They didn't add a new rarity, they didn't ruin the game, and they didn't lose sales the hell do you want? This does prove that they could put 100$ in the packs and little idiots would complain about how the bills were folded - if they reprinted them with new borders people would complain about the value being too low.
Jesus Christ grow up people and learn to enjoy free stuff.
It's lose-lose for a company like WotC. Don't put in free stuff, people complain about not getting enough for their money. Put in free stuff, people complain about how THEY didn't get any of the free stuff, so it's all a bunch of bull****. Put in a limited amount of free stuff, and folks complain about how there wasn't ENOUGH free stuff.
Seriously.
I worked in a comic/gaming store for 13 years. When they started doing Free Comic Book day, most of the customers were grateful, and really cool about it. We put out the freebies, and put out a BUNCH of other free stuff, way beyond those from the industry for said day. So, what happened? A handful of folks b****ed and moaned about how we didn't give out enough free stuff. These are folks with 10+ lbs of free product stuffed in bags, asking if there was anything else. These are folks trying to push past little kids who just want one Sonic or Spider-Man comic, who are trying to take one or two of EVERY single title available, far beyond what they need, most titles they will never, ever read, plus one of every poster, plus one of every shirt or toy, one of ever pack of each CCG/CMG, as many packs of comics (we packaged bundles of comics, like 20 or so in a golden age bag, to give away) and much more. No matter how much they grabbed, they were never satisfied. Ridiculous.
So, yes, I totally agree with the assertion that if WotC packaged $100 bills into boosters at random, some people would indeed complain that the bill wasn't folded correctly, that it should have been a $1,000 bill, or how ticked off they are that THEY didn't pull one of those $100 bills so WotC sucks!
This is a really cool, and likely entirely unique promo for a set. I applaud WotC for these nifty treasures, and likewise applaud them for keeping this totally hush-hush until the day before the prerelease. Awesome stuff, Wizards! Kudos.
I think you're over analysing it, but I do agree that something is amiss. If I open a LoA in a pack I'm gonna react more than "oh... *put down*" "what's that?" "It's an LoA" "well open the next pack" like.. wtf? I would be like "holy ****ing **** I'm rich! best $4 I ever spent! eat it boys! You opened marsh flats? I OPENED LOA! EAT IT!!!" but some people are just subdued I guess.
I don't think I am. The entire way he opens the second pack is completely and utterly different from how he opens and looks through the other packs. Why would he just TEAR the wrapper right off the other two and toss it aside, but very carefully open the second booster by the top, then cautiously remove the cards from the pack and hold them up to the camera?
His behavior is simply, and likely subconsciously, quite different with regards to the second booster.
Again, I say it is possible they actually DID pull this Library from a Zen pack. However, the behaviorisms are certainly suspicious enough that it is also HIGHLY likely they repackaged it, grabbed a camera, and filmed "opening" the pack after the fact. However, the very act of doing so undermines the credibility of the entire video, and thus puts into question whether this Library was pulled from a Zen pack at all.
Go look at the video again, and consider the different manner in which the middle pack is handled, when the supposedly have no idea what is in it.
And, of course, yes, the incredibly understated reaction, if this were actually pulled for the first time right on camera, as you point out, is likewise rather amiss.
That would actually make me believe this "rumor" less. Anytime southerners are opening packs of card on a youtube video, it pretty much ruins the credibility of whatever is going on in that video.
I can slide a card in the bottom, open from the top, and then act surprised too. Also, you should clarify that some language is not safe for work.
Sadly, I agree that this video likely doesn't prove jack, and is highly likely to be a fake. Why?
Well, the mannerisms of the person opening the pack. The first and last boosters were ripped open, and the cards churned through rather swiftly to get to the rare/land. With the one "vintage" pack, however, he made a much more significant deal about opening the pack in a very specific, careful manner quite unlike how he opened the other two. He also made a big deal of holding the cards up sideways to the camera, so everyone could see they were level as though fresh from a pack, which he didn't take the time to do with the other two boosters. Finally, he also paused for dramatic effect right before looking behind Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet.
