I'm a big fan of Grixis decks in this format. I have seen some lists running one of your favourite cards in their sb as a sweet value 1-of for the grindy mirror matches. It has great synergy with Kolaghan's Command. I also feel like once you get Snapcaster, you might want to try out 1 Rise//Fall. It might not be worth it in the more aggressive shell, so I'd proxy it up to see if it's any good before picking it up since I think it's like a $2 uncommon or something now.
I would avoid Radiant Fountain in this deck for the reasons that you already mentioned… The fact Sultai really can't afford to jam Radiant Fountains is why I switched to UB control, since the inability to gain life led to a lot of frustrating games where I'd establish control and then get burned out by a Siege Rhino with a kill spell in my hand or something.
I've seen some lists main deck 2 Drown in Sorrow to have more game in pre-board games against the hyper aggressive decks, so if you're cutting down on Bile Blight, that could be a consideration.
I can relate to a lot of this. I'm also an alcoholic who just can't figure out how to quit, even though it's blatantly obvious that it's going to kill me. The only thing that really grants me any sort of reprieve from the cravings to be intoxicated is Magic, and even that is sketchy nowadays. I've played drunk, hitting the bar between rounds for the last several events I've been to. AA Meetings just weren't for me at all and I thought that I could handle it until my third month sober, I ended up hurting someone whom I still care a lot about more than either one of us will admit and that pushed me right back to the bars.
The feelings that come with this disease are just so disgusting. It feels like I'm literally tied down to the barstool and can't leave some nights, like I physically can't leave. Not because I'm too drunk to move (although that happens occasionally), but because I need my fix and can't leave until I get it. The lack of control is nauseating. I hope that you find a way out of this. I'm unfortunately still in a similar position of not knowing what to do myself, so I can't offer much advice on that front, but if you are in need of someone to talk to about any of this kind of stuff, please feel free to message me. The one part of AA that stuck with me was that we were all there to help each other, so I'll gladly offer what assistance I can, even if it's only listening.
1) Sounds a little sketchy, but it's really up to them how they want to operate. As long as they're making customers aware that the packs have been searched, I don't think it's too much of an issue. It's just sounds like more of a hassle to deal with than I'd want as a small business owner. I wonder if the time spent opening carefully enough to reseal+re-insert the cards is worth it for them.
2) I think it's important that there be some people there who are open to including the younger crowd in discussions and pick-up games. I'm not saying be that person, I'm more saying that I'd be wary of investing in a shop for the long haul that doesn't foster the growth of it's future customer base. Just asking if they want feedback regarding decks or matches from previous rounds* can be helpful if they are open to that kind of thing.
3) If it's a new thing like your post suggests, it might be worth considering if you're doing anything differently when you approach them or something. Also, like others have previously mentioned, Magic players can be kinda clique-y and it's tough to get in with that crowd from the outside. I've found the best way to get there is to just keep showing up and doing well. The more they get used to sitting across from you in later rounds, the more comfortable they'll be interacting with you between rounds.
4) New card shops are honestly pretty terrifying for me too. This situation sounds like one where it might be worth the discomfort of getting used to a new location, though, since the other card shop (the one you don't currently go to) sounds significantly better in most ways. I'm a fan of the idea put forward by SSJRanulf, just giving the new place a try for a few weeks with the old store being a fallback option if things don't go well at the new place.
Whatever you decide for, I hope you get the results that you want in the end!
*When offering feedback on games from previous rounds, I find it best to wait at least 5 minutes or so after the match has completed or not at all if they're visibly upset over the result after that time has passed.
I'm actually so wasted right now, I shouldn't be interacting with other humans. I will just spew whatever is on my mind at this point, which is really not good for me.
Speaking from experience as a vendor, you either lower your prices when the demand dies down or you sit on your investment for a long time. Most of us are not eager to let money sit, even if it means taking a little bit of a loss on our initial investment. Money on the shelf is money that can't be reinvested into more in demand products, after all.
I get the feeling that most people who complain about SCG don't understand this point. They see it as no big deal to simply sit on a hundred copies of Wasteland and wait for the price to go up. As long as they earn some positive amount of money off of each sale, they've won!
What they don't realize is that the time it takes to sell it off has a value, and the money that's tied up in slowly selling wastelands could be much more efficiently earning for the company in the meantime if it were invested in, for example, standard staples that trade faster. Not only is my money tied up in those wastelands that are selling slowly (since not that many people are willing to buy wastelands at the price I set), that's money I no longer have to spend on other inventory. I might be sitting on $10,000 worth of wastelands, but if I can only get two sales a week at $200 each it'll be nearly six months before I can get that money back. Operating a store means I need to pay salaries, benefits, utilities, taxes, rent, and other operating costs on top of just buying the stock. Slow-moving stock is a terrible place for a store to put its capital.
I guess sometimes I take for granted the fact that I have perspective that not everyone does. My impression of the situation is that you're 100% correct. I haven't seen a single argument on this forum or social media about SCG's supposed "monopoly" that didn't amount to little more than whining about how high prices were with no actual reasonable points to back up their position.
I'm super curious to see what the OP's response to all of this is.
In my opinion, wizards needs to hire economists who can manage the task of regulating the supply of eternal staples.
