Ravager and Vial are sub $20 cards that see play in one deck. Pulse is barely played at all and is sub $10. Cryptic and Moon, while I disagree, have a lot of strong arguments in favor of needing a reprint.
I did forget about Kiki, he probably needs a reprint as much as Blood Moon or Cryptic as they are all very important Modern cards. The old Mirroden Swords probably don't. Swords are generally 1-ofs in sideboards of very specific decks, and you can usually find them for under $30. That's fairly reasonable. Elspeth is also not played often, and is under $20, so I don't think she probably needs anything, and appears to be getting one anyway in the event deck.
I do agree that some MM cards should be reprinted in MM2 next year (assuming next year). I also agree that Hierarch will be there along with the other cards you listed. I'd add Liliana and Linvala at a minimum.
Also, I think if they're going to print fetches (which they will), I think they will balance them with the Future Sight lands. Canopy and Grove are super expensive, and Maze and River are interesting, somewhat playable, and not inexpensive. Cairns would be weird to include without the other filters, but I think Grove and Canopy are more necessary reprints right now personally.
The size of print runs really matters and Wizards balanced it well with MMA. See, unlike regular sets this has very little junk filler cards in the Rare slot, the majority of packs have good value inside. If the print run of MMA was as large as of a regular standard set, the price distribution of MMA singles would mimic those of a set like Theros - there would be very few cards worth over $2 anymore, most rares would crash to crap level.
A set with that many good cards inside would be opened until the demand for the rarest+most wanted top cards (Tarmogoyf) would be satisfied. By that time all the nice rares that are in the majority of packs would crash to filler junk prices.
The whole set doesn't need a reprint but many of the cards in it should see another printing. A future set like Modern Masters 2 could well have some repeats.
I don't know what fantasy world you live in, but around here MM was next to impossible to get, and if you could find it, the price per booster was, well, prohibitive to say the least. Most stores only got a few displays, and withheld the product for use as drafting *only*. That meant that outside of hardcore drafters with substantial amounts of money where effectively locked out of getting their hands on the product, *at all*.
That said, we knew from the start that MM was an experiment with a very limited print run, and we where told that regardless of success (which it had in spades) we where unlikely to get a second print run. This was because of WotC fearing a repeat of the Chronicles debacle (which was stupid to begin with due to majority of people complaining where not players but "collectors" (and I use the term loosely), who didn't give a rodents behind about the actual needs of the game, but only cared about the then perceived value of their cards, which has incidentally fallen steadily since. Try looking up the worth of a few random Legends cards on the reserve list to see what I mean).
It is because of aforementioned reasons that it is very likely that we will not only see an MM2 eventually, but it will also have a substantially larger print run than MM1.
This year we will be getting Conspiracy (which seems like fun), and next year we will likely get another Planechase expansion as it is a fairly popular format. Beyond that, we might get either an entirely new summer multiplayer product or an MM2.
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It's about time for the reserved list to die, for the sake of Vintage and Legacy (And Commander).
I think it is highly unlikely MM2 will jave a "significantly" larger print run. With the print run of MM, cards like Kataki went from a ~$15 card to around ~$3 card. They don't want these cards to tank and have no value. Cards need value, and stores need to know that cards in the inventory will not become dollar bin rares overnight. It sucks that a limited print run is necessary because we do need significant drops in the price of 'goyf, Bob, and Fetches, but they can't tank every other card in the set just to reach those 3. Over time they will see more reprints and eventually drop to a reasonable price, but it can't be done overnight.
I kind of figured this was the case but hearing that direct from MaRo directly is still a little depressing. I was still really hoping for another print run. Anyway, has WOTC ever done another print run on a set this far after the initial run?
