MTG Salvation

Aside from filling out the horizon canopy cycle, the most exciting thing for me so far has been the reveal that slivers actually look like slivers again rather than those M14 Predator abominations. Lots of set left to reveal, but the vibes I'm getting from what we've gotten thus far tells me not to hold my breath for Counterspell entering Modern anytime soon. Still hoping we'll end up getting some solid reprints added to the format (e.g. containment priest, sylvan library, sterling grove, etc).

Quote from Colt47 »

Quote from gkourou »

What? We just had a Humans vs Affinity pro tour final. We just had Humans as one of the best decks(and 3 copies into the top 8 and no mention at all?), UWx Control is gaining traction because of the new cards and MH is probably going to boost most of the fair decks.

Colt, I know you just come in here to speak about a new format or make frontier look glorious; but let's get real.

Modern is going to be the premier non-rotating format for many years to come and I predict there is going to be a Modern Horizons 2, because MH is probably going to be a huuuuge success.

I was actually serious. I didn't keep track of modern the past few weeks so it was a legitimate question, not sarcasm.

Also Frontier isn't glorious, it's a niche format that has a cult following. That and I'm not holding my breath for anything WoTC pushes as a format to hold, but I do know some people who are speculating on that inbetween standard and modern format.

Technically, EDH seems to be having a huge boom thanks to War of the Spark, given the price trends I've seen.

Not so much speculation as it is an inevitability. They launch a new online client that only supports cards in a rotating standard format and those cards can be bought with real world money; once those cards rotate out, WotC isn't going to make an announcement telling Arena players "Well, we forgot to put the whole rotation thing in the tutorial; but fun while it lasted, right?". Partly due to the fact that WotC would rather suffer from Ebola than participate in any form of direct community outreach, but mostly due to the fact that Arena was a planned project and turned out to be a gold mine for WotC + Hasbro shareholders. The need for another format/game function to ensure players don't feel conned come rotation is likely one of the first things WotC considered. It's also likely that solution will be confined to the Arena client only.

Standard is in the best place its been for quite some time and Modern is about to receive the largest single infusion of new cards in the format's history. I'd buy them maybe wanting to try out something like a "Legacy-Lite" were a new format introduced to the paper game, but there's no need for a frontier 2.0 in the paper game. Sure, I'd imagine some players would try it out in paper, but anything of the sort would be created for the sole purpose of maintaining the illusion for some Arena players that their collections aren't completely worthless come rotation time. I'm pretty computer savvy when it comes to hardware and building machines, but I don't know the first thing about programming; if it's feasible for WotC to realistically port over older cards/formats into Arena one day then maybe they'll put some thought into it, but I wouldn't be surprised if they just rip Hearthstone, call it "Wild", and figure it out as they go.

Sure thing, brotha. Hope one of them end up working out for ya; also hope Horizons gives us a playable tutor that could find a Solemnity lol.

Quote from Qysas »

So what is everyone's opinion of Newagin and is it worth buying? I know Karn is something to keep an eye on. Anything else to watch for those who only buy play set's for modern decks and brewing?

Quote from tronix »

i mean there is no reason to believe that WAR will NOT be the most opened set of all time. big story arc conclusion, big characters, influx from arena, power level is well above average, etc.

if you wanna buy singles to play, id hold off for a couple of weeks till the market gets saturated. if you have no interest in playing, and its just about expanding your collection then rotation next year is when prices will bottom out (for non-foils at least). most probably wont wanna wait that long, but just go in aware prices will likely dip.

on another note, horizons spoilers start the sunday after next. as cards get revealed, expect prices to spike as people speculate (modern specs have been trending hot as of late). if you were thinking of cutting down on your collection and just didnt know the right time; this would be when you want to keep your eyes peeled. sell into the hype, if not, just know waiting to see if there is organic demand after the dust settles is a risk you are accepting.

Very excited for Horizons spoilers to start flowing in. If WotC did it right, the Modern metagame will look very different in the coming months. The fetchland spikes have settled for now, but unless Horizons introduces a new land cycle that somehow devalues them, I'm expecting that both allied and enemy fetches will surpass their all-time highs before the end of the Summer.

Quote from Qysas »

So what is everyone's opinion of Newagin and is it worth buying? I know Karn is something to keep an eye on. Anything else to watch for those who only buy play set's for modern decks and brewing?

