I think the thing to keep in mind is that many of these products are (mostly) reprints. Jump Start and Unsanctioned have a few new cards, but are mostly older ones, so all that's required is checking their templating for sending to the printer. It's not like they're taking away R&D brain power.
But, it is worth pointing out that even though I make good money and try to buy some of every new set, my money (and space for storage) is limited. Sets like Unsanctioned and Jump Star mean I'll be spending less on sets like Theros and M21. I hope WOTC keeps in mind that people will be adjusting their budgets for things like this.
But anyways! Jump Start looks fantastic. I love playing Pack Wars but trying to work with 5 color jank makes the games go so long and can be frustrating. This is the perfect solution and if the card lists turn out to be decent, I can see myself buying a box of these packs.
The amount of flack that MaRo is receiving for this product and the lands on Twitter is really surprising.
I think some of it is understandable though, it feels like the ratio of full art lands to other cards is off because Un- sets have 1 per booster pack and I know I'm not alone in that part of the reason I buy Un- sets is for the weird stuff like chickens and squirrels, but a big part is also the lands.
They could have doubled the amount of full art lands in each deck (one foil, one regular), without significantly affecting their cost, but making the overall perceived value of the set much better.
The price I'm seeing now is $50 and that's quite a bit for Un- cards. If it had been $30 or even $40, I would have gladly bought two sets (one to keep, one to kitbash) but at $50 it's going to be one and done.
Omg im shock im so shocked “ talking in sarcastic voice”
Yea this was locked the moment I saw the enemy ones in M20
I was actually a little worried because I thought I saw Maro mention that this set leaned mono-color like Eldraine, but it would be hard for them to go two sets in a row without dual rare lands to help sell packs.
Huh... 18 posts and nobody is complaining over the decision to have exclusive theme booster cards.
I mean, theme boosters are the perfect places to put the high-CMC brawl plants a la thorn mammoth / workshop elders in the absence of actual brawl decks. I'm glad that cards like this can exit without taking rare up rare slots in the main set. The power level for these cards seem to be spot-on for for this function and I'm happy with them.
With that said, it only takes one Nexus of Fate-esque "miscalculation" to pump the value of a standard-viable card to $50+ and sour this idea... and the idea of making mythics in this way (effectively creating a "super-mythic" status with supplies between normal mythics and inventions) puts a sour taste in my mouth... not that either of those things are guaranteed to come soon.
As far as the cards themselves, I personally want quite a few of them as they are generically fun and decently designed.
So, yeah. Pretty happy so far. Just surprised that no harbingers of doom have descended upon the thread yet.
I'm torn. Yeah, one Nexus of Fate and the whole thing is a mess, but just looking at big box stores, the theme boosters sit on the shelves for months. I could still go out now and buy some from GRN, RNA, WAR and Core 2020. So I don't think supply would be an issue. And WOTC wouldn't hesitate to do a second printing if it was something really nice like that one card that was in the Commander deck a few years ago.
I think I may be skipping my usual bundle for this set since it won't have the fancy basic lands. I'll just buy these plus some draft boosters.
I'm down for the cat box for sure, but the snow lands one pisses me off. I mean, I'm the guy that bought a box of Modern Horizons (and continues to buy MH boosters at the local hobby store) because I wanted the snow stuff so much, but just five foil basics for that much? Absolutely terrible.
I wish I could say this will fail, but there's going to be enough people buying things like that Bitterblossom box that WOTC will just recalibrate for the next batch and keep going.
Though, maybe we'll finally get the stained glass planesalker artworks, or even the anime ones in English.
I feel like this is confirmation that the higher ups at WotC had no faith in this set's ability to sell based off of a combination of its themes, setting and lack of a Jacetice League member, so they relied on the tried and true method of adding a couple pushed cards to the set to ensure it sold well. Play Design had been doing such a great job, this is really the only reason I can think of for why this set has experienced so many problems.
I mean everyone immediately knew Oko was going to be oppressively good. There is no way Play Design missed that, or let it slip through the cracks.
I haven't been following the tournament play as well, but I understand the issue is using Oko to turn things into Elks? So Play Design tested the ability on their own creatures, but players use it how?
