What’s with people wanting expensive reprints in precons? I buy these to get new cards and ready-to-play decks in case I have new players to teach. So far the decks have served such purposes.
Okay, but if that's the case then why the price increase from $30 to $40? The last commander deck I bought was the Edgar Markov one, I'm pretty sure it can beat any of the $40 decks, and it had Teferi's Protection in it.
Edgar's deck was worth $80 and there were 8 reprints over $8 in the set with Mirari's Wake being at $18 on release. So far we've got one such reprint in Seedborn Muse for C19. C18 had two.
Contrarians will make up all the excuses in the world, but this product line has objectively lost quality from it's C14-C16 peak while removing one deck and increasing the price by 33%.
Putting in Ghostly Prison instead of Propaganda does stink of conciously trying to put as little reprint value in these as possible.
And stop barking about wanting this to play with noobs, everyone benefits from having better cards, new players more than anyone.
Bending over is not virtue, it's subjection.
Someone ask MaRo if this and Goblin Spymaster are for a new modern plane we haven't seen. These guys certainly aren't from Ravnica, Innistrad, Fiora or Kaladesh.
WotC are mercurial with reprints (and everything else, do we not remember no Core Sets ever again and Standard rotating twice a year except not really), one day they put Verdant Catacombs and Windswept Heath in $20 precons, the next they can't afford to put a single $10+ reprint in their $40 decks.
I don't think they would have reprinted Ixidor, Reality Sculptor because it's symmetrical. I'm not sure that card is getting a new edition any time soon. Same thing with Dream Chisel. They just don't favor those kinds of cards anymore.
So Mardu's legendary does not care about Mardu Aggro, and Abzan's legendary does not care for Abzan Tokens. Guess WB and it's ancilliaries are still being punished for the LoD winning those popularity contests they had to end up fixing.
I'm having fun with it. Beat Grixis Control and Tron in queues so it's not completely toothless, but it's not Hoogak or Urza. And yet, who knows, it may develop into something good eventually.
Contrarians will make up all the excuses in the world, but this product line has objectively lost quality from it's C14-C16 peak while removing one deck and increasing the price by 33%.
And stop barking about wanting this to play with noobs, everyone benefits from having better cards, new players more than anyone.
Bending over is not virtue, it's subjection.
Sterling Grove?Collective Restraint?Solitary Confinement?Price of Glory?Oversold Cemetery?Urza's Filter?Mana Maze?Hunting Grounds?Chainer, Dementia Master?Cryptic Gateway? Nobody wants to play weird stuff like that, everyone wants their Devoid, Outlast, and Inspired reprints!
Not giving me much hope for the rest.
Ouch.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gFKhJtWCl6Yo82Ez0d_N4Iq58ruqfQWYo7An51w4EP4/edit#gid=2
But without it, and with Carrion Feeder I'm trying this out:
4 Gravecrawler
4 Greater Gargadon
4 Blood Artist
4 Judith, the Scourge Diva
4 Stitcher's Supplier
4 Viscera Seer
4 Faithless Looting
4 Zulaport Cutthroat
4 Carrion Feeder
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Blood Crypt
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Godless Shrine
4 Marsh Flats
2 Swamp
4 Zombie Infestation
3 Thoughtseize
3 Shenanigans
1 Mayhem Devil
I'm having fun with it. Beat Grixis Control and Tron in queues so it's not completely toothless, but it's not Hoogak or Urza. And yet, who knows, it may develop into something good eventually.
Thanks WotC.