Quiznos and Sbarro have each individually filed for bankruptcy this week. What has this world come to?
(BTW, Hot Dog on a Stick is also bankrupt. I guess it serves these restaurants right for serving horrible food. Especially Sbarros for selling overpriced, leftover pizza that needs to be reheated.)
My thoughts exactly on Sbarro.
Quizno's quality has gone down considerably in the last 10 years and yet prices are still high. When chains get huge the "business" people that take over try to get margins so high that they remove what made the business attractive to customers.
Seriously? I'm not complaining, but, what inflate them? Bitterblossom unbanning?
Source : SCG
I bought the last 2 Remand's at SCG for 10.00 a piece. After those copies were gone.. 18. They really seem to be testing the waters with these prices. " let's throw out something crazy and see who bites".
I'm not making this post to thumb my nose at anyone, or hold myself in any special regard as a Legacy player, I'm simply calling it as I see it, and offering it as a warning that Wizards will not be doing anything to address the prices of Legacy any time soon, and probably not ever. Best case thing you can hope for is a Wasteland reprint, or FoW showing up in an unobtainable FTV print, or maybe a judge foil. Maybe Zen fetches get a reprint. The format is not in any danger of dying, and evidence of that is pretty clear by the numbers of expensive cards still selling. SCG is sold out of Underground Seas at $250. They have 10 MP ones at $200. There are 9 remaining NM copies on TCG player. 18 seas of varying editions were sold in the last two days alone on a certain auction site. Somebody is buying them, and they're being bought in the $200-$250 range. I use Sea as an example, of course, because right now it seems to be the card price that is drawing the most shock and ire from players, but there were 27 Hierarchs sold in the last two days at their new, "insane, unaffordable" price. It seems that staples would have to reach vintage-esque pricing before demand would noticeably taper off.
My concern is that the people buying the Underground Seas aren't even playing with them, but are instead trying to make a profit. Investors buying from investors hoping to sell to other investors. There isn't anything wrong with turning a profit, but you can only play hot potato with a commodity so long before somebody is holding it when the price drops. I'm not entirely convinced that the demand is real.
I couldn't agree more. There are shops with cases full of expensive modern cards that don't even hold Modern events. Some of these shops have attempted to hold events, but the interest is not there. The competitive modern scene is sorely lacking when you consider the explosive upward price movements of modern staples.
The current upward trend for staples does feel like a bubble. In many places modern brings a horrible turnout, but the staples continue to skyrocket. We are going to hit a point where the barrier to entry is far too high for a vast majority of players. I believe this will cause a level off of prices which will then lead to a decline one. Once the " get the card now before the price is out of control" attitude is gone, staples will become much more reasonable.
I went to a Modern tournament at my LGS last night. We had 7 players, not enough for a sanctioned event. So, the store offered a $6 draft and we ended up doing a 4 player Modern tournament. It was still fun, but I just wish more people would have showed up.
To me, Modern is easier to get into because I will never have to switch my deck and I won't have to worry about price drops when the cards rotate. (Like Thragtusk for example.)
This is typical at my LGS. A few people show up, but not enough for a sanctioned event. After a few weeks, I gave up.
Many competitive decks are three colors decks that utilize fetchlands making mana-bases insanely expensive. There are other staples that need to come down to make the format more accessible.
Modern prices suggest that the format is thriving, but event attendance suggests otherwise.
Standard. Even If I bring a tier 2 modern deck to casual play, I still get complaints.
Everybody is dropping Geist of St. Trafts, Thragtusks, Boros Reckoners, Hunmaster's, etc, but if you play a decent creature that isn't standard legal, it's considered broken.
These dealers are just trying to cash in on the hype. There are not many spoilers and that works to their advantage. You have little information to make a rational decision. They are hoping your imagination runs wild with all the great cards that could be in the set or that you panic on missing out.
Wizards has already jacked the price up of these boosters up 75% over a normal set. Paying a 60+% over that mark-up and paying 11.50 plus for a pack ( purchased by the box is likely to be a poor investment.
The problem is in these group of very good cards, the power level between this tier of very good cards and the next lower tier is so huge it invalidates anytime else that does not belong in the same tier as them, so makes it a boring meta when everyone plays the same bunch of cards.
It is roughly the top 6% of cards that dominate standard. The is a huge gulf between the power level of these cards and all other cards in standard.
For casual brews you have many choices, but in competitive play, you have to get those top 6% heavily into your deck. They are too good not to play. There is little room for much creativity with the power at the top tier.
For example, Thragtusk and Restoration Angel blink combo. For 4 mana (3 colorless) you get a 3/4 flyer, a 3/3 beast and gain 5 life. There just isn't much to compete with that power especially on a budget.
In Modern, fetch lands see tons of play almost ensuring that there will always be a land in the yard. Instant, Sorcery and Creature cards appear very quickly. He is an easy 4-5.
Planeswalkers, Enchantments, and Artifacts probably appear quite a bit less than the types above, but even if only one of those types hits the yard ( In addition to types above), he is a 5-6.
There isn't really any other creature with that low of a mana cost ( I'm also considering its only 1 Green and colorless) with at power and toughness level.
Probably my biggest complaint with v4. There is tons of space on my screen, but it can't be used.
My thoughts exactly on Sbarro.
Quizno's quality has gone down considerably in the last 10 years and yet prices are still high. When chains get huge the "business" people that take over try to get margins so high that they remove what made the business attractive to customers.
I bought the last 2 Remand's at SCG for 10.00 a piece. After those copies were gone.. 18. They really seem to be testing the waters with these prices. " let's throw out something crazy and see who bites".
I couldn't agree more. There are shops with cases full of expensive modern cards that don't even hold Modern events. Some of these shops have attempted to hold events, but the interest is not there. The competitive modern scene is sorely lacking when you consider the explosive upward price movements of modern staples.
This is typical at my LGS. A few people show up, but not enough for a sanctioned event. After a few weeks, I gave up.
Many competitive decks are three colors decks that utilize fetchlands making mana-bases insanely expensive. There are other staples that need to come down to make the format more accessible.
Modern prices suggest that the format is thriving, but event attendance suggests otherwise.
Everybody is dropping Geist of St. Trafts, Thragtusks, Boros Reckoners, Hunmaster's, etc, but if you play a decent creature that isn't standard legal, it's considered broken.
The most expensive card during Pre-Release at 35.00. Now at 4.00 and from what I've seen it sees 0 competitive play.
Wizards has already jacked the price up of these boosters up 75% over a normal set. Paying a 60+% over that mark-up and paying 11.50 plus for a pack ( purchased by the box is likely to be a poor investment.
Massive life gain via Thragtusk, Restoration Angel, Spinhinx Revelation, Etc. That is the only thing keeping control viable.
It is roughly the top 6% of cards that dominate standard. The is a huge gulf between the power level of these cards and all other cards in standard.
For casual brews you have many choices, but in competitive play, you have to get those top 6% heavily into your deck. They are too good not to play. There is little room for much creativity with the power at the top tier.
For example, Thragtusk and Restoration Angel blink combo. For 4 mana (3 colorless) you get a 3/4 flyer, a 3/3 beast and gain 5 life. There just isn't much to compete with that power especially on a budget.
Planeswalkers, Enchantments, and Artifacts probably appear quite a bit less than the types above, but even if only one of those types hits the yard ( In addition to types above), he is a 5-6.
There isn't really any other creature with that low of a mana cost ( I'm also considering its only 1 Green and colorless) with at power and toughness level.