I'm slightly more interested by the news of an exclusive foil only sheet in the 15th slot, depending on the price I could be convinced to buy a few packs.
I can't see any of the lists at work, is there any rare dual land cycle included?
I feel the same: sure there's some "value" but without the test cards there's not as much novelty or just plain fun. I'm what you call a dedicated, filthy casual but I still bought a couple of the various Masters sets and even a whole booster of Modern Horizons, not because I wanted an investment, but because I want some of the interesting cards. That was how I was feeling about these mystery boosters until I learned the test cards won't be included at retail. I would have paid a premium price before, but now it'll be wait and see if there's a deal before I buy.
That's very disappointing to hear the test cards won't be in the retail packs. Why does WOTC keep getting so close to doing something amazing, then they trip over their own shoelaces before the finish line?
There's some amazing and fun designs in there, maybe we can convince them to release the test cards in the next run of this product.
Am I the only one who's worried about the 70+ brand new legends? Commander products in the past had 16~20 new legends each year, they're literally putting three plus years worth of ideas into this one, and that's not counting the Commander Legend decks. And if they continue with this trend, well of creativity will run dry quickly.
I think they clarified this was only for the upcoming year and that afterwards it would be dialed back a bit. Fans have been asking for all kinds of Commander goodies for years so there's a good bit built up, this feels like a push to take some pressure off so future releases can be at a lower pace.
But, it is worth pointing out that even though I make good money and try to buy some of every new set, my money (and space for storage) is limited. Sets like Unsanctioned and Jump Star mean I'll be spending less on sets like Theros and M21. I hope WOTC keeps in mind that people will be adjusting their budgets for things like this.
But anyways! Jump Start looks fantastic. I love playing Pack Wars but trying to work with 5 color jank makes the games go so long and can be frustrating. This is the perfect solution and if the card lists turn out to be decent, I can see myself buying a box of these packs.
I think some of it is understandable though, it feels like the ratio of full art lands to other cards is off because Un- sets have 1 per booster pack and I know I'm not alone in that part of the reason I buy Un- sets is for the weird stuff like chickens and squirrels, but a big part is also the lands.
They could have doubled the amount of full art lands in each deck (one foil, one regular), without significantly affecting their cost, but making the overall perceived value of the set much better.
The price I'm seeing now is $50 and that's quite a bit for Un- cards. If it had been $30 or even $40, I would have gladly bought two sets (one to keep, one to kitbash) but at $50 it's going to be one and done.
"That's...why I'm here." - Obi Wan Kenobi.
I was actually a little worried because I thought I saw Maro mention that this set leaned mono-color like Eldraine, but it would be hard for them to go two sets in a row without dual rare lands to help sell packs.
Regardless, this is a fun design and I wouldn't mind opening one or three of these.
I'm torn. Yeah, one Nexus of Fate and the whole thing is a mess, but just looking at big box stores, the theme boosters sit on the shelves for months. I could still go out now and buy some from GRN, RNA, WAR and Core 2020. So I don't think supply would be an issue. And WOTC wouldn't hesitate to do a second printing if it was something really nice like that one card that was in the Commander deck a few years ago.
I think I may be skipping my usual bundle for this set since it won't have the fancy basic lands. I'll just buy these plus some draft boosters.
I wish I could say this will fail, but there's going to be enough people buying things like that Bitterblossom box that WOTC will just recalibrate for the next batch and keep going.
Though, maybe we'll finally get the stained glass planesalker artworks, or even the anime ones in English.
I haven't been following the tournament play as well, but I understand the issue is using Oko to turn things into Elks? So Play Design tested the ability on their own creatures, but players use it how?
I can't see any of the lists at work, is there any rare dual land cycle included?
There's some amazing and fun designs in there, maybe we can convince them to release the test cards in the next run of this product.
I think they clarified this was only for the upcoming year and that afterwards it would be dialed back a bit. Fans have been asking for all kinds of Commander goodies for years so there's a good bit built up, this feels like a push to take some pressure off so future releases can be at a lower pace.
Well, only 60-70, right? The rest would be basic lands I'd think.