I have played Modern for a while, and I was thinking about picking up a Tron deck.
The maindeck seems like it has a tough match-up against the UR Combo and hyper-aggressive strategies (burn and Boros). For the storm decks, could you not just run Chalice of the Void? Setting at two seems easily attainable, and by the time you have four mana, you have probably played out most of your two-cc cards. For Twin decks, Combust still seems the best route. Are Pyroclasm effects, Wurmcoil Engine, and Batterskull the best outs to aggressive decks?
Given that we have only seen 3 of 5 (and eventually 10) of the charms, there is always going to be one that is the worst. At this point, we haven't seen the Rakdos one, so Azorius looks pretty bad.
All kidding aside, I think that it is extremely powerful in Limited, where the first and third ability become very relevant. In Constructed however, U/W decks aren't really known for reaching creature stalemates, which is what this card seems to be designed to break.
The second ability is a huge cop-out, but one of the charms had to get it.
I highly doubt WotC would charge 75$ for a pile of garbage. While this set is being marketed as "Commander Only", they need to have some kind of appeal to eternal players/secondary markets so these don't rot on the shelves like every duel deck since Elspeth v. Tezz.
This quote, taken from the Rumor Mill, pretty much sums it up:
$75 is actually reasonable, it's not cheap but it's not out of nowhere and unexplained...
Let's say that each foil is worth $4, which is average price (and Sylvan Library is probably going to be a LOT more than that), so that's 18 x $4= $72.
Sleeves: don't know about you guys but decent sleeves here are about $4-5 a pack of 50, so let's say that's $15.
The 99 life funky dice: quick Google search puts 100 sided dice at average $10. So let's say $10 for this one as well, it's unique and funky funky.
Oversize cards, SCG again, varies from $2 to $10 depending on which general, so let's say $2 for these, so $20.
Those counters, that's a little harder to judge, so we'll go a couple bucks for it, so $2. And that's probably cheap for it
Total: $119 in value give or take.
It doesn't take into consideration what the 18 cards are, some might very well be worth over $4, while others might not.
Also, even if you valued each card at $2 instead of $4, the total value is still $80. $2 is probably closer to what they value them at, looking at the foil Shards pack which were $12-15 for 13 cards, so it's a dollar increase, but this is also all general and/or never foiled before. So these at $2, even $4 per card is reasonable, comparable to previous products.
Can also be compared to FtV: $40 gets you only 15 foil. For $35 more you get: 3 more foils, 10 foil oversize, 120 sleeves, funky dice and tokens, all of which are worth close to $35...
Now, I'm not saying that $75 is an easy amount to get, I'll probably have issues getting it, but it's also not out of the blue or unreasonable of them...
Even if it was just the main five generals (Kaalia, Zedruu, Mimeo, Ghave, and Riku), four of those are extremely popular. Let's go further, and assume that given the Mimeo spoiler, that there are all 10 generals from the pre-cons in there. That alone could easily justify the price of the arsenal.
Also, the price tag on the Sylvan Library should be compared to the black border version, not the white bordered one.
Command Tower is not going to have the judge foil price tag, but it is hardly going to rot in binders.
Commander's Arsenal seems expensive, but WotC has two more months to prove it will be worth every penny.
Yes, I am, but I think it's attributed to the environment we are in. RtR is being hyped far more than INN was. From Shockland speculations, to pictures of a new Jace, to reminiscing about Ravnica Block, and seeing if they can make the prereleases more entertaining, all of this makes Standard look like chopped liver.
I am excited for RtR, and I don't really want to wait for another two months to start busting packs.
Play more politically? I generally tend to answer problem cards/players more so than using Karador to recur threats over and over. Necrotic Sliver to get rid of one huge fatty is better than Wrathing the whole table. Spore Frog to keep the aggro player in check until everyone can stabilize. Acidic Slime for their Cabal Coffers. If EDH is all about crazy plays, make sure EVERYONE gets to make one.
If you keep the table happy, then they will be less likely to rain on your parade.
They are quite good, the main problem is that people often don't ask permission beforehand. If I'm in the middle of the game, and out of nowhere you Burning Wish, I won't be happy. It takes all of five seconds to ask if you can use a wishboard, and it clears up a lot of problems later down the line. I have had Living Wish in a deck for at least three months, but I always clarify it's okay with the entire table before I draw my seven. In those same three months, no one has had a problem.
