In all likelihood, they didn't sell well enough to justify their existence. Same with the Clash Packs. I think they were just too underpowered for FNM (even assuming that not everyone there was playing whatever won the previous Pro Tour). Any time I bought one I had to put in significant effort to make it have a hope of winning some games at FNM, which led to me not buying them anymore.
I remember when two surprising popular cards from the first Innistrad Block where Black Cat and Sanctuary Cat. Cats always seemed to be popular, I think its connected to people loving cat memes/videos.
Or just loving cats in general. One of my friends got into the game because we built her a cat tribal deck, and made custom tokens using pictures of her cats.
I'd suggest finding cards from core sets. You'll remember Xth Edition (4th Edition, 8th Edition, etc). After 2010 they became M1X (M10, M14) based on the year they were released. They'll have the types of cards you're looking for without having a bunch of random new keywords that only existed for a block. Core sets stopped after M15 (although they are returning next year), so you'll have to do some looking around, but cards and booster packs should still be reasonably easy to find for M13-M15.
During one of the pre-releases I attended, the guy running the store played a bunch of Nile (including my favourite songs, "Execration Text" and "Sacrifice unto Sebek") while we built our decks. Got me into the Egyptian mood.
That sounds sort of disruptive. Was everyone able to concentrate and have a good time while there was blast beat drumming and grunting in the background?
It wasn't overly loud, and most people who come out are used to metal playing during evening pre-releases (due to the store-runner being a big metalhead, as well as a good portion of the players). And honestly, if I have to put up with crappy dance music, TV theme songs, and multiple versions of that stupid "Radioactive" song at pre-releases, other people can put up with some death metal sometimes.
During one of the pre-releases I attended, the guy running the store played a bunch of Nile (including my favourite songs, "Execration Text" and "Sacrifice unto Sebek") while we built our decks. Got me into the Egyptian mood.
My group sometimes plays with "The Tower", which is sort of like Planechase (except it existed long before PC did). There's a huge stack of cards in the middle of the table. Whoever goes first is in charge of the Tower. At the beginning of each round of turns, the person in charge flips over the top card. Then its effect happens or is in effect for that round. So if Divination is flipped, everyone will draw two cards, and then everyone takes their turn. Then if Doubling Season is flipped, for the next round its effect is in play for everyone. Flipping the Tower card doesn't use the stack and can't be responded to. We had some cards that would target (such as Doom Blade), but we found they would often overly hurt a specific player, and often just made games take too long, so we cut those cards and kept it to passive effects that just happen or are just in effect.
Very happy to finally see this but I wouldn't expect any more after this, no matter what happens. They will not sell enough...they never have.
Maro has said that in the past they printed as much as a Small Set, instead of as a Supplemental Set (which is presumably a smaller print run). In all likelihood this won't be so overprinted as they will print it as a Supplemental Set. So if it sells well for a Supplemental Set, I could see another one in a few years' time.
Like in the masterpiece section. *it required explaining, and the audience never quite warmed up to it.* You see, it's not because the masterpieces were a visual disaster, it's because the audience just doesn't get it.
He's correct though. Ignoring the subjective "the masterpieces were a visual disaster" complaint (and it is subjective; many people liked how they looked, especially when they saw the masterpieces in person), the theme did require explaining, as it didn't make any sense just by looking at the cards (and in relation to the name, "Invocations"), and most players didn't buy into that theme. While the playerbase was divided over the looks of the cards, they were pretty united in their confusion with the theme.
Someone still hasn't answered this question yet: what is the main appeal of the Un-sets besides the lands and the nostalgia, and why should my friends and I buy any of this product?
Because it's fun. It's wacky, silly, and leads to a night of wacky silly fun (feel free to add your choice of beverage). After you've drafted it, throw some of the more fun cards into your kitchen table decks. Make a silver-bordered deck. Make a cube with silver-bordered cards in it.
For those who are only interested in tournament formats and whether the cards are tournament-legal, then this set probably isn't for you. And that's ok. The majority of Magic players are casual kitchen-table players, not tournament players, and that's who this set is for. Sometimes Wizards makes tournament-helping Masters sets, and sometimes they make Casual-only sets. Everyone gets their share of fun.
I will never understand why they need to name every core set with the number of next year, not current one.
Because big retailers like Wal-Mart won't stock products with last year on them, meaning that come Jan 2019, they would stop stocking it if it was called M18. But if it's called M19, they'll stock it in both 2018 and 2019.
RTR - Blue, Theros - Green, Khans - Red, BFZ - White, SOI - Black. Is that correct? Where does Kaladesh fit in (or does it)?
Or just loving cats in general. One of my friends got into the game because we built her a cat tribal deck, and made custom tokens using pictures of her cats.
Yes. "5 premium basic lands by artist Mark Poole (known as the "Shooting Star Lands")"
Yes to the dividers. They're very helpful for keeping track of all my decks (that I keep in holiday boxes).
It wasn't overly loud, and most people who come out are used to metal playing during evening pre-releases (due to the store-runner being a big metalhead, as well as a good portion of the players). And honestly, if I have to put up with crappy dance music, TV theme songs, and multiple versions of that stupid "Radioactive" song at pre-releases, other people can put up with some death metal sometimes.
Maro has said that in the past they printed as much as a Small Set, instead of as a Supplemental Set (which is presumably a smaller print run). In all likelihood this won't be so overprinted as they will print it as a Supplemental Set. So if it sells well for a Supplemental Set, I could see another one in a few years' time.
"No Peregrine Falcons were harmed in the production of this product."
He's correct though. Ignoring the subjective "the masterpieces were a visual disaster" complaint (and it is subjective; many people liked how they looked, especially when they saw the masterpieces in person), the theme did require explaining, as it didn't make any sense just by looking at the cards (and in relation to the name, "Invocations"), and most players didn't buy into that theme. While the playerbase was divided over the looks of the cards, they were pretty united in their confusion with the theme.
Because it's fun. It's wacky, silly, and leads to a night of wacky silly fun (feel free to add your choice of beverage). After you've drafted it, throw some of the more fun cards into your kitchen table decks. Make a silver-bordered deck. Make a cube with silver-bordered cards in it.
For those who are only interested in tournament formats and whether the cards are tournament-legal, then this set probably isn't for you. And that's ok. The majority of Magic players are casual kitchen-table players, not tournament players, and that's who this set is for. Sometimes Wizards makes tournament-helping Masters sets, and sometimes they make Casual-only sets. Everyone gets their share of fun.
Unlikely, since that would be functional errata (flip cards have different rules than transform cards), which Wizards doesn't do.
Because big retailers like Wal-Mart won't stock products with last year on them, meaning that come Jan 2019, they would stop stocking it if it was called M18. But if it's called M19, they'll stock it in both 2018 and 2019.
Maro explains it here.