Then give us the commander staples, new and old. This is also your space for finishing land cycles as well - something that is rarely touched on.
[...]
It's high time to improve the current model and give the Modern, Eternal, Iconic and frankly ALL Masters series some "gravitas" like what Commander has and give all of these formats places for increased card design IN THE FORM OF NEW CARD PRINTINGS THAT CAN SKIP FORMATS.
Isn't the stated purpose of Masters sets to increase the available printings of certain cards to lower the threshold rather than creating more exclusive "must-have" cards? Finishing land cycles in a relatively low-volume supplemental product would mean that those cycles would be in incredibly high demand and soon after the release lead to new levels of rising prices, right?
Masters sets are reprint sets that allow players to play with cards that are too powerful and complex for standard and let them have access to older cards that are harder to get. There has been a change in philosophy given they are are putting draft packs in Big Box stores.
Masters sets are not for new cards. I'm hoping the core sets will be where we see cycles being filled as they do not need to be tied to a specific plane.
The MTG community seems pretty united on at least one front: Masters sets are too expensive, and there is no real reason for it.
I bought one pack of Modern Masters, and one of Modern Masters II, and I doubt I'll be buying any more: I can't afford to draft this stuff, and it's not worth it to just open packs.
If they lower the price, I'll buy Masters sets. If not, I won't. That is all.
The MTG community seems pretty united on at least one front: Masters sets are too expensive, and there is no real reason for it.
I bought one pack of Modern Masters, and one of Modern Masters II, and I doubt I'll be buying any more: I can't afford to draft this stuff, and it's not worth it to just open packs.
If they lower the price, I'll buy Masters sets. If not, I won't. That is all.
Unfortunately, even though a lot of us are on board with the sets being too expensive, because people are still buying them at the inflated price it's the whole situation of "they'll buy it anyway so who cares?" all over again. As long as one voice says the set is good on some front and people are semi appeased, the sets will exist.
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1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Arg. Maybe Wizards should consider making promos for stores to give at masters' drafts.... Make the box dificult to break even(without the promo), make good and pricy promos ( with price included in the price of the box the stores buy at distributors ). Give incentive for people to draft a box at store.
Exemple of good promos: Blood Moon, Fetchs, Shocklands, etc. Make promos that people don't like to draft, or that have almost no real weight on draft play, make them impossible to get in the packs, but included as a extra in the box. imo
Wizards, u have 2 jobs: Make the cards, and make sure stores that buy product from u wants to buy products from you. You are failing...
Not much to add here. Simply how I feel about this. Replace "Crab" with "Masters Booster Packs. I'd still want it to sing, dance, and introduce me to Aeriel...
Unfortunately, even though a lot of us are on board with the sets being too expensive, because people are still buying them at the inflated price it's the whole situation of "they'll buy it anyway so who cares?" all over again. As long as one voice says the set is good on some front and people are semi appeased, the sets will exist.
Well, it's a matter of volume though - and retention. As many have stated the Masters-wagon is something a lot of people jump off of. It's not a sustainable model. At some point they'll have to decide to adapt or kill the product and apparently they are well aware of the fact that there is an issue. Whether their solution is in any way up to the task is the question. The confirmed change so far only means that they are working on the product identity and might mean that they pull back on flooding the market with products from that particular series, which are both necessary steps - but so far nothing implies that they are actually adjusting the value/price ratio to appropriate levels.
I think a big factor here is that they use a similar formula for value as they do in a normal expansion of mostly new cards with just a smattering of reprints for these reprint sets.
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Planar Chaos was not a mistake neither was it random. You might want to look at it again.
[thread=239793][Game] Level Up - Creature[/thread]
I honestly really dislike the masters business model, what is the point in reprint sets when your so far in bed with vendors and the secondary market that you're practically spooning? Rarity upgrades, filler rares and mythics...great for people trying to maintain value on a tarmogoyf or 16, bad for everyone who wants to draft, the fact we've had so many of these sets and the filter lands have still managed to evade reprint is also beyond me...then again we had to wait years for the future sight ally lands to see reprint.
