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- koreandog
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Member for 8 years, 7 months, and 24 days
Last active Fri, Jun, 26 2020 12:04:57
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Aug 15, 20187
Crypt Rat posted a message on Spellslinger Starter Kit"DO NOT SHUFFLE"Posted in: The Rumor Mill
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. -
Aug 13, 2018
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aka1nas posted a message on Full Buy-a-Box information (early delivery, and BAB Promo)Honestly, all they had to do was offer a non-jank Mythic rather than Rare from within set as a foil alternate-art BAB promo and I think it would have been enough. If foil alternate-art flippy Nicol Bolas was the BAB promo, people would have still gone relatively ape-***** to get one, it would have at least commanded the same price as Nexus Of Fate, and it would have had zero negative impact to Standard.Posted in: The Rumor Mill -
Aug 10, 20181
Greyimp posted a message on Full Buy-a-Box information (early delivery, and BAB Promo)Again... I wasn't COMPARING them.Posted in: The Rumor Mill
All I did was mention a big company that is no longer that people would be familiar with. Joining them in history type comment.
I did not compare anything else. I even specified in my last sentence, 'WotC is the victim of share holder pressure...'
WotC is under pressure to make more money. The changes they've implemented, if participation is any indicator, have done the opposite. So they're trying new things. That's all. -
Aug 9, 2018
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Greyimp posted a message on Full Buy-a-Box information (early delivery, and BAB Promo)Posted in: The Rumor MillThen comes to real deal - awarding the whales - giving them the power to punish the ones trying to play for free or for as low a cost as possible. B-A-B cards being good are a facet of that aspect, something MTG has been more or less successfully avoiding on the primary front, until perhaps the Secondary Market showed how much profits there is to be made just from the sheer price-hiking the game has gone through...
This is what the result right now is whether that's what they intended or not. Thus the 'I got mine, suck it'.
Yatsufusa has it right, the corporate is really what has screwed us, I suppose I had been hoping these last few years that WotC might see the error of their ways and convince HASBRO that the right way to cash is the way it's always been. But corporate greed only leads to downgrades in product and increase in profit or death. Toys R Us and KayBee were the victims of wall street buy and burn. WotC is the victim of share holder pressure but they're on the road to join TRU from their own failed efforts to please the masters and 'innovate'.
Arena could have been SO much more than skinnerware. -
Aug 9, 2018
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Greyimp posted a message on Full Buy-a-Box information (early delivery, and BAB Promo)Posted in: The Rumor MillQuote from koreandog »Corporate Greed.
I snipped all but the punchline... however I agree fully with the whole post.
Paper players should be incensed that they made more copies of Nexus available in MTGO but paper gets the shaft. I think they forget that a great many of the digital come from the paper. You're completely right though they're totally banking on Arena and I have to tell you right now that's not going to pan out for them like they hope as it's currently going. Same poor decision making different medium.
I find the total lack of interest in the community and making a great game of Arena somehow classic WotC right now.
Arena devs have their idea of what it's going to be and seems to be a waste of time to try to explain to them how they're wrong. Oh and predatory gems system... so awesome. I can think about the waste of money while my opponent's animations are bogged down and my timer is ticking away removing MY timeouts.
People got pissed off about the last BaB (Buy a Box) promo and Maro gave us a 'heard you loud and clear'. So then they release a BETTER promo the next set. Whuuuuut?
It's like oops we made a 2 card infinite combo in standard... lets not ban that before release or anything sensical...
When you serve spaghetti, it should have protection, even though we removed that from the game, and dammit you should be able to cheat it in.
We SHOULD have banned CoCo...
Sorry we'll give you back the promos for FNM but we won't like it...
Goblin feceswhirler will be fine... later... we think...
We're going to make you buy cards more often by rotating faster! Holy crap everyone moved to Modern...
Spikes should play on weekends! FNM is for newbies! Because... uh... we say so!
We don't like fixing bugs for Arena so let's make people play only decks that we think rate against theirs and not tell them what the details of that system is. Random matching based on rank? That's just stupid. It's soooooo much fun to play against the same decks again and again and especially mirror matches!! Everyone will love it!