My main (and currently only) deck is Karador, where I play 5 fetches and Krosan Verge. I also have Life from the Loam in the deck to use lands I dredge past. If/when I find one, I want to add Crucible of Worlds. All of these cards are quite good in my deck, but they work even better when I add snakes. I would plan to get rid of Yavimaya Elder for it anyway, because it turns out he's obnoxiously slow.
From the comments I've seen, it seems like Cobra is good when you play lands, something I plan to be doing quite often.
Also, I think Cobra is better as a 2/1, so that when it fulfills its purpose, I can Skullclamp it.
I can imagine the reasons for running it in 1v1, but how good is it in multiplayer? Is it good without fetches? In a typical three color deck, how many fetches does it take? 3? 9? 0?
pros:
Playing the land on your turn
Playing land from your graveyard (crucible of worlds)
Playing land from your library (oracle of mul daya, future sight)
cons:
Less land out when you have a huge grip
Burgeoning looks good on paper, but unless you have a 4 land starter, with burgeoning, you're not going to get the full effect out of it.
Say this is Turn 1 and you have one of them in hand (assuming a 4 player game, and no one misses a land drop)
1 land hand - no difference
2 land hand - turn 1- exploration gets extra land, on turn 2- no difference
3 land hand - turn 1- exploration gets extra land, on turn 2 -burgeoning will have 1 extra, but on your land per turn, you'd have no difference
4 land hand - turn 1- exploration gets extra land, on turn 2- burgeoning will have 2 extra land, but you could just play the other 2 land cards in your hand, so there would be no difference.
So the only way burgeoning would be better, is if you had a 4 land hand, and you drew lots of land on your next few turns
You've got to have a HUGE hand with a LOT of land, otherwise exploration is almost always better- at the very least a LOT more consistent.
Correct me if my math is wrong though
Your math is completely correct. The choice to run Burgeoning or Exploration (or both) comes down to how many Karoos you run and who your general is.
With an aggressive general, I would run Burgeoning first, but would prefer both.
With a general that wants control of the board, I would use Exploration.
Though honestly, if your deck can't take the hate that a turn one Sol Ring brings, you're in for a world of hurt if you play either of these two enchantments. The game goes from casual to Archenemy real quick.
I have Armada Wurm in play, and my opponent casts and targets it with Oblivion Ring. I control no other tokens, and I cast Sundering Growth on the Oblivion Ring. Can I populate the 5/5 token?
The maindeck seems like it has a tough match-up against the UR Combo and hyper-aggressive strategies (burn and Boros). For the storm decks, could you not just run Chalice of the Void? Setting at two seems easily attainable, and by the time you have four mana, you have probably played out most of your two-cc cards. For Twin decks, Combust still seems the best route. Are Pyroclasm effects, Wurmcoil Engine, and Batterskull the best outs to aggressive decks?
All kidding aside, I think that it is extremely powerful in Limited, where the first and third ability become very relevant. In Constructed however, U/W decks aren't really known for reaching creature stalemates, which is what this card seems to be designed to break.
The second ability is a huge cop-out, but one of the charms had to get it.
Without Birds of Paradise though the deck could have issues. I would still try it.
This quote, taken from the Rumor Mill, pretty much sums it up:
Even if it was just the main five generals (Kaalia, Zedruu, Mimeo, Ghave, and Riku), four of those are extremely popular. Let's go further, and assume that given the Mimeo spoiler, that there are all 10 generals from the pre-cons in there. That alone could easily justify the price of the arsenal.
Also, the price tag on the Sylvan Library should be compared to the black border version, not the white bordered one.
Command Tower is not going to have the judge foil price tag, but it is hardly going to rot in binders.
Commander's Arsenal seems expensive, but WotC has two more months to prove it will be worth every penny.
I am excited for RtR, and I don't really want to wait for another two months to start busting packs.
If you keep the table happy, then they will be less likely to rain on your parade.
From the comments I've seen, it seems like Cobra is good when you play lands, something I plan to be doing quite often.
Also, I think Cobra is better as a 2/1, so that when it fulfills its purpose, I can Skullclamp it.
Finally, is it busted with Oboro, Palace in the Clouds?
Your math is completely correct. The choice to run Burgeoning or Exploration (or both) comes down to how many Karoos you run and who your general is.
Karoos (as already mentioned) are much better with Burgeoning than Exploration.
With an aggressive general, I would run Burgeoning first, but would prefer both.
With a general that wants control of the board, I would use Exploration.
Though honestly, if your deck can't take the hate that a turn one Sol Ring brings, you're in for a world of hurt if you play either of these two enchantments. The game goes from casual to Archenemy real quick.