Because there's so many articles hyping Mana Confluence, I think it's important to point out that every spoiler season, the sites that sell cards pick one rare/mythic and overprice it, then have all of their writers talk about how it's going to be a format defining card. Examples: Abyssal Persecutor, Brimaz, Kalonian Hydra, Time Reversal, Lotus Cobra. All those cards ended up being meh. Now they are pushing Mana Confluence using the same old trick (having their premier writers all talk about it as a game changing card while the prices are still inflated and its actual value unproven).
I think what they're doing is wrong. Don't get suckered into it. (A few years ago I got suckered into buying Abyssal Persecutors for $16.)
A lot of older formats run City of Brass and this is a fixed version of that card. I say fixed because it can't be tapped to do damage to you by an opponent. In the end it should price out around the same as City, but will be a bit higher while in standard (which is completely normal).
The thing here is, City of Brass is a known entity. It's played in multiple formats already, including Legacy and Vintage. Any deck running City of Brass can effectively be strictly improved by substituting them out for Mana Confluence, because Mana Confluence does not hurt you when Rishadan Port taps it.
Additionally, those decks may consider running Confluence in ADDITION to City in order to insure a consistency of 5-colored mana options. This also presents a lot of promise for Modern, where a four or five colored deck could run Confluence, City, Gemstone Mine, and Reflecting Pool and have access to 16 5-color sources for near perfect mana at all times.
It's also good in standard, where it provides 2-color decks 4 additional lands that tap for both of their colors and enter untap, and the only option for tapping for all of a 3-color deck's colors.
The card is good. Proven good. The only reason City of Brass isn't more expensive than it is is because it has seen so many printings.
That said, you'll probably be able to find these for cheaper than the $20 that they're going for at the moment.
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The card is good. Proven good. The only reason City of Brass isn't more expensive than it is is because it has seen so many printings.
Personally, that makes me want to wait on this one. MC seems like the kind of card that will see a good deal of reprinting. With Standard mana being so poor right now, and in the next rotation, this card will be high priced for a while.
This is probably the best card in the set... not to say great things about it... the rest of the set is just that bad. That said, this is on par with City of Brass. It's safe from Rishidan Port but worse vs. Angel of Jubilation, which just keeps looking better and better for modern players.
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Some times it's not that a card is over-hyped as much as you are not evaluating the card correctly because you view cards in the narrow scope of a Standard-centric mindset (just like too many people like to claim that every set in history is "bad" because all the cards in it weren't designed for them). This is more than likely the case with the OP of this thread (even though it will see Standard play, no doubt). As others above have explained, the fact that it does not deal damage to you when tapped by other sources is huge, given that City of Brass is seeing play it's either additional mana fixing alongside City of Brass or a replacement.
I think what they're doing is wrong. Don't get suckered into it. (A few years ago I got suckered into buying Abyssal Persecutors for $16.)
Additionally, those decks may consider running Confluence in ADDITION to City in order to insure a consistency of 5-colored mana options. This also presents a lot of promise for Modern, where a four or five colored deck could run Confluence, City, Gemstone Mine, and Reflecting Pool and have access to 16 5-color sources for near perfect mana at all times.
It's also good in standard, where it provides 2-color decks 4 additional lands that tap for both of their colors and enter untap, and the only option for tapping for all of a 3-color deck's colors.
The card is good. Proven good. The only reason City of Brass isn't more expensive than it is is because it has seen so many printings.
That said, you'll probably be able to find these for cheaper than the $20 that they're going for at the moment.
Currently Playing:
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I think it's pretty lame. Forces you to drop down $80 to play a more viable aggro deck.
Personally, that makes me want to wait on this one. MC seems like the kind of card that will see a good deal of reprinting. With Standard mana being so poor right now, and in the next rotation, this card will be high priced for a while.
If you hate the deck, I'm probably playing it!
(Also known as Xenphire)