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I think it is highly unlikely MM2 will jave a "significantly" larger print run. With the print run of MM, cards like Kataki went from a ~$15 card to around ~$3 card. They don't want these cards to tank and have no value. Cards need value, and stores need to know that cards in the inventory will not become dollar bin rares overnight. It sucks that a limited print run is necessary because we do need significant drops in the price of 'goyf, Bob, and Fetches, but they can't tank every other card in the set just to reach those 3. Over time they will see more reprints and eventually drop to a reasonable price, but it can't be done overnight.
But perhaps cards like Kataki was a 15$ card due to scarcity and when the market suddenly had some supply the demand for them showed to be falsely inflated -> there was not that big a need for them.
So far what I've noticed from MGTtop8.com it's used primarily in Modern as a sideboard card from time to time and in few numbers. So perhaps it didn't "warrant" its price tag.
As for your comments on Bob, Goyf and Fetches; I don't play Modern but damn right I agree those prices are absurd. Pull a Goyf from a MMA display and the thing is about paid for - absurd. However seeing as WotC printed them at this imaginary Mythic-rarity, does it look like they actually wanted to impact the price?
Also the Kamigawa-dragons they so "elegantly" put in was not that far back around 10-12$ cards, whereas now they can be bought for less than 5$ - except Kokusho who still commands a 8+$ price tag. So it's not like the mythic-rarity didn't cause price-changes, it merely didn't happen to the "prime targets" as they were already heavily sought after.
In general, lets try to bust a myth: Those who crave MMA to be reprinted basically just want:
Bob, Goyf, Clique and Cryptic reprinted? And perhaps a few others which may or may not be warranted - Kiki-Jiki for instance.
Or the chance to actually draft the set (aka it might as well be gold-bordered non-tournament legal cards worth *****)? <- I really liked drafting Modern Masters for the different archtypes/mechanics present (Storm, tokens, Arcane, Basic Landcycling - well not an archtype but still a neat mechanic in the environment, Green Beasties - Imperiosaur was nasty - had a friend get 5 of them in his deck, Suspend, Goblins, Fungus, etc.)
Does anyone (/many?) actually want Modern Masters reprinted as a whole for collecting-value (so not for drafting nor a select few cards within the product while basically discarding the rest)?
I think it is highly unlikely MM2 will jave a "significantly" larger print run. With the print run of MM, cards like Kataki went from a ~$15 card to around ~$3 card. They don't want these cards to tank and have no value. Cards need value, and stores need to know that cards in the inventory will not become dollar bin rares overnight. It sucks that a limited print run is necessary because we do need significant drops in the price of 'goyf, Bob, and Fetches, but they can't tank every other card in the set just to reach those 3. Over time they will see more reprints and eventually drop to a reasonable price, but it can't be done overnight.
WotC doesn't care about the secondary market value of cards. If they did, they wouldn't be able to reprint "fun" cards at all (Such as Bob, Goyf, and the Shocklands to name a few). Also, WotC makes no money from the secondary market, which means that they have no monetary reason to care about it either.
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It's about time for the reserved list to die, for the sake of Vintage and Legacy (And Commander).
Of course WOTC cares about the secondary market. If cards are too expensive people won't play Modern. If people dont play Modern then MM doesn't exist. If MM doesn't exist WOTC loses money. The reason they reprint cards like goyf, etc. is to decrease the barrier to enter the format.
Why do people assume that people will get mad if the cards they bought for money can now be had for less money? You can still get just as much playing enjoyment out of your cards. You may even get some more of cards to enjoy some more for less money. If you are buying MTG cards for any other reason than playing with them in some sort of format than you are just asking to get burned.
What about the stores who are trying to make money off the game? The stores who run the tournaments. Should we say screw them too? Should we tank the value of their cards so they can't stay open to provide the opportunity to play? If cards are worth $1, how do they make money?
Made if they print so much MM that it becomes a worse situation than Chronicles was, they can somehow undo the travesty that Chronicles brought (the reserve list) by virtue of the collectors being in not-give-a-crap mode.
For what it's worth, the opposite of evergreen is "deciduous" so I suggest we start using that from now on to refer to shroud, banding, islandhome, etc.