So, yeah, with this particular video, I'm calling fake.
Even if (big if) this Library of Alexandria actually WAS pulled from a Zendikar booster, these fellows resealed the pack and tried to play it off as though they were freshly pulling it on camera for the first time.
Only viable in mono-white. Even then, it comes online very late indeed. Thus, of all the lands, this one seems to be the least viable. I'd much, much rather ping for 1, or gain 1-2 life, pump a guy, fetch for a land, or play mono-red in this format.
An idea that's commonly found on these forums is that Wizards has no connection with the secondary market.
However, the "Priceless Treasures" gimmick seems to refute that idea. One of two things must be happening-
1) Wizards has been buying up cards from the reserve list in large amounts (relative to their print run) for use in this promotion, thus artificially inflating the secondary market value of those cards, or
2) Wizards has been straight up reprinting cards from the reserve list. The consensus seems to be that this is not the case, but this would obviously also have a negative effect on the card values in question.
Is there a third alternative that I'm not seeing?
Yes? WotC has warehouses full of cards, and it is well known that internal players have access to these cards (i.e., the Beta Iron Man league WotC had going internally for awhile, which included full power 9 sets, etc, with at least three moxen being torn up thanks to a Shatterstorm :D). It is also very well documented that WotC has uncut sheets of cards from every set, in sizable quantity, and said sheets are strictly part of the print run. In other words, they are part of the pool of cards that are on the reserve list, and thus releasing them is not in violation of said list.
Thus, it is entirely possible that WotC simply accessed their sizable hoard of cards, and/or cut up a number of uncut sheets already in-house, and put them into the card collators in the same manner they do foils.
There have also been (unverified) claims that some private individuals donated rather sizable collections of old cards to WotC in the relatively recent past.
Ergo, there is absolutely no reason WotC actually needed to buy a single card from anyone, nor did they need to print up new copies of older cards, to have the card pool to include these "priceless treasures".
For people to expect the prices to go down is funny in way. It's simple logic and understanding of economics. Supply has not changed only shifted where it was. People may or may not care about vintage even after cracking some staples. But last I checked I play this game for fun and If I crack a foil fetch than I'm happy. How is that any different if I crack a Sinkhole?
Quite the contrary, in my opinion. It is likely that this increase in supply will generate more interest in older cards, and older formats such as Vintage and Legacy, as well as drawing players into formats such as EDH and 250 who previously were avoiding said formats due to lack of availability of the cards. Thus, it is entirely within the realm of possibility that this increase in supply causes an even GREATER increase in demand, which in turn will drive prices up, not down, on the older cards in question.
The power of Harrow has actually been known since the Rath Cycle, in Tempest. Even back then, this card was a total house. Sure, Invasion kicked it up somewhat, with the additional multicolor prevalence. Nevertheless, we abused the CRAP out of this card way back in 1997.
Plated Geopede: I have a feeling this card is going to put the hurt on a lot of players. A...lot...of...hurt.
Expedition Map: It gets any land. At instant speed. Any land. This card requires a single meta-changing land, and it's pure gold. Maybe not with just M10/SA/CF/AR/ZE. But who knows later on.
Vampire Hexmage: 2-drop, 2/1, first strike, planeswalker killer, quest killer? K. Thanks. Awesome.
Yeah, I would love to see a tweaked version of Szadek, Lord of Secrets' ability as a keyword. It would be really interesting, although I don't know if only doing it's power in milling would be enough to justify it.
Oh, I know. I was just throwing numbers out there to get the general idea across, and X seemed ok simply because the power was already higher, plus it can then be pumped with creature pump. Might of Oaks this guy, and suddenly you are milling 10 instead of 3, for example.
It also makes power penalties more meaningful with regards to this mechanic, preserving it's role as well. Thus, a card like Agony Warp could knock this fellow's mill "attack" to 0.
