I picked up devour (had the most staples I needed and the general looked fun). Mimeoplasm is fun to play. The deck is built to do what it needs to do fairly well. With a streamlined manabase, bigger threats, and a few tricks it looks like it can be competitive. I'll probably run it as is for a while.
Out of the box is close to competitive, it just lacks the answers that a good deck would have, ramp (including almost a complete lack of good mana rocks), and the duals needed to fix mana a bit quicker.
If the other pre-cons are close to this good, they are a great buy for $30.
The only problem I see here is a large chance of running into the same general since both old and new players will be looking to run 1/5 decks out there.
Do you guys have a link to a deck that takes advantage of such a card? I thought most useful sac effects (save something like Child of Alara) could put themselves in the Yard.
generally it's used against board wipe (why not get life out of your dying creatures) and Control Magic/Mind Control type cards
Well ravnica dual lands should be picking up due to the fact that more and more players are getting sick of paying 100's for revised dual lands so they are going to pick up ravnica dual lands for thier legacy decks. They will find that they work just as good as the revised ones.
Yeah, but with the fact they can be reprinted, you hate to sink too much into them.
Also, as much as they function similar to duals, they in no way work just as good.
1 life to fetch an untapped dual is a LOT different than 3 life to fetch an untapped shock land. The only time they are equal is if you don't need the 1 mana that turn (play tapped or fetch at EOT). If you need it right then and there, the ABUR duals are worth their weight in gold.
Are Shocks good? Heck yeah (I'd personally like to pick up more, but am afraid of reprints as mentioned before), are they comparable to the real deal, maybe. Are they as good as the original. No way.
In Legacy, speed is key. Paying life is generally worth it, but being competitive, you really want to not lose that extra 2 life. In EDH, you need both and more for color fixing.
If you're going to try to hit Target/Wal Mart/whatever, I would highly recommend getting there sooner than later - ie, go on your lunch break/before you head into work. I really don't think you'll be seeing these available at mass-market retailers for very long, on this wave of product.
- Ben Bleiweiss
- Director of Sales, StarCityGames.com
PS: I am sure that future printings will catch up to demand, it's just not happening right now.
in Houston, the chains don't get them for a good week after they are released. the trading card section is stocked by a 3rd party vendor and they don't really care about getting there to put them out on release day. Makes it tough. You usually have to check every day.
The new Sol Ring is nice. What a pretty card. I bet a lot of Vintage players will want to upgrade. I think the decks will be worth more than MSRP just for the commanders alone. I mean, there's a Divine vs. Demonic going for $115 on Ebay right now, and it doesn't have cards that are unique to that release. So I think there will be good value here in the long run, especially if some of the unique cards are playable in Vintage or Legacy, even more if the commanders are good in EDH.
Divine vs Demonic isn't expensive for the cards inside, but rather how hard it is to find unopened copies... See Elves Vs. Goblins
I think the best way to instill optimism in the value of a pack/box purchase is lower the retail price to $3 and bring wholesale pricing down... turning more product at lower profit will still net more money. People will be more willing to gamble on a $3 pack than a $4 pack as it'll be easier to come close to getting your value out of a pack.
This sets dive to the bottom shows one thing, people aren't going to buy $4 packs when dollar for dollar it's better to buy singles... eventually it'll get to a point where even retailers won't want to crack packs to sell singles... then we end up with only sealed product and trade ins available at our favorite LGS.
Why not go 1 rare, 3 uncommons and 5 commons to cut costs to Hasbro? Honestly, for the most part, the rare/mythic and uncommons are the selling point...
Out of the box is close to competitive, it just lacks the answers that a good deck would have, ramp (including almost a complete lack of good mana rocks), and the duals needed to fix mana a bit quicker.
If the other pre-cons are close to this good, they are a great buy for $30.
The only problem I see here is a large chance of running into the same general since both old and new players will be looking to run 1/5 decks out there.
generally it's used against board wipe (why not get life out of your dying creatures) and Control Magic/Mind Control type cards
what does Urborg have to do with anything? Still works if it's also a swamp.
to OP, hard to get, relevant, commander cards command a premium. Heck, Juzam Djinn costs more.
Yeah, but with the fact they can be reprinted, you hate to sink too much into them.
Also, as much as they function similar to duals, they in no way work just as good.
1 life to fetch an untapped dual is a LOT different than 3 life to fetch an untapped shock land. The only time they are equal is if you don't need the 1 mana that turn (play tapped or fetch at EOT). If you need it right then and there, the ABUR duals are worth their weight in gold.
Are Shocks good? Heck yeah (I'd personally like to pick up more, but am afraid of reprints as mentioned before), are they comparable to the real deal, maybe. Are they as good as the original. No way.
In Legacy, speed is key. Paying life is generally worth it, but being competitive, you really want to not lose that extra 2 life. In EDH, you need both and more for color fixing.
I thought the S was for Shock. lol
prices have gone up a bit too much to really speculate. at $5-6 each right after they were kicked out of extended was the time to stock up.
in Houston, the chains don't get them for a good week after they are released. the trading card section is stocked by a 3rd party vendor and they don't really care about getting there to put them out on release day. Makes it tough. You usually have to check every day.
Divine vs Demonic isn't expensive for the cards inside, but rather how hard it is to find unopened copies... See Elves Vs. Goblins
looks like a venser or elspeth resting place to me... around $10 is my guess...
I didn't say I couldn't deal with it... I said it pisses me off more than a Sol Ring...
in no way did I say it was broken...
I'm as degenerate as the next guy... lol
mana vault? It's usually good for 1 play, then just pings the owner... I run it in 1 deck and grim monolith in another...
i think there are many many more broken cards than efficient mana rocks...
I'm WAY more pissed to see a 6/6 flying lifelink 1 drop than a Sol Ring...
I do see your point there, but...
if you drop the price of the packs $1 you can add a 4th pack to a draft, same price.
This sets dive to the bottom shows one thing, people aren't going to buy $4 packs when dollar for dollar it's better to buy singles... eventually it'll get to a point where even retailers won't want to crack packs to sell singles... then we end up with only sealed product and trade ins available at our favorite LGS.
Why not go 1 rare, 3 uncommons and 5 commons to cut costs to Hasbro? Honestly, for the most part, the rare/mythic and uncommons are the selling point...
Google is your friend...
This tells you that it's probably able to be had for a bit under $100 and is definitely not a see through pack.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Portal-Three-Kingdom-Sealed-Booster-Pack-Imperial-Seal-/320692453625?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aaac280f9#ht_1214wt_671
Japanese packs can be found for $55
http://cgi.ebay.com/Japanese-Portal-Three-Kingdoms-Booster-Pack-MTG-Hot-/310316402217?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item48404c8629#ht_1037wt_754
Chinese for $62
http://cgi.ebay.com/SEALED-MTG-MAGIC-PORTAL-3-THREE-KINGDOMS-BOOSTER-PACK-/250743988520?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a6181a128#ht_3256wt_772