I doubt WOTC is seeing the entire field each week. That would mean SCG is typing up deck regs for all participants, regardless of drops or record. I just don't see them doing that just for another company to see the whole field. If WOTC is paying attention to these events at all (a big if, in my opinion), I'm fairly certain they're seeing the same data we are.
They're of course cognizant of Top8s, but GPs and Pro Tours are what typically lead to bans. Nothing in the results so far this season leads me to believe they'd ban anything. I can understand being frustrated playing against the Junk/Jund decks, but they aren't posting 70% win rates and taking half of the top 8s.
Affinity is definitely an Aggro deck, not a Combo deck. Yes, the deck uses synergies, but it has nothing in common what you would usually expect out of a Combo deck (Combo pieces that create a huge "unfair" advantage if assembled and protected and are [usually] pretty underwhelming otherwise). Affinity simply punches your face in, even if the methods are different from decks like Zoo, Merfolk or Goblins, but that doesn't change the fact that it's basically a pure Aggro deck.
I think you're not thinking about this hard enough. Affinity is an aggro deck in the sense that it attacks, but it's like a combo deck in that you need specific card interactions to assemble your damage. UR isn't a burn deck because it kills with Grapeshot. You chain rituals into 20 damage. Affinity is similar, in that you use a lot of artifacts that in many cases can't even deal damage on their own to assemble 20 damage, and you can split it over a few turns. It's not a pure aggro deck by any means.
I'm not sure why people think the rise of BG(x) is a bad thing. Yes, it's a good deck, but it's also exceedingly fair. It preys on some of the most unfair decks (Twin, mostly) while having decent matchups all around, with nothing being unwinnable (though Tron is bad). The format is exceedingly healthy right now.
Mostly because it's the only shell which was completely unmolested for a long time. The other shells whether they were uw or gw, or whatever else were severly cut.
Even bg has only really lost deathrite and it's still the most powerful of those goodstuff shells. The other shells aren't really unfair either, so why is bgn allowed to play with most of it's toys when no one else could?
The shell has changed pretty drastically from the days of Deathrite Shaman (and Bloodbraid Elf), let's be honest. This isn't the Jund deck anymore. It's even more fair, boring, and midrangy. It doesn't have toys, just above the curve, efficient things. It's not broken, fast, etc. It's just grindy.
Modern is so far from being a complete combo format, I don't know how you could think that's even close to true.
Part of the reason it's true is because there are two decks (BGx and UWR) that have pretty good combo matchups, and they help keep things "fair". Tron preys on those decks though, but is pretty bad against combo (and to be fair, I'm including Affinity as a combo deck). What "toy" would you even want to take away from what is literally a boring midrange goodstuff deck? It's so fair! Nothing it does is more than "oh yeah, well, that seems kind of decent I guess".
I'll admit, I played it cold at a PTQ over the weekend to an 8th place finish, but I had to grind the hell out of every match. I played 8 rounds, ever single one of them going to 3 games, winning 3 in extra turns, drawing once, and generally just giving myself a headache every match, but never once did I feel like anything I was doing was banworthy.
I'm not sure why people think the rise of BG(x) is a bad thing. Yes, it's a good deck, but it's also exceedingly fair. It preys on some of the most unfair decks (Twin, mostly) while having decent matchups all around, with nothing being unwinnable (though Tron is bad). The format is exceedingly healthy right now.
It's such a stupid mentality, because most players don't play limited anyway. Standard is much more popular than limited, and most people who play MTG don't even play Standard, they play unsanctioned casual modern. It frustrates me so much that Wizards spends so much time building all their major sets around a format the majority of it's player base doesn't even play, yet alone on a regular basis.
Um... false. Maybe in paper, but drafts online are insanely popular because they fire all the time.
Ironically, one of the 20 things that almost killed Magic according to MaRo was the Nalthani Dragon Dragon*Con Promo "debacle". Yet this SDCC Planeswalker pack promo is a very similar situation. Yes, ebay exists, so people *can* get them outside of San Diego, but the print run is so small and the subject matter so popular, it is effectively unobtainable by most people.
Did you miss the point of the article? It was that people completely overreacted and none of these things killed the game at all, or even damaged it in any way. SDCC will make the have nots mad, of course, but no one needs them. They are not mechanically unique (like the Dragon) and you can obtain them easily, just not in the ultra rare/ultra cool form.
I'm seeing something much more akin to Spirit of the Night or The Unspeakable -- some conditions have to be met in order for you to play them. I like the suggestion that they don't have mana costs and must be played from the sideboard though. It makes the "Feral Shadow/Breathstalker/Urborg Panther --> Spirit of the Night" so much more epic if you're summoning a being literally from another plane.
I managed to get my order for 65 dollars. Happiness
I finagled a $73 (shipped) SDCC Planeswalker pack:cool::cool2: So now to figure out a way to do the same with FTV:20... I've been able to get all the rest of them at $75 or less (except for exiled, which I got for $120 in trade) so I gotta figure out how to make this one happen. The cube demands it.
