Restriction of things creates a market for it. Why do people buy ivory elephant tusk, have exotic pets, or buy fully automatic guns when they are hard to get or illegal? It's the desire to get something that others don't have, regardless of how useful or playable it is. The cards aren't banned in kitchen table magic, which is what WoTC wants us to believe is the one of the biggest formats in magic.
They will have a demand because these cards make people uncomfortable, are harder to find than other RL cards, and are the first cards in MTG to have been banned (HUGE historic banning that we've had in the entire game of magic)from all formats due to artistic direction or name. Most of the cards aren't that great, but they are unique in those regards.
I'm glad they are reprinting tron lands and Karn so you can play modern tron in this set. I just worry about the price point, number of boxes produced, number of draft chaff in the set, and making sure that these reprints help players get the cards they want.
I think they have created a new reserve list on these cards. Have you seen the prices of these cards after they were banned? Some of them are reserve list before, but Crusade has shot up.
So just a summary from the scenario here. He's a famous artist that seduced women. Famous in a small circle of people. Not rock star famous but still famous.
That's pretty much how every rock concert works. Rock star fans chat up the rock stars and then they have intercourse.
Am I missing something? Man loses his job over a twitter accusation. Writes a letter because he's probably tired of defending himself. He knew what the consequences for writing that letter would be. Yet he somehow thought hey this will be easier than continuing to face my accuser. That's his decision. I hope he has enough money to keep him going for a few years. He won't be able to get an art job. Or at least for a few years until he shows how reformed he is.
Is everyone happy they made magic political yet? That's 3 articles in a month. First was racism, 2nd was sexual identity?, 3rd one is on rape. Anyone else see a pattern? No one believed me when I said twitter mob and Pointy Finger of Doom. Which is how magic is going to work now. I wonder who is next?
He did all of the M20 leylines! Leyline of the Void You'd have to really talented and likable to get to do a whole card cycle yourself. He has a lot of recent cards. Hard to believe he just gave up on that money.
is everyone happy they made magic political?
well, yes actually.
they're finally doing something about the rot that's existed within their talent pool. that opens the game up to more players by making the space more welcoming and distancing the product from well... politics. everything has consequence, and by finally handling these issues, regardless what you feel right now, if they've cleaned things up there will be more players as the game won't be associated with these issues any more. people will know exactly what the company stands for, and exactly what the players should stand for by extension. that opens more doors, that's more opponents, more players, more fun. you won't have to worry about sitting down at a table and having a political debate as they've taken steps to straight up end that debate. we know what they stand for, and what they'll do to support those values. that's fairly respectable.
as long as companies are run by people, and as long as the product is utilized by people, things get political. people have feelings, people have values. its as true here as it is for any product you purchase, from your soft drinks to your toilet paper to the store you buy shoes at.
hell, i'm sure we all have at least one experience where we walked out of a store because a staff member was openly racist, sexist, or just straight up a dick.
lets not be so hasty as to label politics a bad thing all the time. sometimes, its the people who push back against it that are actually the greater problem as they don't realize the full implications of what they're outraged about. the behaviors that they're supporting by pushing back so hard against legitimate change.
as for it being hard to believe he gave up on all that money... well that's on you buddy. the dude admit to his actions. he ****ed up, he's dealing with the consequences of that now. same as anyone working anywhere would if they acted the same as he did and got found out. it doesn't matter the quality, or quantity, of the product produced, how much money you make, or what you say even... if your actions are sleaze. owning it shouldn't mean its forgiven instantly, there needs to be accountability or its a meaningless apology that you'll learn nothing from and the behavior will inevitably continue.
keep in mind people are fired for far less than this daily. if you think ending the relationship with him over this isn't okay, why are all of those other terminations okay? why is this kind of behavior acceptable here but not somewhere else? why should this not be grounds to end the relationship? what would it actually take if this doesn't do it? why is that okay? why do you want a company to say this is fine, we condone our artists behaving this way? why would you support that company at all knowing that kind of behavior is protected?
or do you condone his behavior and that's what really needs to be discussed?
let's think a little bigger instead of just being outraged that the appropriate actions were taken, shall we?