Systemic failures throughout management. -
Jul 12, 20181
Spellsyphon1234 posted a message on Desert Island ControlPosted in: Standard ArchivesDesert Island ControlMono-Blue Mill Control
Desert Island Control, aptly named because it's land base consists of nothing but Islands and Deserts, but the name is more than just a homage to it's lands.
What's it like to be stuck on a deserted island, in the middle of an oppresive ocean, with nothing but harsh conditions surrounding you? No one is coming to get you, you are stuck all alone, and eventually your mind will slip away into insanity. That is what this deck is, a desert island that eats away at your opponents sanity, his will and ability to fight. It grinds at the opponent, eventually draining all hope from them.
Control is about asserting dominance, and in Magic this is no diffrent. There have been various control decks throughout the history of this game but none more hated or revered (depending on who you ask) then a deck stock to the limit with counterspells. The ability to just decide whether to say no or not to your opponent can be a controlling factor itself when you have a hand full of counter magic. Once your opponent realizes that your going to just sit back and decide whether you want something to resolve or not will make then think outside of thier comfort zone and try to predict or bait your actions. This is the advantage that control, and more specifically counterspells, have in the game. Alot of decks simply need you to know 'lines of play' to operate, and once you understand those its almost like you are on auto pilot. Seasoned players know this, and control players, whether they realize it or not, count on it for they seek to prey on the decks that 'play themselves' for lack of a better term. This is even more true with Desert Island Control, my own creation of mono-blue mill, stocked to the brim with counter magic. Essentially twenty-one counterspells in a single deck, that is unheard of in standard nowadays, and is basically considered a bad deck building choice. This leads few, if any, to even attempt it. With this deck we seek to break from the norm of deckbuilding practice, we are going to play an excess of counter magic, we are going to abstain from creatures to win, we are not going to rely on planeswalkers, we are going to win by milling our opponent into the oblivion. It doesnt matter how good thier deck is, how synergistic, how many creatures they have, what combo they run, or what planeswalkers they zeroed out thier bank account for, cause they will all end up in the graveyard in the end. This deck attacks the library, something not commonly done in standard, and generally considered to slow. That is just fine with with this deck, that means most, if any, won't know how to combat it. On top of that very few will even be able to comprehend the excessive availability of counter magic as spell after spell never gets to resolve. This deck's main weapon isnt the counterspells or the mill cards, no, it is your opponents lack of ability to compensate for your generally 'bad' deck's ability to just say no. Yes, most people will think this deck is bad and dismiss it without ever giving it a go, and even more will abandon it after a few games with out really trying to understand the deck. This is due to the effort it takes to play this type of deck. You simply can't put a bunch of counters and a few win conditions in a deck a give it a go. The key to playing this deck is understand how every other deck, and potential deck, operates. You have to learn the meta, not just by looking over deck lists and reading primers, we are not playing with those decks. You learn the meta by playing against the meta, play against it with this deck. At first, yes you will lose, likely more often than win, but that is how you learn not to lose the next time. Dont rely on a written sideboard strategy because your opponent is not likely the person that created his sideboard strategy. Dont make plays based solely on the deck you are up against, make them based on how your opponent plays the deck. With practice and analysis this deck is fun and rewarding to those who have the right mind set for it, lets face it everyone does, and it isnt there fault. Most of the magic community simply can't grasp the concept of 'Draw card, play land, say go'. To put it simply, this deck wants to play in the vein of a Draw-Go deck, so don't do anything on your turn except draw cards and play lands.
