Unlike earlier sets, Wizards refuses to publish correct rarities or seem to even acknowledge they do track printing at all. The result is you have people who have opened cases of cards and notice the disparities between cards amongst the same rarities. They tally the cards, do a bit of math, and discover there’s track printing. Then you have the staunch supporters of WotC who absolutely refuse to believe that WotC would ever do such a thing.
Hiding information is never good. You build trust by being truthful, I will never trust WotC as long as they don't release numbers or at least partial numbers of printings or the ratio of track printings. I buy of course, but am ever hesitant.
Staunch Supporters choose to bury their head in the sand. I understand wanting to have absolute proof. That proof is only going to come if a government edict forces them to disclose it. You hook someone on the game, you stack the odds against them so they have to buy more, you make more money selling them more. Its a great setup for them and I don't really blame them for doing it. But its sleazy.
Large volume sellers have claimed that it occurs, anecdotal evidence points to it as well. Bury your head in the sand but it was a thing as they have admitted in the past and it appears to be occurring currently as well. The proof will never come until WotC is forced to give us numbers. The only way they will ever be forced to do so is by government regulation in the form of gambling laws.
The video is DEAD ON. I have NO connection to that person whatsoever but he speaks the truth and a smart consumer should remember what he says. Odds are stacked against you and it will only get worse until it gets better.
So when is Pauper actually going to be "unified"? There are paper versions legal that have never been "printed" on MTGO. I'd like to play these cards online but they aren't available. I have a hard time calling the format Unified when it isn't.
Sadly the meta isn't unhealty enough for anything to eat a ban, so we're stuck trying to beat Tron for the next while.
Don't be so sure. There could be "hope". Ghostly Flicker is unhealthy for the format in its degenerate combo with Mnemonic Wall/Archaeomancer/Stonehorn Dignitary. I also wouldn't be surprised to see a Moment's Peace ban down the road either. Keep your head up.
And yes about the only way to combat Tron in Red is to be blazingly fast. Unless you just want to go mono-red LD.
Player type/attitude non-withstanding you may want to try Pauper. You can build a competitive deck for under 100 bucks, sometimes even under 50 bucks and just really have a good time in the format if you like to brew as its cheap. With WotC now picking up Pauper as a unified format and giving it "official" status it really will become a Legacy-Lite format as it actually has been for quite some time.
I don't concern myself with Standard and its rotation so I don't play it. I'm not a multiplayer Magic type so I skip EDH/Commander. I am in the process of giving up on Modern due to cost. I hear your concerns as I am a 48 year old, playing since 1994, husband, father, bread-winner, mortgage paying, tax paying professional career person. Keep up your search, the game is bigger than the dweebs out there that ruin it.
What are some good ways to combat it (for aggro and weenie decks) outside the usual LD and toughness buff strategies? Ideas for MTGO? Camel I believe is only good in Paper.
Basically what RDW has already been doing: Don't play any creatures with only 1 Toughness.
If they get 2, they're still down 2 lands and losing life every turn, and it might be tough for them to get out of your momentum.
Thanks but that really isn't a combat against it but a concession to the card. I found one single card and its not even that good that could be SB material in white, Field Surgeon. That's it. I guess for now its LD and toughness buffs. We really need Ghost Quarter in Pauper.
As for the above combo, its a 5 card combo. Interesting but as said far too complicated to be reliable it seems.
What are some good ways to combat it (for aggro and weenie decks) outside the usual LD and toughness buff strategies? Ideas for MTGO? Camel I believe is only good in Paper.
It probably would be easier to ban the reserve list uncommons stuff, FoW and SDT right off the bat. And possibly any other uncommons that are banned in Legacy and Modern. Just like any other format a close eye would need to be kept on the metagame.
I guess it could work. A casual peak at the stats currently show 6,511 unique cards printed at uncommon. For comparison, there are 7,169 unique common cards. Not counting unset cards or considering any overlap. A difference of 658 isn’t too bad.
It would be an interesting format to fiddle with. A cursory scan shows some of the ever important “glue” cards are available, not sure if all or if enough of them are there but there are some at least.
The most pressing would be the cost. A check of some of the higher price cards show some depressing prices. One of the attractions Pauper has, I think, is the generally lower entry cost associated with it. A format like Uncle might potentially put the price point somewhere close to Legacy level nonsense.
I think it’s an interesting proposition but I don’t understand the appeal such a format would have. Who would play such a format?