Holy crap, after reading all these posts about how people were refreshing the page, I feel REALLY lucky. I wasn't even planning on getting this, I was just browsing the MTGS forums on a whim after reading about it on reddit, saw this topic and went to the Hasbro website. Then I looked at the topic again, noticed that it was only 1 minute old, and frantically got out my wallet and bought it as fast as I could. Best impulse purchase ever!
So, it says on their website that they strictly enforce how many you can get of limited items. I ordered 2 -- through 2 separate orders -- before they sold out, does that mean they'll cancel my orders because I ordered more than one?
They might, which is why I didn't get greedy (I'm pretty sure I got the first or second copy, because I had placed an order within 15 seconds of it going live because I was checking the page for triggered content with a 5 second refresh window) and I didn't want to get booted. THe right thing to do is probably to have 2 accounts with different names and whatnot and try to get them that way, but I didn't have that kind of foresight. Anyway, got my 1! That's all I wanted.
So that was your situation 10+ years ago, and now you're ok with telling others to boycott a store with one fact about that store? Maybe they need the extra money this month. Maybe they want to increases profits on this product to increase prize payout across the board elsewhere. You know nothing about this situation and your are telling people to boycott a store. That's low.
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My favorite local store is selling them probably at $300 and eBaying anything they can't sell. They are using the funds to fund their ridiculous prize support for prereleases. I get that. I don't play in prereleases and spend more money there than most, but I get that. I wouldn't boycott them but it still pisses me off and makes me consider changing my behavior. It's not low, it's enlightened self interest. MY favorite store is not catering to ME. I believe it SHOULD and if it doesn't it may not be my favorite store anymore. That's totally fair. You don't get to decide how anyone spends their money.
They're of course cognizant of Top8s, but GPs and Pro Tours are what typically lead to bans. Nothing in the results so far this season leads me to believe they'd ban anything. I can understand being frustrated playing against the Junk/Jund decks, but they aren't posting 70% win rates and taking half of the top 8s.
I think you're not thinking about this hard enough. Affinity is an aggro deck in the sense that it attacks, but it's like a combo deck in that you need specific card interactions to assemble your damage. UR isn't a burn deck because it kills with Grapeshot. You chain rituals into 20 damage. Affinity is similar, in that you use a lot of artifacts that in many cases can't even deal damage on their own to assemble 20 damage, and you can split it over a few turns. It's not a pure aggro deck by any means.
The shell has changed pretty drastically from the days of Deathrite Shaman (and Bloodbraid Elf), let's be honest. This isn't the Jund deck anymore. It's even more fair, boring, and midrangy. It doesn't have toys, just above the curve, efficient things. It's not broken, fast, etc. It's just grindy.
Part of the reason it's true is because there are two decks (BGx and UWR) that have pretty good combo matchups, and they help keep things "fair". Tron preys on those decks though, but is pretty bad against combo (and to be fair, I'm including Affinity as a combo deck). What "toy" would you even want to take away from what is literally a boring midrange goodstuff deck? It's so fair! Nothing it does is more than "oh yeah, well, that seems kind of decent I guess".
I'll admit, I played it cold at a PTQ over the weekend to an 8th place finish, but I had to grind the hell out of every match. I played 8 rounds, ever single one of them going to 3 games, winning 3 in extra turns, drawing once, and generally just giving myself a headache every match, but never once did I feel like anything I was doing was banworthy.
Um... false. Maybe in paper, but drafts online are insanely popular because they fire all the time.
Nietzsche's Conceit
2WB
Sorcery
Each player sacrifices all God permanents he or she controls.
"God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers?"
Did you miss the point of the article? It was that people completely overreacted and none of these things killed the game at all, or even damaged it in any way. SDCC will make the have nots mad, of course, but no one needs them. They are not mechanically unique (like the Dragon) and you can obtain them easily, just not in the ultra rare/ultra cool form.
But I'm probably very wrong.
I finagled a $73 (shipped) SDCC Planeswalker pack:cool::cool2: So now to figure out a way to do the same with FTV:20... I've been able to get all the rest of them at $75 or less (except for exiled, which I got for $120 in trade) so I gotta figure out how to make this one happen. The cube demands it.
I got one immediately.
#HumbleBrags? #Lucky
They might, which is why I didn't get greedy (I'm pretty sure I got the first or second copy, because I had placed an order within 15 seconds of it going live because I was checking the page for triggered content with a 5 second refresh window) and I didn't want to get booted. THe right thing to do is probably to have 2 accounts with different names and whatnot and try to get them that way, but I didn't have that kind of foresight. Anyway, got my 1! That's all I wanted.
http://www.hasbrotoyshop.com/exclusives-magic-the-gathering-planeswalker-card-pack?CD=96&ST=SO&PG=1
My favorite local store is selling them probably at $300 and eBaying anything they can't sell. They are using the funds to fund their ridiculous prize support for prereleases. I get that. I don't play in prereleases and spend more money there than most, but I get that. I wouldn't boycott them but it still pisses me off and makes me consider changing my behavior. It's not low, it's enlightened self interest. MY favorite store is not catering to ME. I believe it SHOULD and if it doesn't it may not be my favorite store anymore. That's totally fair. You don't get to decide how anyone spends their money.