Heck, to avoid the whole "risk without the same reward" scenario mill seems to suffer from in general, have these creatures exile the cards instead of placing them in the graveyard. Voila!
I would absolutely love to see a block where blue critters in general are beefier, but deal no combat damage in exchange for damaging the deck itself.
But how do you generally deal damage? By creatures. Creatures affect board position.
They could certainly play into this in the future, however. I would LOVE to see some sort of old school poison-counter-esque variant for mill that still affects board position.
Think of creatures like this:
Reaver of the Mind 1UU
Creature - Elemental
Flying. Thoughtkiller - If Reaver of the Mind attacks a player and is not blocked, prevent all combat damage it would deal this turn, and place the top X cards of that player's library in their graveyard, where X is Reaver of the Mind's power.
3/2
Obviously, the card would be tweaked, but you get the general idea. Now, you can have a whole slew of critters that are defensively rock-solid, require the opponent to think more carefully about a simple trade with regards to blocking, yet do not contribute to actual damage to the opponent's life total. They preserve the traditional role of creatures, save that of dealing actual damage to the opponent's life total.
This is design space that has a robust amount of exploration yet to come.
I think it has been stated several times that Prosper is not going to follow the same theme as Zendikar and Worldwake. The most recent time was in Rosewater's column from yesterday.
Well, I haven't read that column yet.
Just because "Prosper" isn't a land-oriented set, does not instantly rule out allied fetch lands. From a storyline perspective, it even makes some sense. The lands were misaligned before, and whatever happens makes them realign into something more stable and normal (for a Magic plane).
Well, I do agree with you, but Zen would be a corner case too, being a cycle with only enemy duals... (well, that and painlands)
Unless, of course, they are saving the allied fetch lands for the third set, codename "Prosper", which is supposed to be a large set once again. That would, in my opinion, make much more sense than splitting up the enemy fetchlands into three sets.
Is that what we want our Mythic Rare Planeswalkers to be?
Yes! That is PRECISELY where a Mythic Rare should be.
Mythics are designed to be played in a narrower range of decks than traditional rares. Casual decks most assuredly fit this. Nissa blows the ever-loving crap out of most other Mythic Rares that have been printed. There are a lot of very narrow, casual-oriented Mythic Rares in print. A whole helluva lot.
Nissa, however, might very well end up being a total house. Not for the 2/3 elf creature generation, mind you. Nissa, IMHO, is all about the second ability. +1 loyalty for ~4 life each turn is really, really powerful. That kind of consistent, mana-less life gain wins games. If you never, ever play her ultimate, so what?
Now, we certainly need more info. What are the elves going to look like in the set. Many of the tourney-quality critters that will survive the Lorwyn/Shadowmoor block rotation have 2-power. Thus, a key Chosen out every turn will, in fact, stop those critters dead. They also stop the 1-drop 2/2s we've seen in the Zen previews. So, hard-casting a Chosen on turn 2? Not so bad a play in the format that appears to be forming.
Finally, what's with the seeming need to play 4 copies of Nissa's Chosen? Nonsense, I say. 2 copies is more than sufficient for many builds. 4 copies might very well be better if the meta dictates such. However, 4 copies is most assuredly NOT a prereq of playing with Nissa by any stretch of the imagination.
um try again, if you can control their next turn, you can badly f-them up.
Kill their own creatures, play random spells with no purpose. I cannot think of a deck that would like that at all.
Not only that, but it's a turn you can essentially guarantee that Sorin himself will stay safe. All of the opponent's lands will be tapped. Creatures will attack into lethal blocks, tap for abilities unfavorably, et al. Cards in hand will be cast in the worst manner possible, or not at all. Nothing will be attacking or targeting Sorin, and on the following turn he can start it up again. He can do so knowing precisely what you have, to boot.
I like Sorin. He seems like a pretty brutal planeswalker. I'm sure his second ability will round him out well. His + and ultimate abilities are already quite good, and very flavorful.