I find it very misleading on Gavin Varhey's part that he admits fault for how Iconic Masters was handled only for him and Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro to continue production of Masters Set products when it defeats the purpose of bringing back traditional Core Sets. I'm not talking about the 2010+ series, I'm referring to the business model they used for 3rd up to 10th Edition when they first discontinued the production of white bordered cards. At least Core Sets back then weren't as aggressive with their reprints like they are now with Masters Sets.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
The Wizards of today is afraid of reprints resulting in lower sales, is scared of dropping the secondary market prices too much, and at the same time acts like they have an insatiable appetite for more money. I've heard that some designers bemoan how the game isn't played like it used to be, but my own feeling is that it's their own fault for constantly trying to print new mechanics and making overly complex cards that only ever have a home in standard. Sometimes the answer is to just remix a lot of older cards and maybe just add a few new cards, because people will feel more confident buying into a set that has lightning bolt than a set that has purely nerfed versions of older cards like lightning strike and overly wordy creatures. This isn't even the first time they did this. They had some overly complex cards back in the 90s as well, just then the game was "newer" and people were still caught in the novelty of it.
Private Mod Note
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1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
I really hate the design philosophy of the Masters sets. They’re dishonest, cynical and greedy. The inflated price is absolutely absurd. The promise of making entry to the most expensive formats easier and cheaper is a complete lie. They promise tons of value to justify the price but when the value isn’t there or the utility of the cards as an entry point to expensive formats isn’t there they say “Hey, this is just a draft set, guys! That’s all! Please buy more to get the full picture!” Which is doubly dishonest since the Conspiracy sets are much better for draft and don’t come at inflated prices.
Can one of the themes please be "make modern cheap again" where they DOWN grade rarity of expensive modern staples and make packs CHEAPER then normal booster packs? (Because after all they are not standard legal so one less format you can play them in so you get a discount on the overall price) I would strongly support such a theme.
The Wizards of today is afraid of reprints resulting in lower sales, is scared of dropping the secondary market prices too much, and at the same time acts like they have an insatiable appetite for more money. I've heard that some designers bemoan how the game isn't played like it used to be, but my own feeling is that it's their own fault for constantly trying to print new mechanics and making overly complex cards that only ever have a home in standard. Sometimes the answer is to just remix a lot of older cards and maybe just add a few new cards, because people will feel more confident buying into a set that has lightning bolt than a set that has purely nerfed versions of older cards like lightning strike and overly wordy creatures. This isn't even the first time they did this. They had some overly complex cards back in the 90s as well, just then the game was "newer" and people were still caught in the novelty of it.
Do you think Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro is scared of dropping Secondary Market prices because of the potential impact Cryptocurrency and Bitcoin has on the Reserved List? In a lot of ways we've done more harm than good to MTG by demanding reprints of cards that we're unable to afford which is like asking for free stuff from the U.S. Government. It was never meant to be free as it ends up destroying the monetary value of these cards that helps keep the game afloat when players are sacrificing the long-term growth of the game for the sake of being able to play MTG.
Don't get the wrong idea I want MTG to be more affordable for everyone to play when the problem Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro has failed to understand is that they can't have it both ways and pretend like nothing's wrong. Worse case scenario would be for MTG to change into something unrecognizable where players are ultimately forced to bend the game's structure to suit their interests. If that day ever comes then nobody's probably never going to want to purchase anything for MTG ever again.
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America Bless Christ Jesus
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
The Wizards of today is afraid of reprints resulting in lower sales, is scared of dropping the secondary market prices too much, and at the same time acts like they have an insatiable appetite for more money. I've heard that some designers bemoan how the game isn't played like it used to be, but my own feeling is that it's their own fault for constantly trying to print new mechanics and making overly complex cards that only ever have a home in standard. Sometimes the answer is to just remix a lot of older cards and maybe just add a few new cards, because people will feel more confident buying into a set that has lightning bolt than a set that has purely nerfed versions of older cards like lightning strike and overly wordy creatures. This isn't even the first time they did this. They had some overly complex cards back in the 90s as well, just then the game was "newer" and people were still caught in the novelty of it.
Do you think Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro is scared of dropping Secondary Market prices because of the potential impact Cryptocurrency and Bitcoin has on the Reserved List? In a lot of ways we've done more harm than good to MTG by demanding reprints of cards that we're unable to afford which is like asking for free stuff from the U.S. Government. It was never meant to be free as it ends up destroying the monetary value of these cards that helps keep the game afloat when players are sacrificing the long-term growth of the game for the sake of being able to play MTG.