I believe than in this instance, WoTC was right to address this behavior and adjust accordingly. At the end of the day, WoTC was worried about their bottom line in sales and wanted to publicly state that they have cut ties with Noah. Not much more needs to be said about this. There are no politics in this. A man uses his position to leverage sexual favors with people and was called out for it. He has admitted to it and is currently accepting his consequences. Unlike another artist who WoTC has cut ties with, this is the correct course.
Thanks for the quick reply. I like the idea of Surge Mare against GB decks as well as random red removal. I know that my friend mentioned that he was not a fan of a full play set of Spell Pierce, so we're going to keep it at 2. In my meta, I think Essence Scatter is a good thing in the main, so we're keeping those. Making adjustments and using some of your advice, I'm going to see if this build will work better:
Been tweaking this mono blue deck for a friend for quite some time. I haven't played this deck very often (so I don't know what the best builds are), but it's built for a friend who doesn't have time to build a deck. The current meta that we've been encountering is GB Midrange, Izzet Drakes, UB/Grixis Control, and GW/Naya Tokens. I notice that there are a few variations of the deck and I guess I have a few important questions that I wanted advice on please:
1) Should you Opt or not Opt? I see that the arguments for running it are that it smooths out hands and makes mulligans or keeping 1 land hands with an opt not as bad, as it's a "virtual" land a good portion of the time. I see that the arguments against it are that it's a filler card that does nothing to progress the board state and that it doesn't draw you a card but replaces it. My friend has run into a lot of flooding with the deck and I think Opt can help dig out of a flood or screw (my previous change was adding a 3rd Chart a Course).
2) Exclusion Mage in the main or board? I've seen that more decks have placed anywhere between 2-4 copies in the board or have 2 copies in the main. I think that the card is good and belongs in the 75 because of the tempo swing against Boros Angels and Mono Green Aggro, but it is a dead card against GB Midrange, and Jeskai Control/UW Control, and it's okay against Mono Red Aggro. If it's not in the main, then what should I add to the main to replace it?
3) Is Spell Pierce better than Dive Down in the main? Looking at the more recent results of the MOCS and competitive leagues, there has been a trend of 4 Dive Downs and 0 Spell Pierces. I think that a good portion of the time, Spell Pierce functions as a Dive Down. So my question is do we replace all of the Spell Pierces with Dive Downs? We have Negate and Syncopate in the board against control, so I feel that Spell Pierce is the weakest card in the deck at the moment.
4) Has anyone tried Whisper Agent? I want to try out Whisper Agent because surveil is great and so is flash. It can keep up with the tempo because you can leave up counter mana up and utilize the mana if you don't need to use it. I've heard of some fringe decks running it, but wasn't sure what the consensus was on it.
As for the questionable main board and side board slots: Amulet of Safekeeping is sorta useful against Burn and token decks as it buys some time with both. Metamorphic Alteration is a card that answers Carnage Tyrant and Niv-Mizzet, Parun, since it doesn't target the tyrant to make a copy and gets around the uncounterable clauses of both. I currently only own 1 Warkite Marauder and I feel that there should be at least 2, thus the Storm Fleet Aerialist is a place holder until I find another one.
What is terrible about this product? It's an entry level product for players who never played magic that they can buy at Wal-Mart and Target.
Can I get free intro decks at Wal-Mart? Can I learn to play Magic anywhere else that isn't a LGS? Do I know even know what a LGS is? If the answer is no to all of these 3 questions, then this product can introduce you to MTG.
This product is like training wheels. Useful when learning how to play, easily discarded (or assembled into your collection for future use) when you don't need it, and some people can skip it or don't need it. Are training wheels bad for bikes? No, they help people learn how to ride the bike. And for $15, it's not a bad deal to learn how to play. Pokemon and Force of Will charge more for their intro product, and the Force of Will one doesn't come with 2 decks.
