same day as if secret agents are forcing their way in and confiscating servers.
At this point, we don't know who else has received a similar request to stop and whether they will decide to take action or simply ignore the request and see if WOTC takes it to the next level. When you factor in that some of these apps are hosted on servers that are not in the U.S., this complicates things and may make it impossible to shut down some of these sites.
While I'm bummed that it's gone, I understand the move by WOTC. Many people (including myself) did unlimited free drafts on this for practice instead of paying for drafts on magic online. You can argue that it gave people the confidence to draft online or that it actually helped WOTC but you can also argue that the sky is red. In either case, you're wrong regardless of how much you want to believe it.
For someone like me who has a macbook, they have killed my best option to online draft since they don't support mac os (at least not without running some windows emulator and screwing up your computer).
Item A - Promo Spindown dice
Item B - 50ct Sleeves (Hence why you get 2)
Item C - Deck boxes
I highly doubt there are cards in the Helvault. As someone who doesn't get excited about freebies unless they are foil cards, I have a feeling I'm going to be very disappointed.
Throw some Foil Full Art Promo Ravnica Shock Lands in this thing and now we're talking! (keeps dreaming)
Also, as someone who goes to an LGS where we get 75-100 people for a pre-re, that sucks that what you get is based on attendance.
After watching some coverage of GP Indy this weekend, I don't really see a problem with the format and I think nothing will be banned on the 20th. If anything, GSZ should be on the watch list. Being able to tutor for any green creature for a premium of G is way too powerful and you're starting to see Maverick become a much larger part of the metagame. I'm interested to see whether the meta will adjust for this or if the effect will prove to be too powerful.
Has anyone considered that the preview art might be the preview card from Hook rather than Glacial Chasm or Dark Depths? I doubt it but it's a thought.
The reasons you reference for not being excited about Modern are the exact reasons I AM excited about Modern FNM's. I have a 10 month old and rarely go to FNM anymore because I either don't have the standard cards to build a viable standard deck or even if I did, I can't compete with the guys/gals who have 30+ hours a week to devote to testing. Modern gives me a chance to build a few decks play/learn a format that doesn't evolve on a weekly basis and doesn't need $100 lands to function (legacy). I know my jund deck, burn deck, storm deck, etc. is likely always going to at least be playable and I don't have to worry about a rotation devaluing all my stuff. In addition, my need for new cards isn't high and my knowledge of the format won't be outdated next week.
I'll also add, even though I play Jund and realize it's the most expensive deck in the format, there are plenty of competitive decks in the format that are cheap. Storm, Splinter Twin, Martyr Proc and Burn could all win an FNM and probably cost less than the avg. standard deck. Not to mention, three of these 4 give Jund fits!;)
My guess is that Vesuva is in (also a $25 foil) and that it's probably Windbrisk Heights rather than Wasteland at #15. I'm putting my money on Maze of Ith being the chase card. The Judge foil has skyrocketed to over $200 recently and this is a card that is in high demand within the casual/commander community. Even though this product is not a commander product, it has been geared towards commander players since it's inception since they like to foil out their decks and you only need 1 copy of any given card.
My fear is if you have some foil commander staples, a reprint will totally kill any value of your cards. I'm someone who has invested years of buying and trading to completely foil out my Karador commander deck and I'll be pissed if my foil Genesis is now worth $5 due to a reprint. I guess that's the chance you take when you own cards that are not on the reserved list.
Standard: Everyone who plays delver says Ponder is the card that should go if any. I tend to think Snapcaster is the real problem but I don't think they will ban it. Everyone who says that the standard format is ok is kidding themselves. Delver has been dominating for months and is making up 4-5 of the top 8 consistently every week at SCG events. Those are affinity type numbers. I'm glad I don't play standard as I'd want to shoot myself in the face having to play against delver all the time.
Modern: I feel like the only somewhat "unfair" thing going on in Modern is cheating Emrakul into play. There aren't many answers to it and it comes into play pretty consistently on turn 4. I would like to see Emrakul banned and Jace unbanned to shake up the blue decks and decrease the amount of uninteractive tron decks.
Legacy: As said earlier, I could see Show and Tell getting the axe. They always ban the enabler, not the creature. I don't think it's too much of a problem yet so I see Legacy remaining the same.
Commander: I think they will ban Griselbrand as a commander. I think he's ok as an 8cc creature in the other 99 but having him as a commander is just too broken.
I'm willing to bet the farm that both Bob and the Ravnica duals will be back. Bob is easy to contain as he gets killed by most removal and standard tends to be a removal heavy environment. From a speculation standpoint, I'll be dumping these here soon since any additional supply on these two cards will cause them to drastically drop in price. Bob will drop to at least $20 and even the most expensive dual will likely be less than $15 if they are reprinted, given the amount of packs that will be opened.
People should just enjoy the event and whatever happens to be in their helvault. Those who are complaining about not getting judge promos need to get over it. What is the alternative to the Helvault? Oh wait, thats right...how about nothing! Every other prerelease offers nothing but a pre-release card. The fact that WOTC was willing to offer any additional swag is a bonus and should be viewed that way.
At this point, we don't know who else has received a similar request to stop and whether they will decide to take action or simply ignore the request and see if WOTC takes it to the next level. When you factor in that some of these apps are hosted on servers that are not in the U.S., this complicates things and may make it impossible to shut down some of these sites.
For someone like me who has a macbook, they have killed my best option to online draft since they don't support mac os (at least not without running some windows emulator and screwing up your computer).
Item A - Promo Spindown dice
Item B - 50ct Sleeves (Hence why you get 2)
Item C - Deck boxes
I highly doubt there are cards in the Helvault. As someone who doesn't get excited about freebies unless they are foil cards, I have a feeling I'm going to be very disappointed.
Throw some Foil Full Art Promo Ravnica Shock Lands in this thing and now we're talking! (keeps dreaming)
Also, as someone who goes to an LGS where we get 75-100 people for a pre-re, that sucks that what you get is based on attendance.