I don't particularly want Wizards to reprint Modern Masters 1, solely because I'm still waiting for my Black-Border Modern Frame Urza-Tron Lands. I was disappointed they didn't make the cut in Modern Masters 1 and want them to get around to 2 so they will hopefully include them.
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What about the stores who are trying to make money off the game? The stores who run the tournaments. Should we say screw them too? Should we tank the value of their cards so they can't stay open to provide the opportunity to play? If cards are worth $1, how do they make money?
How many people are willing to pay $30 for a sideboard card in Modern, or $800 worth of fetchlands for a deck, versus how much more people would pay $6.99 for a Modern Masters booster knowing what is in this set?
What about the stores who are trying to make money off the game? The stores who run the tournaments. Should we say screw them too? Should we tank the value of their cards so they can't stay open to provide the opportunity to play? If cards are worth $1, how do they make money?
Hmm come to think of it - does anyone know if there's a wide-spread secondary market on Warhammer figures that a fantasy-shop is in on? Used figures that is. How about board games? Books? Dice? Latex weapons/live roleplay tools/equipment?
My point being: LGS's and most fantasy-shops run their business primarily on their sealed products so they are dependent on the product they get in from distributors to sell. Actually imma go on a limp and proclaim a LGS earn less than 15% of their annual revenue from the busted packs.
And just for clarification: I see an LGS as a local shop, so no inclusion of shippers like Channelfireball or their ilk. I'll bet they earn a much larger percentage than the LGS from secondary market.
And while I don't undermine that a "borderline removal" of the secondary market would affect LGSs I doubt very much it would ruin them.
The ongoing factor of no secondary market might however effect the attractiveness of the sealed products - thus further reducing their turn-over. However that is also unlikely to kill the shop's foundation and if it does, then the shop was "ineffective" to begin with.
I know I'll be running to my local LGS so I can buy 8 boxes of Modern Master's at MSRP so I can get my playset of $2 Tarmogoyfs. /sarcasm
Why the sudden need to take things to the extreme?
Sorry, was responding to combo player and celestial assault. The quote feature doesn't work well (or at all) from my phone.
To respond to you, I have no idea what percentage of LGS profits are derived from secondary market vs. pack sales, etc. I do know that they buy cards for half of what they sell them (give or take), and they sell boxes for about 2/3 of MSRP, so I'm guessing they make a lot more off of individual card sales than they do pack sales, but again, I'm not really sure.
[quote from="Tzefick" url="http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/magic-fundamentals/the-rumor-mill/speculation/546880-why-not-reprint-mm1?comment=79"][quote from="jturphy" url="http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/magic-fundamentals/the-rumor-mill/speculation/546880-why-not-reprint-mm1?comment=78"] I do know that they buy cards for half of what they sell them (give or take), and they sell boxes for about 2/3 of MSRP, so I'm guessing they make a lot more off of individual card sales than they do pack sales, but again, I'm not really sure.
The labour cost is a lot higher for singles. A dealer I know has purposefully been operating with uncompetetive singles prices because he wants to limit this part of his business. It is not worth his time rummaging through (a lot of) binders for them. Of course, this is less of an issue the more expensive the cards. And I guess different shops have different business plans too.
I know I'll be running to my local LGS so I can buy 8 boxes of Modern Master's at MSRP so I can get my playset of $2 Tarmogoyfs. /sarcasm
Why the sudden need to take things to the extreme?
Sorry, was responding to combo player and celestial assault. The quote feature doesn't work well (or at all) from my phone.
The difference between us is that I was not exaggerating. Threads of Disloyalty is $26.74 on TCG mid. While it is a great sideboard card, no Modern deck runs that mainboard. Also, Scalding Tarn is $92.48 and Misty Rainforest is $91.13. Believe it or not, there are competitive Modern decks that run 4 of each. And if you look at TCGplayer, besides Affinity (which costs $600), all of the other top 8 decks from GP Richmond costs well in excess of $1,000. If these numbers and the ones on my previous post sound insane, then you are finally seeing how outrageous the prices are.