These decks are meant to be played against each other for learning the basics of Magic. Nothing more and nothing less. The decks are preassembled so you can just play straight out of the box and get a taste of Magic. No need to go to a store to learn, no need for someone to explain it to you (and possibly overwhelm you in information), and no need to ask the question "where do I start?".
Let me tell you a terrible product: Planeswalker decks. Planeswalker decks are terrible. They don't teach you how to play, they don't give you a competitive to play at a local event, they don't give you play sets of rares and mythics. Their planeswalker cards are "watered down" so they don't become powerhouses in constructed formats. And it only comes with 1 deck, so your friend who wants to learn how to play has to buy one as well.
Where do you start in Magic? Let's say you are a random older kid/young teenager who stumbles upon Magic at your Wal-Mart while grocery shopping with your parents. What product do you buy? Booster packs, Two player booster battle kit, planeswalker deck, challenger decks, "bundle" box, deckbuilder's toolkit, commander preconstructed deck, MJ Holdings "cube of random crap"? With just what on display at Wal-Mart, where would you start? This product is to answer that question. This is the product to start with learning the game.
It's a good product for someone who's never played Magic before. It doesn't need to be full of financial value, have playsets of cards, be FNM/PPTQ ready out of the box. It's meant to teach the game to people who don't know how to play.
Commander precons have 100 cards in them. It's value will hold due to valuable reprints and unique commanders. It's value is spread throughout 100 cards in the set as well. I don't think comparing this to a Commander deck is the right call. I would compare this to the Challenger Decks or Planeswalker decks because both of those products are for players who are new to certain levels of Standard play. Commander is a totally different beast altogether.
They have put some value into the product already. Ghalta, Primal Hunger is 7-8 bucks after this announcement. Plus there is another rare from Guilds of Ravnica that hasn't been spoiled yet. So if you take that into account, you're paying for an 8 dollar card, plus 119 other cards worth of minuscule value, plus spindown dice for the other 7 dollars. It's not good value, but this product isn't intended for value, it's intended for new players who want to learn the game.
Interesting bit with these is that, as packaged, the order of the decks is predetermined, so the first game between the two is guaranteed to be playable with quality starting hands, minimal flooding out, and removal being drawn on time. This level of first-exposure product design is something not present in ANY existing Magic product.
Anyone complaining about the secondary market value of the contents of this product is completely missing the point of this product and that they are not intended the audience this product is for.
Specifically: This product is intentionally not designed for people who play Magic. If you are a Magic player, this product is not for you.
This product is intended to make people who don't know about Magic into players. That's why it's going to be sold at mass market stores where you will find people who don't know about Magic. The 30-card welcome decks are fundamentally not effective at drawing in new players given that you can only reach people who already willingly stumble into a comic book and card shop. Those decks only work on people who are already in the proximity of Magic being played, likely because they're already playing similarly complex games. This new product is trying to grab people who are not in that bubble, people who are not on forums, people who aren't going to a gaming shop. That is how you make players out of non players.
This 100%. This guy gets it. I don't plan on buying it, but I'm not the audience and neither are most of you on this forum.
Let's say that there was a card that had some sort of significant value (Chandra, Torch of Defiance in the mono red Challenger deck, for this example). Two things happened that upset some subset of players:
1) The product was not selling for MSRP and was selling out everywhere. The intended design for those challenger decks is to have an FNM playable deck at your LGS for players who want to play but don't have a deck. People were buying them out and selling them for higher values, basically "scalping" these products. WotC kept printing them, but it took some time until I was able to find them for MSRP. Chandra alone was $40, thus making the MSRP of the product just pure value for everyone.
2) People who bought Chandra, Torch of Defiance were upset that the value of their card starting to lose value. Mono Red aggro was and still is a top tier Standard deck. Imagine buying your copies of this card and immediately it loses its value. Gives players a "feels bad" moment. It also lowers the value of the card in the set that it comes out in. A lot of value that was locked in Kaladesh (besides the Inventions) was in a couple of card, and one of them is losing its value because its printed in a Challenger deck.