Don't get the wrong idea I want MTG to be more affordable for everyone to play when the problem Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro has failed to understand is that they can't have it both ways and pretend like nothing's wrong. Worse case scenario would be for MTG to change into something unrecognizable where players are ultimately forced to bend the game's structure to suit their interests. If that day ever comes then nobody's probably never going to want to purchase anything for MTG ever again.
The problem isn't asking for reprints in general, actually. That's part of the entire problem: How to interpret the statement of wanting reprints. People want more affordable lands and fixing because the game is very complex as is when it comes to deck building and construction, but WoTC has been doing printings of more elaborate and odd-ball land cycles instead of sticking to specific ones people understand, driving prices up on shocks and fetches. Then they primarily reintroduce cards via masters sets that slowly erode prices across the board while not dropping them enough to actually satisfy people who want the reprints, often on cards that shouldn't be getting played anyway because they are so far above the curve on power that they are more so just skirting the banlist. Case in point, Karn Liberated, Liliana of the Veil, and Snapcaster Mage. Other cards are just ridiculously expensive because the color in specific is horribly balanced, such as green in general with the likes of Noble Hierarch. Also, to elaborate: WoTC wants to make people "work" for payoffs. The three mentioned cards require no real work besides getting them on the field. Snappy is probably the least offensive of the bunch mentioned.
And on the statement of "we can't reprint this because it's too powerful for standard": The designers are saying that because the current set they are building can't use the card. It's not that the card is too powerful for the game, it's too powerful because of synergies in the set, or the set theme does not fit the strategy the card promotes. Albeit, I could really use Grisly Salvage in standard to make the ascend deck work that I'm building right now...
Ugh, and on the "crypto spike" stupidity with the MTG market. That's just bad news in every respect for even people who bought into RL before. What gives those older cards value is the fact they are from a time and place that no longer exists. Even without a RL those cards would be pricey because the artwork will never come back, some of the artists are dead or don't do card art anymore, and no one is writing that rules text in such a horrible fashion anymore. People like those cards and that love of the older cards is what gives them their value.
People who are entering the market from the crypto currency think the cards are basically trash, they just want the value behind them. So they will buy up a bunch and sit on them, then flip them the second anything goes wrong. Even Rudy from Alpha Investments has at least some trace of love for the cards he is buying up and selling: I can't say that about Jane Doe number 503.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
I wonder which defining cards this set will have. It’s gotta be something from portal three kingdoms. Are they ever able to do some kind of masterpiece set for say dual lands in masters 25 since it’s not technically a reprint?
Doing so would actually violate the reserved list. This happened with an early Duel Deck and FTV and people were not happy
There probably is a real chance that a bunch of morons who got inconceivably lucky speculating on cryptocurrencies will then go try to "invest" their money in another massively overvalued bubble but I don't think Wizards is all that concerned about it. They've basically washed their hands of the Reserve List and Paper Legacy is more or less a dead format at this point so I can't imagine what impact more speculation will have. If anything it will make the bubble burst faster.
Unstable has a foil card in each pack yet the price of a booster pack was kept to the standard MSRP. Charging 10$ per booster is and will be the main issue Masters sets have. Combine that with crappy cards aimed only for limited formats that have no constructed value, and you get a disaster. No one wants to pull a Sky Swollower from a 10$ pack. Period.
I couldn't agree more. I'll even take it a step further and say it's the reason I stopped paying packs of standard legal sets as well. I don't want to pay $4 for .25 worth of cards that aren't good enough for my casual decks. I feel that since Scars of Mirrodin they've gone out of their way to make sets as weak as possible while not making them too weak that we won't pay for them. I remember Zendikar boxes selling for $170. Hasbro doesn't get anything above what they're charging your local LGS.
I agree that the masters sets should be more like the price of conspiracy and 36 packs, even with the cards they are including. Though to be frank it feels like one half of Wizards wants to kill modern and the other half wants to keep it going while the CEO is pushing numbers to shareholders, so two out of the three parties are in agreement and we got overpriced masters sets that have 1/3rd less contents than a standard or regular supplementary set.
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1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
I wonder which defining cards this set will have. It’s gotta be something from portal three kingdoms. Are they ever able to do some kind of masterpiece set for say dual lands in masters 25 since it’s not technically a reprint?
Doing so would actually violate the reserved list. This happened with an early Duel Deck and FTV and people were not happy
MOST people were hpppy few people were unhappy.
Agreed. And guess what happened to the cards they reprinted? Yes, they kept their value!
