So does that mean they'll be purchasable before spoiler season is over with?
Offering early ownership is a way to extract money from the playerbase without said playerbase complaining about them being a business, right?
I feel like this is not only an important point for wizards cash grabbing, but also for anyone that enjoys spoiler season. We could realistically have spoiler seasons that are a week shorter than usual, which is a significant amount of time when you consider 2 or 3 week spoiler seasons.
Section 6.3 (Standard Format): This section has been updated to account for the new Buy-a-Box promos that are part of an expansion, but do not appear in that expansion's boosters.
This seems to indicate that there will be more on the horizon, and indeed with the design & printing lead time for cards, I would expect to see another unique buy-a-box promo for C19, if not the fall set as well.
Another odd one on the rarity. Then again, with one legendary slot in each pack, the different rarities of legends are less different than normal cards: you have three chances in a pack to open Sage of Lat-Nam, and only one chance to open Grunn, the Lonely King, even though they're both technically uncommon.
Still, it's wierd that a huge, splashy Timmy card like Grunn is uncommon, and this (worse) Dualcaster Mage with tribal upside is mythic.
There's nothing wrong with the card: it's a 3/3 flash lord for 4, which is not a bad floor. Copying a spell us just upside at that point. Not a great card, but a fine one.
Not quite true. I don't have the time to find the source now, but on Blogatog MaRo verified that the "one legendary per pack" is not a "single slot in which you'll definitely find a legendary." This means that, while you're guaranteed to get a legendary, the rarity of legendaries doesn't significantly differ from regular cards.
So... card aside... what's with Wizards only spoiling one card per day? I feel like we are being punished for the big leak.
They have to pace themselves on spoilers since they were practically forced to start spoiler season like 2-3 weeks early. IMO it's better than dumping a ton of cards a month before release, and it's leagues better than not acknowledging it at all. I also feel like it gives more time to appreciate the cards that we do receive each day.
Very hard not to look at this as a cash grab move.
Exectuive 1: "Folks, standard is failing and our profits are down. We can't just keep churning masters set to make people buy premium products, they're starting to notice our scheme".
Executive 2: "Standard has been bad for years, but you know what people like? Commander"
Executive 3: "Why don't we make Commander with only standard legal cards, so people are forced to buy into our new product even though it is bad?"
*Cheers in the room*
*End scene*
Ashiok, youre spot on !
Every piece fits together & i cant bear their faked enthusiasm bout an idea, that certainly is not recent ! They come now forth with it, cuz the situation forces them.
So I'll concede to you that a large driving factor of this was very probably sales. I would like to note, however, that as an avid commander player, I've had more than a few people tell me they would never consider getting into commander because of the high price tags, competitive environments, deck storage space, etc. Basically, this format really does solve a bunch of barriers to entry that the format has/had. Even if this format only really attracts players that are already committed to standard just to play between rounds, I think format diversity is really important for the most people to have the most fun. I'm pretty on board with this format, despite its likely-greedy origins.
I actually love the art and frame. They could have gone with some better card picks though. Cryptic Command with a Jace art would have been incredible but even so looks like a cool product. I do have a problem with the RANDOM foil. This is a nightmare for collectors. Jace should have been the foil card in this and not let randomness slip into this product. Keep it for booster releases
I actually really like this new scheme. It allows cards that or versions of cards to be foil that otherwise wouldn't get the chance. Imagine implementing this in a commander precon product, or in the challenger decks or something to increase the wow-factor. It would kind of feel like a free lottery ticket coming in your precon, sure you could get a foil common that's been reprinted a billion times, but it could be the chase card from the deck. I think I like it for the same reason in this product, it allows other cards to be printed in foil, giving players the option to pimp if they want to.
Huh, interesting. Nothing that's super hard to come by, but a very interesting avenue for targeted reprints. I wonder how much of a print run it will have, and what the MSRP will be.
Some of the foils may become pretty sought-after, with the new art and frames.
Great PR Job for the leak, arguably the most professional one I've seen so far. It wasn't too long ago their PR was a complete disaster when it came to leaks (a.k.a. the Kozilek incident) and while I will probably never forget how unprofessional the response to the incident was (long story cut short it almost felt like they were insulting the playerbase/consumers in the midst of a tantrum of their hard work being washed away), its memory is also a reference point to prove the huge improvement they've come to.
As with the Kozilek incident, I'm leaving the leak itself as an issue to ignore (mainly because there's literally too many opinions even here alone) and best left to their own internal/legal teams to settle. My stand still holds: As a player, such major card reveals are exciting to me (as my first paragraph indicates, I'm the type that waits for the full spoiler to personally analyze and am largely immune to the marketing techniques the typical spoiler patterns/articles try to hype up), but I understand they, as a company, need to set up these marketing techniques for, well, less jaded people out there.
I am not saying you are wrong.. but..
Do you have any proof? Any link to confirmation, a source or a statement by Wizards?
Or is this just a guess based on your stomach feelings?
His claim was just that the PR was handled better for this leak than the Kozilek leak. It's just an opinion, doesn't really need confirmation or source.