If this product has significantly more value than the MSRP has in it, the product won't reach the intended audience. It will go to scalpers and/or be stripped for the pricey cards, thus becoming harder to find for the intended players.
This Spellslinger deck is not meant for FNM play. It's meant to teach new players how to play. The mechanics in this product are not as complex as a challenger deck becuase they are both meant for 2 different audiences.
There literally is nobody that knows "nobody" that already plays magic and starts playing magic in paper form.
The vast majority is introduced by a friend that already plays, or they are multiple people that buy stuff at a store and see other players. In any case of that, you wont use this product for teaching a new player.
Citation needed. The way you're taught and the way others are taught are 2 different ways. You assume everyone is introduced to Magic in the same way and that it's some sort of "insider's club" where the only way you learn is from someone who already knows the game. Why can't there be people who don't know the game of Magic? There has to be someone out there who doesn't know someone who doesn't know, right? If your theory is true, then this would be a wasted venture for WoTC, but since they created this product, plus with Mark Rosewater even stating that the product is becoming harder for newer players to learn the game due to complexity (New World Order) this doesn't align with what you are inferring.
But seriously, if it's not for you, don't buy it. If you think this is a waste of money, you should see the Welcome decks at Target and Wal-Mart that they sell for 10 bucks. You only get 2 30 card welcome decks and 2 spindown dice. THAT's a waste of money! The Spellslinger "Duel Deck" is a shining gold nugget over that monstrosity of a product.
*Also, there is another rare in this deck that's from Guild of Ravnica that hasn't been revealed yet (since one deck has 5 rares and the other has 4 rares, and they make these things symmetrically) so there might be some more value inside these as well. I'm not saying that this is the greatest thing out there, but it's something that needs to exist for people to purchase.
How did you stumble onto Magic? (I started playing during Onslaught when a friend showed me Magic at the college lunch room while I was playing Yu-gi-oh. I bought a Yu-gi-oh deck from Target.) Most people learn Magic from other friends or people around them. But how do you get the MTG product out there for FRESH new people, who don't have friends who play MTG? For a new player that has never been to a local gaming store, how do they play Magic? Where will they find product? How are they able to play the game out of the box with a friend for a low price.
Welcome decks are for stores to get new players hooked to the game. If your game store is just giving 4 or 5 of them away to a single player, then they are doing it wrong. They are to be played with and used for teaching new players.
How would you describe a "bad" product? One that does not have financial value? One that does not appeal to you? One that does not do what it was intended to do?
(I personally think Planeswalker decks are bad because a) it provides nothing of financial value for the person and b) it does not help a player to become a better player by giving them a subpar deck that will get "rekt" by a FNM level deck.)
They use to have beginner decks like these in the past, with a preconstructed way of playing the game to allow players to learn the basic mechanics. It's a necessary product to have for new players. Remember, this is for new players who don't know where to go to by mtg products, other than at Wal-Mart or Target.
Ghalta, Primal Hunger is currently around the 7 dollar amount and going down, but sees play in Standard. Reclamation Sage is a multi-format card that shows up in Modern and EDH. Demanding Dragon is a speculative target to replace Glorybringer in possible red decks after rotation. Llanowar Elves sees play in Elves decks in multiple formats (Standard, Modern, Legacy). Ravenous Chupacabra is a solid creature kill spell that has seen some play in Standard.
Even though these cards aren't 30+ dollar cards, they are cards that see play and you could possible trade to players for subpar rares or other commons and uncommons. They are cards that see play and are tradable
This is a product that has been lacking in paper magic for quite awhile. A pre-constructed deck that can introduce players to the game and have a guide to help players learn the game by themselves. They have this on MTG Arena and Pokemon online. It's not the ideal way to learn to play, but it's an option for those who want to learn with a friend who also doesn't know how to play.
Imagine that you and a friend are new to MTG and you so happen to stumble into a local game store. The amount of products are large and plentiful for new players that they don't know what they are looking for. Where do you start?
-Does the employee tell you to wait for open house to learn?