I know I'll be running to my local LGS so I can buy 8 boxes of Modern Master's at MSRP so I can get my playset of $2 Tarmogoyfs. /sarcasm
Why the sudden need to take things to the extreme?
Sorry, was responding to combo player and celestial assault. The quote feature doesn't work well (or at all) from my phone.
The difference between us is that I was not exaggerating. Threads of Disloyalty is $26.74 on TCG mid. While it is a great sideboard card, no Modern deck runs that mainboard. Also, Scalding Tarn is $92.48 and Misty Rainforest is $91.13. Believe it or not, there are competitive Modern decks that run 4 of each. And if you look at TCGplayer, besides Affinity (which costs $600), all of the other top 8 decks from GP Richmond costs well in excess of $1,000. If these numbers and the ones on my previous post sound insane, then you are finally seeing how outrageous the prices are.
What do any of those cards have to do with reprinting MM?
I really don't care anything about the value of various collections, and would much prefer that certain cards be printed to the point of being affordable so more people can play non-gimped decks because the cost of 4 Tarmogoyfs is more than a month's rent (in some areas it can be more than twice a month's rent). I'd much prefer my Tarmogoyfs be brought down to $25 in value and have every $5 of its price drop directly related to another person playing Modern than have fewer people playing because they can't afford it (or are trying to find knock-off cards at 1/15th the price because a passable proxy is better to them so they can play in events).
As it stands, people in my area are dropping out of Modern, not due to the bannings, but for the same crap they've been telling me as to why they won't get into Legacy: It's becoming too expensive to build a deck/more than 1 deck.
I suppose I'm special because I bought Dark Confidant for $12 for a set years ago, and I got each fetchland for less than $25 each set and already so I can build any mana base I want, but there are people in my area giving up on playing because their ideal mana bases are too expensive (which, this particular complaint has died out a bit with Deathrite's banning, since not everyone needs fetches to support it as a Birds of Paradise), but there are several people who were buying cards for decks piece by piece that the January-February price spikes wound up just making them give up- one guy just needed to procure Cryptic Commands and was going to do it his next paycheck but they literally doubled in a months' time. Another only had Tarmogoyfs to procure for his Jund build and the Deathrite banning, mixed with Tarmogoyf spiking an additional $70 a copy, priced him out of that. Now with the Deathrite banning, Goyf is even more important and he's just said to hell with it entirely.
All this anecdotal evidence isn't meant to chance one person's opinion on the matter at all, but I will say that I'd just prefer it if the price bottomed out on some of the biggest cards so it wouldn't be the same like 6 guys with the exact same actual Modern decks and 14 guys with either bad jank brews or, like, tier 4 decks showing up for Modern events in my area with no variation of the groups. That's my opinion on it, anyway.
I think the fundamental discussion about modern comes down to how you view the purpose of the format: legacy lite versus big standard. It is very clear to me that Wizards and the players of Modern don't currently know what they want the format to be. I will admit right now that as someone who comes from the legacy lite viewpoint, my biased perspective probably comes across as harsh. I think it is going to be really hard for people on opposite sides of the fence to see eye to eye on an issue like Modern Masters. I'm going to present my viewpoint as a legacy lite guy.
First off, $1000? Seriously, you are complaining about $1000? The average legacy deck is $2000+ on mid prices that you are getting the $1000 from, so relatively, the format is cheap. If you are talking about 6 guys playing the same deck and that getting stale, that is the POINT OF MODERN! Some players want to be able to make and perfect a deck that they know will stand the test of time with mild/moderate changes instead of constantly having to make a new deck. They have a format that accommodate the second type, and its called standard. If you don't like the same guys playing the same decks, then I really think you just have an issue playing modern in the first place. Every time someone gets on here and complains about the price of modern and then cites Bob or Goyf, Domo-kun kills a kitten. There are 2 decks that run Bob (Rock and Jund) and 3 decks that run Goyf (Rock/Jund/RUG Twin), and Rock and Jund are going by the wayside with the DRS ban. Honestly, to call Goyf and Bob staples of modern is a joke to me. If you bring up Goyf/Bob prices as a deterrent to modern, then you are either not a modern player or are naive.
