I'm happy this exists. It's not as though the 4 drop slot in green is brimming with options. It may not be the most clever of designs but it's certainly powerful enough for cube.
I kinda like him and I'm more critical about power level than most people. It's not going to warp formats but it should do work in casual formats. Black makes good use of sacrificing and discarding so in the right deck the effects won't be as symmetrical as it would first appear.
Am I reading this right? The +1 is usually just Beast Within. That's pretty ridiculous for UG, the color combo that is the utter worst at removal.
Whaaaa? Blue and green are THE two colors of polymorphing effects. Virtually every card in Magic that transforms a card from what it is into a (usually vanilla) creature of some sort is either blue, green, or blue/green. Additionally, blue is the primary color of turning artifacts into creatures, including doing so to remove its text box to shut it off. While green is one of the major artifact-hate colors, along with red. Usually, the creatures blue or green turn a card into is a 1/1 (like a frog) or a 3/3. The +1 uptick effect on Oko is about as quintessential a UG form of effect as you can get for removal.
I'm not arguing that the color pie is being broken or anything. I'm saying that white, black, and red do a MUCH better job killing creatures. Oko's +1 is giving me repeatable removal which is VERY uncharacteristic of UG. Also, UG is hands down the weakest color pair in cube so this will likely find a home there.
I think the point is that when the new player sits down for the first time and gets steamrolled, they're going to be unpleasantly surprised to find how exorbitant the costs can be to upgrade their deck (Cyclonic Rift is how much?!). Filling these commander products with needed reprints helps everyone trying to cultivate an EDH collection do so w/o having to apply for a line of credit. For example:
Seedborn Muse is a format staple that makes virtually every deck containing green better by its inclusion. Not long ago it was a $30 card. That's a LOT of money for a card that isn't played in any sort of competitive environment. This new reprint is preselling for under $10 and it's only going to go down.
The new player needs as many of these reprints as they can get. They don't need, nor do they want, 15 cent cards like Pristine Skywise when they're dolling out $40.
I'll probably receive a lot of hate for this, but I had a look over some of the decklists for the Commander product as far back as the original. I'll say it the overall value doesn't seem that different.
The only real outliers are the Atraxa deck and the vampire deck with Teferi's Protection.
And the prices on those are like all high Magic prices, based on hindsight.
The originals were very high value, one came with flusterstorm, mimeoplasm was loaded with value, kaalia is super expensive etc
Cyclonic rift is a 20$ card and came in the teferi deck, teferi is also a 30$ card.
The only set of commander decks I kind of regret purchasing is the most recent one, and this set is not looking much better.
Well, you listed Commander Originals, so, kind of not on topic here. Obviously there is value in the new cards, they’re new.
You're right that the list he gave was of original cards but the first (and best) Commander product also contained a LOT of staples. New players are getting hustled by paying $40 for a box of Jank. When I started the product only cost $30 apiece and I got the following reprints and a whole lot more:
Seriously, there are times I don't know what would happen if Magic players were given nothing to whine about. Magic is releasing ludicrous amount of products in a year. Don't like these? Wait a few months and see what the Brawl decks look like and if there's anything you want out of those. At this point, when there's a product I don't really want I'm almost grateful because it means it's one less thing I have to worry about where my Magic budget is concerned.
The level of entitlement from some folks is outrageous.
Seriously, I don't know what would happen if there weren't people looking to whine about other people whining.
The level of entitlement from some folks is outrageous.
Gavin Verhey HIMSELF admitted last years decks were underwhelming in terms of reprints, so if a Wizards employee ADMITS a mediocre product, why can’t you? You confuse “entitlement” with REASONABLE expectations to not receive yet another mediocre product. Gavin Verhey himself also acknowledged the players complaints were heard and indicated that would be remedied this year, and so far, we’ve not seen ANY evidence of this, although there’s still quite a bit to reveal.
You say people are entitled. I say, have higher standards and stop settling.
I think you're barking at the wrong guy. I agree with you 100%. These ancillary products should be used to lower the price of overpriced staples of the format. The guy I was responding to was the one crying about people's negative reactions.
Seriously, there are times I don't know what would happen if Magic players were given nothing to whine about. Magic is releasing ludicrous amount of products in a year. Don't like these? Wait a few months and see what the Brawl decks look like and if there's anything you want out of those. At this point, when there's a product I don't really want I'm almost grateful because it means it's one less thing I have to worry about where my Magic budget is concerned.
The level of entitlement from some folks is outrageous.
Seriously, I don't know what would happen if there weren't people looking to whine about other people whining.
The level of entitlement from some folks is outrageous.
Seedborn Muse is a format staple that makes virtually every deck containing green better by its inclusion. Not long ago it was a $30 card. That's a LOT of money for a card that isn't played in any sort of competitive environment. This new reprint is preselling for under $10 and it's only going to go down.
The new player needs as many of these reprints as they can get. They don't need, nor do they want, 15 cent cards like Pristine Skywise when they're dolling out $40.
Aura Shards
Grave Pact
Oblivion Stone
Austere Command
Insurrection
Lightning Greaves
Solemn Simulacrum
Skullclamp
Scavenging Ooze
Eternal Witness
Signets
The list literally keeps going on and on...
The level of entitlement from some folks is outrageous.