-Does the employee tell you to buy a Commander pre-constructed deck?
-Does the employee give you a free welcome deck?
-Does the employee try to sell you the Planeswalker decks?
-Is the employee even able to tell you how to play Magic?
All of these answers are possible. This product can be an on ramp for new players to learn. Is this a product for everyone? No. Is it meant for us established players that post about it online? No. There are products out there that aren't meant for everyone, but it doesn't mean that they are bad.
I think it's a good intro product for new players who want to learn how to play, but don't have a local game store nearby to play at. It's also affordably costed for newer players ($14.99) and gives players a few decent cards that they can use for future decks or for trade fodder. I think this is a good product all around.
This website has been very friendly and is a great place for deck ideas and information. It was a great thing to be on this website and to participate in forum discussions and deck ideas. Hopefully the thing that's coming in the pipeline will pan out well. Thank you to all who helped me build better decks and explained cards in a fairly civilized manor.
Just wanted to let you know that this is a great resource for monitoring changes in card prices. Besides the lands from BFZ, what other cards from BFZ do you think are going to spike up, or are good cards to pick up now before a spike in price?
They will have a demand because these cards make people uncomfortable, are harder to find than other RL cards, and are the first cards in MTG to have been banned (HUGE historic banning that we've had in the entire game of magic)from all formats due to artistic direction or name. Most of the cards aren't that great, but they are unique in those regards.
I believe than in this instance, WoTC was right to address this behavior and adjust accordingly. At the end of the day, WoTC was worried about their bottom line in sales and wanted to publicly state that they have cut ties with Noah. Not much more needs to be said about this. There are no politics in this. A man uses his position to leverage sexual favors with people and was called out for it. He has admitted to it and is currently accepting his consequences. Unlike another artist who WoTC has cut ties with, this is the correct course.
4 Siren Stormtamer
4 Merfolk Trickster
4 Mist-Cloaked Herald
4 Tempest Djinn
2 Nightveil Sprite
1 Warkite Marauder
1 Exclusion Mage
4 Curious Obsession
Instant (16)
4 Opt
4 Wizard's Retort
4 Dive Down
2 Spell Pierce
2 Essence Scatter
Lands
20 Island
1 Sentinel Totem
1 Amulet of Safekeeping
2 Metamorphic Alteration
2 Sleep
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 Syncopate
2 Negate
2 Surge Mare
1 Exclusion Mage
Thank you for the advice!
4 Siren Stormtamer
4 Merfolk Trickster
4 Mist-Cloaked Herald
4 Tempest Djinn
2 Exclusion Mage
2 Nightveil Sprite
1 Storm Fleet Aerialist
1 Warkite Marauder
4 Curious Obsession
Sorcery
3 Chart a COurse
Instant
4 Wizard's Retort
2 Dive Down
2 Spell Pierce
3 Essence Scatter
Lands
20 Island
2 Sentinel Totem
1 Amulet of Safekeeping
2 Metamorphic Alteration
2 Sleep
2 Disdainful Stroke
3 Syncopate
3 Negate
Been tweaking this mono blue deck for a friend for quite some time. I haven't played this deck very often (so I don't know what the best builds are), but it's built for a friend who doesn't have time to build a deck. The current meta that we've been encountering is GB Midrange, Izzet Drakes, UB/Grixis Control, and GW/Naya Tokens. I notice that there are a few variations of the deck and I guess I have a few important questions that I wanted advice on please:
1) Should you Opt or not Opt? I see that the arguments for running it are that it smooths out hands and makes mulligans or keeping 1 land hands with an opt not as bad, as it's a "virtual" land a good portion of the time. I see that the arguments against it are that it's a filler card that does nothing to progress the board state and that it doesn't draw you a card but replaces it. My friend has run into a lot of flooding with the deck and I think Opt can help dig out of a flood or screw (my previous change was adding a 3rd Chart a Course).
