I noticed around my community not alot of buzz for DGM. I figured it maybe was just that there wasn't anything super hot around this time, and standard is well established enough people aren't looking into the new stuff hard yet. I didn't imagine it would change the pre-release weekend outlook much.
However, last night's midnight at my store had a 40% attendance drop from our last 5 midnight events (excluding m13). We've consistently hit 90+ and we barely pulled into the 50s last night. I spoke to a friend at a shop who usually gets even more then us, and he saw a similair drop off. I'm curious if its the area for us (NY/NJ) or just an oddity for us, or if its widespread.
So let me ask, how were your prereleases compared to GTC and RTR?
Gatecrash and RTR were huge prereleases at my LGS.
There are a number of factors which seem to be messing with the response to this prerelease.
1. Frankly the set seems...meh. There are a few interesting cards, but nothing really earth-shattering. Nothing that I am worried about getting a week early. The prerelease promo, quite frankly, sucks. I won't ever be using it in any of my decks, and I don't see that changing. I doubt that anybody will be using it. If I see a pro using it, I won't even eat my words. I won't even eat my words if it wins a tournament. It sucks. It sucks, it sucks, it sucks. I don't believe I can convey just how much I believe it sucks.
2. Next month, Modern Masters is coming out. That set looks to have more useable cards in one pack than there are likely to be in the entire guild packs from DGM. Just saying. Something hyped as much as Modern Masters is almost certainly going to screw with the hype of other sets, especially the third set in a cycle. I think Modern Masters could have knocked down interest in Avacyn Restored, and it was a definite CLIMAX to a story. DGM is kind of like a "Oh, right...what?" to the RTR block.
We really aren't sure WHY we have returned to Ravnica, other than the obvious "Market research said that a return to Ravnica would sell product." In Innistrad, we knew the story. It was set up by the comics. Major characters were chasing each other there (Garruk and Liliana). Sorin was from there. All kinds of Vorthos feeding storyline goodness.
Scars block, we knew why we were back in Mirrodin. The nasty Phyrexians were taking over. Epic battle, good guys, bad guys...again, storyline made sense.
Ravnica? Well, they had to do Jace, because, well, Jace has been there a bunch. Gideon? What the hell is he doing there? Ral? Yeah, people have been clambering for his card since the character was revealed in DotP.
I am not saying that there are not good cards in this block. I am just saying that the story is not anywhere close to the level of the past decade worth of sets. It literally felt like Time Spiral II rather than Return to Ravnica.
All of that comes together to be a reason to not dig quite so deep into your pockets if you don't have to.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Currently playing:
Standard: WBRG Aggro-Reanimator Humans GRBW
Modern: UR Twinning RU G Venus Fly Trap G U Artifacts Aggro U
I've noticed this as well, last two pre-releases at my LGS you had to register a week in advance to get in on the pre-release that you wanted. Now none of them are full.
It might have to do with the date as well? I know that I for one am not going because it's flat in the middle of my final exams.
It's not just Dragon's Maze, this tends to happen with a lot of third sets, people just tend to not want to play in pre-releases for them and also end up buying less product over, that's why sets like Eventide, Rise of Eldrazi and a couple others have shot up in price lately because of the lack of product opened as they were third sets. The same thing happened last year with Avacyn Restored, people were literally like "whatever" and that's why you have Blood Artists setting at a couple bucks a pop now. It's unfortunate, but that's the life of the cycle.
It might have to do with the date as well? I know that I for one am not going because it's flat in the middle of my final exams.
Same here. I think the set looks fantastic and I'll probably go to the release, but the prerelease is completely out of the question when I need to study.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
The wedding is over. Now it's time for the honeymoon.
JtWS summed it up pretty well. For me, the set is just "meh." There's very little that I care about and I have a feeling that a lot of people just feel the same way.
This is definitely a set for where you only want to buy singles. Unless you enjoy cracking packs of cards there is no reason to open them except for limited.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Current Legacy Decks
0USpiral Tide0U
UWU/W 'Miracle Top' Control UW
012 Post 0
Random Opponent: Playing against 12 Post Feels like trying to win in Yugioh with no super secret rares.
yea my LGS say an approx 30% drop when compared to GTC prerelease.
i did however enjoy the prerelease even tho i didnt get much value in my PR pack, but managed to build an awesome deck and walk out with half a box in prize support.
I had fun, and I actually thought my LGS pulled in more people for DGM than RTR or GTC. I also recognized a lot of people who had come out to the prerelease for those two sets and wanted to come to the third, people who normally don't play anything other than casual magic.
The hype for Dragon's Maze wasn't so big in my region either. It was nothing like Return to Ravnica, when we had people pre-registering two weeks in advance and the store was already out of product by a week before the first day. We actually had leftover product
When I checked in at the counter to pay for my Dragon's Maze prerelease today, I saw only 49 out of 66 slots filled on the sheet. I also only saw three of the store regulars today. However, I heard that tomorrow's prerelease is filled (66 people) and that any other signups would go onto the waitlist.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Focused on limited for now. Occasionally play some standard/modern as well.
I find it amusing that they said they wouldn't do any more mythic prerelease cards... then made Maze's End a prerelease card. Granted, Maze's End is a bad Thawing Glaciers rather than anything good, but hey.
Anyway, RTR block design's just kinda gone downhill over the course of the block. RTR itself was great. I enjoyed playing Limited with it, and I actually kind of like Standard with it. GTC was mediocre, and it seemed a bit too Limited-focused, but it was fun for a while. DGM... the prerelease just wasn't very fun for me, even though I had a good, synergistic deck that had a wide variety of strong plays. It should've been fun, but something about the set just made it feel tiresome. Maybe it was the fact that we were retreading RTR and GTC with the guild packs, instead of having 6x DGM in some capacity. Maybe it was the fact that the set feels kind of forced. Either way, it was a letdown.