I think the format would actually have to have some bans based on price strangely enough. Maybe Bazaar, Library and FoW could be the 3 bans to start the format. I was thinking of a more budget friendly Legacy with a hint of Pauper thrown in. So many uncommons out there sitting in bulk bins and binders waiting to be played. Not good enough for Modern or Legacy but good enough for its own format.
This has probably been brought up at some point, but how about a format that runs from the beginning (Alpha) to now(M20), includes all cards from Commander sets as well and will ONLY be uncommons (except BASIC LANDS)? Not to be confused with Peasant format.
I would call it Uncle. No commons, no rares, no mythics. (again accept basic lands). We now have some playable Legends and Planeswalkers at uncommon and there is a ton of stuff out there as well.
I enjoy playing Pauper and I think this format would have a similar appeal. Not sure what would dominate the format or if there would need to be any bans off the top (like Force of Will, Bazaar of Bagdad, Library of Alexandria, etc.) but I am curious if others would like a format as such. Would be very much a Legacy-Lite or a Pauper Plus I would imagine. Your thoughts?
Hiding information is never good. You build trust by being truthful, I will never trust WotC as long as they don't release numbers or at least partial numbers of printings or the ratio of track printings. I buy of course, but am ever hesitant.
Staunch Supporters choose to bury their head in the sand. I understand wanting to have absolute proof. That proof is only going to come if a government edict forces them to disclose it. You hook someone on the game, you stack the odds against them so they have to buy more, you make more money selling them more. Its a great setup for them and I don't really blame them for doing it. But its sleazy.
Large volume sellers have claimed that it occurs, anecdotal evidence points to it as well. Bury your head in the sand but it was a thing as they have admitted in the past and it appears to be occurring currently as well. The proof will never come until WotC is forced to give us numbers. The only way they will ever be forced to do so is by government regulation in the form of gambling laws.
The video is DEAD ON. I have NO connection to that person whatsoever but he speaks the truth and a smart consumer should remember what he says. Odds are stacked against you and it will only get worse until it gets better.
Don't be so sure. There could be "hope".
And yes about the only way to combat Tron in Red is to be blazingly fast. Unless you just want to go mono-red LD.
Player type/attitude non-withstanding you may want to try Pauper. You can build a competitive deck for under 100 bucks, sometimes even under 50 bucks and just really have a good time in the format if you like to brew as its cheap. With WotC now picking up Pauper as a unified format and giving it "official" status it really will become a Legacy-Lite format as it actually has been for quite some time.
I don't concern myself with Standard and its rotation so I don't play it. I'm not a multiplayer Magic type so I skip EDH/Commander. I am in the process of giving up on Modern due to cost. I hear your concerns as I am a 48 year old, playing since 1994, husband, father, bread-winner, mortgage paying, tax paying professional career person. Keep up your search, the game is bigger than the dweebs out there that ruin it.
Wizards will deny it. Fanboys will deny it, but it is real. No tinfoil hat needed. Here is a good video from today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDZIVxeA4gw
Hits the nail on the head.
Thanks but that really isn't a combat against it but a concession to the card. I found one single card and its not even that good that could be SB material in white, Field Surgeon. That's it.
As for the above combo, its a 5 card combo. Interesting but as said far too complicated to be reliable it seems.
What are some good ways to combat it (for aggro and weenie decks) outside the usual LD and toughness buff strategies? Ideas for MTGO? Camel I believe is only good in Paper.
I am already jamming Goblin Grenade.
Desert seems quite likely as well as the Red and Blue Elemental Blasts in certain sideboards.
Any other cards stand out?
I think the format would actually have to have some bans based on price strangely enough. Maybe Bazaar, Library and FoW could be the 3 bans to start the format. I was thinking of a more budget friendly Legacy with a hint of Pauper thrown in. So many uncommons out there sitting in bulk bins and binders waiting to be played. Not good enough for Modern or Legacy but good enough for its own format.
I would call it Uncle. No commons, no rares, no mythics. (again accept basic lands). We now have some playable Legends and Planeswalkers at uncommon and there is a ton of stuff out there as well.
I enjoy playing Pauper and I think this format would have a similar appeal. Not sure what would dominate the format or if there would need to be any bans off the top (like Force of Will, Bazaar of Bagdad, Library of Alexandria, etc.) but I am curious if others would like a format as such. Would be very much a Legacy-Lite or a Pauper Plus I would imagine. Your thoughts?