I agree. That is why I mentioned stores in my replies above.
There must be a mechanism in which stores and players gain on the rising popularity of MTG and have reprints too. I just feel like WotC is raiding the secondary market.
Wizards has no responsibility to stores or players. They have a responsibility to their investors. As long as packs continue to sell, WotC is doing their job, and as long as they aren't completely pissing off the majority of the player base, players will continue to buy packs.
Pure and simple.
If you want to make your voice heard, stop buying packs.
Don't forget that WotC is just a company, not an elected office. Dollars make the difference to a company, not whining. As I said before, if the majority of the playerbase will buy these packs (and they will), then Wizards is doing their job.
The difference between a good group hug deck and a bad group hug deck is this...
Its not that late in the game and the Green/Red player is already on 24 lands. Due to the Group Hugger (who is after him) he could constantly draw more and more cards and not have to worry about overextending. The Mono-White player, however, is only at 7 lands. He is directly after the Group Hugger. Realizing that the Green/Red player can very well go for a game-finishing move next turn, he throws down Armageddon in order to try and keep the field in check. The Group Hugger then proceeds to tap out to cast Counterspell, because "Armageddon is unfun". The Green/Red player proceeds to use Genesis Wave for X=Afreakinglot and reveals, among other things, stuff like Kozilek, Butcher of Truth, Ulamog, the infinite gyre, Fervor, Terastodon, Eternal Witness, Gaea's Cradle, and a bunch of other goodies. With this new stuff, he proceeds to go for an Entwined Tooth and Nail while the Group Hugger just looks on cause "no open mana". The Black/White/Red player can't do much either, and the Green/Red guy goes on to win.
A PROPER Group Hug would've kept the Green/Red guy in check, preventing him from growing too big, while machinating to get their own win con out. That's what a proper group hugger does - control the table while pretending to give everyone gifts.
You're just playing against a team and not adapting.
If any two players are obviously working together, then everyone else at the table should just form their own team.
Also, how is everyone apparently drawing 50 cards a turn, and one Counterspell is the only thing stopping that Armageddon from happening? Why is everyone tapped out ever?
Like, I'm just confused at the game state here. Why does the mono white guy have only 7 lands out and no mana rocks? How many players are at the table, and why does noone run removal or counter? Apparently everyone in your playgroup just runs big fatties except for one counterspell and one geddon. It's funny how people are saying Counterspell is a douchey card, yet it would have saved you from that Tooth and Nail.
Stax imho is way more annoying than group hug, but they're both fine archetypes. I'll just repeat what I said before; if two people are getting a little too comfortable with each other, then the rest of the table should just team up, and if you don't have answers in your deck, you should work on that. If you do have answers and didn't draw them, then why are you so pissed? Just play another game.
For the record, I don't have a group hug or stax deck. I just like challenges (I'm also against the banning of Emrakul, Prime Time, etc, and didn't play either in my decks).
Magic is first and foremost a Card game, and collectible is just a bonus. Not harming the integrity of the game should mean that collectability should not cause major disturbances in a fan's ability to play the format they enjoy. I have been playing for ten years, and I am not a collector beyond cards I want to play with.
Really? I would love to see that. You are seriously inflating the financial power collectors such as you have on the game, in my opinion.
I'm not a collector, I am just a player, but I have to disagree with you.
It is a Collectable Card Game. If it was just a card game "first and foremost," you could buy singles from Wizards, there wouldn't be rarities, and print runs would go indefinitely.
From the very beginning of Magic the collectable aspect of the game was intended.
As the video I linked proves, it isn't necessarily the case that there are more collectors than players, but collectors may well account for equal purchasing power with players, dollar for dollar. Collectors are a major influence on the game - if there weren't people with 50 Force of Wills sitting around, a lot more of us could more affordably play Vintage.
But it IS a Collectable Card Game. There ARE rarities and print runs. I wouldn't lose anything if they changed it to not be a CCG anymore, but to deny that that's where the game currently is seems pretty, dare I say, ignorant.
If they change the game so that you can, for 10 cents, order a print of any card online, then it will be a Card Game first and foremost.
Um, MSRP for a box is not $187.57. If you just bought packs, it would be $168. Usually, a box costs less than the sum of all the packs. I think your store ripped ya unless your sales tax is like 10%.
He's from Canada. Sales tax ranges from 5%-13%, and most provinces it's more than 10%.
Solid point for some of the lower tier tournaments like an FNM. But guess what at a GP or higher I never see a guy with the "budget deck". No one in their right mind lays out 25+ bucks to play in a tournament like that at a disadvantage before you even begin game 1. I mean you can make a similar claim against golf if your not using the highest quality clubs possible the other guy has an advantage over you. In bowling having the best bowling balls on the market can seriously enhance an already skilled bowler.
To play this game at a high level you need expensive cards for some formats. They have "cheaper" formats like Limited though in which you don't have to even own a single card to play in. Poker is an odd example since to play in the world series of poker you don't have to bring any cards, but you better bring 10 grand because that is what it costs to enter.
This is precisely why magic isn't a skill-based game.
I have a very good winrate at draft and sealed, but I will never be able to play constructed.
As long as pro players can accept this is a game about investment of time and money and not an application of skill, that's fine.
I apologize for not reading all 9 pages, but I didn't notice any mention of Maze of Ith under utility lands or universally good cards; if I had one for every deck I'd put it in.