NOW, all that being said, if you want to literally cut modern prices in half, the answer is one card, or should I say 5/10. If you haven't gotten it already, I'm talking about fetchlands. I am an advocate for fetchland reprints. I got playsets of the 5 modern legal fetches at an average of 35 a land. When I saw how they have risen since then, to be honest, I was disgusted. Fetchlands are single-handedly the biggest deterrent to modern for money reasons. That being said, I really find it hard to believe there are more than a handful of players that don't play modern because of fetches. I think if you reprint them the real player base goes up by maybe 10%. Fetchlands, while expensive, are one of the safest investments you have in modern. They aren't standard friendly lands, and they are the biggest staple of the format. Money you spend on fetches is money well spent, just like eternal land staples. While the initial cost is high, you lose far less money than investing in a creature that can be improved on, or worse, banned.
Since my opinion is modern isn't that expensive for being legacy lite, and even reprinting the biggest wallet offender fetches wouldn't do much for the player base, I must have a reason I think modern isn't super popular, right? I do have a reason, and I alluded to it earlier in my post. And that reason is...
Modern is an INHERENTLY stale format. The format is designed so that once you build a deck, you stick with it. While the meta may evolve at pro tours and grand prixs, and even there is doesn't change drastically (even less so than legacy IMO), in your local meta modern will never be a format where your friends bring in different decks each week. I play modern because I know my UWR midrange deck will be viable (sort of) for years to come, and so maybe when I show up with the deck every week everyone knows what I'm playing and moans and groans but that isn't a problem. What makes modern fun is that playing against the different top tier decks requires me to play my deck better and better every single week. I learn the ins and outs of my deck until I master the way it plays and know every single matchup like the back of my hand.
Now, even though decks are relatively expensive in modern, as a non-rotating format they (Wizards) are not focused on getting a fickle player base that complains about prices. They are focused on getting a devoted player base for modern that will keep interest in the format for years. Those type of players may just start with one deck they play every single week for an entire year, but eventually, if they love the format they will invest in a second deck. They will then keep those 2 decks forever. Eventually, given enough time, they will put together a third deck. You can't do that in standard because your decks don't last years. The biggest legacy guy in my playgroup has been playing magic since 1994. He loves legacy and has 5-6 legacy decks. Despite the fact that he started in 1994, he has come and gone at times and I asked him last week about when he built his decks. He said he has added about 1 legacy deck to his collection every 1-2 years. Now, if he wants to come and play legacy he can choose from a collection of deck boxes to add variety. For non-rotating formats, the format loses its staleness after players have been sticking with it for years.
Modern is going through growing pains. Legacy went through growing pains. The answer is not to drop prices and reprint staples because you will be catering to the people who don't REALLY want to play the format. If you want modern to thrive as legacy lite, you want players to make an investment, because the format with thrive with INVESTED players. At my local store, as my anecdotal evidence, the modern players HATE playing against guys who gripe about the price of the format. These are the types of players that you could GIVE a modern deck for free, and they would get tired of playing it, want something different, and quit anyways. If you want to be able to go from deck to deck and don't have the excess cash to do so, modern is not the format for you plain and simple.
TL;DR: I DON'T want Wizards to reprint MM to cater to the crowd who wants cheaper modern because it will weaken the quality of the modern player base, even if it increases the quantity.
"Need" maybe a bit overkill, but I would see benefit for players with these rares:
Cryptic Command
Blood Moon
Æther Vial
Arcbound Ravager
Maelstrom Pulse
Ravager and Vial are sub $20 cards that see play in one deck. Pulse is barely played at all and is sub $10. Cryptic and Moon, while I disagree, have a lot of strong arguments in favor of needing a reprint.