And for those of us that do not understand what language that's in?
As it is it's a bunch of gobbledygook, not much to talk about with that.
I assume most people are following a similar approach as me and using Google to translate the whole page. When browsing in Chrome, it generally tends to recognize pages in a foreign language and offers to translate the page for you. Granted, all we have is roughly translated information, but that's still a lot of information that shouldn't be out yet.
I assume the reason they are not previewing Ezuri's card is because they are going to reword his regenerate ability to the new indestructible until end of turn...
That's not "rewording", that would be a functional change, and they don't do that just because they change their minds about a mechanic. Oblivion Ring wasn't updated with the new template, they just printed Banishing Light instead.
But also note that there is precedent for changing larger categories of cards, such as card types (planewalkers in Ixalan), and even mechanics (lifelink in M10). I believe changing regeneration is the most likely reason behind this, and here's why: Changing regeneration as a mechanic would be on the same scale as the lifelink change, and it would allow R&D to simplify a complicated mechanic, even opening up the opportunity for them to start using what was previously an evergreen keyword again without discontinuity between old cards and new.
In my opinion, they're making special "moving" foils, that's it. It could be a nice thing for some particular products, and the last DD is a reasonable ground to test the reaction of the market.
You know I'd really like that. Not as a usual thing, like for promos only, but still, gimme holograms.
I don't think they would do this to only one of the face cards a duel deck, and we already saw goblin welder...
New development! After wizards announced the new ban list for commander online, they can no longer include cards on either list, paper or digital, lest they be selling a defunct product. You know what that means, no sol ring in these decks!
Wizards new ban list announcement only applies to their online game. It has nothing to do with official multi-player commander.
I would be shocked if each deck didn't have a Sol Ring in it. So far: 25 decks produced - each with a Sol Ring
The key is that the paper and online decks have traditionally been the exact same product, to my understanding. That means if they can't put sol ring in the online decks, they can't put it in paper either.
New development! After wizards announced the new ban list for commander online, they can no longer include cards on either list, paper or digital, lest they be selling a defunct product. You know what that means, no sol ring in these decks!
I feel like this is not only an important point for wizards cash grabbing, but also for anyone that enjoys spoiler season. We could realistically have spoiler seasons that are a week shorter than usual, which is a significant amount of time when you consider 2 or 3 week spoiler seasons.
This seems to indicate that there will be more on the horizon, and indeed with the design & printing lead time for cards, I would expect to see another unique buy-a-box promo for C19, if not the fall set as well.
Not quite true. I don't have the time to find the source now, but on Blogatog MaRo verified that the "one legendary per pack" is not a "single slot in which you'll definitely find a legendary." This means that, while you're guaranteed to get a legendary, the rarity of legendaries doesn't significantly differ from regular cards.
They have to pace themselves on spoilers since they were practically forced to start spoiler season like 2-3 weeks early. IMO it's better than dumping a ton of cards a month before release, and it's leagues better than not acknowledging it at all. I also feel like it gives more time to appreciate the cards that we do receive each day.
So I'll concede to you that a large driving factor of this was very probably sales. I would like to note, however, that as an avid commander player, I've had more than a few people tell me they would never consider getting into commander because of the high price tags, competitive environments, deck storage space, etc. Basically, this format really does solve a bunch of barriers to entry that the format has/had. Even if this format only really attracts players that are already committed to standard just to play between rounds, I think format diversity is really important for the most people to have the most fun. I'm pretty on board with this format, despite its likely-greedy origins.
I actually really like this new scheme. It allows cards that or versions of cards to be foil that otherwise wouldn't get the chance. Imagine implementing this in a commander precon product, or in the challenger decks or something to increase the wow-factor. It would kind of feel like a free lottery ticket coming in your precon, sure you could get a foil common that's been reprinted a billion times, but it could be the chase card from the deck. I think I like it for the same reason in this product, it allows other cards to be printed in foil, giving players the option to pimp if they want to.
MSRP $19.99
His claim was just that the PR was handled better for this leak than the Kozilek leak. It's just an opinion, doesn't really need confirmation or source.
I assume most people are following a similar approach as me and using Google to translate the whole page. When browsing in Chrome, it generally tends to recognize pages in a foreign language and offers to translate the page for you. Granted, all we have is roughly translated information, but that's still a lot of information that shouldn't be out yet.
But also note that there is precedent for changing larger categories of cards, such as card types (planewalkers in Ixalan), and even mechanics (lifelink in M10). I believe changing regeneration is the most likely reason behind this, and here's why: Changing regeneration as a mechanic would be on the same scale as the lifelink change, and it would allow R&D to simplify a complicated mechanic, even opening up the opportunity for them to start using what was previously an evergreen keyword again without discontinuity between old cards and new.
I don't think they would do this to only one of the face cards a duel deck, and we already saw goblin welder...
Update on unstable spoilers, starting on November 13th and going for 1.5 weeks
Holiday promo for this year is at the bottom of the comic article.
The key is that the paper and online decks have traditionally been the exact same product, to my understanding. That means if they can't put sol ring in the online decks, they can't put it in paper either.