Go and look up the price of FtV:Relics Mox Diamond nowadays! One of the Reserved List cards that got reprinted, and still gaining value like a boss.
To be frank we could keep going on this all day and go into the intricate reasons on why masters sets are cheap cash grabs. The fact is these sets need to go get lit on fire and cast out to sea. Why do people want cards reprinted through standard? Because that's the only place where the volume of printing is high enough to break the barrier down, regardless of price memory. They have printed cards in secondary products all over the place and yet the only example that actually dropped prices enough was with Thoughtseize, and they don't want to do that again because the card was too oppressive? If the card is too oppressive in standard, why did they leave it in modern?
I mean what is going through the minds of the people running this game? "Oh, we printed a really oppressive card that's being used by the pros all over the place and people are complaining, so lets not reprint it. We'll leave it legal in modern."
I'm not sure which is worse, the fact they basically expect that if the format has all the different horribly oppressive cards that aren't turn 3 offenders in it all the unfun stuff will cancel itself out like some kind of anti-matter / matter experiment, or the fact that they just left a card in a format that they actively do not want to reprint.
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1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
I’d love to see just decent cards from sets. Mostly cards that fix supply issues and make a draft format second. Some of the best draft formats I played were devoid of premade strategies that people could simply see coming. These sets have a chance to be very intricate.
I stopped drafting after the second Innistrad set as the drafts consisted of the same decks just slightly modified from player to player. The dearth of good commons is my biggest issue. Coupled with the play x card and run away with the game aspect. The Masters sets have been just awful for draft. So why mess up a $10 per pack product with draft junk when it should be 256 hits. Not some random outlast card or friggin Wee Dragonauts.
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In case I didn't tell you, I don't care about your opinion I just want your facts. And not the facts that make you seem smart. I want the ones that are actual facts.
I don't think they really needed master sets to begin with. Conspiracy, commander, and duel decks were all good places to spread strong cards into. Explorers was probably beyond saving at the cost they wanted people to pay.
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1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
It seems like one (i.e., WOTC) ought to be able to simulate the effect of a given masters set on the singles economy (obviously unless turned topsy turvy by bans/unbans), and hence optimize the distribution of value rares per pack and, hence price point.
Personally, I play 95% limited so unless a masters set is somehow 3x as fun as a basic draft set, it's always going to be "negative fun EV" as long as it's in the $10-12/pack range. (sidenote: maybe this is why 3xIXL was so bad... to make IMA seem like "fun value").
There is a big tension here in that if they print "chase mythics" (that run >$100 in paper tcg mid) then they can't make the median value rare too high, so they have to print junk rares that make you feel bad.
Maybe they should use the land slot? Do they really care if they drive down the price of shocks? What if they went DMZ style and "every pack has a shock or 1-in-10 fetch). This would crush the value of shocklands down to $2 and fetches down to $10. Then they could whatever the heck they want with the other 14 cards; and (like Unstable) people cracking packs or drafting would feel like they weren't getting completely jobbed by the RNG.
After buying an Iconic Masters pack and pulling a mythic rare Channel (a card that is banned in every format, expect Legacy, where it is restricted), I have decided to swear off all Masters sets. I am not paying 10 dollars to pull a card I will never be able to use.
The reason of that change is clear, only modern masters box can keep the prices, old school staples will take a hit in the value, and Wizards clearly don't want that. Wizards care for the secondary market and players care for that too (sometimes unconsciously). Magic players are peculiar animals, they say they want cheaper products, more acess to cards, and fun playing.
Iconic was to most sucessful in make a set for draft and in drop prices, but looks like it was overly sucessful in that last point. Sure, no one want to buy a box for 200 that worth 100 some days later. What looks like buyers really want is pay x in a fun to play box and receive x+y in cards value + the good experience playing.
But that can't happen in every set, is not how the secondary market work.
Magic players say they want a $2 Jace, but that ain't true. They want to pay $2 for a Jace that worth $100. If someone paid $2 for a Jace that later it's worthing $1, that guy still will be upset. Many players don't even sell their cards, but still care for the price tag in those.
Sure lower prices make new player start, but I don't think this is really healthy for Wizard in the long run.
I understand the booster pack value is crazy. But i bought a case at pre-release and more than doubled my investment. I think the people that are complaining are the ones that were either looking for specific cards (doubling season) or already had playsets of the originals of some of those cards that were now going to lose value.