To answer your "specifically why" question, in addition to the issues already discussed here, this technique could just as easily be used to wash the complete art off the Mana Leak and make a high-quality fraudulent version of a much more expensive card. We don't want to provide instructions for doing so.
When we let illegal activities hamper our legal activities something is wrong with the system.
I love custom alt-art.
Anyway, it is analogous to say we shouldn't explain how properly to butcher meat because someone could use those same skills on a human. We shouldn't talk about how to properly wire a circuit because you can use those same skills on a bomb. Forbid we talk about filming for youtube because the same skills can be used to shoot child porn.
I understand that this forum is private property, but surely you can see how reducing civil liberties is a negative thing, right?
I'm coming back from retirement to play draft/sealed with this set. Looks amazing for that. If you don't want to buy a box or a crate then don't, but this set is very well constructed for the sake of gameplay.
I'm of the mindset that the colour determines the motives of the card, not the moral alignment. White is for the sake of order, which many would see as totalitarian, where as black is for a structured despotism. Neither of these mindsets are inherently good or evil, they're just philosophical differences.
Dude WW
Bestowed spells that target Dude cost 2 less to cast.
2/2
Or even
Super Dude WWRR
Bestowed spells you cast cost 2 less
4/4
Templating is wrong but I could easily see this by the end of the block instantly making curreny bestow cards better.
Wizards has no responsibility to stores or players. They have a responsibility to their investors. As long as packs continue to sell, WotC is doing their job, and as long as they aren't completely pissing off the majority of the player base, players will continue to buy packs.
Pure and simple.
If you want to make your voice heard, stop buying packs.
Don't forget that WotC is just a company, not an elected office. Dollars make the difference to a company, not whining. As I said before, if the majority of the playerbase will buy these packs (and they will), then Wizards is doing their job.
It's pretty. Foil cards are easier to damage than non-foil, so they should be worth less by your logic.
You're just playing against a team and not adapting.
If any two players are obviously working together, then everyone else at the table should just form their own team.
Also, how is everyone apparently drawing 50 cards a turn, and one Counterspell is the only thing stopping that Armageddon from happening? Why is everyone tapped out ever?
Like, I'm just confused at the game state here. Why does the mono white guy have only 7 lands out and no mana rocks? How many players are at the table, and why does noone run removal or counter? Apparently everyone in your playgroup just runs big fatties except for one counterspell and one geddon. It's funny how people are saying Counterspell is a douchey card, yet it would have saved you from that Tooth and Nail.
Stax imho is way more annoying than group hug, but they're both fine archetypes. I'll just repeat what I said before; if two people are getting a little too comfortable with each other, then the rest of the table should just team up, and if you don't have answers in your deck, you should work on that. If you do have answers and didn't draw them, then why are you so pissed? Just play another game.
For the record, I don't have a group hug or stax deck. I just like challenges (I'm also against the banning of Emrakul, Prime Time, etc, and didn't play either in my decks).
And you take an additional upkeep, which is pretty important. In fact, it's pretty much not like explore at all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ypnbLWa1rQ
I'm not a collector, I am just a player, but I have to disagree with you.
It is a Collectable Card Game. If it was just a card game "first and foremost," you could buy singles from Wizards, there wouldn't be rarities, and print runs would go indefinitely.
From the very beginning of Magic the collectable aspect of the game was intended.
As the video I linked proves, it isn't necessarily the case that there are more collectors than players, but collectors may well account for equal purchasing power with players, dollar for dollar. Collectors are a major influence on the game - if there weren't people with 50 Force of Wills sitting around, a lot more of us could more affordably play Vintage.
But it IS a Collectable Card Game. There ARE rarities and print runs. I wouldn't lose anything if they changed it to not be a CCG anymore, but to deny that that's where the game currently is seems pretty, dare I say, ignorant.
If they change the game so that you can, for 10 cents, order a print of any card online, then it will be a Card Game first and foremost.
He's from Canada. Sales tax ranges from 5%-13%, and most provinces it's more than 10%.
This is precisely why magic isn't a skill-based game.
I have a very good winrate at draft and sealed, but I will never be able to play constructed.
As long as pro players can accept this is a game about investment of time and money and not an application of skill, that's fine.
Um ... Goyf wasn't worth anything when it was released. He was a speculator, not a rip-off artist.
Being a good speculator is something to be proud of. It requires intuition and good understanding of trends and the consumer market as a whole.
I bought all my EDH staples before they doubled in value, couldn't be happier.
We want to aleave the pressure of not enough cards for the increased number of players!
This will be very limited!
Good job Wizards. If you printed a reasonable amount of this, people would draft it every day for years. But no, too easy.
When we let illegal activities hamper our legal activities something is wrong with the system.
I love custom alt-art.
Anyway, it is analogous to say we shouldn't explain how properly to butcher meat because someone could use those same skills on a human. We shouldn't talk about how to properly wire a circuit because you can use those same skills on a bomb. Forbid we talk about filming for youtube because the same skills can be used to shoot child porn.
I understand that this forum is private property, but surely you can see how reducing civil liberties is a negative thing, right?
MaRo also said ...
No Non-rare legends just before Kamigawa
No common artifacts just before Mirrodin
No legends in core set just before 8th
And a lot of other things. He says things months before he proves otherwise. I'm amazed people haven't caught on.