I guess that would depend if you would prefer an imperfect regulated market economy driven by supply side economics or an unregulated (of sorts considering their reserved list, ban list and rarities) free market economy.
Not quite a free market economy. Many buyers in this market aren't price sensitive and the vendors, while eager to follow demand spikes by raising prices, are not so eager to lower prices when demand falls. But demand is certainly a component.
Speaking from experience as a vendor, you either lower your prices when the demand dies down or you sit on your investment for a long time. Most of us are not eager to let money sit, even if it means taking a little bit of a loss on our initial investment. Money on the shelf is money that can't be reinvested into more in demand products, after all.
I'm going to start this out by saying that people saying "SCG controls the secondary market" is probably one of my biggest pet peeves ever, so congratulations for making a video on the subject that didn't make me shut it off five minutes in.
Others have covered almost everything else better than I would so I'll just pick up here. Your example of SCG raising the prices on fetches to $500 is just mind bogglingly absurd. What happens in that scenario is every other player in the secondary market game would ship SCG max quantity on their buy list and be happy because that number is clearly not real. Also, fetch lands spiking has very little if anything to do with SCG and plenty to do with basic supply and demand which you seem to understand. We just had the largest constructed tournament ever, and it was modern. It had 4,3000 players. The popularity of the modern format is making cards that only have one printing, like fetch lands, Threads of Disloyalty, etc go insane because the supply is nowhere near what the demand is.
The ridiculous price of Magic cards isn't SCG's fault. They're just the most visible symptom of the effects that the steadily increasing popularity of Magic is having on the secondary market because they put themselves in the spotlight.
I put all that stuff in my purse. Assuming I remember to pack it all, that is. Occasionally I'll leave my keys on top of my terrarium, which always makes things interesting.
I can relate, Wizards of the Coast constant need to print cards like Kor Firewalker and Burrenton Forge-Tender has made me hate Magic enough to almost get mad enough to complain about it on an internet forum.
I've seen some lists main deck 2 Drown in Sorrow to have more game in pre-board games against the hyper aggressive decks, so if you're cutting down on Bile Blight, that could be a consideration.
The feelings that come with this disease are just so disgusting. It feels like I'm literally tied down to the barstool and can't leave some nights, like I physically can't leave. Not because I'm too drunk to move (although that happens occasionally), but because I need my fix and can't leave until I get it. The lack of control is nauseating. I hope that you find a way out of this. I'm unfortunately still in a similar position of not knowing what to do myself, so I can't offer much advice on that front, but if you are in need of someone to talk to about any of this kind of stuff, please feel free to message me. The one part of AA that stuck with me was that we were all there to help each other, so I'll gladly offer what assistance I can, even if it's only listening.
2) I think it's important that there be some people there who are open to including the younger crowd in discussions and pick-up games. I'm not saying be that person, I'm more saying that I'd be wary of investing in a shop for the long haul that doesn't foster the growth of it's future customer base. Just asking if they want feedback regarding decks or matches from previous rounds* can be helpful if they are open to that kind of thing.
3) If it's a new thing like your post suggests, it might be worth considering if you're doing anything differently when you approach them or something. Also, like others have previously mentioned, Magic players can be kinda clique-y and it's tough to get in with that crowd from the outside. I've found the best way to get there is to just keep showing up and doing well. The more they get used to sitting across from you in later rounds, the more comfortable they'll be interacting with you between rounds.
4) New card shops are honestly pretty terrifying for me too. This situation sounds like one where it might be worth the discomfort of getting used to a new location, though, since the other card shop (the one you don't currently go to) sounds significantly better in most ways. I'm a fan of the idea put forward by SSJRanulf, just giving the new place a try for a few weeks with the old store being a fallback option if things don't go well at the new place.
Whatever you decide for, I hope you get the results that you want in the end!
*When offering feedback on games from previous rounds, I find it best to wait at least 5 minutes or so after the match has completed or not at all if they're visibly upset over the result after that time has passed.
I guess sometimes I take for granted the fact that I have perspective that not everyone does. My impression of the situation is that you're 100% correct. I haven't seen a single argument on this forum or social media about SCG's supposed "monopoly" that didn't amount to little more than whining about how high prices were with no actual reasonable points to back up their position.
I'm super curious to see what the OP's response to all of this is.
Speaking from experience as a vendor, you either lower your prices when the demand dies down or you sit on your investment for a long time. Most of us are not eager to let money sit, even if it means taking a little bit of a loss on our initial investment. Money on the shelf is money that can't be reinvested into more in demand products, after all.
Others have covered almost everything else better than I would so I'll just pick up here. Your example of SCG raising the prices on fetches to $500 is just mind bogglingly absurd. What happens in that scenario is every other player in the secondary market game would ship SCG max quantity on their buy list and be happy because that number is clearly not real. Also, fetch lands spiking has very little if anything to do with SCG and plenty to do with basic supply and demand which you seem to understand. We just had the largest constructed tournament ever, and it was modern. It had 4,3000 players. The popularity of the modern format is making cards that only have one printing, like fetch lands, Threads of Disloyalty, etc go insane because the supply is nowhere near what the demand is.
The ridiculous price of Magic cards isn't SCG's fault. They're just the most visible symptom of the effects that the steadily increasing popularity of Magic is having on the secondary market because they put themselves in the spotlight.