Now, I'm REALLY curious what a 6-cc Chandra's abilities will look like. +1 or +2 for Incinierate? -X for X damage to all opposing creatures? We'll see soon enough!
Although, you have to remember--Wizards seems almost pathologically terrified of mentioning Ulgrotha. In conversations with Brady he's expressed the opinion that anything dealing with Ulgrotha would fail automatically because of how much people disliked the Homelands expansion. Whether that's true or not, that seems to be their standpoint.
Does that include hating Ulgrotha so much that they'd likewise hate a storyline where the (only?) beloved character from the Homelands set destroys said plane? Seems to me that all-but destroying Ulgrotha is the only way to bring that plane back into continuity, and allows them to bring back the hands-down most popular character from that set.
It's lose-lose for a company like WotC. Don't put in free stuff, people complain about not getting enough for their money. Put in free stuff, people complain about how THEY didn't get any of the free stuff, so it's all a bunch of bull****. Put in a limited amount of free stuff, and folks complain about how there wasn't ENOUGH free stuff.
Seriously.
I worked in a comic/gaming store for 13 years. When they started doing Free Comic Book day, most of the customers were grateful, and really cool about it. We put out the freebies, and put out a BUNCH of other free stuff, way beyond those from the industry for said day. So, what happened? A handful of folks b****ed and moaned about how we didn't give out enough free stuff. These are folks with 10+ lbs of free product stuffed in bags, asking if there was anything else. These are folks trying to push past little kids who just want one Sonic or Spider-Man comic, who are trying to take one or two of EVERY single title available, far beyond what they need, most titles they will never, ever read, plus one of every poster, plus one of every shirt or toy, one of ever pack of each CCG/CMG, as many packs of comics (we packaged bundles of comics, like 20 or so in a golden age bag, to give away) and much more. No matter how much they grabbed, they were never satisfied. Ridiculous.
So, yes, I totally agree with the assertion that if WotC packaged $100 bills into boosters at random, some people would indeed complain that the bill wasn't folded correctly, that it should have been a $1,000 bill, or how ticked off they are that THEY didn't pull one of those $100 bills so WotC sucks!
This is a really cool, and likely entirely unique promo for a set. I applaud WotC for these nifty treasures, and likewise applaud them for keeping this totally hush-hush until the day before the prerelease. Awesome stuff, Wizards! Kudos.
I don't think I am. The entire way he opens the second pack is completely and utterly different from how he opens and looks through the other packs. Why would he just TEAR the wrapper right off the other two and toss it aside, but very carefully open the second booster by the top, then cautiously remove the cards from the pack and hold them up to the camera?
His behavior is simply, and likely subconsciously, quite different with regards to the second booster.
Again, I say it is possible they actually DID pull this Library from a Zen pack. However, the behaviorisms are certainly suspicious enough that it is also HIGHLY likely they repackaged it, grabbed a camera, and filmed "opening" the pack after the fact. However, the very act of doing so undermines the credibility of the entire video, and thus puts into question whether this Library was pulled from a Zen pack at all.
Go look at the video again, and consider the different manner in which the middle pack is handled, when the supposedly have no idea what is in it.
And, of course, yes, the incredibly understated reaction, if this were actually pulled for the first time right on camera, as you point out, is likewise rather amiss.
Sadly, I agree that this video likely doesn't prove jack, and is highly likely to be a fake. Why?
Well, the mannerisms of the person opening the pack. The first and last boosters were ripped open, and the cards churned through rather swiftly to get to the rare/land. With the one "vintage" pack, however, he made a much more significant deal about opening the pack in a very specific, careful manner quite unlike how he opened the other two. He also made a big deal of holding the cards up sideways to the camera, so everyone could see they were level as though fresh from a pack, which he didn't take the time to do with the other two boosters. Finally, he also paused for dramatic effect right before looking behind Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet.
So, yeah, with this particular video, I'm calling fake.