IMO the vast majority of the set's Modern potential comes from the uncommon slot; I think many of the static ability walkers will find homes in the format (namely Ashiok, Saheeli, Kiora, Davriel) and while their rarity doesn't make for good specs, I think it'd be wise to pick up some cheap foils once more product is opened and when/if prices settle down to a reasonable point. I think Karn, Ral, & Chandra are some to keep an eye on from the rare slot. Lastly, I think it'll be interesting to see what happens to Tezzeret, master of the bridge; a 6 cmc walker is rough, but if I learned anything from playing during Mirrodin/Darksteel it's that affinity for artifacts can and will be abused if logistically possible; seeing how WotC continues to insist on including promo-only cards in Standard sets, Tezz might be the only card I'd seriously consider speccing on if/when copies can be had for a reasonable price.

Yeah, the Modern playables from WAR haven't been very kind to us. If you're running into multiple decks running Blast Zone, I think it'd be appropriate to pack some interventions in the SB; like you mention, it has enough versatility that you can justify the spots. Another option might be Solemnity depending on which one covers more bases for your particular meta. Swapping out a SPiritdancer for a Silhana Ledgewalker, playing full sets of both umbras, & 2+ Mantles might also be something to consider. Certainly not ideal, but may help lessen the damage from both Blast Zone and Chalice on 1.

Quote from cfusionpm »

Quote from gkourou »

8Rack: 1 (LOL!)

Not too surprising. We have 3 Pox/Rack players locally, and it rips Phoenix to shreds. Great meta call.

In other news, eBay has 8% cashback right now. Might pick up a Horizons box. it doesn't feel too bad at $180ish.

Ah, bummer it's a targeted offer; thought I'd go and do the same.

Quote from Arkmer »

Quote from cfusionpm »

Multiple ebay accounts with multiple shipping addresses. But as a long time seller myself, if I see something fishy, I can cancel the order outright for anyone I feel I don't want to ship to for any reason.

In the words of Matt Mercer: you can certainly try.

So if I get my brother to let me use my card on his eBay account, does the seller see the name on the card?

Not sure about card. I only take paypal and the only info I see is the verified paypal address. Rather than using your card thru ebay itself, I'd suggest adding it to your brother's paypal account then he can select it when checking out via paypal.

Quote from genini2 »

Quote from tronix »

WAR mythic edition announced. https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/news/war-spark-mythic-edition-2019-04-18

jtms, ugin (spirit dragon), and nahiri are the modern relevant inclusions. pretty crazy for 250/box

Only 12,000 units will be printed though. I'd be surprised if the non-mythic editions fell at all.

Yeah, I'm not expecting it to move the prices of regular printings either. However, this is the kind of lineup that would actually make me consider buying one; I'd probably give it a go if I actually needed a Jace, Ugin, or both. Alas, I do not, so I'll continue avoiding these Timmy boxes like they're an engineered plague. I sincerely hope Gavin's comments a few month ago about how, without Masters sets, WotC would be sprinkling Modern reprints throughout miscellaneous other products weren't referring to ******* mythic edition boxes as one of those reprint outlets.

Quote from tronix »

yeah just gotta recognize price spikes for what they are. or rather what they arent - real play demand. just people betting on some potential, and its largely the space that speculators occupy.

lattice blew up most recently but before that it was serum powder; which spiked at the london mulligan announcement, cooled down a bit, then just recently spiked again (likely coinciding with frank karstens articles on the subject). with zero evidence that it will even be a thing.

but hey its not all bad. my lgs was slower on the uptake for serum powder and i bought 15 copies for 2/per when they were buylisting (cash) for 6. arbitrage at its finest; someones has to keep stores on their toes.

Nice find. My LGS is a fairly large store for the area; they hold PPTQs (w/e the acronyms are now) and have a solid sales presence online, so they're pretty on the ball when it comes to updating prices. They also limit singles sales to a max of 4 copies of a specific card, so the only singles I'll pick up from them are higher end cards that I'd be hesitant to buy online due to potential counterfeits.

Good read regarding London mulligan

Well that was fast. Enemy fastlands are all under $20 now, with all but the UR falling below $17.

TBH, still haven't seen too many exciting cards yet. Their design philosophy though, is excellent ability and flavor wise, just lacks a little bit of power.

combined with the premium price tag slashed on MH1, it is highly likely to be marked as a failure financial wise, and that may hinder any efforts to make another MH set in the near future.