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I do agree that some MM cards should be reprinted in MM2 next year (assuming next year). I also agree that Hierarch will be there along with the other cards you listed. I'd add Liliana and Linvala at a minimum.
Also, I think if they're going to print fetches (which they will), I think they will balance them with the Future Sight lands. Canopy and Grove are super expensive, and Maze and River are interesting, somewhat playable, and not inexpensive. Cairns would be weird to include without the other filters, but I think Grove and Canopy are more necessary reprints right now personally.
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I don't know what fantasy world you live in, but around here MM was next to impossible to get, and if you could find it, the price per booster was, well, prohibitive to say the least. Most stores only got a few displays, and withheld the product for use as drafting *only*. That meant that outside of hardcore drafters with substantial amounts of money where effectively locked out of getting their hands on the product, *at all*.
That said, we knew from the start that MM was an experiment with a very limited print run, and we where told that regardless of success (which it had in spades) we where unlikely to get a second print run. This was because of WotC fearing a repeat of the Chronicles debacle (which was stupid to begin with due to majority of people complaining where not players but "collectors" (and I use the term loosely), who didn't give a rodents behind about the actual needs of the game, but only cared about the then perceived value of their cards, which has incidentally fallen steadily since. Try looking up the worth of a few random Legends cards on the reserve list to see what I mean).
It is because of aforementioned reasons that it is very likely that we will not only see an MM2 eventually, but it will also have a substantially larger print run than MM1.
This year we will be getting Conspiracy (which seems like fun), and next year we will likely get another Planechase expansion as it is a fairly popular format. Beyond that, we might get either an entirely new summer multiplayer product or an MM2.
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I kind of figured this was the case but hearing that direct from MaRo directly is still a little depressing. I was still really hoping for another print run. Anyway, has WOTC ever done another print run on a set this far after the initial run?
So far what I've noticed from MGTtop8.com it's used primarily in Modern as a sideboard card from time to time and in few numbers. So perhaps it didn't "warrant" its price tag.
As for your comments on Bob, Goyf and Fetches; I don't play Modern but damn right I agree those prices are absurd. Pull a Goyf from a MMA display and the thing is about paid for - absurd. However seeing as WotC printed them at this imaginary Mythic-rarity, does it look like they actually wanted to impact the price?
Also the Kamigawa-dragons they so "elegantly" put in was not that far back around 10-12$ cards, whereas now they can be bought for less than 5$ - except Kokusho who still commands a 8+$ price tag. So it's not like the mythic-rarity didn't cause price-changes, it merely didn't happen to the "prime targets" as they were already heavily sought after.
In general, lets try to bust a myth: Those who crave MMA to be reprinted basically just want:
Bob, Goyf, Clique and Cryptic reprinted? And perhaps a few others which may or may not be warranted - Kiki-Jiki for instance.
Or the chance to actually draft the set (aka it might as well be gold-bordered non-tournament legal cards worth *****)? <- I really liked drafting Modern Masters for the different archtypes/mechanics present (Storm, tokens, Arcane, Basic Landcycling - well not an archtype but still a neat mechanic in the environment, Green Beasties - Imperiosaur was nasty - had a friend get 5 of them in his deck, Suspend, Goblins, Fungus, etc.)
Does anyone (/many?) actually want Modern Masters reprinted as a whole for collecting-value (so not for drafting nor a select few cards within the product while basically discarding the rest)?
I know I only want to have another go at a draft.
WotC doesn't care about the secondary market value of cards. If they did, they wouldn't be able to reprint "fun" cards at all (Such as Bob, Goyf, and the Shocklands to name a few). Also, WotC makes no money from the secondary market, which means that they have no monetary reason to care about it either.
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~~~~~
How many people are willing to pay $30 for a sideboard card in Modern, or $800 worth of fetchlands for a deck, versus how much more people would pay $6.99 for a Modern Masters booster knowing what is in this set?