Even if (big if) this Library of Alexandria actually WAS pulled from a Zendikar booster, these fellows resealed the pack and tried to play it off as though they were freshly pulling it on camera for the first time.
Quest for the Holy Relic
Much too slow, and not quite enough targets to dig for.
BLUE
Archmage Ascension
Pretty much worthless in limited. You won't get enough extra draw to put quest counters on it to begin with, and if you do it is far, far too slow.
BLACK
Mindless Null
Why, oh why does this piece of crap exist at all?!?
RED
Pyromancer Ascension
There aren't enough duplicates, especially not of burn or other key instant and sorcery-based tricks, to turn this on in any remotely viable manner.
GREEN
Tajuru Archer
Green actually has an overall GREAT limited card pool this time around. That this is the worst of the lot is quite telling, IMHO.
ARTIFACT
Stonework Puma
A generic 2/2 for 3, with its only ability being the Ally keyword? Nah. I'd rather have any other artifact on the list.
LAND
Emeria, The Sky Ruin
Only viable in mono-white. Even then, it comes online very late indeed. Thus, of all the lands, this one seems to be the least viable. I'd much, much rather ping for 1, or gain 1-2 life, pump a guy, fetch for a land, or play mono-red in this format.
Yes? WotC has warehouses full of cards, and it is well known that internal players have access to these cards (i.e., the Beta Iron Man league WotC had going internally for awhile, which included full power 9 sets, etc, with at least three moxen being torn up thanks to a Shatterstorm :D). It is also very well documented that WotC has uncut sheets of cards from every set, in sizable quantity, and said sheets are strictly part of the print run. In other words, they are part of the pool of cards that are on the reserve list, and thus releasing them is not in violation of said list.
Thus, it is entirely possible that WotC simply accessed their sizable hoard of cards, and/or cut up a number of uncut sheets already in-house, and put them into the card collators in the same manner they do foils.
There have also been (unverified) claims that some private individuals donated rather sizable collections of old cards to WotC in the relatively recent past.
Ergo, there is absolutely no reason WotC actually needed to buy a single card from anyone, nor did they need to print up new copies of older cards, to have the card pool to include these "priceless treasures".
Quite the contrary, in my opinion. It is likely that this increase in supply will generate more interest in older cards, and older formats such as Vintage and Legacy, as well as drawing players into formats such as EDH and 250 who previously were avoiding said formats due to lack of availability of the cards. Thus, it is entirely within the realm of possibility that this increase in supply causes an even GREATER increase in demand, which in turn will drive prices up, not down, on the older cards in question.
Trapmaker's Snare: Getting the right trap, at the right time, at instant speed, for 1U seems really good to me.
Malakir Bloodwitch: Being immune to Baneslayer Angel, Path to Exile, and Harm's Way tricks, among other things, plus a minor to major life drain tacked on, again, seems really good.
Plated Geopede: I have a feeling this card is going to put the hurt on a lot of players. A...lot...of...hurt.
Expedition Map: It gets any land. At instant speed. Any land. This card requires a single meta-changing land, and it's pure gold. Maybe not with just M10/SA/CF/AR/ZE. But who knows later on.
Vampire Hexmage: 2-drop, 2/1, first strike, planeswalker killer, quest killer? K. Thanks. Awesome.
Oh, I know. I was just throwing numbers out there to get the general idea across, and X seemed ok simply because the power was already higher, plus it can then be pumped with creature pump. Might of Oaks this guy, and suddenly you are milling 10 instead of 3, for example.
It also makes power penalties more meaningful with regards to this mechanic, preserving it's role as well. Thus, a card like Agony Warp could knock this fellow's mill "attack" to 0.
Heck, to avoid the whole "risk without the same reward" scenario mill seems to suffer from in general, have these creatures exile the cards instead of placing them in the graveyard. Voila!
I would absolutely love to see a block where blue critters in general are beefier, but deal no combat damage in exchange for damaging the deck itself.