2) Exclusion Mage in the main or board? I've seen that more decks have placed anywhere between 2-4 copies in the board or have 2 copies in the main. I think that the card is good and belongs in the 75 because of the tempo swing against Boros Angels and Mono Green Aggro, but it is a dead card against GB Midrange, and Jeskai Control/UW Control, and it's okay against Mono Red Aggro. If it's not in the main, then what should I add to the main to replace it?
3) Is Spell Pierce better than Dive Down in the main? Looking at the more recent results of the MOCS and competitive leagues, there has been a trend of 4 Dive Downs and 0 Spell Pierces. I think that a good portion of the time, Spell Pierce functions as a Dive Down. So my question is do we replace all of the Spell Pierces with Dive Downs? We have Negate and Syncopate in the board against control, so I feel that Spell Pierce is the weakest card in the deck at the moment.
4) Has anyone tried Whisper Agent? I want to try out Whisper Agent because surveil is great and so is flash. It can keep up with the tempo because you can leave up counter mana up and utilize the mana if you don't need to use it. I've heard of some fringe decks running it, but wasn't sure what the consensus was on it.
As for the questionable main board and side board slots: Amulet of Safekeeping is sorta useful against Burn and token decks as it buys some time with both. Metamorphic Alteration is a card that answers Carnage Tyrant and Niv-Mizzet, Parun, since it doesn't target the tyrant to make a copy and gets around the uncounterable clauses of both. I currently only own 1 Warkite Marauder and I feel that there should be at least 2, thus the Storm Fleet Aerialist is a place holder until I find another one.
Again, thanks in advance!
Can I get free intro decks at Wal-Mart? Can I learn to play Magic anywhere else that isn't a LGS? Do I know even know what a LGS is? If the answer is no to all of these 3 questions, then this product can introduce you to MTG.
This product is like training wheels. Useful when learning how to play, easily discarded (or assembled into your collection for future use) when you don't need it, and some people can skip it or don't need it. Are training wheels bad for bikes? No, they help people learn how to ride the bike. And for $15, it's not a bad deal to learn how to play. Pokemon and Force of Will charge more for their intro product, and the Force of Will one doesn't come with 2 decks.
These decks are meant to be played against each other for learning the basics of Magic. Nothing more and nothing less. The decks are preassembled so you can just play straight out of the box and get a taste of Magic. No need to go to a store to learn, no need for someone to explain it to you (and possibly overwhelm you in information), and no need to ask the question "where do I start?".
Let me tell you a terrible product: Planeswalker decks. Planeswalker decks are terrible. They don't teach you how to play, they don't give you a competitive to play at a local event, they don't give you play sets of rares and mythics. Their planeswalker cards are "watered down" so they don't become powerhouses in constructed formats. And it only comes with 1 deck, so your friend who wants to learn how to play has to buy one as well.
Where do you start in Magic? Let's say you are a random older kid/young teenager who stumbles upon Magic at your Wal-Mart while grocery shopping with your parents. What product do you buy? Booster packs, Two player booster battle kit, planeswalker deck, challenger decks, "bundle" box, deckbuilder's toolkit, commander preconstructed deck, MJ Holdings "cube of random crap"? With just what on display at Wal-Mart, where would you start? This product is to answer that question. This is the product to start with learning the game.
It's a good product for someone who's never played Magic before. It doesn't need to be full of financial value, have playsets of cards, be FNM/PPTQ ready out of the box. It's meant to teach the game to people who don't know how to play.
They have put some value into the product already. Ghalta, Primal Hunger is 7-8 bucks after this announcement. Plus there is another rare from Guilds of Ravnica that hasn't been spoiled yet. So if you take that into account, you're paying for an 8 dollar card, plus 119 other cards worth of minuscule value, plus spindown dice for the other 7 dollars. It's not good value, but this product isn't intended for value, it's intended for new players who want to learn the game.
This 100%. This guy gets it. I don't plan on buying it, but I'm not the audience and neither are most of you on this forum.
1) The product was not selling for MSRP and was selling out everywhere. The intended design for those challenger decks is to have an FNM playable deck at your LGS for players who want to play but don't have a deck. People were buying them out and selling them for higher values, basically "scalping" these products. WotC kept printing them, but it took some time until I was able to find them for MSRP. Chandra alone was $40, thus making the MSRP of the product just pure value for everyone.