Some notes on the deck:
The base of the deck are the mill cards Patient Rebuilding, Psychic Corrosion, and Ipnu Rivulet + Crucible of Worlds and require little to no extra effort once on the battlefield. Everything else in this deck is dedicated to stalling and/or controling the game so the afforementioned cards can secure victory. The lack of dedicated card draw is due to space, however; Anticipate ,Supreme Will along with cycling cards help keep the deck consistant and, as the name implies, Patient Rebuiling will draw you additional cards over time. The sideboard has undergone the most change, with the inclusion of a two drop creature and equipment to help fight against aggro, utility lands specific situations, and a set of Negate for the control matches. A note on the sideboard, for the creature I am currently using Shielded Aether Thief for its flash and potential draw effect but Surge Mare may also be good here for it's larger toughness and less reliance on Forebear's Blade to turn it into a threat. The latter may give it some weight in a control matchup so it is something to think about. I have yet to board in Sorcerous Spyglass with this deck but it has been good in other decks, i have therefor removed Nezahul, Primal Tide from the board to try it out. Nezahul, Primal Tide, however; has been good when I actualy cast it. This does not happen though as the seven mana usually leaves you open to threats from the other side, even when cast late game with 10+ mana. When considering sideboard options do not try to have a specific plan, it doesnt really work with this kind of deck. You want to be as flexible as possible, that is why counterspells are good, flexibility. Instead of thinking "I am having trouble with 'some' deck" try thinking of why that deck is an issue. What other decks are problems and why? Are the reasons similar? More often than not the answer will be yes. Your main deck should have the most flexibility, the sideboard can be more specific but not so specific as to limit your available options against other decks. Early creatures ruining your life? Board cheap creatures with lare toughness and stall the beat down. Discard getting you down? Counter the discard downs with some card draw spells or some kind of repeatable engine like Kefnet the Mindful, Mystic Archeologist, or even Arcane Encylopedia.
The basic idea behind building, and therefor playing, the deck is to have counter magic up all the time, maintaining maximum flexibility. Therefor, we must use threats that either have flash or cheap and potent. Flash threats are lacking in standard as far as I am concerned, at least for mono blue control. As such I went with cheap and potent, albeit a little slow. Grinding is part of the fun though.
One thing I have noticed when Anticipate was in standard before is that many players use it when the don't really need to. You should never cast Anticipate early in the game unless you desperatly need to make a land drop. It should be held till later so that you can use it in response to a specific threat and get an answer. This appplies to Supreme Will as well, however; since it also counters it makes more sense to hold it for later plays. You should always try to play Blink of an Eye kicked, but sometimes there is a threat you simply can't let sit. In such cases it would generally be fine to not kick Blink, but this would usually be true if you have counter magic for it ON THE SAME TURN, otherwise wait till end phase and kick the spell to get the card. Commit // Memory in this deck will more often than not function as a counter, but the fact that it can handle resolved threats gives it weight for the deck, otherwise it would be some other 3cc counter or more bounce. The real nice part about it though is the aftermath side, not so much preboard unless you are stable and in control of the board, but with a Psychic Corrostion in play is can win games. The key here is Scavenger Grounds out of the board. Cast Commit // Memory pop Scavenger Grounds in response. If the opponent has 21 or fewer cards in library and you have at least one Psychic Corrosion in play it is game over. Disallow is another card I would like to touch on, it seems many just see a slighty better Cancel, but honestly, that card does some work. Being able to counter an activated or triggered ability for just a single turn can make the diffrence in the game. If there is any card in this deck you always want four of pre and post board it is Disallow. Next, I would like to discuss my choice of lands. Islands are obvious, but I chose Desert of the Mindful over the technically easier to play dual cycling lands Fetid Pools or Irrigated Farmland for no other reason than is has the type Desert. In fact, aside from Islands (and the Field of Ruin in the board), every other land is a Desert. The reason, Ipnu Rivulet. Having multiple Deserts to sacrafice to Rivulet means a faster mill win. This is, of course, given you do not have a Crucible of Worlds in play. And the best way to use Rivulet with Crucible is with Dunes of the Dead, which does nothing on its own but will make a 2/2 Zombie when saced to Rivulet. Replay with Crucible and repeat. Grasping Dunes may or may not be good, but the fact that it can kill one toughness creratures is important to this deck since one toughness creatures are in the decks that this deck has the most problems with. A turn 1 or 2 creature against this deck could go all the way it the opponent is capable or producing must counter threats nearly every turn after. Grasping Dunes, although sorcery speed, has an activation cost of 1 and sac making it a much need removal spell for Mono-Blue Control. Again, this pairs well with Crucible of Worlds, making it capable of holding off an aggro deck in the mid to late game when you would be low on counters from the early game. In essence, it takes some of the pressure off of having to counter small, but still dangerous, threats, allowing you to rebuild your hand.
I have been playing and tweaking this deck since the release of Core 2019, and while I am aware that some will criticize it for being a mill deck or because it is mono blue, as opposed to blue-anything else, I believe this is the best version I have played thus far. To be fair, I am biased to blue because I simply like to say no to my opponent, and counter everything relevant to the game state.