I disagree with the assessment that it feels like Time Spiral 2, though. Time Spiral, for better or worse, had a really interesting design, and it made use of a wide variety of mechanics in new and inventive ways. RTR block is just bland by comparison.
I find it amusing that they said they wouldn't do any more mythic prerelease cards... then made Maze's End a prerelease card. Granted, Maze's End is a bad Thawing Glaciers rather than anything good, but hey.
I've begun to take any claim by WotC that they "won't ever" do something with a major helping of salt. The only promise they consistently hold themselves to is the RL.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I'm officially proposing we retire the word "insane" from the MtG vocabulary.
"The best way to be different is to be better" - Gene Muir
However, last night's midnight at my store had a 40% attendance drop from our last 5 midnight events (excluding m13). We've consistently hit 90+ and we barely pulled into the 50s last night. I spoke to a friend at a shop who usually gets even more then us, and he saw a similair drop off. I'm curious if its the area for us (NY/NJ) or just an oddity for us, or if its widespread.
So let me ask, how were your prereleases compared to GTC and RTR?
Store Employee and Psuedo TO
There are a number of factors which seem to be messing with the response to this prerelease.
1. Frankly the set seems...meh. There are a few interesting cards, but nothing really earth-shattering. Nothing that I am worried about getting a week early. The prerelease promo, quite frankly, sucks. I won't ever be using it in any of my decks, and I don't see that changing. I doubt that anybody will be using it. If I see a pro using it, I won't even eat my words. I won't even eat my words if it wins a tournament. It sucks. It sucks, it sucks, it sucks. I don't believe I can convey just how much I believe it sucks.
2. Next month, Modern Masters is coming out. That set looks to have more useable cards in one pack than there are likely to be in the entire guild packs from DGM. Just saying. Something hyped as much as Modern Masters is almost certainly going to screw with the hype of other sets, especially the third set in a cycle. I think Modern Masters could have knocked down interest in Avacyn Restored, and it was a definite CLIMAX to a story. DGM is kind of like a "Oh, right...what?" to the RTR block.
We really aren't sure WHY we have returned to Ravnica, other than the obvious "Market research said that a return to Ravnica would sell product." In Innistrad, we knew the story. It was set up by the comics. Major characters were chasing each other there (Garruk and Liliana). Sorin was from there. All kinds of Vorthos feeding storyline goodness.
Scars block, we knew why we were back in Mirrodin. The nasty Phyrexians were taking over. Epic battle, good guys, bad guys...again, storyline made sense.
Ravnica? Well, they had to do Jace, because, well, Jace has been there a bunch. Gideon? What the hell is he doing there? Ral? Yeah, people have been clambering for his card since the character was revealed in DotP.
I am not saying that there are not good cards in this block. I am just saying that the story is not anywhere close to the level of the past decade worth of sets. It literally felt like Time Spiral II rather than Return to Ravnica.
All of that comes together to be a reason to not dig quite so deep into your pockets if you don't have to.
Standard:
WBRG Aggro-Reanimator Humans GRBW
Modern:
UR Twinning RU
G Venus Fly Trap G
U Artifacts Aggro U
Legacy:
B Reanimator B
WU Stoneblade UW
EDH
WBGGhave, Guru of SporesGBW
URGRiku of the Two ReflectionsGRU
WUBRGScion of the Ur-DragonGRBUW
Casual
Far too many to list
It might have to do with the date as well? I know that I for one am not going because it's flat in the middle of my final exams.
none
Modern
UBG B/U/G control
BBB MBC
WUR Control
WWW Prison
RRR Goblins
Legacy
BBB Pox
UBG B/U/G Control
UWU StoneBlade
UW Miracle Control
Same here. I think the set looks fantastic and I'll probably go to the release, but the prerelease is completely out of the question when I need to study.
Thanks to Rivenor of Miraculous Recovery Signatures!
Disappointing finish to a decent block.
i did however enjoy the prerelease even tho i didnt get much value in my PR pack, but managed to build an awesome deck and walk out with half a box in prize support.
GTC top 8 split almost had a full box per person.
UB Sacrifice
RWU Miracle Control
Modern
UB Tezzerator
Clint Cearley ♥
Anyway, RTR block design's just kinda gone downhill over the course of the block. RTR itself was great. I enjoyed playing Limited with it, and I actually kind of like Standard with it. GTC was mediocre, and it seemed a bit too Limited-focused, but it was fun for a while. DGM... the prerelease just wasn't very fun for me, even though I had a good, synergistic deck that had a wide variety of strong plays. It should've been fun, but something about the set just made it feel tiresome. Maybe it was the fact that we were retreading RTR and GTC with the guild packs, instead of having 6x DGM in some capacity. Maybe it was the fact that the set feels kind of forced. Either way, it was a letdown.
I disagree with the assessment that it feels like Time Spiral 2, though. Time Spiral, for better or worse, had a really interesting design, and it made use of a wide variety of mechanics in new and inventive ways. RTR block is just bland by comparison.
I've begun to take any claim by WotC that they "won't ever" do something with a major helping of salt. The only promise they consistently hold themselves to is the RL.
I'm officially proposing we retire the word "insane" from the MtG vocabulary.
"The best way to be different is to be better" - Gene Muir
Cubes:
Modern Banlist Cube
Monocolor Budget Cube