2) People who bought Chandra, Torch of Defiance were upset that the value of their card starting to lose value. Mono Red aggro was and still is a top tier Standard deck. Imagine buying your copies of this card and immediately it loses its value. Gives players a "feels bad" moment. It also lowers the value of the card in the set that it comes out in. A lot of value that was locked in Kaladesh (besides the Inventions) was in a couple of card, and one of them is losing its value because its printed in a Challenger deck.
If this product has significantly more value than the MSRP has in it, the product won't reach the intended audience. It will go to scalpers and/or be stripped for the pricey cards, thus becoming harder to find for the intended players.
This Spellslinger deck is not meant for FNM play. It's meant to teach new players how to play. The mechanics in this product are not as complex as a challenger deck becuase they are both meant for 2 different audiences.
Citation needed. The way you're taught and the way others are taught are 2 different ways. You assume everyone is introduced to Magic in the same way and that it's some sort of "insider's club" where the only way you learn is from someone who already knows the game. Why can't there be people who don't know the game of Magic? There has to be someone out there who doesn't know someone who doesn't know, right? If your theory is true, then this would be a wasted venture for WoTC, but since they created this product, plus with Mark Rosewater even stating that the product is becoming harder for newer players to learn the game due to complexity (New World Order) this doesn't align with what you are inferring.
But seriously, if it's not for you, don't buy it. If you think this is a waste of money, you should see the Welcome decks at Target and Wal-Mart that they sell for 10 bucks. You only get 2 30 card welcome decks and 2 spindown dice. THAT's a waste of money! The Spellslinger "Duel Deck" is a shining gold nugget over that monstrosity of a product.
*Also, there is another rare in this deck that's from Guild of Ravnica that hasn't been revealed yet (since one deck has 5 rares and the other has 4 rares, and they make these things symmetrically) so there might be some more value inside these as well. I'm not saying that this is the greatest thing out there, but it's something that needs to exist for people to purchase.
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles
It should be there somewhere. We can complain all we want on here, but if we don't tell them then we are doing nothing about it.
Welcome decks are for stores to get new players hooked to the game. If your game store is just giving 4 or 5 of them away to a single player, then they are doing it wrong. They are to be played with and used for teaching new players.
How would you describe a "bad" product? One that does not have financial value? One that does not appeal to you? One that does not do what it was intended to do?
(I personally think Planeswalker decks are bad because a) it provides nothing of financial value for the person and b) it does not help a player to become a better player by giving them a subpar deck that will get "rekt" by a FNM level deck.)
They use to have beginner decks like these in the past, with a preconstructed way of playing the game to allow players to learn the basic mechanics. It's a necessary product to have for new players. Remember, this is for new players who don't know where to go to by mtg products, other than at Wal-Mart or Target.
Even though these cards aren't 30+ dollar cards, they are cards that see play and you could possible trade to players for subpar rares or other commons and uncommons. They are cards that see play and are tradable
This is a product that has been lacking in paper magic for quite awhile. A pre-constructed deck that can introduce players to the game and have a guide to help players learn the game by themselves. They have this on MTG Arena and Pokemon online. It's not the ideal way to learn to play, but it's an option for those who want to learn with a friend who also doesn't know how to play.
Imagine that you and a friend are new to MTG and you so happen to stumble into a local game store. The amount of products are large and plentiful for new players that they don't know what they are looking for. Where do you start?
-Does the employee tell you to wait for open house to learn?
-Does the employee tell you to buy a Commander pre-constructed deck?
-Does the employee give you a free welcome deck?
-Does the employee try to sell you the Planeswalker decks?
-Is the employee even able to tell you how to play Magic?
All of these answers are possible. This product can be an on ramp for new players to learn. Is this a product for everyone? No. Is it meant for us established players that post about it online? No. There are products out there that aren't meant for everyone, but it doesn't mean that they are bad.