DECKLISTS
Desert Island ControlMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards THE 'HARSH CONDITIONS' (7)
2 Patient Rebuilding
3 Psychic Corrosion
2 Crucible of Worlds
THE 'OPPRESSIVE OCEAN' (27)
3 Anticipate
4 Syncopate
4 Censor
4 Essence Scatter
3 Supreme Will
4 Disallow
2 Commit // Memory
3 Blink of an EyeTHE 'HOME YOU KNOW' (26)
2 Dunes of the Dead
4 Grasping Dunes
4 Ipnu Rivulet
4 Desert of the Mindful
12 Island
THE 'JUST IN CASE' (15)
4 Negate
1 Detection Tower
1 Field of Ruin
1 Scavenger Grounds
2 Forebear's Blade
4 Shielded Aether Thief
2 Sorcerous Spyglass
Desert Island ControlMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards THE 'HARSH CONDITIONS'
3 Patient Rebuilding
3 Crucible of Worlds
THE 'OPPRESSIVE OCEAN'
3 Anticipate
4 Syncopate
4 Censor
4 Essence Scatter
3 Supreme Will
4 Disallow
3 Commit // Memory
3 Blink of an EyeTHE 'HOME YOU KNOW'
2 Dunes of the Dead
4 Grasping Dunes
4 Ipnu Rivulet
4 Desert of the Mindful
12 Island
THE 'JUST IN CASE'
4 Negate
2 Nezahal, Primal Tide
3 Silent Gravestone
4 Aether Meltdown
2 Sorcerous Spyglass
VIDEOS
I am constantly playing this deck and as such making small changes as I go. I will attempt to keep this list updated while also noting what changes I make in a separate post, as appropriate.
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Mar 21, 20181
Ryperior74 posted a message on Full Buy-a-Box information (early delivery, and BAB Promo)I still feel stores can't resist selling Firesong and Sunspeaker As a singletonPosted in: The Rumor Mill
I garateed you this will be found on tcgplayer
(Opinion but hope I'm not wrong) - To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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We had a similar incident with Fatal Push FNM promos as well, being sold 2-3 days before they were available as promos. One of the LGS in my area was caught doing this and I believe their WPN status was flagged.
As I said before, this is a symptom of a bigger problem. Local game stores have a hard time bringing in revenue and selling product when their online competitors outprice them in every way. In a way, I sorta don't blame stores selling promos to keep afloat, especially if the set is mythic heavy in value, if they're trying to keep afloat. By selling promos like that to keep afloat, it's having an opposite intended effect of having players get these promos to sell boxes. IF they don't have the promos on hand, then it becomes a problem of selling boxes without promos. I believe that LGSs can't sell promos until a certain time frame has passed.
Maybe a solution (if WotC continues to print BaB promos that are not part of the set) is to include the promo INSIDE the box itself. Mass box openers will have copies. Players who want to buy a box will get the copy. Supply is based on sales of boxes, so there's guaranteed value in the box and it would keep the prices of the cards in check due to the influx of cards entering the stores and hands of players. It would keep stores fair and honest by not having the promos on their person to sell. This would have the intended effect for boosting booster box sales for WPN stores, and if LGS owners want to sell the promo, they can because it's part of the set, while not being part of the set at the same time.
But if this is a concern and "the powers that be" can't do this, maybe reverting back to the original BaB promos might be better. There were some GREAT BaB promos of the past: Birds of Paradise, Surgical Extraction, Goblin Rabblemaster, Supreme Verdict, just to name a few. You can't tell me that they don't know what cards are and aren't going to be played. That's what the Future Future League can look for, right?
Or make BaB promos in each set be a chase card from a previous set. This would incentivize players to buy older booster packs as well.
What's the saying that I've heard before: Magic is one of the best games out there, ran by one of the worst companies.
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http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/174024638688/going-forward-well-be-continuing-this
The long and short of it is he believes that "the powers that be" don't believe that this is a problem currently. He states that it's easy to get caught up in what others believe. However, I don't think that's the case in this situation. As part of his "charity", he takes it upon himself as a spokesperson for WotC and tries to put a spin on it to calm the masses using these quotes:
"There are many players who like the promotion..."