My point being: LGS's and most fantasy-shops run their business primarily on their sealed products so they are dependent on the product they get in from distributors to sell. Actually imma go on a limp and proclaim a LGS earn less than 15% of their annual revenue from the busted packs.
And just for clarification: I see an LGS as a local shop, so no inclusion of shippers like Channelfireball or their ilk. I'll bet they earn a much larger percentage than the LGS from secondary market.
And while I don't undermine that a "borderline removal" of the secondary market would affect LGSs I doubt very much it would ruin them.
The ongoing factor of no secondary market might however effect the attractiveness of the sealed products - thus further reducing their turn-over. However that is also unlikely to kill the shop's foundation and if it does, then the shop was "ineffective" to begin with.
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Sorry, was responding to combo player and celestial assault. The quote feature doesn't work well (or at all) from my phone.
To respond to you, I have no idea what percentage of LGS profits are derived from secondary market vs. pack sales, etc. I do know that they buy cards for half of what they sell them (give or take), and they sell boxes for about 2/3 of MSRP, so I'm guessing they make a lot more off of individual card sales than they do pack sales, but again, I'm not really sure.
Check out http://www.mtgbrodeals.com/author/john-murphy/ for my EDH articles!
The labour cost is a lot higher for singles. A dealer I know has purposefully been operating with uncompetetive singles prices because he wants to limit this part of his business. It is not worth his time rummaging through (a lot of) binders for them. Of course, this is less of an issue the more expensive the cards. And I guess different shops have different business plans too.
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The difference between us is that I was not exaggerating. Threads of Disloyalty is $26.74 on TCG mid. While it is a great sideboard card, no Modern deck runs that mainboard. Also, Scalding Tarn is $92.48 and Misty Rainforest is $91.13. Believe it or not, there are competitive Modern decks that run 4 of each. And if you look at TCGplayer, besides Affinity (which costs $600), all of the other top 8 decks from GP Richmond costs well in excess of $1,000. If these numbers and the ones on my previous post sound insane, then you are finally seeing how outrageous the prices are.
What do any of those cards have to do with reprinting MM?
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As it stands, people in my area are dropping out of Modern, not due to the bannings, but for the same crap they've been telling me as to why they won't get into Legacy: It's becoming too expensive to build a deck/more than 1 deck.
I suppose I'm special because I bought Dark Confidant for $12 for a set years ago, and I got each fetchland for less than $25 each set and already so I can build any mana base I want, but there are people in my area giving up on playing because their ideal mana bases are too expensive (which, this particular complaint has died out a bit with Deathrite's banning, since not everyone needs fetches to support it as a Birds of Paradise), but there are several people who were buying cards for decks piece by piece that the January-February price spikes wound up just making them give up- one guy just needed to procure Cryptic Commands and was going to do it his next paycheck but they literally doubled in a months' time. Another only had Tarmogoyfs to procure for his Jund build and the Deathrite banning, mixed with Tarmogoyf spiking an additional $70 a copy, priced him out of that. Now with the Deathrite banning, Goyf is even more important and he's just said to hell with it entirely.
All this anecdotal evidence isn't meant to chance one person's opinion on the matter at all, but I will say that I'd just prefer it if the price bottomed out on some of the biggest cards so it wouldn't be the same like 6 guys with the exact same actual Modern decks and 14 guys with either bad jank brews or, like, tier 4 decks showing up for Modern events in my area with no variation of the groups. That's my opinion on it, anyway.
Sig and Avatar drawn by me.