Sure, but this is anecdotal evidence - I pulled an Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite with a foil Tezzeret the Seeker from MM15, but I also bought a few other packs with less than a third of the price of the packs value in them - and not everyone has the sort of cash to drop on a box either. There's going to be one or two crazy good pulls in each box, but your odds of getting one are about as good as anyone else's. It still doesn't make it worth spending the money on a chance. Here in NZ, they're $16 NZD per booster, $50 for a draft. At that price, I'm waiting till the full set drops, and picking singles out of what I can afford. No way I'm taking a chance on boosters. And that's the issue with these sets - if they're draft, lower the price and reduce the value of some of the reprints. If they're a reprint set, boost the value a little to justify the price tag per booster. Choose one, WoTC, you can't have both.
Masters sets are reprint sets that allow players to play with cards that are too powerful and complex for standard and let them have access to older cards that are harder to get. There has been a change in philosophy given they are are putting draft packs in Big Box stores.
Masters sets are not for new cards. I'm hoping the core sets will be where we see cycles being filled as they do not need to be tied to a specific plane.
I bought one pack of Modern Masters, and one of Modern Masters II, and I doubt I'll be buying any more: I can't afford to draft this stuff, and it's not worth it to just open packs.
If they lower the price, I'll buy Masters sets. If not, I won't. That is all.
Low-power cube enthusiast!
My 1570 card cube (no longer updated)
My 415 Peasant+ Artifact and Enchantment Cube
Ever-Expanding "Just throw it in" cube.
Unfortunately, even though a lot of us are on board with the sets being too expensive, because people are still buying them at the inflated price it's the whole situation of "they'll buy it anyway so who cares?" all over again. As long as one voice says the set is good on some front and people are semi appeased, the sets will exist.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Exemple of good promos: Blood Moon, Fetchs, Shocklands, etc. Make promos that people don't like to draft, or that have almost no real weight on draft play, make them impossible to get in the packs, but included as a extra in the box. imo
Wizards, u have 2 jobs: Make the cards, and make sure stores that buy product from u wants to buy products from you. You are failing...
EDH DECKS
Currently under construction
MAGECRAFT STORM
-Veyran, Voice of Duality-
Protection from Degeneracy
Do not pray for an easy life. Pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.
Well, it's a matter of volume though - and retention. As many have stated the Masters-wagon is something a lot of people jump off of. It's not a sustainable model. At some point they'll have to decide to adapt or kill the product and apparently they are well aware of the fact that there is an issue. Whether their solution is in any way up to the task is the question. The confirmed change so far only means that they are working on the product identity and might mean that they pull back on flooding the market with products from that particular series, which are both necessary steps - but so far nothing implies that they are actually adjusting the value/price ratio to appropriate levels.
I think a big factor here is that they use a similar formula for value as they do in a normal expansion of mostly new cards with just a smattering of reprints for these reprint sets.
Finally a good white villain quote: "So, do I ever re-evaluate my life choices? Never, because I know what I'm doing is a righteous cause."
Factions: Sleeping
Remnants: Valheim
Legendary Journey: Heroes & Planeswalkers
Saga: Shards of Rabiah
Legends: The Elder Dragons
Read up on Red Flags & NWO
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Don't get the wrong idea I want MTG to be more affordable for everyone to play when the problem Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro has failed to understand is that they can't have it both ways and pretend like nothing's wrong. Worse case scenario would be for MTG to change into something unrecognizable where players are ultimately forced to bend the game's structure to suit their interests. If that day ever comes then nobody's probably never going to want to purchase anything for MTG ever again.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
The problem isn't asking for reprints in general, actually. That's part of the entire problem: How to interpret the statement of wanting reprints. People want more affordable lands and fixing because the game is very complex as is when it comes to deck building and construction, but WoTC has been doing printings of more elaborate and odd-ball land cycles instead of sticking to specific ones people understand, driving prices up on shocks and fetches. Then they primarily reintroduce cards via masters sets that slowly erode prices across the board while not dropping them enough to actually satisfy people who want the reprints, often on cards that shouldn't be getting played anyway because they are so far above the curve on power that they are more so just skirting the banlist. Case in point, Karn Liberated, Liliana of the Veil, and Snapcaster Mage. Other cards are just ridiculously expensive because the color in specific is horribly balanced, such as green in general with the likes of Noble Hierarch. Also, to elaborate: WoTC wants to make people "work" for payoffs. The three mentioned cards require no real work besides getting them on the field. Snappy is probably the least offensive of the bunch mentioned.