They could certainly play into this in the future, however. I would LOVE to see some sort of old school poison-counter-esque variant for mill that still affects board position.
Think of creatures like this:
Reaver of the Mind
1UU
Creature - Elemental
Flying.
Thoughtkiller - If Reaver of the Mind attacks a player and is not blocked, prevent all combat damage it would deal this turn, and place the top X cards of that player's library in their graveyard, where X is Reaver of the Mind's power.
3/2
Obviously, the card would be tweaked, but you get the general idea. Now, you can have a whole slew of critters that are defensively rock-solid, require the opponent to think more carefully about a simple trade with regards to blocking, yet do not contribute to actual damage to the opponent's life total. They preserve the traditional role of creatures, save that of dealing actual damage to the opponent's life total.
This is design space that has a robust amount of exploration yet to come.
Well, I haven't read that column yet.
Just because "Prosper" isn't a land-oriented set, does not instantly rule out allied fetch lands. From a storyline perspective, it even makes some sense. The lands were misaligned before, and whatever happens makes them realign into something more stable and normal (for a Magic plane).
Good lord! You don't have to jump down peoples' throats for speculating in a forum based on rumors and speculations!
I did not realize the "land is important" aspect of Zendikar was not going to be a common theme to the entire block.
Unless, of course, they are saving the allied fetch lands for the third set, codename "Prosper", which is supposed to be a large set once again. That would, in my opinion, make much more sense than splitting up the enemy fetchlands into three sets.
Zendikar (large set): Enemy fetch lands.
Worldwake (small set): No fetch lands.
"Prosper" (large set): Allied fetch lands.
Of course, there may be no fetchlands at all beyond these 5 enemy colored ones.
However, I do not see it being nearly as likely that the enemy fetch lands will be spread out over three sets.
Yes! That is PRECISELY where a Mythic Rare should be.
Mythics are designed to be played in a narrower range of decks than traditional rares. Casual decks most assuredly fit this. Nissa blows the ever-loving crap out of most other Mythic Rares that have been printed. There are a lot of very narrow, casual-oriented Mythic Rares in print. A whole helluva lot.
Nissa, however, might very well end up being a total house. Not for the 2/3 elf creature generation, mind you. Nissa, IMHO, is all about the second ability. +1 loyalty for ~4 life each turn is really, really powerful. That kind of consistent, mana-less life gain wins games. If you never, ever play her ultimate, so what?
Now, we certainly need more info. What are the elves going to look like in the set. Many of the tourney-quality critters that will survive the Lorwyn/Shadowmoor block rotation have 2-power. Thus, a key Chosen out every turn will, in fact, stop those critters dead. They also stop the 1-drop 2/2s we've seen in the Zen previews. So, hard-casting a Chosen on turn 2? Not so bad a play in the format that appears to be forming.
Finally, what's with the seeming need to play 4 copies of Nissa's Chosen? Nonsense, I say. 2 copies is more than sufficient for many builds. 4 copies might very well be better if the meta dictates such. However, 4 copies is most assuredly NOT a prereq of playing with Nissa by any stretch of the imagination.
Not only that, but it's a turn you can essentially guarantee that Sorin himself will stay safe. All of the opponent's lands will be tapped. Creatures will attack into lethal blocks, tap for abilities unfavorably, et al. Cards in hand will be cast in the worst manner possible, or not at all. Nothing will be attacking or targeting Sorin, and on the following turn he can start it up again. He can do so knowing precisely what you have, to boot.
I like Sorin. He seems like a pretty brutal planeswalker. I'm sure his second ability will round him out well. His + and ultimate abilities are already quite good, and very flavorful.
Now, I'm REALLY curious what a 6-cc Chandra's abilities will look like. +1 or +2 for Incinierate? -X for X damage to all opposing creatures? We'll see soon enough!
Does that include hating Ulgrotha so much that they'd likewise hate a storyline where the (only?) beloved character from the Homelands set destroys said plane?