"So why are we continuing the promotion? Because it was very successful at doing what it was created to do and was well liked by enough of our audience to justify it..."
"...we have to weigh all the feedback from all the interested parties as well as look at what it’s doing overall for the business and we came to the conclusion that it was worth continuing."
I see that he's putting a positive spin on it, but at what cost does this road take us? Does temporary gains from some people outweigh the longevity of the player base? There are plenty of people having problems firing off FNM events as of late. Does this exclusive problem help? Nope, not in the slightest. If they wanted to improve FNM and general MTG attendance, then why did they cut money for FNM and special event promos, while simultaneously increase prices on booster boxes? Why did they cut the Wizard's Direct service for purchasing booster boxes and instead make it "distributor only"? Why are we having issues with poor card quality and curling? It all comes down to the bottom line of profits. There are plenty of videos on youtube discussing these changes and how they are counter intuitive to quotes of "helping the local gaming stores with these exclusive promos".
To argue that these BAB promos are for support of the stores is ridiculous. It's merely a cheap, temporary piece of tape trying to cover up cost saving methods of increasing profits in their pockets. WotC wants attendance numbers to be up, but aren't willing to spend money to upkeep this. I think they are banking on MTG Arena to usher in a large group of players to boost numbers of "active" players.
As for the real solution to fix this problem, I know of one that would work. It would reward players who attend FNMs, Standard Showdowns, PPTQs, RPTQs, etc. It would support local game stores, as long as they were willing to follow the guidelines given. Provide more support to the local games store. More promos. More showdown packs. More tangible rewards, such as lapel pins or patches, deck boxes, unique sleeves, whatever. Create an ongoing league to accrue planeswalker points and make planeswalker points matter by instating a reward system where you would trade in your points for certain promos at your LGS that you play at. Invest in your player base. Invest in your stores that promote your game. Show them you care by showering them and us in unique gifts. The logistic are there and it wouldn't be terribly hard to create. However I know that WotC won't do it because it would require them to spend more money than they are wanting to.
I know that I'm rambling and it's a bit off topic, but the BAB promos are but one symptom of many something much bigger than we should all see: Corporate Greed.
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Ruinous Path - BFZ*
Goblin Dark-Dwellers - Oath of the Gatewatch
Elusive Tormentor - Shadows over Innistrad
Thalia, Heretic Cathar - Eldritch Moon*
Skyship Stalker - Kaladesh
Scrap Trawler - Aether Revolt
Archfiend of Ifnir - Amonkhet*
Wildfire Eternal - Hour of Devastation
Burning Sun's Avatar - Ixalan
Random Double Face Card - Rivals of Ixalan*
I would like to say that some of these choices were pretty decent (the ones that I put an asterisk on) from a Standard playable stand point. Hell, I actually understand Burning Sun's Avatar for the person who likes big dumb dinosaur effects. However, there were a few choices which were complete misses, such as Goblin Dark-Dwellers for Oath of the Gatewatch (which doesn't highlight any of the primary themes of the set)and Skyship Stalker (c'mon, we ALL know this is hot garbage outside of draft/sealed, plus doesn't introduce us any of the mechanics of the set) as the biggest culprits of poor choices.
I know that R&D/FFL/WotC doesn't know what cards are going to be standouts and great standard playables from each set, but I know they have a pulse of the Standard environment and know what cards are going to be somewhat playable. If you want to throw a bone to the local game stores, make the BAB a planeswalker from each set. That would solidify a strong portion of people wanting a box at that point. No one complains about free planeswalkers, even if they're bad!
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But I think that this stems from a much bigger problem. If WotC needs to create special, new, only obtainable through buying a box on release, cards for BAB promos to sell boxes, then that must mean that the sets aren't selling well due to the booster boxes not being strong or desirable sets. A vast majority of common and uncommon cards in these recent sets are draft chaff. And Ixalan and Rivals of Ixalan were one of the worst draft sets that I've personally experienced in awhile.
I've also heard that WoTC is on damage control on MTGO, adjusting the chances in chests for Nexus of Fate. I think that WotC knows they screwed the pooch on this one and I can't wait to see how they react to the public outcry for this card in the future, but like a lot of things in MTG recently, I only expect some sort of disappointment.
Thank GOD for eternal formats!