And on the statement of "we can't reprint this because it's too powerful for standard": The designers are saying that because the current set they are building can't use the card. It's not that the card is too powerful for the game, it's too powerful because of synergies in the set, or the set theme does not fit the strategy the card promotes. Albeit, I could really use Grisly Salvage in standard to make the ascend deck work that I'm building right now...
Ugh, and on the "crypto spike" stupidity with the MTG market. That's just bad news in every respect for even people who bought into RL before. What gives those older cards value is the fact they are from a time and place that no longer exists. Even without a RL those cards would be pricey because the artwork will never come back, some of the artists are dead or don't do card art anymore, and no one is writing that rules text in such a horrible fashion anymore. People like those cards and that love of the older cards is what gives them their value.
People who are entering the market from the crypto currency think the cards are basically trash, they just want the value behind them. So they will buy up a bunch and sit on them, then flip them the second anything goes wrong. Even Rudy from Alpha Investments has at least some trace of love for the cards he is buying up and selling: I can't say that about Jane Doe number 503.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
MOST people were hpppy few people were unhappy.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Agreed. And guess what happened to the cards they reprinted? Yes, they kept their value!
Go and look up the price of FtV:Relics Mox Diamond nowadays! One of the Reserved List cards that got reprinted, and still gaining value like a boss.
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I mean what is going through the minds of the people running this game? "Oh, we printed a really oppressive card that's being used by the pros all over the place and people are complaining, so lets not reprint it. We'll leave it legal in modern."
I'm not sure which is worse, the fact they basically expect that if the format has all the different horribly oppressive cards that aren't turn 3 offenders in it all the unfun stuff will cancel itself out like some kind of anti-matter / matter experiment, or the fact that they just left a card in a format that they actively do not want to reprint.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
I stopped drafting after the second Innistrad set as the drafts consisted of the same decks just slightly modified from player to player. The dearth of good commons is my biggest issue. Coupled with the play x card and run away with the game aspect. The Masters sets have been just awful for draft. So why mess up a $10 per pack product with draft junk when it should be 256 hits. Not some random outlast card or friggin Wee Dragonauts.
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1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Personally, I play 95% limited so unless a masters set is somehow 3x as fun as a basic draft set, it's always going to be "negative fun EV" as long as it's in the $10-12/pack range. (sidenote: maybe this is why 3xIXL was so bad... to make IMA seem like "fun value").
There is a big tension here in that if they print "chase mythics" (that run >$100 in paper tcg mid) then they can't make the median value rare too high, so they have to print junk rares that make you feel bad.
Maybe they should use the land slot? Do they really care if they drive down the price of shocks? What if they went DMZ style and "every pack has a shock or 1-in-10 fetch). This would crush the value of shocklands down to $2 and fetches down to $10. Then they could whatever the heck they want with the other 14 cards; and (like Unstable) people cracking packs or drafting would feel like they weren't getting completely jobbed by the RNG.
Iconic was to most sucessful in make a set for draft and in drop prices, but looks like it was overly sucessful in that last point. Sure, no one want to buy a box for 200 that worth 100 some days later. What looks like buyers really want is pay x in a fun to play box and receive x+y in cards value + the good experience playing.
But that can't happen in every set, is not how the secondary market work.
Magic players say they want a $2 Jace, but that ain't true. They want to pay $2 for a Jace that worth $100. If someone paid $2 for a Jace that later it's worthing $1, that guy still will be upset. Many players don't even sell their cards, but still care for the price tag in those.
Sure lower prices make new player start, but I don't think this is really healthy for Wizard in the long run.
Sure, but this is anecdotal evidence - I pulled an Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite with a foil Tezzeret the Seeker from MM15, but I also bought a few other packs with less than a third of the price of the packs value in them - and not everyone has the sort of cash to drop on a box either. There's going to be one or two crazy good pulls in each box, but your odds of getting one are about as good as anyone else's. It still doesn't make it worth spending the money on a chance. Here in NZ, they're $16 NZD per booster, $50 for a draft. At that price, I'm waiting till the full set drops, and picking singles out of what I can afford. No way I'm taking a chance on boosters. And that's the issue with these sets - if they're draft, lower the price and reduce the value of some of the reprints. If they're a reprint set, boost the value a little to justify the price tag per booster. Choose one, WoTC, you can't have both.