Echo of Eons doesn't belong in this deck at all. I don't see Unearth making a large impact since no one really plays Mentor anyway (although I'm glad to have Unearth in Modern). Giver of Runes seems... bad. The best part about Mom is that it can protect itself also, so you always need two removal spells after it loses summoning sickness. Still don't understand how no one is talking about the two mana creature tutor in the set; as far as I can tell it is by far the best card for our deck spoiled so far and seems exactly along the lines of what we need.

i dunno, stepping back and looking at the spoilers which are a good portion of the way done, i think its just perception making the commander cards stick out. edh encompasses a huge swath of players with a wide spectrum of competitiveness. unless its cedh, which is a small minority, its not as if there is a 'meta' or anything. cards are accepted as better or worse, but its not as strict as modern card evaluation. so splashy mythics of major characters, meme bear queens, enemy talismans, 5color super-tribal commander, etc; all that stuff is accepted with open arms.

for modern we are much more critical of the cards. the two things that stand out to me isnt that there werent enough things aimed at the modern format. rather its that we are getting a bunch of new designs which are largely unknowns as shown by countless examples of the community's inability to evaluate cards. this is in place of what many, myself included, expected would be the multitude of old reprints discussed and analyzed over the last few months that i believe seemed easy inclusions and within the strike zone of not disturbing the format too much, but still impactful. then to top things off the product has a 'premium' price tag, so any disappointments or unrealized expectations are magnified.

for anyone thinking horizons would just flip the format on its head with a bunch of high powered legacy cards...well that is on them; because people have been explaining why that is irrational since the day horizons was announced.

Quote from rowej »

I'm legit shocked so many people are complaining.

Tons of cards in this set are going to Top 8 GP/PT's over the next year and we STILL have cards left to go...

It's not the fact that there aren't powerful cards; there are some that will significantly impact the format. For me, it's that this was a chance to get some really interesting old reprints, but instead we got many cards, themes, and cycles more squarely aimed at Commander instead.

Now don't get me wrong; I love seeing Carrion Feeder, Goblin Matron, and the cycling lands again. Kudos to Wizards for these! For a set that commands a premium price, though, it just feels like we missed out on some more cards like Vindicate and Containment Priest for...bear lords? Or more of the callbacks done in ways to prop up more fair decks instead, like a Rishadan Port variant that couldn't target basics, or a better Torpor Orb that could stuff land or artifact triggers as well. Heck, just call it Time Spiral 2, or Magic Anthology, and lose the premium pricing. It feels like the Modern considerations are secondary here based on the overall contents, but that the push to drop supplemental cards directly into the format is the entire reason we're paying a premium. I love a lot of these cards, both new and old, but it doesn't feel very Modern-centric to me, if that makes sense.

Glad to hear it will continue somewhere else.

The only thing I hope for, is this same format of forum. Not like Reddit, or other sites, but a nice traditional forum.

Quote from rowej »

I'm legit shocked so many people are complaining.

Tons of cards in this set are going to Top 8 GP/PT's over the next year and we STILL have cards left to go...

Which tons? Legit curious as I dont see a lot that are going to slot into power decks.

Quote from idSurge »

Sad news. I hate reddit, and I've not found a better Modern forum.

for sure. i dont mind reddit personally, and have used it for years, but i recognize it for what it is - a medium for collecting surface level bite-sized information and commentary. in depth discussions spanning days, months, and even years just isnt a thing unless the sub is really focused; which isnt common.

Quote from Thenarus »

The BW and GB rares spoiled over the last two days all but guarantee no reprints of Vindicate or Pernicious Deed. This set...it's flavorful and interesting, but I can't help but be a bit disappointed by the lack of playable reprints for Modern. Don't get me wrong; there are some quality cards here, and I'm an older player who probably got too invested on the chance for some old favorites to make it into Modern. That said, for $10 a pack, I was expecting a few more bones to be tossed than what we got. At least the land cycle is amazing.

yeah i think wizards gave the modern community just too much time to stew after the product was announced. its months of people speculating on old reprints showing up, which really doesnt look to be the focus of the set at all.

the price tag isnt doing any favors either. its like they set up a product thats good for stores to open and sell the singles, cause who else wants to foot the bill for a bunch of cards not very relevant in the format you are playing. also, no matter how good the draft format is, people arent just gonna jam it regularly when it costs twice as much; not to mention core 2020 is right on the heels of its release.

The BW and GB rares spoiled over the last two days all but guarantee no reprints of Vindicate or Pernicious Deed. This set...it's flavorful and interesting, but I can't help but be a bit disappointed by the lack of playable reprints for Modern. Don't get me wrong; there are some quality cards here, and I'm an older player who probably got too invested on the chance for some old favorites to make it into Modern. That said, for $10 a pack, I was expecting a few more bones to be tossed than what we got. At least the land cycle is amazing.