First off, $1000? Seriously, you are complaining about $1000? The average legacy deck is $2000+ on mid prices that you are getting the $1000 from, so relatively, the format is cheap. If you are talking about 6 guys playing the same deck and that getting stale, that is the POINT OF MODERN! Some players want to be able to make and perfect a deck that they know will stand the test of time with mild/moderate changes instead of constantly having to make a new deck. They have a format that accommodate the second type, and its called standard. If you don't like the same guys playing the same decks, then I really think you just have an issue playing modern in the first place. Every time someone gets on here and complains about the price of modern and then cites Bob or Goyf, Domo-kun kills a kitten. There are 2 decks that run Bob (Rock and Jund) and 3 decks that run Goyf (Rock/Jund/RUG Twin), and Rock and Jund are going by the wayside with the DRS ban. Honestly, to call Goyf and Bob staples of modern is a joke to me. If you bring up Goyf/Bob prices as a deterrent to modern, then you are either not a modern player or are naive.
NOW, all that being said, if you want to literally cut modern prices in half, the answer is one card, or should I say 5/10. If you haven't gotten it already, I'm talking about fetchlands. I am an advocate for fetchland reprints. I got playsets of the 5 modern legal fetches at an average of 35 a land. When I saw how they have risen since then, to be honest, I was disgusted. Fetchlands are single-handedly the biggest deterrent to modern for money reasons. That being said, I really find it hard to believe there are more than a handful of players that don't play modern because of fetches. I think if you reprint them the real player base goes up by maybe 10%. Fetchlands, while expensive, are one of the safest investments you have in modern. They aren't standard friendly lands, and they are the biggest staple of the format. Money you spend on fetches is money well spent, just like eternal land staples. While the initial cost is high, you lose far less money than investing in a creature that can be improved on, or worse, banned.
Since my opinion is modern isn't that expensive for being legacy lite, and even reprinting the biggest wallet offender fetches wouldn't do much for the player base, I must have a reason I think modern isn't super popular, right? I do have a reason, and I alluded to it earlier in my post. And that reason is...
Modern is an INHERENTLY stale format. The format is designed so that once you build a deck, you stick with it. While the meta may evolve at pro tours and grand prixs, and even there is doesn't change drastically (even less so than legacy IMO), in your local meta modern will never be a format where your friends bring in different decks each week. I play modern because I know my UWR midrange deck will be viable (sort of) for years to come, and so maybe when I show up with the deck every week everyone knows what I'm playing and moans and groans but that isn't a problem. What makes modern fun is that playing against the different top tier decks requires me to play my deck better and better every single week. I learn the ins and outs of my deck until I master the way it plays and know every single matchup like the back of my hand.
Now, even though decks are relatively expensive in modern, as a non-rotating format they (Wizards) are not focused on getting a fickle player base that complains about prices. They are focused on getting a devoted player base for modern that will keep interest in the format for years. Those type of players may just start with one deck they play every single week for an entire year, but eventually, if they love the format they will invest in a second deck. They will then keep those 2 decks forever. Eventually, given enough time, they will put together a third deck. You can't do that in standard because your decks don't last years. The biggest legacy guy in my playgroup has been playing magic since 1994. He loves legacy and has 5-6 legacy decks. Despite the fact that he started in 1994, he has come and gone at times and I asked him last week about when he built his decks. He said he has added about 1 legacy deck to his collection every 1-2 years. Now, if he wants to come and play legacy he can choose from a collection of deck boxes to add variety. For non-rotating formats, the format loses its staleness after players have been sticking with it for years.
Modern is going through growing pains. Legacy went through growing pains. The answer is not to drop prices and reprint staples because you will be catering to the people who don't REALLY want to play the format. If you want modern to thrive as legacy lite, you want players to make an investment, because the format with thrive with INVESTED players. At my local store, as my anecdotal evidence, the modern players HATE playing against guys who gripe about the price of the format. These are the types of players that you could GIVE a modern deck for free, and they would get tired of playing it, want something different, and quit anyways. If you want to be able to go from deck to deck and don't have the excess cash to do so, modern is not the format for you plain and simple.
TL;DR: I DON'T want Wizards to reprint MM to cater to the crowd who wants cheaper modern because it will weaken the quality of the modern player base, even if it increases the quantity.